Gudjohnsen

Was hopeful before this game albeit I did not expect us to win. We did make them uncomfortable in patches, especially during that thrilling first half, but they are a really strong team and found solutions on the pitch. Could have walked away with a draw at another time. Early days though and it looks like we won’t be seeing boring football this season. One thing that bugs me the most is how reluctant we are to hassle and put pressure on a player when they enter our final third. They often seem to have endless time on the ball to wait for movement to pick out a pass. It’s fine to contain when they are playing further from our goal, but when they approach our box we need to be more aggressive.

A lot of pressure on this guy to get back now. Out of our other 4 midfielders, 2 are excellent but injury prone, 1 is over the hill and currently injured and 1 is unproven. If everyone stays fit it is still an excellent midfield.

Yeah give him time. He’s great and the type of personality we want in defence. The system we play currently exposes the outside centrebacks quite a bit. They are having to deal with a lot of 1v1 high tempo defending. Despite us conceding a lot these days, I enjoy this type of football much better than the dross served up for the last 2 years. All in all very happy!

I am more positive ahead of the season after this game. Think we should keep Jackson as he offers something different to Pedro and Welbeck. Not as refined but he brings a bit more chaos which can be good. I would keep these players and loan/sell the rest given that we’re going 3 ATB: GK: Sanchez, Penders CB: James, Colwill, Lacroix, Hato, Achaempong, Fofana WB: Palestra, Chavarria, Gusto, Neto, Quenda, Mydryk MID: Caicedo, Enzo, Lavia, Barco, Henderson ATT: Pedro, Palmer, Rodgers, Welbeck, Estevao, Jackson Of course some players can play multiple positions. I also do not mind if 1 or 2 of Gusto, Fofana, Barco and Mudryk gets sold or loaned out.

Having a difficult time getting a hold of the ball in these last minutes without Tottenham really creating much though. Too many giveaways, too easy to press. Fofana and Essugo lacking composure. Essugo definitely has a presence in midfield and I can see the potential, maybe just a bit nervous here. Hato and Estevao also been a bit careless with the ball contributing to Tottenham dominating the ball. Got a good feeling about Palestra though. Like a tall Chilwell. Think JP will be a great player for us this season. Didn’t have much to work with this half, but loved his toe poke attempt. Showed great improvisation.

All I wanted this summer was to sign mentaility monsters that can set the standards for the rest. I don’t think we are necessarily missing talent in the squad, but a lot of the signings we have made recently don’t have the right mentality. Gittens, Garnacho, Delap and co are quick to crumble when things don’t go their way. Colwill is the only one I feel can really set the tone. James, Caicedo and Enzo also, but to a lesser extent. Xhaka fits the bill and Palestra looks to have a good head on his shoulders. We are going to need more to change the dynamics of the squad though. We need to weed out players with weak mentality and replace them with fighters.

Think JT could actually be an excellent interim choice. This season is already a write-off, except for the cup. He is a great motivator which is exactly what is needed to have a go at the cup. He is very popular with the fans and will bring some feel goods. Also, he should be able to teach these players a thing or two about what it means to play for the club. And if things go well, you never know what the future holds.

Such a good performance ruined by two silly mistakes. Leeds barely had a sniff. Cole looks more like his old self. The miss had me speechless though. Had the same face as Cole did when he froze inside their net. Optimistic about the future. Much better than the football we were served under Maresca!

He’s definitely not the player I expected him to be when he arrived as I was expecting a world class playmaker. His best qualities turned out to be his attitude and making runs in the box. For half of the matches he plays, he’s a liability in the general phase of the game. However, I don’t know where we would be without his goals this season. Often in clutch moments too. Fair play to the lad. Can appreciate his fighting spirit.

Yeah. Not a magnificent performance, but a great day nevertheless! Even won a shirt signed by the players in a pre match raffle. However, can’t for the life of me tell who’s who except for Andrey Santos 😅

First time at the bridge today as a lifelong fan. Absolutely buzzing. Hope Liam ages these men well enough to get us the win today!

Good performance so far by the b-team. Really dominated them and Gittens has been lively. Badiashile has been disasterous and needs to be hooked off as he is a walking red card. It hasnt hurt us though as the rest have played well.

This was the last straw for me. Now fully on the Maresca out wagon.

He is very combative and holds the ball up well. Actually think he does it better than Delap. Has the skills to go with it as well. Often he just tries too much. Like holding it much longer than he has to and ends up losing the ball because of it. If he can just improve his decision making and efficiency a little bit, he will be a top top player.

Tosin and Badiashiele just crumble in uncomfortable games like these where you need a bit og grit and character to get through it. I have seen enough of them here at Chelsea. They shouldn’t get near the pitch again this season. Too few good games and too many collapses. Would rather give Achaempong the minutes to further his development. Hato as well although he hasn’t had the best start to his career here. He has time on his side still.

I am not against him trying things like this. Could have resulted in a one-two and boom, we’re running towards goal. We don’t want a player like this to be scared to sh*t of losing the ball. This kid needs a bit of freedom to realise his potential. Never should have resulted in a goal either way. It was a great strike, but no one closed him down and Sanchez used the wrong hand to parry the ball. It was a good performance from Estevao, although he maybe didnt deserve the MOM. The run for the assist was great. The maturity to take the extra touch when reaching the byline instead of rushing it was class. It’s a small thing, but something that very good players do.

Absolutely gutted for Colwill. Let’s hope he can pick up where he left off once he recovers. In the meantime, there are huge questionmarks over our defence. Him and Chalobah are the only ones I am confident can do the job at CB to the level required. Tosin was more solid towards the end of last season, which is encouraging. There was a game at the CWC where him and Chalobah looked good as a pairing. We could also use his height at corners. Fofana is another option that’s difficult to assess at this stage. What level is he at after all these injuries? Can he be relied upon? Jorrel Hato looks a promising player and hopefully he can adjust quickly. He isn’t the tallest, so maybe corners will be a problem unless we are playing our stronger guys in other positions such as Delap, Lavia and James. Badiashiele I am not confident in at all. Have seen enough to suggest that he will fold against teams that put us under real pressure. Fine for games where we are cruising though.

Don’t mind him staying, don’t mind him leaving. Would be good for competition up front to keep him. You never know, he might go up a level. On the other hand, if we can make a decent profit on him…

What a performance! His performances actually improved a lot in the latter part of last season. He has always been a good shot stopper, but he has now also been able to cut out most of the brainfart moments which made him infurating to watch. He is still relatively young for a keeper and still to enter his prime. Maybe he is maturing. Wouldn’t have thought I would be saying this back in January, but I want him to be given the chance as our main keeper next season. If he can keep this up, I am not sure there is a much better keeper available on the market.

Not an easy game for him. Think he has shown growth during the season and if we get a CL spot, he definitely did his part with that Fulham goal.

Got to give him credit for that save from Son. Great speed to cover the shot.

Sanchez James Chalobah Colwill Gusto Caicedo Cucurella Neto Palmer Sancho Jackson

Never let go of him again. Him and Silva were our best pairing last season. Imagine a home brewed backline of James, Chalobah and Colwill!

(Almost) everyone getting game time, no one being overplayed and wins across the board. Long may it continue!

I was hoping he was done with the blunders. He’s a good shot stopper and has been making some great saves lately, including today. I also think he’s technically very good with his feet. However, he always has it in him to have a brain fart moment and give away a goal or two. Very mixed performance today. But when you make two mistakes like today, you have to give an F.