Chelsea 3 Newcastle United 2

[ROTG]

5 hours ago, paulw66 said:

yes, the Conte formation that won the PL.

or the Tuchel formation that won the CL. 

Unlike 433 and other 4 at the back formations, that won a few pl’s, a some domestic cups and the occasional European silverware for other Chelsea coaches.  

[Bones]

15 hours ago, kev61 said:

Poch has already made his views on Maatsen clear - he doesn't rate him even though he was one of the best players pre -season - another player that Poch has taken their confidence away.

Thats true. Well remembered.

I still cannot believe how good we looked in preseason and then we threw everything out. Bonkers.

I remember the preseason when we signed Cesc and Costa. It just felt right, felt like it we might just be the best team that year and we were! Now of course I am not saying we would have been there for the league win, but top4-5, ok maybe 6 seemed very realistic in the summer. Now we’re fighting for 10. 🥶

[Chelsea_Matt]

17 hours ago, Bones said:

Thats true. Well remembered.

I still cannot believe how good we looked in preseason and then we threw everything out. Bonkers.

I remember the preseason when we signed Cesc and Costa. It just felt right, felt like it we might just be the best team that year and we were! Now of course I am not saying we would have been there for the league win, but top4-5, ok maybe 6 seemed very realistic in the summer. Now we’re fighting for 10. 🥶

I gotta tell you that Poch has been the biggest disappointment for years imo. When he signed, and how we looked before Nkunku was injured…and now look. It’s incredible how everything has just cratered. 

Where we go from here, I honestly don’t know. 

[chara]

31 minutes ago, Chelsea_Matt said:

I gotta tell you that Poch has been the biggest disappointment for years imo. When he signed, and how we looked before Nkunku was injured…and now look. It’s incredible how everything has just cratered. 

Where we go from here, I honestly don’t know. 

I am always a bit conflicted regarding the preseason tours over here....any game is a travel project for me and with the possibility of seeing a "select" Chelsea rather than a representative Chelsea if you see what I mean...last season it would have been worthwhile..the Vegas game tempted me...the previous season would have been a real downer.

The difference in player fitness and attitude was palpable and I expected a reasonable first season from The Poch.

Yet here we are in March shaking our heads and facing Newcastle at home with little conviction that Chelsea will take the points.

The Poch ,as you say Matt, has been a real disappointment....not a disaster at the Potter level...which makes it worse in many ways...as ever..it's the hope.......💘

[Chelsea_Matt]

12 minutes ago, chara said:

I am always a bit conflicted regarding the preseason tours over here....any game is a travel project for me and with the possibility of seeing a "select" Chelsea rather than a representative Chelsea if you see what I mean...last season it would have been worthwhile..the Vegas game tempted me...the previous season would have been a real downer.

The difference in player fitness and attitude was palpable and I expected a reasonable first season from The Poch.

Yet here we are in March shaking our heads and facing Newcastle at home with little conviction that Chelsea will take the points.

The Poch ,as you say Matt, has been a real disappointment....not a disaster at the Potter level...which makes it worse in many ways...as ever..it's the hope.......💘

The entire reign of Todd ‘n’ Eggy has been a disaster that’s set us back a decade imo. What a fall for our club. 😢😢😢

[Mark Kelly]

1 hour ago, Chelsea_Matt said:

I gotta tell you that Poch has been the biggest disappointment for years imo. When he signed, and how we looked before Nkunku was injured…and now look. It’s incredible how everything has just cratered. 

Where we go from here, I honestly don’t know. 

Considering his admirers told us that because Nkunku was injured and he had no number 10 to replace him  he had to change the way we play. 

Meanwhile he had someone in the squad who was a number 10 and even had it on his back in big numbers who would have probably done a job and subsequently had one game there and was MOTM. 

He's a fraud. 

[blueandproud]

First and foremost we need a good ref for this game, Newcastle will play Allardyce style football, and their palyers will go down with imaginary injuries and be worse actors than Denzel Washington.  And if Lascelles comes off the bench to kick the ball away, kick him back into the stand!  I for one think we'll win this, Newcastle's record and the Bridge is bloody awful, in fact their away record in London is awful.  

 

COYB!!!!!

[xceleryx]

On 08/03/2024 at 01:52, east lower said:

You have to ask the question as to how the Chilwell injury happened and what type of injury it is.

If the coaching team are running them hard in training at this stage in the season, then they are close to being grossly negligent.

 

Wouldn't be surprised if it's just the workload after returning from his initial lengthy period out. 

• 13 min vs Fulham
• 65 vs Boro (League Cup)
• 25 vs Villa (FA Cup)
• 45 vs Liverpool
• 81 vs Wolves
• 90 vs Villa (FA Cup)
• 90 vs Palace
• 90 vs Man City
• 113 vs Liverpool (League Cup)
• 29 vs Leeds (FA Cup)
• 90 vs Brentford 

Quite a few of those games came with shorter turnarounds. I imagine the strain on the body, particularly after missing nearly 3 months of football, takes its toll when you're also trying to rebuild a match fitness base during this process also.

