Barbara

Ramires inability to string two passes together has nothing to do with opposition and more with the lack of a brain. Mikel has been set to believe passes can only be backwards - again nothing to do with opposition.

people talking about tactics, about not being able to beat Barça's bench boys, lack of dominance and what not, really should get a reality check Mourinho is doing the same as Enrique, giving all players some time, so they get fit. Friendly reminder this isn't a competitive match, in case you missed the note.

Mikel, Ramires, Moses, it's obvious we didn't show up to play.... which is fine, this isn't worth anything, but having this kind of player as our subs... Bring on Cuadrado and we're set.... for the horror show.

Mikel? Well, I'll be calling it a night then. I know they all need minutes, but I'm not here for this lol

Willian for Kenedy was an improvement, but Ramires for Oscar was not. But well, everybody needs minutes

Cahill first and then Azpili later. Neither had been on their best. Suarez have been making them and some others his bitches...

Come on, Mourinho, I'm here for Falcao, bring him!

I'd bet you are... except maybe for Henrique, but I suppose he never liked him in the first place, so it doesn't count.

in a competitive match though they'd have more yellows. They've been stopping all our counters with fouls. Those bastards

I'm very happy with how we played considering we've been training for only a couple of weeks. Haven't seen any part of the previous matches, except the highlights against NYRB We look balanced, our defense was a bit shaky at moments, but I don't know if they were really a bit off or if Suarez and Barça were just that good. Maybe a combination of both? Either way, I think we did more than okay, no complaints at all. This is a pre-season friendly, my expectations are low.

I think he was okay, nothing worse or better than that. He runs a lot, he's big, but I didn't see anything special or even impressive (except the long ball to Matic). Maybe he has a higher ceiling as the poster above me says, but Nathan is neater, Kenedy does the headless chicken thing too often and he needs to grow a football brain. But as I said in my first post, he's young, maybe he'll improve, hopefully. Nathan isn't a dribbler, he isn't flashy, he's more disciplined and has more tactical awareness imo. But they're both very young, anything can happen. I still rate Nathan higher than Kenedy and it won't change any time soon.

compared to the season before? Yes, lazy and loose. It wasn't high intensity and persistent as in the season before or at the beginning of the season. Players got tired, stayed more put instead of pressing higher in the pitch. It was quite far from what I expected. I'm not saying it didn't work, but we would work much better if we pressed better. We had few moments after the few months that we actually went pressing as we did before. Most of the season after October-November was lazy and loose imo. what did the voyer say now?

I hope we haven't been pressing because the players aren't there yet, because I can't stand another season of lazy, loose pressing by us.

they keep stopping our counters with fouls (especially on Eden). More of this Chelsea please, we've been amazing. I just wish we pressed a little better, but this is pre-season, I'm more than happy

It does feel like a 4-3-3 with Oscar by Matic's side and Cesc ahead of them, doesn't it?

this Barça kit is stupid It's impossible to read players' names in that stupid shirt

Golazo!!!!!

Cesc has been working in those set pieces, no?

I took Pizy's tip and tried the youtube thing. It's marvelous https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCstUSIHhu8

I'm a perfectionist and I have a spelling OCD

what if Kenedy finds his inner Marin tonight, LOL that would be legendary, stuff of legend indeed. While I think it makes sense to watch the kid with our players before signing him, if we have the chance, 1) for Flu to have agreed this while Brazilian league is going on, it's because it's a done deal and they're waiting whatever detail to make it official and announce it; 2) one match, in preseason shouldn't be parameter for anything, as Marin stands as our best preseason player I can remember in recent years, lol So I don't get why we're doing this... although that would be the reasoning.

pardon my typo I meant fastest https://twitter.com/JakeFCohen/status/626175043123462145 Oh, the Dutch kit... hmmm, me don't like it

I don't think those players you mention can't live without those minutes, but maybe José needs to see more of Kenedy before the deal goes through... that's worth a shot more than some few minutes in a season for those guys - in the club's perspective edit: btw I need a stream, this is my first CFC match in the preseason, I'm excited to see the boys again

no parking at all, Kenedy can't remotely do what Willian does in the wing. Unless he learned it in a couple of weeks and wants to impress Mourinho (although he won't have a work permit). We're going pretty much open to the match with Cesc partnering with Matic, unless this is a 4-3-3 with Oscar playing deeper.

I did my homework recently about him. Watched a bunch of matches (which aren't many as he didn't play even that much). He dribbles - hence the flashy part of my post. He's raw on it, hence the part that it doesn't work out many times. Ramires is one of our fastest players, so the comparison stands. As for the power in his left foot, it needs some calibrating, but I'll give you that. You just proved my points further that he's a flashy Ramires.