Enter the Pitbull
Luke Young
Torres and Modric... the love that dares not speak its name.
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Chelsea going through could be good as it happens
- Thread starter johnkent
- Start date
Its not the better result, but it happened, and something good can come of it.
More games, more distractions, more injuries, more tiredness. Jesus, did you not notice that Real, Milan and Barca are still in it? They wont win it, just cos they beat Napoli, and Id rather play them three days before their CL 1/4 final than not, to be honest.
This
SUIYHA
Scott Parker
Chelsea going through means that they will be playing City away three days before they play us and a Champions League game just 3/4 days after we play them. That means they'll have to rest players for our game which is good news. If they get APOEL and still manage to get to the semis, they'll have to play a Champions League game followed by a trip to the Emirates three days later and then another Champions League game three days after that. Not going to be easy for them.
Assuming we don't massively fudge up we shouldn't be worried about them finishing above us. I genuinely believe our squad is better than theirs overall, and with the extra games they now have to play and the significantly harder fixture list that they have between now and the end of the season, we only have ourselves to fear in the race for a top 4 finish.
Assuming we don't massively fudge up we shouldn't be worried about them finishing above us. I genuinely believe our squad is better than theirs overall, and with the extra games they now have to play and the significantly harder fixture list that they have between now and the end of the season, we only have ourselves to fear in the race for a top 4 finish.
T Bone
Carlo Cudicini
The main difference is that Chelsea and Arsenal have been there, done it, got the Top 4 t-shirt.
AND, now they're both coming into form at the right time. If Man Utd know how to win the league, then you can bet your boll0ck to a barn dance those scummy two know how to finish top 4 when the pressures on.
I just feel we've been so far out in front for so long and it's all imploded so quickly the players (and Harry) will not be able to cope with the expectation. And that's now showing.
Meanwhile Chels and Arse just draw on all their experience and come good at the right time.
SteveAWOL
Andy Thompson
If Chelsea win the Champions League and finish 5th in the Premier League then they get an automatic qualifying spot (along with the Top 3) and the 4th place team drop down into the Europa League.
http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/fans/faqs/who-qualifies-to-play-in-europe/
The main difference is that Chelsea and Arsenal have been there, done it, got the Top 4 t-shirt.
AND, now they're both coming into form at the right time. If Man Utd know how to win the league, then you can bet your boll0ck to a barn dance those scummy two know how to finish top 4 when the pressures on.
I just feel we've been so far out in front for so long and it's all imploded so quickly the players (and Harry) will not be able to cope with the expectation. And that's now showing.
Meanwhile Chels and Arse just draw on all their experience and come good at the right time.
I wouldn't say that Chelsea are at all practiced at finishing in the top four when the pressure is on. Their top four status hasn't been remotely under threat for the best part of ten seasons. That's not to say that they can't do it. But they don't have any special advantage in that respect.
As to Spurs, there's no sense of an implosion yet. We've just played three games that would be deemed as difficult by any club. Sure, we lost them all. But we were the better team in two of them. The breaks just didn't go our way. Drop many points in our next two or three and it'll be time to worry.
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1882
Milenko Acimovic
I'm looking at it another way, all their 'old guard' Dressing room managers have 2 things in common; they've all won the league with Chelsea, and they've all failed to win the CL with them... I'm HOPING their priorities will now lie elsewhere... or at least distract them long enough until we play them!!
But I see your point about galvanising morale etc... here's us hoping we win on Saturday JUST to get back into the winning habit and boost confidence... and that's the FA Cup! Imagine what turning around a 1-3 deficit to go through will be doing to those players this morning... on the other hand, maybe Terry/Lampard/Drogba will start to believe their own hype and think they've got the magic touch, and ignore Di Matteo in the next couple of games... hopefully that should see them come unstuck!
IT'S ALL HOPES AND PRAYING THOUGH ISN'T IT?
But I see your point about galvanising morale etc... here's us hoping we win on Saturday JUST to get back into the winning habit and boost confidence... and that's the FA Cup! Imagine what turning around a 1-3 deficit to go through will be doing to those players this morning... on the other hand, maybe Terry/Lampard/Drogba will start to believe their own hype and think they've got the magic touch, and ignore Di Matteo in the next couple of games... hopefully that should see them come unstuck!
IT'S ALL HOPES AND PRAYING THOUGH ISN'T IT?
