Since Benitez took over there is a very clear difference between our home and away form. Home P6 W2 D2 L2 Away P7 W6 L1 (The lose being the 1st of those 7 when the anti Rafa protests were worst) There are no doubt many opinions about why this is but it has to be asked at some point as to whether it is down to the hostile atmosphere towards Benitez that then rubs off on the team? From my point I definitely don't think it's helping. I'm not saying people should embrace Rafa but maybe it has to be dropped during the games to help the team.
Its time to think about the club's fortune's and not individuals! Whatever happens Rafa's here til the end of the season, and for my money I want the best results for the club! Cheer on the boys and leave Rafa to it in the meantime!
agreed, its about chelsea winning games not being upset about benitez being in charge. i thought i heard "your just a fat spanish waiter" being sung at stoke or maybe i imagined it, maybe bucksblue can confirm?
At Stoke the 'fat spanish waiter' chant was from the Stoke end! 'We don't care about Rafa' echoed a number of times from our support and has he made his way down the tunnel (right by where I was), our fans were jeering him and Torres like there was no tomorrow! He gets it from the away support as well but the away support also chant very loudly about the team...
People have their opinions and can voice them but it's pretty clear that if it affects our form then no one is the winner and we're certainly the loser. I see Rafa is saying it isn't affecting results but the disparity in away form to home form would suggest otherwise.
I think all Blues interested in seeing Chelsea win things should bury their feelings about Benitez and support the boys on the pitch! However much we catcall he will still be there til the end of the season! So let let him do it for us and say nighty night in May
I've heard exactly the same, if not worse at away games. We lost at home against QPR because FSW gave them too much respect and fielded a dogshit team, Swansea was because of two criminal mistakes from one defender and the ineptness of FSW's subs. tbh, as much as I hate Rafa, Torres is the main poison at our club and the sooner he (and FSW) ****s off the better as far as I'm concerned.
Considering we've got home games against the next 6 teams below us I think it would be helpful for the team if we can rally around them instead of this self-indulgent crusade against Rafa thats unless of course we prefer playing Europa for an eternity and having the likes of Villas-Grassnake's Tottenham finishing above us.
I don't think the home atmosphere, poisoned as it is, is the reason we seem to be better away. I think it's complacency, pure and simple, and the manager playing a second string team because he thinks that should be enough. And it should Unfortunately our 2nd string team has shown itself, more than once, to be below our expectations. It's the midfield and forwards that's the problem. The 2nd string front men lack the guile and experience to get into the position for the great pass, especially if Torres is involved. The midfield is then reduced to long range shots. We have seen this 4 times already. Take out Torres and put in Ba, different ballgame. EVERYONE is better positioned, everything flows better. Now agree completely with Drogs, Torres is a walking ,talking disaster of a player who screws everything up just by being played. The sooner and further he is gone from CFC, the better for everyone, including him, the poor sod. Got to hand it to Nero, he sure picks and pays for lousy strikers. Sheva and Torres, mega flops of the decade, brought to you by Nero the Roman Emperor.
CP - I think both Torres & Shevva were great strikers. The problem is, we got them 2 years too late. We only paid £80m for the two of them....shouldn't expect too much really!
Who do you consider 2nd string? Oscar? Ramires? Ba wasn't even here for the 2 home wins. And Torres started 4 of the 6 away wins. Something doesn't add up.
It's probably a combination of factors but for me, it's mostly about some away teams parking the bus. We pretty much dominated the games v swansea and qpr but they sat deep, invited pressure and we got got caught out the other end. Play them games another 10 times and you'd not see them results again.
Indeed, Oscar and Ramires are our 2nd stringers. Ramires is wasted out wide, but can't control the midfield or be the defensive mid like Mikel can. Finding the right position for him is proving very difficult, to say nothing about his first touch and passing.Add Torres to the mix and we malfunction. Oscar is similarly searching for his correct position and for me, is not yet there in experience to run the show. Both are excellent players, but Mata and Hazard are heaps better at this stage. We can play Ramires or Oscar, but not both, especially with Torres. Moses is somewhere in the middle. A controlling midfielder would make a huge difference, in my opinion , more than a new striker.
I think that now the matter of slagging RB off at SB and letting him relax a bit away from home is important to our results is up for discussion, I'd venture the opinion that its making little difference! The players are behind him and remonstrations count for nothing! As he's only around til the end of this season, I'm saving my shouting for the lads on the pitch, and allowing Raffa to carry on ! If we go tits up--then I might start giving him the hair -dryer treatment!
So I'm confused. You moan that we loan out all the players and want them back but when the manager does play the on'es we've kept in games against relegation teams and in the league cup you moan that it's 2nd string. Just out of interest when would it be ok for the manager to play all these players we're keeping instead of loaning and how do they get a game when we're keeping the Lampards and old guard until they drop?
You may be right,that's why it's up for discussion. You haven't offered an opinion though as to why the huge discrepancy in home v away results.
Thing I'm bitter about is we were rumoured to be going for Aguero instead of Torres for £10m cheaper and we went for Eeyore because he was 'proven' in the PL despite everyone being able to tell he'd been on his way out for a good while.
eh? Nobody said that. We need a manager who can find the right balance in playing youth and experience. IMO Mata should never be rested for any PL game whatsoever. Lampard is an exception, he's one of a rare breed of players in the PL and is still able to play at a top level not to mention a loyal legend to Chelsea FC, we need to keep a handful of players like him PLUS play young talent like McEachran in order to succeed. JT, Cole and Lamps still have a couple of years left at this level at least, why the **** are we even considering letting them all go on free transfers?!
