Teams faced so far

[Spijed]

Each to their own Tony. I'm not sure it was the worst Chelsea team I've seen but in any event that isn't a low bar given they've been a consistent top 4 or better team in the years we've been playing them. The front 6 Chelsea deployed in the second half was as good as anything anyone other than City have put up against us - outstanding individuals developing as a team. In thought Caceido and Fernandes, as well as Sterling were terrific and that is also the best I've seen Gallagher play. I think there's an element of expectation that given the general media narrative Chelsea are not gelling, that must still be the case. I am not sure it was true at Fulham, or yesterday.

What did Bournemouth and Forest do differently to get results against them this season?

[claretspice]

What did Bournemouth and Forest do differently to get results against them this season?

Play them several weeks earlier in the season for a start. Lots of new players, new manager, etc - not a suprise they'd take time to gel and begin to come together into October.

[Pickles]

That was not a good Chelsea team yesterday. They were there for the taking and we handed them the three points with a strange line-up and a second half capitulation.

[taio]

That was not a good Chelsea team yesterday. They were there for the taking and we handed them the three points with a strange line-up and a second half capitulation.

Perfect summary.

[claretspice]

That was not a good Chelsea team yesterday. They were there for the taking and we handed them the three points with a strange line-up and a second half capitulation.

As I say, I think when you are playing against players of the calibre of Fernandes, Caceido, Sterling etc with a second string defensive partnership owing to injury, and a team that is generally inexperienced, a sense of perspective is needed. We can undoubtedly improve, both in possession and (for my money more importantly) out of it, and will need to in order to pick up the points we need to survive, but nonetheless to write Chelsea off as though they are a team from the bottom half of the league over 38 games feels wrong to me. But each to their own.

[Pickles]

but nonetheless to write Chelsea off as though they are a team from the bottom half of the league over 38 games feels wrong to me. But each to their own.

Not writing them off as a bottom half team. Just saying what I saw yesterday. The likes of Caicedo and Enzo didn't have to have good games. There was no midfield for them to compete against. It was a total stroll for much of that game and that can't be excused surely. Sterling hasn't played that well for about two seasons. It's no coincidence. Kompany has called for us to make the Turf hell but on the pitch we've been lukewarm.

[taio]

As I say, I think when you are playing against players of the calibre of Fernandes, Caceido, Sterling etc with a second string defensive partnership owing to injury, and a team that is generally inexperienced, a sense of perspective is needed. We can undoubtedly improve, both in possession and (for my money more importantly) out of it, and will need to in order to pick up the points we need to survive, but nonetheless to write Chelsea off as though they are a team from the bottom half of the league over 38 games feels wrong to me. But each to their own.

I think his point was just based on what he saw yesterday when Chelsea were weak in the first half, rather than writing them off or predicting what will happen to them over the course of the season.

[Pickles]

I think his point was just based on what he saw yesterday when Chelsea were weak in the first half, rather than writing them off or predicting what will happen to them over the course of the season.

I think people get sort of seduced by these teams and players. Look at Chelsea's back two yesterday. One of them is 39 and slow, the other one is new to the league. How many times did we try and isolate Thiago Silva or make him turn? How many tackles did Brownhill, Berge and Cullen put in? And how many times did we give the ball away under extremely little pressure? Yes the teams we're playing are good teams but we don't seem to be doing things which could be considered the bare minimum.

[claretspice]

Not writing them off as a bottom half team. Just saying what I saw yesterday. The likes of Caicedo and Enzo didn't have to have good games. There was no midfield for them to compete against. It was a total stroll for much of that game and that can't be excused surely. Sterling hasn't played that well for about two seasons. It's no coincidence. Kompany has called for us to make the Turf hell but on the pitch we've been lukewarm.

We will have to agree to disagree on both Caicedo and Fernandes then. They were excellent in my opinion, particularly after half time. And there was a competition in midfield in the first half which was very even. Villa and Spurs got a free pass from our midfield and I was furious. I was disappointed we didn't lay more of a glove on United. I saw far more mitigation yesterday.

Edit - I agree we might have targeted Tiago more by the way, and we certainly need to turn defences more often. Disasi played well I thought, but I agree we didn't put him under pressure enough.

