"That barely no-one else can?" One, you have no right to say that and two, do you ever actually go to a game? Every single time I go the Watford fans totally love Troy and understand everything that he brings to the team.
Hopefully the Kaba injury will guarantee we now get a CB in Jan Thought Mariappa was awful tonight - back to his very worst traits of getting sucked in to challenges, ball watching, diving in and getting burnt etc. I see people saying he shouldn’t be judged too harshly due to the standard of the opposition, but his mistakes tonight were beyond basic, you wouldn’t even get away with them in the Championship Prodl/Britos seem to be finished here so don’t think we can count them in the reckoning Cathcart very good again, deserves a capable partner
Well 100 odd goals does help a player's popularity! Just some aren't sure if naturally Deeney is the answer up front - given his is a bit older and slower playing in the top league . Trouble is none of the strikers have really shown a consisten run of good form either .. And we are a striker light anyway due to injury . Plus like Mariappa Troy counts as one of the home players in our squad which might be important in the future post the B word !! Yes we do need reinforcements in certain positions but we won't spend big for the sake of it .. And clearly they think Success can come good by giving him a new long term deal .
Well it wouldn’t be for the sake of it if we spend big in the necessary positions? But I agree we won’t spend big in January, it goes against everything Gino stands for. They may feel Success can come good but this club also aren’t adverse to handing out ill-advised contracts either.
Seeing Kabasele wheeled off to the hospital with an oxygen mask makes me wonder if he’s cracked ribs and maybe impacted on his lungs? Looking at the replay’s that’s certainly the area of his body that strikes the post... Fingers crossed but I don’t think that’ll be a short layoff if I had to guess. Which I am.
Thought Deeney was ok tonight, just simply isn’t good enough as a first choice for the level we are now aiming for. Impact sub at best, our starting number 9 needs to be somewhat mobile and offer a goal threat beyond closing their eyes and smashing penalties at the net Oh, and the Ken Sema expierment needs to end after tonight. Seems like a nice enough chap but one Cruyff turn doesn’t make up for having all round ability that wouldn’t look out of place in league one
Brave of Kabbs to hurl himself like that knowing the strong chance of colliding with the post. Likewise to try to keep going.
Annoyed as I know we can play much better. We contained them and never allowed them in dangerous areas for most the game, I think we tired towards the end which is understandable after Chelsea having the majority of possession and number of games played recently. I'm going to defend Deeney as he won most his headers and was often in an area begging for a cross which never happened. Also never envied Mapps coming on as a sub is never easy as a defender and up against one of the best players in the world. Javi tried similar tactics to the Spurs game but the players lacked the energy he should of maybe mixed it up a bit from the start. Sema is found out the opposition know he has no right foot so show him onto it. Capoue was very good when he decides to go forward just wish he would of done more of it tonight as that's when we looked the most dangerous. As for these officials, robbed again penalty all day long and the Chelsea centre backs got away with so many fouls on Deeney. They need to start getting punished it's embarrassing no wonder FIFA over looked them all at the World Cup.
Wow - didn’t have time to read this post match but catching up now I’m surprised people are so down?! I left the ground with the feeling you occasionally get where you lost but you’re still proud. Very simple, the expensively assembled team beat us with one excellent individual. First half hour they had lots of the ball but we were really organised, great shape and they could only get crosses in from Azpi. One really dangerous one which nobody put in. Doccoure gifted them the ball and they scored but we responded. Nothing wrong with that, 1-1 at half time. First 15 of the second half before the penalty we were brilliant, camped in Chelsea half, creating s fee chances but Deeney just isn’t a finisher at this level that’s all we were missing. One long ball over, penalty, 1-2, it happens. Sema did one great skill but pretty useless that side, I would’ve moved Deuo right for Sema and brought Success on to go up top rather than the Quina sub. Excellent saving tackle from Capoue first half stands out. Deuo very early on lacking composure and backheeling to Deeney rather than turning round calmly and passing to him for an open goal also pivotal. Deeney near post flick should’ve done better after I believe great Doccoure work. Holebas was excellent I thought. All in all matched them and maybe bettered them over the pitch, deserved the draw. The £100 million asset made the difference and so he bloody should! Femenia was suspect for me defensively and has been for a while. Would be good to know where Janmaat is? Also confirms how **** Navarro must be. Kepa kicking was awful at one point in second half, kicked three in a row straight to us! Europa League is one quality striker away from being a real possibility on current displays. Great game and would’ve been better if Atkinson didn’t insist on giving the niggly fouls. Hopefully we bring this level to Newcastle game because if we do we will win. Finally - how good is our GOTS competiton going to be?! Wow!
