Swindon Town v Chelsea Official Matchday Thread

[Dozno9]

I don't wish to cause alarm but on 76:11 Kasim misplaced a pass....

[Frigby Daser]

Going to give a report that I guess some will not enjoy. Its difficult because the context is that we were playing Chelsea not Chesterfield.

I thought we passed nicely, good quick crisp passing, yet I came away pleased we'd done this but also disappointed. Disappointed we didn't really have a proper go. Sure we had a couple of half chances and a (rightly) disallowed goal. But a lot of our passing did no damage whatsoever. I understand keep ball is our new game, but for the first time today I got a bit frustrated by it as time ticked on.

I'd also like to have seen us get stuck into them a bit more. But I guess we don't have that type of player anymore.

It was a bit too comfortable and Chelsea could have scored 5 or 6 in the end.

Unfair and unrealistic expectations. Probably.

Having said all that Luongo and Kassim impressed tonight. Luongo was running the midfield for us and looked to get involved in everything.  N'Guessen has a nack of getting offside , wasn't as impressive as Saturday. Pritchard was overly greedy at times and needs to improve his decision making, MOM my arse. Ranger wasn't his overpowering self, well marshalled but possibly hampered by injury. Ajose got into some good positions and looks useful but sometimes needs to shoot rather than pass. The Egyption didn't get chance to impress. Louis Thompson did well.

I thought the back 5 were largely excellent. Wes was back to himself. I feared Hall would be overwhelmed but he wasn't, was quite impressed really. Thought Ward was going to get skinned a lot, but he didn't and had a very good game. NT was also good, he has a bit of bite about him too.

So it was kind of satisfying, yet frustrating. That's how I would summarise.

Agree with that. There wasn't the urgency that suggested "you never know...let's give this everything", but that's a plan B that perhaps we're in the process of developing. Saturday showed glimpses of it, but then we weren't up against Terry and Cahill. Overall, nothing to be ashamed of tonight and much to admire, but compare it to say, Leeds away (the Robinson game), and it's not amongst our tip top recent displays against Premier League opposition.

[ronnie21]

Oh did they say on TV why Ranger didnt start 2nd half ?

Something "popped" in his thigh according to Cooper!

[@mwooly63]

Something "popped" in his thigh according to Cooper!

Lets hope he is back for the weekend
Mason also has a mystery thigh problem too
 

Byrne is back but I think N Thompson now banned ??

[Batch]

According to Coops Ranger felt something pop in his groin..
----
And now my view on Chelsea.

They clearly have quality, but tonight they didn't really amaze me today. Maybe that's because they were comfortable, maybe its because Mourinho teams are efficient not spectacular. I expected more.

I've always considered Torres a really good player low on confidence rather than tow the popular view that he is a past his sell-by date donkey. Based on tonight's showing I'm not sure I was right.

[suttonred]

Another unlucky card. He got the ball but slighty after the Chelsea players foot

[joteddyred]

To concur with others, we played some really good football at times without really threatening.  Some of the players seemed reluctant to have a go when they got into a half decent position, which was a shame.  We tried to walk the ball through the Chelsea defence on several occasions instead of getting a decent cross in or shooting.  Everyone put in a decent shift, although I totally agree with Batch about Pritchard's decision making not being great at times.  He also needs to practice taking corners.

However, considering the Chelsea starting 11 cost approx £175 million more than ours, it wasn't too bad.  Unless Willian improves significantly, from what I saw tonight he's going to find life in the Premier League very tough. And Torres really should take more of his chances than he does.

It's a shame Thompson will miss Saturday and Ranger must be a doubt as well.  I never thought I'd find myself rueing his absence..

Was surprised Cooper didn't bring on a final sub just to give them the opportunity for a few minutes against Chelsea if nothing else.  Does anyone else get the impression that he maybe he doesn't rate Storey?

[Berniman]

The boys did well tonight but gotta agree with Batch...  frustrating...

Oh and though I am glad he is here, and think he will improve and be a big player for us, that is 3 times I have seen Pritchard now and MK goal apart, he has disappointed me so far considering what I heard about him before he came.  When I said that after the QPR match I got pelters (albeit from some that know little about breathing let alone football) but he was never MOTM tonight, Kasim by a mile for us...

Encouraging for us for the rest of the season though with style, quality and possession, but Chelsea treated it as a warm down for most of the game tonight.

[Shaw Rosso]

Kasim outstanding again, many positives to take from tonight. Wes kept it respectable with a couple of great saves. Not convinced with Jay Mac, never been a great wing back simply because of his inconsistency getting the ball in to the box. Wasn't that Ritchie fella playing left back a while ago?

Fair play to Chelsea for putting out a decent team, my lad was a bit star struck when Torres was in front of the Town End but soon treated him with the same respect reserved for League 1 strikers, bless him. The irony of hearing a fantastically fully voiced Town End (best atmosphere for a decade) singing about plastic supporters did give me a chuckle. If we manage to get over 8500 for the Tranmere game a week Saturday then tonight will have been worth so much more than the undoubted hundreds of thousands made on the night and the short term feeling of pride that we took on 1 of the best football teams in the world and didn't disgrace ourselves in any way.

Well done tonight one and all, players, board and fans.

[sonicyouth]

Can't complain about tonight, the boy(s) done good.

My only gripe after seeing both tonight and Franchise on the TV and Wolves in the flesh is that Jay McEveley is the weak link in our side. He's steady and hasn't really let us down but so many times tonight he was useless outlet on the left and hindered us in building an attack. Sadly, it doesn't seem as though Byrne is the answer either judging by people's comments.

[Ardiles]

Mark Cooper: take a bow.  I'm starting to be impressed.  Please keep it up.  Potentially, you've started something here.

[THE FLASH]

Well we were not humiliated...for that I'm happy. But unlike the Villa game I did not walk away from the TE feeling we made the work.....far from it.

We never really gambled....taking too many touches when we broke free...and never crossing the ball early...Luis and Terry might as well sat in arm chairs.

Get the fucking ball in.....make em work.

It was a reluctant joy to see Chelsea on the break...sublime at times...

The boys deserve applause or the dispatch of QPR and the chance to bring one of the best sides in the world here....I just think we could of made them work harder than cruise control.

[Batch]

Personally I've been impressed with McEveley. He's not as attacking minded but a much better defender than Byrne and provides whoever is playing left wing a solid base. In my view he isn't a weak link.

[sonicyouth]

Mark Cooper: take a bow.  I'm starting to be impressed.  Please keep it up.  Potentially, you've started something here.

I know it doesn't really matter much in the scheme of things but I like the way he talks to the media - he speaks a lot of common sense, he's understated and is just a likeable bloke. Bonus is that he's building something special.

As Lester Freamon said...

[Simon Pieman]

Personally I've been impressed with McEveley. He's not as attacking minded but a much better defender than Byrne and provides whoever is playing left wing a solid base. In my view he isn't a weak link.

Good defender, poor attacker.