Chelsea 2 AFC Wimbledon 1

[xceleryx]

6 minutes ago, Bison said:

It's very weird that Nizaar and Steinberg (who support Man Utd and West Ham respectively) have made  careers of reporting negatively on all things Chelsea. 

Steinberg, in particular, still being 'our' correspondent for a major newspaper even after this emegered is quite something:

End of the day it's a job, but bloody hell you'd think they'd at least have a bit of professional dignity - maybe I expect too much. Nizaar is a moron though, he's notorious for click-bait and recycling information that's got little substance. Then you see videos like the one posted and you do have to wonder how far his head was up his posterior while watching. 

This Steinberg nugget though is a new one to me, not that I particularly take too much note of what he's generally got to say anyway, but still. 

Edited August 31, 2023 by xceleryx
spelling

[CarefreeMuratcan]

The highlights show on ITV4 got a fact completely wrong. The host said it going into the highlights for our game and then the commentator repeated it at the end of our highlights.

They said this was our first time in Round 2 in 27 years.

Our last time in Round 2 was 8 years ago, in 2016-2017. 

I mean in this day and age of Wikipedia at your fingertips and the writers (presumably) got this wrong. 

[asvaberg]

I didn't see the match, like most of us 🙂

I heard the commentary on Chelsea Radio, in the background. 

Happy for the win, of course.

Happy that Colwill injury isn't a serious one

Happy for Madueke and his penalty goal
Happy for Enzo and his  goal

 

But:

I am not comfortable with the experimental lineup.

We were lucky with our 2-1 goal (bad keeper/defence)

We were lucky they didn't equalize in the 97(!) min.

 

Bring on Brighton - veni, vidi, vici 🙂

Edited August 31, 2023 by asvaberg

[Mark Kelly]

3 hours ago, Bison said:

I listened to the game, saw the highlights and the stats sheet after the game and I genuinely cannot believe what this journalist has said. How can you just lie so blatantly like this?

Its Nizaar Kinsella , its his stock in trade where Chelsea are involved 

[xceleryx]

Full match is up on the Chelsea site for anyone interested.

https://www.chelseafc.com/en/video/full-match-chelsea-2-1-afc-wimbledon

Just got done watching it myself, Nizaar can go eat a bag of male appendages. We dominated for virtually the entire game and rarely looked bothered outside of one or two moments. The penalty against us was awful, as was the "foul" that lead to the free kick initially. Wimbledon largely sat back and kept men behind the ball at all times, so no surprise they had little of the ball and were on the back foot for most of the match. 

We lacked that bit of polish around goal, as we've sort of seen in our first few matches this season. With some more composed and clinical finishing we'd have scored 4 or 5 easily. Rarely did we get out of second gear, with players like Noni, Gallagher, Cucurella, Diasi and later Enzo being the standouts. Maatsen was so-so, but did get more involved in the second half and with better decision making and final ball he'd probably have picked up an assist or two. Burstow had no real impact, nor did Diego Moreira. With Ugo imposing himself on occasion with some good defensive work and tidy passing, I can see why we took interest in him. Also Humphreys put in a  promising performance himself carrying on from his encouraging pre-season. 

Not our best performance by any means, but hardly looked threatened and as mentioned could've put 4 or 5 past them on another day. 

[Sciatika]

Looking at the replay, does anyone notice how the player who had been (apparently) "punched" by Sanchez pauses in his suffering to look up at his teammates at about 20:10 and then suddenly recovers and makes a fist in celebration at about 20:40. It could be he is simply taunting the MHL. I think Sanchez punched the ball and the players met mid-air as you would expect. Is that genuinely a penalty? 

[Holymoly]

57 minutes ago, asvaberg said:

I am not comfortable with the experimental lineup.

I wouldn't get too concerned mate as it was just that "experimental". I think Pochettino would quote Ange after Spuds lost in that if he doesn't play them how will he find out what they're like. The point is that there was no neccessity for it. We've played three league games, it's an entirely new squad and the important thing is to develop first team cohesion not give minutes to fringe squad players. There's no point taking anything we've learned away from the performance as a whole as that team will never play together again. You can however look at the individual performance of the first team starters:

Sanchez - Makes you realise that he is no better than Kepa however he doesn't have the ability to pull out individual moments of brilliance. We're reaping what we sowed there.

