Chelsea Post match thread.

[Trav Le Bleu]

Gifted them all their goals with poor keeping or defending

Our whole back line played like 7 year olds running up the pitch & playing on the edge of their box the whole game, very amateur

First half, Nugent & Beckford were hiding, not making hardly any runs, happy to be marked out the game, shirking their responsibility and not be open to the pass

Midfield was the only bright spot of the first half, with Dyer looking dangerous, and Wellens & especially Danns looking good.

Second half, again we gifted them a goal with woeful defending, with Konch & Bamba allowing people to run through unchallenged and wide open (happened the whole game & made even Torres look good)

After that & especially with Pearson's subs we went toe to toe with them with Ivanovic proving a rock

Danns was boss & again Wellens was good

but our defence undid all the good work again

Kasper was poor for both corner goal and collectively SSL, Bamba & Konch were absolutely dire, Morgan only marginally better... what chance have you got if you gift a quality team 5! goals

almost frustrating because we could have had 4 ourselves

Oh well, they are Champions League & we're an inconsistant Championship side

That pretty much sums it up. Thanks for saving me time having to type it all in.

[Corky]

They had too much for us going forward. We could've been further behind in the first half had it not been for Kasper.

We showed some fight in the second half and I was pleased we managed to score twice and never gave up. We were always second best but we gave it a go.

Couldn't believe the totally shit view I had. On the back row of the lower tier, if you stood up you could only see the Shed End goal. Thankfully there were spare seats in the row in front so I managed to stand up and see the match. Appalling from a supposed massive club.

[Simmo86]

Someone said something similar on here earlier. It's not about ability, it's about him being a fvcking idiot. I have no idea what goes through his head.

Exactly, just because it's Chelsea doesn't mean the basic principles of defending go out of the window.

He's a liability, get rid!

[cc_star]

Are you for real?

He didn't have a great game today, but I thought he was the best of a bad bunch at the back (I know others disagree).

Bamba is always, always, always blamed whenever he plays and we have a poor game defensively. Always.

There's a reason for that.

Being able to dribble doesn't make you a good defender, compare Ivanovic solid as a rock performance today where we barely had a sniff & Cech had nothing to do, to Luiz (another dribbler who can't defend) where we had chance after chance after chance.

Bamba can't mark-up... this is one of the most basic skills as a defender

A partner never knows where he's going to be one minute to the next, about 6 players of good-to-very good quality haven't been able to form a successful defence with him.

Bamba, despite being at our club whilst during a period we've been in the top half of the table has been an almost ever present in one of the leakiest defences I can remember both last season when we scored for fun & goals conceded costed us & this season where goals are a little harder to come by. Even our relegation season was far more solid than this.

Most people can appreciate his dribbling ability & that he plays with a smile on his face, but feel he can't actually defend for shit and will be asking, are you for real?

[Craig]

I moved.

[HoustonFox]

They had too much for us going forward. We could've been further behind in the first half had it not been for Kasper.

We showed some fight in the second half and I was pleased we managed to score twice and never gave up. We were always second best but we gave it a go.

Couldn't believe the totally shit view I had. On the back row of the lower tier, if you stood up you could only see the Shed End goal. Thankfully there were spare seats in the row in front so I managed to stand up and see the match. Appalling from a supposed massive club.

Blasphemy. You mentioned Kasper making some good saves (which he did). You are supposed to say it is all his fault and Bamba was ace.

Stamford Bridge is a crappy stadium. Only been once, that was enough for me.

[LCFC FOX]

Defense let us down today. If they was on a good day we would have won. Could of score 2/3 more goals our selves.

[Fox92]

When we took the tube back, Phil Daniels was in the same carriage. Someone asked him where he lives, and he said "I live in a Council house"... Someone shouted "where you get rudely awakened by the dustman"

As for the game, we were beaten by a far better team. I don't think many of our players look "Premier League class" although I did think St Ledger, Danns and Morgan looked decent. I didn't think Wellens had a bad game, but his legs are catching up with him now! Nugent chased everything and nobody else really impressed. As for Gallagher, he is a joke.

[Simmo86]

I moved.

Judging by what I saw on Twitter earlier, thin Stu had pretty much the same view as that!

Shocking stuff!

[Corky]

I moved.

Pretty much the view I had before I moved.

Pitiful, you get a better view at most lower league grounds.

[Jon the Hat]

Chelsea fans = Best fans in English football.

Who the fvck came on a HT? Seriously. The Chelsea fans clapped him, and didn't have a clue who he was.

I know Chelsea isn't the most vocal club. But Jesus Christ. 5 goals and not even a single song was sang. That's an embarrassment, especially when they but the lyrics on the screen.

Anyway. Pearson's XI was a shocker by putting Gally on. WHY???!!!!

I was on the halfway line in the West stand. From where I was standing, the City fans did themselves proud, but Chelsea fans in the Matthew Harding Stand sang as many songs, and for what was basically a minor game for them.

