Chelsea 2 Newcastle United 1

[blueandproud]

2-2 at Emirates.  Good day all round.

[Super Kenny Monkou]

Strange game today. Looked fluid at times but felt we are still way too open.

Excellent 3 points in the end. Geordies played well I thought.

Thought the ref was either Jackie Milburn / Alan Shearer the way he ref’d the last 10.

Huge credit to Jackson today. Excellent finish and his pressing was first class.

[boratsbrother]

45 minutes ago, chrisb said:

I’m most impressed that Mark Stein managed it in 37 games back when we were not exactly a great team!

I  have to say I was very surprised  by that stat.  I thought Kerry Dixon would be in there above Stein. Also didn't realise Costa's record was so outstanding. Then we have Drogba at the bottom of that list. Drogba may not have had a spectacular goal scoring record in terms of numbers, but he more than made up for that in the big games. The ultimate big game striker!

[Blue Moon]

Record 7 yellows apparently - so a £75k penalty. Worth it, I guess, but that ref was … well … 

And why do we have Lino’s and refs when VAR overrides them all the time? Give VAR 10 seconds to object, or the ref wins. Or get rid of match officials and turn it all over the VAR. But please get rid of this stop-go mess. It’s ruining the same as a spectator sport. 

[boratsbrother]

9 minutes ago, blueandproud said:

2-2 at Emirates.  Good day all round.

Not just a good day, but a very good weekend of results for us.

Utd  look well out of it at the moment but they always put together a good run sometime during a season, so I wouldn't rule them out of top four contention just yet. Spurs are very flakey. Just when they look to be getting it together,  they have losses like today's. Villa will be the difficult team to beat for 4th. Just a very solid,  consistent  team. I think our best beats their best, but unlike Vlla we have one big weakness which costs us too many goals and points.

[Floyd25]

1 hour ago, chrisb said:

I’m most impressed that Mark Stein managed it in 37 games back when we were not exactly a great team!

Didn’t he set the record for us at the time, for goals in consecutive games or something?

Just checked, first player to score in seven consecutive games, stood until 2002. 

Edited October 27, 2024 by Floyd25

[chara]

Indeed a very good weekend all round...

The down side..much outweighed by the pluses,,, that on the edge defending that just about survived,,

The Sanchez distribution liability is a concern but a few times I thought I saw,(,that is as in mho)....some basic keeping failures fortunately unpunished,

Easy to do the IF thing but if JT/PC (or similar) were at the back  Chelsea would be striking real fear in any opposition.

Enjoy the day everyone.

[Mark Kelly]

19 minutes ago, chara said:

 

The Sanchez distribution liability is a concern but a few times I thought I saw,(,that is as in mho)....some basic keeping failures fortunately unpunished,

 

The pass that looped over his head, he didn't know if he was coming or going  absolute joker of a goalkeeper. 

[chara]

7 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

The pass that looped over his head, he didn't know if he was coming or going  absolute joker of a goalkeeper. 

The most glaring example...not even a schoolboy howler which he got away with.

I don't fault his application just his all-round competence,,,keeping isn't just about Worldie Saves (help though!).

My question from way back is why did Chelsea buy a Brighton relegated to back up keeper in the first place?

As ever the question has always been who out there is a better buy,,...AND AVAILABLE.

The stockpiling of basically good back up keepers is puzzling (imho).

[Michael Tucker]

3 minutes ago, chara said:

My question from way back is why did Chelsea buy a Brighton relegated to back up keeper in the first place?

Answers on a postcard, please.......

[boratsbrother]

25 minutes ago, chara said:

The most glaring example...not even a schoolboy howler which he got away with.

I don't fault his application just his all-round competence,,,keeping isn't just about Worldie Saves (help though!).

My question from way back is why did Chelsea buy a Brighton relegated to back up keeper in the first place?

As ever the question has always been who out there is a better buy,,...AND AVAILABLE.

The stockpiling of basically good back up keepers is puzzling (imho).

6 years after Courtois left us we are still searching for a long-term keeper who isn't a liability. That's the really shocking part of this saga. Just a reliable, old school,  steady Eddie would make a significant difference to our team.

[Blue Kratos]

2 hours ago, blueandproud said:

2-2 at Emirates.  Good day all round.

If it were up to me they'd both lose plus 2 red cards a piece and Anthony Taylor accidentally kicks himself in that empty sack of his.

And VAR blows up.

[jasonb]

Close match today, only saw the second half as was visiting family.

Liked Neto, Caicedo, Jackson and Palmer.

Found it bizarre after calling the penalty the ref sees the blatant foul in slo-mo and we do not get the call and it felt like at 99 mins the ref was under instructions to wait until they had equalised. 

Anyway glad the players could hold on.

 

 

 

[Sleeping Dave]

We deserved the win but made hard work of it. Fofana was very poor today, bad awareness, ludicrous timing at times and generally not really up to scratch. Once you see his weaknesses you can’t unsee it. He’s not a €80m player, let alone a €40m player. He’s not even among the two best CBs currently at the club. 

Madueke. He’s an enigma. Today he was predictable going forward and lazy when defending.

Lavia and Caicedo top performances, ditto Palmer and Neto first 45. Jackson scores again. James saves three off the line. Sanchez a fucking liability. 

