For the first time this season we were comprehensively outplayed, outfought and outrun (apparently !) in that 2nd half. Chelsea have quality players all over the park who have time on the ball and were able to side step our terrier like defences and create chance after chance. I've never seen Klich look so out of his depth and as for Philips in that 2nd half, well he just couldn't play against that level. No shame in that though, these are top, top players and when you lose your best defender in the opening part of the game then it's always going to be difficult. I thought we matched them in the first half and started brightly with a great left footed pass from Philips through to Bamford who still had a lot to do. He sidestepped the keeper and calmly slotted home but what the hell was the keeper doing ? He made it really easy for Bamford and if Chelsea had a weakness last night I thought it was their keeper. We caused them problems especially down our right with Raphinha looking lively again. Unfortunately, Harrison on the other wing was having one of those days where he shows us his knack of being able to pick out nobody with a great overhit cross. Harrison has improved beyond recognition over the past 12 months but I feel he's struggling at this level at the moment and I think it is time to give someone else a chance. Here's my scores: Miesler - 7. Kept the score sensible with some great saves however I can't help feeling that our set piece problem which has returned massively is in some part down to him. Ayling - 7. I thought he did well generally. Allioski - 5. They had too much space down our left. He's not a defensive left back so we are going to struggle against the better teams. You can't get away playing defenders who are not that good at defending. Koch - 5. Not on long enough. It was obviously a gamble to play him. Cooper - 7. Possibly his best game this season which seems strange given he fell over for the 2nd goal and we looked like conceding 5 or 6 in the 2nd half. Overall, I thought he held us together (just) at the back. Klich - 5. Looked tired 2nd half or maybe just bemused. Was totally ineffective. Philips - 4. Started really lively and I thought maybe Everton wasn't a one-off but he crumbled and in the second half he looked like a schoolboy amongst men. Harrison - 2. Really poor. Raphinha - 6. Great first half but hardly touched the ball in the 2nd apart from one double chance which would have been spectacular had it gone in. Bamford - 7. Good goal and worked hard. Subs: Llorente - 5. I thought he was at fault for their first goal. Stood there with his arm up asking for offside rather than getting in front of the Chelsea player. He did however show some promise and for me he looks like a prospect. Rodrigo - 6. Gave the ball away a couple of times but he looks sharp and he looks like he's got time on the ball. In fact, he looked like a Chelsea player. If Bielsa can't find a system that places Rodrigo at the heart of everything we do then he's not the God we thought. Big game Friday now. _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email leedslist-unsubscr...@gn.apc.org
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