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The Chelsea Thread
- Thread starter Ramires
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Brilliant Win. We are halfway there lads, halfway to Munich. The harder part of the job still remains but right now I am going to celebrate the moment.
Chelsea put on a defensive masterclass tonight. Their is a reason why only 6 out of Barcelona's 24 shots were on-target. Although admittedly, they could have scored around 4 goals with those 6 shots.
Chelsea only had around 4 shots with only 1 on target but it was that one which counted in the end ain't it. Don't think their was much we did wrong, if we tried to play Barcelona at their own game then we would have been killed for sure. We probably had to be patient and wait for chances and be clinical with them and thats what we did.
Of course we needed a bit of luck but thats the kind of luck you need against great teams, if you want to be champions. Barcelona did not take their chances. We took ours. At the end of the day if you dont take your chances no matter how many you have, you will not win. And if the other side takes theirs then you definitely deserve to lose.
Also a nice Oriol Romeu interview for you all to chew on- Oriol Romeu Interview Translated to English - We Ain't Got No History
Chelsea put on a defensive masterclass tonight. Their is a reason why only 6 out of Barcelona's 24 shots were on-target. Although admittedly, they could have scored around 4 goals with those 6 shots.
Chelsea only had around 4 shots with only 1 on target but it was that one which counted in the end ain't it. Don't think their was much we did wrong, if we tried to play Barcelona at their own game then we would have been killed for sure. We probably had to be patient and wait for chances and be clinical with them and thats what we did.
Of course we needed a bit of luck but thats the kind of luck you need against great teams, if you want to be champions. Barcelona did not take their chances. We took ours. At the end of the day if you dont take your chances no matter how many you have, you will not win. And if the other side takes theirs then you definitely deserve to lose.
Also a nice Oriol Romeu interview for you all to chew on- Oriol Romeu Interview Translated to English - We Ain't Got No History
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Drogba is such a clever bloke!! He knows he is getting a bit old now and he knew that millions would be watching the game and it would be the perfect time to audition for panto!
Good win for Chelsea, was rooting for them, hope they can finish the job in the next leg!
Good win for Chelsea, was rooting for them, hope they can finish the job in the next leg!
Guys blaming Drogba must realise one thing what he did was Break Barca's play and frustate them whenever he got the ball! btw does anybody who are going to miss the second leg and hopefully referee will do as good a job as they did yesterday!
Gareth Southgate said on ITV before the match Mascherano has been brilliant at CB for Barca all season, oh dear, he has not been watching them then has he?
You mean you haven't been watching them? It's a myth that Mascherano can't play CB.
Guardiola: "Mascherano is the best signing this club has made in 4 years".
Firstly when did I say he can't play CB? I didn't for a start. I know he can...
Secondly, I have seen Barca play many times and he has not been "great all season" like Gareth Southgate said at all.
Want an example? Milan in the Champions League Quarter Final one of the goals they scored was down to him not being level with the rest of the defensive line therefore keeping the goalscorer onside.
I knew you would want to make a negative remark. the fact is I have been watching them and I know he has made a few mistakes during the season, so the quote Southgate said is not true. Infact his error in the QF againt Milan could of cost them progressing.
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So because he makes a couple of mistakes mean he's played bad overall? Evans screwed up against City, Evans has been awful all season.
Masch has 3.5 tackles per game, 3.6 interceptions per game, 2.2 clearances per game. Puyol has 1.5, 1.6 and 2.4 respectively. Pique has 1.4, 1.1 and 2.5. Mascherano has been their best CB this season. By far.
Regardless of tackles, interceptions, clearences, he has made some errors which have cost Barcelona goals, I can't see Pique making the same mistake Mascherano did against Milan in the Quarters, he is a good CB but not great, much better in the CDM position, his lack of CB position awareness has cost him/Barca a few times this season. I just don't agree that he has been great all season and I have watched a fair few Barcelona matches.
Mascherano has been in better form at centreback this then Pique. Pique has made more errors.
Pique has been poor this season, whether it has been due to him being in and out of the team and also a few injuries I am not sure, I do like Mascherano as a player but I just think he is error prone in the CB position, I guess Saturday will be a good test for him if he starts that game.