[xceleryx]

On 08/03/2024 at 18:44, east lower said:

Already preparing for a disappointing night. 

Feeling for young Gilchrist, he’s a PL novice getting thrown across the back-four by the tactically inept coach and his merry men. He may well end up playing both full back positions in Monday. Do I think he’ll end up good enough for our first-team? On past standards, probably not - but he’s not getting a proper apprenticeship under this bloke.

That's the nature of being a young player at times. 

Lassana Diarra played RB under Mourinho, Loftus-Cheek bounced around seven positions, Hudson-Odoi similarly, Hall got played at wingback last season when he got minutes, etc. 

Isn't always ideal but it happens pretty frequently across football.

[xceleryx]

On 08/03/2024 at 16:44, kev61 said:

Poch has already made his views on Maatsen clear - he doesn't rate him even though he was one of the best players pre -season - another player that Poch has taken their confidence away.

Maatsen is also not that good and in the minutes he did feature this season, even if out of position (no different to how he was used in pre-season) he looked useless. 

Undersized, physically lightweight, and isn't strong defensively. 

[Floyd25]

On 08/03/2024 at 07:04, ROTG said:

Is that not the owners ethos?

Expect they’ll have a few dollar signs in their eyes Monday night, Tyrique George could make a tidy profit. 

[kev61]

50 minutes ago, xceleryx said:

 

Undersized, physically lightweight, and isn't strong defensively. 

What player has covered themselves in glory with minutes played except for Palmer?.

How would you describe Diaz for Liverpool? -he fits what you say about Maatsen and is one of the best in the premiership.

The problem is Poch doesn't know his arse from his elbow and wouldn't know a player with great potential from a dud.

He has had long enough to prove himself and failed miserably the rest of the season is damage limitation with this guy in charge.

 

 

[kev61]

9 hours ago, Mark Kelly said:

Considering his admirers told us that because Nkunku was injured and he had no number 10 to replace him  he had to change the way we play. 

Meanwhile he had someone in the squad who was a number 10 and even had it on his back in big numbers who would have probably done a job and subsequently had one game there and was MOTM. 

He's a fraud. 

Nkunku should be the rope that hangs him.A top class player that is benched when he is fully fit.Honestly the guy makes it up as he goes along.

[xceleryx]

5 hours ago, kev61 said:

What player has covered themselves in glory with minutes played except for Palmer?.

How would you describe Diaz for Liverpool? -he fits what you say about Maatsen and is one of the best in the premiership.

The problem is Poch doesn't know his arse from his elbow and wouldn't know a player with great potential from a dud.

He has had long enough to prove himself and failed miserably the rest of the season is damage limitation with this guy in charge.

There's no comparison between Diaz and Maatsen to make. For one, Maatsen is 5'6 (according to Wiki) and Diaz 5'10. Maatsen was listed as the 4th shortest player in the league this season (quoted at 5'4").

Secondly, they play different positions and therefore have different requirements. Maatsen has to defend, which as a fullback also means competing for headers and marking attackers who are 9/10 times going to be bigger and physically stronger. In a side that already boasts a fairly undersized defence in general, a further lack of height is a cause for greater exposure. 

Maatsen couldn't even defend solidly in the Championship last season, while he had a good season going forward  it was the biggest complaint many Burnley fans had about him. 

The idea that Maatsen was some sort of solution is wild in itself.

[ROTG]

8 hours ago, xceleryx said:

Maatsen is also not that good and in the minutes he did feature this season, even if out of position (no different to how he was used in pre-season) he looked useless. 

Undersized, physically lightweight, and isn't strong defensively. 

Much inline with 70% of the players you have championed this season as the future

[Thiago97]

7 hours ago, kev61 said:

Nkunku should be the rope that hangs him.A top class player that is benched when he is fully fit.Honestly the guy makes it up as he goes along.

He’s been on the bench for the very same reasons as to why he has not been playing . This is laughable really. 
It’s pretty clear the club are trying to tread very carefully with him, rather than throwing him as soon as he is available again. I’m a huge fan of the player, but he hardly looked fit and ready to contribute with his cameo’s off the bench in recent games.

Player who has continually been injured all season, yet it’s the managers fault for not playing him when coming back from injury, oh and he is actually now injured again. Read that back to yourself and tell me you think it’s credible ! Jeez some posts on here at times !

[east lower]

12 hours ago, xceleryx said:

Wouldn't be surprised if it's just the workload after returning from his initial lengthy period out. 

