Chelsea 0-2 Man City

[Laylabelle 9,539]

2 minutes ago, Pizy said:

Look at some of the other big teams this weekend. United looked awful for much of their match and won with a jammy goal. Liverpool looked woeful for the entire first half of their match and were outplayed by fucking Ipswich for 45 minutes. They were playing much worse opponents than we were today but you’d think reading the meltdowns from our fans that we lost to Everton or something and looked woeful. 

It’s not like our direct competitors look awesome and the task of getting 3rd or 4th looks out of reach with our squad. They looked poor at times as well.

We know City and Arse are in a world of their own currently. We shouldn’t even concern ourselves with them. If we struggle and lose against a bunch of the others then we can be concerned.

Just kinda annoying to lose the first game at home on day one but hey ho doubt anyone expected us to win and def wouldnt been favourites...Wolves coming up next so see how that goes. 

[robsblubot 3,595]

18 minutes ago, Pizy said:

Look at some of the other big teams this weekend. United looked awful for much of their match and won with a jammy goal. Liverpool looked woeful for the entire first half of their match and were outplayed by fucking Ipswich for 45 minutes. They were playing much worse opponents than we were today but you’d think reading the meltdowns from our fans that we lost to Everton or something and looked woeful. 

It’s not like our direct competitors look awesome and the task of getting 3rd or 4th looks out of reach with our squad. They looked poor at times as well.

We know City and Arse are in a world of their own currently. We shouldn’t even concern ourselves with them. If we struggle and lose against a bunch of the others then we can be concerned.

Agreed on Arsenal and City; in fact if Kai retains his form from last season they may be a stronger contender yet now with a top CB. Kai is a good fit for them because they have many goal scorers in the squad (don't require a super high xG striker).

On United, I don't actually like when rivals play poorly and still find a way to win matches. That suggests quality, which in their particular case was strength in depth. They have a lot of players to gel in same as us, so they may improve quite a bit during the season.

Edited August 18, 2024 by robsblubot

[bluesman2610 1,423]

1 hour ago, robsblubot said:

Yes. And yet Enzo is a super energetic and dedicated CM for Argentina. He just does not have the attributes to play CAM and is always on the ground complaining on minimal contact.

Nkunku as a LW goes into team balance, and relates to our discussion about a player who left (who shall remain unnamed 🙂).
Nkunku, Jackson, Cole means that we cannot press at all. Granted, Maresca probably thought that this was not the game to press high anyway, so he opted for pace, but it was just too easy for their backline to carry the ball with these players IMO.
I can totally see Neto being slotted on the left and then Nkunku and Jackson will dispute #9. BTW, Nkunku looked really poor today.

Nkunku doesn’t do well isolated like that on the wing he’s better centrally

[Vesper 30,291]

1 hour ago, Vegetable said:

Koulibaly, Lukaku

were dogshit

KK had a great attitude and is a great bloke (shedloads of charity work), but is one of those big, athletic, pace-dependent CBs who fades fast post 30yo, like a yank football running back (and they fade even earlier usually as it is such a brutal sport and position)

Rom is just a fucking twat

[King Kante 1,643]

I don't not think much can be taken put of today's game as we and City where playing walking football for half of it. City where obviously better but there a much better side. That is that imo. 

As for things I took out of the game with regard to performances, this was as follows: 

1) We shouldn't be playing Enzo, Romeo and Caicedo together. You can only do that if one of them is an No.8 who can score or at least a No.10 that can play in tight spaces.

For me, alought Enzo wasn't great, it does need to be recognised he was the one played out of position but was still the one that actually moved it around best.

For sure he got caught out at times positionally and didn't always execute the final ball, but at least he played the position he was given. Does he need to improve? Yes, was he played out of position? Yes. That is were I was with him. 

Romeo for me was the best of the three overall. He has the most positional consistency and he also did what he needed to do consistenly, even if that only had me classing him having a 'good' display rather than excellent. For me, he needs a full 10 games to get back up and running. After that we will need him to start taking hold of games. 

