Chelsea 2014-15: Minute 30, 33, 43 and 69

[DLew On Roids]

Calling the Ivanovic action a head-butt is the most escalatory--is that even a word?--thing about this incident.  He comes in clearly looking to get McCarthy (who looks really pissed off) out of the scrum, drops his arm down when he realizes he's got him by the neck, and nods his head while talking to him.  It doesn't appear aggressive at all and Ivanovic looks to be trying to ramp down the situation.  Yes, putting your hands on a player is supposed to be off-limits, but I see peace-making intent here.
 
I've called Ivanovic all kinds of nasty things when he's dived this season, and most of you know what I think of Chelsea as a club, so I don't think I'm seeing what I want to see.

 

[Snakebauer007]

I think Jose got it wrong today, second leg will definitely be telling. Ramires in the pivot is a terrible idea, as was sitting on the one goal so early.

Cahill did not help his situation either, Zouma is knocking hard on that door.

 

[robssecondjob]

Number of Chelsea supporters making the news on the Paris Metro...

 

[PedroSpecialK]

"We're racist, we're racist, and that's the way we like it."

 

[Snakebauer007]

Ugh

 

[fletcherpost]

I hope they can identify some of those fools and ban them from the Bridge. And I'd like to nominate Drogba as the player I'd like most to confiscate their season tickets.

 

[mikeford]

https://twitter.com/CFCMccoy/status/567836738929987584
 
reportedly one of the chaps from the video.
 
shameful shit.

 

[fletcherpost]

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/18/racist-chelsea-fans-push-black-man-paris-metro
 
The guardian have a fairly lengthy article on the Paris Metro shenanigans,
 

The club said: “Such behaviour is abhorrent and has no place in football or society. We will support any criminal action against those involved, and should evidence point to involvement of Chelsea season-ticket holders or members the club will take the strongest possible action against them, including banning orders.”
 

Paul Nolan, a British expatriate who filmed the clip on his phone, told the Guardian that he had arrived on the platform on Tuesday evening after finishing work.
“The doors were open and I could see and hear that a lot of chanting was going on,” he said. “It looked like it was quite aggressive so I just took out by phone to record it.”
He said that the train had been stopped for about three minutes when the man arrived on the platform and tried to get on.
“He was obviously completely shocked when they pushed him off. I don’t think he realised who they were. He then tried to get on again and got pushed off a second time.
“I was just completely appalled by it and so that’s why I tried to catch some of it on my phone, although I was a bit self-conscious as it was getting quite aggressive and I overhead one of the Chelsea fans say something about stabbing someone. I think he was referring to a Paris Saint-Germain supporter who was on the platform.”
Nolan added that others on the platform looked on in disbelief: “There definitely was a culture shock. I heard a couple of French guys saying: ‘I can’t believe this. It’s insane.’”
 

 

[Nuf Ced]

I hope they can identify some of those fools and ban them from the Bridge. And I'd like to nominate Drogba as the player I'd like most to confiscate their season tickets.

 

 
Chelsea Football Club is suspending three people from Stamford Bridge as a result of investigations into the incident on the Paris Metro on Tuesday evening.
If it is deemed there is sufficient evidence of their involvement in the incident, the club will issue banning orders for life.

 
http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2015/02/statement-on-paris-metro-incident.html

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

Mourinho seems to be striking the right chord and pretty genuine.
 

 
 
"I repeat, I feel ashamed at being connected with this sad episode that happened and I have no words, unless you want me to stay here two hours repeating the same thing, because my feeling is the feeling of everyone at this club. We feel very, very sorry about it. We want to fight it, we feel ashamed, and we apologise to the gentleman."

 
http://www.espnfc.com/chelsea/story/2308123/chelsea-apologise-to-metro-victim-over-abuse-jose-mourinho-ashamed-by-incident

 

[Snakebauer007]

Should have doubled our penalties awarded this season in one half...Atkinson was standing 5 feet from both instances.

 

[blueguitar322]

I propose this thread title be changed to "Minute 30, 33, 43 and 69."

 

[blueguitar322]

I believe red cards count for all FA-administered games, so it looks like Matic will miss (1) the CC final vs Tottenham, (2) @West Ham, (3) Southampton.  Those are three above-average difficulty games, and Matic is one of the players that makes Chelsea so consistently strong.

 

[Conigliaro's Potential]

I propose this thread title be changed to "Minute 30, 33, 43 and 69."

