Can't disagree with anything there. Chelsea looked much better than anything I
have seen from this season.
Nick
On Sunday, December 6, 2020, 06:05:21 AM EST, Nick
<[email protected]> wrote:
Hard not to agree that Chelsea were better than us in most aspects of the game
- whereas Leicester soaked up pressure and sucker-pinched us with speed and
skill (rope-a-dope) - Chelsea showed basically what our system looks like with
better quality players.
Cooper, Alioski, Dallas, Klich, Harrison (and perhaps Ayling…) all looked this
was the level that was just beyond them. Which is harsh given how superb all
have been for the last 2 or 3 years, and given the improvement that each has
seen in their own game. We’ve seen that these guys can make it happen to a
level just around the European qualification mark but that to be truly pushing
at the top we can’t have that many players out of 11 not quite making it. All
of which sounds like damning them, it is not meant to, I have been stunned by
how much better our team and these individuals have got in the last 26 months -
and how much I have enjoyed watching us play, for the first time since O’Leary
really - and if we finish where we are now in the league, the fact that that
would feel like a small disappointment tells you how far we’ve come - but in
the end there are limits to what training and coaching will achieve, especially
against bottomless wallets.
Bamford’s goal was absolutely top drawer - the pass out of defence, Phillips’
first time ball (I have rarely seen a better weighted pass, and with his
‘wrong' foot), and the first touch and the finish - he still had work to do to
get the finish right. Yes, their keeper made a strange decision. No stranger
than their winger who somehow cleared that ball off our goal line via the
crossbar a few minutes later.
It felt like we were in the game for the first hour, but their second goal
really did for us - they apparently score a lot from corners - the delivery is
good and that time Zouma absolutely dominated the box for that header. A bit
like Liverpool’s second, and like that one, there were bodies tumbling in box
in the path of the onrushing goalscorer - it looks like American football,
where teams chuck in blockers to clear a path for the quarter back - hard to
tell if it is a tactic or just luck - either way we need to be tougher and
cannier when defending set pieces.
I thought we struggled down our left all game - which may be the result of
their right back, James, who really was something else - but as Rich says,
we’re playing someone out of position at left back…and Cooper is at his limit.
We may be better with 3 CHalfs and 5 across the middle, if we can’t find a good
full back. I thought Llorente did OK in what were difficult circumstances for
him - when fit, I see him and Koch as the natural CHalf pairing.
We do have to find a place for Rodrigo to start, he gives a muscularity and
drive that we seem shy of, when pushing forward. Raphina did OK when he was in
the game…and could very well have got us a second with that shot and rebound in
the second half, but we didn’t get the ball to him enough.
We commented after about 55 minutes that names we hadn’t heard from the
commentators anything like as much as we normally do were Dallas, Klich,
Harrison…which shows that our midfield was second to pretty much everything.
I dislike Frank Lampard just a little bit more now.
Nick
> On 6 Dec 2020, at 10:32, Richard Walker via Leedslist <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> For the first time this season we were comprehensively outplayed, outfought
> and outrun (apparently !) in that 2nd half. Chelsea have quality players all
> over the park who have time on the ball and were able to side step our
> terrier like defences and create chance after chance. I've never seen Klich
> look so out of his depth and as for Philips in that 2nd half, well he just
> couldn't play against that level. No shame in that though, these are top, top
> players and when you lose your best defender in the opening part of the game
> then it's always going to be difficult.
> I thought we matched them in the first half and started brightly with a great
> left footed pass from Philips through to Bamford who still had a lot to do.
> He sidestepped the keeper and calmly slotted home but what the hell was the
> keeper doing ? He made it really easy for Bamford and if Chelsea had a
> weakness last night I thought it was their keeper.
> We caused them problems especially down our right with Raphinha looking
> lively again. Unfortunately, Harrison on the other wing was having one of
> those days where he shows us his knack of being able to pick out nobody with
> a great overhit cross. Harrison has improved beyond recognition over the past
> 12 months but I feel he's struggling at this level at the moment and I think
> it is time to give someone else a chance.
> Here's my scores:
> Miesler - 7. Kept the score sensible with some great saves however I can't
> help feeling that our set piece problem which has returned massively is in
> some part down to him.
> Ayling - 7. I thought he did well generally.
> Allioski - 5. They had too much space down our left. He's not a defensive
> left back so we are going to struggle against the better teams. You can't get
> away playing defenders who are not that good at defending.
> Koch - 5. Not on long enough. It was obviously a gamble to play him.
> Cooper - 7. Possibly his best game this season which seems strange given he
> fell over for the 2nd goal and we looked like conceding 5 or 6 in the 2nd
> half. Overall, I thought he held us together (just) at the back.
> Klich - 5. Looked tired 2nd half or maybe just bemused. Was totally
> ineffective.
> Philips - 4. Started really lively and I thought maybe Everton wasn't a
> one-off but he crumbled and in the second half he looked like a schoolboy
> amongst men.
> Harrison - 2. Really poor.
> Raphinha - 6. Great first half but hardly touched the ball in the 2nd apart
> from one double chance which would have been spectacular had it gone in.
> Bamford - 7. Good goal and worked hard.
> Subs:
> Llorente - 5. I thought he was at fault for their first goal. Stood there
> with his arm up asking for offside rather than getting in front of the
> Chelsea player. He did however show some promise and for me he looks like a
> prospect.
> Rodrigo - 6. Gave the ball away a couple of times but he looks sharp and he
> looks like he's got time on the ball. In fact, he looked like a Chelsea
> player. If Bielsa can't find a system that places Rodrigo at the heart of
> everything we do then he's not the God we thought.
> Big game Friday now.
>
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