[Pickles]

We will have to agree to disagree on both Caicedo and Fernandes then. They were excellent in my opinion, particularly after half time. And there was a competition in midfield in the first half which was very even. Villa and Spurs got a free pass from our midfield and I was furious. I was disappointed we didn't lay more of a glove on United. I saw fat more mitigation yesterday.

Not sure excellent against us in the second half yesterday is high praise. But we can certainly agree on the midfield in the Villa and Spurs games!

Let's hope we improve. I had us finishing 8th!

[scamander]

Whilst I agree in part, judging a team based on how they did last season has some weaknesses. For a start - you aren't playing the team from last season. You're playing the team from the past 2 or 3 results.

An example is Utd, possibly the worst form that they have ever been in when we faced them. Couldn't buy a result and yet we got nothing at home. The assessment of them being in Europe grossly overstated their threat at the time. Chelsea were a threat and a team finding their form again. Next games are away at Brentford who have underperformed so far and Bournemouth.

Neither are in Europe and both are teams we will have to take points from. I sense we'll know a lot more about where this team is after those games.

[claretspice]

Not sure excellent against us in the second half yesterday is high praise. But we can certainly agree on the midfield in the Villa and Spurs games!

Let's hope we improve. I had us finishing 8th!

I guess my point is that in the Villa and Spurs games, we made them look good and it was easy. To the extent we looked poor yesterday, on the other hand, I thought it was a product of a well balanced Chelsea midfield overwhelming us.

I definitely didn't have us finishing 8th - always had us down for s bottom quarter finish, given some limitations in our summer business. I think we'd all be happy with 16th in May right now.

[123EasyasBFC]

Villa, United and Chelsea have shown this season in other games that they where there to get a result against, we gifted them easy second halves when there game was still there for the taking

[dandeclaret]

Lost against:

City - champions of Europe.
Villa - in Europe.
Spurs - will finish top 6, maybe even top 4
United - in Europe.
Newcastle - in Champions League.
Chelsea - will finish top 6. Spent a billion.

Drawn or beaten:

Forest - will finish around us. Would have beaten but for VAR. Beat them in the cup.
Luton - will finish around us. Beat them.

There's been a lot of doom mongery after yesterday, but we need to remember who this young team and manager have faced so far. The next run of games will show how we'll really do.

If you go though every team that was in Europe last year, every team that will be in Europe this year, or teams who should be in Europe…… you’re left with about a dozen games….. that’s a big ask to get 35 points from.

[Rileybobs]

United were really poor. Lacking effort and quality. Obviously the difference was a moment of excellence by a player who is far too good to play for a team like Burnley. Chelsea also were well below the levels of other Chelsea teams to come to the Turf over the past decade. Again, Sterling had an inspired performance which was aided by the way we set up both in personnel and system.

The theme in these games, as against Spurs, who to be fair looked a much better outfit than the other two mentioned, was that we competed well against them until they scored. Obviously it’s easier for teams with quality players to play keep-ball against us when the initiative isn’t on them to score. We looked comfortable against United at 0-0 and should have taken the lead, we looked comfortable against Chelsea at 1-0 and capitulated after conceding a flukey goal.

These teams, pound for pound, are better than us, as are probably 17 teams in this division. But on the day both Chelsea and United were there for the taking and we missed opportunities to do so.

[jedi_master]

The problem with this continued garbage on here that it’s seemingly fine to lose to any club that’s not a conventional bottom half team (home or not, and heavily or not) is that it dumps masses of pressure on the rest of the fixtures that we apparently ‘should’ win. It’s a fallacy that you can see through our historic victories under Dyche at this level (both home and away) against the ‘top 6’. These have been crucial bonus points which have made up for the inevitable slip ups that have occurred in the games we’ve lost against relegation rivals.

Anyone who thinks we’re going to turn over every bottom half team to make up for getting battered routinely home and away against the big guys is in for a rude awakening. You cannot effectively throw away half your fixtures. This team is too young and inexperienced to deal with the pressure of one in two games being six pointers on account of an inevitable loss occurring the week after. We absolutely should be picking up bonus points against teams who were as poor as Man United at home, and Chelsea were just as bad if not worse until the own goal yesterday too.