Colwill - Caught an injury but may have escaped the voodoo curse by the skin of his teeth. I wouldn't be surprised if he misses the weekend as a precaution.

Gallagher - He's become the Mason Mount we always believed we had, although possibly isn't quite as canny.

Pochettino - Came a whisker away from cocking things up for us with the team he selected. No need for it. Stop trying to outsmart yourself.

In addition, as an aside, and call me old for this but I hope Jackson's preference for the shorter short rubs off on the rest of the team and the league. It is refreshing to see a player's knees after so long where kit shorts seem to extend to the top of the shin pad.

[Thiago97]

1 minute ago, Holymoly said:

I wouldn't get too concerned mate as it was just that "experimental". I think Pochettino would quote Ange after Spuds lost in that if he doesn't play them how will he find out what they're like. The point is that there was no neccessity for it. We've played three league games, it's an entirely new squad and the important thing is to develop first team cohesion not give minutes to fringe squad players. There's no point taking anything we've learned away from the performance as a whole as that team will never play together again. You can however look at the individual performance of the first team starters:

Sanchez - Makes you realise that he is no better than Kepa however he doesn't have the ability to pull out individual moments of brilliance. We're reaping what we sowed there.

Colwill - Caught an injury but may have escaped the voodoo curse by the skin of his teeth. I wouldn't be surprised if he misses the weekend as a precaution.

Gallagher - He's become the Mason Mount we always believed we had, although possibly isn't quite as canny.

Pochettino - Came a whisker away from cocking things up for us with the team he selected. No need for it. Stop trying to outsmart yourself.

In addition, as an aside, and call me old for this but I hope Jackson's preference for the shorter short rubs off on the rest of the team and the league. It is refreshing to see a player's knees after so long where kit shorts seem to extend to the top of the shin pad.

All very well with hindsight though. We play a strong eleven there and Enzo picks up a groin strain or Sterling does a hamstring........I am certain we hear noises about why are we playing them at home to Wimbledon when we have such a young squad of players who need game time!

There is no right or wrong answer, and certainly not a case of the manager trying to be smart with his selection. It's just about navigating a way through the game with a positive result and damage limitation. Job done.

[xceleryx]

10 minutes ago, Holymoly said:

I wouldn't get too concerned mate as it was just that "experimental". I think Pochettino would quote Ange after Spuds lost in that if he doesn't play them how will he find out what they're like. The point is that there was no neccessity for it. We've played three league games, it's an entirely new squad and the important thing is to develop first team cohesion not give minutes to fringe squad players. There's no point taking anything we've learned away from the performance as a whole as that team will never play together again. You can however look at the individual performance of the first team starters:

Sanchez - Makes you realise that he is no better than Kepa however he doesn't have the ability to pull out individual moments of brilliance. We're reaping what we sowed there.

Colwill - Caught an injury but may have escaped the voodoo curse by the skin of his teeth. I wouldn't be surprised if he misses the weekend as a precaution.

Gallagher - He's become the Mason Mount we always believed we had, although possibly isn't quite as canny.

Pochettino - Came a whisker away from cocking things up for us with the team he selected. No need for it. Stop trying to outsmart yourself.

In addition, as an aside, and call me old for this but I hope Jackson's preference for the shorter short rubs off on the rest of the team and the league. It is refreshing to see a player's knees after so long where kit shorts seem to extend to the top of the shin pad.

This is a rather cynical way of looking at it. 

I don't think the team selection was really that big of a problem, Four of the starters have been starting for us in the league already, Madueke came in after returning from injury for much needed minutes, Cucurella is arguably the primary backup for Chillwell still, and then you're looking at 5 squad to fringe options all coming in to play the sort of fixtures you'd expect them to feature in. 

We play a full first team and people will complain about not giving "the kids" a run, we play the kids and it's "too experimental", it's the same thing. 

@Thiago97said it best - "There is no right or wrong answer, and certainly not a case of the manager trying to be smart with his selection. It's just about navigating a way through the game with a positive result and damage limitation. Job done."