As for Caicedo I just don't know what people see. Sure he ran around a lot like Gallagher but apart from that it was back to the majority of last season where it was all all clumsy challenging KDB, getting caught out of position for the goal - and generally getting pulled about by City's movement - taking the easy pass and hitting it with zero zip or over hitting the ball when in the final third. I honestly do see the scrappy interceptions but I seriously just don't see the technical qualities need to play in the pivot. 

2) Why Sanchez was picked to start is beyond me. I said in the preseason that just because he looks confident passing the ball, it doesn't mean he is actually any good at it. The pass to KDB was absolutely unforgivable, that he got away with it is unbelievable. As for the goal, we all know this is the sort of thing to expect with him. We literally have to pray for Jorgensen to be decent and that he gets dropped asap otherwise expect a lot of dropped points. 

3) Jackson continues to be a work in progress. Frustrates the hell out of me but at least you can see a travel of direction with him. 

4) The CB's were actually a lot more comfortable than I thought they would be. Hopefully they can build something other the course of the season. 

5) Hope Cucu is ok. MotM for me today. 

Edited August 18, 2024 by King Kante

[Superblue 6,372]

Pretty disappointed with today. We can use the excuse it was City, but this was definitely City lite. Their midfield looked, on paper, vulnerable defensively.

I just don't think we did anywhere near enough. We were very passive in possession. Sanchez is well documented, but I thought the centre backs were very slow with the ball. If trying to bait City on to us was the plan, they quickly realised not to bother and at that point, we should have been switching the ball much quicker and moving them about. 

And then out of possession, I thought we were extremely poor. The midfield looked porous in the first half particularly, and the willingness and efficiency to press City was non-existent. I had to check at times in the second half that we were definitely losing the game. City for periods of possession were essentially playing walking football.

I thought Maresca got it wrong playing Enzo as the attacking midfielder. I could understand, given the opposition, if Enzo was dropping back deeper to create a midfield 3 to make us stronger defensively and try to control the middle, but that wasn't happening, and with that in mind, we should have played one of our attackers in that role. Nkunku, Palmer and looking soon to be Felix will all relish that position and all be significantly more effective in that role in different ways. I was disappointed that Maresca didn't recognise this and address it. Neto or Madueke for Enzo, or one of the midfielders should have been the change at half time or early in the second half.

The real test will be over the next few games though. On paper, it's a good run of winnable games, where the manager needs to make sure we've got the personnel on the pitch to be scoring goals and winning games. I'm hoping that will include playing 2 or Enzo, Caicedo and Lavia in the pivot and a more decisive attacking player in the '10' role.

[Vesper 30,291]

1 hour ago, robsblubot said:

yet now with a top CB

now?

they had the best starting pair of CBs on the planet before Calafiori came

Saliba is valued the the highest of any CB on the planet

and Gabriel is 4th, and the highest valued left-footed CB

there are, IMHO, only (under 30yo) 6 truly WC CBs out there atm (I think Micky van de Ven is really close, due to insane pace and his ever-improving overall play)
 

William Saliba
Rúben Dias 
Ronald Araujo  
Gabriel Magalhães 
Alessandro Bastoni 
Bremer   (yes I rate him that high)

 

30yo and over there are 5, maybe 4

Marquinhos  30
John Stones 30
Virgil van Dijk 33
Antonio Rüdiger 31
David Alaba    32 (if he recovers)

and honourable mention to the 40yo (in 33 days) Thiago Silva

 

the ones who I think atm have some of the best chances of getting there:
  
Leny Yoro
António Silva 
Giorgio Scalvini
Riccardo Calafiori    
Gonçalo Inácio
Piero Hincapié 
Castello Lukeba 
Jurrien Timber 
Willian Pacho 
Jean-Clair Todibo
Cristhian Mosquera   
Murillo
Ousmane Diomande
Pau Cubarsí 
Jorrel Hato 
Ilya Zabarnyi
Zeno Debast
Lucas Beraldo   
Jarell Quansah
Yarek Gasiorowski 
Taylor Harwood-Bellis
El Chadaille Bitshiabu
Mikayil Faye    
Luka Vuskovic  
Aarón Anselmino
Jeanuël Belocian

[Reddish-Blue 2,515]

1 minute ago, Vesper said:

now?

they had the best starting pair of CBs on the planet before Calafiori came

Saliba is valued the the highest of any CB on the planet

and Gabriel is 4th, and the highest valued left-footed CB

Arteta arguably has the best defensive lineup in the PL.  Saliba - Gabriel, Calafiori and they also have Timber waiting in the wings.  