We just got outplayed by a much better team. Once again a number of people who are typically annoyed when we are not credited for being the better side in a game will not accept that Chelsea were just that this evening. Have to say the Deeney vitriol once again is laughable. In the last few games this system has worked perfectly. He’s been holding the ball up, occupying the centre halves and creating space for Pereyra and Deulofeu, who have been scoring the goals. He should have done better with his chance at West Ham but exactly what change should Gracia make to improve the performances we’ve seen in recent weeks? I wouldn’t touch the starting XI with possible exception of Quina in for Sema. A disappointing night but not a bad performance.
Yes we were outplayed by a better team, but still I thought we were poor. 442 against this Chelsea was asking for trouble. They pressed really hard and swarmed the ball, we were overloaded in all phases of play (good luck if they are fit enough to play that way for a full season but that's not our problem). Almost every time Capoue or Doucoure got the ball they were swarmed and ended up losing the ball or making a poor pass. We can't outplay better players but we can at least match work rate and prevent overload, and we didn't. That's why we were poor. We needed an extra body in the middle to help retain the ball. Instead we got headless Sema and hoofs to Deeney. The formation and the starting 11 was completely wrong.
Well, please just enlighten me and everyone else? What does he do that just about any other lower division football league forward can do? Outplayed? Really? I agree with the last sentence, but I think the rest must be a wind-up. Deeney doesn't create space he takes it up, something any forward can do. To be fair to him, at least this season he has been trying and is fitter, which is an improvement on last season when I thought he was a disgrace. So he doesn't deserve "vitriol" that you describe, but he is just not good enough for a top half premier league side. He has had a couple of decent games earlier this season, but usually he contributes precious little of note. With the current assets we have, Success should be playing. He needs time on the pitch, he needs more experience, but is an all-round better player than Deeney and would definitely be an improvement, there is no way he could be worse?
what do we reckon of Foster? Sure he's had some moments of brilliance, but he's also given away 2 or 3 penalties, and the charging off the line always looks dangerous?
How many chances is Sema going to be given? Completely one footed, when he does get to the line, which is about once every 3 games, his right footed cross is appalling. When he cuts inside on his left he ends up making a nothing pass a to one of the midfielders. Offers nothing. If we really have no one capable of playing there then change the bl00dy formation to one that suits the players we have got.
What's laughable is to suggest that Deeney is contributing much to our play leading to recent goals. He had nothing to do with last night's corner routine apart from being on the pitch. He wasn't even on the pitch for Deulofeu's goal against West Ham. Ok, he scored a penalty earlier but wasn't involved in the build up to it, other than making a run into the same bit of space that Pereyra had already run into and bringing a defender with him so Pereyra had to play the one-two rather than run straight in on goal. Not involved in either Quina's or Deulofeu's goals against Cardiff, did at least play a pass out wide to Deulofeu before he teed up Holebas though. Not involved in either goal at Everton, didn't touch the ball in either move, was nowhere near the crosses. Same story for the goal against Man City. It seems that we're reduced to the "he's on the pitch, therefore he must be making some space for other people to score the goals" argument when actually, he has had involvement in two of the last nine goals, scoring a penalty and playing a pass before a pass before a goal from 25 yards.
