Really like the look of how things are shaping up, Conte is building a very strong and balanced team, we are going to be very well organised, very hard to break down, pressing from the front and be so dangerous in attack! 

 

cant wait till Hazard, Kante and Costa are all playing together we are going to be such a force next season! 

Ok - so watched untill the 85th min then had to head to work. 

 

Some points:

 

This is a fitness exercises first and foremost  - from that point of view tick in the box

 

Secondly it is important of the team to work on there shape  - last year we where all over the shop as a team as far as having a solid look about us. Yes Scum has a lot of the ball but watch the game back, more often then not you can see everyone in position, the compactness of the team working as one and how effective it is. If we got nothing else out of the game but another session for the players to work on there defensive shape it would have been a win.

 

Ola Aniais clearly ready to be our first choice right back, or left back, you will struggle to find a full back accross europe who looks so composed on the ball, defensively very sound so far and quick as all hell  - this guy is a star, throw him in the deep end for me, not a chance he won't swim. 

 

Matic still didn't look him self. I just don't think it's going to work him next to fabregas in a two, but i still believe you keep a known quality and we all know in form there are few better then Matic, we might actually have the only one that is.

 

Now to the not so good - Strikers masivly issolated for most of the game -  i expect this to improve with time

 

Moses and Cuadrado - in boxing they talk about levels and these two just ain't on it. 

 

Attacks end with moses every time because his mind has ideas that his body just can't pull of. It's not an accident that since we brought him he hasn't managed a full season any where. You can call the odd fans opinion wrong but multiple managers have deemed him not up to it and so far we are wating for one that thinks the oposite

 

Cuadrado - A lot of people used to accuse Joe cole of not having a "football brain" Cuadrado makes Cole look like the newton of the football world!! he just looks so lost, will end up getting fustrated on the bench again - cash in now with Napoli i say  

 

Reasonably accurate account.

 

The match itself was ruined initially by a very finicky referee in the first half, the flow of the game was totally ruined. In the second half the sending off was correct, maybe being a friendly the official could have offered Conte the opportunity of substituting Cesc. It did though kill the match as any kind of spectacle, though a few were possibly running a bit on empty at the time of the decision. The final 20 mins was a training exercise which we passed with only a few scary moments. I agree on Aina having great potential, hopefully we will persevere with him but fear once Ivan is fit again he will be relegated to a squad member. Moses is nice and direct but frequently makes the wrong decision, he offers something different so might make the 25. Matic though is the enigma, what has happened to the player of 18 mths ago, frequently he would make good blocks only to fail at what Mikel makes look so simple, the 5yd ball to a teammate. The clean sheet is a positive to build upon, the test will come when we don't sit as deep. 

Three things:

The lengths you'll go to defending a distinctly average player like Moses who has contributed little to the club contrasted to the disdain you show towards Diego Costa is really something to be marvelled.

Matic - dog sh*t, this guy is finished here, we don't need him anymore (2/10)

Willian - terrible, offered absolutely nothing (3/10)

Moses - there's a reason why we loan him out every season (3/10)

Terry - looked alright, defended well with some good tackles but sloppy on the ball (4.5/10)

Cahill - similar to Terry, defended well but made me nervous whenever he had it, got the goal though (6/10)

Traore - barely saw it, was starved of service, didn't notice him (3/10)

Loftus-Cheek - thought his passing was decent, a few times Lovren had to take him down when he looked somewhat threatening (5/10)

Azpillicueta - good defending, poor ball use (4.5/10)

Aina - quiet, no impact (4/10)

Begovic - one decent save, apart from that he was dreadful (3.5/10)

Fabregas - quiet, stupid tackle (3/10)

 

Conte - defensively we were set up well but we created zero chances going forward, Liverpool dominated the game, we invited too much pressure but we fought it off, better sides will put us away you'd think (4/10)

 

We need a CB, a good RW (Willian, Cuadrado, Pedro aren't the answer) and a CM who can create. 

 

Just home from work and reading this thread - so glad I didn't get up early to watch this if Gosha's ratings are a fair reflection. At least we beat them.

My takeaways from the game:

 

Ola Aina: He was functional meaning we can start him and have him in the squad but he is not going to be amazing yet. I would love it if he could go on loan to a top league team where he can start. (Unless we can give him plenty of starting opportunities. Bench will kill all hope).

 

Traore: See above.

 

RLC: I love the coaches idea of using him as a striker, he is a big lad with decent speed. He needs to improve on his timing. I would like it if Chelsea were to hang on to him and give him a back up role in the 2 man striker, I dont see any other team willing to use him as a striker, so loaning him is a bad idea.

 

Fabergas: Easily my favorite player based on the work he put in yesterday, Sure, the challenge was bad, but I saw a guy wiling to show the coach then he can play defense also and was working very hard, he was challenging a lot and doing more on defense than Matic.

 

Matic: He was poor, It is like his form from last season has returned. I would not mind if Juventus or United put a bid for him and we sold him. 

 

Willian: HE showed flashes of goodness, but i felt his work rate was subpar. 

 

Moses: He was the only other guy to match Fabergas in terms of work rate, It is nice to see a hard working winger. It is a bit unfortunate that he was partnered by RLC and Traore in offense as their inexperience made things slightly harder for Moses to prove himself. The one thing though is that for all his hardwork he seems above average. I will not be surprised if we try and loan him again.

 

I see a lot of people complaining about how the game was boring and how we did not have enough possession. I dont think we should be surprised as the apart form our defensive 4  and Cesc the rest of team are still trying to figure out the whole thing. RLC is a striker, With Traore in support behind RLC are a new pairing. Victor Moses is again new to this system and team mates he has not played with. Matic cannot concentrate for the life of him and Willian is still in holiday mode.  I dont see our attacking players capable of producing much creativity in that game, Or us maintaining dominant possession.

