ElstreeBlue
Coach
OK, a bit disappointing we lost after such a brave couple of performances, but what do we expect playing one of the richest clubs in the world? Let's list all of the positives on this thread, because I think there are so many. To start us off:
1 Tilly & Brush have proved that they can play tactical blinders and even play the odd mind game or two!
2 The team's spirit has been re-kindled.
3 Mildenhall has proved just what he can do against great opposition, and I hope has now won over any remaining doubters and has now built up great affection amongst the fans. Goalkeepers thrive on confidence and hopefully this has helped.
4 Peter Clarke and Adam Barrett have proved that they can both be excellent individual defenders when they play to their potential. Although Adam had a shaky start at Stamford Bridge and Peter could be said to be at fault for the first goal last night after blocking Mildy after a clear call, you can't really blame them. Over the course of the 2 games, they have kept quiet some of the best players in the world and showed what they can do when they put their minds to it. Not to mention their goals, but that was not their main job.
5 Peter Clarke and Adam Barrett have proved they can play together (although how much of that was down to the midfielders giving them so much protection?).
6 The emergence of Sankofa and Herd, who have been awesome considering their previous lack of confidence/inexperience.
7 The defence overall. We have had a great chance to play ourselves back into form at the back and develop an understanding. Considering how bad our defence was before, look at the transformation now. The defence didn't just battle, they defended as a unit and against so many raids from both open play and set pieces against one of the best teams in the world.
8 Another team has shown us just how NOT to defend. Even if we are poor at man-marking, we must never try zonal marking after watching that. Chelsea didn't know who was meant to pick up whom from our set pieces. I couldn't stop laughing at our goal. The Chelsea team stood like statues. It was hilarious, the more I saw the goal being replayed. It was the same for each of our few set pieces and if we're being harsh JFC should have done better in the second half.
9 Anthony Grant - he played his best game for us at Stamford Bridge, but last night surpassed it by a million times. Not only battled well, he ran hard, tackled superbly and even showed excellent composure on the ball. And what about that run that set up the Revell chance? Now the challenge for Grant - he's shown he can do it, but does he have the appetite to do it week in week out in League One rather than just to prove a point to the team that let him go?
10 We managed to show that even little old Southend can influence the referee by persuading him to do an about turn and put the game back on. Incredible to change his mind like that!
11 The fans. I was at Stamford Bridge, where the spirit was excellent. Yesterday, on TV, the atmosphere came over so well (despite the cameras focusing a lot on the Chelsea fans!). I can't believe that amount of noise was generated at RH! Let's hope this can continue going forward.
12 The publicity has been great and hopefully raised the profile and drawn on a new generation of potential supporters who can now be proud to say they support Southend United.
13 The money the club's made.
14 The fact that we held one of the richest and best teams in the world to level pegging over 1 2/3 games.
15 The fact that we made a complete mug of Ashley Cole more than once.
16 The fact that we showed the billy big boys what real football support and real football grounds are like.
17 The fact that we will not be back on ITV again for a while. That had to be one of the most unprofessional presentations I've ever seen. I've never heard such utter tripe. And unless I'm mistaken they didn't even announce the subs before the game. I wonder what Motty or Sky's professional team would have made of it? The only thing that could have been worse about their coverage would have been if they had Wh*lan on to give the "Southend side".
18 We can now concentrate on the league!
1 Tilly & Brush have proved that they can play tactical blinders and even play the odd mind game or two!
2 The team's spirit has been re-kindled.
3 Mildenhall has proved just what he can do against great opposition, and I hope has now won over any remaining doubters and has now built up great affection amongst the fans. Goalkeepers thrive on confidence and hopefully this has helped.
4 Peter Clarke and Adam Barrett have proved that they can both be excellent individual defenders when they play to their potential. Although Adam had a shaky start at Stamford Bridge and Peter could be said to be at fault for the first goal last night after blocking Mildy after a clear call, you can't really blame them. Over the course of the 2 games, they have kept quiet some of the best players in the world and showed what they can do when they put their minds to it. Not to mention their goals, but that was not their main job.
5 Peter Clarke and Adam Barrett have proved they can play together (although how much of that was down to the midfielders giving them so much protection?).
6 The emergence of Sankofa and Herd, who have been awesome considering their previous lack of confidence/inexperience.
7 The defence overall. We have had a great chance to play ourselves back into form at the back and develop an understanding. Considering how bad our defence was before, look at the transformation now. The defence didn't just battle, they defended as a unit and against so many raids from both open play and set pieces against one of the best teams in the world.
8 Another team has shown us just how NOT to defend. Even if we are poor at man-marking, we must never try zonal marking after watching that. Chelsea didn't know who was meant to pick up whom from our set pieces. I couldn't stop laughing at our goal. The Chelsea team stood like statues. It was hilarious, the more I saw the goal being replayed. It was the same for each of our few set pieces and if we're being harsh JFC should have done better in the second half.
9 Anthony Grant - he played his best game for us at Stamford Bridge, but last night surpassed it by a million times. Not only battled well, he ran hard, tackled superbly and even showed excellent composure on the ball. And what about that run that set up the Revell chance? Now the challenge for Grant - he's shown he can do it, but does he have the appetite to do it week in week out in League One rather than just to prove a point to the team that let him go?
10 We managed to show that even little old Southend can influence the referee by persuading him to do an about turn and put the game back on. Incredible to change his mind like that!
11 The fans. I was at Stamford Bridge, where the spirit was excellent. Yesterday, on TV, the atmosphere came over so well (despite the cameras focusing a lot on the Chelsea fans!). I can't believe that amount of noise was generated at RH! Let's hope this can continue going forward.
12 The publicity has been great and hopefully raised the profile and drawn on a new generation of potential supporters who can now be proud to say they support Southend United.
13 The money the club's made.
14 The fact that we held one of the richest and best teams in the world to level pegging over 1 2/3 games.
15 The fact that we made a complete mug of Ashley Cole more than once.
16 The fact that we showed the billy big boys what real football support and real football grounds are like.
17 The fact that we will not be back on ITV again for a while. That had to be one of the most unprofessional presentations I've ever seen. I've never heard such utter tripe. And unless I'm mistaken they didn't even announce the subs before the game. I wonder what Motty or Sky's professional team would have made of it? The only thing that could have been worse about their coverage would have been if they had Wh*lan on to give the "Southend side".
18 We can now concentrate on the league!
