List of players close to goal thanour 2 CB's. Gerrard, Johnson, Balotelli, Sterling, Can, Henderson, Moreno. Fursther 2 players in that clip are Lovren & Skrtel Can't remember how or where that cross into the box has come from, but either way it's not good positioning or organisation.
Not only that, 4 unmarked Chelsea players there as well, just queuing up to score because we're weak as anything. Absolutely pathetic
Nor can I but this was the second phase so doesn't really matter, what matters is our urgency to get back ina organised fashion to deal with the second and third ball. This as been where we've been conceding from at set-pieces, its not often the first ball! Wasn't Skrtel one of the zonal markers? The other one was Mario though so not sure what Lovren was doing in front of the rest. Mario and Sterling don't exactly look interested or involved either do they? My question there would be around Johnson and Gerrard. If the rest have got out, why are they still back there? Ignore Johnson if you like, if Gerrard gets out then the goal is ruled offside when Cahill gets involved (the scorer)
Skrtel is zonal marking, Lovren was man-marking. Its feasible they were meant to go for the same ball IF Lovren's man was attacking it too.
Lovren's man can't be that close to him, nearest Chelsea player is in the 6 yard box Unle he's out of shot outside the area, in which case I'd rather my CB got in position than man marked him outside the box
They were both next to each other marking nobody IMO. It seems the 'plan' is to have them free to attack the ball, but pointless if they don't get out to actually attack it. Johnson had Ivanovic Can had Terry Henderson had Cahill Moreno had Matic Costa was free and had nobody marking him When you look at this the alarm bells are already ringing, we have 4 players who are not notorious for height or heading marking 4 of their tallest and most threatening players from set pieces. And one of the most dangerous strikers in Europe with a reputation for heading and an instinct for goalscoring with nobody marking him. And if you watch from the moment Chelsea win the first header in the box, Moreno & Henderson don't move...
Don't agree with the persisting with Mario comment - I think that's just purely because we have utter garbage to replace him. Lambert and Borini. Borini should play alongside Mario but not ahead of him. Whilst we all appreciate hard work and headless pressing, it cannot be a substitute for actual ability. I do agree with persisting with utter dross: Skrtel - this summer, we should have replaced him. We should have bought a top class RCB. But no - we decide to alienate our one decent centre back in Sakho by buying a mediocre LCB £20m. Lovren - as mentioned above, he''s simply not good enough for this level. Never was. Johnson - one of the worst players I have seen in all of my life. Gerrard - simply isn't a DM/playmaker and should only be restricted to sub appearances. --------------------------------------------- The worrying thing for me is that there is no style/philosophy. We're not even playing like his preferred way i.e. like Swansea. It's basically nothingness. The reason this worries me is because I believed he created a system last year where we can simply rotate players and we would will still maintain our creativity and intensity. Truth is - Suarez and Sturridge were the reasons for this. I kept saying last season that our attack was carrying us and everyone behind Coutinho/Henderson could easily be replaced. But even i didn't expect us to regress as far as this once we lost the attack. I'm not saying we should get rid of Rodgers but let's look at the alternatives: Klopp would be an obvious choice given his current predicament. Yes, he's struggling this season but this man created a fantastic football team, on a budget and playing great football which led them to league titles, CL football. Simeone would be incredibly ambitous but unrealistic. However, his style is about being solid defensively and building from that. Add that a fiery, competitive team ethic/spirit. Rudi Garcia from Roma is another exciting coach as well. All of whom are young, have a very good reputation around Europe (key to attracting names) and open to working with DoF as well. Now before we do sack Rodgers, I would prefer we change the strcture around him. Bring in an experienced, European DoF to oversea the Transfer Committee. Get Rodgers the hell away from transfers, and let's start operating like a top European club, because this is what they do. Let Rodgers look after training and coaching. Then get 2 quality coaches in - a number 2 i.e. Rene Muelensteen and another top class coach who can look after the defending. One positive is that we've gotten rid of 3 scouts recently - I believe they were the domestic scouts which will now give Hunter, Fallows and Edwards further influence and strength.
I don't disagree, just pointing out it was possible for them to be doing the right thing. Couldn't remember who Lovren was marking, never mind if his man attacked the ball. With what you just said, I reckon Lovren was meant to be picking up Costa leaving Skrtel and Mario to zonal mark. Bit harsh pointing our set-piece issues by highlighting the Chelsea individuals, most teams will struggle to match those players.
Nothing wrong with competing and losing. But it's diabolical when our defenders cannot do the basics correctly. Week in week out.
Bollocks. We were robbed yesterday and we put a proper shift in against RM. Luv and you are wrong for different reasons.
Robbed me arse. They were the better side and you got what you deserved - **** all A rear guard action against Madrid is hardly reason to put up the bunting either.
That is embarrassing mind. **** a defensive coach, Skrtel is what 28/29 years old? Lovren is mid twenties, if they don't know that a defender should be trying to attack the ball at a corner rather than what's going on in that photo then they should just give up.
To be fair, Chelsea were superior to us and were much stronger than we were. And against Real we were beaten before the match as Rodgers not only rested/dropped key players he didn't play our potential match winners in sterling Gerrard and (!) balotelli. Rodgers would have been justified if we managed a draw but a 1-0 score after we decided to give up the match is nothing to shout about.