Compare that to Chelsea and we missed out massively, we had a chance to go and get a quality CB to fill the Silva void but the club decided that Tosin was enough. 

[Vesper 30,291]

5 minutes ago, Reddish-Blue said:

Arteta arguably has the best defensive lineup in the PL.  Saliba - Gabriel, Calafiori and they also have Timber waiting in the wings.  

Compare that to Chelsea and we missed out massively, we had a chance to go and get a quality CB to fill the Silva void but the club decided that Tosin was enough. 

IF (big if)

Arse added Osimhen

I will pick them to win the EPL and be one of 4 main teams who can win the CL

Real

Citeh

Arse

Inter

plus, thinking ahead to next summer

surely they make a move for one of these 5 LW/AMFs:

Florian Wirtz
Jamal Musiala   
Rafael Leão   
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia  
Xavi Simons

and one of these 3 DMFs

  
Bruno Guimarães 
Martín Zubimendi (if he doesnt move now to another club) 
Adam Wharton   

[Thor 2,745]

Actually thought that was a decent performance against the best team in the world and our first game playing our best team. 
 

Mistakes and a bit of bad luck cost us - and we should have had a penalty to tie it up. 
 

The team needs a run of games to gel in the new system. I do agree with one of the posters above that we looked a bit timid getting the ball to the places we needed to - but that is in part due to City and also given we are new to this. 

[NikkiCFC 8,370]

1 hour ago, Reddish-Blue said:

Arteta arguably has the best defensive lineup in the PL.  Saliba - Gabriel, Calafiori and they also have Timber waiting in the wings.  

Compare that to Chelsea and we missed out massively 

I mean not long ago Colwill and Fofana were considered top talents right there with Gabriel and Saliba. U don't think they can still reach that level? Jury is still out. I would take James/Gusto over Timber. Calafiori looks amazing but Cucurella was also EURO hit. And when we were linked with Arsenal GKs people here were losing their minds. 

Edited August 19, 2024 by NikkiCFC

[Blue Armour 4,461]

1 hour ago, Thor said:

Actually thought that was a decent performance against the best team in the world and our first game playing our best team. 
 

Mistakes and a bit of bad luck cost us - and we should have had a penalty to tie it up. 
 

The team needs a run of games to gel in the new system. I do agree with one of the posters above that we looked a bit timid getting the ball to the places we needed to - but that is in part due to City and also given we are new to this. 

Hopefully the next set of fixtures can serve as a platform for the team.

Not going to complain about losing a game against a top 2 side. This team isn't there yet.

[Blue Armour 4,461]

Also, would like to see Renato Veiga given a run in the CB position. Fofana & Colwill were not terrible today. Definitely improved from pre-season.

[robsblubot 3,595]

3 hours ago, Vesper said:

now?

they had the best starting pair of CBs on the planet before Calafiori came

Saliba is valued the the highest of any CB on the planet

and Gabriel is 4th, and the highest valued left-footed CB

there are, IMHO, only (under 30yo) 6 truly WC CBs out there atm (I think Micky van de Ven is really close, due to insane pace and his ever-improving overall play)
 

William Saliba
Rúben Dias 
Ronald Araujo  
Gabriel Magalhães 
Alessandro Bastoni 
Bremer   (yes I rate him that high)

 

30yo and over there are 5, maybe 4

Marquinhos  30
John Stones 30
Virgil van Dijk 33
Antonio Rüdiger 31
David Alaba    32 (if he recovers)

and honourable mention to the 40yo (in 33 days) Thiago Silva

 

the ones who I think atm have some of the best chances of getting there:
  
