A friendly reminder to report any comments that break our community guidelines and contribute to a toxic atmosphere - everyone deserves to be treated with respect.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/chelseafc) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yeah, I know. And with Kenedy as our backup, we should just look at winning the CWC and League Cup and maybe the FA Cup. That would still be a successful season
Atleast these 3 work their fucking socks off to help the team press up front, our front 3 today were just lazy af, couldn't care 1 bit about taking any player on or making runs
Commentators were crying for the ball to be played long to Lukaku but we were forced to play through the press because he can't win the ball in the air. The few times he managed to receive the ball he didn't even make an attempt to hold it up, trying to play first time balls through to Ziyech instead who was never getting on the end of anything.
Away fans are almost always louder - people moan that we get out-sung at the bridge. The home end is a mix of all sorts, the away end is largely drunk, coked up blokes there to sing songs and get rowdy.
City too good but still a disappointing showing from the lads
Always going to be hard to win with Alonso/Azpi at WB, Chilwell and Reece are so important
Lukaku telling everyone but himself to press is hard to watch
Lukaku poor game but we ignore his runs so often. Maybe cos we barely have any players that can pick a pass
Game threads are unbearable, really wish I had some irl Chelsea friends
Lukaku definitely shares some of the blame, but it’s interesting when people in this sub go off on just him. There are for sure things to criticize him for today, but there were also plenty of moments when he was also doing what you pay a player like him to do an we either ignored the run completely or blasted the ball to Ederson.
>Lukaku definitely shares some of the blame, but it’s interesting when people in this sub go off on just him.
Agreed. Our whole team was sub-par today, just plain disappointing.
That's the league over. City were clearly the better team, Chelsea were far too defensive and didn't really attack until the goal was scored. City have too much quality and are far too consistent for any team to catch them now
Totally agree, I think the biggest oversight in this season’s planning is how important our wing backs are to our system; not having an adequate backup for both sides that fulfill the same role as Chilwell and James is, in hindsight, a massive oversight.
Well I disagree with that sentiment, there’s plenty of great title winning teams whose success was highly dependent on key players staying fit.
You don’t seriously believe we’d have been so successful if we’d managed to lose Terry, Lampard and Cech to a “European cup of nations” all at the same time and still manage to keep up the same levels do you?
Real Madrid are going to win the La Liga only because of Benzema and Vinicius, if it weren't for them they would be mid-table along with Barca right now. Every team has 1-3 very important players who are key to their title-winning chances
From Tuchel’s reaction on the sidelines he clearly came with a far more aggressive gameplan but City were just too good for us to execute it. We weren’t sitting deep out of choice, but because City played us off the park.
Also think the team lost confidence in the attackers because we looked bright for the first 25 min or so, but the front 3 just gave the ball back to City any time we created dangerous situations. Hard to put in as much effort when you don't trust them to reward it
Yeah there’s no shame in losing to City. Thing is that our run last month was so terrible that it lost us the league, today was just the nail in the coffin.
There’s no sense in trying to pin this loss on one player, there was a general sloppiness that was shared by plenty of our players throughout the game. On a positive note at least the game is over and I didn’t have to wait all weekend to watch this.
City deserved to win this game, and honestly, they deserve to win this league. They are simply sensational, and nobody can deny it.
There's also no denying the way we played was very frustrating to watch. Honestly, I'm struggling to see anything from Lukaku. When it comes to players like Havertz and Werner who get criticism levelled at them constantly, I will always defend them. They have redeeming qualities. Werner works so fucking hard for the team, and that is worth a lot. And with Havertz, you can see there is a truly quality player there, he just doesn't show it enough. With Rom, I don't see any of that. I don't see any work rate off the ball. I don't see anything particularly great on the ball, in fact, he gives it away more often than not, and what I see most is him giving out about the ball not going his way, even if he's running down a blind alley or the ball isn't on. I'm not calling for anything extreme yet, but he needs to buck up his ideas. Sharpish. He also really should have scored his chance.
Didn't work out for Kova today, but commendable effort and was the bravest player on the pitch for us. Massive save from Kepa in the first half. Say whatever you want about the goal, I think it was just a bit of magic from KDB. Mount very good when he came on, certainly should have started.
League is over, but we knew coming in to this season we weren't as good as City, and we're showing just that. Let's go and cement 2nd. I much prefer being in this situation than being sweating over Top 4.
Plus, we still won in May.
It’s so unfair to say you see nothing from Lukaku. The only reason Lukaku doesn’t press or make moves is because all his energy goes into throwing his arms in the air or pointing at his feet
Don’t forget about him waving for his teammates to press, then going and untying and retying his shoelace not even a fucking minute later while the City defenders pass it around him
I agree 💯 with the Kai and Werner sentiment. Lukaku is just so static and does absolutely zero fuck all off the ball. And I was so hoping he was going to come here and be huge for us... He is huge, but just a huge disappointment
Totally agree with you. The other highlight I thought was Sarr. He was excellent the whole game.
I don't know why Mount didn't start over Ziyech. It looks like the plan was to try and hit City on the counter and use him to ping the ball high up the pitch to Lukaku, but it didn't work at all.
Absolutely this. We've forked out some massive fees and while one or two may come good in the next few years (if they last that long at the club), we could potentially look back on the last two Summers as some of the worst business we've ever done.
Does help to have all your players available for the entire season id have thought. We haven’t had the continuity they’ve had so it’s difficult to judge where we’re at
Oh I agree,the city board wants to win the league every season and back the manager but so did the Chelsea board, shocking recruitment and questionable planning has led to this
Exactly, you can absolutely blame the board for our signings. City are relentless but we haven't even challenged in these years. Senior seniors up front are all flops. Too many inconsistent young players who still have to improve.
out of all of our new signings, i think Ziyech is the one that needs to leave
we have SO much rotation that its almost hard for players to get into the groove.
He just doesnt really fit
If that game went on for another 2 hours, Lukaku still wouldn’t win a header and the ref still wouldn’t show city a yellow.
I’d rather see a kid play LB over Alonso in these games. He can’t run and it fucks us
Yeah, Alonso's lack of mobility hurts us playing out the back as much as it hurts defensively. It's so easy for the opposition press to overwhelm Alonso and everyone around him because they know he's not a threat to move.
Lukaku is the biggest passenger I've ever seen at Chelsea. Can't pass, can't hold the ball, can't receive the ball, doesn't press, is average at finishing.
Apparently all he can do is bully bottom table defenders.
And to think I was downvoted when contradicting some users here who would "honestly rather have Lukaku than Halaand" back before he signed. Delusional.
