Going to sound nitpicky but Courtois should have been way closer to that freekick. Not necessarily saying he has to save it, but he was miles away and didn't even take a step or two to his right before diving which could have made all the difference. Anyone that's been watching preseason got any comments on how he's performed?

 

Other than the freekick, which i feel was unstoppable, he was fantastic yesterday. See below: 

 

As a person who didnt stay up to watch this game, reading the match thread this morning I thought we lost. Unbelievable

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For all we know he could have wanted that to happen to observe who works the most for him etc.

Not worth worrying about at this stage.

I'll worry when a Tony Pulis team holds the ball for longer.

 

Maybe though would of thought he would be trying to implement his ideas for the season ASAP.

 

Like you say, time will tell so no need to judge now. Havent played with our strongest XI yet either.

Other than the freekick, which i feel was unstoppable, he was fantastic yesterday. See below: 

 

Looks solid, though most of it was routine.

 

The FK may well have been unstoppable, my concern was just with how far away from it he was and how little of the goal he covered. 

Havent watched the game.

Sounds like we dominated last half an hour but up until then it was poor.

Only 40% of the ball again first half. I really hope thats not a sign of things to come us defending in a low block game after game.

We don't have the personnel in defence to play high block. Terry/Cahill and Ivanovic aren't suited for that.

You don't necessarily need fast defenders to play a high line. It's a nice safety net if you have someone like Zouma who can burst in to make last-ditch tackles, but ultimately what makes a good high press is positioning (from midfield as well as defence) rather than physicality.

 

Look at the AC Milan side from the mid-2000s, their back four were always pretty aggressively positioned, yet their most used centre backs were Nesta, Stam, Maldini and Costacurta.

As a person who didnt stay up to watch this game, reading the match thread this morning I thought we lost. Unbelievable

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Are you surprised, match day threads on here are embarrassing.

No minutes for RLC last night? 

 

Should we be reading anything into that? 

It could mean he has made his mind up he is going to be an important squad player so no need to play him. 

 

 

Hopefully.

As a person who didnt stay up to watch this game, reading the match thread this morning I thought we lost. Unbelievable

 

If Bilic is reading this, we were awful after 55 mins... worst i've seen from us in over 20 years! Conte OUT!

Makalel.... KANTE

Edited August 4, 20169 yr by the special one

http://acmilan.theoffside.com/2016/8/4/12373078/milan-tore-apart-by-world-class-chelsea

Milan perspective

 

"After going into the break at 1-1 and with reason to be optimistic, the introduction of Hazard (‘52), Kanté (‘52), Oscar (‘59) & Batshuayi (‘59) signaled the end of what could have been considered a competitive affair, and the beginning of Chelsea’s unrelinquishing control of the second half."

 

 

good to have a win under our belt to build some confidence for the west ham game. Even though pre-season is about match fitness and assesing tactics and players. Still think we need a CB and a Full back.

 

If we don't by anything by the first game agaisnt west ham i would like us to line up as follows

 

 

Courtois

 

Aina Cahill Terry Azibi

 

Chalobah Kante

Fabregas

 

Cudrado Costa Hazard

 

Subs; begovic, matic, ivanovic, oscar, bathsuyi, william, pedro 

 

 

I like this but replace Pedro with Moses.

Edited August 4, 20169 yr by DannyLB

Here's the problem with not watching the game and being surprised by the posts:

 

your view is out of context.  For the first 60 minutes of the game we were dreadful.  That's really an objective fact.  We were 4-4-2 and lethargic, losing possession pretty much at every turn.  You get a lot of negative posts because of a couple things: last year preseason was dreadful and posters laughed away the importance of a good preseason...this term we have seen much the same.  Also, with only two signings, not much has changed in the way of the team and it is still a cause for concern when our back line gets ripped up...which they did.

 

After Hazard, Kante, Batman, Oscar, and Cuadrado came on we switched to a 4-3-3.  