Leny Yoro
António Silva 
Giorgio Scalvini
Riccardo Calafiori    
Gonçalo Inácio
Piero Hincapié 
Castello Lukeba 
Jurrien Timber 
Willian Pacho 
Jean-Clair Todibo
Cristhian Mosquera   
Murillo
Ousmane Diomande
Pau Cubarsí 
Jorrel Hato 
Ilya Zabarnyi
Zeno Debast
Lucas Beraldo   
Jarell Quansah
Yarek Gasiorowski 
Taylor Harwood-Bellis
El Chadaille Bitshiabu
Mikayil Faye    
Luka Vuskovic  
Aarón Anselmino
Jeanuël Belocian

Saliba is indeed very good. I'm not a big fan of Gabriel tho.

Yeah, Rudiger remains the best CB for me and VVD is still a pretty powerful figure.

Thiago Silva was already done last season, now he's very much Brazil level.

Calafiori looks to have a very high ceiling in the ball-playing area, so I do see him a bit differently from other options.

Edited August 19, 2024 by robsblubot

[Vesper 30,291]

2 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

....................Fofana were considered top talents right there with Gabriel and Saliba. U don't think they can still reach that level?

Wesley Fofana Injury history

Compact

Detailed

 

Season	Injury	from	until	Days	Games missed
23/24	Cruciate ligament tear	Jul 17, 2023	Jun 30, 2024	349 days	51
22/23	Knee injury	Dec 20, 2022	Feb 13, 2023	55 days	9
22/23	Knee injury	Oct 6, 2022	Dec 16, 2022	71 days	17
21/22	Broken fibula	Aug 4, 2021	Mar 15, 2022	223 days	63
20/21	Hamstring strain	Feb 3, 2021	Mar 1, 2021	26 days	8
20/21	Knee injury	Dec 27, 2020	Jan 2, 2021	6 days	1
20/21	Knee injury	Nov 9, 2020	Nov 21, 2020	12 days	5
19/20	Knee injury	Nov 8, 2019	Nov 27, 2019	19 days	9
19/20	Knee injury	Aug 10, 2019	Oct 5, 2019	56 days	17

[bigbluewillie 1,930]

5 hours ago, Thor said:

Actually thought that was a decent performance against the best team in the world and our first game playing our best team. 
 

Shitty are not the best team in the world bruv, I don’t get where you get that idea from.

Real are the biggest club in world football, and they are the best club team in the world, and always have been.

[Special Juan 28,188]

Starting line up told me everything I needed to know, the first name on the sheet is Sanchez, fuck me he is absolute garbage and I keep asking myself what the actual fuck do managers see in this shithouse. The game itself went as I expected it, wasted chances, Jackson doing his best impression of a fucking donkey and us giving Haaland the freedom of SW6.

Wolves on Sunday will be more of the same, I'm saying it now winless before the international break

[manpe 10,861]

Poch already experimented with Enzo at 10 and it failed, why is he playing there again? As soon as Poch put him back deep and Gallagher up, we started playing a lot better. Maresca didn't do his homework? Enzo's a DLP and DLP only.

[NikkiCFC 8,370]

2 minutes ago, manpe said:

Poch already experimented with Enzo at 10 and it failed, why is he playing there again? As soon as Poch put him back deep and Gallagher up, we started playing a lot better. Maresca didn't do his homework? Enzo's a DLP and DLP only.

Actually our best football was with Enzo injured. 

[Vegetable 830]

52 minutes ago, manpe said:

Poch already experimented with Enzo at 10 and it failed, why is he playing there again?

He was listed as captain also, which I find quite intriguing after the Euro thing. Don't want to create any conspiracy, but given club was literally begging for this guy to come here, who knows what he has written into his contract. Maybe since he is half-godlike in the eyes of a lot of fans for whatever reason, this is also reflected in contract and his preferred position must be heard as someone pointed earlier that Enzo allegedly prefers to play more up front, despite it resulting in nothing.

Edited August 19, 2024 by Vegetable