The Chelsea Thread

[CJACKO11]

Fantastic stuff today from the lads in between the last 2 games i saw so many fans saying "Ba and Bertrand are ****" etc etc. They are surprisingly quiet this evening. This is what happens when you judge players on a game to game basis! Also saw so many tweets and status's before the game saying "oh no not Mikel" as per usual.

Pass Completion rate at 90% which was the highest for Chelsea.
5 interceptions which was more than any other player.
3 tackles which was the 2nd most of anyone.

One of the best goals i have seen this season was scored today but the save by Cech won us the game 100%! The best save i have seen by Cech was the one from Carroll in the fa cup final last season but that today topped it! And our love affair with the cup goes on! UTC

 

[JDY]

Fantastic stuff today from the lads in between the last 2 games i saw so many fans saying "Ba and Bertrand are ****" etc etc. They are surprisingly quiet this evening. This is what happens when you judge players on a game to game basis! Also saw so many tweets and status's before the game saying "oh no not Mikel" as per usual.

Pass Completion rate at 90% which was the highest for Chelsea.
5 interceptions which was more than any other player.
3 tackles which was the 2nd most of anyone.

One of the best goals i have seen this season was scored today but the save by Cech won us the game 100%! The best save i have seen by Cech was the one from Carroll in the fa cup final last season but that today topped it! And our love affair with the cup goes on! UTC

You seem to overrate Mikel far too much. He had a decent game today, like a number of players. Why aren't you praising Ivanovic? Or Luiz who has been our best player under Benitez

 

[CJACKO11]

You seem to overrate Mikel far too much. He had a decent game today, like a number of players. Why aren't you praising Ivanovic? Or Luiz who has been our best player under Benitez

Both were very good today but both don't constantly get slated week in week out for things which are false. Mikel constantly gets slated for things which are not true and couldn't be further from the truth which annoys me. Ivanovic's form of late has been quite poor but today he was sensational. Luiz's form on the other hand has been very good and he showed that again today. I also praised Ba and Bertrand earlier in the post didn't i as they have been topic number 1 these last few days because they apparently "are ****".

 

[Snypar]

Away from the FA Cup victory, we lost against Aston Villa 2-0 in the Next Gen finals. Kiwomya got sent off, and two penalties from Burke gave Villa the win.

 

[CJACKO11]

Away from the FA Cup victory, we lost against Aston Villa 2-0 in the Next Gen finals. Kiwomya got sent off, and two penalties from Burke gave Villa the win.

Yeah just watched that, fully deserved with by Villa congrats to them. Still runners up is a sensational achievement considering we beat Arsenal, Juve and not to forget Barca....... With 10 men obviously.

 

[JDY]

Both were very good today but both don't constantly get slated week in week out for things which are false. Mikel constantly gets slated for things which are not true and couldn't be further from the truth which annoys me. Ivanovic's form of late has been quite poor but today he was sensational. Luiz's form on the other hand has been very good and he showed that again today. I also praised Ba and Bertrand earlier in the post didn't i as they have been topic number 1 these last few days because they apparently "are ****".

My main gripe is that he's terribly inconsistent, yet when he has a good game his role and importance gets overrated so much. He's a good player who fulfils his role well, nothing more.

I haven't seen many people saying Ba is ****. If you are referring to the reaction after the West Ham game, then they are clueless. His finishing was off but his all round game was very good.

 

[Jak]

What a keeper. Ridiculous some rate Reina and De Gea above him.

Reina probably not at the moment, De Gea I'd say is better

 

[Nick Chelsea]

Probably because De Gea has been pulling off world class saves like that almost weekly, and is nowhere near as error prone as the media would have you believe.

Lol. Probably one of the worst keepers when it comes to crosses and high balls. Please. I don't judge keepers just by how many great saves they've made. Probably De Gea will be one of the best GKs one day, but he is far from it as of now.

 

[Gaston]

Lol. Probably one of the worst keepers when it comes to crosses and high balls. Please. I don't judge keepers just by how many great saves they've made. Probably De Gea will be one of the best GKs one day, but he is far from it as of now.

He was terrible at the start of last season but you can't deny he's one of the best keepers in the Prem this season. Cech, Reina and Hart have not been at their best all season, although they obviously have massive reputations due to their obvious class.

Although I dislike Man United, I have to say, De Gea is a great keeper now and although he still has a long way to go until he reaches the standard of Buffon and the like, he is underrated by many at the moment. Yes, his ability to handle crosses is not great, but you can't deny he makes some brilliant saves!

 

[GodCubed]

Lol. Probably one of the worst keepers when it comes to crosses and high balls. Please. I don't judge keepers just by how many great saves they've made. Probably De Gea will be one of the best GKs one day, but he is far from it as of now.

De Gea has only 6% worse aerial claim success % than Cech, and he also makes vastly more saves per game and saves per goal. If you don't judge keepers just by how many great saves they look like they've made, I think De Gea probably takes it rather handily.

