I'm not one to blame players but Eric Dier had a shocker today. Leaving out Kyle Walker was a mistake. Alonso is scared of him after the WHL game. Hugo went all Citeh in the first half. We're still short on top squad members with a few injuries and too many not trusted players, we looked bereft of ideas 10 minutes after the second equaliser.
Heads up my bonny lads . It bloody hurts and life seems unfair. We were the better team but tatically we were bettered and the ref allowed their breakup strategy to succeed. I think it's time to absorb myself in the warmth of my family to absorb the pain . God bless Tearful Sid
I'm blaming the manager, for the most part, but Atkinson was appalling and his poor decisions got ignored. That annoys me more than anything, to be honest. Not only does he **** up, but it's like it hasn't happened. There's no way that he should've got the game, though. We keep getting these refs that **** up high profile games and they do it again. Clattenburg's famous for the Pedro Mendes non-goal at Old Trafford. Then he does the Nani handball goal after that. Atkinson gives Chelsea the ghost goal in an FA Cup semi-final against us, so why do they give him the identical game to **** up again?
It's hard to tell, because Pochettino seems to make mistakes too, so that puts him under pressure. How many times have we got the team selection wrong against the better sides this season? We do seem to keep having injuries just before them though, for some reason. We have the squad to deal with that against the non-top 6 sides, but not against the best.
We're too nice. Others would be shouting about how ridiculous it is to pick the ref who guessed in the same e fixture previously. Still, we could have won it. We gave them 2 goals. We have to stop the ****ing ourselves over.
Yeah, what the heck was this Son as LWB and dropping Davies business all about?! Overall, the team played well. Let's not forget that. They dominated for long sustained period and they equalised twice. It went downhill from the moments of the substitutions/tactical changes. Conte was smarter than Poch.
There's been some suggestion that Davies had a knock and he didn't want to risk him. Don't put him on the bench, then. Play 4-2-3-1 and have Vertonghen at left-back, if you have to. Could've even stuck with the 3-4-2-1 and used Wimmer in the 3, but Son at wingback? No.
Don't wanna pound on prAtkinson too much, as he has not made an atrocious decision that cost us. As for the starting XI, I can only assume that if Davies was not injured then Pochettino was scared he might get skinned by whatever flank attack Chelsky chose. But even given that, in what universe is Son as wingback the solution ??
Wasn't the squad depth..was the selection...Sonny cant defend and making him run from deeper just nullified his effectiveness up top..hes not the best disciplined player position wise. All them goals feel avoidable to me....last 2 made it look like we had no DM's. Crap foul for free kick Sonny being stupid for the penalty corner headed out and no one closing onto Hazard Wonder goal was what it was...but that big gap was there for him to exploit. had the ball all day...or so it felt..but it's like they lack self belief...we lose it too easily or to a rubbish execution be it shot/pass
Pochettino probably knows nothing about it. He was still in Spain when it happened, wasn't he? We gave them four goals. Really sloppy and it smacks of Villas-Boas, unfortunately. Really need to sort out a few things in the summer. Our cup runs just aren't good enough.
No, it makes Atkinson look like a bad referee for not only allowing Chelsea to foul our players with impunity, but also being hoodwinked by Moses' diving on two crucial occasions which led to goals. If it was 1-1 at half time, which it should have been if Moses was booked for his dive instead of rewarded, the complexion of the game would have been very different in the second half. Similarly, if Luiz and Kante were booked in the first half for their various kicks and elbows, that would've changed the complexion of the game in the second half as their spoiler tactics wouldn't have been as successful if they were running the risk of being down to nine men.
I think he trusts the speed of his reactions too much. I'm no OS but I've played in goal and you let the wall cover one side of the goal. You stand over the other side and stand where you can see the ball. You don't move from that side unless you've seen the ball go that way. It's a basic skill. Hugo got it wrong and we were always chasing after that. Sonny's 'challenge' was Old Spurs defending. Absolutely ****. MP gambled playing him there and we lost. If we had faith in Wimmer with Vertonghen at left back...... **** it. I guess there'll be other days?
I'm sorry but am really annoyed at Pochettino...Son starting instead of Walker or Davies was poor. Keeping it that way until 70th minute was what cost us in my opinion. Feels like we threw away a great chance...not playing our strongest team in our strongest formation was stupid imho
The referee was poor but not the reason we lost the game. Unfortunately Dier and Hugo made some poor decisions but realistically for even going toe to toe with Chelsea we should be proud. Look at the resources at their disposal - billionaire owner leading to years of buying the best talent around the globe and buying trophies. Fifteen years of it. Just look at their subs bench compared to ours. To even be competing in the league, cups and CL in the midst of such disparity is actually a major achievement. We are exceeding ourselves vs. the Sky 4 for many seasons now but in the next two to three years the gap will close in terms of resources and we will trophies. So turn the frowns upside down.
Not so much trusting your own reactions, as much as not trusting your wall to do it's job. If it goes over that side and in, then it's a one in a million shot. You take those odds. Guard your own side and make sure that you're doing your own job. Don't worry about others doing theirs. Given the way that our defence has played this season, I don't think that he should have that mindset. He's had nothing at all to do in a lot of recent games. He should have trust in those players.
Yes. I think I was saying he couldn't see the ball and thought he'd react when he did and then lost his confidence and guessed as William went to hit it. It's poor in any event. Top goalkeepers don't make basic errors like that. Top managers don't play forwards as defenders for the first and only time in big games. Son's defensive abilities are few and today was a bad day to prove that. Another hard, hard lesson to be learned by all concerned.
