Chelsea 1-0 Fulham

[Thor 2,122]

The more I watch, the more I realise Gallagher is the issue. 
 

He should not play where he does. He should be backup to Caceido. He is an energy player that should be all over the field tackling. 
 

In his role now he never plays between the lines properly, and limits Enzo and Caceido. 
 

Palmer should really be playing where Conor is. 

[Blue Armour 4,165]

8 hours ago, bluesman2610 said:

Our problem is our midfield and attackers hide behind the defenders. No one really shows for the ball bar Palmer. You can’t break teams down like that. If you watch Man city or Liverpool they make so many damn triangles and wall passes to break teams down it’s ridiculous. And honestly we’ve been playing like this for a very long time. The last time I’d seen our team really put passes together to break teams down we had Fabregas. I’ve gone back and watched preseason - and we are playing completely different than we did back in August. Now that could be injuries and what not but it really is like night and day the difference. 
 

I watch Enzo and Caicedo get on the ball and no one is showing and moving to create angles same thing happens when any of our backs get the ball. It’s so frustrating to watch. They need to sort this stuff out.

Also, Caicedo and Enzo play so far apart from each other it's a bit ridiculous at times. As a double pivot, the 2 CMs should be staggered of course, with one midfielder holding back, but they play so disjointed. 

In fact, it's not clear to me whether they are even a true double pivot. Caicedo sometime positions himself as the lone CDM (which he isn't),. and Enzo rockets so far up the pitch, sometimes ahead of Gallagher. And we know Enzo can't score., so that's useless.

This team needs a Viera or Keane type to whip these two into shape and start playing proper formations.

No wonder we lose control so easily in matches.

[DDA 9,570]

Still absolutely baffled at Potch putting Chilwell on at LW. I thought that was a distant memory all that shite. He's absolutely taking the piss if he carries on doing that.

[NikkiCFC 7,584]

Some of our biggest problems this season we are starting to solve slowly.

GK - Petrovic replacing Sanchez has been massive. But it is not good look on Poch that injury needed to happen for this to change.

Now Chilwell is back so that should solve or LB issues. But again with Poch you never know?

We have been much better team with Gusto as well. 

MF is not balanced. This is the problem. Caicedo cannot cover solo as 6 for Enzo and Conor to deliver as 8s.

Lavia saying his inspirations are Busquets and Fernandinho is positive because this is exactly what we need. But he is injured.

Attack again, Nkunku being out has played big part in our results. We got Palmer who is one of the best wingers in the league so far.

Mudryk and Madueke are growing so lets see. It takes time with young players. We need to wait and see this second part of the season with hopefully fit Lavia and Nkunku who are now only important missing players.

Gusto is better than James, Cucu and Sanchez not playing is good for us as well and Fofana is forgotten so that is why we bought Disasi. 

I dont think saying finishing 7th this season is overachievement in current conditions. 

Lets finish strong in January. We can get that 7th place and reach League Cup final and last 16 in Fa Cup. And grow from there with hopefully fit squad.

We need striker for sure so this is where our summer budget needs to go mostly.

[Stats 6,980]

8 hours ago, DDA said:

Still absolutely baffled at Potch putting Chilwell on at LW. I thought that was a distant memory all that shite. He's absolutely taking the piss if he carries on doing that.

It was way too early to do that move. Especially against a team you are looking to kill off the game. I know Sterling is criticised by many on here but imo we should have kept him on. Or even bring on Mudryk. Once again it was a move that invited pressure.

 

13 hours ago, DDA said:

Colwill had his first good game at LB today.

He was very good in the reverse fixture at LB too and it was his assist that provided Mudryk with his first league goal.

[bluesman2610 1,226]

It seems Poch is playing inverted midfield - with Caicedo at the base and Conor and Enzo playing ahead of him. It’s great in attack if the two 8’s are bagging goals on a consistent bases but when we lose the ball and the opponents break we are under immense pressure. Caicedo is not Kante or Prime Matic or Mikel who can hold down the 6 by himself. He may get there eventually but it’s a lot of work for one player. We need to balance the midfield more.

 

If we want to be successful we need a midfielder who plays the ball forward because he has vision (i.e. the Isak goal from Man City vs  Newcastle) can unlock a defence with a single pass. We had that with Cesc and Jorginho to a lesser extent. I would have loved if we signed an 8 who has this type of ability and can chip in with more goals. Too me it feels like too many of our players play with their head down and it slows our progress up the pitch.

[Blue Armour 4,165]

3 hours ago, bluesman2610 said:

It seems Poch is playing inverted midfield - with Caicedo at the base and Conor and Enzo playing ahead of him. It’s great in attack if the two 8’s are bagging goals on a consistent bases but when we lose the ball and the opponents break we are under immense pressure. Caicedo is not Kante or Prime Matic or Mikel who can hold down the 6 by himself. He may get there eventually but it’s a lot of work for one player. We need to balance the midfield more.

