ilkleyram Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Assuming we want to go up and then stay there, without having then to buy a whole new team, I think we learnt some things today and had some suspicions confirmed: 1) Bucko and Forsyth have both improved immeasurably and can play at PL level. My men of the match. 2) Will Hughes can become a very good player, if he wants to 3) our team spirit is excellent - we responded well to both goals and to periods of intense pressure 4) Chris Martin's touch and general play is more than good enough, his pace is not. But as BC used to say, concentrate on what someone can do rather than what they can't. 5) Jeff Hendrick is good enough and will be better with more games 6) The system is a good one and can work, even against the top teams. 7) our loanees are good and can play PL football, whether for us or others 8) Our management team are prepared to take risks to win 9) IMO the jury's still out on Jamie Ward, and John Eustace wouldn't last a full season but might be useful for some matches 10) we coped better than I thought we would without Bryson but we still need some outright creativity And well done to Jose for taking the FA Cup seriously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gritstone Ram Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 I think Jose took it seriously out of respect for SM. Good points too Jake didn't look out of place today. I was saying after the game how well he has done since he came to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cam the Ram Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 The only key players who didn't feature today for Chelsea were Lampard, Terry and Cech. So it was close to a full strength Chelsea side and we conceded 2 goals. Chelsea have scored 3 or more on 8 occasions this season and 2 or more on 19 occasions (Excluding us) So I think the main thing we learnt today is that Jake Buxton is bloody brilliant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alph Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Thought Martin found it easier today than a lot league games. The discipline the PL teams have and the fact they keep such good shape seems to make for a slightly slower game. Not as much 'honesty' as managers like to call it which basically means 'runs a lot'. In general play it seemed to suit Martin more. Just a shame their discipline and shape was so solid that we couldn't really create much for him in the right areas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoollyJumper Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 I think, the true test of the ability of our current squad should not be based on one game, (albeit against a very good team) but over the course of a full season where the quality of the opposition and standard of games are at this level more often than not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dimmu Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 11. Video of "Willian: How To Take a Freekick" can be shown to Ward over and over again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Teale Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 11. Video of "Willian: How To Take a Freekick" can be shown to Ward over and over again... You would hope he would as he cost 30 odd million Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dimmu Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 You would hope he would as he cost 30 odd million I don't think freekick taking ability has lot to do with transfer fees. Remember former Lyon player Juninho? Maybe best ever freekick taker in game's history and he was free for them. Beckham's move to Real too? Can't remember it surely though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Teale Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 I meant for 30 million you would think a winger like him would be able to deliver a quality ball in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ant034 Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Nice to see that for once Jamie Ward did not spit his dummy out in the second half which seems to have become custom and practice for him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ant034 Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 And also - Jake Buxton is a football genius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Contain Nuts Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 That Craig Bryson is an extremely important player in order for our style of play to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuff264 Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 That Craig Bryson is an extremely important player in order for our style of play to work. We would have benefitted having him in there, but for large parts of the match I thought Hendrick did very well in that role Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky1884 Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 I really hope Chelsea don't take Bucko of our hands!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JG400 Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 We would have benefitted having him in there, but for large parts of the match I thought Hendrick did very well in that role I must of been at a different game , I thought Hendrick was poor , he looked exactly like he does in internationals out of his depth and not willing to take risks. The number of times that Eustace had to make forward runs suggests he wasn't dominant. Both hendrick and Ward I felt didn't do themselves justice were as I think the rest of the team played well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuff264 Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 I must of been at a different game , I thought Hendrick was poor , he looked exactly like he does in internationals out of his depth and not willing to take risks. The number of times that Eustace had to make forward runs suggests he wasn't dominant. Both hendrick and Ward I felt didn't do themselves justice were as I think the rest of the team played well. Hendrick dropped away 2nd half, and wasnt as attacking as Bryson but looked solid against world class midfielders O'neil was there watching him, and maybe Sammon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Contain Nuts Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 We would have benefitted having him in there, but for large parts of the match I thought Hendrick did very well in that role That's the thing though - Bryson plays more than one role, or rather Bryson's role encompasses many aspects of our play, which is why he's vital. He can do defensive closing down, he can do surging forward runs, he can play clever one-touch link-up passes with teammates (especially Martin) and he times his runs well, sets up and scores goals. Hendrick can do all these things, but not all in one game - Bryson can, and I think his extra dynamism would have made a big difference in not leaving Martin so isolated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mostyn6 Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 I must of been at a different game , I thought Hendrick was poor , he looked exactly like he does in internationals out of his depth and not willing to take risks. The number of times that Eustace had to make forward runs suggests he wasn't dominant. Both hendrick and Ward I felt didn't do themselves justice were as I think the rest of the team played well. Wha.................?????? It's the silly risks that let Hendrick down yesterday. Aside from losing the ball and continuously running into trouble in possession, he was pretty decent in my opinion. Maybe trying to hard to impress, but sadly not quite back to his sharpest, so made himself look a bit irresponsible on the ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VulcanRam Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Wha.................?????? It's the silly risks that let Hendrick down yesterday. Aside from losing the ball and continuously running into trouble in possession, he was pretty decent in my opinion. Maybe trying to hard to impress, but sadly not quite back to his sharpest, so made himself look a bit irresponsible on the ball. It's a big ask to go 90 minutes against Chelsea when you've hardly played after a long injury lay off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsmini Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 One thing I learned on Sunday was that Chelski had to bring on 83 million pounds worth of so called talent in the second half to beat little old Derby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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