robsblubot

If you look at our schedule, I have, think we can stop with the relegation talk. That's not in our future. Like I've said many times, I fully expect this new and young team to fluctuate performance wise. That's normal. We will dominate the super weak sides tho, which is reassuring. Still don't believe CL is attainable, but would love to be wrong here.

Yeah in terms of "development", a very overused word around here, I agree with you: he's way ahead. It's super hard to guess the ceiling of young players though, so I just think we are just excited to see some natural skill in his game: he's got an excellent first touch, and can hide the ball really well in tight spaces; I'd suggest he already defends well enough compared to other young players we've got. He can also see a pass in a forward position, so that's a pretty interesting combo right there. I know Mudruk came from a diff country and all that, but despite the (very nice goal) he was pretty poor before and then after the goal. His overall play was just very *wasteful* which at this level is a pretty big deal. I hear folks asking for MUdryk minutes and I think he's VERY fortunate to have joined Chelsea at this time. With Mourinho, or other managers at different time, he'd not even see the bench. Palmer on the other hand I feel can really get minutes under any manager and under any circumstances. No, we can't see how good he will become years from now, but I find refreshing that we have a young player who can actually get minutes, and actually deserve them.

Just a word of caution that the opposition looked fairly poor today (Fulham). Some of it can definitely be attributed to our play, but some was just ponderous passing and some naive defending by Fulham. With that said, Palmer was also very good against Brighton, so that's second match in a row (Brighton is better opposition too). You get the 3 points when you face weaker opposition, so both the team and Palmer did well, but you should not take too many conclusions from this game IMO.

heh his spell at Flamengo wasn't that great either; pretty ridiculous mistake at Libertadores final which handed Palmeiras the win https://www.sporf.com/man-united-loanee-andreas-pereira-tarnishes-flamengo-spell-with-huge-mistake/

Different game different requirements. Against a better team we will need players who can hold the ball better upfront, and that's Sterling. Direct play works at certain times, but you can't give the ball back to your opposition every time if they are any good. IMO folks are confusing quality with flair.

They fixed the midfield a bit too (the ball chasing); although Caicedo is still dominating there. It's going to be hard for next starting XI selection. Like, how much was it us vs them. Suppose too bad for the player who missed the game and opportunity. Even Cuccu did alright as a RB. 😃

what a play by Broja!

haha can't believe Andreas Pereira started for United once. Absolutely shit player. 😆

Best I've seen from Caicedo. Caveat that the opposition looks average today? they are playing very slow which is helping us esp midfield.

Muddy scored a nice goal -- nobody said anything by Colwill delivery? what was amazing. Mudryk just needs to up his game... make it more rounded. Mudryk does not excite me one bit tbh. Broja was really impressive despite the first half miss. Looks like a senior player alright. There was something off with Fulham midfield today. They were chasing the ball and leaving spaces behind. I think they will correct that, so we need to be vigilant now esp first minutes.

Fulham has been doing well, but it's early so it means little at this point. They do have good players in a few positions, and players which can cause of problems. My concern with our overly young side is always on the competitiveness against more senior/experienced players (esp away games).

think that's how it's going to be w/ Sterling and Palmer, but I suspect they will insist with Enzo as number 10 unfortunately. We miss him playing deeper. 😕 Honestly even Gallagher looks better than Enzo when closer to the opposition box. I'd say if a win isn't possible, do not loose tho. Even if we have a bad game, need to show competitiveness and grind points here and there.

well the question then is, why did they not correct their mistake? As soon as the ref goes on with the match, they reach out and say that they made a mistake and the goal was valid. Hardly the first time the game is paused at an awkward moment. Really weird one tbh.