 
Genius.

 

[Gunfighter 09]

Man, it must be so excellent to have Jose in your life every week. I am Belichick level jealous. 

 

[Stanley Steamer]

Chelsea are starting to look tired, and a little short of ideas lately. The season is long, with it's ebbs and flows, and we may see some reinvigoration yet. But I cant help but feel there's a bit of a siege mentality about the club, with Jose beckoning his troops inside the bunker for the duration of the season, ready to gut out low-scoring match after match. Will they emerge in the May sunshine with smiles on their faces, and ribbons everywhere, or will they have to bite on Coach's cyanide capsules?
Obviously, the Carling Cup final is huge, in terms of the confidence it would give to or rob from the team. Having a trophy under their belts would lighten the mood, and might lead to a return of their more free-flowing artistry. Defeat would only intensify the pressure about the squad.
Matic will be a big miss for them. He's arguably been their player of the year, especially so over the past few months. Neither Ramires nor Mikel bring as much to the team. I'm not sure whom I prefer. Ramires can drive them forward a little better, but his passing leaves something to be desired, as does his tackling at times. Mikel is a reasonably good destroyer, but offers little more. I'm inclined to think they should attack Tottenham, rather than attempt to soak up pressure all day. I'll be curious to see what the team sheet looks like that day. Their biggest advantage would seem to be having the week to prepare for the final, while Spurs have to play a tough match in Italy three days beforehand.

 

[sachmoney]

Matic's suspension is reduced to two games. He will be out for the Mickey Mouse final and the West Ham game. He'll be back for Soton.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

New shirt sponsor, Yokohama is reportedly kicking in 40 million GBP per year for 5 years.

 

[Nuf Ced]

Pretty much a perfect match from Chelsea today in the Capital One Cup final. Goals from Terry and Costa. Clean sheet for Petr Cech. 

 

[Snakebauer007]

We really cocked that one up. What a miserable display. when you live and die by Mourinho's default knockout game mentality, you can really miss out on chances to take the game to the other team(like say up a player at home) and it back fired hard this time.

Let's see what kind of mental fortitude this team has

 

[Stanley Steamer]

Yeah, it's amazing that a team can win a minor trophy, lead the league, yet have such a completely low point simultaneously. What it tells me is that Jose can't last. I mean, people really hate him, and it's such a huge distraction. Unless his team can snap out of it, by playing a less cynical brand of football, yet still succeed, I can't see him lasting much beyond a year.
He's a great coach, as good as any in the world, but it's becoming clear why he can't/doesn't stay anywhere. He is, effectively, an asshole. It's one thing to play a tight, defensive style and succeed, especially as an underdog. It's another to be a well-run favorite but try to play and act slighted. Jose has been the master tactician of the EPL since he's been on the scene; last night he got it "horribly wrong". It seems playing at home, up a man for 60 minutes, might be a good time to change your game plan. I guess it's not that easy.
Ah well, its just a game, and the CL isn't easy, at least if you speak English. Chelsea played great football at the beginning of the season. Now, they either can't, or won't. I guess it's fairly similar to what's happening at RM these days.
I have a question for the non-Chelsea fans out there. How much do you hate Chelsea itself, and how much is it just Mourinho?

 

[Schnerres]

I have a question for the non-Chelsea fans out there. How much do you hate Chelsea itself, and how much is it just Mourinho?

 
I don´t hate Chelsea. I don´t like Mourinho, as i think he is a poor character and example for young people. I think he´s a very good coach and lots of his actings are tactic, but he goes above the line. You shouldn´t go there. How can i tell my youth team, they shouldn´t complain to the ref and keep playing their game when they see this behaviour at every big league match. And i don´t think this is just happening at Chelsea. You´re making this worse than it is, compared to others. When i see CL matches of Barca, Real, it´s absolutely the same. Flopping, complaining (not as much by the coach, but players), time-wasting, rolling around, etc. I can somehow understand it, as it´s about millions for the club, but you should have a line where you should stop it.

 

[SocrManiac]

I'll answer...
 
Mourinho, as the face of Chelsea, isn't what I hate. I see him as a variant of the Belichick mold. He does everything possible to distract an insane media away from his players and put it all on himself. I do think his comments on refereeing have completely backfired this year.
 
