closed Inter Milan 1-1 Chelsea

[ulsterchelsea 3,213]

38 minutes ago, Vesper said:

IF we don't buy any more players, and IF they do not make the first team squad, we are in deep shit, IMHO.

Of this I am most adamant on and sure of.

The squad is poor in multiple positions already GK (which is a true nightmare if Courtois leaves), LB, potentially AMF, both wings except for Hazard (especially if Willian is sold) and of course striker too.

Take those two out and it's looking even worse. Panic level worse. (as that means no LW backup at all, as Pedro is starting RW, No RW backup either (if Willian is sold). No quality CB backup unless you move Azpi over (Cahill is shit, and I don't rate Luiz as top quality) and that means Zappacosta is our RB

100% agree with this. We have a lot of SHITE in this side. First 11 is more than decent but the squad is full of wooden ones. These 2 lads at least give you some hope at such a young age. But if we're gonna ship them off on loan for some mediocrity from serie a who are the equivalent of drinkwater and bakayoko then honestly we are playing for nout this year. A lot of work to do in very little time. Off to Dublin on Wednesday to see it up close and personal so give a better opinion then 

[Clockwork 1,764]

3 hours ago, Magic Lamps said:

I thought alonso but much bettervthan emerson today even though the opposition was better. Got a feeling both will strugle come season

I am dumbfounded by this statement. Alonso was a nightmare through out the game, you could see the opposition taking advantage of his lack of speed. Most opportunities came through his flank. And very clumsy on the ball. 

Emerson  came in around the 65m, he had a relatively quiet game. I actually rewatched the 2nd half after he came in because i was so confused by the critique of his cameo. He gave the ball on one occasion and one bad pass other than that i can not find another criticism. 

He was solid, very aggressive, and always made himself available as a passing option further on the pitch. 

 

[Vesper 27,315]

55 minutes ago, ulsterchelsea said:

100% agree with this. We have a lot of SHITE in this side. First 11 is more than decent but the squad is full of wooden ones. These 2 lads at least give you some hope at such a young age. But if we're gonna ship them off on loan for some mediocrity from serie a who are the equivalent of drinkwater and bakayoko then honestly we are playing for nout this year. A lot of work to do in very little time. Off to Dublin on Wednesday to see it up close and personal so give a better opinion then 

Vecino has donkey written all over him (he look like shit in the WC too, one of the few Uruguayans who did)), and Mattia Caldara is a potentially better CB than Rugani IMHO. I would LOVE Sarri to publicly explain why he fancies those 2 so much. Juve are crazy to let either go, given their ages and the ages of their others CB's, but money talks I suppose.

It's Rugani's 24th b-day today btw.

 

[Clockwork 1,764]

6 hours ago, Pizy said:

Plenty of positives through 2 matches but also several concerns. Biggest of which is the LB position. Neither Alonso nor Emerson have looked even a little bit good. Teams exploited our wide areas last season but now with us pressing much higher we're even more vulnerable. I trust Azpi on one side, but the left side could be a serious problem.

 

Disagree on the Emerson part, as i posted earlier.

Interesting on the Azpi part. Zappacosta has actually been very impressive, he looks the part of what you look for in this system. He is much more energetic, aggressive, and better moving forward. He played so high, always provided passing option and overlapped. 

I thought the downgrade from Zappacosta to Azpi was noticeable. Not to say Azpi played bad, he was solid.. 

obviously you would give Azpi the benefit of the doubt, because what we know about these players. But if i didn't know any of that strictly based on what we have seen, Zappacosta would be the choice.. 

[Unionjack 7,531]

8 hours ago, Mana said:

Well, duh. We don't have a striker. No surprise. It's alarming, but we kinda knew that already.

Not just the striker not scoring but all our forwards.

Its great to see us on our toes again, The 1st half  made me smile like watching Conte year 1.

But we are going to get our arses smashed if we dont sort out a few things.

ST and RW goes without saying. Pedros OK for back up but I dont want the Rat anywhere near us

We need a ACM that knows where the goal is. I really want Barkley to come good, i know hes game rusty but not sure if hes got the goal scoring instinct.

LB I was hoping  Emerson would take it but he looked like he didn't fit today. alonso is far too slow and I dont like his continual long shots as its a last resort.

We all love Dave but it worries me he doesnt suit this system. Not too sure about Zappa neither.

Luiz isnt good enough, Ampadu will be great as a back up but needs some time. Hope he stays.

So on one hand its great seeing us evolving but we need a input of new blood badly and it worries me that we wont be spending the money to do so And if thats right then Roman should just find us a buyer

[Special Juan 27,103]

First 40 minutes we were good and the football was very impressive, after that, we seemed to lose our way a little. 

[BlueLion. 21,491]

I haven't watched the game, not seen any highlights at all - I was seeing Bastille last night. Can someone summarise the performance? Any stand-out players, both positive and negative?

