We made mistakes at the back, but our fundamental shortcomings aren't there. The problem is that we are building a team around a player who will never consistently achieve the heights of Messi/Ronaldo. He has single handedly carried us in 2014, but will never be able to carry us all the way as he is not a prolific enough goalscorer. We need a proper striker to take the pressure of providing a goal threat off him. PSG shut him down, and with that, shut us down - we're a one man team. This might be like calling the sky blue, but you can complain about Ramires' passing, Oscar's lack of form, or Luiz's recklessness til the cows come home, without a 20+ goals a season striker you're never going to be effective enough in the final third to make the difference between winners and also rans. Or you need a Messi/Rinaldo standard player from midfield, which we don't.
the annoying thing is we lost by 2 goals to an average side on the night a lot of below par performances from us although the usual suspects cop the most flak
My points on last night Petr Cech is without doubt a club legend, and is probably one of the best goalkeepers ever to play in the Premier League and one of the best if not the best this season, but even he cannot count the crucial mistakes he has made thi year on one hand. Coming for balls and changing his mind has cost us numerous times this season. Cech may be the best in the Premier League, but is he better than Courtois, after watching the Barca/Atletico game and a lot of Atletico this season, he is not. And sentiment aside, we shoved Cudicini out the door for Cech when Cudicini was one of the best in the league. So for me every game that carries on, Courtois is edging further ahead of Cech. I would rather thank Cech for all the excellent work he has achieved with us, he is a true legend, has won everything there is to win with us. But evolution needs to take place. JT has been having a bad week, but he looks knackered. Why let Zouma stay at St Etienne or not play Kalas or Ake against Palace when we can see that our backline are fatiguing, that blame lies with Jose. Luiz was the only player looking really up for it last night, yeah he gave away the free kick for the second, but I did not even think it was a free kick, PSG continually trying to chuck themselves to the floor. Hazard was nullified and as usual, despite winning the penalty Oscar does not step up. For all Willian's running, he doesn't pick the right final pass, the one he put behind Torres case example. With all his closing down and short passing abilities I would be pushing him to play alongside Luiz in central midfield next week, we have no chance with Ramires suspended and playing either Lamps or Mikel. Unless Van Ginkel is ready. Striker situation does not need mentioning but I would prefer Ba coming on to Torres every day of the week, when he gets a chance Ba usually scores. Hopefully Eto'o is fit next week but if not would prefer Ba to play over Torres, the latter is just so inconsistent it hurts. There goes the ranting. ____________________________________ My team for next week would be something like this Cech Ivanovic - Cahill - Terry - Azpi Willian/Van Ginkel - Luiz Schurrle/Willian - Oscar - Hazard Eto'o/Ba Obviously I expect Lampard to play but he is just too slow these days, and without Ramires in the midfield, there is nobody to compensate.
You said JT was miles past his best while putting Cahill on par with that and that Cech has been 'dire'. It's not the first time you've done a knee jerk reaction such as this after a loss, CP. We are far from the finished article - Courtois is a fantastic keeper but so is Cech therefore that is not an area that needs addressing. We've got Zouma coming to us in the summer who is an outstanding talent from what I've seen of him. Our key priorities should be to ship out; Schwarzer - really no point in paying his wages, bet they're not cheap. We have Blackman who could be 3rd choice and home grown. Cole - Bring in Shaw and Bertrand return. If lack of experience hinders those two we have Azpi who has been fantastic Luiz - I genuinely think he's awful and it confuses me how people continually praise him, not a PL player and doesn't suit us - we'd also get a large fee for him Ramires - Definitely not a player for this system and has become increasingly frustrating to watch this season Lampard - question mark here as I think you can never have enough experience but he's been very poor this season in general and I can't see him wanting to hang his boots just yet Moses - thought he'd come on leaps and bounds at Liverpool but he's hardly played and looked utter ****e when doing so. Sell for profit. Marin - Not too sure how he's getting on in Spain but there's no point in keeping him when we have Piazon Ba - I'm actually a fan of Ba and think he'd do a job if given a fair run of games. He's not an impact sub so don't get why he's being used as one. Also command a decent fee Torres - No explanation needed. I don't like criticising players but he is more than deserving of it. Bring back Courtois, Bertrand, Zouma, Chalobah, maybe McEachran, Piazon and Thorgan and give them a chance along with a couple of fresh faces such as Shaw, a creative midfielder - Kroos being my first choice, and a top striker.