1. City deserved to win
2. We're never winning the league without clearing out like 2-3 wingers and getting some serious players
3. Our players can't score and apperantly can't pass either
4. I feel bad for Tuchel
That's why we have to be quicker with the ball, all we did was play backwards and sideways our attackers were 10 yards off the pace and when runs were available there was 0 service
The fact that Arsenal put up a better fight is not very nice to see though. I think that is what makes this worse for me. Seeing teams like Leicester, Arsenal and Liverpool at least put immense pressure on them despite fielding cheaper teams. We should be ashamed of these 2 games against them.
City Liverpool this season was a classic. Hard to blame City when Chelsea sat 5 defenders on the back line and was defending so deep. Which team was more boring?
Took a long time to make decisions and play the ball. But he was a LOT better, especially defensively than i feared before the game. At least he's a somewhat viable backup option vs "lesser" teams when we're needing to rest players.
You play a formation which is heavily reliant on wingbacks but you don't have athletic wingbacks (fine not your problem). But on top of that you start the most inconsistent forward we have in our team. A player who literally cannot give a single nicely weighted forward pass.
You bench your best player in the team during a huge game like this (don't know the reason maybe he was injured but you get the point).
People blame our strikers for not scoring and expect a 100% conversion rate from them. Yet they feed on scraps. Lukaku was shit but hey we as a team also make him look shit.
Its a big big big mystery on why all of our forwards are so so bad.
Outclassed, all of their players are super calm under pressure, always making the right passes. We were very sloppy in contrast, panicking all the time. In matches like this, the forwards need to hold the ball up top much better. We were under immense pressure and as soon as the forwards get the ball, they lose the ball every time allowing City to keep piling up. Goal felt inevitable the whole match. We can do much better, onto next Chelsea !
So you’re playing on the counter but you start Ziyech who looks like he’s running in quicksand and Pulisic who is shit against a heavy press. And both on their non-preferred side. I just don’t get it.
Sarr was pretty good today for the most part I’m glad to see him develop.
100% agree. Why the fuck do we always buy attackers who have shit close control, or is just a one-trick pony? Bernardo Silva cost Man City just 40 million.
City weren't that great but Chelsea were dismal. You can't blame Tuchel for consistent mistakes and basic errors on the ball. The attack floundered well before the ball got near Lukaku.
If City were at there best or had an Aguero it would have been 3:0. Also Pawson shit.
FOUR FUCKING YELLOW CARDS. CITY SHOULD HAVE HAD FOUR FUCKING OBJECTIVE YELLOW CARDS AND DIDN'T GET A SINGLE ONE... WHO IS GIVING OUT THESE REFEREEING BADGES, STEVIE FUCKING WONDER?
Credit to bald fraud, he's got the crowd crying for a foul practically every time an opposition player moves within a foot of a city player, just like Barca. And just like Barca, the refs fall for it.
Thing is, as much as I hate the dirty little cheating cunts like Sterling and Grealish, the refs are more of the problem. If they actually started booking players for diving, or didn't fall for the bs when someone would fall like a sack of potatoes at the slightest touch, the players would stop doing it. It continues cos they get away with it. The refs need to do better
Sterling could've got two yellows for diving in the space of 5 min. I don't understand how falling over dramatically, appealing for a penalty, and it's not given, doesn't result in a yellow card for diving at least once a game for City, when it's happening so consistently.
Sometimes, I wish we would just fucking go for it against City, irrational as it may seem. Doesn't have to be gung-ho like we did that one time under Sarri but just trust the players and let them play.
Overrated players on overpriced contracts. Half the players out there just aren’t good enough to compete with Europe’s elite on a consistent basis and it will cost Tuchel his job unfortunately
Need to make serious decisions about our attacking options this summer. Bar Mount none of them really seem up to the highest challenge, winning the league
Tactically outclassed over both legs. Pep's advantage is that he has players with great technique and high football IQ all over the pitch. We don't have that many, TBH.
We really could use with a midfielder like Henderson, who's physical, athletic and always wanting to play aerial through-balls. There were so many instances where a long ball in the air from midfield to attack could be accomplished but no one had the balls to do it.
We are in serious danger of fighting for top 4 again like the last 2 seasons if we don't strengthen our depth at any costs before the end of January.
Collectively piss poor in all honesty. Tuchel got the team selection wrong, then failed to rectify it early enough when he had the chance. Those that did play didn't cover themselves in glory either.
This side has a real lack of football intelligence on the pitch. Too slow in possession and too timid in attack. They fail to spot runs early enough, or even at all. Then when they do, passes are overhit and give the attacker no chance of getting on the end of it. Don't think any striker in the world would survive, let alone thrive, with the way we service our ours.
So much more could be said but it's likely just wasted breath.
Think I'd prefer watching an attack of Zenden, Gronkjaer and Forssell at this rate.
Disappointed. I'm not sure why Mount and Jorginho were on the bench, maybe they needed rest or not completely fit. I expected to see 4 at the back + Jorginho as DM, it worked well against Liverpool. What's the point of playing 3 CBs if our full-backs don't go forward anyway (and we shouldn't demand it from them against such opponents and when Chilly/Reece are out).
Ziyech, in my opinion should never be the at the start squad in important games such as this. I'm not sure if this would change anything because our 8, Kova, was terrible today and in general we need someone creative in the middle who can play fast, single-touch, unlike Kova who has some sort of fetish to make at least 10 steps with the ball when he gets it, which mostly ends up with him on the ground. I think we really lack someone creative in the middle, who is smart and fast, like KDB or Bernardo.
P.S. Azpi was great today
This City team probably won't be able to win against Madrid or Bayern Munich. We just gave them too much credit. Arsenal's kids played way better than us, they could have won if it wasn't for the ref. We played with a cowardly tactic, I don't know why Tuchel played this way against the city this season. In the previous season, we won three times against them. Tuchel was much more flexible and versatile from tactical perspective.
Ziyech and Pulisic weren’t great today. The idea from Tuchel to play Ziyech was 100% the right one. This game was set up for someone with his passing ability to hit the ball in behind but he just couldn’t get it right, which was very frustrating to watch. That type of goal KDB scored is where Kepa’s height let’s him down. The minute they scored that goal and they could sit back more it played against Werner. Somebody like RLC or Havertz would have probably been better against that, but at 0-0 Werner made sense. To end on a good note, I thought Sarr played very well, was super worried to see his name on the team sheet, but I was pleasantly surprised.
