Match Report and MOM v Chelsea...

Thanks Neil match report very incisive. The formation and players selected is about as good as we can select at the moment. But we miss Brook badly. We are much better on the front foot, pressing high. For the 2 short spells we did, it caused Chelsea problems. Such a shame after going 2-1 up we sit back and invite pressure. Callum’s inability to hold up the ball and bring others into play is a real problem, as moves keep breaking down around him. I would like to see King being given the chance to play up top. I think he would relish the opportunity and he is not the best at tracking back when played wide.
 
Callum is way off form....... he had a couple chances just to be composed and think about the keeper, but he snatched at both.

A proper goalscorer anticipates the keeper, all you need to do is put it past him.

Callum can’t seem to do this.... King can.
 
Great report. I think that for the brief spells that we pressed we were outstanding. But we were way too passive for huge spells of the game, I get that Chelsea have good players who can keep the ball but my God we made it far to easy for them at times. We simply cannot defend a lead by sitting back, we just don’t have it in us to do this. It was obvious that the goal was coming. I don’t know if it was tactical to sit back or not but it really cost us today.
 
Both substitutions were defensive in nature. Stanislas at the moment is clearly going to do nothing other than make up numbers and so it proved. Eddie regularly makes these daft kind of pointless late substitutions which almost always lead to quickly conceding. It baffles and annoys me.
 
Although Junior did nothing lets be honest King was knackered, normally I'd obviously keep him on but he couldn't run anymore. We simply dropped far too deep last 25 and it was coming but it's still a point we weren;t expecting. 5 crucial home games left, I think the aways are a right off tbh with our away form so we need 3 home wins and 2 draws.
 
I think whoever had come on as sub for King,the outcome would have been the same,we simply sat too deep.
Eddie must have been protecting Kings fitness ,there is no other reason for it.
To put every player behind the ball is baffling,as the ball will come back time after time.
Stanislas for Wilson,moving King up top but leaving him up the pitch would have been the better option,at least we would have had a chance to break.

Such a shame we werent brave enough to keep pressing high for at least another ten miniutes and add the third,Chelsea were all over the place at one point and giving the ball away at will..

The extra two points would have seen us leapfrog Brighton and drag them into the mire as well,which would have been a huge boost before Liverpool away.
As it is with the Watford win we are in the bottom three on GD,such a shame.
 
Lerma is playing with 9 bookings and a reputation on his back. He covers space as well as putting in tackles. No complaints.
 
Jermaine Jenas had it right on MOTD - we're just not good enough to play a low block.

The Cup game against Arsenal showed it for all to see. The commentator said we can't get away with just jogging side to side.

Yesterday, as Frank Lampard said afterwards, they found it easy to rotate the ball between the 3 centre backs, and then find space between the lines.
 
JohnHold said:
Jermaine Jenas had it right on MOTD - we're just not good enough to play a low block.

The Cup game against Arsenal showed it for all to see. The commentator said we can't get away with just jogging side to side.

Yesterday, as Frank Lampard said afterwards, they found it easy to rotate the ball between the 3 centre backs, and then find space between the lines.
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100%. I hope if we stay up we look at shaking up the coaching team to add knowledge of how to do this.
 
Neil Dawson said:
100%. I hope if we stay up we look at shaking up the coaching team to add knowledge of how to do this.
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Maybe these new coaches can bring a new modern system with them rather than this old and tired 433....... although it worked well for every school/ cubs teams during the eighties it's had its day imo......:grinning:
 
Topfarrier said:
Maybe these new coaches can bring a new modern system with them rather than this old and tired 433....... although it worked well for every school/ cubs teams during the eighties it's had its day imo......:grinning:
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I know you do it to wind me up... but for the benefit of other readers... I’ve constantly repeated that while I’d love us to play 4-3-3 the chances of us doing it well are very slim because of our lack of understanding of the role of the wide players and we end up with a withdrawn line of 5 instead of one of 4. In every season you will find a post from me saying we might as well go back to 4-4–2 as at least we understand it.

So to clarify, while 4-3-3 is the best modern formation in mine, Juergen and Pep’s opinion if it leaves you with one up front you are better off playing 4-4-2.

There were two spells where we played it properly yesterday. If we can build on that great. If not when Brooks is back we might be better off getting King and Wilson up top in a formation our coaches are familiar with than witness the two half hours we did yesterday.

I know you find that hard to take in.
 
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