[Elizabeth]

It just cannot be so easily dismissed that we have played so many top teams even if some think we should have got results against one or two of them.
Personally I thought the wheels fell off in the second half yesterday for some reason rather than the calibre of Chelsea. Kompany and his team lost their discipline and this was evident even before we kicked off for the second half. I'm not going to say heads went down but we capitulated which I didn't like to see.
This argument about playing the top sides can now be put to one side for the time being as fixtures become much 'friendlier' over the coming weeks

[expoultryboy]

Against utd we switched Koleosho when he had Dalot on toast and they were rocking . Yesterday after we scored , we stopped the high press that was working . Two games where we could of got something out of them .

[DAVETHEVICAR]

I think that 40 points won’t be needed to stay up this season
Can see all of the bottom 5 not reaching 40 points .
Possible to stay up with say 30 points this season

[dougcollins]

We can't continue to be resting players, when we play a top 1/3 team, as we appeared to be doing yesterday.

As previously mentioned on here, if we don't pick up any points from those games we're going to struggle.

[CoolClaret]

The problem with this continued garbage on here that it’s seemingly fine to lose to any club that’s not a conventional bottom half team (home or not, and heavily or not) is that it dumps masses of pressure on the rest of the fixtures that we apparently ‘should’ win. It’s a fallacy that you can see through our historic victories under Dyche at this level (both home and away) against the ‘top 6’. These have been crucial bonus points which have made up for the inevitable slip ups that have occurred in the games we’ve lost against relegation rivals.

Anyone who thinks we’re going to turn over every bottom half team to make up for getting battered routinely home and away against the big guys is in for a rude awakening. You cannot effectively throw away half your fixtures. This team is too young and inexperienced to deal with the pressure of one in two games being six pointers on account of an inevitable loss occurring the week after. We absolutely should be picking up bonus points against teams who were as poor as Man United at home, and Chelsea were just as bad if not worse until the own goal yesterday too.

Bang on.

[CrosspoolClarets]

Just had a look at that Chelsea defeat at home to Forest - they hadn’t yet gelled as a team but had 77% possession, 21 shots but only 2 on target. Therein was the problem. Yesterday we gifted 2 goals to a side who haven’t been able to hit a barn door with a banjo. Then, when they got ahead, their tails went up. It really is as simple as that.

On the wider point if anyone had offered me level with 17th after getting our initial 8 games out of the way, with other rivals not far ahead either, I’d have taken it on August 1st.

Don’t understand the negativity even though we obviously have a few areas to work on.

[Boss Hogg]

That was as poor a Chelsea team I can remember at Turf Moor. We let them batter us.

[Fretters]

But Manchester United were poor and should have been beaten
Chelsea weren't good yesterday

My main point really is that they all have top quality players capable of doing brilliant things e.g. Fernandes's goal against us. And Sterling was quality yesterday.

The lesser teams don't quite have that standard of player, so it's more of a level playing field..

It's not been a great start, but I'll be more concerned if we're still where we are after our next run of games against the lower ranked sides.

[Stalbansclaret]

From about the 20th minute onwards Chelsea looked like a Rolls Royce of a team to me, full of big, athletic players with great touch and they completely dominated possession. How anyone can say they looked poor is bizarre to me.
That said we were hopeless in terms of making it hard for them, particularly the failure to do something about the blatantly obvious threat down the left where Sterling had about 4 rehearsals before the first goal. We also couldn’t string three passes together and seemed to lack any belief worryingly.

[ervi34]

From about the 20th minute onwards Chelsea looked like a Rolls Royce of a team to me, full of big, athletic players with great touch and they completely dominated possession. How anyone can say they looked poor is bizarre to me.
That said we were hopeless in terms of making it hard for them, particularly the failure to do something about the blatantly obvious threat down the left where Sterling had about 4 rehearsals before the first goal. We also couldn’t string three passes together and seemed to lack any belief worryingly.

We must have watched a different game. They were so slow and lacked ideas going forward. They didn't try to press our back line and mostly played short passes to each other in their own half. First two goals were scored simply because of Sterling's individual quality and our mistakes.

[ClaretLoup]

I am with St Albans here I thought Chelsea looked a very solid well organised side with very talented individual players, I think Rolls Royce is a bit over the top but that first goal came after a gradual cranking up of possession and pressure thereby moving the game from their own half into ours. After the 20 minute mark they rarely gave the ball away so that our lads were cashing shadows and conversely they squeezed our players forcing them to cough up the ball so we couldn't get going. The stats show 62% possession for Chelsea, but almost the same amount of chances created, plus five shots = four goals , so a couple of gifts and some accomplished EPL finishing did for us.