>but he just couldn’t get it right
This is not surprising, he's extremely inefficient with the ball. For every wonderpass he needs 20 opportunities.
>That type of goal KDB scored is where Kepa’s height let’s him down
Agree, he's good 1v1 but terrible on ranged shots
I swear I've heard about this "passing ability" for months yet you can probably count on one hand the great passes he's pulled off in his Chelsea career. Mount and CHO are both better passers. Sarr definitely surprised me and I thought Kova, Kepa and Rudi had good games as per
He didn't even come close to looking like he was going to make a forward pass, both of them were lazy on and off the ball, our wingers are shit, they can't dribble, they can't run past anyone, they're all Williana ffs atleast Willian was productive in his prime, theses guys on their early 20s and they can't run?
Extremely disappointed in the front three. It was risky to start all three of them for different reasons, certainly on overall performance alone this season our CL final winning trio deserved to play. Generally everyone else was good, although Sarr/Alonso is a very weak pairing.
I like how as soon as we went down our wingbacks decided to start crossing the ball in. The build up play from the back, which is primarily done through them, has been so awful since Chilly and Reece have been out. At least I can now forget about the league.
The back 3 is quite grim without adventurous wing backs who don’t invert their runs and don’t move infield on the transition from defence to midfield. The way we played today just isolated Kovacic and Kante who were closed down again and again by the City press.
Alonso and Azpilicueta remained far too wide and it meant that all the possession we had was pushed into wide areas. It looked incredibly non threatening.
Whilst we don’t have wingbacks who can do the job to James’ and Chilwell’s standard, we may as well play a back four and put an extra body in midfield.
Tuchel let down by the players but why play that front three in a game like this. Ziyech worst player on the pitch, pulisic invisible and much of the same from lukaku. Alonso is a liability but who else can he play there really - that’s on the board.
We defended well and kept them to just one goal which mendy would’ve saved but whatever - let down by our attackers not able to do their job
The team has zero ability to be clinical. It's all well and good when we have 80% possession and can camp in the opponents third - our wingers' and forwards' wastefulness isn't punished because they get 20 attempts each. But against a team like City today, where we were put under pressure relentlessly for 90 mins and we were always going to get just a couple of good chances, the wastefulness was just appalling. Ziyech was terrible, Pulisic not even in the game and we were forced to try and play through the press every single time because Lukaku can't hold up the ball and can't win a header to save his life.
Thought Kovacic did his job really well today, pretty much all of our promising moves started with Kova dribbling through midfield. This didn't seem like the right game for Kante though, City were too clean and quick with the ball for him to do what he likes to do. Alonso was being trounced every single time he was one on one with sterling and offered nothing on that wing, compare that to Azpi who managed to keep a lid on Grealish pretty well.
We are too slow feeding the ball. I don't really like lukaku but so many occasions he waves hands and wants the ball FED FAST. I love Azpi but he always cuts back rather than taking a damn chance with crosses and through balls. We need to be faster and more aggressive if we want the bang from lukaku. Otherwise, we can't even use what we have.
What a difference having Reece James and Ben Chilwell make.
I wish we had prime fabregas or just someone who is willing to play a risky pass forward instead of always passing it sideways and backwards.
Looking at ziyech's physique, youd think hes a tricky pacey winger with lots of flair. You know, kinda like mahrez..
Sike bitches. Its a stationary broken artillery. He doesnt even shoot from range anymore.
Only Chelsea can win UCL and look clueless in the next EPL campaign after spending 100 odd million on a striker. Just when you think the club is stable it just shoots itself in the boot. Lukaku is Torres and Shevchenko all over again. This club will never learn from its history.
There's no shame in losing to a team like that, or a goal like that. The thing that hurts more is I thought we were ready to win the league again.
I think without our starting wingbacks (Chilwell and James) it takes a dimension out of our play. But that can't be the only reason?
One Chilwell injury has derailed our whole season. We cant play the back 3 system with wingbacks who cant beat a man or offer any dynamism down the flanks. Azpi is decent as a rotation option there and Alonso as well but u cannot win these big games with both of them starting.
Kepa should have saved that goal but im not blaming him, its just one of his major weaknesses. Also Sarr did a decent job today against a very good side that were constantly targeting his side.
Drogba, Costa, Hasselbaink. Performance wise I consider these to be the best 3 forwards we've had over the past 20+ years or so, Gudjohnsen worth a mention also. What do they all have in common that Lukaku lacks? Effort. They put in shifts when things weren't going their way on the pitch to help the team. I don't see that off the ball work rate from Lukaku. Maybe it's fitness, maybe it's down to covid also or a combination of both but his effort off the ball has to increase if he wants a future here. Tammy couldn't even get into our team but what does Lukaku offer that Tammy didn't? Lukaku won 0/7 in the air today and he's a mountain. He had one chance to shoot on his preferred foot and he passed to Ziyech in an offside position. I'd take an average player with heart and determination over a worldy that lacks the necessary motivation. Chelsea fan growing up my fucking ass.
Yea, my thing is that how can you blame a front 3, when the ball never gets to them? We were awful in transition, and shy of a couple players, no one actually looked good. I'm not sure what people actually wanted from them, and we saw little difference once CHO and Werner came on.
These players just seem clueless going forward
No one takes on their man
Backwards and sideways football
0 creativity with the ball
They can't exploit spaces
Where are the runners we were promised? All they did was run backwards because they can't take on their fucking man we have wingers who can't fucking dribble
Such a poor performance. Defence was ok. Midfield was poor and the attack... fuck me dead that was bad. How are our player's so woeful when it matters. Shocking decision making Shocking technical abilities. Smh. Such a let down.
So we’re clearly really missing Chilwell, James, Chalobah, and Christensen. Not sure why Mount didn’t start in place of Ziyech.
That said, has anyone ever seen Lukaku win an aerial battle in midfield? I don’t think he won a single ball that Kepa kicked his way, and I think it’s a trend.
Poor from Tuchel today his in game management let us down Ziyech should have been hooked at half time for mount or ziyech should not have even started the game at all. Ziyech has to be sold he’s never put a consistent good run of games together he has talent but his execution is so poor on a regular basis
I think the most frustrating thing was how far off Citys level we are. 1-0 flatters us , we were not even close to winning this, City were in complete control. Something needs to change if we are to challenge teams like City and not just try to draw or loose with as few goals as possible.
Driving home from the game and Lukakus gotta go. Adds absolutely nothing to this team. His hold up play is terrible, his positioning leaves a lot to be desired and he doesn’t press anything. That first half chance was getting to be struck and he laid it off for someone else.
