I saw more thrilling stuff yesterday than the entire last season really. The speed, the one-two between the lines, the good links between the players, the high press.

Seriously guys Tammy's not ready? He had a decent game. His deflection was a Giroud level and that's a classy one. So many good interactions between him and the people behind him. Never really isolated from the game, great pressing. Gave Barkley, Mount and Pedro so many opportunities. Being so criticized after a game like this is lame. 

I actually liked the way Ross, Mason and Pulisic moved without the ball. Of course they are not even close to what's Hazard used to deliver for us but they've got so much more energy than him and when we have them together on the pitch this might bring us even more exciting football. Not more exciting individual performances but a football, as a team. 

Can't wait to see Ruben - Mount - Pulisic behind Tammy. It might not deliver any silver this year but gosh I'm starting to feel the thrill is coming back. 

 

 

9 hours ago, Davey Baby said:

Mourinho? I can't stand him. Think he took pleasure in watching us lose. He certainly has no loyalty towards Chelsea and he's going to delight in trying to apply as much pressure on us as possible. Frank is right to play the youth. Jose resents that because he's not a nurturing manager, Frank must learn to cut off all the noise. I've got a feeling most of it will be coming from Jose's mouth.

How there were people that thought a third coming was a good idea is mindblowing.

All those comments confirmed is we would have had our own HG boys doing a KDB/Salah.

I think people are being overly harsh on some players performance. This was Tammy’s first competitive game as a striker for Chelsea against the worlds most expensive centre half. I thought he done alright, held the ball up well, kept Maguire away from the ball and should have had a free kick for their second, hit the post. Given a bit of time, I think he’ll develop in to a very good centre forward. 

Edited August 12, 20196 yr by EdinburghBlue

6 hours ago, loz said:

Bottom line is that we largely played well but got humped harder than I did in a dubious dream I had the details of which I really shouldn't go into!

I cant be arsed dissecting the entire game but a few points are...

Zouma had a mare and confirmed that he is comfortably third choice once Rudiger is back. Arguably 4th choice if you consider that we also have the option of Azpilicueta in the centre.

Mount clearly looks like a player who will have no problem stepping up to be a regular in the Premier league.

Pedro still loves to run around a lot but that eyes wide shut disease when he passes the call is as attractive as my arse in a thong.

And, surely as we already knew, we are as toothless as Trump's claims that men called Juan, Luis and Miguel will build a border wall.

You just know things are really bad when 'Loz's arse in a thong' references start popping up. 

Positives:

- Overall, there were SIGNS of some really good play and movement. Compare our play to United’s and there’s no comparison. United could barely string a pass together  in midfield. That’s what I wanted to see - signs. Barring last season early season form, I never saw signs of Sarri implementing his system. With Frank, you can see it.

- Mason Mount looked surprisingly confident and effective which i never expected. Look forward to seeing him more. 

- I thought Barkley was brighter today than we saw last season. Still loses the ball in key areas. He needs to cut that out. 

- Puslic looks like an interesting player. 

Negatives 

- I’m not sure why Frank setup up the team to be so attacking. I get the whole possession based football but we left ourselves way too open. 

- Jose said the problem with our defence was that the spaces between defence, midfield and attack were wrong and we weren’t compact enough. I think that is something for Frank to work on. 

Absolutely gutted for SFL... this result will affect him the most...

I didn’t see this coming, tbh... I felt good about the youngsters and all beforehand.

i guess this is our reality check.

On reflection I think we should have known Zouma’s vulnerabilities. Plus, the Jorginho, Kovacic combo will never be the answer for me. Personally, I think we should start up front with Bats, because I just feel he’s more likely to convert a half chance than the others. I can see him pushing for a move now and I can’t blame him...

4-0 is unacceptable even if we say it’s a new manager etc.

i understand we had some good play especially in the first half. But why were we so open ? I think frank was very naive and went over the top with the attacking tactics. We got torn up on the counter .Let me say that he needs to switch this or we will see similar results again.

 

We’ll be fine. It was a rough start, but Frank will learn from this.

