And I will continue to swim mate. Your facts are opinions of what might have happened. My opinion is that playing Fern at DM would not have made an appreciable difference because of the tactics Chelsea employed.You are missing the “WHY were they the better team?” question.
The answer: We were not able to nullify their dominance in the middle of the park, while they nullified our normal dominance out wide.
This brings the second question:
“Why were we so easily dominated in the middle of the park?”
And this is where the obvious point arises.
It is one thing to be go Mano a Mano, best against best, and lose. It is a completely different thing to feel like we were vested because we didn’t put out our best, and thus list many Mano a Mano battles on the park.
Also of note is the fact that with time slipping away, Pep went back to the players and formation that had achieved so much of our success, and we dominated the closing stages of the game, putting their box under siege.
It’s fine to feel like you want to make a pedantic point about Ferna or Rodri as a DM, but ignores the reality that most Blues (and many in the media) recognize: The Starting XI and formation was a BIG SHOCK that quickly proved to be a mistake. It was not corrected quickly enough and Pep’s emphasis on attack harmed our defence in ways that SHOULD have been clear from the outset.
I believe these are ALL FACTS NIT IN QUESTION.
You may believe otherwise, but you’re swimming upstream against a very strong tidal wave of opinion.
For me, the “mentality” issue all stemmed from the fact that Chilwell and Reese James were given clear instructions on how to nullify Mahrez and Sterling, and in the first 10-15 minutes of the game it was clearly working. That bred the confidence that our very aggressively attacking formation was not nearly as formidable as it might have seemed on paper.I also wish to hell he had just played our best team. Then at least folk wouldn’t look for excuses. Mentally they were more focused, they had some outstanding performances and to me, it’s a case of well done fair play. We need to be better next time When at least they will have experienced the pressure.
Pt2 been delayed. Just waiting on Chappy to do the shirt for Kane.
more chance of mr lescott saying , " defiantly"How many times will he say important?
Pt2 been delayed. Just waiting on Chappy to do the shirt for Kane.
You make a very good case on why they won, one that I agree with and have been describing since Saturday. Where I don’t agree is that we have midfielders that are half hearted defenders. First time I have heard that. We attack and defend as a team. Anyhow mate, I respect your opinion which is at variance with mine. We probably shouldn’t try and convince one another. I’m sure both of us has better things to do :-).For me, the “mentality” issue all stemmed from the fact that Chilwell and Reese James were given clear instructions on how to nullify Mahrez and Sterling, and in the first 10-15 minutes of the game it was clearly working. That bred the confidence that our very aggressively attacking formation was not nearly as formidable as it might have seemed on paper.
Couple that with the fact that Kante & Jorginho then took control of midfield and their 3 attackers and roving FBs (esp Chilwell, who wasn’t being defended by Mahrez) started pulling our back four around with their overload, and it didn’t bode well.
Their game is fast, direct AMs and FBs getting forward to overload a back four, especially when opposition midfielders are half-hearted defenders. We gave them about 4 or 5 of those to exploit.
This then leaves defenders one on one, or even worse, 2 on 1 as a last line of defence. Generally, attackers are quicker than defenders, especially when they’re already on the run…and Bob’s yer uncle!
THAT ALL FLOWS FROM THE CONFIDENCE (or greater mentality) THAT YOUR GAME PLAN IS WORKING AND THE EXPLOITATION OF YOUR OPPONENT IS GOING TO PAY DIVIDENDS.
Juxtapose that against a City team whose formation was almost immediately nullified, with no muscle memory of succeeding against the opposition tactics and no base of superiority from which to build, and you can see we had to then try to make it up on the fly.