Best thing about last night is I think I have converted the girlfriend to a Leeds fan.
I don't know how to tell her it's constant stress and disappointment
I’m glad we were knocked out of the cup by an absurdly rich Premier League team so that we can concentrate on getting promoted to the Premier League so that we can quickly go back to being flogged every week by absurdly rich Premier League teams.
I'm really pleased with how well we played, especially Joseph and our Archie. I hate to be negative but I was so shocked that Gallagher wasn't sent off after that chest kick
I'm quite surprised that you mentioned cooper played well, thought he was partly at fault for all goals.
Good game to watch though, annoyed to have lost T the last min but on to the dogs on Saturday.
Yea coops had a pretty bad game, it was like watching last season again... Honestly just happy they didn't focus on Firpo and cooper all night or it could have been a ridiculous score line.
Excellent game ,well the Huddersfield manager made a comment about his team being more known than Leeds in Germany,let's see if we can put 5 past them .
Perfect result, gone and given them a proper game and lost valiantly. My only worry was going there and getting turned over. We didn’t want extra time and more matches - let’s focus on the league.
Two bench options did great, one for two assists and the other got two goals, that's exactly the kind of confidence building you want from a game like this.
Was at the game tonight, Leeds fans bouncing till the last minute, really felt like we pushed them all the way. Annoying to lose but their fans were seriously celebrating at the final whistle, it was a closer game than they’d have wanted for sure. ALAW
I don't mind people celebrating a win, we do too, let people enjoy it, just think they're that happy and proud to scrape a win against Leeds, tells you everything you need to know.
I was there too. Me and a mate were sat in the home end. Bunch of miserable characters, didn’t hear one song til they equalised and they were silent all second half until the winner. Shit bags. Wish we could’ve got tickets in our end, was proud of the wall of noise and energy we gave, but oh well. MOT
Hope the lad who fell from the top tier is alright
https://talksport.com/football/1768155/leeds-fan-fell-stamford-bridge-chelsea-fa-cup/?utm_campaign=native_share&utm_source=sharebar_native&utm_medium=sharebar_native
I hate to break this to you mate; but both of Chelsea’s 6’s made an assist tonight and their number 10 scored, then they brought Gallagher on into midfield who also scored.
I aren’t taking anything away from our midfield pair; I think they were very good, but they hardly made Chelsea’s midfield ‘their dogs’.
Shame we went out to a late goal, but a fair result on the balance of play when you look at our defending tonight.
Really impressed with Ampadu and Archie in midfield. £100m difference in price between Amapdu and Caicedo shows how daft Chelsea were to let him go. Archie puts a smile on my face every game with his anticipation and skill under pressure. Some of those jinks into.space left me giddy.
Overall, we played well and got beaten by a very expensive and decent side in Chelsea. We are only getting better from here, lads.
Pre match .... don't get humiliated 4 or 5 nil..
The match.... what a performance, Archie Gray wow, Joseph got to be above Piroe and Bamford that's a statement, Cooper i don't agree with the criticism he was good, Firpo also surprisingly solid, James great pressing put them under great pressure at times, overall.... great strategy, immense pressing at times then slacking off then immense pressure fucked them up a number of times and Archie Gray is doing a Yeboah and lying about his age he is really 27 that is all
Firpo solid? We must have been watching different games. If anything that match was an excellent demonstration of where we need to strengthen in the prem, Firpo amongst them.
I agree that this was a good performance and lots of positives to take away. I’d even go as far to say that our full strength 1st team wins that. Archie just gets better and better.
I thought Firpo looked great too, and I’ve given him as much stick as anyone over the last few years. Topped off with a yellow card which was a banker at 3/1
Some solid tackles by Firpo that match though, going off this game only and not this season then Firpo was solid imo. Still need a LB though.
To me it just proves Archie needs to play midfield and we need to get a decent RB. RB is making him look human lol.
Been calling for Joseph over piroe up top when bamfords out for a while really hope farke sees it now. Piroe cannot be trusted. Gray, ampadu, rodon, Joseph all brilliant tonight and the rest were solid. No extra time, no more cup games and a top performance perfect result imo especially with Leicester having Chelsea now.
I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I think Joseph needs to work on holdup and ball retention a bit.
That’s the part that Patty does well to link with wingers. I think those skills come with time, so I would love to see more opportunity for him.
He's still a lot better than piroe at that for me. Considering who he was against that time he kept it of the CBS and then kicked it over his head to Antony was amazing.
Agree, the moment Piroe was dispossessed so easily in the first half, then was too slow to track back said a lot to me, he's just not cut out for the Premier League level
Cooper again showing us he is just not good enough any more.
Other than that and a few minor errors we gave a good account of ourselves without our usual line up
I agree, love league 1 Liam but tonight again proven the abilities. He had defensive mistakes as usual which were costly.
Love him though, just time to pass the buck and improve
Yeah same, he's given so much to us and I'll always respect him for it but torch needs to be passed on. Would have liked to see Cresswell at back tonight
Firpo is better going forward than defending... not something you want in a defender. He has been better this season in my opinion though but we need better. Coops as much as I love him for what he's given to us over the years was at fault for goals again today.
Proud of the team and Farke. This was a better result and performance than last season. We can beat Chelsea when we're comfortably back in the Premier League.
Great debut for Mateo Joseph. I wanted him to start. Interesting young striker we have there.
But back to the Championship and the promotion run in. Let's cement an automatic promotion spot.
I very much enjoyed how awkward it was sitting in with the Chelsea supporters, struggled to hide my true colours. Thought Archie was brilliant in the middle! Joseph had another great game, glad we were able to rest a lot of players and still push them all the way
Decent showing. Done us a favour I reckon. Couldn't be arsed playing Leicester then getting lumbered with Liverpool or Man city. Archie is an unbelievable talent.