First half we really were excellent. We were all over them and played them off the park and even though we took a hit when Zouma gave away the penalty we regained our composure and continued to be the best side by a distance until half time.
Then we continued to be the best team for about 10 minutes of the second half but after their second goal we lost our heads and belief a littlebit I feel. And that’s why the score got ugly in the end.

But the signs of something great to come are there. This season will be filled with ups and downs as it’s a transitional season like no other in recent memory but Lampard will be given time and he will build a great side here.

Even before a ball was kicked, my main concern was how we would deal with United pace on the counter with Martial, Rashford & Linguard and that turned out to be our un-doing, with our defence playing like four blokes who had just met for the first time.

There were positives though - we looked good up until that second goal went in. With the squad we have now and quite a few inexperienced, younger players, it was never going to all click into place in the first game - it WILL take time. Feel gutted for Frank & Jody that this will go down on their record and it's probably the worst debut result for f**k knows how long, but as long as lessons have been learned and we dust ourselves down and go into the next game positively, we just have to accept it and move on.

 

25 minutes ago, Nibs said:

Feel gutted for Frank & Jody that this will go down on their record and it's probably the worst debut result for f**k knows how long, but as long as lessons have been learned and we dust ourselves down and go into the next game positively, we just have to accept it and move on.

 

It’s our worst opening day defeat ever according to the radio last night. You could say Frank is already breaking records at Chelsea 

I beleive Pogba is the still the worlds most expensive midfielder and Muguire the most expensive defender. Thats who we are playing agianst and we were a make shift "new" team away at Old Trafford with a 12th man (what's new)

I am gutted to lose to them and getting both barrels from Utd fans this morning but to be honest I am relaxed about it, early days and I am up for change and new direction.

If one thing it has lowered the fans expectations already,  as well as the media. I think the news now will be when we have positive games which to me is not a bad thing.  

6 minutes ago, andy said:

I beleive Pogba is the still the worlds most expensive midfielder and Muguire the most expensive defender. Thats who we are playing agianst and we were a make shift "new" team away at Old Trafford with a 12th man (what's new)

I am gutted to lose to them and getting both barrels from Utd fans this morning but to be honest I am relaxed about it, early days and I am up for change and new direction.

If one thing it has lowered the fans expectations already,  as well as the media. I think the news now will be when we have positive games which to me is not a bad thing.  

Good point.
We had our best defender, midfielder, winger and second best midfielder missing. Take Maguire, Pogba, Rashford, McTominay out of that United-team and they wouldn't do much either.

Obviously 4-0 is not great but as other people have said there are 1 or 2 positives to take away. It's one of them where if any of our early chances go in it's a different game.

Couple of complaints ref wise: Feel Abraham was fouled in the build up to their 2nd and if a free kick is given there the second and third goals do not happen. For the 4th goal Zouma was down with a head injury in the United box and ref should have stopped play well before that attack had a chance to develop. Even Maguire and Shaw were trying to get the refs attention to stop play.

However, the third goal is unforgivable defending. One of the basics of football after you've just conceded is keep it tight, so it is shocking that we conceded within 20 seconds of re-starting after the second goal.

United on the day were just more ruthless and clinical than us, and sometimes that's what it comes down to.

2 hours ago, EdinburghBlue said:

I think people are being overly harsh on some players performance. This was Tammy’s first competitive game as a striker for Chelsea against the worlds most expensive centre half. I thought he done alright, held the ball up well, kept Maguire away from the ball and should have had a free kick for their second, hit the post. Given a bit of time, I think he’ll develop in to a very good centre forward. 

I agree with that seems I’m one of the few that’s excited about him, he has the makings of a top striker, people are forgetting his age, he had a good game today. 

Even when playing well and dominating the ball, the gaps between our players was huge. It makes it so easy for the opposition to break and play through you. When you also factor in that our best defensive players were missing coupled with the full backs bombing forward at every opportunity.... Man Utd have never been given such an easy opening game.

I worry this'll be the opposition blueprint now. Sit back and soak us up - no Hazard means the majority of our threat is gone - before picking apart the flimsy defence (did Zouma ever look THAT bad at Everton?).

The positives for me were Abraham, who showed a lot of promise (though needs to hold the ball up better), and Mount who seems very comfortable at this level.

