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Chelsea 2020-2021: Campeones de Europa


ztejas

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12 minutes ago, Stringer said:


Sure those guys too.

I’m more thinking about guys who were on that 16-17 Conte-led title winning team. That is probably my favorite team in the decade that I have been following Chelsea.

I guess Zouma was on that team too (though not a key member), so should have included him.

Tammy's also an academy guy - right?

Yeah - he's been with the club since he was 7. That would be pretty fucking special even if lack of PT has left a bad taste. 

Edited by ztejas
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First half notes:

- We aren't the same team without Kante. I mean it's almost night and day.

- That said - Gilmour has been pretty damn good and I like some of what he's shown. 

- Mount first half MOTM - just needs a better bounce here or there 

- Outside of his nice steal in front of goal I thought Kai was poor. Not sharp or physical enough. 

Everyone else (besides Jorginho doing whatever the fuck that was) I thought played fine. I thought Chilwell was good, too. 

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11 minutes ago, MoJames said:

I just turned it on. Went and found the highlight of their goal, wow. This look like a good game to miss.

Yeah. I want 90' of my life back. 

CHO tonight put in maybe the worst individual performance I've seen from a Chelsea player all season. I'm not sure he made a correct decision one time on ball. 

And we burned Mount and Pulisic for 97' for this bullshit. 

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On 5/10/2021 at 3:06 PM, ztejas said:

Obviously we've already clinched Europa. 5 points in our last 3 and we clinch CL. Assuming we don't go WDD and Liverpool goes WWW and picks up 6 goals on us (the latter half seeming fairly unlikely).

I think PL season resolves before CL final so we should know heading in either way. 

Bro we clinch CL when kick Man City's dicks in at the end of this month.

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I'm having a quarter-life crisis. The brakes on at least one of my wheels are fucked and I had to wake up earlier than I wanted hungover today to get it in somewhere to be looked at. I'm ready for this shop to fuck me hard in the ass and take all the money that I already don't have. I basically need my car right now to get any work done. 

But fuck it, Just popped a tab and ready for Chelsea to make what might otherwise be a shitty day. Let's beat these fucks by 4 goals. 

Go Blues

(yeah yeah.... we can address my drinking on another thread,  Surly)

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Kai and CP off the bench. Hope that isn't too cocky. 

Ultimately whatever helps get us that big one is cool with me, though. 

Kante on the pitch though so what am I even worried about?

Edited by ztejas
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10 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Kante on the pitch though so what am I even worried about?

Already leaving zero doubt that he's by far the best player on the pitch. God damn he's basically tell-your-kids-about-him at this point.

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https://theathletic.com/2597988/2021/05/19/fired-up-chelsea-play-angry-to-punish-amarteys-insult-and-get-revenge-on-leicester

 

‘Fired up’ Chelsea play angry to ‘punish’ Amartey’s insult and get revenge on Leicester

In the space of a few days, Chelsea went from being calm in adversity to playing angry.

Having two high-profile games against Leicester City so close together — one to decide the FA Cup final, the other to potentially determine the top-four race — was always going to increase the possibility of some friction.

Yet losing to Brendan Rodgers’ side 1-0 at Wembley on Saturday wasn’t the main inspiration for Chelsea’s vital 2-1 league victory in the rematch at Stamford Bridge or the cause of the altercation between the teams near the end.

The boardrooms share a genuine warmth towards each other, as was shown before the showpiece occasion at the weekend when, out of their own volition, Chelsea presented Leicester with a commemorative silver copy of the match-day programme behind the scenes and Leicester gave their counterparts a silver fox.

Yes, there had been a few eyebrows raised in the build-up as Rodgers declared his side as the “people’s club” in the final but that didn’t cause any real harm. While naturally disappointed following the contest, the feeling among Chelsea personnel was that, if they were to lose to anybody, they were happy it was Leicester and were genuinely pleased for them.

Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel wasn’t bitter towards their opponents either. When he addressed the players after the final whistle, his tone was similar to that in the press conference, talking about luck being against them on the day and insisting they had done well.

In the team meeting held before training on Sunday as part of their preparations for the second encounter, the theme was similar. The group was shown clips of the match and where they could have made better decisions in the final third. But this wasn’t delivered in a furious or negative fashion. It was measured and uplifting.

He didn’t resort to the cliche of getting revenge. Nor did the 47-year-old make any reference to the footage, which had emerged the night before, of defender Daniel Amartey throwing a Chelsea pennant dismissively to the ground during Leicester City’s post-match celebrations.

