The race for 86 points

[metalgear]

Thats not what you said though - you said you blamed Poch for not getting in a replacement for Eriksen?
Don't disagree that it appears we need to strengthen in that position, and the champions league showed the reserves as not as good as the first team, however as your post seems to be a reaction to last nights victory, im interested what your different plan was?

Eriksen hadn't played for 10days so would we have played the "over the hill talent" or the "upcoming talent" yesterday instead?

Maybe our expectations are different, i didn't EXPECT us to win the league this year. We are not Emirates Marketing Project (thank f***) and therefore we arent going to have 30-50mil signings that we just try out and then discard. If you come back and say well we can get Deli for 5mil then your completely right. All we need is to find 21 of him for 5mil, which is not realistic.

Be glad that we have managed to drag ourselves to this point, that doesn't stop us trying, but it should mean we all buy into where we are going.

yeah thats what i said - replacement for eriksen when he's not playing well.

eriksen's become somewhat of poch's blue eyed boy and it is starting to irritate me. we've all seen the very long spells where eriksen struggles to make an impact in games, and poch reluctant to change his system. lamela is a good option but is different from eriksen. its not a reaction to just the last game. if we'd a similar player like eriksen and with rose and lamela out, we would replace him in the 60th minute. anything to mix it up when you it just isn't going to be his day.

is riksen is slowly becoming a luxury player? He does well when the other players are on song - especcially wehn rose and walker are bomibing the wings - he needs a lot of space to do well. slow everything down and keep everything tight he suffers. but in this type of game the playmaker is the one to conjure some bright spark ... we need someone with a positive and bold mindset; eriksen could learn from someone like that. an older player in the same role could do just that (like the time we had VDV, for instance0, and its a waste to have paid for a player in his peak sitting on the bench in Sissoko.

 

[awesome dawson]

Does Klopp not get a couple of games ban for getting in the face of the fourth official?

 

[Dr Rosenrosen]

Does Klopp not get a couple of games ban for getting in the face of the fourth official?

"When Mignolet saved the Liverpool manager went face-to-face with the fourth official, Neil Swarbrick, but insisted the confrontation was not as ugly as it appeared on camera. “I turned to him [Swarbrick] and said: ‘Nobody can beat us.’ Obviously that is absolutely not true but that’s what I said in this moment.

“I went back to the fourth official and said: ‘Sorry – you are the wrong person to speak to.’ He said: ‘No problem, I like your passion.’ I have never heard that from an official before. That was cool.”"

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/feb/01/jurgen-klopp-fourth-official-chelsea​

 

[Mikey10]

"When Mignolet saved the Liverpool manager went face-to-face with the fourth official, Neil Swarbrick, but insisted the confrontation was not as ugly as it appeared on camera. “I turned to him [Swarbrick] and said: ‘Nobody can beat us.’ Obviously that is absolutely not true but that’s what I said in this moment.

“I went back to the fourth official and said: ‘Sorry – you are the wrong person to speak to.’ He said: ‘No problem, I like your passion.’ I have never heard that from an official before. That was cool.”"

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/feb/01/jurgen-klopp-fourth-official-chelsea​

At least it's made Jose unhappy (again).


Sitting on my porcelain throne using glory-glory.co.uk mobile app

 

[Baleforce]

Wenger is being done for very similar, to my mind Klopps was worse as it appeared far more threatening

 

[StephenH]

Like many of the 'cheerleader' type managers the 'passion' turnes into silly over the top childish outbursts. All very tiresome.
Give me a Pochettino type any day of the week.

 

[Dr Rosenrosen]

For everyone who's been dying to know Eden Hazard's views of the race for the title/top four:

"I think Arsenal and Manchester United [are the biggest title rivals]," he told the Sky Sports pundit [Thierry Henry].

"United had a bad first part of the season and I think for a couple of games now, they played well. They drew against Stoke, but they have good players and the squad is very good. The manager is good, so they will be second or third.

"Tottenham also are strong. We lost there, but for me it is more Manchester United. They are more experienced. That is my opinion, maybe I'm wrong."

http://www.skysports.com/football/n...helseas-biggest-title-rivals-says-eden-hazard
​

Question is - is he right? We've been on a fantastic run of form, but will we fade with Europa League and FA Cup games continuing and will the legs and minds fatigue as spring approaches, or have we learned our lessons and are built of sterner stuff to avoid the end-of-season fade this year?

 

[Seedy Ron]

Henry and Hazard... is it legal for Sky to show that much clam before the watershed?

 

[awesome dawson]

"When Mignolet saved the Liverpool manager went face-to-face with the fourth official, Neil Swarbrick, but insisted the confrontation was not as ugly as it appeared on camera. “I turned to him [Swarbrick] and said: ‘Nobody can beat us.’ Obviously that is absolutely not true but that’s what I said in this moment.

“I went back to the fourth official and said: ‘Sorry – you are the wrong person to speak to.’ He said: ‘No problem, I like your passion.’ I have never heard that from an official before. That was cool.”"

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/feb/01/jurgen-klopp-fourth-official-chelsea​

Hahaha except Swansea and Southampton!

 

[Rorschach]

"When Mignolet saved the Liverpool manager went face-to-face with the fourth official, Neil Swarbrick, but insisted the confrontation was not as ugly as it appeared on camera. “I turned to him [Swarbrick] and said: ‘Nobody can beat us.’ Obviously that is absolutely not true but that’s what I said in this moment.

“I went back to the fourth official and said: ‘Sorry – you are the wrong person to speak to.’ He said: ‘No problem, I like your passion.’ I have never heard that from an official before. That was cool.”"

