The Chelsea Thread

[cfc12345]

Got what we deserved after going 2-0 up but still not the end of the world 5 games left and I still fully expect to see us heading to the knockouts.

 

[CJACKO11]

He's been up and down. That pass was awful, but he's made NINE interceptions, which is pretty remarkable. Terry's had a worse game in my eyes.

AT LAST SOMEONE WHO TALKS ******* SENSE!!!!!!!!! So many **** comments on Twitter slating the ***** out of Mikel, was he poor tonight yes he was but absolutely no slating towards Terry. JT, Brana, Ramires and Torres were all poor tonight but no hatted towards them at all!

 

[GodCubed]

AT LAST SOMEONE WHO TALKS ******* SENSE!!!!!!!!! So many **** comments on Twitter slating the ***** out of Mikel, was he poor tonight yes he was but absolutely no slating towards Terry. JT, Brana, Ramires and Torres were all poor tonight but no hatted towards them at all!

He's the Chelsea scapegoat. He plays and you lose, and right away everyone decides it is his fault. Some pundit who doesn't understand midfield play says he didn't do much, everyone parrots it, and then it's just a vicious circle of repetition by muppets.

 

[Vanjagl]

I think he'd find it hard to cover for Arbeloa, given he was on entirely the wrong side of the pitch from him. Essien's job was, essentially, to retain possession and harry opponents. Jose needed a player who could both pass reliably and run around a lot. Essien was the best fit, and considering he was short of fitness did both admirably.

Watch the game again, he helped Arbeloa in first 30 minutes or so. How could you retain possession and hassle opps if you made 0 interceptions and 0 tackles ?

 

[CJACKO11]

He's the Chelsea scapegoat. He plays and you lose, and right away everyone decides it is his fault. Some pundit who doesn't understand midfield play says he didn't do much, everyone parrots it, and then it's just a vicious circle of repetition by muppets.

Interceptions won:
MIKEL - 9
Luiz -4
Terry - 3
Barzagli - 3
Vidal - 3
Marchisio - 3

 

[GodCubed]

Watch the game again, he helped Arbeloa in first 30 minutes or so. How could you retain possession and hassle opps if you made 0 interceptions and 0 tackles ?

Nope, don't see it. Not to mention the average positions diagrams show him firmly on the left side of the field.

You can hassle opposition without necessarily making interceptions and tackles. Take Brett Holman against Swansea the other day: only made one tackle, but his contribution to the defence and our pressing was far, far greater.

Interceptions won:
MIKEL - 9
Luiz -4
Terry - 3
Barzagli - 3
Vidal - 3
Marchisio - 3

A good game interception-wise, but his pass success % was uncharacteristically low, at 80%. Up and down, as I said.

 

[Subtle]

I'll go into it in detail tomorrow but if anything Mikel's bizarre number of interceptions actually shows how poorly he understood his role tonight and why we got destroyed in midfield.

(Tbf to the guy, we use him as both a destroyer and a passer which gives him a tough set of jobs to balance, and Frank isn't doing much to help, but he was appalling this evening. Multiple players under performed but he looked utterly clueless and we've given him plenty of time, he needs to step up...)

 

[oja20]

You can't base a players performance on one stat. Football is a game of opinions so I respect people who like Mikel but I think we need someone better than both him and Lamps (Lamps isn't good enough to drop deeper ala Scholes in my opinion) in that midfield if we want to challenge for the league/Champions League again.

 

[GodCubed]

I'll go into it in detail tomorrow but if anything Mikel's bizarre number of interceptions actually shows how poorly he understood his role tonight and why we got destroyed in midfield.

(Tbf to the guy, we use him as both a destroyer and a passer which gives him a tough set of jobs to balance, and Frank isn't doing much to help, but he was appalling this evening. Multiple players under performed but he looked utterly clueless and we've given him plenty of time, he needs to step up...)

I don't think it was particularly Mikel's fault today. His role was pretty clearly the destroyer in the side. I think your second point is much more pertinent. He had to be a destroyer, and a disciplined passer, AND try and keep the structure of the side together all in one, since Lampard did his usual headless chicken act. The 4-2-3-1 you're playing requires structure, and Lampard really isn't helping his midfield partner.

I'm not saying Mikel was good today - he certainly didn't pass well, which is pivotal for his position - but he wasn't as bad as everyone is making out, as per usual.

You can't base a players performance on one stat. Football is a game of opinions so I respect people who like Mikel but I think we need someone better than both him and Lamps (Lamps isn't good enough to drop deeper ala Scholes in my opinion) in that midfield if we want to challenge for the league/Champions League again.

Certainly. As I said, he didn't have a good game, regardless of his impressive interception rate.

 

[Subtle]

I don't think it was particularly Mikel's fault today. His role was pretty clearly the destroyer in the side.

He didn't play how a destroyer should though. He got so many interceptions because he never stuck to his man and allowed Marchisio and Vidal as much space as they wanted. He defended like a regista. His job was to shut down their midfield rhythm and stop them making runs from deep. He failed, horribly.

 

[GodCubed]

He didn't play how a destroyer should though. He got so many interceptions because he never stuck to his man and allowed Marchisio and Vidal as much space as they wanted. He defended like a regista. His job was to shut down their midfield rhythm and stop them making runs from deep. He failed, horribly.

