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Chelsea vs Manchester City (PL) Sun 18th August 24 16:30 GMT

POCH OUT said:
Pardew said on talksport “it isn’t a good look that TB left his seat early....
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I think he got pissed off that a player that he sold completely Eden'd his 'star boy' shirt-selling midfielders, then made a fool of that amazing number-one goalkeeper that he chose!

 
Few things killed the game for me. 

- Nkunku at LW with no one overlapping .
  He’s not a touchline winger.

- Enzo getting at the end of all our best chances.

- Taking Lavia off (Easily our best CM at the moment). 

- Taking off Nkunku instead of moving him centrally. 

- Taking off Jackson for Guiu. As poor as Jackson was this move basically put a stopping break on the attack and we essentially played with 10 men. The lad is not ready and has a very raw overall game. 

This game didn’t show us anything new. Work in progress and we still desperately need a presence in the box and clinical forward. 
 

 
Not going to doom and gloom because it's City. We need to accept that even at home we're just not the same team/club that will go toe to toe with the best. There were some positives and I think we'll get better.

I am someone who thought that we've spent so much money that we need to stop but I went into this window pre poch sacking beliving we just need a top striker/goalkeeper and we will get top 4.

Different manager but same needs.

Our recruitment has been shocking.

 
Actually thought there were some positives today. Fofana and Colwill have the makings of a top centre back back pairing, really impressed with how quickly Fofana has got up to speed. 

We press really well when City had a goal kick, just need to work on the triggers and structure for when the ball is in play, which is obviously harder to work on than dead balls, so will take time. 

Lavia was really good, grew into the game, and I thought him coming off was a mistake.

Onto the negatives, Sanchez made 2 big errors one which cost us a goal. Not good enough, complete was of £25m.

That midfield 3 doesn't work going forward, very reminiscent of the Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic trio we saw on occasions under multiple managers. Only room for 2 of Lavia, Caicedo, and Enzo, plenty of games for them to rotate.

Going forward we looked toothless, not totally a surprise with Jackson and Palmer having not played much, but Nkunku wide is a waste, really shouldve played where Enzo played, and Neto, Madueke, or Mudryk shouldve started as a natural winger.

Overall not bad, a draw wouldn't have been an unfair result, Maresca got the subs wrong, which killed momentum, but not sure what the fitness levels were like. 

 
Sconnie Blue said:
Few things killed the game for me. 

- Nkunku at LW with no one overlapping .
  He’s not a touchline winger.

- Enzo getting at the end of all our best chances.

- Taking Lavia off (Easily our best CM at the moment). 

- Taking off Nkunku instead of moving him centrally. 

- Taking off Jackson for Guiu. As poor as Jackson was this move basically put a stopping break on the attack and we essentially played with 10 men. The lad is not ready and has a very raw overall game. 

This game didn’t show us anything new. Work in progress and we still desperately need a presence in the box and clinical forward. 
 
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I think Lavia and Nkunku was subbed because we are being cautious with their minutes following injuries. I can understand that. The rest I agree with.

 
forbzy said:
I think Lavia and Nkunku was subbed because we are being cautious with their minutes following injuries. I can understand that. The rest I agree with.
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That would make sense if it wasn't for the fact that both of them were in our top 5 in the squad for minutes played in pre-season ... on dodgy pitches ... 

 
Sexyfootball said:
That would make sense if it wasn't for the fact that both of them were in our top 5 in the squad for minutes played in pre-season ... on dodgy pitches ... 
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True. Although Lavia was looking a little leggy right before he came off. I would have moved Nkunku into the middle and subbed Neto on for Jackson. Then again I would have taken off Enzo for Dewsbury-Hall too.

 
I wasn’t expecting much from today’s match and I think that we gave them a game, so kind of not too bothered. Having said so, I did not like the subs. I thought that Maresca should have gone stronger for the equaliser, getting Neto in for Enzo (who I thought was bad) and playing Nkunku more central behind Jackson. I don’t understand playing Enzo so high up, he was at times playing as a striker and got at some point in the middle of Jackson’s way so badly it was embarrassing. Get him on the bench if not being played deeper. Also, Kova was not good enough to play for us but today I would have swapped him for Enzo or Caicedo without hesitation.

Anyway, today does not define our season or where we are as a team, but next three games are going to tell us much about where we are at and should be all victories.

 
Despite the results ( largely predictable), gave a good game. Enzo set out a compact team and shape, despite the City dominance we were never out of it. We had good moments and should have scored with a bit of luck. The Kovacic goal was a bit of a sucker punch, dude scores 1 a season and it just happens to be a belter against us. There was nothing screaming bad about anyone, just have to accept we played against a better team. Nobody got hurt , so that's a positive.