[Iggy Doonican 4,186]

12 hours ago, BlueLyon said:

But support the team regardless

So many posters on here have no concept of that mate. How anyone can complain about a pre season game with a new manager in charge just brings a whole new level of being a prick. Do people not realise that these games are lucrative kickabouts and they are just to kick off the cobwebs but more importantly the players don't want to risk getting injured playing in a pre season friendly. 

[Vesper 27,315]

5 hours ago, Iggy Doonican said:

So many posters on here have no concept of that mate. How anyone can complain about a pre season game with a new manager in charge just brings a whole new level of being a prick. Do people not realise that these games are lucrative kickabouts and they are just to kick off the cobwebs but more importantly the players don't want to risk getting injured playing in a pre season friendly. 

I personally don't read into these cocked up WC-year pre season matches

I am all about the future-forward actual squad and doing a SWOT analysis based off past performances and meta trends that I see

I am very good at finding players who will fill certain roles and also know when others are not up to the task at hand

all that said I do have a few takeaways from the 2 games

Jorginho was a masterstroke

Pedro looks aces, rejuvenated (I do realise he cannot play every minute of most games though)

our GK situ, if Courtois leaves and no one is brought in is FUCKED

we need to keep Ampadu and CHO on first team unless more players are brought in

I have little problem with RB compared to LB

in terms of LB Emerson may work out, but beyond all others (expect maybe Caballero, but he was a given that he is SHIT) Alonso needs to be sold ASAP, we can get a shit tonne for him and he will be a disaster defensively in Sarri system 

It is getting to the point where we cannot sell Willian (UNLESS its a swap plus cash or even for Martial, which saves our arse), there are 12 days left in window, and 3 of those are weekend days

I think we are oki with Barkely and RLC at AMF BUT BUT BUT we SO need to buy Anderson Talisca in the January window when his loan is up in China, he is EXACTLY what we need there, I have been watch a lot of his games, he is PERFECT for Sarriball, and scores a tonne for MF, I so so rate him over Golovin

I am getting resigned to fact that Morata is going to be our striker, I have never hoped for a bigger comeback, he has IMMENSE talent and physical skills, he was fucking deadly for Real Madrid and the first 10 games with us

21 goals or so in 22 game (I may be off a couple but not by much) stretch between the 2 clubs, plus 10 assists, all against high level competition, not some kickabout pre season or joke of a CL group stage

I really dont care about Vecino or Rugani at this point, we sink or swim with Luiz backing up AC and Rudiger, , both of whom I LOVE plus Ampadu , screw Cahill

I have one wish (other than GK if Courtois leaves,and probably a LB to help Emerson).........

Leon Bailey, especially, especially if Willian is sold, and no swap for Martial, bailey can play BOTH wings,I don't mean get stuffed into one, he truly can play both

its the one buy (as long as Courtois stays) that we most need (especial if martial comes in as Striker,removing that issue)

we simply have to have more wing firepower in this system

and unlike Morata, who has potential to score 25 to 30 goals in all comps, we dont have it other than Hazard for sure atm, especially if Wilian is sold, and even then I still want him IN

I think that's a fair breakdown of where we stand

 

 

 

 

 

[Starman60 1,343]

2 hours ago, Special Juan said:

First 40 minutes we were good and the football was very impressive, after that, we seemed to lose our way a little. 

I agree, but in all honesty what did we expect when 2 of 3 in the middle are Bakayoko and Drinkwater in the second half. Thought Barkley and Fabregas were comfortable with the system and adapted well. Defence may be an issue and the keeper....And we need to score more with this system as I feel we will leak more goals this season. Hudson-Odoi...Hopefully a real nugget in the making.

[Sideshow Luiz 2,310]

I don't know what feeds you guys were getting but when the match kicked off, the commentator said it was Chelsea's "first real test".  I got a chuckle out of that.

[Blue Armour 4,165]

18 hours ago, BlueLion. said:

I haven't watched the game, not seen any highlights at all - I was seeing Bastille last night. Can someone summarise the performance? Any stand-out players, both positive and negative?

Totally in control, first half. Careless mistake in the 2nd to concede. Inter grew back into it.

Midfield 3 in second was Bakayoko, DD and Jorginho..which safe to say isn't our first choice combination, so not much to talk about there. Jorginho kept the team ticking to the best he could

Notable performances: CHO, Pedro. Morata was much improved compared to his last outing.

[Blue Armour 4,165]

2 hours ago, Sideshow Luiz said:

I don't know what feeds you guys were getting but when the match kicked off, the commentator said it was Chelsea's "first real test".  I got a chuckle out of that.

We'll keep hearing that till we face one of the top 5 in the PL.

[Sideshow Luiz 2,310]

6 hours ago, Blue Armour said:

We'll keep hearing that till we face one of the top 5 in the PL.

It made me chuckle because it was a common phrase on this site during our 13 match winning streak under Conte.  It became a bit of a meme that you'll still see around in pre-match discussions.