It was Malouda on for Mata at half time.

Really glad to see the 2 goals, the fans deserved something, they were great.

[Jon the Hat]

When we took the tube back, Phil Daniels was in the same carriage. Someone asked him where he lives, and he said "I live in a Council house"... Someone shouted "where you get rudely awakened by the dustman"

As for the game, we were beaten by a far better team. I don't think many of our players look "Premier League class" although I did think St Ledger, Danns and Morgan looked decent. I didn't think Wellens had a bad game, but his legs are catching up with him now! Nugent chased everything and nobody else really impressed. As for Gallagher, he is a joke.

We looked like the championship team we are.

I did think Konchesky had a good game, seemed half of our forward movement came from him down the wing.

[Yojoe36]

It was Malouda on for Mata at half time.

I mean Johnny Bumstead.

[Corky]

It's not rugby.

[Happy Fox]

Just got back even though we lost the game not too much on a downer the atmosphere we generated was bloody immense couldn't hear a pin drop in the Chelsea just like a library and no exaggeration of those words!! Thought Gally was incredibly poor, Beckford took his goal nicely, bow down to Marshall what a superb goal that was , overall didn't think we looked totally out of place against top quality prem opposition, now the incentive is to get into the prem and the players should be up for the challenge if they want to come to these sorts of venues.

[MC Prussian]

The two early goals killed it.

We just weren't there and I think Pearson briefed the team accordingly. Chelsea put out a slightly weaker squad today and if we had wanted, we could've taken more advantage of that.

They looked shaky in the back (not as much as we did, mind you) and were there for the taking.

We had plenty of space in the middle of the park, but hardly ever gave it a go.

Something tells me our team was simply sent down to West London to enjoy the day out, play a bit of football, but without really wanting to win it. Matching Chelsea in parts was the primary goal. But instead, we let them walk in the park, stroll through and past our back four. It all looked so easy (from the Upper Tier), the way they cut inside, passed the ball in between them and how they managed to control the ball in general. The difference in quality showed.

With Gallagher's substitution, the whole formation started to look really weird. Konchesky suddenly playing LWB/LM/LW, Peltier somewhere in the middle, St. Ledger hardly ever on the right side and Bamba pushing forward a little too often for my liking.

I have to say that Wellens and St. Ledger looked miles off proper match fitness and both were missing speed and vision, Gallagher didn't play a lot better himself. St. Ledger doesn't do well as RB (doesn't stay in position and tends to stick to CB), Wellens was shown his limits today - too slow against Premier League opposition, gave away lots of possession and his passing was mediocre to put it mildly. Bamba was at fault for at least two goals against, Morgan for Torres' second. Both Morgan and Bamba seemed to have an issue with timing and jumping.

I applaud the team for its willingness to still go out and attack, even after being 3-0 and 4-1 down. Both Beckford's and Marshall's goal were absolute beauties. I also think Beckford and Nugent complemented each other nicely - they tried to set each other up repeatedly.

In the end, we got caught ice-cold with a very exposed and disjointed defense and you just can't let that happen in the Cup, especially against a team like Chelsea.

No wonder even Torres scored. Twice.

And we're still shit from corners.

Now off to focus on the Championship. And the possibility of making the playoffs. Maybe.

On a sidenote, it was a pleasure to meet Jay in person for the very first time. Top bloke.

Oh, and London traffic is a pain in the arse.

[Guest ttfn]

There's a reason for that.

Being able to dribble doesn't make you a good defender, compare Ivanovic solid as a rock performance today where we barely had a sniff & Cech had nothing to do, to Luiz (another dribbler who can't defend) where we had chance after chance after chance.

Bamba can't mark-up... this is one of the most basic skills as a defender

A partner never knows where he's going to be one minute to the next, about 6 players of good-to-very good quality haven't been able to form a successful defence with him.

Bamba, despite being at our club whilst during a period we've been in the top half of the table has been an almost ever present in one of the leakiest defences I can remember both last season when we scored for fun & goals conceded costed us & this season where goals are a little harder to come by. Even our relegation season was far more solid than this.

Most people can appreciate his dribbling ability & that he plays with a smile on his face, but feel he can't actually defend for shit and will be asking, are you for real?

Sol Bamba played every minute of Ivory Coast's ACON campaign in which they conceded... 0 goals. Nil. Zilch. If he was that bad at marking, surely they would have conceded at least one?

As for talking about our relegation season, it's a truth universally acknowledged that our "solid" defence that season actually cost us a lot of points that season because we only had "kick it and head it" centre halves, who offered nothing with the ball. I believe we had about the 3rd or 4th best defence in the league that season, it counted for nothing.

Who are these players of "good to very good quality" he's been playing with? Bamba's not exactly had a stellar career himself but who's he played with?

Vitor - decent centre-back, young, might be good in the future but had as many poor games without Bamba as he did with him.

