True, but 8 shots on target (includes their 3 goals) to our 2 is another way of looking at it. The attacking "take ons" show an even bigger discrepancy: Chelsea 23 successes out of 34 Saints 9 out of 17 Stats can be seen many ways.
But 2/12 is not very good!? I'm just saying you can find stats to support any opinion, the clear consensus is that after a roughly even first half, Chelsea thoroughly dominated the majority of the second half and the key phases of the game. I don't feel 3-0 flattered them, it could have been more.
For the first hour or so I thought this game was heading for a 0-0 or 1-0 scoreline either way. As has been said the subs by mourinho is what changed the match. One thing which hasn't been mentioned though is the fact that chelsea stopped us playing by constantly harassing us and not giving us the time in the middle of the park. The ref didn't help either the amount of little kicks and fouls ramires and mikel were getting away with was ridiculous. He was spot on with the oscar dive though so credit where its due there.
My point is that saying "2/12" is ignoring the 5 shots which were "on target" but aren't counted as such because they were blocked, and paints our shooting in a deceptively unfavourable light. Absolutely, and that shows the defensive solidity of Ramires and Mikel, and the attacking prowess of the likes of Oscar and Willian. I don't think that dispels the idea that we were beaten by a better team. What the possession and chances created stats show is that we weren't beaten anywhere near as badly as the scoreline suggests.
Firstly, I think we'll be fine. Kelvin kept us in the game in the first 10 minutes. Could of been 2 down with young Gazza in goal! I thought we played well, tried to be creative in the first half and would of scored if not for Chelsea's stern defence. Not convinced by Gaston. Its balancing what he can do interms of attacking quality, with the fact that he is a bit loose in possesion. Probably off anyway? Second half we were outmuscled and outclassed after the subs. OK, heads probably went down a bit after the tad fortunate first goal for Chelsea, but I also thought they looked tired. This game cried out for Big Vic sat in front of the back four.
It underscores the point of Ramirez being somewhat of a "luxury" player. And how possession stats can be meaningless. Chelsea was quite content with Hazard trying to be creative and sometimes giving away possession knowing that they controlled the midfield so it didn't matter. They out-tackled us by a huge margin and could more-or-less win the ball when they wanted. Saints OTOH, had to work so hard just to even get the ball over the halfway line that every time Ramirez gave the ball away it was a big deal. But really, unless Ramirez tried something risky and catch them by surprise or do something brilliant we were never going to score as we clearly couldn't break down the defense or even their midfield. We didn't lose the game because of Ramirez nor did he do anything wrong. Other than maybe not be as good as Hazard but then the lack of quality vs Chelsea's player was a problem all over the pitch. That game went pretty much the way Chelsea planned it, I think. Maybe it wasn't a 6-0 shelling, but I think from their perspective they controlled the match, stayed patient, and in the end ground out a very business-like victory. By the end of the game, we were exhausted and Chelsea was knocking the ball around the pitch like it was playground practice. It really wasn't that close.
No, I don't think it was close. We did ok in the 1st half, but this was far outweighed by the second, where Chelsea's strength and quality all over the pitch contributed to the reality which is that we have a good team young team, not as good as Chelsea's, and not the quality in depth yet!
Not to add to the meltdown but here's an alarming stat according to Squawka from today and the one thing that really stuck out to me during the game; of the 42 tackles we attempted in the game we only won 11 and in our defensive third we succeeded with only 1 of 13 (And in fact Schneiderlin, Lovren and Chambers didn't complete a single tackle of the 13 they attempted between them). Chelsea are obviously overflowing with quality in attacking areas but at times they were walking past our players.
Last question first: a realistic saints fan. Yes we could have conceded a couple in first ten minutes and then for the next 50 minutes they could have conceded a couple easily. I don't understand why you find my post unbelievable; all the neutrals seem to be saying what a genius Jose mourinho was today for his changes.... Why would he need to change it if things were going so well? Oh, maybe because we were causing them problems. At times it was end to end and very exciting by both teams. Lallana gave the ball away more than Ramirez, as someone earlier pointed out statistically. I felt for both actually as I think the conditions didn't help some of their play. Wasn't Jayrod supposed to be the outlet to relieve pressure? I stand by the fact that after the first ten minutes, we started to get hold of the ball and cause them as many problems as they caused us. After the first goal it all changed, but until then we played well. Believable.
Ramirez - 32/49 passes - 65% success rate Lallana - 29/33 passes - 88% success rate Not even close, although Ramirez did attempt almost 50% more passes.
Good assessment and I agree with Saint Luke that Chelsea worked really hard (especially 1st half). Whats that Nigel Adkins quote "Hard work beats talent, if talent doesn't work hard" Well the talent worked hard and guess what? Torres (Finishing apart) was excellent and led from the front with Chelsea pushing a high line and the defence were suffocating our forward options and forcing our defence & midfield into mistakes. We were lucky to still be 0-0 within the 1st 10 minutes and Fonte & Kelvin did really well after errors from Lovren(Who seemed to improve after being knocked out). We did well to get over that tricky spell and came into the game as the 1st half went on. Great to see Ramirez play, even if that element of genius is in tiny quantities that pass to Rodriguez was just sublime. Of course he was at fault for the 2nd goal for not tracking back and a few times he got caught on the ball or picked the wrong pass but sadly all the players did that and this hinged on the good work of Chelsea. Our early success this season means we're no surprise to teams. They're not lazily turning up expecting to roll us over. Chelsea were at it from the start and deserved the victory. Well done on the genius change of Mourinho in introducing £60m worth of talent, while we had a few kids and £1m Journeyman centre forward(forgive me Rickie)
Lol - so who's stats are correct, yours or mikey's. Anyway, my point is that no-one is slating Adam, yet he kept losing the ball while in possession (not a pass by the way, so won't appear in those stats) and Ramirez gets battered despite being the main creator for us today.
Add Ramirez only made 9 successful passes out of 19 in the last third compared to Lallana's 14 out of 16 or Davis17 from 22 attempts. So you can read what you like from stats. Yes we got more involved in the match after the first ten, and although we did cause them some problems only the most rose tinted specs wearer would say we matched them. We hung in there. They were playing within themselves as the substitutions proved. We could have got a goal earlier or later but we didn't and that is the most damning fact. Now i wrote unbelievable as your first post put down every other contrary view than your own. As for the Ramirez issue. He has undoubted quality, we all agree with that. He doesn't produce it with any consistency. Lallana's lost the ball a lot less easily than Ramierez does FULL STOP.
One thing apparent today is that Jose has a harder head than Dejan, may explain the uncharacteristic below average performance, but he had dropped three clangers before the collision, which we got away with.
I love the FULL STOP. Well done fella, good debate. It isn't full stop as I read that Lallana was caught in possession 12 times compared to Ramirez who got caught 8 times. That's 50% worse. I forgot my note pad so I don't know which ones are correct. I put down your view, not every other one contrary to mine. I did that because I didn't agree with it.
Alright Saints I'm just back from the game and can't believe that result tbh. You have played some superb footie this season and for us to win 3-0 at your place... Class. Went down for NYE and all and had a top night capped off with the game today. Thought our fans were brilliant today... Couple of smoke bombs and a flashing firework was a bit of a surprise but had good banter with your lot to our left. As soon as we got our first goal we were in complete control but had been close up until then. Our subs changed the game... You're a good side though and will be more than fine... You've had a tough run of games so expect yous to come up the table now. All the best for the rest of the season... Oh and sorry for Oscar diving. Poor form that
Cheers - what bothers me about the dive is that he obviously was after a red card for Kelvin more than he wanted a goal. For me, that is disgusting.
