Chelsea 1 Nottingham Forest 1

[east lower]

1 hour ago, Siidi said:

Chukwuemeka hasn't looked bad the odd occasions he's played. I really like the intensity and directness that Lavia brings. With him and Caicedo there's more grit to our midfield. But I just get this feeling that as long as Enzo is around, he'd be chosen, no matter how poorly he plays. 

Fernandez was a complete passenger as soon the tempo of the game increased and Forest decided that attacking us was a good idea. I.e for the whole of the second-half. 

Caicedo drove us forward constantly in the second half. 

But, like you my feelings are that there’s one, very unjustified name on the team sheet after Palmer. 

 

[NoblyBobly]

Just seen that late save from Sanchez. Wow! 

Edited October 6 by NoblyBobly

[boratsbrother]

17 minutes ago, Proud-Blue said:

 

We're sitting in fourth at the moment before this international break. I think the vast majority of us would have taken that. The challenge now will be holding that position given some really tough fixtures coming up.

 

Could have been better but Sanchez has made some big saves in recent games which won us points, so our position could easily be worse too. So overall we should be satisfied with the season so far. Also, we've not exactly  been very  good at chasing the pack after poor starts, so we have to take the decent as an extra good sign so far.

Got a nice points gap over Utd. They will improve but it's already looking tough for them. Newcastle will be roughly where they were last season. Spurs can look very good in patches but equally bad in others, so who knows about them. Villa are the most consistent team of those chasing 4th. I hope they do well in the CL as I think it could drain them a little as the season progresses.

 

I'd like to add that I thought it was another entertaining game today. I'm getting a bit too long in the tooth to just want to see winning football at any cost all of the time. 

 

[chrisb]

1 hour ago, Bones said:

I agree with time wasting,  but we had 13mins added on. I was positively suprised with that. Not sure what else ref could have done.

Given them a few more yellows for the blatant cheating. Their keeper pretending to be knocked out after clashing with his own defender and wasting 5 minutes, sending off whoever it was that blatantly tripped Cucurella up which caused the melee that wasted another 5 minutes. Their shithousery took cheating to a whole new level.

Edited October 6 by chrisb

[chrisb]

And most of that 13 minutes was down to the genuine injury that Gibbs-White suffered after Gusto blocked his shot and the time taken to treat him on the pitch then get him off, and then somehow not restart the game until their sub who was still wearing his tracksuit when Gibbs-White left the pitch was allowed to come on.  The officiating was utterly crap as per usual. What happened to the concussion rule? If Sels was knocked out as he appeared to be, surely he should have been substituted for safety reasons? No, he miraculously recovered after 5 minutes and was able to pull off a couple of worldies. Utterly disappointed in Forest and their “tactics” and Kavanagh for letting them get away with it.

[chara]

@chrisb...Already made my feelings clear about the "KO" but on reflection I really think the Powers should look at the whole incident again,,,as I recall there was no instance rush to the keeper as one would expect if a serious head injury had occurred and the theatrical opening of his eyes was,on tv, comical,,BUT with the concussion protocol. a must, it could put doubt in an official's mind and a delay urgent medical attention...I have no need to remind anyone about a referee putting a keeper's life in danger,,what a contrast.. no card for a fake injury and a referee who nearly caused a death by his arrogance.

I watch keepers closely both ends and knew he wasn't injured, With Tv it's easier to see than on the pitch but again  disgraceful,,,

The Guardian suggesting Jackson's behaviour needs reviewing seem to have missed Sels behaviour...sad because he earned his money but for me shamed himself.

[boratsbrother]

1 hour ago, east lower said:

Fernandez was a complete passenger as soon the tempo of the game increased and Forest decided that attacking us was a good idea. I.e for the whole of the second-half. 

 

 

 

If we had a defensive unit as good as we had 20 years ago, then we could accommodate a player as unathletic as Enzo. Sadly we don't, so too many times Enzo's lack of athleticism costs us in midfield. Putting Lavia in behind him would certainly help, but that would leave us a player short going forward and we certainly shouldn't be tampering with the best part of our team, so the long-term solution has to be to not start games with Enzo, at least in a good number of games.

[xceleryx]

7 hours ago, boratsbrother said:

I think Chuck deserves more game time than he's getting. 

In fairness, when opportunities have been there for Chukwuemeka he's either been injured or sick.

Even then, he's not a CM regardless, so to get him into the side it's gotta come at the expense of either Palmer, Sancho, Neto, Madueke, Felix or Mudryk - with some of those already getting slim minutes as it is themselves.  

[xceleryx]

4 hours ago, boratsbrother said:

If we had a defensive unit as good as we had 20 years ago, then we could accommodate a player as unathletic as Enzo. Sadly we don't, so too many times Enzo's lack of athleticism costs us in midfield. Putting Lavia in behind him would certainly help, but that would leave us a player short going forward and we certainly shouldn't be tampering with the best part of our team, so the long-term solution has to be to not start games with Enzo, at least in a good number of games.