 

I will also not praise our defense so much. We are lucky Liverpool did not look sharp else they could have had a few goals of their own. 

 

Verdict: Until we see oru marquee players in action in this system, it is hard to predict anything. 

Just home from work and reading this thread - so glad I didn't get up early to watch this if Gosha's ratings are a fair reflection. At least we beat them.

 

It is not a fair reflection and is very harsh. We were average not terrible.

I think we need some perspective here, Pre season friendly, well we have upset the Dippers.... Tick, we didn't concede a goal.....Tick, No Kante, Hazard... Tick, Conte will be trying his hardest to convey his footballing methods, so lets really wait till the Wet Spam game, Game time....Tick....

Just home from work and reading this thread - so glad I didn't get up early to watch this if Gosha's ratings are a fair reflection. At least we beat them.

They arent a fair reflection, not even close.

Even last year RLC seemed a lazy player. personally i still do not see him putting himself about. For me this is his problem.

How many times over the years have young players been on the brink but just unable to push the extra few % that's needed to get a first team place?

Josh" McEachran was one who was allegedly thefuture but is now playing at Brentford. Is there a lot to be said for some players being too wealthy too early?

Young players earn too much, agreed, it's the way football has gone. I think that Loftus Cheek has more potential than Josh, earning more game time than Josh did and for a ‘lazy’ player, he certainly seems to embrace the challenge of playing in various positions. Lazy is a label that has been placed on him, maybe he could do more at times, though any criticism placed on him after this particular match, I find unfair, it's pre season for a start and he's not used to that position, but time will tell how he fairs next season.

Edited July 28, 20169 yr by Floyd25

Michael Ballack was criticised initially for being a 'lazy' player but now he is revered by Chelsea fans as a paragon of power football.

This time last season we were letting in 3-4 goals by some MLS side, so I'd say there are some improvement this preseason. If this meaningless friendly showed anything, is we won't roll over easily like last season. We are no where near where we want to be, but the early sign is we will grind out those games where we lost easily last season.

For what its worth - The Drog 38 and still trolling Assnal.

This lad has to start over Branna at full back, was class once again: 

 

Three things:

1. Being sent loan after loan after loan despite doing very well in your first season, excelling in preseason, can probably be very demotivating, plus he's being flung from team to team as a short term option that is expendable. Overall for a player of ambition its probably not a motivating situation.

2. Not true about clubs:

a. In Liverpool for whatever reason he was never given a chance.

b. At Stoke City he actually was a first team player whenever fit - he started 18 out of 19 games when he was fit (the rest of the loan was spent in the injury room). Maybe not superb, but did pretty well for himself.

c. At West Ham he started off pretty well, then got injured and by the time he got back it was just hard to displace the players that were playing so well while he was gone (Lanzini, etc.). This is even more understandable that the club had little motivation to play a short term option in Moses, when the long term option worked out so well.

So basically he flopped at Liverpool, not at the other two clubs.

3. During his entire time with Chelsea, has he ever dissapointed us? Did well the first season and excelled each and every preseason. Why not give him half a season? He may be the perfect impact substitute player.

You know there are lots of pathetic fans here who likes to find and emphasize the negatives in certain players so sometimes it best to just ignore there post because despite all your efforts to explain the simplest thing in the world they will still chose to find something negative. Anyway there opinion don't really matters to me as the reign of Jose is gone and we now have a manager who is more sincere. So am very certain Moses is staying here this season and will prove his haters wrong. Anybody who have a problem with that can support another team.

The lengths you'll go to defending a distinctly average player like Moses who has contributed little to the club contrasted to the disdain you show towards Diego Costa is really something to be marvelled.

 

Diego Costa is a great striker. But for various reasons I just can't like him and feel wrong about seeing him in a Chelsea shirt. You can say that my disdain is non-football related, but Costa is a very hard player to like and much like Suarez I prefer my striker to have higher moral standards1

 

As for Moses - no one is clamoring for him to be a starter, but he seems like a perfect backup player. 

You know there are lots of pathetic fans here who likes to find and emphasize the negatives in certain players so sometimes it best to just ignore there post because despite all your efforts to explain the simplest thing in the world they will still chose to find something negative. Anyway there opinion don't really matters to me as the reign of Jose is gone and we now have a manager who is more sincere. So am very certain Moses is staying here this season and will prove his haters wrong. Anybody who have a problem with that can support another team.

Alright everyone, so those of us who don't rate Moses should go off and support another team. Word salad. Please form a coherent argument for the love of god, you always post absolute drivel! 

You know there are lots of pathetic fans here who likes to find and emphasize the negatives in certain players so sometimes it best to just ignore there post because despite all your efforts to explain the simplest thing in the world they will still chose to find something negative. Anyway there opinion don't really matters to me as the reign of Jose is gone and we now have a manager who is more sincere. So am very certain Moses is staying here this season and will prove his haters wrong. Anybody who have a problem with that can support another team.

total and utter bullsh*t. If he wasn't African you wouldn't give a sh*t about him. 

total and utter bullsh*t. If he wasn't African you wouldn't give a sh*t about him.

Well John Terry, Cech, or RLC are Africans then....can't stop laughing.

I'm a big fan of Moses, and thought he done really well for us in his full season with us. Whenever I have seen him in a Chelsea shirt, he always gives it his all, and to me that's massively important. Ideally we bring in another winger -- such as Mahrez, and I would take Moses over Cuadrado or Pedro as a backup. Hazard, Mahrez, Willian, Moses, Kenedy I would be happy with.

Marko Marin went on loan for years and is still I think under contract!!