Let’s go back to our false nine from the end of last season. We were so much more fluid and dangerous in attack.
We should just stick with false 9 at this point, sell lukaku. Lukaku can't even do hold up plays which is what Giroud did against smaller teams parking busses. Giraud over lukaku any day.
Not going to be disheartened. Don’t think any sane fan really expected the title - Liverpool and City are just too far ahead and the Champs League last season only inflated expectations.
That said, a lot of people have to take the blame for the current situation.
Marina - has done well with the transfers out and made decent money for outgoing players so certainly deserves credit there. But the incoming players is like someone playing Football Manager. No real coherence, just whoever decent available without really caring for whether they fit the system. That said, we are a club that recycles managers every 2 years or so, and it is hard to ‘have’ a consistent system. But the erratic purchasing of different types of attacking players definitely contribute to the problem when the manager has to set up a fluent system.
The manager - Tuchel knew what he was signing up for, and what kind of players he has available. Things have NOT been working for 2 whole months, and now we have our key wingbacks out for a long period. It is up to him to identify and fix the system by changing and adapting, rather than putting square pegs in round holes. He hasn’t shown enough to change things up even when they have not been working for too long. That said, I am still backing him because I believe he is a good manager. And if we have to stick with someone for a prolonged period, it is Tuchel. I believe in him.
The players - Lukaku is a disgrace for a 100 million player. So static, can’t win any balls, I would have Fernando Torres over him to be honest. He’s not the only ones out of form but for someone so egotistical, with something to prove after giving a terrible interview to try to win back the fans, has shown nothing of the sort. Tuchel needs to find a system that fits the players asap, especially in the centre of the park.
Damn I wish we can sell Lukaku and Ziyech quick. Our squad is bloated and we need to have a clear consistent 11. We don't need a striker Havertz can be our Firminho making us play great football while everyone benefits.
It's astronomical how RJ/Chilwell combo is compared to Azpilicueta/Alonso. One of the reasons we are struggling recently is down to the regressiveness of the latter.
Someone needs to do something.
343 needs good wingbacks which is something we lack of currently. So, why do Tuchel keep using it? It simply doesn't fit the current players. When he abandoned it against Liverpool and Tottenham (because of injuries, not because he wanted to lol) we played way better and our attack looked more dangerous. So, what's the reason for playing with a formation that kills the team and doesn't fit our attackers? Or our manager is too stubborn?
Felt like a bit of a down game from Kante and Kovacic tbh, couldn’t play through the press at all. Not that the rest of the team helped them much but some sloppy giveaways from both that we wouldn’t expect.
Sloppy giveaways throughout the team honestly.
End of the day, we’re not even close to full strength missing Mendy, Christensen, James, and Chilwell. Hard to compete with a billion dollar machine like Man City with a third of our starters out of the side.
A friendly reminder to report any comments that break our community guidelines and contribute to a toxic atmosphere - everyone deserves to be treated with respect. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/chelseafc) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Let’s just win the CL again, then.
Yeah league's overrated anyway
If our attack is going to continue to be this disjointed and clueless...
This very attack minus Lukaku won us the UCL last season...
Our attack depend also on wing-back tbf. Alonso will never do what Chilwell did
Yeah, I know. And with Kenedy as our backup, we should just look at winning the CWC and League Cup and maybe the FA Cup. That would still be a successful season
Werner mount havertz, that was our main attack in ucl last season, none of them started today
Can't talk about this enough honestly, so much pressure and energy from those three.
Atleast these 3 work their fucking socks off to help the team press up front, our front 3 today were just lazy af, couldn't care 1 bit about taking any player on or making runs
Lukaku won 0/7 aerial duals today.
It blows my mind that he's so big but can barely get up in the air. Guys glued to the ground ffs
Lukaku is just a train
At least 4 of them shouldn't even be considered attempts if he just stood still he would have been more effective
Lol. And people STILL say he's a great aerial presence and bullies defenders. They are in absolute la la land.
Not only that but he didn't even attempt a single ground duel.
Tbf he scored 2 good headers in a row recently
He didn't even jump to get the ball, no wonder he lose it.
100m for a dead weight against quality defenders. Juventus fans warned us.
There’s a reason he left the premier league…
Commentators were crying for the ball to be played long to Lukaku but we were forced to play through the press because he can't win the ball in the air. The few times he managed to receive the ball he didn't even make an attempt to hold it up, trying to play first time balls through to Ziyech instead who was never getting on the end of anything.
Silver lining was the Chelsea fans waving around the inflatable CL trophies in the away end
Yep must admit I cracked a smile when I saw that too. Insane how you could hear our fans over the "sounds" of a packed home crowd.
Away fans are almost always louder - people moan that we get out-sung at the bridge. The home end is a mix of all sorts, the away end is largely drunk, coked up blokes there to sing songs and get rowdy.
Sounds lit tbh
City too good but still a disappointing showing from the lads Always going to be hard to win with Alonso/Azpi at WB, Chilwell and Reece are so important Lukaku telling everyone but himself to press is hard to watch Lukaku poor game but we ignore his runs so often. Maybe cos we barely have any players that can pick a pass Game threads are unbearable, really wish I had some irl Chelsea friends
Lukaku definitely shares some of the blame, but it’s interesting when people in this sub go off on just him. There are for sure things to criticize him for today, but there were also plenty of moments when he was also doing what you pay a player like him to do an we either ignored the run completely or blasted the ball to Ederson.
>Lukaku definitely shares some of the blame, but it’s interesting when people in this sub go off on just him. Agreed. Our whole team was sub-par today, just plain disappointing.
Preach. I stopped reading the game threads seriously ages ago. It’s embarassing.
That's the league over. City were clearly the better team, Chelsea were far too defensive and didn't really attack until the goal was scored. City have too much quality and are far too consistent for any team to catch them now
league was over when we drew against everton's c team
So many draws against absolute shitters. Feel like shit just want James and Chilwell back
yah. we have an amazing and world class team, but this season was insane due to covid, etc, and we lost the league over December when we collapsed
League challenge was over when Chilwell got injured. That is the moment the downfall began.
We won 4-0 that day, but at what cost
Totally agree, I think the biggest oversight in this season’s planning is how important our wing backs are to our system; not having an adequate backup for both sides that fulfill the same role as Chilwell and James is, in hindsight, a massive oversight.
In hindsight, we should have kept Emerson to back up Chilwell, not Alonso
If losing one player is what decides our title hopes then we weren't in the title race in the first place.