Edit: Maybe Luiz being ruled out of the Barca game yesterday was a blessing in disguise, I thought Cahill was magnificent (second half) and I do not think he would of started if Luiz was available.
Your judging Mascherano over 2 or 3 games If you was going to do that then you can say the same about every single player in the world. Everyone makes mistakes, its natural, just because a player has a few bad games or makes a few mistakes doesn't mean he can't play CB. If your saying that, then your basically saying Messi cant play as a CF because of last night's mistake or RVP can't play CF because of a few mistakes he has made this season, or Balotelli can't play CF because of the mistakes he has made this season. You can't do that, because this season, Mascherano has been one of the their best CB's. The amount of times he has saved Barca this season from conceding is unreal.
Back to the game last night, I thought Chelsea defended really well, although Barca were very, very poor. They seem to hate playing in England for some reason. They should have scored at least 3 in the first half without exaggerating. Chelsea played the game well, although I feel they needed at least 2 to go to the Nou Camp.
Chelsea have got the first part done, and they done it well, and I'm happy for them. The second leg will be a completely different game as we all know, the most important thing is to not sit back because although it worked at Home, you can't gaurentee it will work Away, especially at the Nou Camp. Barcelona will be more comfortable at Home, the weather will be better, they will have a bigger pitch, 90,000 fans behind them. It's going to be a very tough and Barcelona are more than capable of scoring 3 at Home.
Another thing, Messi may have had a poor game against you lot last night, but DO NOT write him off for the second leg. I remember the Quarter Final between Barca and Arsenal in 2010, at the Emirates he had a very, very quiet game and well we all know what happend at the Nou Camp in the Second leg. Saying all that, I'm totally confident that Chelsea can see this through. They have the qualities and their defence is solid. Well done you guys, done English football proud last night (Y)
Same joke just updated a bit more.
Also something that fails to go mentioned is that JT has been playing through these games with 2 cracked ribs!!! I personally have never cracked a rib but from someone i know said it hurts to even drink and breathe so he deserves so much credit. Also his partnership with Cahill at Centre Back surely bodes well for England if Pearce is allowed to pick JT that is.
I would still pick Jags over Terry, but he has been much better, mainly because Chelsea are playing with such a deep line. England wont play a line that deep, thats why I repeatedly say Jags/Smalling as opposed to Cahill/Terry.
Do not mention Balotelli, the guy is always a mistake waiting to happen
Mascherano reads the game extremely well, so he is good in that sense. But my opinion is that over the games I have watched (Sky virtually cover Barcelona every weekend), he lacks the positional discipline of a Centre Back, I think he is so much better suited to the CDM position, although I know he is able to play CB to a decent level. He has been caught out with his tactical indiscipline in that position, which is probably natural due to it being his secondary position, but this is just my opinion. Can we not just accept that everyone is allowed an opinion on here?
Do not mention Balotelli, the guy is always a mistake waiting to happen
Mascherano reads the game extremely well, so he is good in that sense. But my opinion is that over the games I have watched (Sky virtually cover Barcelona every weekend), he lacks the positional discipline of a Centre Back, I think he is so much better suited to the CDM position, although I know he is able to play CB to a decent level. He has been caught out with his tactical indiscipline in that position, which is probably natural due to it being his secondary position, but this is just my opinion. Can we not just accept that everyone is allowed an opinion on here?
Oh without a doubt, I respect opinions on here, and at the end of the day its just a bit of football banter. I actually remember Mascherano when he was at West Ham, we hardly gave him a chance and favoured Tevez over him. Now look at him, haha. If you said to me that an ex-West Ham player would end up playing for Barcelona, I would have bitten your hand off
They were both top quality players alreadyOh without a doubt, I respect opinions on here, and at the end of the day its just a bit of football banter. I actually remember Mascherano when he was at West Ham, we hardly gave him a chance and favoured Tevez over him. Now look at him, haha. If you said to me that an ex-West Ham player would end up playing for Barcelona, I would have bitten your hand off
But it was an absolute unbelievable double signing for West Ham at the time. Edit: Chelsea should play same line up next week against Barca, worked well.They were both top quality players already
Although Illegally yes
It did work well last night, the work rate of the players was unbelievable. Oh and Ramires is the best playing in the world