Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 Chelsea 0

[xceleryx]

9 hours ago, boratsbrother said:

I keep reading that Kova is quality and we need to keep him and Enzo is great and must be the future for the club. 

Imho we should have got rid of Kova years ago and I might be in a minority of one, but I also think Enzo has been a very disappointing signing so far. Another midfielder who is does not excell in either half of the pitch 

Both players are more than good enough, the problem in largely that they're not maximised with the way the midfield is currently constructed.

Enzo has been one of our most consistent performers since arriving in January, his quality is visibly spades above others, but he's been used in a role that virtually only allows him to operate at 50-60% of his quality. Said it from the very moment he joined, if the idea was to play him as the sitting player in the manner of Jorginho then it's a complete waste of his qualities.

In a midfield three he needs to be that go between option that can aid a proper holding midfielder when required, but also push into the attacking third to support the attack. Right now he's having to play that holding role because we have no other alternative after selling Jorginho, and it takes away from a lot of his best qualities. 

Kovacic is a similar player in the sense of what his best role is, which is a supporting midfielder. He's not going to be some defensive monster that wins possession all over the pitch like a Kante, nor is he going to be the attacking threat of a Lampard or even Fabregas. Again, he's the perfect foil for a midfield three that's assembled around a bonafide holding midfielder and an attacking centric #8. 

This has been an issue for years though with the way our midfield has been built. While we've had some talented individuals it's been littered with too much skillset and role crossover which has left us quite one dimensional and limited in certain areas of the pitch, ultimately creating a dysfunctional unit. 

[Michael Tucker]

1 hour ago, chara said:

weighed against a viewing list for Mrs C that starts Sat night with.."Pirot" (I know but it annoys her when I call it that!)...Sunday "Call The Midwife"...Monday "Antiques Road Show " (USA) and Tuesday "Finding Your Roots".....it;s Wednseday before the evenings become settling!

Dear God chara, that's awful.........I really feel for you.

[Michael Tucker]

7 hours ago, Mark Kelly said:

Sam, if you're reading and able can you do a poll on stay or go for the players so we can see who we think are worth persevering with? 

Should be a short list for the 'stays'.....:)

[Ham]

Absolutely hate these wasters.

Totally done with them all. 

Embarrassed for every one of them.  

[kev61]

4 minutes ago, Ham said:

 

Embarrassed for every one of them.  

I can guarantee it is not reciprocal.Put yourself in their shoes...on a contract that they can scratch their arse and live a life of luxury that we can only dream of.

A lot of players today play if they feel like it.I said before - it is the most overated and overpaid sport in the history of sport.

How do we get professionals with honour and integrity like Paula Ferreira,Azpi and even Frank?

We throw money at players that have "potential", personally it sickens me,but that is today's game and you have to suck it up or turn your back on it,not easy for fans that have followed the team for decades.

[ROTG]

1 hour ago, Ham said:

Absolutely hate these wasters.

Totally done with them all. 

Embarrassed for every one of them.  

Wow Ham the night owl - I guess you will be missing breakfast and straight to brunch :0)

[ROTG]

58 minutes ago, kev61 said:

I can guarantee it is not reciprocal.Put yourself in their shoes...on a contract that they can scratch their arse and live a life of luxury that we can only dream of.

A lot of players today play if they feel like it.I said before - it is the most overated and overpaid sport in the history of sport.

How do we get professionals with honour and integrity like Paula Ferreira,Azpi and even Frank?

We throw money at players that have "potential", personally it sickens me,but that is today's game and you have to suck it up or turn your back on it,not easy for fans that have followed the team for decades.

A real bizarre statement which is not entirely true.

With regards to over paid players, that is not entirely true,  At the start of August they were being coached by a WC coach which was the normal for most of the first team squad, then without warning TB has an epiphany decides to remove TT and his coaching staff and with a media hyped mid table coaching team who I doubt any of the first team had heard of, especially those why joined in the summer with the exception of a doggy left back.

Then you come to the real crux of the problem coaching. one can assume TT had a quite disciplined routing for the players  where each player new there roles and responsibilities which wins CL and other trophies. All of a sudden a team of top quality players are confronted with mid Pl / championship coaching team and routines with out any real purpose or objective, which over a course of time demoralizes a team, hence how the teams form headed south very once the TT discipline approached faded.

As for professionals with honour, there are plenty of them in the squad and I am sure they will rise to the top in the coming days once Frank and his coaching staff start bringing some life back into training.

Also this team is nowhere near as bad as some of the dross teams and players during the late 70" and 80"s

[kev61]

3 minutes ago, ROTG said:

 

Also this team is nowhere near as bad as some of the dross teams and players during the late 70" and 80"s

The players of the 70's and 80's were not even in the same stratosphere financially as our current set for life players so wise up.

[Sleeping Dave]

2 hours ago, kev61 said:

I can guarantee it is not reciprocal.Put yourself in their shoes...on a contract that they can scratch their arse and live a life of luxury that we can only dream of.