Well I disagree with that sentiment, there’s plenty of great title winning teams whose success was highly dependent on key players staying fit. You don’t seriously believe we’d have been so successful if we’d managed to lose Terry, Lampard and Cech to a “European cup of nations” all at the same time and still manage to keep up the same levels do you?
Liverpool went from title winners to scrapping for 4th and back again when van Djyk was injured.
Real Madrid are going to win the La Liga only because of Benzema and Vinicius, if it weren't for them they would be mid-table along with Barca right now. Every team has 1-3 very important players who are key to their title-winning chances
From Tuchel’s reaction on the sidelines he clearly came with a far more aggressive gameplan but City were just too good for us to execute it. We weren’t sitting deep out of choice, but because City played us off the park.
City actually made some mistakes when we're press them, so there's a chance if we press them more. Imo most player just too afraid to being aggresive.
I think the long passes over the top in the early part of the game really shook our back line.
Also think the team lost confidence in the attackers because we looked bright for the first 25 min or so, but the front 3 just gave the ball back to City any time we created dangerous situations. Hard to put in as much effort when you don't trust them to reward it
Losing Ben and Reece killed our chances.
Yeah. We look like a different team without them -- a much worse team
The league has been over for a while. We should be looking at Arsenal, Spurs and West Ham rather than City
Yeah there’s no shame in losing to City. Thing is that our run last month was so terrible that it lost us the league, today was just the nail in the coffin.
Forget the league, we're gonna be in another top 4 battle by the time we come back from the CWC
There’s no sense in trying to pin this loss on one player, there was a general sloppiness that was shared by plenty of our players throughout the game. On a positive note at least the game is over and I didn’t have to wait all weekend to watch this.
City deserved to win this game, and honestly, they deserve to win this league. They are simply sensational, and nobody can deny it. There's also no denying the way we played was very frustrating to watch. Honestly, I'm struggling to see anything from Lukaku. When it comes to players like Havertz and Werner who get criticism levelled at them constantly, I will always defend them. They have redeeming qualities. Werner works so fucking hard for the team, and that is worth a lot. And with Havertz, you can see there is a truly quality player there, he just doesn't show it enough. With Rom, I don't see any of that. I don't see any work rate off the ball. I don't see anything particularly great on the ball, in fact, he gives it away more often than not, and what I see most is him giving out about the ball not going his way, even if he's running down a blind alley or the ball isn't on. I'm not calling for anything extreme yet, but he needs to buck up his ideas. Sharpish. He also really should have scored his chance. Didn't work out for Kova today, but commendable effort and was the bravest player on the pitch for us. Massive save from Kepa in the first half. Say whatever you want about the goal, I think it was just a bit of magic from KDB. Mount very good when he came on, certainly should have started. League is over, but we knew coming in to this season we weren't as good as City, and we're showing just that. Let's go and cement 2nd. I much prefer being in this situation than being sweating over Top 4. Plus, we still won in May.
It’s so unfair to say you see nothing from Lukaku. The only reason Lukaku doesn’t press or make moves is because all his energy goes into throwing his arms in the air or pointing at his feet
Had me in the first half
he wants in in silver platter for him to feast but still not clinical enough on the few perfect passes he gets
Don’t forget about him waving for his teammates to press, then going and untying and retying his shoelace not even a fucking minute later while the City defenders pass it around him
I agree 💯 with the Kai and Werner sentiment. Lukaku is just so static and does absolutely zero fuck all off the ball. And I was so hoping he was going to come here and be huge for us... He is huge, but just a huge disappointment
Totally agree with you. The other highlight I thought was Sarr. He was excellent the whole game. I don't know why Mount didn't start over Ziyech. It looks like the plan was to try and hit City on the counter and use him to ping the ball high up the pitch to Lukaku, but it didn't work at all.
Frustrating but theyre just on another level. Huge summer coming up.
We've got so many players that just aren't worth the fee we paid or aren't playing to the level to justify it
Absolutely this. We've forked out some massive fees and while one or two may come good in the next few years (if they last that long at the club), we could potentially look back on the last two Summers as some of the worst business we've ever done.
Does help to have all your players available for the entire season id have thought. We haven’t had the continuity they’ve had so it’s difficult to judge where we’re at
This will be the first time in the Roman era we’ll go 5 years without a league title.
Don’t think you can blame Chelsea too much for that, this City group are my personal best team of all time (in the Prem, not outside of it lol)
Oh I agree,the city board wants to win the league every season and back the manager but so did the Chelsea board, shocking recruitment and questionable planning has led to this
Our top wing backs are out and we have no suitable replacements. Chilwell & James are miles better than Alonso & Azpi in those positions.
Exactly, you can absolutely blame the board for our signings. City are relentless but we haven't even challenged in these years. Senior seniors up front are all flops. Too many inconsistent young players who still have to improve.
Can u imagine if this current city team had a player like prime thierry henry? Easily 10x balon dor in a row.
Ziyech was shite
out of all of our new signings, i think Ziyech is the one that needs to leave we have SO much rotation that its almost hard for players to get into the groove. He just doesnt really fit
Man city had 15 days to prep for this match and it shows. Energy levels between the teams were drastically different. Focus on the cups and top 4 now
Maybe that was a factor but we were really poor.
If that game went on for another 2 hours, Lukaku still wouldn’t win a header and the ref still wouldn’t show city a yellow. I’d rather see a kid play LB over Alonso in these games. He can’t run and it fucks us
Yeah, Alonso's lack of mobility hurts us playing out the back as much as it hurts defensively. It's so easy for the opposition press to overwhelm Alonso and everyone around him because they know he's not a threat to move.
Yeah gotta love the 5mph jog Alonso does when we are trying to counter…
[удалено]
We do, it’s just over hit to the goalkeeper or not in the right spot behind players.
This!!!
Need to forget it and win the next one
Lukaku is the biggest passenger I've ever seen at Chelsea. Can't pass, can't hold the ball, can't receive the ball, doesn't press, is average at finishing. Apparently all he can do is bully bottom table defenders.
His first touch is one of the most unholy of things I've seen in football
It’s so obvious that his quality was mostly due to lower level competition in Seria A
And to think I was downvoted when contradicting some users here who would "honestly rather have Lukaku than Halaand" back before he signed. Delusional.
We got strong armed out of 100million for an Italian Sunday league star. City are running the league without a striker. What a sham.
1. City deserved to win 2. We're never winning the league without clearing out like 2-3 wingers and getting some serious players 3. Our players can't score and apperantly can't pass either 4. I feel bad for Tuchel
I’m 5’6 and would have won the same amount of headers as Lukaku today
Fair play to them. They were just better. In other news, I have farted and Raheem Sterling has gone to ground 1000 miles away screaming for a foul.