With respect to where Chelsea stand in the pantheon previous Chelsea teams I wouldn't know but surely it's not very relevant. What matters is their present standing and the form table shows that over the last six games they are 7th in the EPL and have only conceded 3 goals in those games making them the tightest defence in the Division. No wonder they were delighted afterwards as scoring goals has been their main problem.

Furthermore five of the teams that have beaten Burnley are in the top 7 of the last six games form table. The only one that isn't is Man United, so we have perhaps been very unfortunate to play not only the league's best teams at a very early stage of the season when we have a young team full of new players trying to get to grips with the EPL, we have met those teams when they are all in form barring United, which was the most disappointing result so far.

Of course there are issues and the way the team disintegrated after the second goal went in must be a concern, however even the gifts we gave then came about through either sustained pressure or moments of quality from top class players.

[aggi]

Lost against:

City - champions of Europe.
Villa - in Europe.
Spurs - will finish top 6, maybe even top 4
United - in Europe.
Newcastle - in Champions League.
Chelsea - will finish top 6. Spent a billion.

Drawn or beaten:

Forest - will finish around us. Would have beaten but for VAR. Beat them in the cup.
Luton - will finish around us. Beat them.

There's been a lot of doom mongery after yesterday, but we need to remember who this young team and manager have faced so far. The next run of games will show how we'll really do.

All those teams have dropped points against teams we'd hope to be competing against though.

It's also not just that we haven't picked up any points from those matches, it's that we have barely looked like getting any points (Utd aside maybe).

[Sleeping Cat]

On paper a tough set of fixtures yes, but you have to factor in United & Chelsea's poor starts to the season and that these were home fixtures, we could have got something out of them. We cannot simply look at the mini league and focus on getting enough point from the teams around us when they will (and have already) picked up points against these same teams.

[dsr]

All those teams have dropped points against teams we'd hope to be competing against though.

It's also not just that we haven't picked up any points from those matches, it's that we have barely looked like getting any points (Utd aside maybe).

Wolves have 4 (win v Man C, draw v Villa)
Palace have 3 (win v Man U)
Forest have 3 (win v Chelsea)
Brentford have 1 (draw with Spurs)
Bournemouth have 1 (draw with Chelsea)

Sheffield United, Luton, Everton, Fulham have nothing. The teams we have lost to haven't dropped many points against anyone in the bottom half (which Palace aren't, anyway).

[NewClaret]

Just had a look at that Chelsea defeat at home to Forest - they hadn’t yet gelled as a team but had 77% possession, 21 shots but only 2 on target. Therein was the problem. Yesterday we gifted 2 goals to a side who haven’t been able to hit a barn door with a banjo. Then, when they got ahead, their tails went up. It really is as simple as that.

On the wider point if anyone had offered me level with 17th after getting our initial 8 games out of the way, with other rivals not far ahead either, I’d have taken it on August 1st.

Don’t understand the negativity even though we obviously have a few areas to work on.

I sit somewhere between the two arguments.

Personally, I never expected anything from the games against the “big” teams - regardless of their form - because simply they contain quality that I knew would undo us with our new style.

I cannot understand anyone feeling differently, given the age of our squad. We have 18, 19, 20 year olds playing for the first time at this level vs European powerhouses full of experience. It looks men vs boys because it is men vs boys.

But also our previous games vs these clubs have also seen us take comprehensive hammerings. I think to suggest Dyche got much better results vs these teams, especially first time we played them, is absolute bllx. It took him many years to get results and even then, only the odd one here and there. And he only got them because his team became experienced.

I think it’s a different argument to be critical of our recruitment though. That does look lopsided and lacking said experience. And I don’t really feel Kompany’s selection/tactics suggest he’s learned much from our previous punishing defeats to these teams. Could he have given Muric a chance? Cork for these ties? Or an energetic CDM like Massengo in this game?

And finally - my biggest complaint is our set piece delivery vs the big teams. Brownhill’s delivery is awful, but if he has to take them PLEASE get them straight in. Chances vs the very top teams will be few & far between and we can’t waste them. Same with FK’s in the opposition half. I like the good football but against these teams feel we have to prioritise goal threats when chances come our way.

