Chelsea Post match thread.

[21st Century Fox]

I agree with the point that you are making, though you have to appreciate the fact that Chelsea are one of the top teams in Europe who are rediscovering their quality. We couldn't have played them at a much worse time. If we'd scored the first goal today, perhaps the defence would've been more switched on all the way through. I have to say that at Watford, Bristol CIty, Reading and today our defence has looked far from convincing and it's something we really need to sort out one way or another.

On a side note, how f**king ripped is Lloyd Dyer?!

I wish he'd scraped the gym time in favour of some crossing practice.

[boring_jester]

Negatives:

We are out of the FA Cup

Positives:

We are now looking strong in center midfield at last

Beckford scored again (away goal aswell)

Marshall will settle in much better now

Schmeichel will not be the big Premiership target in the summer we were worried he may become

We can concentrate on the league

SSL has learnt not to get smashed on school nights

this is true

[ozleicester]

I agree with the point that you are making, though you have to appreciate the fact that Chelsea are one of the top teams in Europe who are rediscovering their quality. We couldn't have played them at a much worse time. If we'd scored the first goal today, perhaps the defence would've been more switched on all the way through. I have to say that at Watford, Bristol CIty, Reading and today our defence has looked far from convincing and it's something we really need to sort out one way or another.

On a side note, how f**king ripped is Lloyd Dyer?!

I like Lloyd and think he has some real attributes, but i honestly do laugh everytime i see him, its as though someone has taken two parts of a plastic doll and stuck them together... Action mans torso and Barbie's legs

[OzFox]

Looking back I would say the most worrying thing about today has to be how far off Chelsea we actually were. We're supposedly a team who had promotion ambitions this season, and would have been competing with the likes of Chelsea had we gone up, yet we looked miles off and all this while playing better than we have at times this season. Don't get me wrong, there were positives, and next year we won't be playing against these players, but we will if we go up and, in my opinion, a promotion chasing team shouldn't be THAT far off competing with the Prem's big boys.

I was thinking the same. It wasn't that long ago we could go to stamford bridge and reasonably expect a close game and to come away with some sort of result. Yesterday, I thought Chelsea were going to run up a cricket score at one point, and that wasn't even their first eleven.

[seenitall]

After the first 20 minutes where we looked like rabbits in the headlights, I thought we competed well. Big mistakes were playing Gallagher (woeful and looked like he faked injury because he was so out of his depth to me) and SSL out of position instead of the pacier Peltier. Central defence was more solid with Mills and St Ledger, whatever the naysayers want to think (look at their record together) and Nige needs to get over the sulks and play his best team, if Mancini can do it then so should he.

Desperately need 2 more midfielders (marshall drinkwater could be worth a try) but when we went forward with passion we looked good.

[Number 6]

It's incomparable when they've got players who cost more than our entire team. We need the nucleus of a good team functioning team first, then flesh that out with quality, similar to what Southampton have done and will do next season no doubt.

I agree, we're definitely heading in the right direction. Maybe it just served as a stark reminder of how far we've got to go. The league is going to be tough with the likes of West Ham, Mboro, Wolves, Leeds potentially in the division next season.

[lcfcbaby]

Let's just make this clear. In my opinion Bamba and Morgan are perfectly good CB's but they can't play together! They both like to get forward which leaves a huge gap whic Torres took advantage of! Bamba had a bad game but he is still a good player. He may have got through the ACON without conceding a goal but it's not just about individual performances but about how they complement each other and Morgan and SSL do that better than any other two I've seen for Leicester this season.

[Matt]

Let's just make this clear. In my opinion Bamba and Morgan are perfectly good CB's but they can't play together! They both like to get forward which leaves a huge gap whic Torres took advantage of! Bamba had a bad game but he is still a good player. He may have got through the ACON without conceding a goal but it's not just about individual performances but about how they complement each other and Morgan and SSL do that better than any other two I've seen for Leicester this season.

Seems that no-one can play with Bamba though.

He is ok, good, but alot of the things he does are more luck than judgement IMO and he's a liabilty, that along with the fact whoever he is paired with they can't play together pointing to Bamba, unfortunately I think he needs to go.

[jonlcfc1990]

Should of had the same team we had at Norwich IMO Marshall came on and showed his class if he was taking the corners first half it might of been a different story, Plus sticking SSL on the left side was harsh on him Morgan and SSL is my first choice CB partnership and don't get me wrong i have a serious man love for Bamba but if your the best CB Partnership for Leicester it's SSL And Morgan.

[Guest Col city fan]

Let's just make this clear. In my opinion Bamba and Morgan are perfectly good CB's but they can't play together! They both like to get forward which leaves a huge gap whic Torres took advantage of! Bamba had a bad game but he is still a good player. He may have got through the ACON without conceding a goal but it's not just about individual performances but about how they complement each other and Morgan and SSL do that better than any other two I've seen for Leicester this season.

