29 Oct 2020 12:08:38
Watching last night, I think the scoreline flatters to deceive us. First 65 mins was painful to watch. The major source of frustration was zouma, jorginho and rudiger. All 3 of them can pass the ball between till death does them apart 😛. Too much sideward and backward 5 yards passes with no intention of looking ahead. That to me will cost us games against better sides. Sadly all 3 are not good enough and needs to be moved for us to prosper. I know people will say zouma is our better defender but he is woeful in moving the ball forward. If we see the pattern teams allows our cb and dm lot of space and close them down once they have the ball. This either results in a mistake leading to goal for opposition or backward/ sideway till death. Only way is to sell them and replace with players who can move the ball to midfield for quick turnaround and bring our attackers into play. Currently our situation is like that of having a rolls royce ( i. e. attack) but driving at 20 kmph!
Looking for your views my fellow fans.
29 Oct 2020 12:26:23
I’ve made constructive comments in the past regarding Rudigers defensive shortcomings. I also know some posters don’t agree with my constructive criticism.
Putting Silva to one side and one really bad performance Zouma has been our best defender.
I agree with your post about there distribution and I think both Tomori and Christensen are better passers.
The Jorginho comment is interesting. I have been a massive defender of him and got plenty of stick for it but I did mention a conversation I had with a fellow Chelsea fan who’s opinion I respect. He made comments about Jorginho that are making me look at him as a player more closely.
29 Oct 2020 12:33:05
Zouma attributes make him first pick along side Tiago.
If you have any doubts look at his stats re winning headers and defending.
It's not his job to develop the play and make defence splitting passes.
Tiago has more of that in his locker so it makes for a good partnership
The real question last night was why he and Rudi were passing square to each other with no sign of Jorghino or Kovacic finding space or dropping deeper to develop the play?
29 Oct 2020 13:06:25
Good points Turvey.
29 Oct 2020 13:46:15
Imo those defenders may not be world class but they are by no means bad defenders, especially in comparison to others in the league. Like I always say, tactics can make a Messi look average and that's what make those defenders prone to mistakes. I'm sure many didn't think they are this poor/ not good enough until now and truth is that they can play in most other backline in the EPL except Chelsea. Lampard is not doing enough defensively which explains all those frailties in both setpieces and even our real defending. He must improve in this regard if we are to succeed as I see it as a coaching issue rather than just the qualities of the playing staff.
29 Oct 2020 13:54:07
ilo, I was very critical of the coaching staff last season. The defensive organisation at times was shambolic but this season I’ve seen some overdue signs of improvement, in particular at set plays. I would also add that Silva and Mendy are both looking solid and that helps big time.
29 Oct 2020 16:25:40
Zouma is a good defender (no doubt), however his probably the worst ball playing CB we have in the team.
Rudiger is slightly better with the ball but isn't as strong defensively as Zouma.
Its clear we need a ball playing CB who is also excellent at defending. Thiago Silva fits the bill and I'm sure if you pair him with any of the above we will be alright.
29 Oct 2020 17:16:49
Turvey agree on your point as regards zouma not required to play defence splitting passes. My problem is given the time on the ball he doesn't even try for over the top balls to full backs or wingers. In fact he did use that option only once yesterday when he picked chilwell out on the left. For me he can't always depend on Silva or Christensen to do that for him. He is a senior pro. Develop your game as you grow. As regards the issue of midfield not dropping deep, its more to do with jorginho. He did drop deep but his pass picking was awful. Many a times I saw kovacic frustrated as he made runs in the midfield only for our trio of special passers to keep passing the ball between them. Havertz and werner almost dropped near our box to get the ball in 2-3 instances. This is what I am saying is a problem. Our attackers being at the wrong end of the pitch means teams can easily defend and pin us back to get goals from midfield. The primary cause for me is the trio. So the way I see it they need to be moved on for us to progress.
29 Oct 2020 17:31:26
Ilo mate my point was never about their defending ability. I belive that was not tested yesterday. My point is more on how they are ill suited for modern day football with their passing abilities which invites unnecessary pressure resulting in goals for opposition. Please relook at yesterday match. You will come to the same conclusion.