20 years ago we also played with an extra man in midfield, with one of the three also designed a specific defensive role that consisted of sitting in front of the defence and shielding it. Not only do we now play with one less body, but there is no bonafide holding midfielder anymore. 

There's a lot more demand placed on a player like Caicedo in this day and age, someone tasked with doing a lot of defensive work but still also pushing up himself in the press. A lot of occasions BOTH Enzo and Caicedo are upfield and that allows the opposition to get in between the midfield and defensive line too easily, so it's not just an Enzo specific problem per se. 

The remedy is a bonafide holding midfielder that purely sits, but teams don't really want that anymore in a lot of cases. 

[Sleeping Dave]

Out of 18 very winnable points we’ve managed 14. The real test starts now with a run of games;

Liverpool (a)

(Panathinaikos (a))

Newcastle (h)

(Newcastle (a))

Man U (a)

(FC Noah (h))

Arsenal (h)

Leicester (a)

(Heidenheim (a))

Aston Villa (h)

Southampton (a)

Tottenham (a)

That’s 8 rather tough PL fixtures or 24 points on the table. This is the make or break period for our season. 16+ points and we will be genuine challengers for a top four - maybe even top three. 10 or less and we will be fighting for 5-7th. 

[Michael Tucker]

10 minutes ago, xceleryx said:

 

The remedy is a bonafide holding midfielder that purely sits, but teams don't really want that anymore in a lot of cases. 

 

I don't know if we (the team/coach, whatever) wants this, but it's clearly what we need. 

[Holymoly]

22 hours ago, Holymoly said:

I'm slowly becoming far too optimistic for my own good in expecting rather than just hoping for a win. 

See? Told you. That's a lesson learned.

[Chelsea_Matt]

9 hours ago, NoblyBobly said:

Just seen that late save from Sanchez. Wow! 

Absolutely. He’s a brilliant stopper - I just wish the brain farts would stop. 🧠 💨 ⛔️ 

[paulw66]

10 hours ago, Proud-Blue said:

A frustrating result, although the performance wasn't too bad.

 

Yes, not actually that different to a few other games we have won, but without taking chances

10 hours ago, CarefreeMuratcan said:

Beyond the time wasting, my concern is that attacking momentum is allowed to be broken up as well by not returning the ball to play quickly enough. The symbolic yellow card for a goalkeeper time wasting needs to be followed up with a second yellow and not only done for show. 

Yes. 

From the point we equalised, there was no continuity of play. time wasting. feigning injury. 

 

10 hours ago, east lower said:

And it also needs to happen well before sometime after 80 minutes generally. 

But that takes bravery and ownership of the issue and NONE of the referees have any of those qualities.

think is was minute 85 yesterday. that learned him. he then kept doing it. 

[CarefreeMuratcan]

56 minutes ago, paulw66 said:

Yes, not actually that different to a few other games we have won, but without taking chances

Yes. 

From the point we equalised, there was no continuity of play. time wasting. feigning injury. 

 

think is was minute 85 yesterday. that learned him. he then kept doing it. 

Honestly for me it's not even that we dropped 2 points. It's the entertainment factor taking a huge hit from this nonsense.

If you ask me they should bring in some sort of throw in/free kick/goal kick clock that works similarly to how goalkeepers need to release the ball from their hands within 8 seconds (or whatever it is). And it needs to be enforced. Had enough of this nonsense.

[Siidi]

12 hours ago, boratsbrother said:

I think Chuck deserves more game time than he's getting. 

No way would I start Enzo away to Liverpool. I see us being over run if we do. Lavia must start imo.

I'd also give Mudryk a start in that game. Thought he looked pretty sharp today. Also good to see Enzo hasn' t frozen him out as it sounded like he was going to a while ago. 

No matter what others think I always maintain there is a decent winger in  Mudryk. If I were coaching him I would advise him to cut out the complex dribbling which as we know is overrated in the modern game. 9 out of 10 times you either lose the ball or you end up dribbling your own teammates, and still lose the ball.

Mudryk should perfect beating the offside trap from the shoulder of the fullback and polishing up his crosses - low, high, short, long, etc. He did just that yesterday, and I count that as an assist missed by João Felix. 

[boratsbrother]

3 hours ago, Holymoly said:

See? Told you. That's a lesson learned.

We give up too many good chances for me to ever be confident about winning a league game. That said, we are also far from the only team which does that these days, even City do it. Liverpool are the only team looking solid with   two goals conceded so far and if they keep being that tight they'll be certs for the league.

