Chelsea v Leeds Utd Match Thread - Bielsa Names Unchanged Starting XI

[1964white]

Kante has been different class second half.
We can’t find a spare man, hence knocking it around at the back.

My post on this linked topic today Finn

viewtopic.php?p=830953#p830953

3) If there is one player you could pluck from the current Chelsea team, who would it be?

Kante

[1964white]

Did our best, no shame in that loss. Chelsea just too good, especially in the second half which they controlled.

Indeed Harry

[Cjay]

Kante was key in exploiting the key weakness in our man to man system.

Beat your marker and it falls down.

Chelsea had many players able to do that as they are better then there markers.

No shame in that but i said before that maybe teams like Chelsea who are better individually all over the pitch shouldn't be a man for man team?

So many mismatches, perhaps its something we should change vs certain teams?

Liverpool was similar at times, especially Salah vs Dallas.

[1964white]

That being said our set piece defending is pathetic.

We still have to many Championship players protected by the system, today it wasnt enough and quality shone through.

Takes time to build a Prem side.

We need to be patient

That said we more or less require a complete repair job defensively if we wish to compete with the big boys in the future

What a difference our defending was in the championship compared to what it is now we're in the prem, the difference in class is enormous!

[1964white]

Yep. The referee will call it - or at least go to VAR - if the player goes down, but if he stays up it will never, ever get called.

Had Poveda flopped we might have been awarded the penalty.

Reminds of the old cartoon of the executives sitting around the boardroom table and the boss says, "We all know honesty is the best policy. What's the second-best policy?"

We needed Ayling or Alioski there in the box, they would have gone down

[1964white]

I can't help but feel fans will be intimidating refs again. Chelski fans were screaming for everything tonight, got many decisions their way. It's not a level playing field at all.

Did you hear them taking the piss out of our players in the 2nd half

[1964white]

Anyone else think rodrigo must come in on friday? Dallas back to left back and drop alioski. Rodrigo is just too good to be sat doing sod all for 80 minutes. Time to give harrison a rest, and start cost on the left.

Totally agree

[CHAPELALLMAN]

I think we did the basics ok Clay, and against a lesser team we’d have got away with a point, perhaps the win.

The gulf in quality was too great second half, and probably would be if we played the game again 20 times.

Side before self applies to fans as well as players, we put our disappointment behind us, take it on the chin and move on.

You mean the basics such as being first to the ball on set pieces and defending the near post from corners ?

[CHAPELALLMAN]

Anyone else think rodrigo must come in on friday? Dallas back to left back and drop alioski. Rodrigo is just too good to be sat doing sod all for 80 minutes. Time to give harrison a rest, and start cost on the left.

Harrison's starting berth seems to be sacrosanct for reasons known only to Bielsa. I sometimes think that Bielsa values players who can run hard more than anything else.

[Carrick Dave]

You mean the basics such as being first to the ball on set pieces and defending the near post from corners ?

When have we ever done those basics adequately? No point highlighting our inability to contain a side like Chelsea when we couldn’t do it against anyone else either, and I think Zumba would have scored that header against us anytime since Marcelo arrived.

We have our weaknesses, but generally adhere to a system which will make us competitive against most sides - our basics - but it just wasn’t enough against world class players tonight.

Maybe you’d prefer a more pedestrian approach from Marcelo given we were second best to Chelsea?

[CHAPELALLMAN]

When have we ever done those basics adequately? No point highlighting our inability to contain a side like Chelsea when we couldn’t do it against anyone else either, and I think Zumba would have scored that header against us anytime since Marcelo arrived.

We have our weaknesses, but generally adhere to a system which will make us competitive against most sides - our basics - but it just wasn’t enough against world class players tonight.

Maybe you’d prefer a more pedestrian approach from Marcelo given we were second best to Chelsea?

You can still have a cavalier attacking approach without losing the ability to do the basics of defending. IMO we made a huge mistake when we sold Jansson - we have been a soft touch defensively in the air ever since.

[Cjay]

We need to be patient

That said we more or less require a complete repair job defensively if we wish to compete with the big boys in the future

What a difference our defending was in the championship compared to what it is now we're in the prem, the difference in class is enormous!