A lot of players today play if they feel like it.I said before - it is the most overated and overpaid sport in the history of sport.

How do we get professionals with honour and integrity like Paula Ferreira,Azpi and even Frank?

We throw money at players that have "potential", personally it sickens me,but that is today's game and you have to suck it up or turn your back on it,not easy for fans that have followed the team for decades.

I’m with you here Kev. I’ve long argued football will suffocate itself. Look at the youngsters of today, they don’t care about football. They care about e-sports. That’s what will be the future number one sport globally. 

I think that football has become so dull is because every player is coached the same way since childhood. The game is duller for it and is not a man’s game anymore. The money is also a factor, just look at RLC. He was a rich man at 18 and has always lacked the hunger to do well for us. 

[ROTG]

1 hour ago, kev61 said:

The players of the 70's and 80's were not even in the same stratosphere financially as our current set for life players so wise up.

Another failed strawman

Neither were any of the sports industries. Also, a majority of those at the top during the 70's & 80's financially sound, only the ones who brought pubs or had some kind of addiction ended up in the gutter.

BTW there are cases of PL players who were earning very good coin and making money on transfers fees are skint due to their misdemeanors. 

Burnley assistant manager and former Wales captain Craig Bellamy has said he is bankrupt.

Bellamy's cumulative transfer fees amounted to £45m during a playing career which saw spells at clubs including Liverpool, Manchester City and West Ham.

 

But the 43-year-old said his financial situation was due to failed investments made on his behalf.

"Everything I have had has been taken from me," Bellamy told the Daily Mail.

"If you get the wrong people advising you it all haemorrhages, it all dwindles.

"It has got to the point where bankruptcy is a relief. It means I can just live again.

[kev61]

57 minutes ago, ROTG said:

Another failed strawman

Neither were any of the sports industries. Also, a majority of those at the top during the 70's & 80's financially sound, only the ones who brought pubs or had some kind of addiction ended up in the gutter.

BTW there are cases of PL players who were earning very good coin and making money on transfers fees are skint due to their misdemeanors. 

Burnley assistant manager and former Wales captain Craig Bellamy has said he is bankrupt.

Bellamy's cumulative transfer fees amounted to £45m during a playing career which saw spells at clubs including Liverpool, Manchester City and West Ham.

 

But the 43-year-old said his financial situation was due to failed investments made on his behalf.

"Everything I have had has been taken from me," Bellamy told the Daily Mail.

"If you get the wrong people advising you it all haemorrhages, it all dwindles.

"It has got to the point where bankruptcy is a relief. It means I can just live again.

Que?

[ROTG]

2 minutes ago, kev61 said:

Que?

don't give up your day job?

[kev61]

Just now, ROTG said:

don't give up your day job?

I have, thanks for asking.

[ROTG]

21 minutes ago, kev61 said:

I have, thanks for asking.

you are welcome :0)

[Ham]

This performance was up there with the very worst this season. The last two games were very good performances with awful finishing. 

This was just dire.

Again, these players are a disgrace.  Spineless. Lazy. 

 

[Holymoly]

Cold light of dawn.

Listened to the game on the 5th Stand. Just watched the highlights. 2 minute video, less about 20secs for intro/outro. Mainly consists of replays of Wolves' goal. Fair do's though it was a screamer BUT Cucurella was way to far off, should have been at least 6 feet closer to Nunes.

My overall reaction is one of deep sadness of what my club has become. I'm not going to blame the owners as they are clearly attempting to do what they believe is right, no-one consciously throws billions down the drain. What we have to remember is that we were calling for a reset, a complete restructuring of the squad under the final years of the Abramovich reign. This isn't a new phenomenon that we are seeing, it is merely the chickens coming home to roost after probably eight years of squad mismanagement. The last squad that was remotely balanced was Jose's back in 2015. Conte probably began the descent even though he started by winning the title. He was the one that introduced the conceot of three at the back and from that point on our squad became a mish mash to support both four and a three in defense. Further up the pitch we began to sign hybrid players, capable in either system but masters in neither. He left the squad in disarray mentally and Sarri coming in ony exacerbated the situation.

When Frank came in during the transfer embargo we saw a slight improvement mentally. The kids were employed and supplied the basis of the team. They were more easily moulded, they did as they were told and although the wheels came off in the final month or so of his tenure he handed Tuchel a squad, while still hopelessly unbalanced were in a good place mentally. Signings after the transfer embargo were a scatter gun approach that people tend to forget this together with the dismantling of the kids in the squad allowed the unhealthy element to prosper. Tuchel did little to address this growing issue, he had his favourites and he had those he blanked. It must have caused division between the players. There are now so many players in the squad I'm guessing there is little identification with the club because so many of them get nowhere close to the match day squad. I know it's unrealistic but we should really dispose of at least 20 players currently in the squad and leave a core that want to play for Chelsea FC. It would leave holes all over the squad but at the moment the likes of Sterling are doing more harm than good purely by turning up for training.