 
Well here we are. New season and Jackson starts as our centre forward and predictably messes up our two best chances. And Sanchez is still our no. 1 keeper for reasons only known to the Sporting Directors. Some things never change. 

 
City were not in good condition. Players unused on their bench due to lack of pre season minutes that are regulat starters, Rodri out.

An average United almost beat them (again). Shows they were a mess, Pep himself did not expect such an easy ride and he looked rather smug about it.

 
A predictable performance based on the same problem Potter et al had...a bloated squad with too many players having to be left out to satisfy the owners. Players shoe horned in playing out of position.  Why was Enzo playing so far forward? especially in the first half taking the space where Nkunku should have been occupying instead of playing on the left wing where Sterling should have been selected or at least Neto.  Werner-Jackson once again has learned nothing from last season, and if he continues to play up front we will end up with the same result with about 150 offsides calls with another 10 offside goals...sit him on the bench or send him on loan until he knows what the offside rule is because he is really getting on my tits now. My God how badly we need a CF.  

City were able to waltz and drifted through our midfield as if it wasn't there, which invariably put the defence immediately under pressure; likely because Enzo was playing up front instead of sitting in the middle of the park threading passes.   But for the most part it was the same old sh*t with a different shirt design.  Poor passing, poor build up play, 15-20 passes along the back line to move the ball 5 yards if that.  Players attempting suicide passes leaving the receiver with no chance of doing nothing with it other than lose it or pass it 10 yards backwards.    

This may have been EM first real game in charge and I'll give him the benefit of the doubt in terms of game plan, but FFS select players and put them in the position where they play best, after all he has near on 50 players to choose from, and likely another 2 or 3 coming in before the window shuts; for me he has no excuse for not selecting the best 11 players in their right positions.     

Anyway this was no doubt a free pass given the opponent and the first game of the season...but with this squad there should be no more free passes after about 5 games.

 
big blue said:
Actually thought there were some positives today. Fofana and Colwill have the makings of a top centre back back pairing, really impressed with how quickly Fofana has got up to speed. 

We press really well when City had a goal kick, just need to work on the triggers and structure for when the ball is in play, which is obviously harder to work on than dead balls, so will take time. 

Lavia was really good, grew into the game, and I thought him coming off was a mistake.

Onto the negatives, Sanchez made 2 big errors one which cost us a goal. Not good enough, complete was of £25m.

That midfield 3 doesn't work going forward, very reminiscent of the Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic trio we saw on occasions under multiple managers. Only room for 2 of Lavia, Caicedo, and Enzo, plenty of games for them to rotate.

Going forward we looked toothless, not totally a surprise with Jackson and Palmer having not played much, but Nkunku wide is a waste, really shouldve played where Enzo played, and Neto, Madueke, or Mudryk shouldve started as a natural winger.

Overall not bad, a draw wouldn't have been an unfair result, Maresca got the subs wrong, which killed momentum, but not sure what the fitness levels were like. 
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Pretty much agree on all points, although I continue to be unconvinced by Colwill.

I thought Lavia was the best player on the pitch and couldn't understand the substitution.  Fofana looks really good, just hope he stays fit.

I thought Gusto was quite poor and both Palmer and Nkunku underwhelmed. 

I'm still waiting to see what all the fuss is about with Fernandez as another meh performance goes by.

But the last word must be for Sanchez. I suspect having announced him as No 1 and having 7 other keepers that can't do what Maresca wants he must have watched that performance from Sanchez and thought Oh Merda!

 
WhiteWall said:
Pretty much agree on all points, although I continue to be unconvinced by Colwill.

I thought Lavia was the best player on the pitch and couldn't understand the substitution.  Fofana looks really good, just hope he stays fit.

I thought Gusto was quite poor and both Palmer and Nkunku underwhelmed. 

I'm still waiting to see what all the fuss is about with Fernandez as another meh performance goes by.

But the last word must be for Sanchez. I suspect having announced him as No 1 and having 7 other keepers that can't do what Maresca wants he must have watched that performance from Sanchez and thought Oh Merda!
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I think it can be easy to forget that Colwill is only 21 and he's not coming through playing with Marcel or Frank. Could have done with more exposher to Tiago befoe he left but they are going to have to very much learn on the Job Forfana him self is only 23 and hasn't really played football for almost 2 years. They are actually one of my plus points from the sh!t show of the way we our being run as a club because you can see the nucleas of a defensive partnership for the next 8 years.

But pretty much agree with everything else you say. Mudryk gets alot of heat, I'm not sure we can say that Enzo has showen anything more in the time he has been here. Based on what I have seen and assuming the dream of Conor comming back in to the fold is dead. The best way forward would be to bring Palmer inside to play that 8/10 role, Noni who really has pushed on  (still not conviced but he deserves the chance) and Enzo to the bench - Lavia was very impressive and Caicedo is a must

 
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