robsblubot

There you go! Goal! noni!

What a play by Jackson — some skill in that corner.

Would have kept Neto (wasn’t great) after the goal. Now we need to score a third.

Cucu!!!

It’s hard to win games if 1x0 is not a possible final score when you play. 😕

Yes, this was known. You are singling out a player for his characteristics and at the same time showing that all was well-known before we signed him. There was no birthday season or whatnot... what you see is what you get with him. My point being that this is about balancing the squad, so you need a Neto just as you need goal scorers too. I personally don't think scoring goals has been our main problem. We concede too many goals and the issue starts with the attacking players who don't do a good job pressing the opposition. Reckon we would also score more goals if our attackers could steal the football closer to the opposition goal. I value a lot these type of players and I usually see them in winning sides more so than the "lazy" skillful prima donnas.

Which implies he was not signed for that.

Are you fucking kidding me? 😆

If Felix does not play now (with Cole out/tired), WTF did we sign him for? They will run the CK on match day, so still some ways to go.

I like Garnacho and compared to Mudryk, he'd be a huge upgrade. Yes, his game is raw atm, but he's 20yo, so that comes with the package despite of what you hear here. I'm worried about our inability to press high, and Garnacho does a good job at that. With Chalobah back, I'd wait until summer unless the perfect target is available. Trev has the necessary pace to work in Maresca's system which (intends to) employ a higher D line. Is anyone surprised with Fofana's season-ending injury? What was the club (not) thinking?!

Agreed. And reckon they miss Alvarez a lot more than they expected to. The hard work Jackson puts in esp in pressing high would also be missed. Jackson is often the only player pressing high, which is just wrong as a team.

Agreed. Easy to say xyz would've done a better job for us, until he's here and we run into the same, or different, issues. The grass is always greener... Honestly we haven't been playing well enough to single out Jackson. On the other hand, there is absolutely no reason for a club like Chelsea to have a single senior striker in the squad.

Caveat that the "Copinha" isn't a very good place to discover quality players anymore. Given the recent increase in poaching, players are getting younger and younger there, which means they are also playing against younger opposition. Gabriel MEC was impressive today scoring twice, and it's even more impressive because he's 16, so he's always facing older and more developed players than him (he's really lightweight).

That was the correct finish; Jackson weighted assist was so good that there was no need for a first touch, so he had the time to do fake/dummy shot and then calmly apply the finish. Seen it done many times (pretty common in PK) and it can be very effective esp against quick and agile goalies (Bournemouth goalie was very good in that game).

Yup that is disappointing indeed. We finally have quality players on the bench and we see the same ones starting every match. Even Cole looks like could use a rest. Yup. The plan is what it is. We've discussed that a lot before and after Maresca was signed. Folks who are surprised now were simply wrong before. You cannot dominate this league with a young side. On Maresca, I think he's learning that physicality in the PL is a much bigger factor than in Championship. Teams like Bournemouth favor physical and aggressive players who are specially tough (esp for younger players). So, I was perplexed by Josh starting ahead of Tosin yesterday (no Tosin fan here), but we simply did not play well enough yesterday.

Will we let the visiting team feel comfortable once again, or we are going to press high and force them to make mistakes?

They won the league a few times with much lesser players there. I honestly don't get this fixation with Rodri. They had a bunch of players underperforming, which caused the disconnect. That system needs all parts moving perfectly or it does not work. Foden was the same shit as he was during the Euros, for ex. Some of the subs appear less hungry and need moving... their problem tho. 🤷‍♂️

He was very poor. My rating of Colwill went up because of Josh (and Cucu). Went to the ground way too early which allowed for the high shot to go on goal; should've blocked all the way from that angle... there was no need to commit. He was getting out-muscled by Semenyo -- good chance we'd have lost the game had he stayed IMO. Start him again against good teams and things will get ugly.

