Premier League 2016/17 season

[rich 1990]

If people think a team with Cahill and David Luiz in their defence are super solid, they might be in for a surprise. Chelsea will not win the league without buying a proper centre back.

 

[Trilly]

I wouldn’t go crazy over Chelsea yet, they’re on a good run of form just as we’ve previously had ourselves. It’s impressive but they’re performance haven’t been so incredible that they look unstoppable. The 3-1 at the weekend was partly due to a ref error.

Weren’t Tottenham looking good at the end of October? Things quickly change.

I'm not really thinking about them. City showed the rest of the league that Chelsea can still be gotten at.

I'm wary about us being good enough to capitalise on any slip-ups. I just don't see us winning this thing.

 

[Rocky]

If people think a team with Cahill and David Luiz in their defence are super solid, they might be in for a surprise. Chelsea will not win the league without buying a proper centre back.

My one word response to that.

Leicester

 

[celestis]

I wouldn’t go crazy over Chelsea yet, they’re on a good run of form just as we’ve previously had ourselves. It’s impressive but they’re performance haven’t been so incredible that they look unstoppable. The 3-1 at the weekend was partly due to a ref error.

Weren’t Tottenham looking good at the end of October? Things quickly change.

They're already running out of juice imo , they'll hit a mini slump . Same as everyone else still a lot to play out .

 

[Makingtrax]

After 14 rounds, we can now make the "Anyone Can Beat Anyone In The Premier League" circle

submitted 17 hours ago by moonflower

Arsenal beat Chelsea 3-0 24 Sep 2016
Chelsea beat Tottenham 2-1 26 Nov 2016
Tottenham beat Manchester City 2-0 2 Oct 2016
Manchester City beat Manchester Utd 2-1 10 Sep 2016
Manchester Utd beat Southampton 2-0 19 Aug 2016
Southampton beat West Ham 3-0 25 Sep 2016
West Ham beat Bournemouth 1-0 21 Aug 2016
Bournemouth beat Everton 1-0 24 Sep 2016
Everton beat West Bromwich 2-1 20 Aug 2016
West Bromwich beat Watford 3-1 3 Dec 2016
Watford beat Middlesbrough 1-0 16 Oct 2016
Middlesbrough beat Sunderland 2-1 21 Aug 2016
Sunderland beat Hull City 3-0 19 Nov 2016
Hull City beat Leicester 2-1 13 Aug 2016
Leicester beat Swansea 2-1 27 Aug 2016
Swansea beat Crystal Palace 5-4 26 Nov 2016
Crystal Palace beat Stoke 4-1 18 Sep 2016
Stoke beat Burnley 2-0 3 Dec 2016
Burnley beat Liverpool 2-0 20 Aug 2016
Liverpool beat Arsenal 4-3 14 Aug 2016

https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/5ggwl7/after_14_rounds_we_can_now_make_the_anyone_can/

Been saying this for a while. TV money has changed the whole landscape of the EPL.

The days of invincibles are over. The closer the games get, the more ref decisions and other factors come into play.

 

[Garrincha]

There were question marks over some of the Juve defenders as well before Conte. He made Bonucci into one of the top defenders & turned Barzagli career round completely bringing him back to Italy. They were far from the star names of today.

 

[CurryFlavoured]

If people think a team with Cahill and David Luiz in their defence are super solid, they might be in for a surprise. Chelsea will not win the league without buying a proper centre back.

With Cahill and Luiz they've barely conceded any chances never mind goals in their last 8 games. With defence it's often that structure matters over individuals. Generally I'd take Kos/Mustafi over Cahill/Luiz as would most, but you'll never see our defence under Wenger look as defensively solid as Chelsea do right now.

 

[Wryer]

Imo I won't see us as title challengers until we tackle a tough run of fixtures and actually meet or exceed expectations.

Chelsea got six points from Sp**s at home and City away. Excellent. A lot on here would be happy with 2 or 3 points from those two fixtures.

We had Sp**s at home and united away and got two points (let's not even talk about the performances) Decent.

Decent doesn't win you titles.

Ouch. Hard truth there.

 

[carlito'sway]

With Cahill and Luiz they've barely conceded any chances never mind goals in their last 8 games. With defence it's often that structure matters over individuals. Generally I'd take Kos/Mustafi over Cahill/Luiz as would most, but you'll never see our defence under Wenger look as defensively solid as Chelsea do right now.

Not sure about that, City had at least 3 clear chances against them and if they went up 2-0, the story would have been different today.
It is true that they seem to have embrace the 5-3-2 pretty well, helped by a terrific Kante in CM. Having said that, an injury to any of their key players will really be a challenge.
Finally, as expressed on a different thread, not a believer of this system and sooner or later they will be found out.

 

[rich 1990]

With Cahill and Luiz they've barely conceded any chances never mind goals in their last 8 games. With defence it's often that structure matters over individuals. Generally I'd take Kos/Mustafi over Cahill/Luiz as would most, but you'll never see our defence under Wenger look as defensively solid as Chelsea do right now.

8 games is conclusive proof of nothing. They could have conceded a bucket load against City. Both Cahill, i.e the own goal and Sanchez at the Emirates, and Luiz have huge errors in them. I wouldn't wave the white flag yet.

 

[rich 1990]

My one word response to that.

Leicester

My response to that.

Leicester now.

 

[Trilly]

Ouch. Hard truth there.

Sorry ops:

 

[Gooner Zig]

With Cahill and Luiz they've barely conceded any chances never mind goals in their last 8 games. With defence it's often that structure matters over individuals. Generally I'd take Kos/Mustafi over Cahill/Luiz as would most, but you'll never see our defence under Wenger look as defensively solid as Chelsea do right now.

Did you watch the City/Chelsea game? Chelsea's defense got murdered by City.

 

[redanddread]

Conte's aware of his team's deficiencies & will most definitely strengthen in January.

 

[Notorious Big]

The thing about Chelsea is that they look very good and confident against small teams and you can't expect them to drop points like Liverpool yesterday or City in some home matches.Big teams need to step up against them and that can be our chance.

 

[Rocky]

My response to that.

Leicester now.

Which doesn't change the fact that they won the league. Nor does the fact that Chelsea were **** last year change the fact that that they're strong contenders this year. All of the top 5 teams have weaknesses but they're all still in it. If Kurt Zouma can get fit and John Terry can give them minutes, they very possibly will win the league without signing a centre back.

 

[redanddread]

 

[Makingtrax]

With Cahill and Luiz they've barely conceded any chances never mind goals in their last 8 games. With defence it's often that structure matters over individuals. Generally I'd take Kos/Mustafi over Cahill/Luiz as would most, but you'll never see our defence under Wenger look as defensively solid as Chelsea do right now.

Can't agree with that. The Chelsea defence were all over the place against City. They were extremely lucky with a number of missed City chances.

I know it's popular on here to big up other teams over us and get lots of likes. But our defence last season and this is one of the best in the league by a number of different stats, over a lot of games. You're just looking at Chelsea's last few games and even then your argument is very suspect. I believe they'll get found out with that system.

 

[Trilly]

Did you watch the City/Chelsea game? Chelsea's defense got murdered by City.

City are an elite attack tbf. I think all the top teams can create against each other (that includes us when we don't mentally block ourselves.)

Having a relatively solid defence will be key in the big games this season.

 

[Trilly]

There goes my fantasy football plans for this week.