 

              Tibo

Ivan - Cahill - Terry - Azpi

           Kante

  Chalobah - Oscar

Cuadrado - Bat - Hazard

 

You could see Kantes dominance in the middle and literally the entire team performed much, much better.  Oscar looked even dare I say competent.  Cuadrado continues to impress me while Willian continues not to.  Batshuayi looks more spritely than Costa...I'm not ready to replace Costa just yet but it's a good sign.

 

Now I'm not sure if I can really blame the first team we threw out there.  They were playing an unfamiliar formation with a lot of starters missing.  They are clearly the weaker team to the second one we put out there.  That doesn't really excuse the effort though; all the energy came on with Kante and Hazard.

 

One thing is for sure: Hazard looks back. We are in trouble if he has to miss time.  He's got such good skill.  

You could see Kantes dominance in the middle and literally the entire team performed much, much better. 

 

Kante was very good at the anchor (for me his long range diagonals in particular) and it has to be assumed that our opposition will be wise to put a man on him though alongside Chalobah/Fabregas I have every reason to be optimistic based on last night's performance. It was late in the game and I suspect Milan's fitness levels were on the decline (Milan made "only" 5 substitutions), but with an extra man in midfield there was a chemistry I've yet to see this pre season. Hopefully we'll continue with 4-1-4-1/4-5-1 v Bremen.

Edited August 4, 20169 yr by the special one

Kante-Fabregas-Chalobah could be the beginning of something beautiful.

About to watch this apparent horror show for the first time

Costa was given terrible service during this game. Any striker would be sulky.

Moses and Traore not there yet. Traore doesn't seem to be playing in his best position and seems to get caught in possession a bit much. Maybe this is harsh.

Aina makes a few mistakes in attack but his passing is excellent his judgement is good as is his energy and pace. He is a viable starting right back on what I have seen.

Chalobah hasn't had enough minutes in this preseason to really judge but on what I have seen, I'd like to see more.

Rlc won't start in front of Willian, or hazard or Oscar.

Cuadrado I like. I think he is a great alternative to Willian.

Batshuayi also hasn't had enough minutes. Looks good but so does Traore in glimpses.

Obviously Kante is fantastic. Looks so like Makelele, but faster, maybe not so strong.

In defence Terry remains strong but makes playing a high line immpossible. So slow.

We defend very deep so far in preseason, makes it hard to get out and vulnerable to losing ball in our half and getting caught with swift counter.

Anyhow that's my thoughts from watching two of the preseason games.

I think we will start the season playing deep. Building from the back. It seems to be the "Italian way". We do need another CB but if we have to start with what we have, then so be it. If we can carry on not conceding stupid goals like last preseason we will continue to build confidence. From what I've seen of the match it was just that. A confidence builder. When Hazard starts to play his stuff he scares the opposition. You can actually see them start to back off. In this respect he is our best defender. If Kante can break up the oppositions play, and there was evidence he can, we will be able to break quickly. If we break quickly we have a whole selection of players who can capitalize. Not least Hazard. Is Cuadrado better, really ? There was evidence in the game but I want more before deciding. The Bremen game will be crutial for him. Would I give Oscar another season. Yes, on this evidence. If he gets his engine restarted and gets a few more games under his belt I think he's at least a decent squad member. 

 

Bottom line for me is if Hazard can stay fit and motivated, we have a good chance of top 4 this season. He's looked really good in the last two matches and if this carries on he can get player of the season again. 

 

PS. Stick with Traore and forget about Lukaku. Spend the big bucks on the defence.

Here's the problem with not watching the game and being surprised by the posts:

 

your view is out of context.  For the first 60 minutes of the game we were dreadful.  That's really an objective fact.  We were 4-4-2 and lethargic, losing possession pretty much at every turn.  You get a lot of negative posts because of a couple things: last year preseason was dreadful and posters laughed away the importance of a good preseason...this term we have seen much the same.  Also, with only two signings, not much has changed in the way of the team and it is still a cause for concern when our back line gets ripped up...which they did.

 

After Hazard, Kante, Batman, Oscar, and Cuadrado came on we switched to a 4-3-3.  