I’d love to sit down with Kompany and ask him what he’d learnt from these games. I really hope there’s some takeaways that will see us improve when we play them again.

[CoolClaret]

I cannot understand anyone feeling differently, given the age of our squad. We have 18, 19, 20 year olds playing for the first time at this level vs European powerhouses full of experience. It looks men vs boys because it is men vs boys.
I think to suggest Dyche got much better results vs these teams, especially first time we played them, is absolute bllx. It took him many years to get results and even then, only the odd one here and there. And he only got them because his team became experienced.

Chelsea are also a young and new squad - it’s a far cry from their teams with players like : Fabregas, Pedro, Willian, Hazard, Diego Costa, Kante like.

On Dyche getting results? In the 16/17 season we beat 3 teams that finished in the top 8 at home (Liverpool, Everton and Southampton) and nabbed a draw off Chelsea (got a few results away from home as well).

The point is we’re capitulating and making it easy for teams.

The entire ground pretty much knew when we gave that penalty away that we’d fall to pieces and that’s exactly what happened.

[NewClaret]

Chelsea are also a young and new squad - it’s a far cry from their teams with players like : Fabregas, Pedro, Willian, Hazard, Diego Costa, Kante like.

On Dyche getting results? In the 16/17 season we beat 3 teams that finished in the top 8 at home (Liverpool, Everton and Southampton) and nabbed a draw off Chelsea (got a few results away from home as well).

The point is we’re capitulating and making it easy for teams.

The entire ground pretty much knew when we gave that penalty away that we’d fall to pieces and that’s exactly what happened.

Chelsea are buying the best young talent across Europe. We’re buying keepers with one year in league one under their belt and in some cases (Koleosho) no senior games at all. There is a huge disparity in the quality we and they are buying, as representative by the £bn spend. That’s not to say we haven’t acquired some real talent though.

It’s a bit early to be comparing records, but if you want to, 14/15 is a better comparator for obvious reasons.

Yes we are and I’d agree that is where Kompany needs to learn. I thought his selection was questionable on Saturday but then after conceding the second maybe it’s time to bring on Cork. And I’d like to see more of Massengo just given he’s young, seems pretty quick and strong and a true DCM. Even if we’d played him and lost as/more badly, I’d take the experience for him vs what unfolded.

[boyyanno]

The goalposts are just getting shifted inch by inch every week. There is so much delusion on here it's scary.

United and Chelsea were both games we could have gotten points from- they were both crap for teams of their supposed level.

We've not been good enough so far, people are just clutching at straws- happens everytime.

[boyyanno]

I sit somewhere between the two arguments.

Personally, I never expected anything from the games against the “big” teams - regardless of their form - because simply they contain quality that I knew would undo us with our new style.

I cannot understand anyone feeling differently, given the age of our squad. We have 18, 19, 20 year olds playing for the first time at this level vs European powerhouses full of experience. It looks men vs boys because it is men vs boys.

But also our previous games vs these clubs have also seen us take comprehensive hammerings. I think to suggest Dyche got much better results vs these teams, especially first time we played them, is absolute bllx. It took him many years to get results and even then, only the odd one here and there. And he only got them because his team became experienced.

I think it’s a different argument to be critical of our recruitment though. That does look lopsided and lacking said experience. And I don’t really feel Kompany’s selection/tactics suggest he’s learned much from our previous punishing defeats to these teams. Could he have given Muric a chance? Cork for these ties? Or an energetic CDM like Massengo in this game?

And finally - my biggest complaint is our set piece delivery vs the big teams. Brownhill’s delivery is awful, but if he has to take them PLEASE get them straight in. Chances vs the very top teams will be few & far between and we can’t waste them. Same with FK’s in the opposition half. I like the good football but against these teams feel we have to prioritise goal threats when chances come our way.

I’d love to sit down with Kompany and ask him what he’d learnt from these games. I really hope there’s some takeaways that will see us improve when we play them again.

How is it other inferior teams in the league manage to get results against "big" teams, but we don't?

Ahhh yes- because the result is decided by what happens on the pitch, the one thing you've conveniently missed out.

If you don't think that we are capable of taking points from another team that is having a poor game and are in the same division as us then you must already have us nailed on to finish bottom of the table?

