robsblubot

sounds like he should not have been getting call ups then. Suppose club tried to dissuade Ecuador, but it did not work.

way too soon IMO. Same as it was too toon to criticize, it's now too soon to declare winners. We've played a few weak opposition which we should be beating regardless of who plays--we did our job nothing else. We will start seeing how these players react against stronger opposition, which will be exciting for sure. It will also show who is who.

Jesus was MoTM for me against City... his ability to play in *very* tight spaces was the only thing working esp in the first half. He should be starting yeah, esp with marnitelli out. Gabriel might start as well. Brazil and Argentina can rotate without issue, Ecuador will be relying on their best for these games, so Caicedo will definitely play more; he's 21 tho, so that might help.

Arsenal will have the same issue. The same way it was premature to overly criticize players this soon, it is also premature to declare them good enough. There is a lot of football to be played, and these young players will still get tested against stronger opposition. Arsenal game will be a good test to see which players can rise to these occasions--we don't yet know that. Regarding the game, caicedo had another strong game. I really don't understand people suggesting Sterling should be benched or something; he's the best attacker we've got by a wide margin.

Agreed. Of course, things change during a long season: opponents figure out how to play your team, which forces the manager to make changes. Say Chilwell comes back and then gets into some good form, and if he remains playing sterling on the right wing, that could work (Sterling defends well).

yeah that's what I thought. I'd call against Mexico in the WC similar level to Portugal though, and although a great finish, it wasn't w/ power but a curl. Not a whole lot of powerful shots from outside of the box actually. River is much lower level of opposition and Portugal. Makes me more convinced it's the pace of the PL, so perhaps an adjustment here and there will help. I'd not even consider friendlies because they are a different sport; would be akin to "flag football" in the US. 😅

I sure hope so, but where? Portugal I suppose. I mentioned posture above, and also "early shots" because it's a characteristic of the PL. You get less time on the ball, which also means less time to take a shot. So, yeah he can improve on that, but honestly he needs to first start hitting it on goal, low, then we will talk about getting it in the back of the net. So, I suspect that has something to do with it 👆

yeah I know. I think it has to do with balance. His posture when taking early shots seems off and he ends up hitting under the ball a lot, which in turn sends it to row z. It does not seem like his a natural in that regard, but hopefully he's working to improve it. No, I don't think he'll turn in Lamps and start scoring for fun, but I do hope he gets a goal here and there during a season... become a bit more of a goal threat. I think Carney won't play in the middle esp against stronger sides: he will go into the left wing, because of Mudryk's defending. Well, we will see after this match, prob against Arsenal.

I don't expect much from teenagers at this level: ups and downs are common. Lavia in particular has not been tested at this level at all. The biggest adjustment was already made, which was to move Enzo deeper; he already played much better, which improved our overall play a lot. Still cannot shoot to save his life, but at least contributed a lot more in midfield.

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.

yeah that's not the problem. The problem is mediocre male athletes competing among women as trans. The division exists so we can celebrate exceptional athletes on both sides. That's one of the very few issues I fully agree with the right.

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.