Re: Other teams thread..... Decent game at White Hart Line. Terry with a goal line saving tackle to rob Adebayor his brace and match winner. Fair result. Redknapp surprisingly put Pav in at halftime in place of RdV. He never really got into the game, prolly a poor decision in hindsight. But can't blame him, Pav and Adebayor were great together the last game. Today was a different story.
Re: Other teams thread..... We deserved it on chances alone. We also had 3rd string RB playing RB and 2nd string RB playing CB.
Re: Other teams thread..... yasik19, what is your assessment of AVB's work so far at Chelsea? Are you satisfied?
Re: Other teams thread..... You deserved what? Ramires not scoring open headers and you deserve to take 3 pts? Tottenham had Assou-Ekotto playing for Chelsea seemingly, that's even worse than a 3rd string anything. He did the right thing by benching Lampard early in his tenure. He'll still start many games, but he isn't an automatic pencil him in kinda guy. Handling the Torres situation pretty well too imo. and not his fault Malouda is pulling an Arshavin. Went from maybe the best left footed left side attack mid in the game two years ago to some average player.
Re: Other teams thread..... Well, I think a grade of B- would be fair. He has shown that he can make smart substitutions and I really like the fact that he has Oriol playing regularly. However, his decision to play high line for so many games even though it was clear we don't have fast CBs and a smart RB to do that, cost us a lot of points. I'm not going to criticize him much in his first year. I will also wait to see what happens in February. Let's see.....in the first half, Sturridge missed an open net and Drogba hit the post. In the 2nd half, Ramires had a 1-on-1 and an open header, Oriol missed the net by inches, and Terry had a good chance as well. Spurs had the chance with Bale and Adebayor at the end. So yea, we deserved the 3 points, as we outplayed Spurs away after the 20th minute. And no, having Assou-Ekotto playing is not even in the same ballpark as having Ferreira (who has played once this season) play RB and Bosignwa (the least positionally intelligent player) play CB for more than a half. You're having a laugh.
Re: Other teams thread..... Game was deserving of a tie. Don't see how you can say missing chances is deserving of winning... It's not a game of chances. It's part of the game, Chelsea did better as the game went on, but Spurs had best first 20 and best chances in the last 10. If anything Chelsea had the miracle save off Terry's back as it was actually a shot on target. The first goal could easily normally called a handball (Cole using his arm integral to trapping the ball). Gallas missed a wide open chance, Bale missed a great chance high (was playing injured, hence he faded), Sandro missed a wide open header.... all part of the game. It wasn't all one sided, the way things shake out, that's the way it works on the field. Not to mention RVD went off because he was hurt, not tactical, and Pavlyuchenko was a non figure. Bad tactical decision nevertheless to bring/ leave Pav in when he was so ineffective. Also, Oriel didn't "miss the net by inches." It was a distance shot that likely would have been saved. Either way we don't know because it was a shot off target.
Re: Other teams thread..... Overall I watched 6 or 7 EPL games on my break this week, and all were really great except Fulham Man U. Can't wait for Monday's action.
Re: Other teams thread..... It was a 100% draw that game, Chelsea looked poor in their game play again. It's like no matter what this team cannot play attractive football.
Re: Other teams thread..... No my friend I saw it on ESPN2. See my previous post on Pavlyuchenko or did I just totally guess and make that up? Don't come to this forum if you're going to be sore...if you're scared go to church.
Re: Other teams thread..... Why do I bother with a village idiot. By most pundits and commentators, the game was very entertaining and Chelsea played some good football. But of course to your all-knowledgeable soccer expertise, Chelsea played boring and poor. And stop talking like you're some middle-school buffoon. It's pathetic.
Re: Other teams thread..... I read 3 reports and all say a draw is fair. Spurs really got the best of at least 1/3 of the game and considering some more even minutes mixed in, it was a draw that was there for the taking for whoever made a play. No one did. http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/12/22/tottenham-1-1-chelsea-both-goals-from-left-wing/ http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/bl...ot-good-enough-chelsea-tottenham-james-martin http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/dec/22/tottenham-hotspur-chelsea-premier-league-report
Re: Other teams thread..... My comment to Dima was more in relations to his saying that Chelsea were poor or boring. I can understand the draw being fair comment.
Re: Other teams thread..... yasik19, one more Chelsea question for you: If you guys fail to win the Premier League or the Champions League this year, will AVB be sacked this summer?
Re: Other teams thread..... Well, first of all, I'm fairly certain we're not going to win anything this year. Second, I believe Roman will give AVB at least a year to make it in the top 4 and qualify for the CL. If AVB can accomplish that, I think he will stick around for a while.
Re: Other teams thread..... I think Man City are the only machines against the smaller squads - what you have to be to win really, take the points easily off teams 8-20. Out of the games I saw they do it so easily its not even a question of the result, and Man U are not quite there but almost. The rest of the contenders can drop points to anyone on any given day.
Re: Other teams thread..... I think the Premier League is easily the most difficult league in the world to achieve this in, though. Teams like Real and Barca just destroy the weaker La Liga sides, but it's a lot tougher to go to the Reebok or Craven Cottage and win in January when the wind and rain is blowing sideways in your face and you are up against a team that is committed to defending for 90 minutes.
Re: Other teams thread..... I was thinking about something the other day when watching Real Madrid...just how irrelevant has Kaka become? I know there have been some nagging injuries which may perfecty explain his situation, but in the span of 2 years he's gone from being one of the 2-3 best players in the world to basically a backup who just stumbles around every time he takes the pitch. At least Ronaldinho was still a useful player after going to Milan, but right now Kaka's huge transfer fee has to be one of the worst contracts ever signed for me.
Re: Other teams thread..... Yeah the MF is really improved (counting Mata in there). As a game it was anything but boring, high action, high atmosphere, both teams wanting a win.
Re: Other teams thread..... Compared to La Liga, when a lower beats the big 2 its a miracle, its true the Premier League is difficult. But Serie A has even more parity in my opinion. Russia has even more. Just as big a chance that Zenit will drop points to Nalchik as Spartak or something similar.
Re: Other teams thread..... Torres is probably worse because trying to incorporate him into the team actually hurt their season as they tried formation after formation to make it work. It was 9 million pounds less than Kaka I believe. Real Madid won't really be hurt by Kaka, just brought in Ozil for cheap instead.
Re: Other teams thread..... http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/breves2011/20111229_191723_ancelotti-intronise-vendredi.html Sounds like Carlo Ancelotti will be taking over as new PSG boss very soon. Given their new financial resources and his managerial credibility, and we could have some more big-name players joining that club as soon as January.