I could see what Pep was trying to do and if it wasn't for Rudiger's last ditch challenge to block Foden he would be hailed as a genius today, instead in a typical show of over reaction he is being questioned.
Chelsea are a fantastic side who are brilliantly organised and defensively as good as it gets, they narrow down space so well it gives no room to play in. So I could see why Pep played Mahrez and Sterling high and wide, they needed to be stretched and we had to pull their CBs out wide to create space, plus playing Mahrez and Sterling high and wide it should have negated their wing backs which it did to some extent. They countered us by swarming all around Kev, he never got in the game, Kante was immense for them, which cut off our supply to the players we had high and wide.
I know people are questioning why there was no Ferna or Rodri, but that position in the game was almost redundant, it would have been a luxury having one of them there, a decisive one though and was our undoing for their goal. It was a fantastic ball by Mount though and perfectly weighted as it left Eddy in no mans land. Normally he would sweep up that no problem, but for some reason he was not sharp enough to cut out the danger.
They closed us down really well and disrupted our usual game. I don't believe playing an number 9 would have made any difference as he would have no service anyway they defended so well. Their full backs were exceptional. Mahrez had made Chilwell look silly earlier this season, this game Chilwell was so tight Mahrez hardly got a kick, James is quick and strong and had a very good game, he is just about the best RB in the country at the moment. And they had Rudiger, he was magnificent, what a player, fuck knows why Frank never played him, the lad is a superb defender and his presence made it easy for the rest of the defence as he won everything. They were also dangerous on the counter, Werner's pace gave them an out ball so we never built up a period of sustained pressure, nor could we over commit going forward because of his presence.
It was disappointing to lose of course, but we lost to a better team regardless of who we put out and now its three defeats in a row to them, all of them we deserved to lose because I do believe it is simply because they are better than us, no disgrace in that. Chelsea will get better as well and we have to improve to match them, we have to find a way to beat them. I do not know how that will be achieved, we have enough good players, but they have the Indian sign over us at the moment and what is worrying is other teams will copy there blueprint against us.
Now it is about how we react to defeat, the players will be hurting, the club is hurting, we have to make sure we come back stronger and I am certain we will. We are still Champions of England, first off we have to defend that and win the title again, the CL will come again and next time we will be better for the experience of losing.