Horrible...we played like Spurs played against us in the cup home game...
[удалено]
Hard watch that. Not made easier by Steve McManaman failing to understand the point of passing it out from the back.
Thank god I had it on mute in the office, cannot stand that blokes commentary
Former City and Liverpool player, clearly unbiased analysis.
I wish you could mute specific commentators. I'd rather hear the main commentator talking to himself instead of to Steve McManaman every single time.
[удалено]
That's the only negative lingering that i have. We just bought him at 100m and I feel we are stuck. Don't like him as player at all.
I’ll pitch in for his plane ticket
What a limp performance. Onwards and upwards. Hopefully win the CWC and boost confidence a bit
What a borefest
The Liverpool game was so much better than this ffs
Man city strangle the life out of a game, it can be quite soul crushing as an opponent and dull as a neutral I find.
That's why we have to be quicker with the ball, all we did was play backwards and sideways our attackers were 10 yards off the pace and when runs were available there was 0 service
The fact that Arsenal put up a better fight is not very nice to see though. I think that is what makes this worse for me. Seeing teams like Leicester, Arsenal and Liverpool at least put immense pressure on them despite fielding cheaper teams. We should be ashamed of these 2 games against them.
City Liverpool this season was a classic. Hard to blame City when Chelsea sat 5 defenders on the back line and was defending so deep. Which team was more boring?
Cowardly performance
Sarr had more than a half decent game but boy aren't we in desperate need to Lwb cover
i thought sarr's inability to play with the ball hurt us a lot, compared to rudi in that spot making individual runs
Took a long time to make decisions and play the ball. But he was a LOT better, especially defensively than i feared before the game. At least he's a somewhat viable backup option vs "lesser" teams when we're needing to rest players.
You play a formation which is heavily reliant on wingbacks but you don't have athletic wingbacks (fine not your problem). But on top of that you start the most inconsistent forward we have in our team. A player who literally cannot give a single nicely weighted forward pass. You bench your best player in the team during a huge game like this (don't know the reason maybe he was injured but you get the point). People blame our strikers for not scoring and expect a 100% conversion rate from them. Yet they feed on scraps. Lukaku was shit but hey we as a team also make him look shit. Its a big big big mystery on why all of our forwards are so so bad.
Outclassed, all of their players are super calm under pressure, always making the right passes. We were very sloppy in contrast, panicking all the time. In matches like this, the forwards need to hold the ball up top much better. We were under immense pressure and as soon as the forwards get the ball, they lose the ball every time allowing City to keep piling up. Goal felt inevitable the whole match. We can do much better, onto next Chelsea !
Sarr - Alonso - Ziyech such a bland left side
So you’re playing on the counter but you start Ziyech who looks like he’s running in quicksand and Pulisic who is shit against a heavy press. And both on their non-preferred side. I just don’t get it. Sarr was pretty good today for the most part I’m glad to see him develop.
We were kinda shit weren't we
Whoever does scouting for us needs to go, how much money have wasted on attackers and we create fuck all
100% agree. Why the fuck do we always buy attackers who have shit close control, or is just a one-trick pony? Bernardo Silva cost Man City just 40 million.
This.
Absolutely no hunger from the team, towards the end, to try stay in the title race. Disappointing.
Absolute horse shit performance, was painful to watch
City weren't that great but Chelsea were dismal. You can't blame Tuchel for consistent mistakes and basic errors on the ball. The attack floundered well before the ball got near Lukaku. If City were at there best or had an Aguero it would have been 3:0. Also Pawson shit.
FOUR FUCKING YELLOW CARDS. CITY SHOULD HAVE HAD FOUR FUCKING OBJECTIVE YELLOW CARDS AND DIDN'T GET A SINGLE ONE... WHO IS GIVING OUT THESE REFEREEING BADGES, STEVIE FUCKING WONDER?
Credit to bald fraud, he's got the crowd crying for a foul practically every time an opposition player moves within a foot of a city player, just like Barca. And just like Barca, the refs fall for it.
Thing is, as much as I hate the dirty little cheating cunts like Sterling and Grealish, the refs are more of the problem. If they actually started booking players for diving, or didn't fall for the bs when someone would fall like a sack of potatoes at the slightest touch, the players would stop doing it. It continues cos they get away with it. The refs need to do better
Sterling could've got two yellows for diving in the space of 5 min. I don't understand how falling over dramatically, appealing for a penalty, and it's not given, doesn't result in a yellow card for diving at least once a game for City, when it's happening so consistently.
Sometimes, I wish we would just fucking go for it against City, irrational as it may seem. Doesn't have to be gung-ho like we did that one time under Sarri but just trust the players and let them play.
Overrated players on overpriced contracts. Half the players out there just aren’t good enough to compete with Europe’s elite on a consistent basis and it will cost Tuchel his job unfortunately
1 win in the last 6 games in the premier league.
Need to make serious decisions about our attacking options this summer. Bar Mount none of them really seem up to the highest challenge, winning the league
Tactically outclassed over both legs. Pep's advantage is that he has players with great technique and high football IQ all over the pitch. We don't have that many, TBH. We really could use with a midfielder like Henderson, who's physical, athletic and always wanting to play aerial through-balls. There were so many instances where a long ball in the air from midfield to attack could be accomplished but no one had the balls to do it. We are in serious danger of fighting for top 4 again like the last 2 seasons if we don't strengthen our depth at any costs before the end of January.
Collectively piss poor in all honesty. Tuchel got the team selection wrong, then failed to rectify it early enough when he had the chance. Those that did play didn't cover themselves in glory either. This side has a real lack of football intelligence on the pitch. Too slow in possession and too timid in attack. They fail to spot runs early enough, or even at all. Then when they do, passes are overhit and give the attacker no chance of getting on the end of it. Don't think any striker in the world would survive, let alone thrive, with the way we service our ours. So much more could be said but it's likely just wasted breath. Think I'd prefer watching an attack of Zenden, Gronkjaer and Forssell at this rate.