The fact is people just want someone to gripe at. The game doesn’t work like that it’s a team and a system making the difference - and this current setup works for us more often than not. You can quote stats until you’re blue in the face but I know what I’m seeing on the pitch and until we have a better option I’m happy with how Javi is setting up.
Yes, comfortably outplayed. They are a much better side with better players - this is not a surprise is it? I thought we defended well as it happens, and limited their clear cut chances, but we had next to no goalscoring opportunities where they had 3 or 4 other chances which could have gone in (Willian, Kante, Hazard at the end)
How can a team outplay the other when it was level until the hour mark, yet only create one or two chances? We were poor up front, but still had 10 shots on their goal, the same as they had on ours.
Are you having a laugh? Did you watch the game? The chances they created were clear cut, I can’t remember one for us bar Deeneys outside of foot over the bar. They held the ball for lengthy periods and passed round us. My point is, we didn’t play that badly, we were beaten by a better team. I would have thought most people watching would have arrived at the same conclusion.
Careful, he pretends to have worked for the Government or something in a sad effort to try and be right on a football forum, you are opening a real can of worms here.
I thought that Hazard made the difference last night. Thought Cathcart and Holebas were both excellent. If we let Doucoure go to PSG in January, I really hope the club uses the money to invest in those areas that need improving. Pozzo may need to go into the transfer market in January for a CB given the injury to Kabasele. Watching us play week in week out without a goal scoring striker is really frustrating. We will probably have to wait until the summer for anyone to come in. We looked tired in the second half so reckon there may be some changes against Newcastle. I’d like to see Success start.
Maybe just a bit slow given his age up against players probably 10-15 years younger? Some of the kicks in the first half were a bit iffy too. Cannot really complain given he saved us at West Ham with good reflexes which is Foster's strong point.
Chelsea are Hazard plus 10. Truly a mediocre side despite the money they have spent. We more than kept them in check and limited them to a sniff aside from the Hazard miskick that they scored two goals is more down to errant play from us than anything else. Infact we played better than Leicester did only to end up with a worse result. Once again the number of times we won possession in defence only to then gift it away and bring the pressure back onto us was scandalous. Yes they are pressing but in such situations play the ball simply or indeed hit it into the channels and let Deulofeu. Deeney and Pereyra go for it. That and Foster having a moment of madness cost us a point. Deeney played well when he had the ball. He is far more than he is painted to be and his overall impact is more than just his goals. Once again had the final ball been better, Deulofeu with his needless backheel, his pass to Doucoure (compare that to Pereyras to Doucoure which was blasted wide) or indeed Deeney just overhitting it to Gerard we would have had genuine goal scoring chances. It is a real issue this inability to find the final ball after creating the space or forcing a turnover and this constant giftig of the ball away by all players from Kiko to Pereyra. And overcommitting the midfield. Far too many times Doucoure is caught upfield when the pass from deep fails to find him. We almost committed hari kiri when Kabasele hit the post and from another corner something which we were also doing last season. Against teams like Chelsea we need to use more nowse as Leicester did. We are simply too open at times when we need to be defensively deep and conversely when we need to get a goal reluctant to play two upfront. Sema needs match fitness and he also needs to be played on the left which is an issue as Pereyra is stationed there. I think Gracia could have been quicker to change after the needless penalty with Quina replacing Sema Deulofeu moving there and giving Quina and Pereyra a free role. Quina is more than capable of playing the left hand side with his quicksilver feet and in his cameo showed great calmness and his ability. He is one to keep an eye on for sure. I cannot help once again that we have thrown away a point. Chelsea were hardly any great shakes the only time they looked remotely threatening was when we were desperately seeking an equalizer.
