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You're #stillhigh about a team (which isn't even a local rival) going out of a competition which you crashed out of months ago? Big club my arse.
Well, technically they are a local rival for most Kopites.
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Interesting Johnathon Wilson article on Van Gaal's philosophy or lack thereof at Utd.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/mar/12/louis-van-gaal-manchester-united-philosophy
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PSG deserved that totally, the signs were there right after the sending off, Chelsea looked sluggish last night.
Motta is quality he ran the whole game yesterday, veratti a player you want in your team but hate if he's playing against you.
NIce to see Dicki and Mike happy.exciting run in for the rest of the season.
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Something that's struck me in the last few weeks is that everyone is talking about Chelsea stagnating, but that arc is pretty normal for a Mourinho team.
No-one in the media seems to ever spot the trend that Mourinho's teams always start the season with a bang, playing dynamic flowing football and then gradually regress to this niggly bus-parking stuff. Especially in the Champions League.It strikes me as a bit disingenuous when everyone comes out with all this vitriol after a performance like that - what did you expect?
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@ dan It's not the case. Chelsea usually play better in warmer weather. At least that's been the case for the last few years. Maybe it's too many players from warmer climates, growing up playing on predominantly dry pitches. So they play well until October/November then struggle until April.
Last night they were beaten by an intelligent defence, PSG upset them and hassled them off their game. Not the managers fault, the players didn't want the physical challenges and that worked for PSG. Also not surprising that an all Brazilian defence had Oscar/Ramires/Willian unsettled.
I've not seen a defence that good in the PL this year, I don't expect to see it any time soon.
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dan
Not sure what's worse; Chelsea's woeful performance or having to listen to all the sanctimonious Liverpool fans gloat....>
Downer spurs fans are the bestest...
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It's not a comment about last nights match. More a comment about the way Chelsea's season tends to arc each year. The season doesn't just go downhill from a good start, it usually ends with better performances. It coincides with the weather, might not be the cause.
Like I said, PSG's defence are very good. Intelligent, organised and mobile. Having said that the goals from both teams were similar and relied on set pieces to make a breakthrough. Chelsea defend well, PSG defended better in open play.
Let's not forget it was a draw in both matches. PSG looked to be the better side (marginally) but it's hardly a humiliating defeat. Just an ugly game of football.
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dan
Something that's struck me in the last few weeks is that everyone is talking about Chelsea stagnating, but that arc is pretty normal for a Mourinho team.
No-one in the media seems to ever spot the trend that Mourinho's teams always start the season with a bang, playing dynamic flowing football and then gradually regress to this niggly bus-parking stuff. Especially in the Champions League.It strikes me as a bit disingenuous when everyone comes out with all this vitriol after a performance like that - what did you expect?>
Because the majority of those in the media think we're fucking stupid with their gush, gaffaw and batted eyelids at his every word. When he shows breathtaking hypocrisy how often is he called out there and then? This is disingenuous. The excitement shown on his second coming was nauseating. They were happy to talk about his success (rightfully) but rarely discussed the dive formation employed for Porto's CL win or the negative stuff Inter played essentially waiting for the opposition to make a mistake...ALL boring suffocating football.
Yes, there is more than one way to skin a cat; but they've found an oil well and have the money to cherry pick the best of the current La Liga champions/CL finalists at a whim, they have the draw to gazump rivals for prospective players in the middle of their medicals yet decide to play Stoke football is exactly the reason why so many are happy to see them crash and burn. Atletico playing like that is understandable but not the OG oil well. That is disingenuous.
His seeming distrust of skillful players is plain to see....How many silk players have flourished under his tutelage or even maintained their curve?? YJC? Willian? Modric?? Maybe this is the source of vitriol. Managers like Ancelotti, Rafa and Di Matteo brought the club some neutral love. St Jose desperately seeks it but only finds respect.
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Airhead
@ dan It's not the case. Chelsea usually play better in warmer weather. At least that's been the case for the last few years. Maybe it's too many players from warmer climates, growing up playing on predominantly dry pitches. So they play well until October/November then struggle until April.
