Chelsea Banter Archive February 29 2020

29 Feb 2020 22:19:37
I see Frank coming in for a lot of stick again after today's performance, but imo the blame is solely on the players as they're just not good enough.

We all know results haven't been good enough from around the beginning of December, dominating most teams possession wise and then a period where we lose all control of the game and inevitably go on to concede and then either scrape a draw or lose the game.

Once again today we created enough chances in that 1st half to be at least 2 or 3 nil up at HT, Frank isn't the one missing these chances and he must literally be pulling his hair out game after game seeing the same thing repeat itself. Then we have that 15-20 minute spell where we literally implode, before steadying the ship and chasing a goal to salvage the match.

We have 2 second rate keepers, no CB who is a true leader, our midfield has no physical presence for when we're being out muscled and then we have no out and out goal scorer to top it off. We say Frank doesn't make subs quick enough, but you look at our bench and who realistically is going to come on and change the game. Batshuayi, Barkley, Pedro? They're simply just not good enough.

Under Sarri, he used to always say there was this mental block and it's clearly still there. Maybe you can criticise Frank for not addressing the issue, but it just seems the mindset of these players.

Imo Frank has to stay next season, let him clear the club out of who he doesn't want in the summer and back him 100% in the transfer market with who he wants to bring in.

Then if results and performances don't pick up next season we'll have no choice but to admit Frank isn't the right man for the job. But judging him on this season is just not fair imo.

29 Feb 2020 22:52:46
Good post Bobby. IMO the players obviously have to take some blame but we can’t ignore Lamps failings.

I repeat, this transition nonsense is just a cover for poor club management. I love our club but this has been a steady decline. In someways I feel sorry for the youngsters and the coaching team including Lamps but I’m not sure why!

01 Mar 2020 00:06:19
For perspective Roy Hodgson / Chris wilder / Nunez / Arteta have worse defenders man for man but conceded less, All top 12 except Everton in fact, Just because his a club legend don’t be afraid to say it as it is, his in over his head and defensively hasn’t addressed a key issue. This is why he was aooointed so fabs don’t call him out. Conte suffered Sarri was terrible but franks doing well, hazard going should affect us going forward not in defence!

01 Mar 2020 01:45:10
Matt you have said the key quote here mate - "Just because his a club legend don’t be afraid to say it as it is".

Don't get me wrong, Lamps does not have Hazard, he endured a summer transfer ban and the club practically bought him nothing in January.

However, the club for sure did not think the above issues would affect Lampard when it comes to beating teams such as Bournemouth, Southampton, Brighton, Newcastle, West Ham, Everton etc etc.


Like the transition nonsense, it is just a cover for poor club management.

{Ed018's Note - I think the bottom line is Frank needs a summer to bring in some talent/players he wants. This team isn’t as good as most people think.}

01 Mar 2020 02:07:48
Would the club risk allowing Frank to spend money on players he wants?

Ed18 I accept the squad isn't nowhere near good enough but over the last 16 games were are pretty much in the bottom half of the table. Surely the squad isn't that bad? We have a better squad than most barring the usual suspects such as the top 5 rivals.

{Ed018's Note - I’m pretty sure Frank has a say in it. He certainly wanted Ziyech. I really don’t think this team is as good as most people think yet. You have a lot of young players who should continue to improve and get better but really think about it. Look at players that are in their prime or veterans. They really aren’t all that good at this point. Pedro, Jorginho Giroud, Willian. These aren’t players you want to be leading the team towards a title charge. Now they have pieces. Pulisic, James, Kovacic, Abraham, Hudson-Odoi, Kante. But they need more. They don’t have enough and that’s the truth. They need another CF who can bang in 15+ goals a season and they don’t have it. They need another center back who has some positioning sense. They need a proper left back, and bless Marcos Alonso, he has scored a lot of big goals for Chelsea but he’s not the answer. This team has needs. They have some good youth to compliment it but they need to be aggressive now and bring in some talent}

01 Mar 2020 02:27:37
It's the results against teams like Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Brighton etc that are frustrating me the most Ed18. I'm just cheezed off mate, it's been been building up for awhile. I'm usually very positive but the past 16 games has got me on a downward spiral because I've not seen anything to suggest Frank can address the issues which is my concern.

I understand we have young players who will improve and of course I'm sure the club will spend money this summer to address the rapid decline.

{Ed018's Note - I don’t disagree with you, I’m extremely annoyed when they can’t see off Bournemouth as well. It just needs some time. Let’s hope they can hold on for Champions League place and go from there}

01 Mar 2020 02:41:27
The last time Chelsea got a back to back league win was at the start of November. Surprising statistic.

But I agree let's hope we can hold on for the champions league spot. It was a pleasure chatting to you Ed18.

