Agree with Phil's summary:-
philthesaddler wrote:We gave a really good account of ourselves, certainly didn't embarrass ourselves in anyway. Never expected anything out of the game, but credit to the team, we tried to play the right kind of football, which against a team of Chelsea's stature was probably to our detriment.
For us, Etheridge had a bit of a 'mare, he was at fault for the 1st and 4th goals, which left the scoreline flattering Chelsea and kind of killed off the game.
Definitely coaching points there for Cutler to work on with Etheridge
Sawyers had a good game, and I find myself agreeing with Dean Smith more and more - when he said Sawyers wouldn't have looked out of place in the Chelsea team, he was right. Sawyers has really pulled his socks up and matured this season, maybe he had a rocket up his arse last season.
Agreed. It annoys me - the smug gloating on here, aimed at Otis. The fact is that Sawyers
WAS utter garbage in many (most?) matches, last season. I don't think that anyone has ever denied that he has always been extremely gifted but, at long last, DS appears to have got him to apply those talents to the team's performance. Last night was probably his best performance in a Walsall shirt, particularly in view of the quality of most of the opposition.
It was great to see how we would shape up against a team like Chelsea, the one big difference you notice is how little time you get on the ball, it's split second stuff, and before you know it you've got Mikel, Loftus-Cheek, Cahill, Ivanovic on your heels, and nipping the ball away from you really skillfully.
Interesting to notice just how tall they all are - I always bang on about physicality, look at their line up yesterday, they must have had 5 or 6 players over 6ft 3, even Mikel, who appears small on TV, is a tall lad. That's why people who reckon Baxendale will ever make it are wrong - he's too small and weak, with no redeeming physical qualities.
This is true of most top-flight players. they back up their skill with a physical presence. Lionel Messi is very much a rare exception to the rule.
Dean's team selection was pretty much what I'd have done - resting Bradshaw and Taylor, our two most injury prone players, but also two of our most important players, was right, no need risking losing them 2 for one toss of the dice against the champions.
Cook played poorly - but I'm hesitant to criticise him too much because he was upfront alone, on a night when we didn't have a lot of possession, and he was up against JT and Cahill, two terrific centre-halves, not to mention Ivanovic and Rehman, two experienced internationals.
Cook is very much the weak link in the squad but he tried his best in a rôle for which he is not suited. We do look VERY weak up front without Bradshaw.
There were periods during the game when we really took the game to Chelsea and troubled them, so credit where credit is due.
Indeed. We enjoyed large periods of possession but rarely threatened Begovic, sadly.
I've been critical of refereeing lately, but again, credit where credit is due, the refereeing performance last night was spot on.
I groaned inwardly when I saw that Lee Mason was the referee but, yes, credit where credit is due, apart from a couple of harsh yellow cards, I thought that he refereed the game excellently. Now that's a sentence that I never thought that I would type! :D
Final word goes to Falcao - £200k a week? Madness, absolute madness. You could have swapped him with Carlos Carneiro and you wouldn't have noticed.
I cannot believe that Paris St. Germain once paid £60 million for him!!! What a donkey! He was worse than Cook!