For what it's worth, I reckon they're about on the same level. Cech's been brilliant this season, really rolled back the years, but so has De Gea behind a leaky United defence. Their strengths are different, but overall they're similar in level I think.

 

[TJD07]

De Gea is always going to "struggle" with the aerial balls due to his size, he's built like a small Spanish schoolboy. He comes out ahead in near all areas apart from those where he does have a very clear disadvantage and to be fair to him he's seemed a lot more comfortable with both those wild long shots and the ball coming in from high and wide.

Cech has been brilliant at times but at others he does seem a little vulnerable to making a poor call or just getting it wrong. Like GC said though, he's rolled back the years and is starting to get back into his old form that really cemented his place in goal.

Reina has been having a poor few seasons although he's starting to play better and has been a little less error prone.
Hart has been playing well but doesn't look nearly as good as he did last season and just seems to lose concentration at times.

 

[Tyton]

You guys wouldn't even be having this discussion if not for De Gea's ridicoulus saves in first game.

 

[Tyton]

Because Hazard's amazing? I'm Vic's biggest supporter, but even I'm realistic enough to know that he won't reach Hazard's level. Moreover, Hazard's been given a proper run of games and has a lot of confidence, which can't hurt.

He's showing flashes of brilliance, but he needs to mature and develop in a stable environment. Everywhere he's played beforehand he's been top dog, the big guy, and I think he just needs to change his style to become a proper team player who can effect a game without having to be constantly on the ball and in the box.

Well , thats my whole point. Lad's definitely talented, but he needs to up his game if he wants to be more then impact sub.

 

[Nick Chelsea]

De Gea has only 6% worse aerial claim success % than Cech, and he also makes vastly more saves per game and saves per goal. If you don't judge keepers just by how many great saves they look like they've made, I think De Gea probably takes it rather handily.

For what it's worth, I reckon they're about on the same level. Cech's been brilliant this season, really rolled back the years, but so has De Gea behind a leaky United defence. Their strengths are different, but overall they're similar in level I think.

Only 6%?

How about Courtois, is he worse than King De Gea?

 

[GodCubed]

Well , thats my whole point. Lad's definitely talented, but he needs to up his game if he wants to be more then impact sub.

Then you were a little unfair in expressing said point. Going from saying he 'works hard' but is just 'farting in the wind' to saying he's 'definitely talented' is a bit of a disconnect. Fair enough in the end though.

Only 6%?

How about Courtois, is he worse than King De Gea?

Actually, he hasn't made an unsuccessful aerial claim this season, so he's at 100%, 4% more than Cech. He's conceded fewer than both, and splits Cech and De Gea on saves per goal and saves per game.

 

[Mike.]

Only 6%?

How about Courtois, is he worse than King De Gea?

This is why you shouldnt listen to pundits and follow perception. De Gea this season has been much much better in the air than given credit for. To the point where his critics are having to become ever more outlandish in their aims to put him down.

 

[GodCubed]

This is why you shouldnt listen to pundits and follow perception. De Gea this season has been much much better in the air than given credit for. To the point where his critics are having to become ever more outlandish in their aims to put him down.

His aerial claiming is worse than, say, Brad Guzan, who has been an absolute rock in the air for us this season, and Wojciech Chesney, but it's only 3% worse than Tim Howard's, the same as Jose Reina's, and a rather large 6% better than Joe Hart's. He also makes more saves per game and per goal than Hart, so he's pretty much all-round better, by quite a margin this year. He's better than Vorm, too, so I don't think his aerial ability is a massive problem, and it is improving every game.

 

[Mike.]

His aerial claiming is worse than, say, Brad Guzan, who has been an absolute rock in the air for us this season, and Wojciech Chesney, but it's only 3% worse than Tim Howard's, the same as Jose Reina's, and a rather large 6% better than Joe Hart's. He also makes more saves per game and per goal than Hart, so he's pretty much all-round better, by quite a margin this year. He's better than Vorm, too, so I don't think his aerial ability is a massive problem, and it is improving every game.

Please, don't come here with facts. People don't like facts!

 

[Tyton]

Heh. Call me weird, but I think "aerial claiming" isn't that useful statistic, or at least one shouldn't disconnect it from the other stats. Would propably be more useful to look at how much team actually concedes from air. DDG might still come out on top thanks to his crazy shot stopping.

 

[Mike.]

Heh. Call me weird, but I think "aerial claiming" isn't that useful statistic, or at least one shouldn't disconnect it from the other stats. Would propably be more useful to look at how much team actually concedes from air. DDG might still come out on top thanks to his crazy shot stopping.

In a keepers case it is incredibly useful. We are specifically talking how good a keeper is in claiming the ball. A team might concede at set pieces for reasons not to do with the keeper. For example Guzan is a beast in the air, but Villa are terrible at defending set pieces. This is because Villa's defensive organisation pretty much doesn't exist.