{Ed018's Note - Anytime}

01 Mar 2020 10:06:42
Matt Martin. We simply haven't got the defenders to address the issue it's as simple as that. Ever since that title win under Conte our defenders have been on a slow decline, and we simply haven't replaced them. You say look at Arteta, Wilder, Nunez and Ancelotti. But three of those clubs have clinical strikers in Aubameyang and Lacazette at Arsenal. Jimenez at Wolves and even Richarlison at Everton to some degree, to get their defence's out of trouble.

Our squad just isn't good enough in defence or attack, our players are just not as good as we'd like to believe. Hazard saved Sarri on so many occasions last season.

No major, major signings and poor recruitment over the past 3 or so seasons is now really beginning to hurt us.

Ziyech coming in this summer is a sign of much needed quality and hopefully a sign of better things to come.

01 Mar 2020 06:11:46
Great points Ed018.

29 Feb 2020 17:06:36
Horrible performance, had a chance to potentially kill the game off and didn't take it and as soon as we concede (from yet another set piece) we collapse. Thankfully Alosno saved us in the end but we don't deserve top 4 at all. Hopefully a lot of the team are back next week for the Everton game eventhough i still don't fancy us getting anything from that game even if they are.

Truth is there are 4 or 5 Bournemouth players that get into our team right now, they're a team fighting relegation... That's how bad our squad is. Frank may or may not be out of his depth but he's trying to manage the worst Chelsea team in the past two decades whilst being let down in January. He deserves to stay for next season no matter what happens.

01 Mar 2020 00:35:44
LondonBlues90, you're right about the Bournemouth players; Mount Giroud Pedro or Frazer Wilson King? I know which front 3 I would rather have - which just shows how poor we have become.

01 Mar 2020 05:42:51
MDW, yup it really does. When fit our starting 11 is good enough to challenge for top 4. But our back-up players would be lucky to get into a mid table team. When you look at the BPL goal statistics of Barkley, Batshuayi, Giroud, Willian and Pedro you'd think we were fighting relegation for the past few years. Not to say they haven't played a part in moments which has helped win us trophies because they have, but if we want to be challenging for the big trophies we need big upgrades on these players.

29 Feb 2020 16:32:34
The painful reality, frank / Jody are not good enough. We're only where we are and competing for 4th because everyone else has been so poor, we haven't improved defensively at all, we've conceded the most in top half and it can't be just the players we have because we have better players than all except 4/ 5 teams, his a legend but this isn't working. we can't capitalise on other teams, we are so weak mentally. It's a bit pathetic.

29 Feb 2020 16:55:08
Slow to make changes Matt. It’s becoming the same old, same old. Massively fed up and it’s all to easy to blame certain players.

29 Feb 2020 17:03:48
We can't blame the transfer ban and our lack of transfers in January for the recent poor results. Not good enough to use as an excuse given that we are not playing teams as good as Liverpool every week.

We have enough quality in the squad to be beat teams like Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Newcastle etc etc. The reason why results are not going our way is because of Lampard and Morris unfortunately.

I think Lampard is out of his depth. Last 16 games have been the worst this club has seen since Roman took over. If it was any other manager barring Lampard then I'm sure the axe would have been out by now.

29 Feb 2020 17:15:04
I hope Poch is in Romans contact list.

29 Feb 2020 17:19:57
Guys I visit daily but have not posted in over a year. Heads over hearts wether you support Frank or not the harsh reality is our players as whole are nowhere good enough. We have in my opinion Kante ( if used correctly) Kovacic, James, Pulisic, Ziyech ( sorry not sure spelling) that to me can be considered true quality first team starters for a big club with ambitions. We have Tammy as a solid #2 striker, Hudson-O as a solid winger off bench, Loftus/ Cheek solid rotation. That’s it! Let’s be honest we have nothing that resembles a world class solid CB ( Zouma, Rüdiger as backups) or LB. Sure Alonso can score some goals but is absolutely brutal in every other aspect. Mount, Barkley, Azpi and Kepa not good enough. So in closing we need a starting striker, Winger, CM, LB, and 2 CB’s. and goalie! Going to take 2 summer windows. If I’m being honest too 4 absolute must next year but fully can’t judge Frank or whoever you want in there till we get this positions solved. Only then can we have realistic expectations of making a run for league and making our way back towards becoming a European top club again! Sorry for long lost!

29 Feb 2020 17:30:17
If we were to change managers I would take Alegri above anyone.

29 Feb 2020 17:38:29
Agree mate, if you haven’t got the players for the system change the system to suit, 5 points dropped to Bournemouth 3 West Ham 2 Brighton 6 united 3 Southampton., these are games sand teams ( United exception because they’ve been as poor ) that should be points on the board, this is the reason I never wanted frank because I thought it was too soon and didn’t want a club legend to tarnish everything he done, his as frustrated as we are and we could of won it But we could of lost it too, not good enough all in all.

29 Feb 2020 16:30:10
Wow, just wow. This team can't defend for it's dear life.

29 Feb 2020 07:39:01
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Review Of The Day 29th February 2020