The only thing I dread is us hanging on to Cech for the next few years and Courtois deciding to leave permanently and then improving a potential rival, at home or in Europe.
PSG not at their best thanks largely to Jose's disruptive tactics. Still Lavezzi was superb, Motta started dominating Rambo and our midfield as the game went on, Verrutti's passing was superb and Moura gave them more pace when Ibra went off
I think calling PSG ordinary, is very harsh. They are a very strong side these days, and it was no suprise to me that they beat you aswell as they did. You look at there first 11 and most of them would walk straight into your team. Look at how well they had done in the group stages and in the last 16, they where scoring for fun, and only Real Madrid have looked better in this seasons tournament. You could have argued the sides they played weren't great, but there are no easy teams in the CL. They can all play. Should it really be a suprise for Chelsea though, having lost home and away to Basle in the group stages, only managing to get 9 points in what was a very easy group. Even against Galatasary you struggled in Turkey, a Chelsea team of old would have gone there and won comfortably. So it was fairly easy to predict that PSG would turn you over last night. Mourinho moans about not having a striker, but he's spent more than any PL manager since his return, so why hasn't he bought one? Instead of buying lots of attacking midfield players
They have a fantastic side but they were fairly ordinary last night. First goal was brilliant, second was a debatable free kick whereby Cech should've done better and the third happened because we fell to pieces. We just couldn't handle them in midfield. We've got every chance of going through providing Torres is nowhere near the side. Start Eto'o if fit, Ba if not and ****ing go for it. Our attacking midfield options are Oscar. Hazard, Willian, Schurrle and Salah are wingers and those five are all we have to occupy 3 positions. So no, we haven't bought lots of attacking midfield players.
Agree. They played some lovely stuff last night even if they weren't at their best. Our OP thinks every team, player and performance is bad unless you win 5-0 with the style of Brazil 70 thrown in. He should try being a utd fan watching Moyes' team this season then he would change his tune.
Well you don't really have a choice now, as your gonna have to turn around a 2 goal deficit. It is possible, but PSG have proven very strong away from home in Europe, as they are so strong on the counter. I think they've won all there away games so far. Ibra might be out but that might prove a blessing in disguise, as Cavani will move centrally, and Lucas will start on the right, a player who is lightening quick. So they will be set up better to counter attack without Ibra. As for the midfielder situation, Lampard and Ramires can and have played in one of the attacking positions, so I'm not sure you can say you only have 5, as clearly 7 can play there. Also why was Lukaku allowed to go on loan, that seems a bizarre decision. I also can't understand why Demba Ba isn't given more opportunities. He is no world beater but he will score goals if given a run in the team. It's not always easy to impress when your only getting the odd 10 mins here and there. Having said that it was only a couple of weeks ago he came on and banged in 2 goals against Spurs. He deserves more of a chance
Exactly I have felt over the moon this season after we've beaten the likes of West Ham and Crystal Palace in recent weeks, such has been our form this season
Don't get me wrong I think they are brilliant, but I think they were ordinary last night and just had the ability to take advantage of our poor control and defending. I can't see us being so poor and relaxed at the back at home, we are formidable against top opponents at the Bridge and if we have Eto'o fit again then I fancy our chances to keep and clean sheet and score. Lampard is way past playing as an attacking midfielder and has never done so under Jose. Ramires has played as a defensive winger and been pretty poor in that position. I'm with you on the Ba situation, he should be starting instead of Torres and not used as some sort of 'super sub', when he definitely is not that sort of player.
Eto'o will definitely help, as despite his age, he does still show glimpses of his old self with his intelligent movement. The way he finished that one against Arsenal was a nice goal too. I'd just worry that you guys have hit bad form at just the wrong time. A good win against Stoke might help to restore confidence though
If Hazard and oscar had scored the two goals than pastore and lavezzi did last night, we would be lauding them instead of criticising dreadful defending Let's get some perspective. This time last year we were 20 points off the top and losing to Steaua in the Europa laeague. Now we are back mixing it with the big boys into April again
CP--I swore I wouldn't get involved in debate after last nights result! I felt too depressed! I'm coming round a bit now--so all I'm going to add, is those players (Branna apart) owe us big time! We want 20 goals in the next 4 games!!
Dont worry I am sure Chelsea will spend another £50m-80m to buy world class players again like each transfer window
