Brighton 1 Chelsea 1

[ROTG]

1 minute ago, asvaberg said:

But why wait so long with the changes, if the players are that exhausted???

You need to ask TT he is the coach

Edited January 19 by Freeboot-Rightz

[asvaberg]

1 minute ago, Freeboot-Rightz said:

You need to ask TT he is the coach

I will, next time I meet him in the office at the coffee machine :)

[ROTG]

14 minutes ago, Ham said:

What has their salary got to do with it when they are exhausted?

 

So Lukaku’s performance over the last couple of week warrants the £500k he’s been paid?

[ROTG]

1 minute ago, asvaberg said:

I will, next time I meet him in the office at the coffee machine :)

I am sure DWMH will give all an update after his weekly call with Roman :0)

[Mark Kelly]

Just now, Freeboot-Rightz said:

So Lukaku’s performance over the last couple of week warrants the £500k he’s been paid?

It depends how much the going rate for Clowns is , those size fourteen clown shoes must cost a fortune to maintain , and trying to finance a car that has room for forty people inside and the doors keep falling off must be hellishly expensive. 

[ROTG]

5 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

It depends how much the going rate for Clowns is , those size fourteen clown shoes must cost a fortune to maintain , and trying to finance a car that has room for forty people inside and the doors keep falling off must be hellishly expensive. 

Maybe he will Cinch it at some point. 

[Holymoly]

50 minutes ago, Droy was my hero said:

We certainly were NOT outplayed by Brighton...We certainly failed to out play them though.

Mate, we were lackadaisical, something Brighton certainly weren't. There isn't a single stat that measures that beyond one's own eyes. 35 games played vs 25 games played. Ther's your answer right there.

Also. I haven't seen a single coherent explanation for Ziyech's reaction when he scored. I'm beginning to fear that there is trouble at mill behind the scenes.

 

[asvaberg]

2 minutes ago, Holymoly said:

Mate, we were lackadaisical, something Brighton certainly weren't. There isn't a single stat that measures that beyond one's own eyes. 35 games played vs 25 games played. Ther's your answer right there.

Also. I haven't seen a single coherent explanation for Ziyech's reaction when he scored. I'm beginning to fear that there is trouble at mill behind the scenes.

 

Agree - there is something not right - no smiles, no joy or 'happiness'

[My Blood Is Blue]

2 minutes ago, Holymoly said:

Mate, we were lackadaisical, something Brighton certainly weren't. There isn't a single stat that measures that beyond one's own eyes. 35 games played vs 25 games played. Ther's your answer right there.

Also. I haven't seen a single coherent explanation for Ziyech's reaction when he scored. I'm beginning to fear that there is trouble at mill behind the scenes.

 

Tuchel claimed the players were too tired to even celebrate the goal. True? I doubt it, but that's the only explanation we have had so far.

[bert19]

2 hours ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

Have slept on it and have skipped the last 5 pages on here. I’m really disappointed by last nights result and performance, but my feeling is that the guys are just absolutely knackered, physically and mentally. We had no time to rest and prepare for this game and it’s been like that for most our games since November.

I know some will say it’s great to get the games out the way rather than build them up for later in the season, but the guys are out on their feet, running on empty and the fact the PL wouldn’t grant us our one postponement when we clearly didn’t have enough for players, is a disgrace when you see some of the teams who have got games called off.

I feel for Tuchel, but I think he’s doing the best he can in this situation. His squad needs two weeks off to regain fitness and sharpness, but that’s not going to be possible.

Agree totally.  Between Covid cases, injuries (since October) and the schedule, the last three months have been a hard slog.  Combine that with the knowledge that this squad seem to enjoy a mid-season slump at the best of times and it's not too surprising that we've struggled.  

And if you look at the injury issues, when was the last time Tuchel was able to field his strongest XI? The injuries to Chilwell and Reece have obviously been real blows for us, but even before that, we'd lost Werner, Lukaku, Kante and Kovacic at points.  

Assuming that this was our intended First XI when all are fit, it's been a long time since it was possible: 

Mendy 

Trev Thiago Rudi 

Reece Kante Jorgi Chilwell 

Havertz Lukaku Mount 

The attack does worry me though.  The players are clearly not building relationships, taking responsibility for burying their chances or really doing enough to force mistakes.  This is not a new issue either.  They just don't make good decisions in and around the opposition penalty area.  I think we need to upgrade on at least two of our attackers this summer. 

Ziyech's Morata-like reaction to his goal sort of summed him up for me.  Though I have to say, I didn't mind him telling Lukaku where to stick himself after he got moaned at.  

Romelu is clearly a problem.  For a left-footed CF, he seems to really go with that run down the right channel forcing himself onto his weaker foot whilst running away from goal.  I'm also getting the impression that the other players don't like him and are almost making sure he doesn't see the ball.  Which is a bit concerning too.  

I think they'll all benefit from a few days off - I want to see plenty of beach photos on social media pages.  Then hopefully we can address the CWC with a bit more energy and vigour before the big business of sorting the squad out moves into gear for the summer