It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where we’re currently dropping points. Two more goals were conceded on set pieces. Another red card. Arsenal 2, Chelsea 1. Our own offense was held back by one of the best defenses in the league, and they had the ability to focus on defense knowing they could make more than their fair share of tackles and interceptions in the corner.
The latter is quickly thrust into the spotlight and has the potential to turn this great match into a series of wrestling matches. Maybe one day it will all be legal as a pass back to the goalie. Until then, we need to figure out how to handle them better—or at least not the way we tried to handle them last night.
“When I really analyze those corners [from last time against Arsenal]they were very, very close to scoring. It doesn’t always turn out that way. [And] We conceded a goal from a corner kick against Burnley.
“[So] We made a specific plan. This is the first time the boys have done this. It didn’t pay off today but we need to make sure we’re better in those moments because at the moment we’re losing points not based on our performance but based on set pieces and discipline. “
Of course, conceding a goal is one thing, even conceding a goal from a set piece is one thing. Even the best Premier League defense ever conceded 15 goals.
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But it’s infuriating to shoot yourself in the foot again and again and reap the benefits again and again. Pedro Neto was the latest silly goose, picking up two yellow cards in just a few minutes of the second half, first for dissent and then for a rather ill-advised and probably unnecessary tackle. My friends and I used to have a motorcycle riding club whose motto was “bad decisions were made but a great time was had.” Well, for Chelsea it was more like making the wrong decision… and not having a good time.
“I think as a team, myself included, we learned our lesson last week. Conceding two goals from set pieces, which ended up costing us the game, was really disappointing. And then to get another red card, really disappointing.”
“[But] It’s not just Pedro. I think as a team, and me as a leader, we have to take more responsibility for some of the decisions we make in terms of discipline and goal moments, not just today, the goals that we acknowledged. Some of them are unacceptable at this level. “
Unforced errors can be fatal in any sport, but especially in a sport like football and a league with such razor-thin margins. By definition, it’s reductive to judge a team solely by its results… but they can’t be completely ignored when the end results are all that matters. We need these points to give us time to try and fix the issues that caused us to lose points. This is a classic dilemma, and today we don’t seem to have an answer.
“There are some deep things we need to figure out. The question for me is, if we get down to those two main things, we can be a really, really good team and we can achieve all the goals we want to achieve. […] There were a lot of technical, tactical and quality performances in our game. But if we don’t eliminate this phenomenon, we will pay the price. “
“[…] Where our strengths are, I think everyone knows where we need to improve. I don’t want to sit here and say how well we play every week and not get points. [We] Need to start finding a way to play well, which we have been doing for most of our time as a team. But we also need to get points very, very quickly. “
-Liam Roneyall; Source: London Football News
It’s just another big game coming up in a few days, this time away to Villa, whose form is a bit inconsistent. These are three must-haves for our own top five ambitions.