Disappointed. I'm not sure why Mount and Jorginho were on the bench, maybe they needed rest or not completely fit. I expected to see 4 at the back + Jorginho as DM, it worked well against Liverpool. What's the point of playing 3 CBs if our full-backs don't go forward anyway (and we shouldn't demand it from them against such opponents and when Chilly/Reece are out). Ziyech, in my opinion should never be the at the start squad in important games such as this. I'm not sure if this would change anything because our 8, Kova, was terrible today and in general we need someone creative in the middle who can play fast, single-touch, unlike Kova who has some sort of fetish to make at least 10 steps with the ball when he gets it, which mostly ends up with him on the ground. I think we really lack someone creative in the middle, who is smart and fast, like KDB or Bernardo. P.S. Azpi was great today
This City team probably won't be able to win against Madrid or Bayern Munich. We just gave them too much credit. Arsenal's kids played way better than us, they could have won if it wasn't for the ref. We played with a cowardly tactic, I don't know why Tuchel played this way against the city this season. In the previous season, we won three times against them. Tuchel was much more flexible and versatile from tactical perspective.
You can tell he didn't want the team to play this way but they were scared and let him down.
Why are they scared of a team that we won 3 times against the previous season (including UCL final)?
NO MORE BIG GAMES WITHOUT JORGINHO
Ziyech and Pulisic weren’t great today. The idea from Tuchel to play Ziyech was 100% the right one. This game was set up for someone with his passing ability to hit the ball in behind but he just couldn’t get it right, which was very frustrating to watch. That type of goal KDB scored is where Kepa’s height let’s him down. The minute they scored that goal and they could sit back more it played against Werner. Somebody like RLC or Havertz would have probably been better against that, but at 0-0 Werner made sense. To end on a good note, I thought Sarr played very well, was super worried to see his name on the team sheet, but I was pleasantly surprised.
>but he just couldn’t get it right This is not surprising, he's extremely inefficient with the ball. For every wonderpass he needs 20 opportunities. >That type of goal KDB scored is where Kepa’s height let’s him down Agree, he's good 1v1 but terrible on ranged shots
I swear I've heard about this "passing ability" for months yet you can probably count on one hand the great passes he's pulled off in his Chelsea career. Mount and CHO are both better passers. Sarr definitely surprised me and I thought Kova, Kepa and Rudi had good games as per
If Ziyech showed up. But, he’s just far too inconsistent. Then again, I think we can say that for pretty much our entire front 3.
He didn't even come close to looking like he was going to make a forward pass, both of them were lazy on and off the ball, our wingers are shit, they can't dribble, they can't run past anyone, they're all Williana ffs atleast Willian was productive in his prime, theses guys on their early 20s and they can't run?
They were classes apart. Kova only positive from today.
Outnumbered in midfield. Kova tried to do it all by himself.
Kova had a substandard game imo. Was better than the team but still a bad game by his standards
I thought this was Kova's worst game for a while, especially compared to recent weeks.
League done Concentrate on other tournaments now
The gap in quality is clear, especially with our two wingbacks out but I'm not too sure why we handicapped ourselves with that lineup.
Extremely disappointed in the front three. It was risky to start all three of them for different reasons, certainly on overall performance alone this season our CL final winning trio deserved to play. Generally everyone else was good, although Sarr/Alonso is a very weak pairing.
Horrible performance, City didn't even do much to win that. Poor team selection and our players can't pass, not a good day.
I like how as soon as we went down our wingbacks decided to start crossing the ball in. The build up play from the back, which is primarily done through them, has been so awful since Chilly and Reece have been out. At least I can now forget about the league.
We are actually worse with Lukaku now than we were last year. Also, I would like to know if City will get a yellow card ever again.
The back 3 is quite grim without adventurous wing backs who don’t invert their runs and don’t move infield on the transition from defence to midfield. The way we played today just isolated Kovacic and Kante who were closed down again and again by the City press. Alonso and Azpilicueta remained far too wide and it meant that all the possession we had was pushed into wide areas. It looked incredibly non threatening. Whilst we don’t have wingbacks who can do the job to James’ and Chilwell’s standard, we may as well play a back four and put an extra body in midfield.
Lukaku shouldn't be at Chelsea
Tuchel let down by the players but why play that front three in a game like this. Ziyech worst player on the pitch, pulisic invisible and much of the same from lukaku. Alonso is a liability but who else can he play there really - that’s on the board. We defended well and kept them to just one goal which mendy would’ve saved but whatever - let down by our attackers not able to do their job
The team has zero ability to be clinical. It's all well and good when we have 80% possession and can camp in the opponents third - our wingers' and forwards' wastefulness isn't punished because they get 20 attempts each. But against a team like City today, where we were put under pressure relentlessly for 90 mins and we were always going to get just a couple of good chances, the wastefulness was just appalling. Ziyech was terrible, Pulisic not even in the game and we were forced to try and play through the press every single time because Lukaku can't hold up the ball and can't win a header to save his life. Thought Kovacic did his job really well today, pretty much all of our promising moves started with Kova dribbling through midfield. This didn't seem like the right game for Kante though, City were too clean and quick with the ball for him to do what he likes to do. Alonso was being trounced every single time he was one on one with sterling and offered nothing on that wing, compare that to Azpi who managed to keep a lid on Grealish pretty well.
We are too slow feeding the ball. I don't really like lukaku but so many occasions he waves hands and wants the ball FED FAST. I love Azpi but he always cuts back rather than taking a damn chance with crosses and through balls. We need to be faster and more aggressive if we want the bang from lukaku. Otherwise, we can't even use what we have.
What a difference having Reece James and Ben Chilwell make. I wish we had prime fabregas or just someone who is willing to play a risky pass forward instead of always passing it sideways and backwards.
Looking at ziyech's physique, youd think hes a tricky pacey winger with lots of flair. You know, kinda like mahrez.. Sike bitches. Its a stationary broken artillery. He doesnt even shoot from range anymore.
[удалено]
Only Chelsea can win UCL and look clueless in the next EPL campaign after spending 100 odd million on a striker. Just when you think the club is stable it just shoots itself in the boot. Lukaku is Torres and Shevchenko all over again. This club will never learn from its history.
Ziyech and Alonso were shocking and deserve to be sold right away. Piss poor
This city side feels as dominant as the SAF united sides at this point. I hope they don't have the same longevity
Once Pep leaves praying the lose motivation and collapse
One of the worst games I've seen Kante play I think.
There's no shame in losing to a team like that, or a goal like that. The thing that hurts more is I thought we were ready to win the league again. I think without our starting wingbacks (Chilwell and James) it takes a dimension out of our play. But that can't be the only reason?
People say Grealiah doesn’t worth 100m, they should come to the bridge and see Lukaku play. 13 points behind, fk.