Maybe, and that's the reason we've been asking for an option with diff characteristics. What's the point of Jackson in the final minutes of a match when you are crossing and hitting long balls if he's not that good int he air? Sure, but what if the D did a better job not conceding 2 goals? How many goals do we have to score to win a match? what if the mid controlled the game better? the chances weren't that many or that clear at least not for me; the was really one 1x1 which was the header -- the follow-up wasn't clear cut because the cb was blocking already. They defended well and they were always in our face. Very annoying team to play against. If someone had trouble understanding what Tuchel Chelsea did, imagine playing against this Bournemouth side but with world class players in several positions... 🙂 For me the biggest mistake by the manager was starting the kid in D. Not a game for him. I've been unimpressed by Tosin's lack of pace, but he's still the far better option at RCB. I can totally see how Jackson can be frustrating at times, but like I said, I watched the game with a cool head already knowing the result. Honestly I've seen games where you could point to the striker alone; this wasn't one of them. We did not play well enough to win the match. Our best attacks were counters. 😕 I dislike Cucu antics to be honest here, but this was a very clear red IMO. I wonder if Cucu is already paying the price for what he pulls off sometimes.

I've just watched the replay and based on comments here, I thought we had dominated the match and Jackson alone missed 5 sitters... kept looking for them and only found this one header in the first half where he should have scored, and yet I consider heading the football to be a glaring weakness in his game. Guiu? seriously? 🙂 The first goal came from a fantastic play by Jackson and he hit the post later in another great solo play. The game was never under control because Bournemouth pressed high and very well; that and their aggression caused lots of trouble esp for the kid who tbf had no business playing this game; if either Disasi or Tosin got beaten like he did (for the second) and people would be in arms here. He gets no points for being a kid. The opposition won't go any easier on him. Thought Colwill played well considering how poor Cuccu was today. Lavia had ups and downs, but looks unfit. Caicedo was poor as RB and poor in the middle, but I won't go too hard on him playing out of position for the first half. Enzo was good as was Jackson. Cole scored a nice goal, after Jackson's great play and did nothing else on the pitch.... pretty slow today (by his standards). Sancho looked good on the ball, but not much to show for it--he's also a bit lazy without the football. And Noni... wow! Very surprised he remained on the pitch for that long. What worries me the most is that this line up cannot press high to save their lives. It gets better with Neto on the pitch, but I'm not sure... Cole and Sancho together (esp w/ a selfish Madueke on the right) makes the team a bit lightweight for me.

I honestly thought Jackson was the best player on the pitch in the first half against Bournemouth. Palmer goal came from a fantastic solo play by Jackson where he beat 2 players and then produced a weighted pass that did not even require a first touch by Cole -- so much he simply fainted a shot and then applied the finish. Moments later, on another solo play, he hit the post. Yes, he then missed from a header, which is his glaring weakness. It really shouldn't be news by now, which is the reason I've been personally asking for a striker option who is strong in the air. Noni plays like shit, but nobody talks about it. Sancho produces nice touches, but does not contribute to anything tangible. Isn't talking about jackson in todays game a bit silly? We played like shit at home! It was a 50/50 game against Bournemouth!

So, the “decisions” of a young inexperienced manager match the decisions of his young inexperienced squad? The surprising part here is that we seem surprised by the fact that the team is struggling now. We discussed this a lot before and after Maresca was hired.

I guess all that patience... the build for the future... 😆 There is absolutely NOTHING surprising about a new manager with a new system and a bunch of young players struggling a bit around jan -- some not nearly as good as suggested around here.

I think we will need to wait a couple/few years to find out which players turn out to be average vs just young and inexperienced. Unfortunately big clubs don't have that luxury, which is what some of us have been on and on about for a long time. Lavia, for example has been pretty average for me, but he's so young and may turn out to be an excellent player. 🤷‍♂️

He will find out when he grows up. 😅 Striker, apparently, but can also play on the wings. He's 6ft tall as well. Agreed in principle, but Nkunku did not work out. Either system, and/or injuries, but he's disappointing to watch.