We don't defend we'll enough as a team.

It's not about individual players.

None of them are bad players.. The 'team' is bad at defending.

Ignore this and we won't go anywhere.

[lcfcbaby]

We don't defend we'll enough as a team.

It's not about individual players.

None of them are bad players.. The 'team' is bad at defending.

Ignore this and we won't go anywhere.

Yes but it starts with getting the right cb pairing!

[jonlcfc1990]

Pelts SSL Morgan KONCH At a push i'd have Moore in for Pelts but i wouldnt change it from that for the rest of the season

[Guest Col city fan]

Yes but it starts with getting the right cb pairing!

No it doesn't..

We have had lots of different centre back pairings over the course of the season.. The problems have still remained.

Move your focus off who the two centre backs are and onto why they are put under so much pressure?

Then you might be able to get some answers.

The problem lies with the teams inability to defend, starting with the strikers and going through the physically frail midfield.

We don't keep the ball well enough and our defensive five are put under so much pressure they sometimes buckle.

Tis law of averages. You get put under so much pressure you will concede.

Like we did yesterday.

There's more to this problem than simply blaming this defender or that defender. To do so IMO is missing the bigger picture and will begin the scapegoating thing all over again. This time it appears to be with Bamba.

[lcfcbaby]

No it doesn't..

We have had lots of different centre back pairings over the course of the season.. The problems have still remained.

Move your focus off who the two centre backs are and onto why they are put under so much pressure?

Then you might be able to get some answers.

The problem lies with the teams inability to defend, starting with the strikers and going through the physically frail midfield.

We don't keep the ball well enough and our defensive five are put under so much pressure they sometimes buckle.

Tis law of averages. You get put under so much pressure you will concede.

Like we did yesterday.

There's more to this problem than simply blaming this defender or that defender. To do so IMO is missing the bigger picture and will begin the scapegoating thing all over again. This time it appears to be with Bamba.

Point taken!

[reynard]

I must have watched a different game to most today. If it wasn't for poor finishing from Chelsea in the first 20 minutes it could have been 5 or 6 by then. We do not have enough quality in the team/squad to get out of this division at the moment. Naivety at the back exposed yet again, laboured passing in the midfield and little protection from them for the back 4. Kasper has been immense most of the season but had a mare today too.

Imagine what their first team would have done to us. All of this we were playing against a Champions League club so we were always going to lose may be true but it was the manor of the defeat that worries me the most and just highlighted on a grand scale our constant deficiencies holding the team back. To get into the play offs we are going to have to realistically win 8 out of the last 10 games at least. I can guarantee this now that we will get no where near that mark.

We need more than a couple of signings or we will be in for a long, hard season again next season and Pearson will be gone by October. The league will be even tougher next season with the teams coming down and the potentially big clubs going up from League 1. I do not usually write negative stuff on here but I think people are kidding themselves if they think that lot has the makings of a good team.

Got to say I completely agree with all of this.

There are some tinted views on here about the game. Considering they rested several key players we were just completely outplayed for much of the game.

We were far too open and just didn't get in their faces at all. The gulf in class was illustrated by our first corner and their first goal. Our corner (taken by Gallagher) basically hardly left the ground and bounced twice before being cleared by their defence. The corner for their first goal was a good one into the danger area and was well attacked by Cahill who scored with a great header. Our defending against set pieces has been bad all season. What the hell are our centre halves doing. Morgan and Bamba are big guys who should be attacking the ball in our own penalty area but both failed to do so.

However, what really did for us was our approach to the game and our obvious lack of pace in defence and the centre of midfield. I honestly can't understand our approach to the game. It looked to me as basically we thought we had no real chance of winning so let's just turn up and play bravado style football without a care for defending. It wasn't just sloppy individual play that cost us goals it was poor defending as a team. Our strikers don't close down enough, our midfield isn't frankly nasty enough and is too slow and with no protection in front of them our defenders were badly exposed.

But the main thing to come out of the game for me is just how few of our players look capable of playing in the premiership. Wellens, Dyer and Gallagher certainly not. Morgan no way nor probably Bamba nor Peltier nor SSL. To get promotion I firmly believe you need the nucleus of a side at least capable of playing in the top flight, let's say 6-8 players. The question is do we have that many and at the moment the answer is no.

[Babylon]

I was so angry at the performance, especially the first 20 mins. I was expecting two banks of four to try and keep everything tight at the start and we just got suicide football instead.

If you are going to give a top team like that time and space you will get torn to shreds and we did.

And for the love of god can we now relegate Gallagher to the bench after another woeful show from him the last two games.

[Callabinho]

Torres's pace was just too much for Bamba to handle, I think they underestimated him due to this baron run he is on, yet Torres has still been working hard every game he constantly ran us ragged. It was a shame to concede 5 because we are better than that! but at least we had a go and got two goals!

