Champions League: Group E - Matchday 5 - November 23, 2011 - Bayer Leverkusen v. Chelsea FC [R]

Well I do want to blame him. It was a pathetic attempt at a save. 'Seems to me he actually took his hand out of the way of the ball !

Iva falls asleep on the high line and the left winger punishes him. Game lost due to two individual errors. Other than that we played well enough. Very disappointing.

 

Damn...after Dortmund's lose I basically said, "Fuck it" and looked up the other results. Disapointed big time. I can take BvB crashing out but Chelsea?

Is the match even worth watching or should I kill time watching Barca and AC Milan - two teams I could give two shits for?

Thoughts?

 

It's worth watching to see the number of chances to get forward and carve out a chance, some quite good, we blew.

BTW, sorry to hear about your lads mate

 

We stink right now

 

Cech's reaction on the 2nd goal was a little strange, but I agree that he's not actually been that poor. He's made a few mistakes, but he's also getting hung out to dry quite a bit more than in the past. How poor was the defending on the point blank volley from Ballack, for instance? A nothing header back into the box becomes a great chance, and that sort of thing has been happening all season.

 

I'm going to watch it on principle. I have been so disconnected from footy over the last 2 months I want to try and figure out what the hell is wrong.


No, I am not into S&M.

BvB's luck in Europe is horrible. Götze received that knock about 5 minutes into the game and it was quite clear right away that he wouldn't recover from it. Then, S. Bender, who had a good match up til that point and was found contributing a lot to the attacking game, had his jaw broken - all before the 1st 25 minutes. I think the game was pretty much over then. That, and we do not have the ability to score in Europe.

 

Agreed.

That time when he took the ball past the keeper and tried to score, despite falling backwards instead of passing it inside and the time he ran forward when he'd been in an offside position and took the ball from danny who wasn't, being two obvious examples but there were others.

 

That's what's so bloody annoying about it. We DID play very well at times, moving the ball quickly and attacking with both pace and width. That's why I say that all this talk about changing ha;f the team, (as opposed to a few key people, upgrading in important positions), is missing the point.

They just play too slowly on occasion, doze off at others and seem to lose that cutting edge the best sides have at others.

TBH, despite what some have said, I thought Frank had a good game tonight. Made some good passes, kept possession and moved the ball quickly.

Mata did very little but, oddly, Bos was quite effective.

We seem to have half the team playing well and half doing either nothing or actively creating problems.

 

I thought Bos was okay at the back for the most part, although he didn't fare as well against Schurrle, who was more direct and positive than Castro. His one-footedness hurt Mata though, as Bos never felt comfortable passing down the line. I think that and the performance of Drogba (who was very careless in possession) both contributed to Mata's quiet game. Not that Mata himself doesn't bear some responsibility, but I don't think we'll ever see the best out of him in a situation like that.

Honestly, I don't see myself as much of a 'formations' guy, but I'm now firmly in the 'ditch the 4-3-3' camp. It's really not getting the best or even close to it out of anyone.

 

Depressing, hope the squad gets it together, gettin real tired of managerial sackings.

 

I want to see them ditch the 4-3-3 especially if they continue to utilize Drogba over Torres. Its a shame but Drogba doesn't have the pace or control to be played as a lone center forward anymore. And neither Sturridge or Mata are comfortable playing on the wings. Go to a 4-4-2 with a Sturridge playing one of the striker roles. After watching today he clearly prefers to be playing in the middle of the field. Then stick Mata in behind the 2 strikers so he can dictate the attack. Then ditch Meireles and Mikel and play Romeu in front of the back 4. In the moments he has been on the pitch he has been very crisp and quick with the ball. He doesn't waste time he finds an outlet and to start the attack forward. This is how I envision it should look.

-------------Cech-----------

-Ivanovic--Luiz--Terry--Cole-

------------Romeu-----------

--Ramires----------Lampard--

------------Mata------------

----Sturridge---Torres-------

 

I really like this formation, but I don't think it's ever been done and probably never will be....dunno why....

 

AVB really needs to go back to basics with these guys. I think that he should go with a more simple and logical system than try to play a 4-3-3 just for the heck of it.

He needs to make sure that defenders defend, midfielders support and forwards attack. Have either Mikel or Romeu link the defense with the midfield, and either Lamps or Mata link the midfield with the forwards.

Play 2 strikers. We don't have wingers, so why play a system that uses them? It would have plenty of benefits. Malouda would play less time and Sturridge would not only stop playing in the RW position he doesn't really play too well, but it would also have him playing upfront, which is the position he DOES know how to play. Sturridge has been, imo one of our top 3, if not the best, players we've had this season and logic tells me that you should make sure that your best players are as comfortable as they can to make the best out of them.

Tell Luiz to stop going forward. It has hurt us more than once already this season, although he had a good game today.

Id go with this:

Cech

Ivan-Luiz/Alex-JT-Ashley

Mikel/Romeu

Ramires - Lamps

Mata

Sturridge-Torres

 

It will never happen it is just my wishful thinking. AVB is intent on making a 4-3-3 work because he has success with that at Porto. But unfortunately we don't have the wide players or a quick goal poaching striker like Falcao to make it work.

 

Luiz actually played well today by making smart and simple decision and not trying to force himself into the attack. If he could continue to play than he should get the nod over Alex.

 

I think Luiz is a better overall player than Alex and if he really tried, he'd get the nod easily. The problem is that our defense is extremely leaky and Alex, who doesnt go forward nearly as much a Luiz, if ever, is more the type of player we need right now.

Putting this team back on track takes many steps, and I believe that putting back that great defense we have always been known for should be our first one.

Sidenote: Does anyone know anything about Kalou? I don't exactly miss him, but I haven't seen or heard from him in a while.


EDIT: Just saw he was on the bench today.

 

I thought Sturridge was the best out there tonight , had a good game. He is only going to get better that young lad.

Luiz will be at centre of our defence for a long time , and from his showing from tonight , I think he is slowly starting to think abit more and playing a more methodical game.

If Lamps had buried that header early in the second half , and if Drogs left that offside ball for Sturridge , and a few other chances , I think there could have been a different story tonight.

Another loss? Well yeah that sucked as well. But someone has got to look at the positives around here.

On a side note , I thought Ballack had a great game as well , really turned back the years in that performance. I like him further up the field.