Rant Box: Norwich City v. Chelsea

Lot of talk regarding a lack of so-called hunger from our players today. I felt the need to touch on that quickly seeing as I find that to be pretty disrespectful to the players themselves. They deserve criticism, but not for that.

So what some are saying is that our players did not set out to the win this match. They were uninterested in competing. This is, frankly, ridiculous (no disrespect). 

Was there a monopoly in possession? Were sufficient chances created? Was there a general dominance of the second half? Was only one team really going to win the match? Yes, on all accounts. 

The problem is not with hunger but with our individual personnel. Bosingwa can't cross for the life of him. Cole is suffering the worst run of form of his Chelsea tenure. Torres is suffering the worst run of form in his career. Lampard and Meireles cancel each other out, leaving Ramires to do pretty much everything. Juan Mata is exhausted. Daniel Sturridge is not fully fit. Our defense has been insanely fragile, thus putting even more pressure on the rest of the side. You couple all these individual issues together, and you have a mountain in which to overcome to succeed.

This lethal mix results in what we saw today, a performance in which we did pretty well everywhere except in the final third. We were devoid of ideas. And confidence.

Add to this the fact that Norwich are playing really well, and this game was always going to be a very difficult one. Ask yourself this: Had we sneaked a 1-0 win, would you have questioned the players' professionalism?

Here's to hoping this short vacay will do wonders for the side.

Get Willian! Willian is not featured in today's Shanktar's league game. Maybe we are close. 

we need to start using player in proper positions so we can get the best out of them. Look at Mata, we brought him to add some creativity to our games but we mostly use him on sides ... chelsea needs to change formation as a transition ... it is not just about players ...no matter who we bring in, if we do not use them properly, it will be same story all day long
We need to ask this question ? Why torres was the best goal scorer for Liverpool ,  because they were playing 4-4-2 and players such as Gerrard and Xavi Alonso fed him ....
Change it to 4-4-2 with
Ramires------Mata----Lampard----Malouda
----------Torres----Daniel--------------------

Or put some good passer behind him
-----------Meireles---Lampard-------
---Daniel---Mata-----Malouda-----
-----------Torres---------------------

In both formation, we are using Mata in center as well.....

I think you are exactly right...there's talent on this team, it just isn't being utilized properly.

So slow and ponderous passing the ball from side to side.  Why doesn't this manager get this lot playing a bit quicker and moving the ball forward with tempo?  Maybe then they would be more exciting to watch and results might then improve.  Would rather see them lose but play a more exciting game to be honest. This sort of performance is dire.  Of a very bad day for all concerned only David Luiz showed any drive and Torres should never have been substituted.  Sturridge should have gone instead and as for Bosingwa, he needs to leave for good....