Right, but much as his positional play was naive, he was forced into making bad decisions by the mess that was Lampard's sense of position. Since Lamps was busy drifting around not really marking either a man or a zone, Mikel had to either mark one person and let the other go free or try and deal with both at the same time. He chose the latter, and so the Juve pair played around him.

I guess my point is that yes, he played badly, but much of it wasn't his fault. Structure is absolutely critical in a 4-2-3-1, and thanks to Lampard there was a sum total of **** all in Chelsea's today. You can get away with that against Wigan, but not a strong Juve side on excellent form. Mikel did not play well, but it would've taken a mix between Sergio Busquets and Jesus to cover the amount of space Mikel had to today. So yeah, Mikel wasn't great, but it's spectacularly missing the bigger picture to just point out how badly he played and ignore everyone else.

 

[Subtle]

I don't think anyone is pointing out how badly Mikel played and ignoring everyone else though. Frank obviously left him high and dry, (he seemed to think he was playing in 4-3-3) and people like Oja and I have acknowledged that. It as very much a collective failing between the pair of them, the thing is Mikel made a visible mistake which cost us our lead so his bad shift tonight seemed that much worse.

 

[cZeur]

Although I'm disappointed in the result, I do think there are positives to be taken from tonight. The biggest one has to be Oscar: his passing was tidy on the whole and he marked Pirlo out the game, oh and he scored a couple as well. Personally, I was most impressed with his movement, especially in the second half. When Lamps was doing what GC described as the "headless chicken", Oscar dropped deepest in midfield, retaining possession effectively. On that basis, and on the evidence that he's produced while playing for Brazil, I think that eventually Oscar could easily become our regista-type player.

Even in the near future, with Lampard approaching the wrong end of 30 and his performances coming into question, dropping Oscar deeper alongside Mikel not only gives us a solid base to our midfield but also frees up a space higher up. With our recent influx of attacking midfielders, I think that Oscar's best chance of regular gametime would be in an Arteta-esque role. He most definitely has the skill set&the intelligence.

So all in all, disappointed we threw away a 2 goal lead, but I think we've learned a lot from tonight's game, not least who's up to the task this season, and I think Oscar most certainly is.

 

[juventus1980]

Great game last night, very pleased to have got a point away against the European champions.

Oscar's second goal was genius, it's rare to see talent like his. He was tactically excelent as well, preventing Pirlo from dictating a game is a very hard job and he excelled.

I think Juve showed why we've only been beaten once in the whole of Conte's time in charge (never in the league), they refused to give up and Vidal personified that by scoring the first goal even after he injured his ankle.

 

[CJACKO11]

Great game last night, very pleased to have got a point away against the European champions.

Oscar's second goal was genius, it's rare to see talent like his. He was tactically excelent as well, preventing Pirlo from dictating a game is a very hard job and he excelled.

I think Juve showed why we've only been beaten once in the whole of Conte's time in charge (never in the league), they refused to give up and Vidal personified that by scoring the first goal even after he injured his ankle.

I was really impressed with Juve mate, the game on a whole was very good to watch and both sides really went for it. Like you say for a 21 year old to stop Pirlo is sensational, i really liked Vidal and Marcishio though. Draw was the fair result in the end but was just not happy with the way we threw it away.

 

[CJACKO11]

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[CJACKO11]

Not sure if anyone knows but Jon Obi Mikel has left Twitter tonight because he did not want to read all the abuse he got on there from "Chelsea" fans. Its shocking to see this type of **** happening, it makes me wish we never became one of Europe's elite and pick up all the plastic mugs along the way. YOU ARE NOT ******* WANTED HERE!!!!! As some of the comments crossed criminal boundaries the police have been handed the tweets.

 

[Mike.]

Not sure if anyone knows but Jon Obi Mikel has left Twitter tonight because he did not want to read all the abuse he got on there from "Chelsea" fans. Its shocking to see this type of **** happening, it makes me wish we never became one of Europe's elite and pick up all the plastic mugs along the way. YOU ARE NOT ******* WANTED HERE!!!!! As some of the comments crossed criminal boundaries the police have been handed the tweets.

I have to say, blowing my gasket on this one. Yes he made a mistake, but he also kept Chelsea in the game while Lampard when utterly awol for the defensive shape. If anyone deserves criticism its the untouchable Lampard. Mikel was easily the better of the two last night.

Come to United Mikel, we actually like play breakers, and unfashionable players.

 

[GodCubed]

Not sure if anyone knows but Jon Obi Mikel has left Twitter tonight because he did not want to read all the abuse he got on there from "Chelsea" fans. Its shocking to see this type of **** happening, it makes me wish we never became one of Europe's elite and pick up all the plastic mugs along the way. YOU ARE NOT ******* WANTED HERE!!!!! As some of the comments crossed criminal boundaries the police have been handed the tweets.

Don't blame him. I'll say a player's had a bad performance, but I won't take time out of my day to say it to him anonymously over the internet, and I certainly won't resort to personal attacks.

People need to realise that these players are doing their job. Whether they've done it well or badly is up for debate, but nobody should be subjected to abuse for their performance or lack of it, whether you're in an office or on the pitch.

 

[GodCubed]

Come to United Mikel, we actually like play breakers, and unfashionable players.

Can you imagine the collective aneurysm the likes of Garth Crooks would have if United fielded a Carrick-Mikel midfield?