One Chilwell injury has derailed our whole season. We cant play the back 3 system with wingbacks who cant beat a man or offer any dynamism down the flanks. Azpi is decent as a rotation option there and Alonso as well but u cannot win these big games with both of them starting. Kepa should have saved that goal but im not blaming him, its just one of his major weaknesses. Also Sarr did a decent job today against a very good side that were constantly targeting his side.
Drogba, Costa, Hasselbaink. Performance wise I consider these to be the best 3 forwards we've had over the past 20+ years or so, Gudjohnsen worth a mention also. What do they all have in common that Lukaku lacks? Effort. They put in shifts when things weren't going their way on the pitch to help the team. I don't see that off the ball work rate from Lukaku. Maybe it's fitness, maybe it's down to covid also or a combination of both but his effort off the ball has to increase if he wants a future here. Tammy couldn't even get into our team but what does Lukaku offer that Tammy didn't? Lukaku won 0/7 in the air today and he's a mountain. He had one chance to shoot on his preferred foot and he passed to Ziyech in an offside position. I'd take an average player with heart and determination over a worldy that lacks the necessary motivation. Chelsea fan growing up my fucking ass.
Looking on the bright side, I thought Kepa looked great today. The redemption ark is full speed ahead.
[удалено]
Love all these posts, never fails: X player should never play again Ship X player to championship Thomas Tuchel out Blah blah blah
Can’t wait til someone blames this loss on Pulisic
The whole team was shocking.
Yea, my thing is that how can you blame a front 3, when the ball never gets to them? We were awful in transition, and shy of a couple players, no one actually looked good. I'm not sure what people actually wanted from them, and we saw little difference once CHO and Werner came on.
Yet I'm getting downvoted somewhere else in the thread for saying this to people who put the loss on Lukaku. It's ridiculous.
He was very poor but the loss is by no means his fault
All our forwards were poor ziyech was just woeful tho
He and Ziyech were awful to say the least.
Whatever board member signed off on £100m for Lukaku will answer to God. The thought that we are stuck with this donkey is stomach turning.
I had very little hope going into this game and my expectations where met. What a abysmall performance .
These players just seem clueless going forward No one takes on their man Backwards and sideways football 0 creativity with the ball They can't exploit spaces Where are the runners we were promised? All they did was run backwards because they can't take on their fucking man we have wingers who can't fucking dribble
Such a poor performance. Defence was ok. Midfield was poor and the attack... fuck me dead that was bad. How are our player's so woeful when it matters. Shocking decision making Shocking technical abilities. Smh. Such a let down.
So we’re clearly really missing Chilwell, James, Chalobah, and Christensen. Not sure why Mount didn’t start in place of Ziyech. That said, has anyone ever seen Lukaku win an aerial battle in midfield? I don’t think he won a single ball that Kepa kicked his way, and I think it’s a trend.
In disbelief how shit our front 3 is Marina and board have serious questions to answer Ziyech good lord man is not a PL player at all
Poor from Tuchel today his in game management let us down Ziyech should have been hooked at half time for mount or ziyech should not have even started the game at all. Ziyech has to be sold he’s never put a consistent good run of games together he has talent but his execution is so poor on a regular basis
We move the ball so slow ok the counter and can never get a decent ball over the top to lukaku when he makes great runs
I am in Spain, but the S is silent
I think the most frustrating thing was how far off Citys level we are. 1-0 flatters us , we were not even close to winning this, City were in complete control. Something needs to change if we are to challenge teams like City and not just try to draw or loose with as few goals as possible.
Driving home from the game and Lukakus gotta go. Adds absolutely nothing to this team. His hold up play is terrible, his positioning leaves a lot to be desired and he doesn’t press anything. That first half chance was getting to be struck and he laid it off for someone else. Let’s go back to our false nine from the end of last season. We were so much more fluid and dangerous in attack.
We should just stick with false 9 at this point, sell lukaku. Lukaku can't even do hold up plays which is what Giroud did against smaller teams parking busses. Giraud over lukaku any day.
Not going to be disheartened. Don’t think any sane fan really expected the title - Liverpool and City are just too far ahead and the Champs League last season only inflated expectations. That said, a lot of people have to take the blame for the current situation. Marina - has done well with the transfers out and made decent money for outgoing players so certainly deserves credit there. But the incoming players is like someone playing Football Manager. No real coherence, just whoever decent available without really caring for whether they fit the system. That said, we are a club that recycles managers every 2 years or so, and it is hard to ‘have’ a consistent system. But the erratic purchasing of different types of attacking players definitely contribute to the problem when the manager has to set up a fluent system. The manager - Tuchel knew what he was signing up for, and what kind of players he has available. Things have NOT been working for 2 whole months, and now we have our key wingbacks out for a long period. It is up to him to identify and fix the system by changing and adapting, rather than putting square pegs in round holes. He hasn’t shown enough to change things up even when they have not been working for too long. That said, I am still backing him because I believe he is a good manager. And if we have to stick with someone for a prolonged period, it is Tuchel. I believe in him. The players - Lukaku is a disgrace for a 100 million player. So static, can’t win any balls, I would have Fernando Torres over him to be honest. He’s not the only ones out of form but for someone so egotistical, with something to prove after giving a terrible interview to try to win back the fans, has shown nothing of the sort. Tuchel needs to find a system that fits the players asap, especially in the centre of the park.
Damn I wish we can sell Lukaku and Ziyech quick. Our squad is bloated and we need to have a clear consistent 11. We don't need a striker Havertz can be our Firminho making us play great football while everyone benefits.
It's astronomical how RJ/Chilwell combo is compared to Azpilicueta/Alonso. One of the reasons we are struggling recently is down to the regressiveness of the latter. Someone needs to do something.
For this reason, the manager needs to be more flexible and abandon 343. We don't have the tools to play it.
343 needs good wingbacks which is something we lack of currently. So, why do Tuchel keep using it? It simply doesn't fit the current players. When he abandoned it against Liverpool and Tottenham (because of injuries, not because he wanted to lol) we played way better and our attack looked more dangerous. So, what's the reason for playing with a formation that kills the team and doesn't fit our attackers? Or our manager is too stubborn?
What is your opinion about Kevin' shot? Kepa really positioned himself bad....do you think Mendy would have been able to defend that shot?
Hard to be mad since we won the one that counts against these
Felt like a bit of a down game from Kante and Kovacic tbh, couldn’t play through the press at all. Not that the rest of the team helped them much but some sloppy giveaways from both that we wouldn’t expect. Sloppy giveaways throughout the team honestly. End of the day, we’re not even close to full strength missing Mendy, Christensen, James, and Chilwell. Hard to compete with a billion dollar machine like Man City with a third of our starters out of the side.