Cant argue with the result today, a draw was fair i think . Chelsea looked a bit below par but so did we in fairness and our squad is alot thinner than theirs! Laudrup started with Ben Davies who i felt,benifited from a rest on Wednesday, Chico was replaced by Monk and Tremmel was in goal, not the best of line ups to face the European champions i must say!! Not much going on in the game,both teams had a look now and again but to me both were a little bit leggy and if you asked both teams they would have settled for a point and retired to the bar! Monk, well he is totally past it now and it just looks embarrasing watching him, made one or two decent tackles but restricted the speed of our play, what the **** he was doing for their goal i have no idea! a cross between a rugby tackle and a wrestling move while not looking at the ball or even infringing the player enough to put him off target, this was coupled with Ash getting zero height at the corner,which seems to be happening alot lately and Ben Davies yet again second to react to the ball, i dont really blame him for that though and i thought he had a good game today. The ref !! what a ****ing joke this smarmy prick is! i was wondering what was going to happen on that front today and i got my answer, he was giving them every single 50/50 and he gave us **** all all game! it was so obvious the ref was trying to defuse a political situation with his performance,as if to say "there will be no agenda against chelsea" what the reason we got a shafting from him none the less Im very happy with a point,it was well deserved, everyone was buisness like andit was a no frills performance from both teams. Special mention to pablo, form is temporary class is permenant !! well done to him and great to see him score again,a great strike!! JDG had his best game i thought, had alot more bite about him and wasnt afraid of getting his hands dirty and doing some spade work!! Tremmel, everyone will say great save, i will say most keepers would have moved quicker and just caught it with both hands!! Monk and tremmel will cost us points its a simple fact of life,lucky for us Chelsea were tired. A very important point,hopefully chico is back next week and the boys can get a good rest, we played the euro champions while not being 100% on our game and came away with a point, that is definatly improvement in my book
We really did take the game to Chelsea today, and was pleased with the draw given their current form, I had us down for a draw, and am happy, though we could have had all 3 point, had the ref not been a Chelsea Pensioner! Have to say that Laudrup knows how to use his subs, this team is starting to look class lads! King Laudrup take a bow sir.................
I thought Monk was alright today as well, he is past his best but still did a job for us against billions of pounds worth of attacking power.
Monk put in a good shift today. I think most of us would have taken a point before the game - and Monk did his bit in earning us that point.
Monk did ok but was at fault for the goal-simples! When you watch it a number of times you will see that, i accept that he is playing against good players but thats what the prem league is all about, thats our bread and butter nowadays. In fairness to him he will always give 100% cant ask much more really. Ricky lambert and rodrigez will be a stern test next week, it was probably a smart move to make sure Chico rested and got fully fit instead of risking himself today. A draw was a fair result and the ref made sure it was never going to be a contraversial match for chelsea! Didnt we get 4 yellow cards?? wtf !! cahill gets to throw JDG around but doesnt even get a talking to let alone a card for violent conduct!! the referee was a ****ing joke so considering we still got something is very satisfing
I didnt think we looked tired today. We played as we always do, controlled and looking to break quick. JDG was outstanding and i think Hernandez is improving with every game. As for the ref, did nayone think that he would be any better than what he was. How we had 4 bookings is fing crazy. he looked terified to speak to any Chelsea player in case he upset them. Just listening to di Matteo on ssn saying how good Friend was. Of course he was he dare not upset one of the super powers
Just commented about the number of bookings on another thread. agree 100% trundle. cahill throws JDG on the floor in a violent manner and doesnt even get a talking to !! a ****ing joke isnt it. I had a feeling we would get buttoned up like this by the referee, too frightened to make headlines and too scared to ref the game correctly because of all the **** flying around, he was probably trying to show there is no agenda against Chelsea fc , thing is,chelsea now have what they want,thats the refs in their pocket..it makes me sick, im just glad we managed to get the goal, it was well deserved and if they had come away with 3pts i think i would have been quite upset,regardless of the fact its the euro champions
Mind you Kevin Friend isnt a good ref at the best of times, without him trying to keep Chelsea happy. Cahill on JDG, nothing done but i thought the foul by Mikel was worse the swans player was away. The free kick he gave against Monk was also shocking. Mr Friend needs to take a long hard look at himself. At best he was clueless at worst he might as well as wore a blue shirt. Mind you this has seem to be the way things are this year. refereeing standards have been very poor. Thought Probert had a good game wednesday though.