What's more difficult to quantify is the behavior of his team, and maybe that is on him or a reflection of his style. The picture of all ten Chelsea field players surrounding the referee after the Ibrahimovic tackle perfectly captures why I can't stand the squad. Their on-field antics, while by no means unique on an player by player basis, is fairly rare in EPL on a full side level. The talent of the players is undeniable, but the level to which they work officials, playact, embellish, and snipe just makes them unlikable to a relative neutral. 

 

[blueguitar322]

I have a question for the non-Chelsea fans out there. How much do you hate Chelsea itself, and how much is it just Mourinho?

 
I honestly don't hate Chelsea - the club, its history, its fans - at all.  Pre-Abramovich they were just like any other top-flight club, and I don't begrudge them or their fans for the fortune (and subsequent success) that Roman brought with him, though I will say that any Russian who made their money in the post-perestroika days probably has a few skeletons in their closet.
 
Likewise, I don't hate Mourinho.  I found him utterly fascinating and respect the hell out of his tactical prowess and ruthlessness.  He's just about the perfect villain for entertainment purposes - arrogant ("easiest thing in the world to win 1-0"), super intelligent, but not quite black and white enough to engender true hatred.  Like most great coaches, he puts as much pressure as possible on the refs, so i cannot really be angry at him for that.  I do think his treatment of Wenger is a bit below the belt - "voyeur", "specialist in faliure", etc. - and that gives me ample reason for schaudenfraude whenever he fails.  
 
FWIW I don't have any problem with any "negative" tactics and they are not any reason why I root against Chelsea.  Mourinho's system, like all systems, has advantages and disadvantages; we just happened to see the disadvantages on Wednesday.
 
My real issue with Chelsea at the moment stems from several of their players.  John Terry just seems like a despicable human being in most respects.  Ivanovic strikes me as a dirty player.  And Diego Costa is a provocateur extraordinaire.  Each of those three would start easily for my "most hated 11".  And as SocrManiac mentioned, the way that all other 9 outfield players immediately surrounded the ref when Zlatan slid into Oscar was despicable.

 

[sachmoney]

I hate Chelsea a lot a lot a lot. I will write an essay on it later...

 

[blueguitar322]

Chelsea played great football at the beginning of the season. Now, they either can't, or won't. I guess it's fairly similar to what's happening at RM these days.

 
I read a comment on another forum that both Chelsea and Real Madrid (1) started incredibly strong, (2) consistently put out the same/similar lineups for each game, and (3) are now suffering a loss of form.
 
It turns out that 8 of Chelsea's outfield players have played in at least 80% of their league games.  Compare that to 4 (City, Liverpool) or 3 (Arsenal, United) and you begin to see a real discrepancy.
 
In addition, Chelsea has played 8 CL games (with 8 outfield players playing in all, or all but one of them) and 8 domestic cup games.  This all adds up to a recipe for fatigue.  The amazing thing to me is how Chelsea has managed to avoid any long-term injuries during this time.
 
This would probably be my primary complaint of Mourinho this year were I a Chelsea fan.  Why did he not rotate more frequently?  Chelsea is clearly at their best with Oscar-Fabregas-Matic controlling the midfield and Costa/Hazard making runs and scoring goals, but their team is deep enough to have more than one very good configuration.  If Mourinho had rotated a bit more freely against bottom-tier sides, they would probably be stronger for the stretch run.
 
Then again, at the cost of the CL and FA Cup, they now already have one trophy and are all but assured of winning the title, so that's not exactly a bad season at all.

 

[bosox4283]

Anyone have any experience with ticketbisevents?

I'm posting from the press room at Stamford Bridge.

 

[soxfan121]

Anyone have any experience with ticketbisevents?

I'm posting from the press room at Stamford Bridge.

 
No, but if you ask Jose about the size of his horse today, I will love you forever.

 

[bosox4283]

I'm sitting in front of Costa's locker.

No Jose sighting. The stadium is really quiet even though game time is in 3 hours.

 

[Snakebauer007]

The Chelsea youth team won their 3rd FA youth cup in 4 years today just a week after winning the European Championship, it is really phenomenal how much talent their is in our teenage ranks. That said, their aren't many managers I'd have less confidence in giving them a chance than Jose.

He has played Zouma in many occasions over more experienced guys, and given cameos to Loftus-Cheek but I remain highly skeptical.

Special nod to Dom Solanke And Tammy Abraham who have combined for just under 80 goals this season.

 

[CoRP]

Mourniho is a great troll...
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCaxIQQHhlE