Last time we won this Community Shield was in 2009 and we haven't won one since, I'm sure we've been in it 5 times since then, very odd. 

7 hours ago, enigma said:

Costa was Conte's fault, not the board. The board were put in a difficult position due to that. 

Costa was Costa's fault, can we please stop trying to change this, he wanted to leave, those are the facts. 

We were never in the races here. City were organised and effective in defence, and were blistering every time they pushed forward. We seemed to be outnumbered all over the pitch.

This has been a terrible pre-season for us. We eventually sacked and replaced our coach with only a few weeks to go before the season starts. Add that to the fact we're missing our best and most important players because of the world cup. It's not really the best way or best circumstances for upheaval...but here we are. We may well have a slow start to the season.

City have an insane squad, easily the best in the league, and a manager who's had a couple of seasons to get the team playing like he wants. It's no surprise they were much better than us. Maybe we would have been more threatening with Hazard. Maybe Kante would have filled the spaces that City found at will...I don't know, but they have the better squad, and are far better prepared for the new season than we are. But that's no more than I expected.

1 hour ago, Cam said:

We were never in the races here. City were organised and effective in defence, and were blistering every time they pushed forward. We seemed to be outnumbered all over the pitch.

This has been a terrible pre-season for us. We eventually sacked and replaced our coach with only a few weeks to go before the season starts. Add that to the fact we're missing our best and most important players because of the world cup. It's not really the best way or best circumstances for upheaval...but here we are. We may well have a slow start to the season.

City have an insane squad, easily the best in the league, and a manager who's had a couple of seasons to get the team playing like he wants. It's no surprise they were much better than us. Maybe we would have been more threatening with Hazard. Maybe Kante would have filled the spaces that City found at will...I don't know, but they have the better squad, and are far better prepared for the new season than we are. But that's no more than I expected.

We made a slow start under Conte too so we will see.

4 hours ago, Slojo said:

Last time we won this Community Shield was in 2009 and we haven't won one since, I'm sure we've been in it 5 times since then, very odd. 

We've won it on four occasions - (1955, 2000, 2005, 2009)

We've lost on nine occasions, so we've never had a good record for whatever reason. In the Roman era alone, we've lost on seven occasions (2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018).

2 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

We made a slow start under Conte too so we will see.

True. We didn't start hitting our straps under Conte until October.

What I did like to see was how well we passed the City press from the back. This never happened as effectively under Conte when pressed because opposition pressing was our kryptonite. You can already see the good things coming to fruition, It would be nice if more people had patience rather than expect things to slot into place immediately. 

22 minutes ago, enigma said:

What I did like to see was how well we passed the City press from the back. This never happened as effectively under Conte when pressed because opposition pressing was our kryptonite. You can already see the good things coming to fruition, It would be nice if more people had patience rather than expect things to slot into place immediately. 

I agree. We did succeed in getting out from the back. Not easily but we did. 

A match to forget I feel. Though I must admit I struggled to concentrate watching the game at Wembley as before I got to my seat I managed to dislocate my bloody knee, managed to walk very slowly to the tube but by the time I got to St Pancras I was hopping like an idiot and after my train I had to get 2 people to help me get into the car. Ugh I also think we played pretty sh*t but the sun was directly in my eyes for most of the game so I kind of lost the plot to be honest. 

It isn’t really the defense that’s the problem. Defense becomes a problem because we carry no attacking threat.  At the moment Morata couldn’t score a penalty. CHO has never scored in the senior team. Barkley scored 27 goals in 180 games for Everton, Fabregas has scored 21 goals in 182 games for Chelsea and a look at the record shows how they are drying up. Pedro 31 yrs old  is 28 goals from 131 Chelsea games. Kante? Moses 18 goals in 122 appearances for Chelsea. 

 

They are all 1 goal in every six game people. We need a 20 goal a season player and a 15 goal a season player. Hazard is the 15. 

The top 4 teams overall in the premier leagues entire history, of which Chelsea is number 3 at the moment average about 1,7 goals a game   We look like a one goal a game team at the moment  

 

I thought we were meant to be playing a high press. We didn't do this successfully and City's first pass out from the back often left 3 or 4 of our players  chasing back. This could be a fitness issue but Fabregas isn't quick enough and on this performance neither is Barclay. Kante will help this situation but I'm hoping our fitness will improve dramatically.

I'd like to be more positive but I'm struggling. Alonso seems to be less effective in a 4. We have a big problem at centre forward and dare I say it but Luiz will probably be a liability in a 2.

I'm still trying to think of positives. When Hazard  comes back the opposition will have to pay a lot more attention to defending and he can draw two or three players around but we need him back. When Kante comes in we can shore up the midfield. While Luiz is questionable in a 2 his passing from the back will be an asset.

We need a better centre forward. Morata has been awful in preseason although he needed better service yesterday. Hazard will help in this respect but in the previous preseason games his touch has been poor and he doesn't seem to be motivated. He looks like a rabbit caught in somebodies headlights. Tammy doesn't look good at this level and Giroud isn't getting any younger. Hopefully Batshuayi can come good. He may be better under this new system.

Sarri has got his work cut out.

I was actually pretty pleased with how we played yesterday. We had a few touches in their half, which is an improvement on when we played them last season! We managed to pass through their high press quite often, and although our passing wasn't always great I can see this improving in the next couple of months when the players adjust to the new formation. I love David Luiz, but I think Christensen would be better suited next to Rudiger. Borrusia Monchengladbach play with a back 4, and Christensen excelled in that system. Give it a couple of months and add Kante/Hazard to the starting 11 and I predict that we will be competing with the best.

Man City have bypassed even the most organised of pressing teams and made them look silly, it's no surprise they walked through our underdeveloped pressing. I knew this would be the hardest part of Sarri's game to implement as it was the most alien to our squad due to four years of Conte and Mourinho. I have faith that it will improve with time and with Fabregas out of the side. 

I'm going player by player:

1) Caballero - when the time is reduced to the minimum, he is probably the best second goalkeeper in the league. the problem is when he's got plenty of time, he'll make some stupid mistake. But to fulfil matches like these , suspensions or injuries, he's the best.

2) Rudiger - the best in the team as usual. Fastest player in the league, always motivated and devoted, giving everything on the pitch. Just this stupid mistake for the first goal... this kid Fodden was already against 2 and Rudi went into his direction making 3 against him and Aguero, I repeat, Aguero - alone. Damn, that was silly. Apart of that, he is a rock. 

3) Luiz - shaky. Needs more time. 

3) Alonso and Azpilicueta - both were awful. Defensively, offensively, every aspect of the game. I thought Emerson would be our starter, what happened? With this speed, Alonso is not for a starter. And I'm not talking about defense only, even when he's got space in front, he is the easiest man to catch and he can't usually even deliver a good cross.

4) Fabregas and Jorginho - tough match for them. We looked like most of the time like someone got ejected in minute 1. this is defensively. Offensively and with the ball they did tremendous job. Can't believe we were going toe to toe in possession game with Guardiola's City, but the first half especially was impressive. 

5) Pedro - he was trying. He always does. But as usual, he failed. Miserably. 

6) He wasn't bad. I mean, he wasn't great, but the fact that they were tryharding against him so much, the fact that he played with the ball as much as possible, is good for 17-years old. Most of his contemporaries against so motivated and classy opponents like Walker, don't even touch the ball. He was Danger number 1 every single time he got it. 

7) Barkley - our second best player. He managed to turn around the ball pretty well not once or twice, delivered the ball Pedro and Morata, they were just awful so we can say Ross made a pretty decent performance. But it was, IMO.

8) Morata - no comment. 

Edited August 6, 20187 yr by Giordano_Bruno

41 minutes ago, Andy North said:

I thought we were meant to be playing a high press. We didn't do this successfully and City's first pass out from the back often left 3 or 4 of our players  chasing back. This could be a fitness issue but Fabregas isn't quick enough and on this performance neither is Barclay. Kante will help this situation but I'm hoping our fitness will improve dramatically.

