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IthacaMatt said:
Oh, man, that was pathetic. A foul, maybe. A yellow card? Not in a million years. What a load of crap. Chelsea should have a perfect record through 9 games - damn you, Frank Lampard. Still a cushion, but not what I was hoping for, and certainly not what we deserved. Drogba can't run much anymore, but his hold-up play is still very good. It's like watching an old-time high post center in hoops taking the pass and then looking for cutters to pass the ball to. He is still great in the air, as I was saying previously, and he proved it again. Great game for Drogs. Should have been the winner. Next week, United at City. Pulling for the United upset.
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Agree with everything except cheering for United next week.
 
IthacaMatt said:
Oh, man, that was pathetic. A foul, maybe. A yellow card? Not in a million years. What a load of crap. Chelsea should have a perfect record through 9 games - damn you, Frank Lampard. Still a cushion, but not what I was hoping for, and certainly not what we deserved. Drogba can't run much anymore, but his hold-up play is still very good. It's like watching an old-time high post center in hoops taking the pass and then looking for cutters to pass the ball to. He is still great in the air, as I was saying previously, and he proved it again. Great game for Drogs. Should have been the winner. Next week, United at City. Pulling for the United upset.
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Agreed it was a foul but not a card. Still, that play was symptomatic of Ivan's tough day. He got beat on the outside a lot, even with Willian coming to help out. Felipe Luis wasn't much better on the other side and we have a problem with pacey wingers. This is the second time we haven't killed off a game against a top side. We might get away with that in the Premiership but it foreshadows heartbreak in the CL. No Ivanovic and Cesar for a few games. QPR next week but it should be a victory. We may not see Zoume for a long time after he lost RVP. CFC really don't need Costa back until the trip to Anfield in 2 weeks.

PS -- What a steal last year on Mata. He won't be on Man U next year at this time.
 
cmr27 said:
Agreed it was a foul but not a card. Still, that play was symptomatic of Ivan's tough day. He got beat on the outside a lot, even with Willian coming to help out. Felipe Luis wasn't much better on the other side and we have a problem with pacey wingers. This is the second time we haven't killed off a game against a top side. We might get away with that in the Premiership but it foreshadows heartbreak in the CL. No Ivanovic and Cesar for a few games. QPR next week but it should be a victory. We may not see Zoume for a long time after he lost RVP. CFC really don't need Costa back until the trip to Anfield in 2 weeks.

PS -- What a steal last year on Mata. He won't be on Man U next year at this time.
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Eh, we're missing a handful of players, too. I think we'll continue to get better as the season goes on. Ramires can get some time in the midfield against some opponents. I think Hazard is only starting to figure out his places in space in this offense and is ready to really up his goal output.

I think we have time to give Costa some rest and get him properly healthy. And Del Bosque may not play him the full 90 in 2 games on the next International break in November, like he did last time, after Mourinho's carping and the fact that Costa came back injured. Costa got his goal for the national side, so now he doesn't have to convince Del Bosque quite so much.

I'm liking the chemistry in the back. I think that overall all five of them are playing well. I think that Courtois is getting better and more comfortable with the back four. I'm really glad that we have a couple guys from his team last year to ease the transition, plus a couple Belgium guys, as well.

Didn't realize Zouma left somebody unmarked on the goal scum. It was so obviously going to happen once they sent Ivanovic out. I mean, there were 30 seconds left in the fifth minute of extra time in a game with no injuries to speak of. What, man. That sucked.

I agree that DiMaria gave us some trouble when he teamed up with Shaw, but compared to how DiMaria has rampaged through some recent games, I felt quite happy about our performance and thought he was largely kept in check.
 
IthacaMatt said:
I'm liking the chemistry in the back. I think that overall all five of them are playing well. I think that Courtois is getting better and more comfortable with the back four. I'm really glad that we have a couple guys from his team last year to ease the transition, plus a couple Belgium guys, as well.
.
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As for Courtois, I think he is better on the low shots than Cech at this point. He is also pretty assured gathering wayward corners in the box. He's not a puncher as much as a lot of goalkeepers. I like that he catches it a lot of the time. His distribution is not quite as good as Cech's, but it seems to be getting better.
 
IthacaMatt said:
As for Courtois, I think he is better on the low shots than Cech at this point. He is also pretty assured gathering wayward corners in the box. He's not a puncher as much as a lot of goalkeepers. I like that he catches it a lot of the time. His distribution is not quite as good as Cech's, but it seems to be getting better.
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I haven't seen anything yet to make me think Jose made the wrong choice with Courtois over Cech. It's an incredible luxury to have two top flight keepers and Peter has been an absolute pro. Looking forward to Shrewsbury tonight. They aren't half bad. It's always good to see how the second-team guys do. Someone like Saleh really deserves a run out. I bet we see a new 11 from the side that played Sunday.
 
cmr27 said:
I haven't seen anything yet to make me think Jose made the wrong choice with Courtois over Cech. It's an incredible luxury to have two top flight keepers and Peter has been an absolute pro. Looking forward to Shrewsbury tonight. They aren't half bad. It's always good to see how the second-team guys do. Someone like Saleh really deserves a run out. I bet we see a new 11 from the side that played Sunday.
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I'm holding out hope that Cech somehow winds up @ Liverpool
 
General20 said:
More and more Mingolet looks like the wrong guy for the job. I think he has regressed since last year.
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I'm not there yet but I think playing behind Cech for a couple seasons would do him wonders as far as learning communication and organization of his defense. Migs is a great stopper but positionally challenged at the moment thus our set piece woes but I'm not ready to give up on him just yet. He's young for a keeper.
 