Tbf our system was always our strength, in the Prem better players can exploit our 1v1 system and thus our defence.

Defensively we arent that strong man for man, Dallas a makeshift winger at left back.

Ayling a lower league rb his whole career and Coops the same.

All nearly 30 or already 30. They have all been great servants but think we all know that they need replacing if we want to progreds at this level. Cant do that in 1 summer and as thoroughly depressing as it is to say, we just have to survive and they are ok for that.

We need better defenders but takes time. Chelsea had better players able to exploit the system and thus difference in class.

Cant be to downhearted.

[Leeds1000]

I don't know much about Chelsea's squad but it wouldn't surprise me if they had 24 Internationals? They were far the better team tonight, especially second half, but hey they have spent a shed load of money to build that squad over many years. We are on the first rung of the ladder and unfortunately it looked like it tonight. But in saying that we were right in the game to the end.

Koch going off didn't help. But we were garbage collectively at set-pieces and Chelsea are the best at them. We couldn't cope with their power in the air. It pains me to say it but that are building a robust team who will be in contention for the title for me. Kante was different class and beat his man numerous occasions to open things up for them. In truth they should have had a sack full.

The lads had a real go first half, but never looked in it second half. We will need to tighten up on set-pieces against West Ham. Reet i'm off to bed its been a long day.

[whiteswan]

We need to be patient

That said we more or less require a complete repair job defensively if we wish to compete with the big boys in the future

What a difference our defending was in the championship compared to what it is now we're in the prem, the difference in class is enormous!

And how many on here a few months back said we were going for top six........not 40 points....?

[Smudge3920]

And how many on here a few months back said we were going for top six........not 40 points....?

40pts still my goal Swannie.... we are going to be fine We are doing amazingly well considering...

[White Riot]

Both really not up to the standard required at this level.

Sad to say it mate, but it's true

[White Riot]

Overall, a decent performance against a side that will be challenging for the title.

We can match these sides for effort and probably have a better team spirit, but that only gets you so far at this level. A lot has been made of how great our energy levels are and our man marking. But when we come up against better quality players they are able to win their 1 v 1s and exploit our weaknesses. So, in the end quality will always win out, that's why the better quality players are internationals, playing at the top domestic level and commanding high fees and big wages. they perform consistently better at the top level.

A big concern for me is that we are still poor at set-pieces and struggle with them. Set-pieces are an opportunity to level the playing field which typically even a poor side can get right. We concede soft goals from corners, free-kicks and just straightforward crosses, and this is a consistent weakness that any team at any level will exploit e.g. Crawley Town in the FA Cup. When we have the opportunity that a set-piece provides we waste it every time, and the opposition relax every time we roll up for a corner. This is really unacceptable and has cost us so many points in the Championship and Prem.

I don't get the logic of keeping our record signing Rodrigo on the bench until we go behind or its the 89th minute. He must look at the likes of Alioski and Harrison and wonder why he's not given a start. When you're lucky enough to have quality players then you need to play them as they can turn a game. We can only effectively address our lack of quality by overhauling the squad which means staying in the Prem and having the finances to recruit better players.

It's not all doom and gloom as we competed well against a top side for 90 minutes, and we've managed this against City, Liverpool, Everton and Arsenal. We've managed to gain points against the bottom half teams. But the lack of quality and errors means we're susceptible to a spanking from teams like Leicester and Palace.

I think we'll be fine and will stay up fairly easily, but MB must get these set-pieces sorted out and then have us succeed in beating all of the bottom half teams.

I also must say that Bamford was really poor in the air yesterday, I didn't see him win a header or hold the ball up well at all for 90 minutes, which just invites more pressure onto us. He lacks physicality. Did take his goal well though.

[White Riot]

I Havent saw Davis enough.

You never will with MB at the wheel

[White Riot]

what was the injury to koch???? is it a bad one or precaution???

He was injured in the week and unable to train. First challenge of the match he went down. Makes you wonder why he was selected

[White Riot]

I thought Reece James had a great game for Chelsea. A real talent who seems to love playing against us