Joe was OK, only OK. Not much to work with. Jones was poor, all his usual bad habits kf over holding ball and not playing forward Jota was OK, half fit is the issue, he was picking and choosing runs and pressing. Was left on too long imo just run into ground way past the point of being able to contribute The utter panic at cb not knowing when to go and when to drop and the absolutely desperate midfield was notlunished by an absolutely desperate Chelsea performance. If we were Southampton I'd say 2 points dropped. Where we are at any away point is near miraculous
He fell into the usual trap that our players do, get the ball, pass it back, I'm not sure he lost the ball much though. Yhe link up for the front 3 was good considering it was new. It was close to coming off a few times, but not to be. It's easy to look at Chelsea league position and think there ****e, but I've watched them play and they often dominate, but **** me there shote infront of goal. They will give someone a hiding at some point.
The right side of the defence was solid, which I'm fairly sure people have been crying for? Jones was lively, but was massively outnumbered. Notlunished? I've tried, Sorry no clue. The midfield was overrun, but not through poor performance but by being undermaned. Chilwell ran the entire keft very well. James however played the entire right, plus came Inside and played the 6 and 10 poistions, now who does that sound like? The difference he had another cb behind him to provide protection, tactical masterstroke by an assistant manager newly promoted that klopp hasn't seen?
Chelsea were toothless and they could have played for another 90 minutes without scoring. We were no better. Like 2 heavy weight fighters on their last payday. Painful to watch as neither was good enough to land the decisive punch.
Things are looking up. We drew an away game. I'm going to get on my hobby horse and say I don't think a single one of our bookings was actually a foul. We're still very pedestrian. The one thing I've liked when the youngsters play, Bajcetic and very briefly Doak, is that they are looking for the forward pass at every opportunity and playing without fear. I know Thiago is like Marmite on here but his vision and range of passes is sorely missed.
Practically every first touch from every outfield player of ours is backwards. If you can bear to watch a playback, do so - the bits I've watch see us, when we win the ball or they give it away, just half-turn backwards and either play it square or backwards. Never forwards. Chelsea were the better team tonight and dominated midfield, but every situation we go backwards or sideways? This isn't even a shadow of the the 2017 team, let alone the 2020 one. Just turgid and soul-destroying. Not that far off a Hodgson side, and little better than Rodgers' last team. And who believes Virgil was 'ill' tonight?
If you can point out the last time a thiago pass led to a chance never mind a goal, I'll agree with you.
the difference between Jones and an actual decent performance is exactly what was said above. a few real forward passes and quick ball. he had every bad Curtis habit on show. loads of touches, run-around then back pass. he had an opportunity tonight to play really positively but simply didn't. no worse than Henderson the faux captain who never put a tackle on anyone. the two cbs were panicking all over the place but someone must have got a word onto konate cos for last half hour he was tighter on havertz and hit him as the ball arrived. I say that cos he was left float a pass to felix second half across our box and I'd say klopp went mad. tsimikas was definitely high. he was seeing things that were not there and reacting to them. it was an absolute shocker of a showing. never ever blocked a single cross again. our full backs simply won't
It wasn't pretty but it's over now. I expect a stronger team Vs The Gooners but not sure what difference that will make.