Offensively we are a top four side comfortably. But factor in our defense and it’s a stretch. Long season ahead but a good win and some very favourable results this weekend! 

[boratsbrother]

I must admit that I'm guilty of being a somewhat hard to please fan.

Back in the day of peaktime Jose's Chelsea, we were masters of controling games  from winning positions. Though obviously pleased with the results it was producing, many games weren't exactly thrill a minute ones. These days, nearly every game is a nailbiting,  action packed,  rollercoaster  which has me longing for the days of Jose's football.🙂 

 

[boratsbrother]

20 minutes ago, Sleeping Dave said:

We deserved the win but made hard work of it. Fofana was very poor today, bad awareness, ludicrous timing at times and generally not really up to scratch. Once you see his weaknesses you can’t unsee it. He’s not a €80m player, let alone a €40m player. He’s not even among the two best CBs currently at the club. 

Madueke. He’s an enigma. Today he was predictable going forward and lazy when defending.

Lavia and Caicedo top performances, ditto Palmer and Neto first 45. Jackson scores again. James saves three off the line. Sanchez a fucking liability. 

Offensively we are a top four side comfortably. But factor in our defense and it’s a stretch. Long season ahead but a good win and some very favourable results this weekend! 

re Madueke.

I can tolerate players being off their game, but today Madueke didn't look like he was trying his best and that is unforgivable to me. Last season he showed some attitude problems and they are sadly still very much there.  Maybe something in his personal life, not  happy being in London or something? ??

He's got talent for sure, but that's not much use if he continues to be so wildly inconsistent and with a questionable attitude.

 

[Backbiter]

5 hours ago, Floyd25 said:

It would’ve been a soft pen, but then two minutes later Nkunku nicks the ball and would’ve been through on goal, but the ref had other ideas, why didn’t let he the phase of play continue until it was finished, then check VAR if necessary? Also, where did the two bonus minutes come from? 

From the ridiculous VAR intervention ("We don't believe in re-reffing games...The referee's call stands unless there's been a glaring error...Obviously we make exceptions for Chelsea").

[JaneB]

Ex-Chelsea CEO Marina Granovskaia sits with fans at Stamford Bridge as Roman Abramovich's former right-hand woman says it's 'wonderful to be back' 28 months after she left the club

Something for you guys to get excited about 😉

[chara]

59 minutes ago, Backbiter said:

From the ridiculous VAR intervention ("We don't believe in re-reffing games...The referee's call stands unless there's been a glaring error...Obviously we make exceptions for Chelsea").

My somewhat unreliable hacking resources tell me the conversation was. ."Woah, hang on there a minute, just stall, I think we can find a way to overrule the penalty,,just give us a minute or two,consult the video and we are good to go,"

Couldn't happen could it ?

[Morgs]

7 hours ago, JaneB said:

Ex-Chelsea CEO Marina Granovskaia sits with fans at Stamford Bridge as Roman Abramovich's former right-hand woman says it's 'wonderful to be back' 28 months after she left the club

Something for you guys to get excited about 😉

I love her, Jane. I really do. 

[Morgs]

11 hours ago, boratsbrother said:

6 years after Courtois left us we are still searching for a long-term keeper who isn't a liability. That's the really shocking part of this saga. Just a reliable, old school,  steady Eddie would make a significant difference to our team.

Contentious one this but I cannot help but feel Jordan Pickford would be a massive upgrade to the team. Not world class, I accept. But a massive, massive upgrade on what we have and does what he has to do, has a bit of leadership about him and will get you a couple of extra points in a season instead of costing you some. There are twenty odd better keepers than Pickford but in terms of January availability and instant upgrade, he is the one I'd go for. I genuinely think we get top four if we get him or someone like him. 

Sanchez I like but he's desperately out of his depth. How the club looks at him and thinks Kepa and Petrovic are the two that should be going on loan is one of the great mysteries. I think with Sanchez it is his height - he's only in the team because he is a huge lump who can sometimes command his box and make us less vulnerable at set pieces. 

I was astonished at how bad Sanchez's distribution was yesterday: isn't he supposed to be the guy who can play out from the back? 

Footwork is confused, distribution desperate, shot-stopping decent at times but then wretched for Newcastle's goal, gets fooled by the flight of the ball, looks out of his depth. Not for me, Geoff. 

[Chelsea_Matt]

16 minutes ago, Morgs said:

I love her, Jane. I really do. 

I’ll pass that on when she comes out of the shower.🚿😉🤣

[CarefreeMuratcan]

2 hours ago, Morgs said:

Contentious one this but I cannot help but feel Jordan Pickford would be a massive upgrade to the team. Not world class, I accept.

Not at all contentious, for years he has been standing there staring in the faces of top teams. I would be very happy if we could nab him.

[paulw66]

15 hours ago, chrisb said:

I’m most impressed that Mark Stein managed it in 37 games back when we were not exactly a great team!

That is actually incredible, because I think it took him 10 games to break his duck. He then scored in 7 consecutive games and saved us from relegation in 93/94

 

[paulw66]

Didn't see the game as was away over the weekend, but had some positive feedback on the performance.

The result was absolutely everything when you consider how many teams around us dropped silly points. 

Odd that Enzo was on the bench for the 2nd consecutive big game. I thought the owners were instructing Maresca to pick him? 🙂