Start of the Season

[Srilankanlion]

Morning All,

Excited about the first game on Sunday.
Both teams confident after recent successes.

With more rumoured transfers, we have so many players I don’t know what our strongest 11 will be.
I still think we need a CB and secondly a GK

Here’s to 3 points!

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[aindro]

I think we should not underestimate Palace. They won against Liverpool, their records speak for themselves. The good thing is that they have some unstabilities concernign Guéhi and Eze. But they are professional players, so I have no doubt they both will perform against us.

Good news for us is that Chalobah and probably Wesley Fofana will be available. Tosin I reckon may struggle against Mateta & Eze. But considering Fofana hasn’t played for so long, we’ll have no choice but to start Tosin.

My team: Sanchez – James,Tosin,Chalobah,Cucurella – Caicedo,Enzo – Neto,Palmer,Estevao – Pedro.

I doubt though Maresca will hand Estevao a start directly. I suppose he will start Gittens. But I like what I’ve seen from Estevao. He may be young but he looks mature enough.

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[Ed de Goey]

Aindro – not a bad lineup and I think you’re probably correct regarding Gittens starting. I don’t have an issue with that – bringing Estevao in gently is the right approach. I think Delap may get the nod though, as I believe a strong CF (i.e. Drogba/Costa style) is the gameplan in general. Jackson just couldn’t tick those boxes in that role.

More concerning is the disconnect between Maresca and the club over getting a new CB. I agree with Maresca – we need a stronger left centre back. I accept we won’t get a new keeper, which is a shame.

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[aindro]

Ed, while I don’t think Palace are a defensive team, I believe we’re gonna have a lion share of possession. Hence Pedro before Delap as he is more comfortable with tight space, he is more technique. But I can see what you said too. Guéhi is not too big, playing Delap can cause a lot disturbance in their defense as he is strong and more physical. I hope I won’t regret to have said this: Jackson I think he is finished with the club as both Delap & Pedro are better players than him.

Totally agree about the CB. We need badly to buy. I am disappointed that we did not even try for Guéhi. He would come relatively cheap. And England international. An ex Chelsea youngster. Badiashile injured. Fofana rarely fit. Anselmino from little minutes that I saw: IMO very far from convincing. I would prefer him going on-loan to be honest than the new recruit Sarr. But I have to trust Maresca’s judgement.

We’re being linked more to Garnacho, to Simons, they are not priority. We’re well covered. A CB is more important

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[Ed de Goey]

Got away with murder with that disallowed goal.

However, Sanchez should have saved it easily. It wasn’t a ‘wonderful strike’ as the commentary I’m listening to suggests.

I have a sinking feeling it’s going to be one of those seasons again.

We need a new keeper, and we need a replacement for Colwill.

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[aindro]

Not good enough. This is what I am always afraid of. Premier League is tougher, more defensive, than any other league IMO. Going with Pedro was a mistake, Delap would have offered more physicality. Enzo was invisible, Palmer was invisible. With Colwill injured, the distribution from the back wasn’t optimal at all. We were lucky that the free kick was disallowed. I think we’re in for a very tough season.

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[Ed de Goey]

Same story as last season, the team have no idea how to break a team down when they deploy the ‘low block’. We get about 2/3rds of the way up the pitch and then stop; then the team plays the ball from left to right a few times before going back to Sanchez and starting over again. Why not just get the ball out wide and cross into the box as much as you can – that completely disrupts the opposition’s defensive shape and gets them thinking twice. The same ponderous possession football gets us nowhere against teams like Palace, and Palace have just shown the template to all other mid/low-table clubs of how to play against Maresca’s Chelsea.

Against bigger teams we will always get chances, space and opportunities, given the fact we do have an immense array of talent; but we need a plan for teams that want to sit with 11 men behind the ball.

Although Maresca deserves blame for this performance, he is right that we need a ball-playing centre back. Acheampong did well defensively but he played the most passes in the first half and we were toothless. Terry was someone who could hit a long ball and had a good eye for a pass, and Colwill is the same. We do need that.