All of this leads me to being disappointed by Frank's first game back in charge. He's a fan. He's seen the performances yet he continued with a version of Potterball that has shown to be deficient, with players that have been proven to be inept. How could he start with a back four that instantly nullifies James' talents and retains Cucurella on the left? How could he include Havertz who brings nothing to the side, least of all goals? How could he think that by doing the same things Potter did he would get different results?

Lampard is a nice guy (like Potter) but if history has told us anything it is that nice guys finish last especially when they are being asked to manager a group of individuals who earn 10x what they do. The best managers are the authoritarians that back up their approach with success. We need players with high levels of moral character like Azpilicueta and Thiago Silva. The one thing the owners are guilty of is ignoring these characteristics. I fear that if the likes of Enrique are appointed and players such as Sterling, Aubameyang or Lukaku are still around (because no other club is stupid enough to buy them off us) the squad will implode still further as they won't put up with the expectations placed upon them.

My advice to Lampard is to do the right thing. Stop trying to please everyone. Send out teams to win games. Forget rotation. Look at the players in the squad you want to use and play a formation that utilises them to their potential. It won't be your preferred 4-3-3. Be ruthless. Bin players not up to scratch. But please never play Havertz again. He plays a false 9 and is inept. There must be players in the squad that are capable of not being a striker that are better than this. You're not here to make friends.

[east lower]

13 minutes ago, Ham said:

This performance was up there with the very worst this season. The last two games were very good performances with awful finishing. 

This was just dire.

Again, these players are a disgrace.  Spineless. Lazy. 

 

Got to agree with the first paragraph, almost 6 hrs on the road to watch us surrender. I struggle to remember a second ball we won or when we put them under any pressure  in the middle or their third.

Same lack of cohesiveness throughout and no leaders. 

Appointing another lamb (temporary manager) to this slaughter is painful to watch. Unless there’s a mass cull and a manager appointed who can bring his own players in, we’ve got years of this to watch.

[Holymoly]

[Super Kenny Monkou]

6 hours ago, ROTG said:

A real bizarre statement which is not entirely true.

With regards to over paid players, that is not entirely true,  At the start of August they were being coached by a WC coach which was the normal for most of the first team squad, then without warning TB has an epiphany decides to remove TT and his coaching staff and with a media hyped mid table coaching team who I doubt any of the first team had heard of, especially those why joined in the summer with the exception of a doggy left back.

Then you come to the real crux of the problem coaching. one can assume TT had a quite disciplined routing for the players  where each player new there roles and responsibilities which wins CL and other trophies. All of a sudden a team of top quality players are confronted with mid Pl / championship coaching team and routines with out any real purpose or objective, which over a course of time demoralizes a team, hence how the teams form headed south very once the TT discipline approached faded.

As for professionals with honour, there are plenty of them in the squad and I am sure they will rise to the top in the coming days once Frank and his coaching staff start bringing some life back into training.

Also this team is nowhere near as bad as some of the dross teams and players during the late 70" and 80"s

They are at the top of their profession. This is not some apprentices being taught a trade who need direction.

You are giving them to much of a pass for some woeful performances.

Yes, we have had some woeful teams in the past. Mainly due to poor players from a lack of investment. You can accept that. You can’t say that about this team.
 

 

[kev61]

24 minutes ago, Super Kenny Monkou said:

They are at the top of their profession. This is not some apprentices being taught a trade who need direction.

You are giving them to much of a pass for some woeful performances.

Yes, we have had some woeful teams in the past. Mainly due to poor players from a lack of investment. You can accept that. You can’t say that about this team.
 

 

Imagine if you walked into a changing room and handed a suitcase full of cash to every player before they even kicked a ball.

Not as crude as that but you know what I mean.

[boratsbrother]

10 hours ago, kev61 said:

 

A lot of players today play if they feel like it.I said before - it is the most overated and overpaid sport in the history of sport.

 

Golf runs it pretty close! There are players on the PGA tour who end up with millions in the bank without ever having won a tournament in their career.

[Sciatika]

The thing is that moaning about how much players do or don't get paid won't make any difference. The players don't choose the transfer fees and are well within their rights to negotiate the best possible personal terms. Paying them more won't make a difference, and neither will paying them less.

[Super Kenny Monkou]

2 hours ago, Sciatika said:

The thing is that moaning about how much players do or don't get paid won't make any difference. The players don't choose the transfer fees and are well within their rights to negotiate the best possible personal terms. Paying them more won't make a difference, and neither will paying them less.

You are right but it is still a frustration in that we are not getting what we are paying for.

[Blue Orca]

13 hours ago, Holymoly said:

And played out of position for most of those games due to our horrendous buying policy of the previous and current regimes. Only we could turn one of the most wanted exciting youngsters in Europe into mediocrity. 

[Blue Orca]

13 hours ago, Ham said:

This performance was up there with the very worst this season. The last two games were very good performances with awful finishing. 

This was just dire.

Again, these players are a disgrace.  Spineless. Lazy. 

 

It was, and they are.