Its actually been a long time since a had a go at the referees in the prem league,most of the time i find them ok, and we havent been on the end of many really shocking calls but i just knew there was going to issues with ref today and that is quite sad truth be told. Intresting listening to Laudrups post match interview on sky, he seems quite calm and content with his weeks work!! .. no faff just say it like it is ML ! he must be very happy with how his signings are turning out though, if we can stay up this season then imagine what else he could add in the summer time?? or even in January for that matter!! I think he will try and add strength in January,especially in defence and hopefully it will be time to move on some players from the club too,its not difficult to see the jump in quality is it? from Gower to JDG from DG to michu from allen to Ki from monk to chico from sinclair to Pablo H. that is a big improvement, and to think some people on here were clos to tears because dobbie was not getting games! how is the dobster doing anyway? anybody keeping an eye on Brighton ?
Was just watching the Bolton match now and thinking the same thing about pratley. He would get absolutely no where near our first team right now. It's hard to think why he was such a wanted man in the prem after doing well for us in the championship. The gulf in class is tremendous. Then again I suppose that's why Bolton got relegated.
Some good points there Norway. Think your being a little harsh on Monk, yes he should have done better but as a unit we didn't get the ball away, and to me Moses got lucky. We never get this sort of luck getting goals. I didn't think Chelsea really hurt us, they had some chances and wasted them. I have a slight frustration on why when were in good areas we don't take shoots and work the keeper, Rangel should have taken a pop at goal but crossed it. I can see what he was doing so not a criticism just thought he should have had a pop, and we were guilty a couple of times of this. Thought the ref was poor, he books Britton for an innocuous challenge and yet doesn't do anything with Cahill, these refs must start being more consistent. JDG had his best game and Hernandez is improving with every game. One thing ML has enlisted confidence in the team, to come from behind against Chelsea and get a point, and I've said this before we would never have done this last season under Rodgers. Onto Southampton next week, today was a bonus point, now to make sure we get some points at St Mary's.
Pratley i always loved but these boys that Laudrup has brought in are top top players IMO. A strange one really with Bolton they had major injuries all of last season and that didnt help them thats for sure!! Orlandi Gower Dobbie Pratley Tate Monk These players have done fantastic for us over the years,its harsh to think of some of them being told they have no future with SCFC but thats football and its not like they dont get paid a fantastic wage!! Of all the players we have moved on or who have decided to leave the club, which, if any, would you like to see return ?? Personally i cant think of one, even Joe Allen is getting eclipsed by KI and im not sure i would have him back now. Intresting,when Laudrup first came here he said he didnt want to change too many of the playing staff,since he been in the job that seemed to change,some of it was forced and some wasnt but i got no problem if he decided he needed another couple of players in January.
No disrespect, I wouldn't want any of these players back. Only Leon has proved his worth, and he would never have gone to Sheffield United if it wasn't for Sousa.
If he hadnt got injured and if we could have kept hold of him i think Bodde would have done well for us in the prem but we`ll never know .
Bodde may well have done ok but he would be getting sent off more times than joey barton !! Its still early days for me and there will be some twists and turns to come , but i think Laudrup is starting to understand what is required in the prem league. His insistance to focus on Southampton BEFORE the chelsea game tells me he knows full well where are weak points lie and what teams carry the biggest problems for us. Out set piece play is still dreadful and we need to work on that before we go off to st marys
And it has been for a few years now, size helps in these situations but its not the most important thing , have a look at monks poor attempt to block/stop the runner/jumper for their goal!! it really is laughable
Agreed set pieces have been a problem for us for years now, but giving a goal away in the dying minuites also used to be but not anymore thank zeus !