[martin1905]

Can't believe we have people moaning about so much rotation in the second round of the league cup, at home to a league 2 side. Just goes to show that some people just have to have something to moan about.

 

[paulw66]

10 hours ago, Holymoly said:

Play the strongest team every game regardless of the opposition, you don't know how long they will be available to you before voodoo strikes the next key player.

Sorry, but don't agree with this. Imagine if you play the same XI (the strongest team in Poch's eyes) for the next two months (making up a scenario) and then you get a couple of injuries or suspensions, and you ask a couple of players to start an important game having not kicked a ball all season. Not exactly bright.

You need to rotate, not only for freshness, but to keep everyone involved and match ready.

15 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

Can't believe we have people moaning about so much rotation in the second round of the league cup, at home to a league 2 side. Just goes to show that some people just have to have something to moan about.

 

How long have you been a member, Martin???????

Edited August 31, 2023 by paulw66

[asvaberg]

30 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

Can't believe we have people moaning about so much rotation in the second round of the league cup, at home to a league 2 side. Just goes to show that some people just have to have something to moan about.

 

I just found this in my warderobe 🙂

[chrisb]

1 hour ago, Sciatika said:

Looking at the replay, does anyone notice how the player who had been (apparently) "punched" by Sanchez pauses in his suffering to look up at his teammates at about 20:10 and then suddenly recovers and makes a fist in celebration at about 20:40. It could be he is simply taunting the MHL. I think Sanchez punched the ball and the players met mid-air as you would expect. Is that genuinely a penalty? 

The penalty looked soft and it certainly appeared that their player was taunting the MHL with his little fist shake whilst still lying on the ground. As you can imagine the MHL reacted accordingly!

[Rob B]

13 minutes ago, paulw66 said:

Sorry, but don't agree with this. Imagine if you play the same XI (the strongest team in Poch's eyes) for the next two months (making up a scenario) and then you get a couple of injuries or suspensions, and you ask a couple of players to start an important game having not kicked a ball all season. Not exactly bright.

You need to rotate, not only for freshness, but to keep everyone involved and match ready.

How long have you been a member, Martin???????

Was going to make a very similar point.

Imagine Silva, Chilwell or Sterling got injured last night.  All we would hear is why were  they playing in the first place, league two opposition, we already have 9 injuries etc etc!!

If you don’t play some of the players 14-25 in your squad against Wimbledon at home in in the second round of the league cup, you’re quickly going to have a very discontent and unmotivated squad.

Poch got the balance there or thereabouts last night, with 4-5 youngsters mixed in with a bit of experience and the big guns on the  bench (which I suspect he knew we’d need due to match sharpness, lack of understanding / relationships etc) 

We dominated the game, they got bit of a dubious penalty to make it closer than it should have been, some players almost certainly validated the managers thinking and we’re into the next round.  
 

Job done. 

[paulw66]

3 minutes ago, Rob B said:

 

If you don’t play some of the players 14-25 in your squad against Wimbledon at home in in the second round of the league cup, you’re quickly going to have a very discontent and unmotivated squad.

 

Exactly. And if they aren't up to that, what are they doing here!

[martin1905]

21 minutes ago, paulw66 said:

Sorry, but don't agree with this. Imagine if you play the same XI (the strongest team in Poch's eyes) for the next two months (making up a scenario) and then you get a couple of injuries or suspensions, and you ask a couple of players to start an important game having not kicked a ball all season. Not exactly bright.

You need to rotate, not only for freshness, but to keep everyone involved and match ready.

How long have you been a member, Martin???????

I know Paul but this is just bonkers.

Wimbledon at home in the second round of the league cup and we make changes, played Maatsen, Humphreys and Burstow, alongside Colwill and Gallagher so 5 academy players in the starting 11, who'd have thought that was possible, comfortably win the game, it's a shame it wasn't on TV for people to see just how comfortable it was and yet people still moan.

Last night was like a training match, I'd argue it was less intense and against lesser opposition than if we played out reserve's, completely and utterly dominated and didn't break sweat, with most fringe players getting a run out, three more academy players starting and we won. 

What more do you want from this sort of tie?