[Pickles]

United and Chelsea were both games we could have gotten points from- they were both crap for teams of their supposed level.

This.

Doesn't matter how much Chelsea have spent, how full to bursting Man United's trophy cabinet is or how often Dyche beat them. It's all faff and excuses and I'm a bit surprised people are so readily accepting it. Whatever happened to little old Burnley wanting to lay one on the big boys?

Did we, against teams in bad form who've started slowly, do enough to get something from those games? Did we get the maximum from ourselves? Did we make either team work hard for the win? The answer's no. And that's inexcusable against any sort of opposition.

[CoolClaret]

This.

Doesn't matter how much Chelsea have spent, how full to bursting Man United's trophy cabinet is or how often Dyche beat them. It's all faff and excuses and I'm a bit surprised people are so readily accepting it. Whatever happened to little old Burnley wanting to lay one on the big boys?

Did we, against teams in bad form who've started slowly, do enough to get something from those games? Did we get the maximum from ourselves? Did we make either team work hard for the win? The answer's no. And that's inexcusable against any sort of opposition.

In 2009 we had no business with that squad laying a glove on any of the top teams and yeah after horse face left we fell to pot but the team battled and made it difficult for any team coming to the Turf.

It just highlights how important continuity is and riding the wave of promotion with a few clever additions.

I’m concerned VK thinks you can just plonk players in and what you see on the training ground directly transfers to game time.

We have hardly any cohesion and absolutely capitulate if we concede consecutively. That’s a huge concern.

[boyyanno]

This.

Doesn't matter how much Chelsea have spent, how full to bursting Man United's trophy cabinet is or how often Dyche beat them. It's all faff and excuses and I'm a bit surprised people are so readily accepting it. Whatever happened to little old Burnley wanting to lay one on the big boys?

Did we, against teams in bad form who've started slowly, do enough to get something from those games? Did we get the maximum from ourselves? Did we make either team work hard for the win? The answer's no. And that's inexcusable against any sort of opposition.

Agree. If we are basing results on size of club then we'd have likely never been in the PL anyway.

I find the excuses/justifications strange too, for example someone above says we have younger players than Chelsea- people realise that was our decision don't they? We didn't just get a load of players foisted on to us.

Or that we've played a load of big teams (but it's irrelevant if they actually turned up or not).

Some never want to see any signs of danger, post crap to anyone who does and then at the end of the season says we weren't good enough anyway. Hard to debate with people like that.

[Pickles]

I find the excuses/justifications strange too, for example someone above says we have younger players than Chelsea- people realise that was our decision don't they? We didn't just get a load of players foisted on to us.

Yes. Lack of experience on the pitch is a decision Kompany's made.

[Rileybobs]

Something else which I've just thought about is the general lack of passion shown this season, both on the pitch and in the stands. I can't yet recall the crowd getting fired up by a crunching tackle (think Tarks vs Richarlison etc) or a player being fired up for feeling hard done to (Barnes for example). Everything has just been really sanitised and nice for the opposition. Last season felt a bit like this but we were almost always on top in games and scoring goals for fun - but even then when we needed it we had players like Barnes who would get the crowd going. But this season something just seems to be missing. We're definitely not an imposing team to play against or an intimidating place to come to.

[claretonthecoast1882]

Something else which I've just thought about is the general lack of passion shown this season, both on the pitch and in the stands. I can't yet recall the crowd getting fired up by a crunching tackle (think Tarks vs Richarlison etc) or a player being fired up for feeling hard done to (Barnes for example). Everything has just been really sanitised and nice for the opposition. Last season felt a bit like this but we were almost always on top in games and scoring goals for fun - but even then when we needed it we had players like Barnes who would get the crowd going. But this season something just seems to be missing. We're definitely not an imposing team to play against or an intimidating place to come to.

The atmosphere has been p**s poor every home game so far, yes we haven't been great but we have been ahead in 2 of those and it was still flat. The Man Utd game for such a late kick off was shocking.

It is like we have been spoilt for the last 12 months and as a ground don't need to offer the players any support. The mass exodus every time we go 2 goals behind its shoddy as well.

[Pickles]

Doesn't help the atmosphere when the club has been very vocal against people standing up in one of the few places an atmosphere starts in the ground.

It's a bit at odds with Kompany's 'make the Turf like hell' comments.