But that didn’t stop the players from using it as a tool to give themselves a greater competitive edge. They were seething at the contemptuous gesture. It was the talk of the dressing room in the build-up. Sources suggest the whole squad had seen the clip and “it fired them up”.

It didn’t matter that Leicester privately reached out to Chelsea on the Sunday to say sorry on Amartey’s behalf, an apology that was accepted and appreciated by their counterparts.

With Champions League qualification at stake, the Chelsea players were already in a determined mood. Seeing those images just drove them to get the victory even more.

Defender Antonio Rudiger confirmed it when speaking to the club’s 5th Stand app. He said: “We wanted to show to them because top four was on the line and unfortunately some people from them don’t know how to celebrate. We had to punish them for this.

“After we lost the final, we talked with each other, that it’s a massive game coming up and we are (going to have to be) on it. Some people from them gave us a bit more motivation. Congratulations to them, they won (the final), celebrate and everything. But don’t disrespect club history. This is a bit bigger than you.”

Being roared on by 8,000 fans was another factor, but this was a Chelsea outfit performing with bite in the tackle and aggression at every 50-50, an intensity that was missing at Wembley.

The statistics didn’t necessarily reflect this. Chelsea won 61 duels to Leicester’s 58. The visitors made one more foul (16) to Tuchel’s men (15). But for anyone inside the stadium, the disparity felt a lot greater.

No one gave the impression they were playing with controlled wrath more than centre back Rudiger. He relished the opportunity to engage in physical contact, snapping at the Leicester players’ heels even if he didn’t win the ball. The Germany international must have been a constant source of irritation. Academy graduate Reece James didn’t shy away from sending opponents flying to the ground either.

There was another reason for Chelsea’s angst. As Tuchel admitted afterwards, they felt VAR decisions went against them in the 1-0 loss to Arsenal last week as well as the FA Cup final.

The sensation of things not going their way only increased in the first half when referee Mike Dean and VAR failed to award a spot kick despite Youri Tielemans kicking the back of Timo Werner’s leg in the area. Remarkably a free kick was awarded to Leicester instead.

Instead of dropping their heads and becoming resigned to their fate, Chelsea just kept driving forward. Despite missing a host of chances in the first half, Tuchel’s message at the interval was one of reassurance and encouragement to perform in the same manner again.

With time running out and Chelsea leading 2-1, Leicester lost their cool. Ricardo Pereira fouled Ben Chilwell and suddenly it felt like the clock had been rewound five years to the “Battle of Stamford Bridge” between Chelsea and Tottenham.

Players from both sides, backroom staff and substitutes all got involved. Of all people, Amartey sprinted from his seat in the East Stand to join in the fray. He soon regretted it as Chelsea players recognised the 26-year-old and made it clear exactly what they thought of him. He was pulled away for his own good by Leicester team-mates and was shown a yellow card.

It is understood Chelsea were not impressed with Amartey’s behaviour. One insider suggests how it was a sign of “his ego being out of control” after what he’d done a few days earlier and “lacks class”, although insisted the actions of one individual wouldn’t damage the rapport with Leicester.

Tuchel didn’t talk too much about the incident afterwards yet there must have been part of him that loved what he saw: Rudiger, Edouard Mendy, Thiago Silva, Cesar Azpilicueta and Mount all united in showing their displeasure. It’s this kind of fight and unity that will be required on Sunday against Aston Villa, plus in the Champions League final versus Manchester City.

Tuchel thought the bust-up exposed what was at stake and the frustration Leicester experienced on being second best this time. “It’s not so easy to lose in difficult games,” he said. “We had to swallow it, we showed respect in the cup final. It got a bit heated up but it’s like this. It’s hard to lose big matches.”

Chelsea’s mood has been lifted. Even if Liverpool don’t drop points against Burnley in their penultimate fixture tonight, Tuchel’s outfit know a win at Villa will guarantee third spot and Champions League football.

Tuchel revealed he was told that was the club’s main priority when given the job in January. Now he is just 90 minutes away from accomplishing it. If Chelsea succeed, Amartey will have played a little part in helping them get there.

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So, here are the scenarios for today:

Win and we're in

Now, going over the permutations for the Pool and LCFC results;

IF WE TIE:

- Pool win and LCFC win and we're out

Any other scenario we are in

IF WE LOSE:

- it simply hinges on LCFC result. They win - we're out. They don't - we're in. 

(Sorry - assuming all 3 of us don't lose - and I don't see Pool losing today)

I mean obviously none of this matters since we're beating City's ass on Saturday but just in case anyone was interested. 

Edited by ztejas
Fixed. My head hurts.
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  • ztejas changed the title to Chelsea 2020-2021: Campeones de Europa

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