Chelsea - FA Cup SF | Post-Match Thread

[balotellishaircut]

Losing KDB for few weeks is bigger loss than losing the FA & Carabao Cup.

Some are saying they think it’s just a sprained ankle..maybe a week out

 

[bluemanchester]

Just got in from work saw bits of the game whilst working, from the bits I saw it was obvious to me the team and individual players were either not up for it or good enough. Read about 10 pages of this forum and some are saying it was a worthwhile sacrifice to progress in the Champions league. Well I am not so sure we will get past PSG if we cant stop conceding goals to fast breakaways. As much as any other supporter I would like to win the Champions League but I have my worries. Pochettino's tactic will be to tell Mbappe to stay on the half way line and wait for Neymar to pass a ball for you to run onto if you don't get a shot away look for support arriving because the other midfielders have been told once the forward pass is on they will easily arrive before Citys slow defensive midfielders. I have a bad feeling ror this game and I am usually upbeat about our chances in most games. Going to watch the last half hour of the Gillingham game to remind me of how far we have come and remind myself not to be such an entitled twat ;-)

That was good and Dickovs goal is still as exciting tonight as it was then. What a distance we have travelled I feel better already. Bring on Villa Spurs and PSG.

 

[Blue Theatre]

Was an awful, dull watch on national, free to air TV - this is where you win hearts/minds, not the Chumps League.

Yes, lots of people who don't have Sky/BT/etc will have tuned-in to see what all the fuss is about this wonderful quadruple-chasing side.

And they'll still be wondering.

 

[OffertonBlue]

Zinchenko would have made all the difference. Mendy never was and never will be any good. Something has happened to Sterling, he is not a happy man, walked round the pitch in the first half as if his head was elsewhere.

Sterling, Torres, Cancelo, Mendy and Kev were all walking around the pitch first half. Only Kev had an excuse has he'd played midweek. No excuse for the others who were all in bad form. Fern tried in the second half and he's our oldest player. Gundog tried a bit and Foden was immense.....surely he could have started at 20 years old?

 

[PragueBlue]

Yes KDB wasn't happy BUT the clock had run over a minute so KDB should have crossed the ball from the corner and not taken it short. It was obvious that the Ref was blowing after he crossed it and it was either headed in for a goal or headed out cleared. KDB shouldn't have taken it short.

Having seen his other corners today, it probably didn't matter. It always surprises me that for probably the best crosser of the ball in the game, how poor his corner taking is.

 

[Gundog’s Gundog]

We can’t expect to beat a top class team like Chelsea when our front three, Sterling Jesus and Torres contribute nothing to the game. If suitable offers were to be received I would only retain the services of Torres for next season.

Hard to tell on tv whether Mendy should have covered their scorer’s run more effectively so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt there but his display generally was fucking awful. He seems unable to receive the ball in such a way that he can do anything other than pass back infield to the centre half. Invariably when he trys a forward or even a square pass we lose possession. He stymies our progress up the left flank. Zinch was sorely missed today.

Just one of those days, it’s unrealistic to assume that we can make 8 changes and still beat one of the top teams in Europe on current form but no blame to Pep, players needed a rest and he made the right call.

Win the league - that’s all that matters, anything else is a bonus.

 

[Beanhead]

I think PSG is a bad matchup for us, personally, but if you would have told me in the beginning of the season we would win the league and play in a cup final vs Spurs- I'd take it in a heartbeat.

Agree on taking this situation in a heartbeat. But I would also have taken this final 4 in the CL and PSG in the semi in a heart beat. As good as they can be they have already lost multiple games in CL and trail Lille In their own league. We really shouldn’t fear them as we are a far, far better balanced side. If we can play in a similar way as we have post Christmas over two legs it’s them that will have to raise their game as beyond the front 3 they are the ones with obvious frailties, not us.

 

[MeatHunterrr]

It has to be said that we peaked during the 2nd leg vs BMG. After that performances have been getting worse.

 

[kev20971]

Yes KDB wasn't happy BUT the clock had run over a minute so KDB should have crossed the ball from the corner and not taken it short. It was obvious that the Ref was blowing after he crossed it and it was either headed in for a goal or headed out cleared. KDB shouldn't have taken it short.

I agree , don't why he just didn't swing it in. But I expect Dean would of blew anyway once the ball was in the air . Maybe Dean was hoping to do something like what Clive Thomas did in that World Cup game years ago ?

 

[Cobwebcat]

I'm afraid that I said when I saw the starting 11, I knew we'd get beat. I knew it when I saw the starting 11 when we played the rags too. Playing 2 defensive midfielders tells our opponents that we're more worried about them than they should be about us. Foden and Silva are not only skillful, they are hard grafters too.

How much did you win?