Last night they were beaten by an intelligent defence, PSG upset them and hassled them off their game. Not the managers fault, the players didn't want the physical challenges and that worked for PSG. Also not surprising that an all Brazilian defence had Oscar/Ramires/Willian unsettled.
I've not seen a defence that good in the PL this year, I don't expect to see it any time soon.>
It is exactly the manager's fault if the players are sent out with the wrong mindset and mentally ill-prepared. In the build up he seemed more interested in mindgames® than getting to grips with the game. Down to 10 men in 30mins... at home...
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Airhead
....Let's not forget it was a draw in both matches. PSG looked to be the better side (marginally) but it's hardly a humiliating defeat....
...like last year?
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Love it
#stillhigh -
You mean we scraped past them and lost to the future finalists? They took it very badly didn't they?
Clearly the team lost the plot last night, if you play football yourself you'll recognise the way they lost track of the game, lost concentration.
Clearly they were sent out to do better, complete passes, press PSG and score goals while defending. The players couldn't complete passes they would normally, couldn't find a way to defeat the PSG defence, couldn't handle Varetti. The manager might want to deflect from that or claim he has more power but PSG were good, sharp and wanted it more.
When Chelsea beat Barca or Bayern Munich did their managers cop the blame, no they didn't. When we beat Liverpool in the League Cup did Rodgers get the blame, no. Instead you want to focus on a Chelsea player standing on someones leg and how Mourinho put him up to it by creating a "fortress mentality".
As a fan of Chelsea and Mourinho I see he overreacts to the "unfair" aspects of the game, but overall his reading of the game is good and his interviews are sane enough until he gets goaded into saying something controversial. The media don't love him they feed off his ability to provide headlines.
I would say you need to get off his back, but he gets 40,000 fans chanting his name on a regular basis so I would imagine his ego is big enough to handle it.
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Would you not say that Mourinho is to blame for putting together a small squad (which isnt neccessarily a problem if managed well) and then not rotating that small squad?
I lol'd at your warm weather hypothesis. If you were correct; it seems poor business to recruit players who don't perform in cold weather for a league that is mostly played in cold weather
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I think the squad size is partly dictated by FFP. With the premium prices for UK players in the PL it's not surprising that we don't have a squad of homegrown talent. I don't make or understand the decisions to buy certain players. I don't pretend to understand the reason Chelsea have the squad they have now, with Willian, Oscar and Ramires all being too lightweight for the PL in my opinion.
I can understand not rotating a squad that's winning matches, then try to deal with the consequences. Unlike the Rafa method where you rotate all the time by rote and don't win enough.
I've developed an opinion from following Chelsea that they perform better in the warmer weather. Just like Arsenal always choke, Man City underperform in the champions league and Liverpools year is always next year.
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The thing I took from the Chelsea PSG match was how poor football is now. Joses normal pre match crap + constant diving, falling over at the slightest contact, trying to decieve the ref, acting, crowding the ref demanding cards its fucking pathetic. 200,000 a week to win in any underhand wsy possible. I'm pretty much done with footbal. I won't be renewing my premier league club membership.
Rant over, as you were. -
It was an ugly match, there have been a few bad ones over the years in the CL at Stamford Bridge. Players loosing the plot and the game. Pathetic is a good word for it. Noticeable that there are very few players who consistently avoid embarrassing themselves and their club.
John Terry's quoted today, "We'll match it if people want to mix it, that's part of our game as well". That was supposed to be in defence of Chelsea. EUFA are right to threaten more punishment, there were at least a dozen players last night who turned that game to shit that no one wants to watch and it happens too often in high stakes games.
It's not an indication of football as a whole though, there's loads of great games being played. Occasionally featuring Chelsea, just not so often in the late stages of the CL.
Prole.
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Chalfie
cornelius_blackfoot
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Airhead
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@Pistanator
it was nasty and there was no need for it