• 13 min vs Fulham
• 65 vs Boro (League Cup)
• 25 vs Villa (FA Cup)
• 45 vs Liverpool
• 81 vs Wolves
• 90 vs Villa (FA Cup)
• 90 vs Palace
• 90 vs Man City
• 113 vs Liverpool (League Cup)
• 29 vs Leeds (FA Cup)
• 90 vs Brentford 

Quite a few of those games came with shorter turnarounds. I imagine the strain on the body, particularly after missing nearly 3 months of football, takes its toll when you're also trying to rebuild a match fitness base during this process also.

Or he's running the legs off them in training, as is his way. There's a recent video going about of Kyle Walker commenting, fairly negatively about it. And if he starts playing Cucurella in the same way he's treated Chilwell, there's a high likelihood that he'll end up back injured.

He's doing exactly what Liverpool did to Torres and that effectively cut short an elite performers career at the very top level of personal performance. 

11 hours ago, xceleryx said:

That's the nature of being a young player at times. 

Lassana Diarra played RB under Mourinho, Loftus-Cheek bounced around seven positions, Hudson-Odoi similarly, Hall got played at wingback last season when he got minutes, etc. 

Isn't always ideal but it happens pretty frequently across football.

Diarra had played almost 30 senior games before coming to Chelsea, a reasonable level of experience and he also played at right-back on occasions for the national team. Gilchrist is a complete first team novice. Far from nurturing young talent,  he's potentially destroying/harming it.

There's not one tangible area that the coach has improved.

RLC has never had a standout position, CHO only ever played in a wide position and if we  believe that is reported about Hall, wing-back/wide midfield is where he prefers to play.

The coach, the owner's and both of their sets of cronies - a marriage made in hell for Chelsea fans and manna from heaven for the haters.

[east lower]

Was just watching a sports report on TV and there's a report written in The Times today (behind a paywall, so can't pit it up here) that effectively confirmed that the UK Government actively lobbied and encouraged the Saudi takeover of our opposition in this game. 

Quite the contrast when considering what they snd other parties did to our owner. Who had only supported the UK economy since he took over. 

Saudi money is OK then, and their numerous questionable and reprehensible laws and ways of life are acceptable!!

F*****g hypocrites.

[jasonb]

I heard a couple of weeks back that Saudi Arabia and UAE had joined the BRICS partnership.

Not sure if that will impact football ownership in the near future.

Edited March 10 by jasonb

[Ham]

21 minutes ago, east lower said:

Was just watching a sports report on TV and there's a report written in The Times today (behind a paywall, so can't pit it up here) that effectively confirmed that the UK Government actively lobbied and encouraged the Saudi takeover of our opposition in this game. 

Quite the contrast when considering what they snd other parties did to our owner. Who had only supported the UK economy since he took over. 

Saudi money is OK then, and their numerous questionable and reprehensible laws and ways of life are acceptable!!

F*****g hypocrites.

We should always remember that TBSD are not the enemy. HMG and Chris Bryant are.

Virtue signalling scum. 

 

[east lower]

6 minutes ago, Ham said:

We should always remember that TBSD are not the enemy. HMG and Chris Bryant are.

Virtue signalling scum. 

 

The Americans are simply out of their comfort zone and too arrogant/inept to keep us in the upper tier of the league. Profit before performance. 

Whereas the politicians are self-serving, driven by whatever they think will serve THEM best.

Scum is good word for the majority of them. Always first in the queue for their own inflation busting salary rises and ever-expanding expenses 'allowances'.

Sorry Mods, if that's a bit political  - no bias, they're all the same.😉

[chara]

@east lower...Remember the old saying ..something about if someone wants to be a politician then that is justification from preventing them being one!....

For me the comments from members above are not political ones rather comments due to the disgraceful behavior of a "group" regarding Chelsea who happen to be politicians...equally damning comments about the so called ruling bodies of the game would be in the same category,....JUSTIFIED.

🤮

 

 

[Sciatika]

@chara You might mean this from Douglas Adams:

Quote

The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them. To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it.

Edited March 10 by Sciatika

[Blue Orca]

16 hours ago, xceleryx said:

That's the nature of being a young player at times. 

Lassana Diarra played RB under Mourinho, Loftus-Cheek bounced around seven positions, Hudson-Odoi similarly, Hall got played at wingback last season when he got minutes, etc. 

Isn't always ideal but it happens pretty frequently across football.

Wish Salah and De Bruyne were bounced around a few positions. Two of the biggest mistakes ever in PL history by the previous admin. 

Edited March 10 by Blue Orca
Edit

[chara]

43 minutes ago, Blue Orca said:

Wish Salah and De Bruyne were bounced around a few positions. Two of the biggest mistakes ever in PL history by the previous admin. 

Perspective....less biggest mistakes than too soon and wrong place wrong time ..imho..neither Salah or KDB were the players they are and have been when they were at Chelsea....not that in anyway invalidates your comment....

I will forever be thankful and mindful of Salah's hard working effort on Denba Ba day!