 

If we want to be successful we need a midfielder who plays the ball forward because he has vision (i.e. the Isak goal from Man City vs  Newcastle) can unlock a defence with a single pass. We had that with Cesc and Jorginho to a lesser extent. I would have loved if we signed an 8 who has this type of ability and can chip in with more goals. Too me it feels like too many of our players play with their head down and it slows our progress up the pitch.

Playing Enzo as an 8 is an odd decision. He's not good enough to directly contribute in goal scoring, and he doesn't have the pace to track back quickly enough when we lose the ball.

And to top it off, Caicedo is not capable enough to play in the lone CDM role.

The last 15 minutes of yesterday's game were mess because of this. There were situations s where Caicedo got the ball and had no clue on where to pass because Enzo decided to rocket up the pitch (along with Gallagher).

Inexperienced midfield following shite tactics.

[lucio 5,397]

11 minutes ago, Blue Armour said:

Playing Enzo as an 8 is an odd decision. He's not good enough to directly contribute in goal scoring, and he doesn't have the pace to track back quickly enough when we lose the ball.

And to top it off, Caicedo is not capable enough to play in the lone CDM role.

The last 15 minutes of yesterday's game were mess because of this. There were situations s where Caicedo got the ball and had no clue on where to pass because Enzo decided to rocket up the pitch (along with Gallagher).

Inexperienced midfield following shite tactics.

Should have got enzos partner Florentino luis over caicedo maybe , more solid destroyer type midfielder 

[bluesman2610 1,226]

14 minutes ago, lucio said:

Should have got enzos partner Florentino luis over caicedo maybe , more solid destroyer type midfielder 

If we knew we were going to go after Lavia we shouldn’t have bought Caicedo and went for someone like Manu Kone instead

[lucio 5,397]

9 minutes ago, bluesman2610 said:

If we knew we were going to go after Lavia we shouldn’t have bought Caicedo and went for someone like Manu Kone instead

Yes , far more robust and composed 

[Blue Armour 4,165]

2 hours ago, lucio said:

Should have got enzos partner Florentino luis over caicedo maybe , more solid destroyer type midfielder 

Either that or Enzo and Caicedo need to  play closer to each other, like a staggered double pivot.

Not sure if the fault is due to Poch's tactics, or the players inexperience.

Probably both.

Edited January 14 by Blue Armour

[NikkiCFC 7,584]

On 13/01/2024 at 13:48, DDA said:

Now if we have a Cherki playing where Gallagher is.. he might have just made the simple pass to the right to find Broja standing in acres of space. We need a creative No10 not an industrial one.

People still want Cherki? There were a lot of question marks about him last summer and all proven right because he's having a disastrous season. He not 20% of player Palmer is. 

[Vesper 27,324]

3 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

People still want Cherki?

hell NO

lazy, slow, weak, bad attitude

 

 

[bluesman2610 1,226]

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/25342181/Chelsea-fernandez-caicedo-pochettino-tactics/ 

I thought it was just me who noticed this

[Blue Armour 4,165]

32 minutes ago, bluesman2610 said:

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/25342181/Chelsea-fernandez-caicedo-pochettino-tactics/ 

I thought it was just me who noticed this

Lol,..this article is advocating Poch to move away from a double pivot and play a typical 433 with Enzo and Gallagher further forward of Caicedo.

IMO, not sure if I agree with this. I think Enzo and Caicedo play too far apart., to even function as a pivot. Caicedo is no Makelele to play the deep lying role on his own. Not yet, at least.

But who knows 🤷‍♂️

[DH1988 1,198]

Our issues are never formation based, we are dependent on players playing well cohesively on the off chance. Our issues are specific, for the most part, to patterns and player placement, there are a few good YouTube videos that highlight this recently. It really does just baffle me how Poch's Spurs were the literal opposite of what we are? Pre season I genuinely was excited, movement, drive, press, finishing, it was all there and we seem to get back, dead.

[bluesman2610 1,226]

10 hours ago, DH1988 said:

Our issues are never formation based, we are dependent on players playing well cohesively on the off chance. Our issues are specific, for the most part, to patterns and player placement, there are a few good YouTube videos that highlight this recently. It really does just baffle me how Poch's Spurs were the literal opposite of what we are? Pre season I genuinely was excited, movement, drive, press, finishing, it was all there and we seem to get back, dead.

Yes pre-season had us very excited for the season as the look of our pattern of play was so good. Forward thinking players with one and two touch in the final third. None of this passing between CB all game stuff we do now.