Armchair Expert
Vedran Corluka
Sorry, in which games were we better than the opposition? Surely not the Everton game? We were absolute crap in that match. The first 45 minutes was dreadful. We cant claim to have deserved anything out of that.
SUIYHA
Scott Parker
The main difference is that Chelsea and Arsenal have been there, done it, got the Top 4 t-shirt.
AND, now they're both coming into form at the right time. If Man Utd know how to win the league, then you can bet your boll0ck to a barn dance those scummy two know how to finish top 4 when the pressures on.
I just feel we've been so far out in front for so long and it's all imploded so quickly the players (and Harry) will not be able to cope with the expectation. And that's now showing.
Meanwhile Chels and Arse just draw on all their experience and come good at the right time.
Remember though, this is the first time in ages that Arsenal have had a genuine chance of finishing outside the top 4, even longer for Chelsea. The pressure is on them too. And also remember that
Bale
Modric
Kaboul
Defoe
King
Assou-Ekotto
Have all got the experience of a successful end of season push for a top 4 spot. Then you've also got Saha and Gallas who have gone the whole way and won the league in this country, and Adebayor and Van Der Vaart have both played in successful teams at the business end of the season.
We just need to keep our heads up. Hopefully Bolton will decide that they have no hope and that avoiding relegation is a bigger priority and we bumrape them on Saturday, restoring the confidence of the players. That will be followed by an evening game against Stoke at a noisy White Hart Lane, which we can win too, while Chelsea lose away to City. Suddenly their bubble is burst and we're singing and dancing again. We then go to Stamford Bridge, a ground that we were winning at last season even during our bad run and their good run of form, until the referee awarded Chelsea two goals that shouldn't have stood. If our confidence levels have risen again, whilst Chelsea's have fallen after the City defeat, and they have rested a few players in preparation of the difficult Champions League game in the next few days, then we've got every chance of putting that right. Bang - 10 points clear of them with 8 games to go, nobody left in the top 7 to play, see you later Chelsea, enjoy channel 5 next season while we spend the summer publicly tapping up Sturridge with Harry telling the media he'll play him in the centre and making remarks about how he only has one year left on his contract.
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Naughton16
Clive Wilson
I doubt Chelsea ever lacked confidence. They just didn't like AVB and the senior players have conspired to get him out. Their form was always going to pick up once he left. These are arrogant senior Chelsea players who won plenty of silverware so I don't believe confidence was ever an issue.
We were certainly poor in the first half.
But we battered Everton in the second half. Had 61% possession to Everton's 39% over the course of the game; 22 attempts at goal (9 on target) to Everton's 9 (5 on target); 8 corners to Everton's 0.
All of that despite the poor first half. Now, I realise that stats don't tell the whole story, but to say that we deserved nothing.....???
Likewise, the Man Utd game.
57% possession to Utd's 43% (despite Utd being able to just knock the ball around their back line for long periods of the last 20 minutes, once the game was won); 18 attempts at goal (9 on target) to Utd's 6 (5 on target); 7 corners to Utd's 3.
I disagree.
yiddo2786
Steed Malbranque
We were certainly equal to Everton in many aspects, and the mood now would be massively different if, say, Defoe's penalty had been given and Saha's effort had gone in. We were inferior to both United and Arsenal.
I
indianspur
Guest
the Everton game was massive, so why were our players so so poor in the first half. It was horrible to watch, and tbh the game was lost in that first half. You cannot go to Goodison and be so poor, concede a goal too, and not expect Everton to then defend for their lives in order to hold onto that lead. Its what they do and do well.
the second half revival is irrelevant. Why were we not up for it from the start. This is what is worrying. Dont the players and management understand that we cant afford to be so slow to get into games when chasing a top 4 place, especially now when games are running out.
the second half revival is irrelevant. Why were we not up for it from the start. This is what is worrying. Dont the players and management understand that we cant afford to be so slow to get into games when chasing a top 4 place, especially now when games are running out.
We were not inferior to Utd.
We outplayed them for two thirds of the game. Could easily have won it had the breaks gone our way.
Cannot agree with that. We controlled a bit of possession to which (again) we couldn't find an end product and looked hapless upfront. Bale chucks harder throw-ins than some of Saha's shots at goal
3 massive defensive errors including a primary school goal from a corner lead to their 3 goals - i.e. they were more clinical, incisive and struck when it mattered.
We can have all the possession in the world but if we cannot put into good use in the final third and keep conceding ridiculous goals - makes little difference. We deserved nothing out of that game based on our defending.