St. Ledger - perennial Championship centre-back

Mills - see St. Ledger

Morgan - see Mills

Bruma - who knows? Too young to tell. Not getting a regular game at Hamburg, who are struggling in the Bundesliga.

Hobbs - was a walking disaster-zone last season.

Also, not at all sure about the criticism for the second goal. From where I was sitting it looked like it came about because Wellens got skinned by Torres - not sure exactly what Bamba was supposed to do.

I know a lot of people don't like Bamba, but I genuinely think it's borne out of the fact that his style of play is different rather than anything else.

[Lobsterboyuk]

Who got Dann's shirt? Nice touch throwing it in amongst us like that...

[RowlattsFox]

Also, not at all sure about the criticism for the second goal. From where I was sitting it looked like it came about because Wellens got skinned by Torres - not sure exactly what Bamba was supposed to do.

I know a lot of people don't like Bamba, but I genuinely think it's borne out of the fact that his style of play is different rather than anything else.

I know I stuck up for the defence a little earlier, but the 2nd goal was ridiculous. Bamba brought the ball forward, ended up a throw to us and Bamba stayed forward. Chelsea counter attack and our back 3 are Wellens, Morgan and Gallagher. Think i'm remembering it right. Not all Bamba's fault but terrible organisation, St Ledger should have been back at least.

[Guest ttfn]

I know I stuck up for the defence a little earlier, but the 2nd goal was ridiculous. Bamba brought the ball forward, ended up a throw to us and Bamba stayed forward. Chelsea counter attack and our back 3 are Wellens, Morgan and Gallagher. Think i'm remembering it right. Not all Bamba's fault but terrible organisation, St Ledger should have been back at least.

Maybe I need to re-watch it. Not seen the goals since the match, and 3 of them were down the other end!

That said, one game isn't going to change my opinion. I think the guy is the best centre-half at the club. Clearly I'm not the only one who thinks that, as, for all of the defensive partners he's had, he keeps getting picked.

[RowlattsFox]

Maybe I need to re-watch it. Not seen the goals since the match, and 3 of them were down the other end!

That said, one game isn't going to change my opinion. I think the guy is the best centre-half at the club. Clearly I'm not the only one who thinks that, as, for all of the defensive partners he's had, he keeps getting picked.

Bamba is not as bad as some suggest, I agree. He was outstanding earlier in the season. He was poor today though.

[Jace]

Heard a rumour Nigel brainwashed Kasper into having a bad game today so it will keep him out of the radar of Premiership teams this summer. Genius

[Kitchandro]

The first 45 minutes was terrible.

It was a lot of hassle to get 2 tickets for this, even though I got them seperately they were luckily on the same row on the bottom tier and was really looking forward to it. But then I got there and it turns out that I couldn't see the pitch at all standing up. Even sitting down I could only just see the far goal, and barely any of the stadium. Aren't they supposed to tell you if it's restricted view? Typical example of a shithole old stadium. On the plus side the acoustics are very good, though they weren't put to much use by the crap home support.

We gave them way too much room and Sturridge and Torres walked all over us. We'd lost the game even before the second goal, the defending was laughable. Chelsea or not, there's not excuse for the sort of stuff we were doing. We weren't completely toothless up front but as usual we didn't get any quality crosses in or shoot with any conviction.

The second half was much more entertaining, atmosphere was good from our end and we got two goals. Marshall's was a corker and is the first real sign of his potential. Dyer, Danns, Nugent and Beckford all had pretty good games. But the back 5 were a shambles really. St Ledger at right back clearly didn't work but when Pearson hauled Gallagher off and brought Peltier on (I can understand his reasoning but bringing a defender on was too little too late by then we just needed to push for a goal to stand a chance) St Ledger was still playing there and Pelts seemed to be at left centre back for some reason.

But considering the result and the season was settled long before half time I enjoyed the day out. At least we didn't lose it in the last minute, and the scoreline wasn't a complete digrace.

[Dylan]

A shame about the result but a truly great day out.

The early goals really killed the tie- needed to hold them for as long as possible if we were to have a chance. You could see the difference in class between the teams, when they had the ball they looked threatening all the time and moved it around superbly- and we were always suspect for their counter... Juan Mata was a different class and thought we had a little chance once he went off at HT.

We were in no way embarrassed today however and held our own- scored 2 good goals at the Bridge and could've been much more had we been more clinical... we looked like we could get something when we attacked with Danns having a couple of chances and came close with Dyer and Nuge too in the 2nd half.

Possession stats sums it up for me; pretty even there; but they score 3 more goals cause they know how to use it- as you'd expect being a world class side. We've done ourselves no harm today and battled on throughout the 90- with the backing of our 6000 strong crowd... proud to support Leicester today!

[Finnegan]

http://watchhighlightsonline.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/video-marshall-goal-vs-chelsea-ben.html

Marshall's goal if it hasn't been linked already.