I also think Delap would have been a better option upfront for this game – you need to switch things up and play long balls every now and then, and you need a CF who can occupy multiple defenders. Palace always seemed to be able to go 2 or 3 up against our wingers with Pedro up front. Hence they always checked back and we end up doing the horseshoe passing act.

Not a good start.

• This reply was modified 4 months, 4 weeks ago by Ed de Goey.

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[Rover]

Yes we should be beating the likes of Palace but they are a much improved outfit. They beat City in the FA Cup final and Liverpool in the super cup. They still going to take points off more big teams. Maresca chose the best possible starting 11 although Delap snd Estevao should have come on earlier. We not a top 3 side. We going to be fighting with Newcastle, Villa, United, Spurs and a surprise team for those 4th and 5th positions.

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[aindro]

Rover, no, we’re not a top 3 team. I thought we would be in the mix but looking at our performance yesterday: I am completely mistaken. We are far. Palace were good but not that good either. Except Eze’s freekick, I don’t think they were really menacing. We had only 2 shots on goal, so our attack is still problematic. Gittens and Joao Pedro did not offer anything at all but nor Palmer. The only good attacker was Pedro Neto, but he became quiet when switched to the left to accomodate Estevao. Estevao for me except that chance, he was too far outside. Delap was good, he almost scored. Against a defensive team I start to think that Delap should start ahead of Pedro.

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[Ed de Goey]

Aindro, for a game versus the likes of Palace and other mid table clubs, we need a Costa/Drogba style CF and that’s where I hope Delap comes in.

Drobga didn’t score too many in his first season, but once you disrupt these types of clubs with physicality up front, their plans versus us start to break down and we can win more easily. We can even start playing sexy football against them, but you have to have them second guessing. There was no Plan B until we put Delap on, and by that time the mechanics of the game are harder to change.

Yesterday we tried to walk the ball into the goal and it just won’t work against low block, organised mid-table sides until we teach them we can do something else.

Estevao was ok – but as I said before, our wingers were *always* doubled up because our play is predictable.

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[aindro]

Ed I have to agree with your earlier comment. Why don’t we put more crosses? Especially if we play Delap who is physical, we can try to put more crosses. Instead of going sideways or backward at almost everytime. I think Maresca was too late to introduce Delap & Estevao yesterday. Gittens wasn’t effective at all, should have been subbed in mid-time. Midfielders like Enzo and Caicedo also must try to shoot more from outside the box. Sometimes, there are lucky rebounds.

Acheampong draws much praise. I think it’s too early. Palace weren’t too menacing yesterday. And the difference in the ball distribution with Colwill is night and day. It’s good though that he started, it will give plenty of encouraging signs for youngsters.

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[aindro]

Let’s just continue on this conversation thread for our 5 or 6 opening matches. We drew Palace at home last week. Tonight we will face West Ham who also had a shock last week, from a promoted team. They would be either in shambles either bunch of hungry lions. Let’s see which West Ham will show up.

We need to focus first on our team. 2 shots on goal against a mid-table team should not be good enough for Chelsea. We need to shoot more, we need to create more chances. I can see this stagnation happening again tonight as West Ham will defend deep and launch counter-attacks as they have good forwards in Bowen and Fullkrug and good passers in Paqueta. We need to open the scoring before they do. I think whoever start will need to be on top of their game. This is a London derby after all. I want Estevao to be given chance to start. What he showed last week was better than what Gittens showed. I found Maresca took too long to do substitutions, we were stuck last week and he waited too long. Min 50, if we still cannot score or if we are behind: Maresca should react quickly. I would also keep Chalobah & Acheampong in our starting 11 as WHU will counter-attack us. Need agile central defenders.

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[Srilankanlion]

I would like to see Delap start too. He is more physical.

Wonder if Maresca has tried 3 5 2 in training.
I would like to see both Delap and Pedro start together in some games.

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[Ed de Goey]

Unless we get a goal in the first 20 mins then we risk falling into the same sort of game as the Palace match. As I said for the Palace game, Delap starting would be a better option – someone who can occupy multiple defenders with his movement and let our wingers go 1 on 1 versus the fullbacks. Pedro isn’t that kind of striker.