I'd love to know how the moaners think we are going to keep someone like Maatsen happy, if they had it their way he wouldn't have played last night, would want to leave and then they would moan about that!

[jasonb]

Poch said himself before the match, needed to give the younger players some time on the pitch and if needed during the premier league will be less likely to be affected by the crowd. 

He changed it around in the 2nd and we should have had a better scoreline.

[thevelourfog]

Have only seen the one angle, but think I'm an outlier in that it looks a clear penalty to me. Sanchez wins the ball but he absolutely clatters their player in doing it, and the luck of it not causing any actual damage doesn't mean it wasn't dangerous. I would absolutely fume if an oppo keeper was given free reign to take out one of our players to get to the ball.

Otherwise looks like a load of better quality players who don't know each other that well having three quarters of the pitch to themselves and being a bit clueless about what to do when 11 players who do know each other well tuck themselves in. Boring but not anything to draw conclusions from.

[paulw66]

41 minutes ago, thevelourfog said:

Have only seen the one angle, but think I'm an outlier in that it looks a clear penalty to me. Sanchez wins the ball but he absolutely clatters their player in doing it,

Then surely every time a goalie rushes out to punch or catch the ball, they run the risk of colliding with an opponent? How can you come from a cross without doing that?

We absolutely got done due to the attention the Onana one got the other day (when he didn't get the ball)

[Ham]

43 minutes ago, thevelourfog said:

Have only seen the one angle, but think I'm an outlier in that it looks a clear penalty to me. Sanchez wins the ball but he absolutely clatters their player in doing it, and the luck of it not causing any actual damage doesn't mean it wasn't dangerous. I would absolutely fume if an oppo keeper was given free reign to take out one of our players to get to the ball.

 

I don't think I've ever seen a penalty given where the keeper punched the ball away before colliding with a player...... Until last night. 

[Sleeping Dave]

I don’t think the rotation was the problem last night. If you can’t rotate in the 2nd round of the league cup something is wrong. Which brings me to… 

What last night showed was that we have zero depth in the squad. We have a few sort of established players on the world stage and then a bunch of youngsters who may, or may not, become performers on that stage. 

We are screaming out for serious depth at AM/S and signing Palmer won’t solve that issue imo. He’s just another one like the ones we already have. If we are to have a good season there is an insane pressure on Sterling and Jackson to score and Enzo to create. If either has an average season we have no chance of achieving a top 5. With £1bn spent that’s ridiculous. Now, this side may develop into a top side in 2-3 years time. But it’ll be a long road to achieve that from where we are at the moment. 

I think people would be wise to really have sober expectations on this season. Personally all I’m looking for is improvement in terms of points and a clear style of play we can build upon. 

[thevelourfog]

15 minutes ago, Ham said:

I don't think I've ever seen a penalty given where the keeper punched the ball away before colliding with a player...... Until last night. 

Hard to think of an example now you've pressed me, tbf. I can think of plenty of times an outfield player smashed an opponent but touched the ball first and got carded for it, though. Should really be the same deal. I don't think it's about not colliding with or making contact with the player, but about the force with which its done and the risk that poses.

There's a reason I'm not a ref (not mates with Mike Dean).

[Miguelito07]

7 hours ago, Bison said:

It's very weird that Nizaar and Steinberg (who support Man Utd and West Ham respectively) have made  careers of reporting negatively on all things Chelsea. 

Steinberg, in particular, still being 'our' correspondent for a major newspaper even after this emegered is quite something:

that's quite the rant - is that really him?

[thevelourfog]

Just now, Miguelito07 said:

that's quite the rant - is that really him?

It is, but it is from 2006. How old will he have been? I was 21, and I'd be pretty f**ked if stupid things I said on the internet had much influence on the work I do now. I'm more bothered about the inane, polite rubbish he talks now.

[Miguelito07]

Just now, thevelourfog said:

It is, but it is from 2006. How old will he have been? I was 21, and I'd be pretty f**ked if stupid things I said on the internet had much influence on the work I do now. I'm more bothered about the inane, polite rubbish he talks now.

I agree. 

check out his match review from yesterday:

Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández shows his worth with AFC Wimbledon winner | Carabao Cup | The Guardian

Strange there's no mention on the transfer fees......NOT!