Apart from the standard over reaction in the first 30 minutes after the full time whistle from the usual suspects I can't argue too much against many of the posts. I have different opinions but I can see where most people are coming from. Somebody needs to have a chat with Foster about charging out of his goal like that. At last two pens he's given away now and does it a lot. The annoying thing about it last night was that we had got up a real head of steam and were very much on top and this just knocked the stuffing out of us. All in all I thought we deserved something out of the game but they have Hazard who was excellent all night. They will be in a lot of trouble if he leaves. Hope Kabasele is ok as his injury leaves us desperately short at the back. Marriapa is just not good enough at this level and to have him as first back up is dangerous. Might force us to look at bringing somebody in during the Transfer Window and hope we do because we have a real chance of finishing top 10 this season and challenging for European place. Not sure Quina did a lot when he came on and would have preferred Cleverley instead. I would have had Success on earlier as well. Deeney - I think the problem with football fans is that once they've made their mind up about a player then that's it no matter how they perform. I thought Troy was very decent last night. He won lots of headers and put their defence under pressure, he got in a couple of very decent positions to score and should probably have done better but my criticism of him last season was that he never got in those positions. He does create space for others by making intelligent runs. He may not be the best striker in the world but he's no where near as bad as some make him out to be. Doucoure is another like Deeney where because he had some poor games at the start of the season nothing will change. He missed pre season due to injury and was below par for a while but he's back to being the box to box midfielder from last season that got him such rave reviews. His passing has always been his weak point, despite the song, but the rest of his game is back up there Arsenal aside we have now played all the top 6 at home and have been mighty close to results in all bar one of those so we are not far away from being a really good side. Newcastle offers us a big chance of getting back to winning ways and suspect it may be the same team but those calling for Quina for Sema? Really? Would you play him wide? I agree that Sema is probably not good enough, except that wonderful Cruyff turn from last night, but not sure that's a like for like replacement to start the game
He isn't quoting stats, he's quoting facts about the goals that you seem to think, falsely, he is contributing to. But please feel free to come up with other examples that support your argument.
Who to be captain? Gomes & Prodl were the main choices. Not Doucs. Cathcart? Clevs? My choice would be Holebas, partly because he might lamp someone who’s not trying.
I think he's been excellent apart from last night and against Liverpool.Unfortunate really as we need everyone posting 8/10 to compete with top 6. I agree we looked tired but given the amount of time we were chasing Chelsea it's not surprising. For long periods of the first half we couldn't get the ball from them and when we did we panicked and gave it straight back. That is physically and emotionally draining and it was no shock that their two goals were through mistakes. As Travis said they are a better team,as well they might be given the wealth of talent they have in their squad. We look well drilled I think,everyone knows their role,a marked change from this time last year.
It’s weird how intelligent people (I’ll give you all the benefit of doubt ) can watch the same thing and come to different conclusions Chelsea are a good side and not limited to one player , not as good as Man City or Liverpool but still good, probably one of the top 30 sides in the world. When we play a side better than us they will interrupt our play and make us look worse than normal - we are not worse than normal, they are better than us. They also have one of the best players in the world , strangely he was troubling our defence , he would trouble Barcas defence Deeney , agreed he isn’t the striker he was, but he does add something to the team and I thought he did alright yesterday, again he is up against some of the best footballers in the world. Foster , yes it was a clear pen but I can see what he was doing , didn’t want to get caught again, he has been excellent no complaints from me. I would have loved foster to score the equaliser yesterday Sema a few nice touches , can’t really see him over quina but guess Javi does and that’s good enough for me. Our penalty shout, it wasn’t even close to a penalty, it’s alright for us to moan about some of the decisions against us, but let’s be realistic The team, we don’t have the best team in the world (or the prem) but it isn’t bad and definatley an upgrade on our first season in the premiership. In terms of securing the services of a 20 a year striker - There aren’t many in the world and we are competing with a lot of other clubs Javi and his substitutions, all I can say is 27 from 19 , would have Javi any day over Snake / Walter / the other bloke
Don't worry ZZ…..she's been a right stroppy cow these past few days. Must some sort of seasonal disorder she has.