 

 

[boratsbrother]

7 minutes ago, Siidi said:

No matter what others think I always maintain there is a decent winger in  Mudryk. If I were coaching him I would advise him to cut out the complex dribbling which as we know is overrated in the modern game. 9 out of 10 times you either lose the ball or you end up dribbling your own teammates, and still lose the ball.

Mudryk should perfect beating the offside trap from the shoulder of the fullback and polishing up his crosses - low, high, short, long, etc. He did just that yesterday, and I count that as an assist missed by João Felix. 

He drives me mad because like you I'm still  convinced there's a good player there.

[CarefreeMuratcan]

1 hour ago, boratsbrother said:

He drives me mad because like you I'm still  convinced there's a good player there.

Me three.

[Box of Tricks]

Kind of ok with a point in the end - had the chances to win it but equally could have been sucker punched.

I think getting a win at Anfield will be massive for us and our season. Some tougher games coming up so we don't want to slip too far behind any of the teams below us.

2 hours ago, Siidi said:

Mudryk should perfect beating the offside trap from the shoulder of the fullback and polishing up his crosses - low, high, short, long, etc. He did just that yesterday, and I count that as an assist missed by João Felix. 

I thought he was a goner but he's definitely rising to the challenge. I think having more options/competition will do him a favour in the long run as he'll start to concentrate on using his best assets to make an impact, rather than trying (and failing) to be the full package over an extended run of games.

[NoblyBobly]

2 hours ago, Siidi said:

No matter what others think I always maintain there is a decent winger in  Mudryk. If I were coaching him I would advise him to cut out the complex dribbling which as we know is overrated in the modern game. 9 out of 10 times you either lose the ball or you end up dribbling your own teammates, and still lose the ball.

Mudryk should perfect beating the offside trap from the shoulder of the fullback and polishing up his crosses - low, high, short, long, etc. He did just that yesterday, and I count that as an assist missed by João Felix. 

In a straight foot race there are not many that can keep up with him. If he can consistently get round the back of a defence and put in a decent cross , it’s all we really ask of him. That is his one job. As you say, forget the dribbles just ‘run Forest run!” 

[Chelsea_Matt]

2 hours ago, CarefreeMuratcan said:

Me three.

I think he’s shit. 💩✌️😁

[My Blood Is Blue]

Firstly, credit to Sanchez for some ridiculous saves, that ultimately won us the point. But he can do that, his reflexes are excellent, but it's when he has time to think about things he ends up not thinking or overthinking and it all goes wrong. But he saved us today and I'm very happy for him and us in that regard,

The officiating as ever was a disgrace, I really want Maresca or the club to say something, sooner rather than later, because otherwise, they'll just keep doing it. Crap.

The result is frustrating, but Forest have only conceded 4 goals (including ours) from open play this season and you can see why. They play to frustrate, break up play, cheat and do everything they can to keep a clean sheet and then hope to grab something on a counter or more likely a set piece. It's exactly the reason they signed Ward-Prowse. It's horrible to watch, they're a nasty little team, but credit to them for being so well organised.

We weren't bad, it was just a hard day at the office for us and those games happen. On another day Nkunku gets his header in (great play and cross by Mudryk to set up that chance), the keeper doesn't make a ridiculous double save to keep Palmer out and we walk away with 3 points. That performance and result doesn't change my feelings about our start or where we're going, I remain cautiously optimistic for the moment but also excited because I think we're building a really good team here.

The international break now, sadly, although it will hopefully give Colwill time to recover and Madueke as well. Cucurella is a massive miss for Liverpool and I really wish Maresca would call on Chilwell for that game, but he won't, it'll be Veiga's biggest and toughest match of his career so far.

[east lower]

7 hours ago, paulw66 said:

 

think is was minute 85 yesterday. that learned him. he then kept doing it. 

When the referee does it that late, it’s for crowd appeasement purposes and the masses fall for it. It also wastes another 20-30 seconds whilst they note the booking etc. 

But, they won’t book the keepers earlier as it might give the referee a tough decision later on, and that’s the rub. Too cowardly to do the right thing. I’d include our own team in that as all teams do it when it’s convenient. But we would probably be the first team to suffer, if there was a clampdown. 

As soon as Forest scored, the change in tactics were obvious. They were not ‘getting on with it’ beforehand and afterwards it was painful to watch and see how easy it is to con this set of referees. 

Down for over a minute, automatic sub. Down and stopping normal play, with no trainer required - off the pitch returning in 1 minute.

That might keep some flow. As soon as we upped the tempo yesterday, Forest players did all they could to break up that rhythm. They’re not alone in doing it, Arsenal have been masters at it for many years.

[paulw66]

27 minutes ago, east lower said:

When the referee does it that late, it’s for crowd appeasement purposes and the masses fall for it. 

 

I think it's also to appease the PGMOL

 I booked him for time wasting. What are you worried about ?