Srilankanlion – not sure how we fit Delap and Pedro into the same lineup, alongside 2 wingers and Palmer. We need two midfielders – whether that is Caicedo/Fernandes or another combination.

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[aindro]

Srilankanlion: not a bad call. Delap would give us more physicality as I am pretty sure that we’ll have a lion share of possession. Other than Estevao for Gittens and Delap for Joao Pedro, I think the remaining team should be the same as last week.

Maresca should also not be afraid to substitute Palmer. Last week, Palmer did not do much. He cannot perform miracle at every match and we could see that against Palace, we needed other ideas. Estevao, Andrey Santos, Delap, I’d say again that the substitutions last week were a bit too late. Tonight, Tosin is fit, while I don’t want him to start, he can come in from the bench and add our firepower for corners. If we still cannot score, min 50th, I also would bring Tosin in to replace Acheampong and our wingers should be instructed to cross more to win corners as Chalobah and Tosin may be able to score from corners

My team: Sanchez – James,Chalobah,Acheampong,Cucurella – Caicedo,Enzo – Estevao,Palmer,Neto – Delap

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[aindro]

Srilankanlion: you got what you wanted. Both Joao Pedro & Delap start.
I am more cautious about it, like Ed said, as this kind of lineup would make our midfield weaker. And Tosin starts too, against my wishes to see more of Acheampong. Besides that, there’s no big surprises.

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[Rover]

Decent performance we took our chances cause we didn’t really create that much as the score would suggest. With Collwill, Lavia and Palmer injured it was very promising. Delap and Juan Pedro both starting and Estevao and Neto on the wings are a formidable front 4. Hope Palmer is not too serious of an injury because after those 5 forwards there’s no real more firepower upfront.

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[aindro]

Joao Pedro looked comfortable to play behind the striker. This may be his best position. Delap held the ball really well. He did not score but he had a great role yesterday. Their goal was bad though, it did not look dangerous but the ball flew in and Sanchez failed to get any touch.

Estevao, I think he can be a great player for us. You can see joy in his face. Our backline was still shaky, we may need reinforcements

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[Srilankanlion]

Aindro I did.

A good performance. Apart from the early West Ham goal, it wasn’t really much of a contest. We look very good going forward, but I guess we were not pressed by them.

To be honest West Ham were woeful. Still think Chelsea need to tighten up at the back because we looked vulnerable a few times.

Estevao was good apart from the mistake for the goal. I thought he adapted to the pace and physicality of the premier league, but will still need a few games under his belt.

Question: Did you think we looked more of a balanced team without Cole Palmer?

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[aindro]

Srilankalion, I think it would be too easy to say that the team would be more balanced without Palmer. I don’t think so. I always said that Palmer was bearing too much responsibility. The team is centered around Palmer. He creates chance, he scores goals. The addition of Joao Pedro, Delap and Estevao would alleviate Palmer’s burden. Palmer would be able to play more freely as these players can clearly share the responsibility of creating chances & scoring. Moreover West Ham really were woeful, our big win cannot be used that much as a barometer. I think Graham Potter will be the first manager who gets the sack this season.

I disagree with Maresca’s comment to blame Estevao. It was a honest mistake, he tried to move the ball forward when we were under pressure and had his flick reached Joao Pedro: it could have been a very different comment. He was brought to the starting lineup when Palmer was uncomfortable during the warmup and IMO he assumed the task really well.

Now that we see that Chelsea can play with Delap & Joao Pedro starting together: what do you think about the potential sale of Nicolas Jackson? Imagine that one of Pedro or Delap gets injured. And I think they both got injured last season in their previous club. Jackson can come handy to replace one of them, especially to replace Delap. Now I think more and more that we can sell Nkunku as he doesn’t have any role anymore, and get Garnacho. But hold Jackson, we don’t need to sell him and with Joao Pedro can play no:10, we would not need Xavi Simmons, at all. Would we regret later on in the season if we sell Jackson, what do you think?

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