I think that part of the issue in that nothing breaks Chelsea's way is that Chelsea (specially personified in Jose) seems to have an internal competition about who can piss off most people in and around the football world. specially aimed at refs and FA in general
To be fair Mikel is a good squad player to have. As a third choice DM he has a lot of good qualities and lots of experience. He came on and he played his role. He was decent. Fabregas looked good as well. I have not been a fan of his for a while, but he played well yesterday. His goal was almost a goal - on any other day it might well have been given. I think that had we kept 11 players on the pitch we would have won this game comfortably. Judging by the way we were playing and moving the ball around. Even with 10 men we were controlling the game. Had we kept 11 players on at some point Oscar would have replaced Ramires and a tired West Ham would have been exploited. The scenario was different and we lost and West Ham should enjoy their time in the sun. But we all know they were not as good as us in this game and a cluster fcuck of 'decisions' played out against us - a sending off, goal line technology, an offside goal, etc. Luck does play its part sometimes. Maybe it is time for Jose to bring in a Witch Doctor? Shaman? We have some bad ju-ju we need to exorcise.
This pretty much sums it up. We still have a way to go in terms of our playing. But this performance was decent. Willian was everywhere and he also had skills. The team was playing in a far more solid fashion. Fabregas still needs to UP his game a lot more - but there were signs of the Fabregas of old. Hazard is in the dumps and if he could only get some confidence back. How to bring Hazard back to his best? That is the question. And the answer could be as simple as Fabregas threading through the right kind of balls for a change? I dunno. I am still kind of stumped as to the WHY of a lot of our recent form. Best to put it behind us and move on.
Jose is losing his specialness. Your team is down a man and an assistant coach. The last thing you're supposed to do is get yourself sent off when the team needs you. What did you think was going to happen when trying to get into the refs lockerroom? It's become difficult to back this man regardless of all the success he has brought to the club. Sad to say....ill be suprised if he makes it to the new year. Problem is who replaces him? As for Pep being the head coach next year like some sources are saying, I find it a bit difficult seeing him come to a club not playing in CL.
First and foremost the screaming french woman really did make an already painful experience that much worse. Good lord that was tough to listen to. Taking this match by itself - unlucky. Looking at this match in the context of our entire season? Poor man. Really poor. Seeing Zouma at RB hurts my eyes. Eden is so desperate to make something happen and it just isn't working. We don't create any real chances, just so bad at fashioning clearcut opportunities. Even Cahill's goal was a result of a fortunate bounce. Own goals and Willian set pieces seem to be our only real way of scoring goals which is really pathetic. This teams psyche is shot and I don't see that suddenly changing. Something like that doesn't just suddenly change imo... Jose has got to go. Psyche is shot, our tactics suck and he is making himself/us a laughing stock with his BS.
I was one goal off in my 3-1 prediction, but a loss is a loss. My prediction of Zouma at RB was spot on. Also, my prediction of Jose staying at war with the refs - also spot on. West Ham deserve it, though. Great players, great execution, great coaching.
Zouma at rb who cant cross or go past the half boggles my mind. More so playing a rb at lb who cant use his left foot. True stubbornness at its best. By kiling our flanks we lack the width to truly spread defenses. I dont get it...to me these are obvious issues that can be easily fixed. Bet Jose is waiting for Ivan to come back and fix all our problems.
AvB is stretching it. Here's what I remember about each. Grant: I think Terry, Drogba, and Lampard took the team under their wing and any success was down to those guys. Scolari: Shit show out of his depth. Hiddink: Competent and confident Ancelotti: Subbing RB's int he 80th minute AvB: Tried to change too fast when he didn't need to. Not the right situation.
Each had their problems and right now Jose's are glaring. His problems are so bad we have seen world class players turn into garbage over the course of a couple of months.
i mean, you would think so. however, while certain things may need to break chelsea's way (which doesn't seem likely right now), it takes only a little analysis to see that it's still very possible. the fairly clear top 3 are city, arsenal, and utd at 22 and 20 points. assuming west ham and leceister fall off at some point, not even a lot, but marginally, then chelsea are still competing with clubs that aren't exactly putting themselves out of reach. for example, spurs are 6 points ahead, liverpool only 3. so while there are a lot of teams between chelsea and top 4, none are really standing out and the gaps are not insurmountable. it's fortunate that the last spot has not pulled away. there is still plenty of time and games. BUT, chelsea need to really pull things together. and right now, i'm not sure anyone has a ton of confidence in that happening. so i guess i'd disagree that the question is still there, but your sentiment is one we are all thinking about. and confidence is extremely low i'd say. it should be pointed out though, that while results haven't turned, performances HAVE started to some. matic red card aside, players are on a positive trend i'd say. relative to a month ago.
That si the concern -- there are too many teams between Chelsea and the Champions League -- it would require Chelsea to got hot but lots to go cold
yes but not very many points. that's what i'm saying. we'd have a chance to play a lot of those teams directly, and it wouldn't really take very many dropped points from those teams. let's just say, that i think the opportunity will be there to get back towards that end of the table. i'm not expecting west ham or leceister to finish top 4. southampton could push, but will they be consistent enough, everton can play great on any given day but again, consistency. and we're likely back to competing with both liverpool and tottenham, who also have their own issues. and none of them really have to "go cold", they more have to "stay hot" to remain where they are. i'm of course assuming some sort of reversion to mean for some of these teams. but if west ham finish in the top 4 then they absolutely deserve it and they would be playing out of their skin for an entire season. if you see that happening across the board with some of these teams, then yes, it's completely out of the question. for me, the question really comes down to chelsea starting to win games and build a really strong run of games. chelsea would have to go out and beat tottenham and liverpool and so on. so it's not so much is CL out of the question, it's can chelsea turn things around and win games. fundamentally that's what you are asking. and that's not nearly as cut and dry as a yes/no on CL.
historically speaking no coaches have done good upon returning to there former clubs where they were successful .. arrigo sachi, fabio capello milan second spells both ended in disappointing 11th finishes. some have like jupp heneck but rarely has it been longevity success