Bring Lukaku back January 1st. At least he might win couple knockdowns and move around in the box. Torres is fecking useless; no movement whatsoever other than a straight run to invite a straight ball... that he's going to get outpaced to by ********ing Kompany anyway. Mata looks shattered; worst game of the season from him. Did not agree with taking Hazard off, when Oscar wasn't doing much and JMM was just plain wasteful. Agree with jcm about Azpi. Looks a good fullback; reminiscent of Ferreira in the two Mourinho title seasons. Not outstanding at anything, but very good at everything.
Oscar is miles better defensively than Hazard. And Kompany did well against Ronaldo the last game. First clean sheet since September 22nd?
At this point I'm kind of hoping we will recall Lukaku in January and see what he and Danny can do in the second half of the season. Give them both a long leash, let them make some mistakes, and give them a chance to grow. If we're going to look at this season as a re-build, why not assess what we've got and start building chemistry between the core players going forward? I don't think that is what will happen, but I'd rather watch that than head into every game praying Torres has invented a time machine.
Looks like I'm the only one who thought that was a decent performance. From my standpoint: 1. We likely would have lost without the manager change because I strongly suspect we would have conceded. Thought the defending today was noticeably tighter than in previous matches.\ 2. Man City is good. They remind me a lot of us in the Mourinho days. Big, strong, fast. Lots of midfield fouls that with today's ref really enabled them to slow us down on the times we were about to catch them on the break. If we aren't going to win the league (we aren't) then we need to get points like this against the other top sides and stay in the top 4. Remember boys, we weren't in the top 4 last year. 3. Our owner wants us to play like Barca, but the reality is we remind me a whole lot more of Arsenal these days than Barca. Pretty little passes, no finishing ability, no one in the box who can attack headers. Add in a leaky defense and you have a recipe for losing games like today. But we didn't lose. We drew. Against the defending champs. It's not a disaster (although it was a tad boring at times). 4. We don't have a deep squad at the moment and a lot of these players are probably tired. Should be interesting to see who starts Wednesday. Must win match really, but at some point some of the subs have to be used. Thought Romeu acquited himself fine today and he needs to get some time on the pitch before Mikel leaves in January. 5. Ashley Cole is still very good and it is a mistake not to offer him a 2 year deal, even if he doesn't start by the end of it. I do think Azpiliqueta has a future at right back, which is great if true. Always preferred Ivanovic in the middle personally. 6. Jury is out on the waiter. Used the same lineup as Robbie, so nothing concrete yet aside from better defense and better result than lately. All in all, I'll take the point. It's about the only thing that has gone half right at the club this month.
First game under a new manager our whole squad having played a draining game in midweek, only one center forward available and facing the league winners. I'll take a point, thanks. Not a great performance by any stretch, but good enough, especially given the weather conditions. The ref didn't help too much either - City pushed our players all day with impunity. Azipilicueta had a great game, incidentally. Looks really solid at the back.
while it may make sense in theory it is really silly to recall Lukaku at this stage im0 I understand that the overwhelming majority of people want Torres to play on the runway at Heathrow but bringing back Lukaku to rot on the bench, as Torres is not going anywhere soon, will accomplish very little we saw him rot on the bench last season under AVB. Lets let him stay at WBA where he is being properly used and developed by a manager who has confidence in his ability. would rather give Danny a nice, long run out when he gets back from injury
I am happy with the point. Rafa obviously wanted us to hold the defensive shape which hampered our offense. As has been mentioned, Azpi was really good and Torres still wants me to rip my hair out.
Danny coming back and staying fit seems a longshot, if we aren't signing a CF, having two options at the position is hurting us
thought we had an improved second half and as you note below there may be a platform to build on we really much more organised at the back with the lines much tighter, notably the space between the DMs and CDs. Also Luiz seemed to keep things pretty simple for the most part and Ivan provided a good foil for him. Perhaps there could be a growing partnership there. which is why the thought of Jose going there really scares me. He could do very good things there imo. to begin to play like Barca we would have to start with more mobility from our DMs and a hell of lot more pressing as a group agreed. Will be interested to see if Rafa shows more rotation (something he was not afraid to do at the Scum) than we saw under RDM allowing some fresher legs into the team agreed on both counts still dont like him but he got what could be a valuable point onwards and upwards
agreed but I think Torres is always going to be one of those options and with Danny in and out of the squad the best Lukaku can hope for is time when Danny is injured would rather we keep him on the same path at WBA
More from Petr Cech on the hostile reception given to Benitez by home fans: "Unfortunately you cannot change history, and while Benitez was Liverpool coach we had a lot of rivalry and it comes from there. But he is here to change things and put us in winning mode and he needs to have a chance to do that."
Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez speaking to the BBC: "I know it will be a matter of time . This game is always at the maximum level but I will try to do my best and focus on doing my very best. "It is simple, you must try to do your best and try and win the games. "It is positive to see the team working so hard as a team. But, still, I am not satisfied 100% as we must better attack better and be better in possession. "The positive thing is that we improved in defence but our full-backs were high when we attacked. It is not easy [to rate my day] but I think maybe it was a '7'." really could have left off that last bit that does little to endear him further
I completely agree with all of that, if I'm forced to confront reality. As it stands, West Brom is certainly a better situation for Lukaku in the long run as long as Torres is here. I'm still cheering for Torres to turn it around; I go into every match with high hopes. I would be overjoyed if he could recover and come good after all he has been through. But it is becoming a little easier with every game to guiltlessly dream about an alternative.
a little background regarding the black armbands today http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20487498
Yeah, top man Thought today's performance wasn't too bad. We looked dangerous on occasion and could have scored a couple but they could as well. Against a decent side I wasn't too unhappy with the level of play.
Wonder if Rafa is going to try and turn this into a counterattacking team? Torres was at his best when Liverpool were and i wonder if that is Rafa's master plan as Citeh bossed possession at times and eventually edged it over 50 by the end of the game. Dont think thats what Uncle Roman wants and I have to wonder if we have the footballing brains to do it? Time will tell.
To be fair, that's probably also to do with the fact that the team wasn't especially trying to win in this game. It's not as if Di Matteo couldn't have teams bunker if he needed to.
First clean sheet for 10 matches. Never thought I'd write that about a Chelsea squad. Build from the back and Benitez got the defense right.
http://www.weaintgotnohistory.com/2012/11/26/3693332/Chelsea-Man-City-Match-Analysis-Tactics good tactical read