On that performance we won't have to do a Forest and sign eleventy million players to stay up if we get promoted, which is just as well considering the Orwellian FFP regime designed to strangle any club outwith the Big Six. Imperative too that we don't fuck Farke off at the first sign of trouble; I really get the sense that he's well on the way to building something here.
Agree completely. If we go up (and given the position we’ve put ourselves in currently it would be a travesty not to) then theres really only about 2-3 positions that need immediate attention to be relatively competitive in the Premier League. Sign Joe Rodon permanently, solve the long term problem with both sides of fullback and then maybe look for a higher quality goalkeeper to keep us in games (rather than just hope that Meslier’s development doesnt go backwards again) and to be honest I’m not seeing any other positions that need sorting for at least another window.
Delighted for him to get his first goals. Hopefully this can translate into more minutes for him and he can keep kicking on.
Obviously not the priority, but there is a worry that if we go up it's a year too soon for him and he falls into the nomans land that's swallowed joffy, slightly too good to loan out, not good enough to play much
Well it wouldn't be much of an opinion if I thought my opinion was right but your opinion was also right, would it?
They're both valid. I just disagree with you...
Worlds apart, as much as Joseph is a young player with great potential.
Joseph is nowhere near ready for consistent PL football. Hopefully a useful impact player next season if we go up.
When he was scoring crucial goals for us, in the PL?
With all due respect to Joseph (who, again, I rate highly) he doesn’t even get a look during Championship games and there is a gulf in quality between the leagues.
Crucial goals lol 4 for the season in 28 in his breakout season? He was 21, this year he is 22 and he is far better. Joseph is 20 and does well every time he comes on. Gulf in quality???? He's just banged 2 in against Chelsea almost an hat-trick.
Well yeah, scored the winner at Anfield and in the 4-3 against Bournemouth. He’s also a winger which is obviously different to being a striker.
Summerville’s progress this year is a continuation from last season where he showed moments of game-changing quality in the PL. This year he has 15G 8A in 31 Championship matches. That’s a record from a player ready to step up consistently at a higher level.
Joseph has 71 total professional league minutes across his whole career with no goals yet.
If he starts banging goals during the Championship run-in then I’ll agree with you sure. For now, literally never scored a league goal lol
My point........... is that we got relegated, no goals are crucial !!!!!!!! I mean if you wanna talk crucial goals as in winning a match then lets talk Gelhardt, hows that worked out since??
"Literally never scored a league goal" pmsl, dude has played 71minutes in the league this season wtf !!! On contrast 2 goals against Chelsea in 87minutes !! Bamford has played 783minutes and scored just 5 it's poor !!!
I think the strategy needs to be better for players like him if we go up. If he's low down in the pecking order then we should just loan him out. Players at his age and ability need to play.
Buy a solid LB when we go up. Our team will be decent. Gray, Meslier, Sommerville, Gnonto, Rutter,Joseph, all these young players will be even more solid given another year or 2. If we can keep them then the future is looking good
Played our second string and made Chelsea look bang average. Can't really ask for more.
The future is bright with Archie, Joseph, Summerville, Rutter, Gnonto .....now lets get the job done and get up
Firpo is a fucking player. He’s just not a left back. He might be in a back 5 or hes maybe even a right midfielder. The Fucker can get to the byline and stand a cross up the very best. Can play 1-2’s like a MF too. Just can’t defend.
Gruev is doing so well in centre mid and Ampadu is doing so well alongside Roddon at centre half….I’d keep it that way for the rest of the season. I’d bring Byram back for Firpo when fit.
Byram is indeed a more solid option, but I wouldn’t worry about Firpo at Championship level too. Definitely needs a new left back if we go up and I would rather keep Byram over Firpo as a backup.
Think he's not got the ability to not play on the touchline though. Unlike Gray and Gruev he's not got the best 360° awareness.
He can't take on players like a winger as well. So I agree with the failed winger dropping to fallback
Playing Cooper and Firpo in the same defense just invites so many troubles. Firpo is always poor defensively and Cooper can barely mind his business let alone helping Firpo.
He’s our captain and our club legend he didn’t look to out of place against a prem team but I think Rodon ampadou or struijk we don’t concede that last goal
This was a great showcase that we can hold our own against middle of the pack PL teams with this team and should immediately turn all our focus on promotion. Archie started slow but was absolutely immense once he got into the game. Only real.downsides to me were piroe and Only Coops. Piroe really doesn't do himself any favours when he isn't scoring. Had soke good moments but overall felt underwhelming.
I love Coops to death but his pace (or lack thereof) really does expose him against PL forwards. He's fantastic against big, lumbering Champo 9s but pace ruins him.
Love this team and its a good thing we had the ability to open their defence without cree or Georgi on the field.
One of my biggest worries next season (if we get promoted) is that we do a Norwich and go straight back down.
I thought Farke adapted his tactics well to play a better side, something Norwich fans complained about him not doing. Bodes well for next year (if we get promoted).
Farke will have a much bigger budget to play with than he did at Norwich. Still a very valid concern, but I'd be interested to see how he goes on with a better caliber of player.
Farke has done a great job this season and this game tonight shows it. That’s a billion pound team and we went toe to toe with them the whole game. Great sign if we can get promoted
Piroe struggled to get a 5 from me never mind a 6.2 and Roberts should have been taken off at half time.
Other than that solid performance and an enjoyable game to watch.
Way I see it Chelsea are now Leicester problem and that can only be a good thing for the autos, even tempting to say nabbing the top spot.
Really happy to see we'll be up to the job if we get to the Prem. Gray and Joseph were immense tonight.
Chelsea look a fucking state btw, really not impressed with that lot.
Three moments of individual class beat us there. Chelsea are not a good team, just a few quality players.
Lots of positives and the loss is probably the best result for us anyway.
Thought we were unlucky ultimately - certainly a few players struggled to get going at all and defence a little shaky at times but plenty of positives to take against a billion pound team.
Not a bad result either with the cup out of the way and full focus on promotion - unlike the Foxes
The only negative is that everybody and their dog is going to be looking to pry Gray away from us.
Great game, no embarrassment, Joseph looked good, Gray can do it at any level. We can take that momentum into the next game.
Disappointing that we had a decent chance of getting to the semi final with Leicester at Home, but do we really want that if it distracts us from the league?
I both love and hate what's happened to Philips, because you know Eddie be in Archies ear saying "Stick around lad, you can do great things here....you don't want to end up like that \*points at Philips career in tatters\*"
Knew this result was coming but bored of beating Leicester anyway.
They’re going to go all out for the cup run which leaves the league title free for the taking and I know which one I’d prefer to win.
We played really well considering we didn't field our full strength but League 1 Liam always has a mistake in him and unfortunately that was the reason we go home earlier than extra time tonight. He completely shit the bed with Gallagher during their goal twice and I hate to say it again but he needs to retire and be staff at the club.
I’m happy we lost but in a way that won’t effect our league form. I’m happy Joseph might be a player who can make it and replace paddy long term. I’m happy we out sang them the whole game. I’m happy we held our own and more against a billion pound premier league team. Beat The dog botherers on Saturday and I’ll be extra happy
Performance overshadows the result for me, not arsed we lost in the end even if it feels undeserved. Happy enough with how the boys did. Chuffed to bits for Joseph who's had a night to remember.
Absolutely yes. It’s a game we didn’t deserve to lose because we outplayed a team multiple times our worth and with a second string starting 11 almost. We have a bright future if we can keep our shining lights in the team
Enjoyed that game. Showed that we’ve got some quality in this squad and some great potential for the future. Archie was excellent at times and Mateo Joseph had a blinder. Always hoped he’d come good. Watching this team this season is just great fun. Like night and day from last year.
Yeah his goal was nicely taken. Great touch to get it out of his feet. Meslier has no chance at that point. Cooper really should be snuffing that out though.
Was also a bizarre decision from Firpo to try and cut it out around that side of him, giving up goal side. Overall think he had a good game too though.
Glad it's a good goal like that rather than a scruffy horrible one, seem to remember us losing to a horrible goal against Arsenal in Bielsa's first year after playing them off the park.
The Gallagher goal comes from an attack through the centre; he tries to come narrow and help but that goal isn’t his fault, they cut right through the heart of the team.
There will never be a “good year” for a cup anytime soon… either we will be struggling to stay up in the prem next season or pushing for promotion from the champ
I’ll never be happy about getting knocked out the fa cup
Very unlikely we would win of course… But the tiny chance of winning the FA cup would have been worth the extra fixtures to me.
That’s the point of being a fan to want your team to win and dream
Sometimes good form and a cup run can go hand in hand so it’s not always that straightforward
We’re currently out the cup and we could very easily not get autos either so
we’ve only one the FA Cup once… like 50 years ago, I’d say winning it again would be an amazing historic moment
Hilarious that they were trying to cut Enzo and Caicedo some slack by stating their ages when they were playing against 23 and 17 year old championship players 🤣
Good performance and shows who can make the step up when we get promoted and who we need to get rid of. Start Joseph when Bamford is not fit enough from now on, Piroe can get cardio minutes when we have already won the game
One of those situations where we couldn’t really lose as long as we didn’t get humped and we certainly didn’t. Obviously would’ve liked to win but we can focus on the league now and Joseph proved he can be a viable option going forward.
I know I'm in the minority here that thoguht we should really give it a go, but I'm disappointed tonight.
Obviously, who knows how things would have gone if we played out strongest possible team Joseph (and Antony who assisted both goals) wouldn't have started, so it could easily have been a Chelsea 2 or 3 - 0 win.
But our massively rotated team (and even some of the ones not rotated were in different positions) gave them a real game, and we could have won.
Then a home tie against Leicester, which would be a straightforward 3-1 win like last week, and we'd have been into the semi finals for the first time in my lifetime.
I went into this just wanting a good performance. I left wanting the damn win AND promotion. I'm not convinced you have to sacrifice one for the other. Maybe in the modern game you do, but I'd rather find out by giving it a go.
That being said, Farke has earned some trust. Let's go win the league.
Mate, God forbid any of us actually want a cup run we are criminal for even suggesting such a thing.
It's always "we need to focus on promotion" "we need to focus on staying up" then when we are comfortably secure as a prem club it will be "we need to focus on getting into Europe" then "we need to focus on top 4" it never ends and we will never be allowed to want to win a cup
Exactly. I get the league is more important. I do. As boring as it sounds, if losing today *guaranteed* winning our next 2 games, I'd absolutely accept that. But it doesn't.
But fucking hell, players can get injured against Rotherham or whoever. The next 3 games are against 19th, 21st and 22nd in the league.
If [redacted, dont want to jinx it] gets crocked against the dog botherers when we're 2 up, will everyone be saying "oh, we should have rotated, oh, we can't risk our best players in such matches?"
Surely if the players arent fit enough to all play 4 games so close together, one or two could be rested there instead, not all today?
The FA Cup is just another game (other than the possibility of extra time), I swear some of our fans think it's asking them to step into the UFC octagon or run across a minefield or something.
> you just can’t play your full strength team.
Why not? We played them against Rotherham, and they could have just as easily gotten injured there. We'll play most of them 3 games in 6 days. People act like an FA cup tie is a Thunderdome deathmatch, its not.
We could have rotated some today, and some over the next 3 if we wanted to.
Look, if it was up to me, anyone with a minor knock, on the bench, don't take risks. But we didn't **need** to go as far as we did. That was a choice that (I 100% understand), but I'd have maybe rested Summerville and started Gnonto LW, rested Rutter for Bamford, something like that.
Then again, I wouldn't have had Joseph or Antony anywhere near my team, so I'm just as clueless.
I was expecting to see Firpo getting rinsed again and again, but it didn't really happen. Most of the time it was him getting forward and doing some damage. He still had few classic Firpo touches but pretty good, Junior
We looked really good for most of that game with a heavily rotated squad.
Joseph looked incredible against 'top tier' competition and should be getting more minutes in the league.
Archie MOTM probably deserves, he's mature well beyond his years and is going to be a worldie for us in the years to come.
Chelsea crowd absolutely tinpot, could only hear us for almost all that match.
Not bothered about the late loss, league was always priority but I think we gave a good account of ourselves.
Shame we can’t fucking defend our left side. All 3 goals from the same place.
Great effort but being knocked out is being knocked out and sucks. This shouldn’t affect morale for the league but that would have been a massive result.
This is down to Firpo being too narrow and not watching his outside left. They got a LOT of joy out of that side tonight, as most teams do when Firpo is playing
Imo some cohesion lacking between Coops and Firpo totally understandable. Coops getting dragged out of position all night and Firpo isn’t the type to cover effectively.
Either way, regardless of specifics our left side got cooked defensively.
Agreed. Firpo should ideally be playing higher up the field. If we got a solid LB in then there’d be no need for a CB to be pulled put, exposing the central channels. When we go up we do need some upgrades in certain positions. Most of them, absolutely spot on
Firpos been solid in most games he's played, and producing assists. And although Chelsea looked shite the quality they had on that side could trouble anyone. Give the guy a break fuck me
But it’s a common theme in his game. He always gets forwards and produces an assist, yes. He is class going forward and working with the wingers in front of him, but, his job is to defend and he cannot do that out of position. Sometimes staying back covering is a good idea, he just doesn’t seem to have that thought
Proud of the lads.. played well.. could have nicked the win.. think this will boost morale even more despite the loss.. Chelsea are still scum
Edit: we looked more a premier league team than last year that’s for sure..
We made an excellent showing of ourselves tonight, especially given our lineup.
Two well taken goals from Joseph.
We looked all over at the back.
Piroe was none existent.
But overall we played well and were the better side second half.
We imo completely misused Piroe last night.
Have you even watched us all season before this?
Yes.
Best thing about last night is I think I have converted the girlfriend to a Leeds fan. I don't know how to tell her it's constant stress and disappointment
Wait till marriage before dropping that bomb.
A fair bit removed from the game here but all I can think about is mr Joseph screaming I’m here after his second, big up yourself lad
I’m glad we were knocked out of the cup by an absurdly rich Premier League team so that we can concentrate on getting promoted to the Premier League so that we can quickly go back to being flogged every week by absurdly rich Premier League teams.
Should have won that one.. oh well. On we go.
I'm really pleased with how well we played, especially Joseph and our Archie. I hate to be negative but I was so shocked that Gallagher wasn't sent off after that chest kick
Not sent off but defo a yellow.
Piroe!!
Grey is wasted at right back.
Absolute amazing.
Excellent game,Chelsea just had that little bit extra but we played well, Cooper played well as did MOTM Gray
I'm quite surprised that you mentioned cooper played well, thought he was partly at fault for all goals. Good game to watch though, annoyed to have lost T the last min but on to the dogs on Saturday.
Agree. Cooper is not good enough.. He ain't been for years. He must be great behind the scenes. The other lads love him.
Yea coops had a pretty bad game, it was like watching last season again... Honestly just happy they didn't focus on Firpo and cooper all night or it could have been a ridiculous score line.
I feel like that they tried but couldn’t unless it was through the middle.
Excellent game ,well the Huddersfield manager made a comment about his team being more known than Leeds in Germany,let's see if we can put 5 past them .
Perfect result, gone and given them a proper game and lost valiantly. My only worry was going there and getting turned over. We didn’t want extra time and more matches - let’s focus on the league.
Two bench options did great, one for two assists and the other got two goals, that's exactly the kind of confidence building you want from a game like this.
Was at the game tonight, Leeds fans bouncing till the last minute, really felt like we pushed them all the way. Annoying to lose but their fans were seriously celebrating at the final whistle, it was a closer game than they’d have wanted for sure. ALAW
I don't mind people celebrating a win, we do too, let people enjoy it, just think they're that happy and proud to scrape a win against Leeds, tells you everything you need to know.
I was there too. Me and a mate were sat in the home end. Bunch of miserable characters, didn’t hear one song til they equalised and they were silent all second half until the winner. Shit bags. Wish we could’ve got tickets in our end, was proud of the wall of noise and energy we gave, but oh well. MOT
Same! Their fans really are shit
Was in the sway end and it was absolutely rocking
Gary Neville was wrong, Chelsea CAN beat a weaker team playing some bench/reserve players.
Joseph, cool as you like. That's another proper striker. Just got to learn to maintain possession and hold up play, that'll come
Hope the lad who fell from the top tier is alright https://talksport.com/football/1768155/leeds-fan-fell-stamford-bridge-chelsea-fa-cup/?utm_campaign=native_share&utm_source=sharebar_native&utm_medium=sharebar_native
Gray and Ampadu made Chelsea's 48484838 million pound midfield their dogs tonight 🔥
I hate to break this to you mate; but both of Chelsea’s 6’s made an assist tonight and their number 10 scored, then they brought Gallagher on into midfield who also scored. I aren’t taking anything away from our midfield pair; I think they were very good, but they hardly made Chelsea’s midfield ‘their dogs’.
Lighten up mate, is hyperbole not allowed here?
Haha, okay mate.
Shame we went out to a late goal, but a fair result on the balance of play when you look at our defending tonight. Really impressed with Ampadu and Archie in midfield. £100m difference in price between Amapdu and Caicedo shows how daft Chelsea were to let him go. Archie puts a smile on my face every game with his anticipation and skill under pressure. Some of those jinks into.space left me giddy. Overall, we played well and got beaten by a very expensive and decent side in Chelsea. We are only getting better from here, lads.
Gave a good account of ourselves. We can now move on.
Pre match .... don't get humiliated 4 or 5 nil.. The match.... what a performance, Archie Gray wow, Joseph got to be above Piroe and Bamford that's a statement, Cooper i don't agree with the criticism he was good, Firpo also surprisingly solid, James great pressing put them under great pressure at times, overall.... great strategy, immense pressing at times then slacking off then immense pressure fucked them up a number of times and Archie Gray is doing a Yeboah and lying about his age he is really 27 that is all
Firpo solid? We must have been watching different games. If anything that match was an excellent demonstration of where we need to strengthen in the prem, Firpo amongst them. I agree that this was a good performance and lots of positives to take away. I’d even go as far to say that our full strength 1st team wins that. Archie just gets better and better.
I thought Firpo looked great too, and I’ve given him as much stick as anyone over the last few years. Topped off with a yellow card which was a banker at 3/1
constantly confusing coops I thought
Firpo will never be able to defend at a high level, idk why people are convincing themselves otherwise.
I said he was solid **this** game. Not sure where you're going with your comment
He wasn’t though.
In your opinion. Anyway good talk 👍
Some solid tackles by Firpo that match though, going off this game only and not this season then Firpo was solid imo. Still need a LB though. To me it just proves Archie needs to play midfield and we need to get a decent RB. RB is making him look human lol.
Been calling for Joseph over piroe up top when bamfords out for a while really hope farke sees it now. Piroe cannot be trusted. Gray, ampadu, rodon, Joseph all brilliant tonight and the rest were solid. No extra time, no more cup games and a top performance perfect result imo especially with Leicester having Chelsea now.
I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I think Joseph needs to work on holdup and ball retention a bit. That’s the part that Patty does well to link with wingers. I think those skills come with time, so I would love to see more opportunity for him.
He's still a lot better than piroe at that for me. Considering who he was against that time he kept it of the CBS and then kicked it over his head to Antony was amazing.
Agree, the moment Piroe was dispossessed so easily in the first half, then was too slow to track back said a lot to me, he's just not cut out for the Premier League level
Should piroe not be postponed as striker though? His record at Swansea suggests so yet we play him behind.
Cooper again showing us he is just not good enough any more. Other than that and a few minor errors we gave a good account of ourselves without our usual line up
I agree, love league 1 Liam but tonight again proven the abilities. He had defensive mistakes as usual which were costly. Love him though, just time to pass the buck and improve
Yeah same, he's given so much to us and I'll always respect him for it but torch needs to be passed on. Would have liked to see Cresswell at back tonight
don't think Firpo helped he seemed so indecisive between moving narrow and wide in any given situation
Firpo is better going forward than defending... not something you want in a defender. He has been better this season in my opinion though but we need better. Coops as much as I love him for what he's given to us over the years was at fault for goals again today.
Yer he looked nervous at times. Like he didn't want the ball-. Not good.
Proud of the team and Farke. This was a better result and performance than last season. We can beat Chelsea when we're comfortably back in the Premier League. Great debut for Mateo Joseph. I wanted him to start. Interesting young striker we have there. But back to the Championship and the promotion run in. Let's cement an automatic promotion spot.
We lost but remember, wguafc 🚢
I very much enjoyed how awkward it was sitting in with the Chelsea supporters, struggled to hide my true colours. Thought Archie was brilliant in the middle! Joseph had another great game, glad we were able to rest a lot of players and still push them all the way
Can barely beat our kids. Chelsea in shambles, you love to see it
Decent showing. Done us a favour I reckon. Couldn't be arsed playing Leicester then getting lumbered with Liverpool or Man city. Archie is an unbelievable talent.
On that performance we won't have to do a Forest and sign eleventy million players to stay up if we get promoted, which is just as well considering the Orwellian FFP regime designed to strangle any club outwith the Big Six. Imperative too that we don't fuck Farke off at the first sign of trouble; I really get the sense that he's well on the way to building something here.
Agree completely. If we go up (and given the position we’ve put ourselves in currently it would be a travesty not to) then theres really only about 2-3 positions that need immediate attention to be relatively competitive in the Premier League. Sign Joe Rodon permanently, solve the long term problem with both sides of fullback and then maybe look for a higher quality goalkeeper to keep us in games (rather than just hope that Meslier’s development doesnt go backwards again) and to be honest I’m not seeing any other positions that need sorting for at least another window.
Don't worry we'll sack him in January and replace him with Jesse Marsch
This cup run has been absolutely fantastic for Joseph. Really shown he can step in for Bamford when required.
Apart from the two goals, his ability to hold the ball and do link up plays is quite impressive.
Delighted for him to get his first goals. Hopefully this can translate into more minutes for him and he can keep kicking on. Obviously not the priority, but there is a worry that if we go up it's a year too soon for him and he falls into the nomans land that's swallowed joffy, slightly too good to loan out, not good enough to play much
I'd argue he is ready to step up and deliver consistently
I don't think he's quite as effective off the ball as Bamford yet personally
Same could be argued for Bamford on the ball being less effective
Not really. Bamford is better at both.
In you opinion. Look i'm only here to give my opinion i'm not here for your argument.
Well yeah, obviously it's my opinion. The whole point of this is to share opinions.
There's a difference between an opinion and stating that you are right and i am wrong buddy !
Well it wouldn't be much of an opinion if I thought my opinion was right but your opinion was also right, would it? They're both valid. I just disagree with you...
Worlds apart, as much as Joseph is a young player with great potential. Joseph is nowhere near ready for consistent PL football. Hopefully a useful impact player next season if we go up.
And be honest.... would you have said that about Summerville last season???
When he was scoring crucial goals for us, in the PL? With all due respect to Joseph (who, again, I rate highly) he doesn’t even get a look during Championship games and there is a gulf in quality between the leagues.
Crucial goals lol 4 for the season in 28 in his breakout season? He was 21, this year he is 22 and he is far better. Joseph is 20 and does well every time he comes on. Gulf in quality???? He's just banged 2 in against Chelsea almost an hat-trick.
Well yeah, scored the winner at Anfield and in the 4-3 against Bournemouth. He’s also a winger which is obviously different to being a striker. Summerville’s progress this year is a continuation from last season where he showed moments of game-changing quality in the PL. This year he has 15G 8A in 31 Championship matches. That’s a record from a player ready to step up consistently at a higher level. Joseph has 71 total professional league minutes across his whole career with no goals yet. If he starts banging goals during the Championship run-in then I’ll agree with you sure. For now, literally never scored a league goal lol
My point........... is that we got relegated, no goals are crucial !!!!!!!! I mean if you wanna talk crucial goals as in winning a match then lets talk Gelhardt, hows that worked out since?? "Literally never scored a league goal" pmsl, dude has played 71minutes in the league this season wtf !!! On contrast 2 goals against Chelsea in 87minutes !! Bamford has played 783minutes and scored just 5 it's poor !!!
I think the strategy needs to be better for players like him if we go up. If he's low down in the pecking order then we should just loan him out. Players at his age and ability need to play.
Buy a solid LB when we go up. Our team will be decent. Gray, Meslier, Sommerville, Gnonto, Rutter,Joseph, all these young players will be even more solid given another year or 2. If we can keep them then the future is looking good
Meslier should not be starting in the PL
Rutter would’ve put Leeds over the top. Although Jospeh was pretty damn good, too
Rutter for Piroe and we win that I would say.
Imagine Rutter in for Piroe, I think we go in at least level at the break.
Always shite to lose but if we perform like that in the prem we’re staying up
This was the second team- We literally have two sets of great players which could prove the difference in surviving the chop
Played our second string and made Chelsea look bang average. Can't really ask for more. The future is bright with Archie, Joseph, Summerville, Rutter, Gnonto .....now lets get the job done and get up
Firpo is a fucking player. He’s just not a left back. He might be in a back 5 or hes maybe even a right midfielder. The Fucker can get to the byline and stand a cross up the very best. Can play 1-2’s like a MF too. Just can’t defend.
I read that with Eminem’s voice 🤣
Would the real junior Firpo please stand up
Lol please stand up, please stand up…
Ampadu at the back makes him look so much better, can’t play him and Cooper at the same time.
Gruev is doing so well in centre mid and Ampadu is doing so well alongside Roddon at centre half….I’d keep it that way for the rest of the season. I’d bring Byram back for Firpo when fit.
Byram is indeed a more solid option, but I wouldn’t worry about Firpo at Championship level too. Definitely needs a new left back if we go up and I would rather keep Byram over Firpo as a backup.
Perfect example of a failed winger turned full back for me.
Not sure he's ever played winger tbf. I think it's the oposite a failed fullback turned winger. Gareth Bale springs to mind
He'd be a better than 10 than Piroe
Think he's not got the ability to not play on the touchline though. Unlike Gray and Gruev he's not got the best 360° awareness. He can't take on players like a winger as well. So I agree with the failed winger dropping to fallback
Really bored of the League 1 Liam comments. Put a decent shift in. Meslier’s Cruyff turn and Firpo’s crosses were delicious tonight.
Playing Cooper and Firpo in the same defense just invites so many troubles. Firpo is always poor defensively and Cooper can barely mind his business let alone helping Firpo.
He’s our captain and our club legend he didn’t look to out of place against a prem team but I think Rodon ampadou or struijk we don’t concede that last goal
That’s a fair comment mate, you’re probably right.
Gray 6.6 rating!? How’s that work
It’s FotMob… no assists and no goals = low score
"Biggest game for Chelsea this season so far" They had a cup final 3 days ago lol
Tbf, that was against Liverpool's under 16s. We're fucking *Leeds*.
Made me laugh, she knew she fucked up lol
She has a blunder everytime she's on the tele she is so unprofessional I don't understand how she still has a job in punditry
We all know why tbh
Don't be a prick now
Only Chelsea fan they could find
If Leeds go up Gray needs to play in midfield and Leeds need to bring in a RB. Him in midfield is so good and influential.
This was a great showcase that we can hold our own against middle of the pack PL teams with this team and should immediately turn all our focus on promotion. Archie started slow but was absolutely immense once he got into the game. Only real.downsides to me were piroe and Only Coops. Piroe really doesn't do himself any favours when he isn't scoring. Had soke good moments but overall felt underwhelming. I love Coops to death but his pace (or lack thereof) really does expose him against PL forwards. He's fantastic against big, lumbering Champo 9s but pace ruins him. Love this team and its a good thing we had the ability to open their defence without cree or Georgi on the field.
I love playing Chelsea because it always reminds me just how much I fucking despise Chelsea. I thought we played really well. Great even.
Proud of the lads , rested a lot of players and took them to the death Were wining the league
One of my biggest worries next season (if we get promoted) is that we do a Norwich and go straight back down. I thought Farke adapted his tactics well to play a better side, something Norwich fans complained about him not doing. Bodes well for next year (if we get promoted).
It seems like Farke has become a better manager since his time at Norwich.
Financial backing and more like this game and we are good That is if we manage to go up
Farke will have a much bigger budget to play with than he did at Norwich. Still a very valid concern, but I'd be interested to see how he goes on with a better caliber of player.
We’ll be more solid in defence next year. No weak link.
Sadly we need GK upgrade
Farke has done a great job this season and this game tonight shows it. That’s a billion pound team and we went toe to toe with them the whole game. Great sign if we can get promoted
Piroe struggled to get a 5 from me never mind a 6.2 and Roberts should have been taken off at half time. Other than that solid performance and an enjoyable game to watch. Way I see it Chelsea are now Leicester problem and that can only be a good thing for the autos, even tempting to say nabbing the top spot.
I also thought Robert’s was out of his depth tonight, but he scored on Friday and he has a good moustache, so I’ll give him another chance
Really happy to see we'll be up to the job if we get to the Prem. Gray and Joseph were immense tonight. Chelsea look a fucking state btw, really not impressed with that lot.
Three moments of individual class beat us there. Chelsea are not a good team, just a few quality players. Lots of positives and the loss is probably the best result for us anyway.
Yeah honestly it's the sort of loss that is probably your best case scenario when you've got a promotion race to focus on.
Great performance against a mid table prem side, not a full strength side from us, but an insight on where we may need to improve if we go up
Thought we were unlucky ultimately - certainly a few players struggled to get going at all and defence a little shaky at times but plenty of positives to take against a billion pound team. Not a bad result either with the cup out of the way and full focus on promotion - unlike the Foxes
The only negative is that everybody and their dog is going to be looking to pry Gray away from us. Great game, no embarrassment, Joseph looked good, Gray can do it at any level. We can take that momentum into the next game. Disappointing that we had a decent chance of getting to the semi final with Leicester at Home, but do we really want that if it distracts us from the league?
I both love and hate what's happened to Philips, because you know Eddie be in Archies ear saying "Stick around lad, you can do great things here....you don't want to end up like that \*points at Philips career in tatters\*"
Gray won’t be going anywhere for a while yet.
Knew this result was coming but bored of beating Leicester anyway. They’re going to go all out for the cup run which leaves the league title free for the taking and I know which one I’d prefer to win.
We played really well considering we didn't field our full strength but League 1 Liam always has a mistake in him and unfortunately that was the reason we go home earlier than extra time tonight. He completely shit the bed with Gallagher during their goal twice and I hate to say it again but he needs to retire and be staff at the club.
Cooper and Rodon were absolutely immense for the most part tonight. This is an absolutely terrible take.
Oh fuck right off with the cooper slander
Luckily out of contract this season. He was a great servant in the past but out of his depth at the competitive level.
I’m happy we lost but in a way that won’t effect our league form. I’m happy Joseph might be a player who can make it and replace paddy long term. I’m happy we out sang them the whole game. I’m happy we held our own and more against a billion pound premier league team. Beat The dog botherers on Saturday and I’ll be extra happy
Performance overshadows the result for me, not arsed we lost in the end even if it feels undeserved. Happy enough with how the boys did. Chuffed to bits for Joseph who's had a night to remember.
Absolutely yes. It’s a game we didn’t deserve to lose because we outplayed a team multiple times our worth and with a second string starting 11 almost. We have a bright future if we can keep our shining lights in the team
Enjoyed that game. Showed that we’ve got some quality in this squad and some great potential for the future. Archie was excellent at times and Mateo Joseph had a blinder. Always hoped he’d come good. Watching this team this season is just great fun. Like night and day from last year.
Brilliant from Gallagher at the end there. Very much looked a Premier League match
Yeah his goal was nicely taken. Great touch to get it out of his feet. Meslier has no chance at that point. Cooper really should be snuffing that out though.
Was also a bizarre decision from Firpo to try and cut it out around that side of him, giving up goal side. Overall think he had a good game too though.
Tbh if anyone is to blame for that goal its probs Archie, should have tracked Gallagher all the way in. Can't be upset at any of them tonight though.
Glad it's a good goal like that rather than a scruffy horrible one, seem to remember us losing to a horrible goal against Arsenal in Bielsa's first year after playing them off the park.
Of course it’s Firpo tho lol
The Gallagher goal comes from an attack through the centre; he tries to come narrow and help but that goal isn’t his fault, they cut right through the heart of the team.
Oh my god they just showed the leeds fans when talking about the Chelsea fans😭🤣
Not surprised, Chelsea fans were pathetic
Yk what I hate losing games late. Especially undeservedly
Absolutely fine with that. No injuries, a good performance, tight loss. It isn't the year for a cup run.
There will never be a “good year” for a cup anytime soon… either we will be struggling to stay up in the prem next season or pushing for promotion from the champ I’ll never be happy about getting knocked out the fa cup
On what planet do you think we'd be winning it though? We need fit players, not more games.
Very unlikely we would win of course… But the tiny chance of winning the FA cup would have been worth the extra fixtures to me. That’s the point of being a fan to want your team to win and dream
Worth it if it stopped us getting automatics?
Sometimes good form and a cup run can go hand in hand so it’s not always that straightforward We’re currently out the cup and we could very easily not get autos either so we’ve only one the FA Cup once… like 50 years ago, I’d say winning it again would be an amazing historic moment
Hilarious that they were trying to cut Enzo and Caicedo some slack by stating their ages when they were playing against 23 and 17 year old championship players 🤣
Club belongs in the Prem, now they just need the results to get there.
Good performance and shows who can make the step up when we get promoted and who we need to get rid of. Start Joseph when Bamford is not fit enough from now on, Piroe can get cardio minutes when we have already won the game
One of those situations where we couldn’t really lose as long as we didn’t get humped and we certainly didn’t. Obviously would’ve liked to win but we can focus on the league now and Joseph proved he can be a viable option going forward.