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/feb/01/jurgen-klopp-fourth-official-chelsea​

That's fair enough IMO. Klopp annoys me but he didn't really do a whole lot wrong there. It is not really the same as pushing an official nor comparable to the vitriol that spews out of Mourinho's cake hole.

 

[SteveAWOL]

What a difference a month makes...

Cann table from @DanKennett

 

[Rorschach]

What a difference a month makes...

Cann table from @DanKennett

Good table which clearly shows that Liverpool have dropped back into the chasing pack, but the rest of us are pretty much where we were relative to the Chavs. It is in the bag for Chelsea bar a catastrophic run of form.

 

[Robbo]

Can't see Chelski not winning this, unfortunately. Second is still up for grabs though, but it will be tough. We can't afford too many slip ups, or we might suddenly find ourselves in fifth place.

 

[Finney Is Back]

different expectations, you and I.

i am looking at working out the gaps from last season, and belive could've done so om the Dec window.
we shouldn't have to get someone at the peak of his career. and instead of sissoko, we could have gone for an upcoming or slightly over the hill talent, just to provide some competition for Eriksen. As of now we don't have one, poch doesn't seem to trust anyone else. Just look at the faith he has in eriksens free kicks.

Yep.... His expectations are realistic.... Yours could well see you sectioned!

 

[Finney Is Back]

Well i have heard a few fans say we blew the title last season and i have heard more say we are in with a GOOD shout to do it this season.

It"s the all or nothing that you hear from some fans, ie we are either brilliant or crap ( depending on the result), when in all honesty we are neither. We are a young side who are getting better and when we start winning things the confidence will increase.

Claims that we blew the title last season are incredibly wide of the mark.... We blew second place but not the title. We were never top of the league. We were always trying to play catch-up, but Leicester just carried on defying expectations and winning. Even if we had won all of our last four games we still would've finished behind Leicester.

 

[Finney Is Back]

Agree we all know its only going to get worse with the new stadium, and with success, people just expect it, and think they deserve it.
My biggest fear is next year we finish 8th due to Wembley effect and end up with 35k there, with pressure on poch and a few players thinking they need to leave.

Keep this lot together and the second year in the new stadium could be the year...

I think the crowds at Wembley will be very good.... I think the club will look to sell the same number of season tickets at Wembley that they are going to sell at the new stadium and those that get one next season will then have one at the new stadium.

 

[Finney Is Back]

To me the title is in all likelihood, out of our reach now based on not getting 3 points against Sunderland but we should just keep plodding along and see where it takes us. I think we are more than capable of finishing 2nd/3rd provided we don't pick up any more long term injuries. Last night is just one of those things, still kept the unbeaten run going and got a clean sheet so its not all bad.

I personally would prefer for us to really concentrate on both of the cups whilst still obviously taking care of business in the league. If we win on Saturday then we are on 50 points and with the run of games to come for us after Liverpool through to the Arsenal game I would think we are more than capable of getting to around 70 points + even allowing for a couple of blips which always happen.

Finishing in the top 4 is a priority for us but at the same time I really think as a squad we have to get to the very end of these cups and possibly win something in order to give the vibe around the club an extra boost heading into our season at Wembley.

I think it was out of our reach anyway.... The maximum number of points that I could see Chelsea dropping was 12 and there is no way that we were going to win every single game until the end of the season.

Your sentence "I personally would prefer for us to really concentrate on both of the cups whilst still obviously taking care of business in the league".... So you personally would prefer us to really concentrate on all three?

At some point we just might have to prioritise one or two of them. I don't think that time is quite yet, but if we go through against both Fulham and Gent then the fixtures could start to pile up a little. Unless Vertonghen, Rose and Lamela return then that might stretch our squad a little. Let's just adhere to that old cliché right now and take each game as it comes.

 

[Finney Is Back]

yeah thats what i said - replacement for eriksen when he's not playing well.

eriksen's become somewhat of poch's blue eyed boy and it is starting to irritate me. we've all seen the very long spells where eriksen struggles to make an impact in games, and poch reluctant to change his system. lamela is a good option but is different from eriksen. its not a reaction to just the last game. if we'd a similar player like eriksen and with rose and lamela out, we would replace him in the 60th minute. anything to mix it up when you it just isn't going to be his day.

is riksen is slowly becoming a luxury player? He does well when the other players are on song - especcially wehn rose and walker are bomibing the wings - he needs a lot of space to do well. slow everything down and keep everything tight he suffers. but in this type of game the playmaker is the one to conjure some bright spark ... we need someone with a positive and bold mindset; eriksen could learn from someone like that. an older player in the same role could do just that (like the time we had VDV, for instance0, and its a waste to have paid for a player in his peak sitting on the bench in Sissoko.

Eriksen has the second most assists in the whole PL. He is easily amongst our top 5 players. Luxury player? I have rarely ever seen a player so gifted that is prepared to work as hard as Eriksen does. He has pretty much identical attacking stats to Ozil, but also plays a huge part in our pressing game and keeping us defensively solid. If Eriksen was free'd from/neglected his defensive duties like Ozil does then his attacking stats would be even better. I don't quite understand how you think we should or can replace perhaps the most effective midfield player in the league?

 

[Finney Is Back]

Wenger is being done for very similar, to my mind Klopps was worse as it appeared far more threatening

Wenger pushed the fourth official.... It was also the second time that Wenger had done so this season. Luckily for Arsene he didn't get punished the first time as he should've done, as if that had happened then he probably would've been facing a 6 game full stadium ban now.

 

[indospurs]

We are obviously scrimping and saving and focusing on young, unproven players, by and large.

I wish we had another silky smooth striker like Berbs alongside Kane, or another old and experienced, winning head, like Davids in the middle.

We must win a cup and secure top four this season, I feel. Dammit, if we the FA Cup, we'd be playing the final at home, right ??