[NewClaret]

How is it other inferior teams in the league manage to get results against "big" teams, but we don't?

Ahhh yes- because the result is decided by what happens on the pitch, the one thing you've conveniently missed out.

If you don't think that we are capable of taking points from another team that is having a poor game and are in the same division as us then you must already have us nailed on to finish bottom of the table?

I don’t think this team is capable of taking points off these top teams, particularly playing this style, as has been proved. We’ve been completely schooled by these guys.

How do other teams teams do it? Well I don’t watch them a lot but judging by some stats posted about Forests win vs Chelsea, a low block, back to the wall and a lot of luck that none of their 20+ shots went in.

Gut feel is we will be okay because I think we have bought some phenomenal attacking talent that will get us goals and wins against the teams more “around us”. You basically need 12 + a draw most seasons, which I think we’re capable of. And I think we’ll get better vs these top sides if Kompany adapts, possibly goes more pragmatic.

[boyyanno]

I don’t think this team is capable of taking points off these top teams, particularly playing this style, as has been proved. We’ve been completely schooled by these guys.

How do other teams teams do it? Well I don’t watch them a lot but judging by some stats posted about Forests win vs Chelsea, a low block, back to the wall and a lot of luck that none of their 20+ shots went in.

Gut feel is we will be okay because I think we have bought some phenomenal attacking talent that will get us goals and wins against the teams more “around us”. You basically need 12 + a draw most seasons, which I think we’re capable of. And I think we’ll get better vs these top sides if Kompany adapts, possibly goes more pragmatic.

You think no matter what happens a big team will beat us even if they play badly?

There's no debate to be had if you think that way. I mean you're obviously wrong (we and other teams have beaten big sides before) but fair enough.

[andyh]

I do wonder whether we might be better away from home. We do have pace and are dangerous on the break. We need to get better at defending full stop and part of that is not getting caught in possession or coughing the ball up in dangerous positions.

[NewClaret]

You think no matter what happens a big team will beat us even if they play badly?

There's no debate to be had if you think that way. I mean you're obviously wrong (we and other teams have beaten big sides before) but fair enough.

No. Can you point me to where I’ve said that?

[CrosspoolClarets]

That was as poor a Chelsea team I can remember at Turf Moor. We let them batter us.

Is letting them have only 3 shots plus a penalty in the 2nd half battering us? We had 8 by the way.

I would be happy to say “we gifted them a lead and couldn’t stop them sitting back and seeing it out”.

[burnleymik]

From about the 20th minute onwards Chelsea looked like a Rolls Royce of a team to me, full of big, athletic players with great touch and they completely dominated possession. How anyone can say they looked poor is bizarre to me.

Odd isn't it because I personally thought the exact opposite. Compared to City, Spurs, United and Villa they didn't look as big and athletic, just the odd player who was, like Broja.

Gallagher, Sterling, Palmer, Fernandez etc, didn't look on par with some of the other players we have seen, in terms of sheer size and athleticism. Don't get me wrong, incredibly talented, but not as imposing.

As for how they played, they only really had one threat and that was Sterling. We made it easy. Beyer and AAD dealt with Broja well. Second half, especially after Cullen left the field, we went to pieces.

[boyyanno]

No. Can you point me to where I’ve said that?

For clarity here is what I wrote and your response:

Me:

"If you don't think that we are capable of taking points from another team that is having a poor game and are in the same division as us then you must already have us nailed on to finish bottom of the table?"

You:

"I don’t think this team is capable of taking points off these top teams, particularly playing this style, as has been proved. We’ve been completely schooled by these guys"

As you've written above you've said you don't think this team is capable of taking points off these "top teams".
You have just said that full stop, no mention of if they play well or badly?

[claretonthecoast1882]

Odd isn't it because I personally thought the exact opposite. Compared to City, Spurs, United and Villa they didn't look as big and athletic, just the odd player who was, like Broja.

Gallagher, Sterling, Palmer, Fernandez etc, didn't look on par with some of the other players we have seen, in terms of sheer size and athleticism. Don't get me wrong, incredibly talented, but not as imposing.

As for how they played, they only really had one threat and that was Sterling. We made it easy. Beyer and AAD dealt with Broja well. Second half, especially after Cullen left the field, we went to pieces.

Beyer wasn't playing