Rant Box: Wigan v. Chelsea

Torres should be given the opportunity

The usual staff...nothing new. .Very sad chelsea team .. 

I am starting to think that Villas-Boas doesn't know what the f*** he's doing...his substitutions went from strength to crap.   And Torres on the bench again...? Starting to look like he's got something personal against Torres.

AVB knows what he is doing, but he, I think, in trying to anticipate the game and in trusting in his players, makes decisions that sometimes work out and fail in other cases. In this instance, I think his subs backfired, though Jack disagrees; but his attempt at anticipating the game and not merely reacting is a good thing. Indeed, it is a strength, and as he stays with the team and builds the players to his liking, I think we will be all the better for it over the long haul.

Seriously? Seriously?

I can't believe it. Take points from league leaders on Monday; drop points from bottom of the table on Saturday.

AVBs tactics backfired starting at the half time change, followed by the subs for Sturridge and Mata. Our collaborative defensive failure, especially Bosingwa's and Bane's, led to the equalizer, but then we were without creative genius to reclaim the lead.

And what happened with our key players? Drogba and Mata were both silent. Lampard ineffectual. Glad to see Danny boy capitalize, but as a team we lost our spark and purpose, and, as a result, we failed to rise to the occasion and keep pace with the top of the table. Frustrating.

Backfired with the halftime change? The halftime change was the spark that saw us actually create something, unlike in the first half.

No, it did not spark anything. The two players that combined in our goal were Cole and Sturridge. It was a hail-mary of a pass atypical of the biline cross tactics. It was a rare goal, but a beautiful one, yet it came from out of nowhere as we had lost control of the game while Wigan were picking up pace and intensity. Their momentum culminated in the equalizer, in which we did suffer from the half time change; thereafter, the previous subs found us wanting, for we didn't have the offensive wherewithal to try and get a winning goal with both Sturridge and Mata on the bench. The subs backfired.

No disrespect, of course.

None taken.

None taken.

Uh, yeah it did. Just because Kalou didn't score or wasn't directly involved in the goal doesn't mean he didn't have a fucking positive effect on our play. Bringing him on was the right decision when we needed a player whose dribbling ability could weave through the mire of Wigan defenders that were setting up shot in the attacking third. Our pace of play picked up immediately with Kalou in the mix. Hell, he won a corner inside two minutes.

His introduction also saw us move to a 4-2-3-1, with Mata more centrally. It had a positive effect, period. Bringing on Mikel following the goal also made complete sense. 

I'm sick of this storm of hate toward AVB. The players didn't perform today, simple as.

I'm not an AVB hater; I like what he is doing and plans to do with the club. But, today, I feel that the subs backfired. I think we are looking at the subs from different angles, causing us to arrive at different conclusions. I am looking at the subs in light of the equalizer and the inability afterwards to regain the lead. You are looking at the subs in light of the 4-2-3-1 structural strategy. I can't get past the equalizer and ensuing failure to perform, which leads me to interpret the subs as a backfire.

Now matter how we interpret the subs, we both agree that the performance from the players was egregious. Ivanovich? Horrid. Lampard and Drogba? Silent. 

Anyway, that's just my two cents. Disagree if you like, it won't hurt my feelings, and I still trust in Chelsea and in AVB.

No disrepect...  ;p, but I'm really wanting to like AVB...he's got the pedigree and a history of winning.  But he's got to use the players he has, with the skill sets that they possess.  He's trying to force asquare peg into a round hole...he's been lucky enough to force it in a couple of times for a couple of fortuitous wins.  It's time for him to use the strengths of the players he currently has, and maximize their skills...that's what good managers do.  The Spurs are going to shred us if THIS team shows up on Thursday... 

I think AVB is using the players correctly. He is a far cry different from, say, Gaspirini at Inter earlier this year, trying to force old defenders into a fast-paced 3 man defensive line, which failed miserably and sent the Nerazzurri into the bottom end of the table nearing relegation. But I digress.

it ws so sad to see torres play... oh wait!!!
wtf is avb doing??? what happened to all that attacking style ???? why isnt torres being given a chance to prove himself in these matches with the bottom of the table? it only confirms my worst fears... that torres will be leaving in jan... thank you chelsea for ruining a players life!!!

Oh dear. What just happened. I can't believe the substitutions and I'm not even going to comment of Cech's clanger. That's the difference between us and the Manchester clubs. Those mistakes would have never happened and even if they did concede that late, they'd already be 3-4 nil up. So irritating. Just when I thought we were back in the title race... 
Oh, how we missed Ramires and his 'never say die' attitude, but to fair he was a booking away from a miss vs Spurs next week. 
The substitutions were horrid: Kalou for Romeu, fair enough. We had to go for it. Mikel for Mata? What? Take Mata off when we're 2-3 nil up if AVB wants to rest him. I know Obi was there for us to hold the lead but why didn't we keep Mata on and kill the game? Malouda for Danny was the worst. Danny was our only player playing relatively well except for Terry and Ash (IMO). Drogba was pretty bad. Why wasn't Drogba taken off and Danny shifted down the middle? Or better yet why wasn't Torres brought on to use his pace to hurt a tired defence? Lamps was pretty bad too. Why wasn't he taken off for Obi Mikel. Disappointing. 

KTBFFH.

is AVB trying to make a point that the old guards can't get the job done

Sweet.

the entire old guard+meireles on the pitch

what the fuck just happened there

Bane's a nut job.

No, it is Bosingwa, tracking back too slow. He could have easily nullify it. 

Um, we weren't talking about the goal.

Sturridge. This kid is pretty good.

Oh god what a gooal from danny!!

This is soo Chelsea, we wn all "important" matches" then we drop stupid points...

Kalouuuuuu.

Anybody out there? Voice your opinions on the statue that is Frank Lampard.

score the moment laps steps off the pitch.

wouldn't mind just throwing torres on for lamps...can't possibly be any worse

bring him in the last 20 mins... he will always get goals... tho play 90 mins, he cant!!! 

Well, that was pretty terrible.

Drogs just wide with a diving header. That's about the extent of our threat thus far.

What a drive by Romeu. Excellent.

Mata and drogba new purple boots be pimpin

Diame just nutted Romeu. Eww.

butt fugly pitch

Word on Fox Soccer website says Drogba wants to leave. If true, Torres needs more games to find his groove!

Oh, and this isn't exactly the rotation I was looking for. 

These aren't the droids you're looking for.

Teams added. As if I wasn't already in a shit mood, David Luiz apparently has a knee injury.

Word on the street is Torres will not start. Intresting

not too surprised...we really need points, so why not stick with the hot Drogs. if we bang 3 in by the half, then Torres might get a look in haha

true, but if torres cant even play against "softer rivals" and drogba will go to AFC and or leave the team, what are we gonna do?

yes its true