[accessory]

Di Matteo got his tactics spot on yesterday. Pearson didn't.

Torres has won world and European medals for a reason. He tore Bamba and Morgan new ones yesterday. It was a massive misjudgement by the manager to start them together in central defence for only the second time ever. SSL should move back there for Blackpool.

I wasn't convinced by the midfield selection either. Players who have repeatedly failed at venues like Doncaster, Watford and Bristol City this season were always likely to struggle at Stamford Bridge and so it proved. But Danns had probably his best game in a City shirt. and if those around him had shown the same application and attitude, who knows what we could have done?

Up front, Nugent worked hard without really achieving anything and Beckford, despite his goal, was a liability, never making a run or challenging for headers. I hope Pearson will take note of that.

Credit to Marshall, though, for the best goal of the afternoon. Hope that's enough to earn him a starting place for the rest of the season.

[Burmesefox]

The gulf in class was huge to be fair. Let's be honest we hardly troubled Chelsea other than being a minor inconvenience. The ESPN team were very complimnetary to us and were trying to even things out a bit. Overall, the best team won and we didnt disgrace ourselves. Now back to the league and building our team for next season.

[Master Fox]

What a hugely disappointing and incompetent performance from Leicester yesterday. The back four were in complete disarray. Every single one of them had a shocker, including Kasper. I feel slightly ashamed and embarrassed by this performance.

Gallagher, Morgan, Bamba, Konch, Kasper, Ledger, Wellens, all ****ing hopeless.

Pearson got the team selection massively wrong. We were dead and buried after 20 mins. I know we’re only 'crappy 2nd division Leicester’ but we have shown we’re much better than that. We made it so easy for them. Back to the crapper we go. Onwards and downwards.

[accessory]

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?

That says more about the quality of the strikers in that tournament than it does about Bamba. He also had Kolo Toure alongside him for most of those games.

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.

The same Vitor who's now in the Champions League with Benfica, and will probably do far better at Stamford Bridge than Bamba did.

St. Ledger - perennial Championship centre-back

.. and a solid international defender. Ask Giovanni Trappatoni, who's seen and worked with a few decent centre-backs in his time.

Mills - see St. Ledger

A player who was pursued by several Premier clubs last summer, though is likely to be moved on by Pearson in the summer, especially after not even making the bench yesterday.

Morgan - see Mills

Formed part of a solid Forest defence when Billy Davies was there. Could do a job for us with the right people around him,

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

Another international - though for us, he was the wrong player at the wrong time.

Hobbs - was a walking disaster-zone last season.

..when Sousa and Eriksson destroyed his confidence. Look how many clean sheets Hull have had this season. He's played a crucial role in those.

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.

Get a little closer to Kalou perhaps?

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.

Or maybe because he's a bombscare who unsettles those playing around him (much as David Luiz does for Chelsea, by the way). That might explain why he spent years in the backwaters of the SPL rather than a top European league. Wouldn't be sorry to see him leave in the summer.

[Wycombe Fox]

I'm never sitting with the opposition again!

So hard not to shout out at all.

Nearly got caught out at the end when Marshall scored and I turned to my lad and said "What a cracker from Marshall" only to remember that, as a 'Chelsea fan' I wouldn't have had a clue who it was.

Really impressed with Danns. He was always making himself available for the ball.

[Cityfan1995]

I'm never sitting with the opposition again!

So hard not to shout out at all.

Nearly got caught out at the end when Marshall scored and I turned to my lad and said "What a cracker from Marshall" only to remember that, as a 'Chelsea fan' I wouldn't have had a clue who it was.

Really impressed with Danns. He was always making himself available for the ball.

My son's a Chelsea fan

1st meeting between the 2 clubs since he started supporting em 4 yrs ago - we were sat just behind the away dugout.

I couldn't help celebrating when Marshall scored.

Torres is class tho - his touch, movement.... Shame he had to break his goal drought against us though.

Still wins against Blackpool & Hull and who knows....

[21st Century Fox]

I'm never sitting with the opposition again!

So hard not to shout out at all.

Nearly got caught out at the end when Marshall scored and I turned to my lad and said "What a cracker from Marshall" only to remember that, as a 'Chelsea fan' I wouldn't have had a clue who it was.

Really impressed with Danns. He was always making himself available for the ball.

Snap.

I had to grit my teeth through a standing ovation for Torres. It was quite fun trying to guess who the City fans were around me though.

[Wycombe Fox]

My son's a Chelsea fan

1st meeting between the 2 clubs since he started supporting em 4 yrs ago - we were sat just behind the away dugout.

I couldn't help celebrating when Marshall scored.

Torres is class tho - his touch, movement.... Shame he had to break his goal drought against us though.

Still wins against Blackpool & Hull and who knows....