Couldn't agree more. We need to at least agree on that, a. Chelsea is a big club (money alone proves that) and that b. the Premiere League is one of, if not the, most competitive league in the world. Add those up, and really, what a player did or did not do at U21 matters little to nothing. Seen so many U21 "talents" fail to even become footballers that it's not funny. Forget about knowhow, there is a HUGE physical gap between senior and u21 players; u21 is also NOT a leveled playing field: sometimes players who develop a bit early, area tall and strong, have a big advantage going against smaller weaker and younger players, that advantage vanishes in the senior team. I'm far from being the U21 police 😅 but it's really a questionable argument to make at this level.

At a home game needing a win against a weak side, I could see Maatsen starting as LB. On an away game, even if Fulham, I'd be fairly certain Cucu (or Colwill) will start on the left, and I can totally understand why; Mudryk is really terrible at defending, so Poch needs a more defensive LB when Mudryk plays. Carney will change that when he's back. Either way, huge loss esp in a stupid carabao game.

I'm not going to dig out my post from 10 years ago again, but Salah had very much World Class written all over; he never dropped a level and was already WC material at Roma, which evidently made Liverpool go all in for him. Our handling of Salah (and KDB) was criminal, IMO. I honestly believe they just have different ceilings as players, and esp, some characteristics make them more or less effective in the PL, as well as more or less effective at a big club (less counter-attacking for ex). There are tons or variables, which makes these assessments difficult, but I ultimately believe Tammy prob reached his ceiling as a player, and there's nothing wrong with that; he's good striker ... never going to be elite tho. Ampadou I never rated, so not sure.

In some ways, our struggles are helping them. Jackson does not dribble that much actually; he makes good runs with the ball. Normally, these runs would be done by the backline, and attackers would be pinned up front as we press the opposition. Nowadays, because we are fair game, we are getting some spaces for counters. This will change when and if the team improves.

Wouldn't say "wasted" yet. He's still 21, and the most disappointing things about his game, like the one-trick-pony head-down dribbling can be fixed. He can learn when to go for the direct play, when to hold the ball, and when to one-twos. He's still 21. Now, top player? nope don't see it. Compare his game to Palmer's for example... I mean if you can.

maybe we now know why he hasn't been playing: he did not look super fit against Brighton to my lay eyes.

Would add that Maatsen looked energetic at times, but once again, in and out of the game, which is totally an age thing. On Mudryk, never seen lack of effort TBH His game is a bit naive at times, and that can be improved with minutes, so I don't think getting a player out of him is impossible. However, getting a top player might be; sorry, I just don't think he has the tools for it. I'd add a big caveat that this was Carabao cup and played at home w/o VAR. Normally we'd be fielding a young team, that nowadays would pretty much have the same average age as our "senior team." 😁

Agreed that Palmer did well, and yes, struggled physically, which is what you'd expect from most young players. Jackson had a fairly poor game, but scored when it mattered (nice assist by Palmer). Colwill was solid indeed. Maatsen looked promising in moments, but in and out of the match. Mudryk was overall fairly poor as usual: poor decisions, couldn't beat anyone either showing too much of the football or his legs, passes straight to the goal line. The effort was there, but not the quality. He can find nice passes at times, but a bit of speed and good passing does not a top PL player make. In the dying moments of the match Sterling was on the left marking someone, possibly Lamptey, who tried to turn around on him; he was tightly marking the player, and ultimately fouled him stopping the match and giving his side precious few seconds off the clock. To my eyes, the difference between what a senior player like Sterling and the younger players do is simply night and day. These types of play won't show in highlights tho....perhaps not even on sofascore.

suspect he was referring to Brighton ("this" match). Hard to say... I think the red was a sure thing, but there or or two PK calls that could get lucky in slo-mo VAR. Regarding Blackburn, good draw to give some players some minutes.

Madueke's probably my least favorite player; just not crazy about his play one bit. It could be that the pace and power of the league causes him enough trouble that he ends up trying to simplify too much. He looks very far from taking a starting XI position, or the whereabouts tbh. Caveat, I consider U21 another sport, so I don't really care what he does at that level. Even prefer Mudryk despite how unclean his game looks.

First half was really poor, but much improved second half. Broja looks pretty good actually; no naive play from him.

Mudryk 🙄