 

              Tibo

Ivan - Cahill - Terry - Azpi

           Kante

  Chalobah - Oscar

Cuadrado - Bat - Hazard

 

You could see Kantes dominance in the middle and literally the entire team performed much, much better.  Oscar looked even dare I say competent.  Cuadrado continues to impress me while Willian continues not to.  Batshuayi looks more spritely than Costa...I'm not ready to replace Costa just yet but it's a good sign.

 

Now I'm not sure if I can really blame the first team we threw out there.  They were playing an unfamiliar formation with a lot of starters missing.  They are clearly the weaker team to the second one we put out there.  That doesn't really excuse the effort though; all the energy came on with Kante and Hazard.

 

One thing is for sure: Hazard looks back. We are in trouble if he has to miss time.  He's got such good skill.

  Good post. There was a significant improvement when Kante came on and we changed shape. We appeared to use three different formations in the second half as the changes were sprung, showing Conte has tactical flexibility. It was also good to see him shouting for more from the players in the 89th mind. 

About to watch this apparent horror show for the first time

We were actually quite good from the hour mark. The forwards had little service first half as we played in three distinct lines too far spread. Beginning of the second half we might have conceded three, too many minds still in the dressing room. Small steps but an improvement on Saturday, now we really have to kick on, no excuses against Bremen.

As a person who didnt stay up to watch this game, reading the match thread this morning I thought we lost. Unbelievable

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Maybe some knee jerk reactions, but we were pretty poor for a large portion of the game, so understandably people weren't happy, though we played much better during the second half, when Hazard, Kante and Batman came on we started to press and be aggressive.

After pre-season I can't see Pedro ahead of Curadrado or Moses. Looks like the first out the door, Pedro has looked bad when played and so far Conte prefers the Nigerian and the Colombian to him.

 

Not sure why we are holding on to Matic. Or Ivanovic.

 

First team on form after pre-season seems to be:

 

 

Courtois, Aina, Terry, ?, Azpi, Fabregas / Chalobah, Kante, Cuadrado / Moses, Batshuayi, Willian, Hazard 

 

The second centerback is the obvious problem area. Terry and Cahill are snails, you can't have both on field at once.

Agree with most of it. 

Except for Matic. I would like to see how matic does with Kante. Also, we have Mikel to get rid of. Matic is way down the list.

Paddy Power ?@paddypower 6h6 hours ago

N'Golo Kante made his Chelsea debut last night against AC Milan. Decent enough stats from him: #CFC

 

 

Best Starting XI for Chelsea IMO:

 

 

 

Aina - Zouma - Terry - Azpilicueta

 

 

--------------Kante---------------------

 

 

-----Fabregas-------Willian----------

 

 

Cuadrado--------------------Hazard

 

----------------Costa------------------

I was at the game last night! First time watching Chelsea play!!

 

Chalobah looked exceptional in his short sub appearance, he looked like a seasoned pro with some of his footwork, distribution, and calmness. 

 

Matic is not ready for the new season or he just can't play in a 4-4-2. 

 

AC Milan bossed us for the first 60min, we hardly had any time on the ball due to the pressing from them. 

 

The best thing for this team is a 4-3-3 or 4-5-1, a 3-man midfield gives us a solid base to build from. Also we badly need more signings, atleast 2 more defenders -- I would love to see someone like Juan Bernat or Ricardo Rodriguez to come in at left back and Mustafi at center back. 

I watched the first half before i had to sleep, i thought Chelsea looked pretty awful in the first half, much the same as last season but I guess the second half was a lot better. I have high hopes for this season though, I think they will turn it around still and the score lines are appearing now despite it not looking too great yet.

Best Starting XI for Chelsea IMO:

 

 

 

Aina - Zouma - Terry - Azpilicueta

 

 

--------------Kante---------------------

 

 

-----Fabregas-------Willian----------

 

 

Cuadrado--------------------Hazard

 

----------------Costa------------------

 

Bit risky playing without a keeper don't you think mate?