Chelsea (H) 06.03.17 - 8pm k/o SS1

IronHerb

Slimy,
But why would it be an aimless cross? We had everyman and his dog in their penalty area and so Nobes opts for the 5m pass, that has been his trademark, to a player already under pressure. In the past we would have played the aimless cross to a single isolated striker in the opposition box. So it was a poor option played poorly.

eskimoking

I fully concur that it is Mark Noble's fault that another player gave the ball away.

MrsGrey

IronHerb said:

Slimy,

A bit harsh?

IronHerb

Oh! Sorry. That was totally unintentional. ;ok

alderz

eski, but it was down to Noble playing a stupid pass that left Snodgrass with no option. I am the first to defend Noble, but that was a poor decision.

MrsGrey

Herb, I should have put a ;wink

I realse it was a typo. Bit like when I called Twist 'twit'. ;whome

tomkinsworldclass

I thought the performance from us was good; up until the first goal we were excellent, then the 2 goals kind of stalled us for abit, but we regrouped and kept going. CFC werent spectacular but they are very well prepared, intelligent and simple-simplicity and deliberateness are very underrated qualities which make a big impact; people knowing exactly what to do/why they are doing it/ what they can and cant do.

As for the goals; I'm somewhat torn over the 1st goal- firstly it was excellently executed by CFC, real class, but from our perspective we could've handled it differently; Noble took too long on the ball but the intention to play Feghouli in behind was the right one because it was on and he would've been in a fantastic position to put in a very dangerous cross. My only gripe is that Noble should've played it quicker and Snodgrass could've controlled the ball if he wasnt set to play it in behind as he most likely would've been able to win a free kick. The 2nd was sloppy and looked like a few players going for the same ball causing the problems. Whilst Randoplh didnt do anything wrong, I still prefer Adrian in goal; perhaps its time for Adrian to get another look in?

For me, Sakho and Antonio were really needed last night because of their ability to run off the ball; too often we played to feet and it saps the momentum out of us but Its something which has happend previously this season, due to a number of factors. We needed to be more aggressive off the ball and to show a bit more self belief in our ability to execute certain things, but it is a learning experience and we showed that we have learned from the heavy defeats against elite counter attacking sides this season as we defended and pressed alot better than we have done.

P.S I think the Noble criticism is OTT, i thought he played pretty well, though I am an advocate of moving Kouyate back into CM.

Pearces_Left_Foot

I think Noble was below average last night I heard he had a dead leg during the week in training and has played 30 games on the trot or something. Maybe he is just tired and needs a break and maybe the Bournemouth game would be a good time for a rest. I don't think he should be automatically picked to start every week otherwise we might end up with a Nolan type situation where he gets blamed for everything.

SuzanneClaret

I though apart from his boo-boo Nobes played well.

Yeoldhammer

Either Bilic has no faith in Byram or is shoe horning Kouyate in at right back because he doesn't want to drop Noble.

Vorselaarhammer

5th highest attendance in the world for this weeks games....

And a game in the MLS had a higher attendance than Liv V Ars..

http://talksport.com/football/atlanta-united-bigger-liverpool-v-arsenal-10-largest-attendances-week-revealed-170307230502?p=5

eskimoking

alderz said:

eski, but it was down to Noble playing a stupid pass that left Snodgrass with no option. I am the first to defend Noble, but that was a poor decision.

Don't agree with that at all. Snodgrass is a very talented footballer, the ball was played to his feet, defender was behind him. I'm pretty sure Snodgrass had options. Noble perhaps should have crossed it, but flat out blaming him for the goal when a different player lost possession is absurd.

alderz

I'm not blaming him for the goal at all, but to me, he had the opportunity to get the ball in the box and didn't take it, and we gave the ball away as a result.

IMO he should have dealt with the situation far better, but dithered and opted for a sideways pass when he had a perfectly good opportunity to hoist it into the box with 6 of our players stood in there.

Snodgrass could have done better, but there was absolutely no reason to play the ball to him.

Slaven_Cups_His_Beard

He had a split second Allardyce style to launch it in, he didn't and he gave it to a team mate who then lost it.

Trouble is our movement off the ball is poor

Waking ;ok

Herb - Slimey ;nonono

MIAHammer

Yeoldhammer said:

Either Bilic has no faith in Byram or is shoe horning Kouyate in at right back because he doesn't want to drop Noble.

To be honest I don't have much faith in Bryam. I feel he gets caught out of position quite easily and plays so high, that he puts the rest of defense under huge pressure when we lose the ball and the opposition comes at us.

Putney_Hammer

Could be worse we could be Arsenal ;lol

Yeoldhammer

MIAHammer said:

Yeoldhammer said:

Either Bilic has no faith in Byram or is shoe horning Kouyate in at right back because he doesn't want to drop Noble.

To be honest I don't have much faith in Bryam. I feel he gets caught out of position quite easily and plays so high, that he puts the rest of defense under huge pressure when we lose the ball and the opposition comes at us.

Then if that is the case he is culpable for signing 2 right backs that are causing us to shoe horn other players in and unbalancing the team.

IronHerb

Slizzy, (Checks predictive text this time) eh! ;ok

Vorselaarhammer

I vote we change his name to Slimey..... ;run

Moore_than_a_nick

I think Byram needs to be given a run of games. As others have commented, since we have little at stake, relatively speaking, for the rest of this season, why not give him a run and see if he can adapt to PL standard?

I would also have Kouyate in CM every game, since I believe he is our best player there.

If we're playing two or three in CM, I'm also not averse to partnering Kouyate with Lanzini (or Kouyate, Lanzini and Obiang), since I think Lanzini can be trusted not to give the ball away too much, but too link up play and give us quick changes in pace going forward. I'd like to see Ayew playing up front, supporting AC or on his own. I think we would see a lot more Lanzini-Ayew combos like for the goal against Chelsea.

So I guess I'm thinking


4-3-3:

Antonio-AC/Ayew-Snodgrass

Obiang-Lanzini-Kouyate

Cresswell-Reid-Fonte-Byram

Adrian/Randy

or

4-4-1-1

AC
Ayew
Snodgrass-Lanzini-Kouyate-Antonio
Cresswell-Reid-Fonte-Byram
Adrian/Randy

Pity for Obiang to miss out on current form, but depending on availability and oppo, might like

Ayew
Lanzini
Snodgrass-Obiang-Kouyate-Antonio
etc.

Naturally also a pity that Nobes misses out, but I'm sure with injuries etc. he'd still get a lot of game time even if we went with the above as first choice line-ups.

What do you think?

OldCastleSwift

No way do we drop Obiang, IMO. Arguably our player of the season and most effective midfielder.

FlorinRaduclious

Moore_than - I agree about Byram. Give him the rest of the season at right back, see how he does; we don't really have anything to lose (or massively gain) this season now anyway. ;ok

Disagree massively about dropping Obiang, our best midfielder this season and on current form must be played. He's a better all round CM then Nobes and Kouyate; those two fight to take the slot alongside him IMO.

Your 4;3;3 line up looks a goer for me. Your 4;4;1;1 def no. Lanzini and Kouyate on their own in CM would get eaten alive by top 10 sides.