I'd like to be more positive but I'm struggling. Alonso seems to be less effective in a 4. We have a big problem at centre forward and dare I say it but Luiz will probably be a liability in a 2.

Big part of it is knowing when to press and when not to. You watch the first goal. Both Fabregas and Jorginho see a player recieve the ball with back to goal and decide to press even though they are too far away and have no chance of getting the ball. The result is they both get drawn out of position and there is space to play through the lines. 

That happened regularly.

That comes with practice but you've also got to have players with the speed to press effectively. Fabregas in particular will struggle with that. 

Hazard,Kante,Giroud,Courtois,Willian and Christianson all to start against Huddersfield imo.That will make a big difference.No panic stations yet.

3 minutes ago, Spiller86 said:

Big part of it is knowing when to press and when not to. You watch the first goal. Both Fabregas and Jorginho see a player recieve the ball with back to goal and decide to press even though they are too far away and have no chance of getting the ball. The result is they both get drawn out of position and there is space to play through the lines. 

That happened regularly.

That comes with practice but you've also got to have players with the speed to press effectively. Fabregas in particular will struggle with that. 

Hopefully Kante's return, better organisation and fitness throughout the team will help resolve what is a very embarrassing problem. Although I'm not a big fan of RLC I think he makes up the midfield with Kante and Jorge. We need a big fella in there somewhere.

42 minutes ago, DannyVblue said:

I was actually pretty pleased with how we played yesterday. We had a few touches in their half, which is an improvement on when we played them last season! We managed to pass through their high press quite often, and although our passing wasn't always great I can see this improving in the next couple of months when the players adjust to the new formation. I love David Luiz, but I think Christensen would be better suited next to Rudiger. Borrusia Monchengladbach play with a back 4, and Christensen excelled in that system. Give it a couple of months and add Kante/Hazard to the starting 11 and I predict that we will be competing with the best.

I was encouraged too, Barkley showing positive signs, subs on as soon as the second goal went in and positive ones too. 

Got a feeling we are going to see a lot more of CHO and Abraham this season and although not a huge fan of Moses liked Sarri going for goals.

Often against the Manx sides under Conte we went down to 30% possession looks like that is going to change. 

Midfield needs some more tinkering or personnel yet think this is going to be an exciting season of rebuilding.

29 minutes ago, Spiller86 said:

Big part of it is knowing when to press and when not to. You watch the first goal. Both Fabregas and Jorginho see a player recieve the ball with back to goal and decide to press even though they are too far away and have no chance of getting the ball. The result is they both get drawn out of position and there is space to play through the lines. 

That happened regularly.

That comes with practice but you've also got to have players with the speed to press effectively. Fabregas in particular will struggle with that. 

Their first goal was fantastic implementation if positional play principles on their side. Guardiola sides will absolutely hammer you with these types of situations which is why people need to calm down a bit. Not many sides have such an understanding of these principles.

Here is an article on the game:

https://spielverlagerung.com/2018/08/05/the-cityzens-win-the-fa-community-shield-in-style/

 

For their goal, they used two up back and through runs to draw our midfielders out to press them and create space behind the lines for the third man to exploit. 

An up back and through is a move where a player comes short to recieve a pass with his back to goal. This is done to draw the opposition defender to mark him and press high up. Then a third player will occupy the space that the opposition defender has vacated due to them pushing up to press the initial player recieving the ball. This play lays it off to a forward facing player who then passes it to the third man in space. 

Nice video explaining it more clearly. Guardiola drills this sh*t into his players until it's second nature to them.

31 minutes ago, Andy North said:

Hopefully Kante's return, better organisation and fitness throughout the team will help resolve what is a very embarrassing problem. Although I'm not a big fan of RLC I think he makes up the midfield with Kante and Jorge. We need a big fella in there somewhere.

Agreed. Remains to be seen if RLC has the energy to press effectively in midfield. Jose's barb after the Sydney FC game all those years ago still largely holds true.