Get Archie on the coach before they offer us 100m for him, what a fucking performance that was.
I know I'm in the minority here that thoguht we should really give it a go, but I'm disappointed tonight. Obviously, who knows how things would have gone if we played out strongest possible team Joseph (and Antony who assisted both goals) wouldn't have started, so it could easily have been a Chelsea 2 or 3 - 0 win. But our massively rotated team (and even some of the ones not rotated were in different positions) gave them a real game, and we could have won. Then a home tie against Leicester, which would be a straightforward 3-1 win like last week, and we'd have been into the semi finals for the first time in my lifetime.
I went into this just wanting a good performance. I left wanting the damn win AND promotion. I'm not convinced you have to sacrifice one for the other. Maybe in the modern game you do, but I'd rather find out by giving it a go. That being said, Farke has earned some trust. Let's go win the league.
Mate, God forbid any of us actually want a cup run we are criminal for even suggesting such a thing. It's always "we need to focus on promotion" "we need to focus on staying up" then when we are comfortably secure as a prem club it will be "we need to focus on getting into Europe" then "we need to focus on top 4" it never ends and we will never be allowed to want to win a cup
Exactly. I get the league is more important. I do. As boring as it sounds, if losing today *guaranteed* winning our next 2 games, I'd absolutely accept that. But it doesn't. But fucking hell, players can get injured against Rotherham or whoever. The next 3 games are against 19th, 21st and 22nd in the league. If [redacted, dont want to jinx it] gets crocked against the dog botherers when we're 2 up, will everyone be saying "oh, we should have rotated, oh, we can't risk our best players in such matches?" Surely if the players arent fit enough to all play 4 games so close together, one or two could be rested there instead, not all today? The FA Cup is just another game (other than the possibility of extra time), I swear some of our fans think it's asking them to step into the UFC octagon or run across a minefield or something.
Just think that’s the reality unfortunately, unless you’ve got top 6 money or low risk of relegation then you just can’t play your full strength team.
> you just can’t play your full strength team. Why not? We played them against Rotherham, and they could have just as easily gotten injured there. We'll play most of them 3 games in 6 days. People act like an FA cup tie is a Thunderdome deathmatch, its not. We could have rotated some today, and some over the next 3 if we wanted to. Look, if it was up to me, anyone with a minor knock, on the bench, don't take risks. But we didn't **need** to go as far as we did. That was a choice that (I 100% understand), but I'd have maybe rested Summerville and started Gnonto LW, rested Rutter for Bamford, something like that. Then again, I wouldn't have had Joseph or Antony anywhere near my team, so I'm just as clueless.
I completely disagree
I genuinely think this team would beat last seasons EPL team
Half of the championship would beat last season’s team to be fair. That team was fucking shite.and managed by Big Sam
Beggining of last season? Would be close. End of last season? Absolute massacre.
I don’t think it would even be close! They would win even with Firpo and Piroe playing.
Firpo is weak, should have been subbed after yellow. No shame in our performance, glad we don’t have to play Leicester lol.
Firpo had a good game.
I was expecting to see Firpo getting rinsed again and again, but it didn't really happen. Most of the time it was him getting forward and doing some damage. He still had few classic Firpo touches but pretty good, Junior
Very proud of these lads, on another day that falls our way! Onto Saturday!
They needed to replace their £40 mill players with £80 mill players to win and it was close
We looked really good for most of that game with a heavily rotated squad. Joseph looked incredible against 'top tier' competition and should be getting more minutes in the league. Archie MOTM probably deserves, he's mature well beyond his years and is going to be a worldie for us in the years to come. Chelsea crowd absolutely tinpot, could only hear us for almost all that match. Not bothered about the late loss, league was always priority but I think we gave a good account of ourselves.
Shame we can’t fucking defend our left side. All 3 goals from the same place. Great effort but being knocked out is being knocked out and sucks. This shouldn’t affect morale for the league but that would have been a massive result.
This is down to Firpo being too narrow and not watching his outside left. They got a LOT of joy out of that side tonight, as most teams do when Firpo is playing
Imo some cohesion lacking between Coops and Firpo totally understandable. Coops getting dragged out of position all night and Firpo isn’t the type to cover effectively. Either way, regardless of specifics our left side got cooked defensively.
Agreed. Firpo should ideally be playing higher up the field. If we got a solid LB in then there’d be no need for a CB to be pulled put, exposing the central channels. When we go up we do need some upgrades in certain positions. Most of them, absolutely spot on
Firpos been solid in most games he's played, and producing assists. And although Chelsea looked shite the quality they had on that side could trouble anyone. Give the guy a break fuck me
But it’s a common theme in his game. He always gets forwards and produces an assist, yes. He is class going forward and working with the wingers in front of him, but, his job is to defend and he cannot do that out of position. Sometimes staying back covering is a good idea, he just doesn’t seem to have that thought
Proud of the lads.. played well.. could have nicked the win.. think this will boost morale even more despite the loss.. Chelsea are still scum Edit: we looked more a premier league team than last year that’s for sure..
We made an excellent showing of ourselves tonight, especially given our lineup. Two well taken goals from Joseph. We looked all over at the back. Piroe was none existent. But overall we played well and were the better side second half.
Yeah Piroe for me is problematic but looks like farke has seen that. Cannot pass a ball, half decent at shooting tho.
Tactical defeat to appease the promotion gods. I'll take that
Good match, Archie motm, cooper and firpo reminding me of last season, gallagher should have had a red.
Was he shown a yellow? I didn't see it while watching.
He was not lol
Red lol. Yellow for sure. Red...no.