Frank's got some tough decisions to make in that area. I think this could be Barkley's best season for us if played regularly and centrally, but will he get the chance. Frank seems a massive fan of Mount, whilst Pulisic, Willian, Ruben and Callum will be waiting to step in.

The return of Kante & Rudy will be a massive boost versus Leicester but they'll look to play exactly the same way and have players who are quick on the break... We could suffer again if we're not careful. Yesterday was a brutal lesson, but we need to improve from it.

Negatives

4-0

Utd aren't that good and we will play about 25% more games this season as difficult or more difficult domestically and in Europe

Positives

Players gained experience in new set up at OT

We were obviously not the better team but we were 'on top' most of the game and I would think we had more possesion/attempts on goal

4 or 5 first teamers can come in to start and we can build with 1 or 2 quality signings in Jan at centre half and up front

...and we can build with 1 or 2 quality signings in Jan at centre half and up front

No we can't.

33 minutes ago, AlexTommo said:

 

 

No we can't.

 

I think we can. Ban not lifted then?

We have an incredibly poor back line right now, with Rudiger out and Luiz gone. Not surprised we shipped 4 goals. 

We'll get better, let's just write-off this match and hope our exciting youth players such as Mount and Tammy continue to look lively and take their chances in the coming games. 

The scoreline was horrible, but I'm more upbeat than I expected and relatively calm with where we sit at the moment. This is truly a season of transition with the transfer embargo, having just lost our best player of the past five years and appointing a new manager.

I think we showed enough that we'll be okay during the course of the season. The problem this season will be our defence but I'm hoping the eventual inclusion of Rudiger will provide a much needed boost for us down back.

Liked the way we played in the first half, and if anything we were very unlucky to not have scored one or two goals. The second half was disappointing particularly after the second goal went through.

I've underestimated Zouma's decline since his knee injury. Looked like the shadow of the player he was back in 2015. Think Frank has to make the switch and select Tomori for our next match.

Keep your head up everyone, the results will come soon. Just need to be patient and stick it out with Frank.

We got thrashed, deservedly it or not. The defence was not up to scratch, and without Kante there was no real protection in front of the backline. If Luiz didn't go, Zouma would not ave played, this is the kind of short term pain we had to take. I think a game like this was too much for Zouma, he just never looked comfortable and body language looked poor, a real shame considering he was fast and strong before that injury. He may get better in the next few months, but this game was way too much for him. Poor finishing and missed last pass cost us at the other end, nothing new really.

Despite the scoreline, there were positives with the way we played. There were good movements and passing, one instance Dave charged down the byline at the end of a hopeful ball, and whip the cross in where unfortunately 3 of our players missed the open tap in. There were nice and quick interchange of passing, players were moving instead of the static passing we have accustomed to in the last 12-18 months. We created enough chances, and worried them throughout, only if we could have turned them in.

A lose is a lose, I wouldn't feel any better if we lost 0:1, so let's say we got the worst result out of the way early. We need to get better, and there were enough signs in the game to suggest we will

I’m surprised at and also somewhat disconcerted by the levels of optimism on here. This is admirable and I honestly hope you guys are right and I’m wrong. I just can’t see the positives. This match reminds me of the FA cup final vs United (94?) when we looked good for a while  but lost 4-0. I fear that on a relative basis Chelsea may be back to where it was around about then. I get that we have injuries, and this wasn’t a full strength team. But I fear the reinforcements aren’t going to move the needle anywhere near enough. This is a seriously weak squad, people.  The biggest problem / question I have is: where are our goals going to come from? How would you rank our front line vs rest of premier league? I honestly  think our front line is kind of mid-table at best (possibly even relegation zone). Still, it’s very early in the season and once again - am dying to be proven wrong ... 

I’m not going to judge the team after such a difficult game at old Trafford, I’ll save my judgement for when we play against lower table teams.

Having said that, I fully expect us to get raped by Liverpool on Wednesday.

I thought we played better than the scoreline reflected. Feel bad for Lamps in his debut.

Let's hope we get some positives from this loss and make the adjustments needed.

3 hours ago, Munkworth said:

It’s our worst opening day defeat ever according to the radio last night. You could say Frank is already breaking records at Chelsea 

That's certainly one way of looking at it !