It's been terrible. Two media errors in two weeks and we only got 6 points. Will you be celebrating your 'we won the league' anniversary next week and start printing those t-shirts? Channel 5.
I don't know if you remember us being sponsored by Commodore and then Amiga but there was a video game for the Commodore Amiga known as 'Speedball'. It was a cross between football and American football where you could clatter your opponents to get them stretchered off. Stoke were playing Speedball on Saturday and they definately looked up for getting Cuadrado stretchered off, so no wonder Cuadrado was backing off.
Indeed, Stoke Shitty = typical dirty Northern Bastards. Their current manager's a good bloke though - I'll always remember his goals for us.
Although, and again not shown on MoD, Hughes steamed into the Chelsea bench at the end of the game. I think he was having a go as he felt Chelsea players were going down too easy! Fracking ridiculous
I'm not blaming Courtois at all. He did get a hand on it. He was where he was for a reason and only because the defense was pushed up to the halfway line. He doesn't habitually stay that far out. Just maybe he'll reassess and stand six feet further back for his base position when we are up the pitch to extreme, or maybe not.
Dfer - re Courtois' position. Have to say, he was a long way out for sustained periods of the game and, sitting where we were (just outside the penalty area), I was surprised no-one had hoofed it before. However, not once did Mourinho, JT or any of the coaching staff tell him not to stray so far out, so he must have done it as part of the positional plan for the game - i.e. keep them pegged back and if the ball comes in behind the defense, he can clear it quickly to start another attack. I'm sure if Jose didn't like where Courtois was positioned, he would have said something on one of the many previous occasions where it happened during the game.
Don't agree. Horses for Courses. Courtois showed his inexperience or lack of scouting. He needs to react quickly and be alert for different players. Had he reacted fraction of seconds earlier - that was a straight forward tip over.
The fact there has only ever been a handful of goals scored from that far probably goes to show why there was no real concern him being positioned there. Personally don't blame him at all. It was a freak goal that you probably won't see for another few years. If being further out means he gets to balls over the top / through balls before attacking opposition players more often then not then great. Also if opposing players want to take pot shots and cede possession in the hope of matching Adam's feat, then that's also great
Dfer Agree, in that I didn't have any problem with him being that far out. Against Stoke though, he was out there for the whole game, which was fine as it enabled our defenders & others to press much higher up the pitch. Just saying, it wasn't a one-off, it was evident the whole game. Where we were sitting, before the goal, with those sitting around me, we were talking about just how far out of goal he was - it did feel a little unnerving! Still a massive shock when it went in, especially as Adams should not have been on the pitch following his elbow/forearm just minutes before!
Yeah I take that point about tailoring play to individual opponents. Adams had said he was looking for that long range chance all game. I don't think that individuals at Chelsea do that though. Jose is famed for his opposition scouting and pre-match dossiers. I've heard Cech say he works on where players place penalties, but I believe the group of them do this together. The goalkeepers and their coaches are slightly autonomous from the rest of the team in training. I know when Rui Faria left with Jose and new guy took over the data collection of the opposition (I want to say James someone) and I think he still does it now Faria is back. I also think this is the job Jose started off doing once he stopped playing. Basically I am saying Courtois isn't responsible for checking out the people he plays against, and if he started to it may put some backs up amongst the coaching staff feeling undermined. As for the being too far out well I did say maybe that should be reassessed five or six feet. It all depends on Tbo's speed.
