From Michael DR : Chelsea
“There’s something deeply flawed about Chelsea in the last two years.
Something that’s nothing to do with Dr Eva or Jose or anybody else, something sick, something we don’t know about.
How could this team, which won the title two seasons ago, have sunk so low again?
Antonio Conte, normally so animated, looked on in shock as his defence was opened up again and again. His back four had no protection at all !”
It is actually very simple.
In 15/16 we had 19 O21 players on the Premier League list.
That included Djilobodi (2 minutes all season), 3 GKs, Remy & Falcao. In effect a Keeper and 14 others.
Plenty were playing injured.
Hazard played till we were knocked out of the CL and then was immediately rested for about 6 weeks and returned the complete player again.
Squads that thin can keep going a dozen games if they are winning, but a few losses tore it apart.
All of this could have been predicted on Sept 1st – and it was by many.
16/17 just pure bad management. The squad is a little bigger with fewer phoney players on the list and no Euro games to play. The players are fit and in form, and Costa came back the same weight as he finished last spring, not 10Kg heavier again.
Till today the instructions were to sit incredibly deep and not press until opponents reach 25m from goal – you’ll have seen that in the Arsenal game or the week before against Liverpool.
Incredible stupidity by the manager, but much the same way as Juve played in the noddy league, Serie A.
It all stopped today, we started defending from the half way line for the first time this season.
Chelsea are back (I hope).
Myles says:
Thanks, Michael, for an informative comment.
Falcao and Remy should not have been there. Ridiculous!
My Chelsea-supporting mates all say Ivanovic should have been dropped 18 months ago.
At his best Diego Costa is a huge weapon in any game of football.
I wrote about him quite a lot when he was at Atletico Madrid, a well-run club which now tops La Liga.