Hiya. New here. Was at the match yesterday and my quick Pros and Cons would be:

Not so good:

* Morata. Less said, the better.
* Pedro. Poor fellow. Match could have lasted another 3-4 hours and each attempted finish would have only worsened.
* Crazily high defensive line, which--without any adjustments--will be exposed at the wrong times for us.
* No meaningful pressing, made all the more difficult by Fabregas's (lack of) pace.
* I liked Rudiger's performance (minus the first goal), but too frequently he and Luiz were playing like there was a 3rd c-h nearby to cover them.

More promising:

* CHO was the major bright spark; he is going to be a wonderful player.
* Very much admired our commitment to passing it out of the back.
* To that end, we must have completed the vast majority of our passes -- something that we saw less and less in the second half of last season.
* Some reviewers have slated Barkley but I thought he escaped from trouble on several occasions and looked the part physically. I would tend to be patient with him.
* And as has been said above, we were missing as many as 6 potential starters from the starting lineup. 

I think this Chelsea team will be 'quietly good' this year.

Didn't expect to win the game, so wasn't that disappointed or surprised with the outcome. It's part of the process of playing with a new system and get better with it. Although very few positives on the day, the team and players will get better playing a real game before the season kicks off. Given the players away, I don't think the team will be fully ready until the first International break ends.

3 minutes ago, Faulconbridge said:

Hiya. New here. Was at the match yesterday and my quick Pros and Cons would be:

Not so good:

* Morata. Less said, the better.
* Pedro. Poor fellow. Match could have lasted another 3-4 hours and each attempted finish would have only worsened.
* Crazily high defensive line, which--without any adjustments--will be exposed at the wrong times for us.
* No meaningful pressing, made all the more difficult by Fabregas's (lack of) pace.
* I liked Rudiger's performance (minus the first goal), but too frequently he and Luiz were playing like there was a 3rd c-h nearby to cover them.

More promising:

* CHO was the major bright spark; he is going to be a wonderful player.
* Very much admired our commitment to passing it out of the back.
* To that end, we must have completed the vast majority of our passes -- something that we saw less and less in the second half of last season.
* Some reviewers have slated Barkley but I thought he escaped from trouble on several occasions and looked the part physically. I would tend to be patient with him.
* And as has been said above, we were missing as many as 6 potential starters from the starting lineup. 

I think this Chelsea team will be 'quietly good' this year.

Nice to see some positives. I too liked Barkley's game for the most part. Strong on the ball which we will need. Only mistake was getting caught ball watching and losing Foden for goal one.

I can't remember another recent pre-season where we look so disorganised with such little time left. Scandalous management (or lack of) by the board in taking so long to dump Conte and bring in Sarri, who is charged with implemeting a whole new way of playing, and not only that, has been left with a squad that is pretty mediocre, barring one or two stand-out players.

I hate to be the harbinger of doom, but we are in for a pretty frustrating season if we dont add quality to the squad. Not to mention the prospect of watching Luiz in a back four every week. Christ.....

 

17 minutes ago, Elliott said:

I can't remember another recent pre-season where we look so disorganised with such little time left. Scandalous management (or lack of) by the board in taking so long to dump Conte and bring in Sarri, who is charged with implemeting a whole new way of playing, and not only that, has been left with a squad that is pretty mediocre, barring one or two stand-out players.

I hate to be the harbinger of doom, but we are in for a pretty frustrating season if we dont add quality to the squad. Not to mention the prospect of watching Luiz in a back four every week. Christ.....

 

I think we have more than "one or two" stand out players.

Hazard

Courtois (If we keep him)

Dave

Jorge

Willian

Kante

These players would walk into MUFC, THFC, Liverpool or Arsenal team. Some of our other players  would also walk into THFC and they finished top 4 last season. I don't think our players are the problem. For me we have one of the best squads in the PL and we need to focus on getting them to play in the best system to the best of their ability. If Sarri does a good job we can make top 4 with this squad. I would swap Willian for Martial at this point to freshen things up but unless we can prise Pickford from Everton I would run with this squad and hope for a top 4 finish.