Happy with that, loved that we seemed to keep the back 3 at times during the second half with Azpi staying deep and Alonso bombing forward. Patchy at times during the first half but hopefully that's just a case of getting used to the patterns of play. Special mention to Pedro who I thought played out of his skin. Onwards and upwards. UP THE CHELS! 

7 minutes ago, robdog said:

I watched parts of the Newcastle vs spuds match - Kenedy received a ball in a similar situation, but allow the GK to take the ball off of his feet - I hope he watched this goal & took notes

Kenedy imo is not a Chelsea player or any club in the top 6.

Edited August 11, 20187 yr by Osgood is Good

So Sarri can have another week...

Kepa - 6 ( Did what he supposed to be, hasn't really been tested. Kept a clean sheet and it's a good start for him and his confidence ).

Azpilicueta - 6 ( Decent defensively, few good movements to cover the CB's. Hasn't really joined the counter attacks, he has a good crossing ability which could be useful for us).

David Luiz - 6 ( Decent defensively, sent few good balls forward to the attack. Coming too fast to tackle and has problems with quick players )

Rudiger - 7 ( Good game, covered Luiz very well. Lost few air balls, but recovered very quickly. Was very dangerous at corners).

Marcos Alonso - 6.5 ( Showed good movement in the attack every time he joined, received a penalty. Defensively he has to improve).

Jorginho - 7 ( Great control of the game, fantastic passing and ball movement. Great debut ).

Kante - 7 ( Scored a goal, did what he knows best. Sarri plays him more forward as he keeps Jorginho in the central to lead the game ).

Barkley - 6.5 ( Showed hunger, hard worked on the pitch. Need more to take shots, he has a fantastic ability to shoot, I expect him to score in the next match. Overall he was good ).

Pedro - 7 ( Scored a goal, involved in the counter-attack of the first goal. Had moments when he kept the ball too much, but overall he was good ).

Willian - 6.5 ( Great dribblings, great assist. Another player that needs to shoot more, have to work on his scoring ability against teams like Huddersfield ).

Morata - 6 ( Hard worked, improved his behaviour on the pitch but he is still not a proper main striker ).

Subs:

Loftus-Cheek - 6 ( Came for good, moved towards the ball and asked for him. Wanted to be involved in the game ).

Hazard - 7 ( Showed his class since the first minute, WE LOVE YOU EDEN!).

Moses - N/A.

28 minutes ago, DiegoCostaForever said:

Freedom of opinion.

Do you have more opinions than just the one about Morata?

Haven’t seen the thread cus have to stream on my phone now shutdown the $190 a month direct tv rip off

I must admit initially with all the passing & no striker up top (Morata lol) it seemed like here we go. But after Kantes goal it was never really in doubt. 2nd half was much improved, when Hazard came on they were done for.

Perfect start to the new season with the new manager, all the players showed up and imo it can only get better.

 

carefree then !!!

 

22 minutes ago, BordeauxBlue said:

Who else thought Barkley looked great in this system?

He could be an absolute star.

No, he worked hard but he lacks flair like too many English players. He did a job today but I doubt he will be a star.

2 minutes ago, TheBluesBrother said:

No, he worked hard but he lacks flair like too many English players. He did a job today but I doubt he will be a star.

Agreed, thought he was okay but nothing special. At least RLC has the dribbling to progress the ball up the pitch. Imagine Kovacic will make that position his own in no time.

We didn't see SarriBall today but that's to be expected. We kept a clean sheet but need to move the ball quicker and more precisely. Second half we were better without being exceptional. This is Huddersfield don't forget. Against Man City, Liverpool, Spurs, Arsenal or Man Utd we will find it tougher. When everybody is singing from the same hymn sheet then we will see SarriBall in full effect. Let's hope it doesn't take long to implement.

12 minutes ago, Valerie said:

Do you have more opinions than just the one about Morata?

That would need 2 braincells though... So no. 

54 minutes ago, Erdal1910 said:

Is it me, or has Eden won a Pie eating contest? Looks a bit chubby

Probably all that salt after France's win at the World Cup.

Phew! We avoided another crisis ... till next week !

26 minutes ago, DaRick said:

. Not sure about Jorginho's penalty - seemed a little tentative - but let's hope there's more. .

I completely disagree with that, it was a penalty by a player full of confidence, he made it look effortless. 

1 minute ago, dkw said:

I completely disagree with that, it was a penalty by a player full of confidence, he made it look effortless. 

Agreed, unfazed and calm, just like all of his pens in pre-season.

37 minutes ago, robdog said:

I have to admit I am liking what I am seeing from Barkley - Kova?i? won't be able to walk into the starting XI like many here believe - Kova?i? won't have an easy time getting that spot over Barkley - The Man that wears the Magic Hat will be on the outside looking in I afraid - 3 points in the bag & revenge from that result at the end last season that IMHO was staged by the FA - that fat ref assisted The Terriers for a win - Not this time around - remaining Carefree until the end

Problem though is that Kovacic is the better player in most respects, including with respect to unlocking parked buses. 

Barkley provides a bigger goal threat but that's about it. 

You could possibly use them both, but you would need Kovacic to take Jorginho's place (which he could do quite well IMO given that he was at his best playing as a DM in Real Madrid). That probably won't happen often, so the other option is using a 4-2-2-2, with the mobile Hazard/Pedro acting as ersatz forwards linking up with Kovacic/Barkley. Purely theoretical, of course. 

Or start Barkley as one of the 3 forwards, with Kovacic playing in the centre, and replace him with the faster Willian/Pedro to provide a greater goal threat or exploit tired legs (given both are faster than Barkley). Of course, that's an unlikely prospect for various reasons, so Barkley/RLC will very likely become subs, especially since Barkley is injury prone. 

12 minutes ago, dkw said:

I completely disagree with that, it was a penalty by a player full of confidence, he made it look effortless. 

Scared the sh*t out of me. With that little skip he couldn't put any power in his shot, that is bound to go wrong 

He'll probably destroy the net next time 

13 minutes ago, dkw said:

I completely disagree with that, it was a penalty by a player full of confidence, he made it look effortless. 

I respect your opinion; eye of the beholder, I guess.

Let's hope he scores more. 

1 minute ago, Valerie said:

Scared the sh*t out of me. With that little skip he couldn't put any power in his shot, that is bound to go wrong 

He'll probably destroy the net next time 

Between his and hazards style were never going to be able to relax when we get a penalty. 

1 hour ago, Erdal1910 said:

Is it me, or has Eden won a Pie eating contest? Looks a bit chubby

I am sure it was because Eden was enjoying a few Chimays

 

Watched all of it. First 30 minutes was less than inspiring, but can be more than expected. It looked like half of the guys were trying to play Sarri-ball and the other half were still stuck with Conte-ball mentality. Too much side to side slooooowwww pace football in the final half of the pitch was killing any Sarri-ball. We all know it will take some time. It did slowly start to improve and the second half was much better, but still not where Sarri wants or needs it.

This style's success will be based on quickness and pressing high up the pitch, which is new to our guys. It will come.

This was the best opponent we could have gotten to open the season. Now, we need to continue to progress and be ready for the upgrade in the opposition next week.

Nice 3-0 result to start the season. I think everyone is tuned back in now and excited for the year.

Come on you Chelsea!!

I think we will draw against Arsenal.

Need to improve our pressing. Seems to be half-hearted. 

Sarri said we have 1 month where we only play 1 game a week so lots of time available to spend on the training pitch for learning and improving. Will be harder once we play 3 games a week. 

 

Btw, anyone noticed the Huddersfield's goalie's footwork? thank god we didn't go for that guy. :D 

it was hard to miss