Chelsea v Liverpool this week. Feels like a thoroughly unsatisfying 1-1 draw.
 
No, I think Chelsea and Liverpool are both coming with statements of intent. Both teams want to win this game. Rodgers is a bit stubborn. Mourinho, hopefully, will take advantage of that. One thing I think we might see is a bigger role for Ramires tomorrow. Costa had a warm-up in midweek, and knows he has 2 weeks of treatment after this game. Hopefully he plays with a clear head. Remy is back, but I can't see him playing a big role tomorrow.
 
IthacaMatt said:
No, I think Chelsea and Liverpool are both coming with statements of intent. Both teams want to win this game. Rodgers is a bit stubborn. Mourinho, hopefully, will take advantage of that. One thing I think we might see is a bigger role for Ramires tomorrow. Costa had a warm-up in midweek, and knows he has 2 weeks of treatment after this game. Hopefully he plays with a clear head. Remy is back, but I can't see him playing a big role tomorrow.
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We got mediocre Hazard in the first half. He needs to step it up in the second half. Liverpool is doing everything they can to give us possession. They still look dangerous on the counter though. Really like Sterling.
 
cmr27 said:
We got mediocre Hazard in the first half. He needs to step it up in the second half. Liverpool is doing everything they can to give us possession. They still look dangerous on the counter though. Really like Sterling.
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Liverpool should have had the PK for the hand ball. Robbed. Great go ahead goal by Diego Costa, though.
 
cmr27 said:
Can't argue. The Ramires left hook ended up being harmless but Cesar definitely was OB on the goal and that was a definite penalty. The ref let'em play. It's a killer to hear but you know the expression... That's football.
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The ref missed clear calls both ways. I text my cousin after the first half that "The game is moving too fast for the ref. He's doing a lot of guessing and getting them wrong". The Sterling yellow card was comedy but he missed a few handballs on both sides as well as quite a bit of off the ball stuff. Costa was going after Skrtel in the first half throwing shoulders, etc. I was waiting for Skrtel to go nuclear and get a straight red for retaliation at some point. That shoulder and dive at the edge of the box wouldn't been perfect if we had Neuer in net because he would've gotten a flying knee to the face but I digress.

All and all it was a fun match and a game Liverpool side showed up despite being obviously outclassed at this point. Great game to watch with someone that says "there's no contact in soccer".

Admittedly, I was only able to watch the first half but sounded like the second half was equally entertaining.
 
Looks like we have a race at the top again. Chelsea's inability to break down weaker sides on the road killed them last season and the problem is back. Mourinho is probably going to complain about the opponent "parking the bus" but Man City doesn't seem to have a problem breaking down weaker sides. I really hope those four points dropped at the death to City and ManU aren't a factor but...
 
Anybody still following the EPL closely?

I have to say I'm riveted right now. Man U., Southampton, Arsenal, Tottenham, and Liverpool in a death battle for the Top 4. Only two of the five are going to make it. Shaping up to be a stellar year!

My gut says Arsenal and Liverpool grab those two coveted spots.
 
General20 said:
Anybody still following the EPL closely?

I have to say I'm riveted right now. Man U., Southampton, Arsenal, Tottenham, and Liverpool in a death battle for the Top 4. Only two of the five are going to make it. Shaping up to be a stellar year!

My gut says Arsenal and Liverpool grab those two coveted spots.
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To say I'm following closely would be a gross understatement. We're in solid form and with Sturro coming back we should be hell for opposition to deal with. Southampton don't give up goals, De Gea is singlehandedly grabbing points for Man U, Arsenal getting healthy and scoring at will, Spurs... well Erikson, Lamela, and Chadli and now Kane are menacing but I always wait for them to collapse and I'm never disappointed. Any points dropped now are massive. 5 points seperate 3-7 and 4 seperate 4-7.
 
Southampton been class all year.

Sold so much talent but made the right call with Ronald Koeman. Shrewd signings with Tadic, Pelle, Bertrand, and now Elia on loan.

I'm 100% in on them finishing top four and qualifying for the Champions League. Been a pleasure and a breath of fresh air to watch them compete this term.
 
Super Mario scored his first premiere league goal since November 2012 and Liverpool overcame another Kane goal for Tottenham and another season sweep for Liverpool over Spurs.
 
General20 said:
Tottenham beat Arsenal . . . next week Liverpool beat Tottenham and all is right with the world!

At least from a Liverpool perspective.
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Truthfully I wouldve taken a I draw from Arsenal v Spurs
 
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