"Thank you for the guide, Marcos." Kepa showing Saul around.

On 04/09/2021 at 09:22, dansubrosa said:

What I like about him is how much he is embracing being a Chelsea player.

Just take a look on his Twitter.

Love his enthusiasm. Hope he goes well with us.

He just needs to perform well. Put in a masterclass or two

On 07/06/2021 at 22:54, comtrend said:

I hope we don't go for him, not a good fit and he has been on the decline for a couple of years. 

Thank god it was just a loan, hopefully we try and get Kessie in january or next summer.

5 minutes ago, comtrend said:

Thank god it was just a loan, hopefully we try and get Kessie in january or next summer.

I think there’s been rumors of our interest in signing Kessié on a free. I don’t want us to sign Saúl permanently but I also find fault in judging him after one poor display.

First game in the PL against a resilient Villa team, can't really judge him on that.

Villa play a very fast and physical style of football. It was always going to be a tough midfield battle plus McGinn is fitter this time around. No Grealish also meant that they won't faff around as much 

First game and it was a shocker. Just not up to speed yet with the EPL. Really needs to build up his awareness. Its only his first game a d Villa did press well.

Think it will take at least to Jan before we can see if he will fit in.

Hopefully TT can get him up to speed quickly.

Hopefully that was just a learning experience and not a Bakayoko experience.

5 minutes ago, Malcolm9 said:

First game in the PL against a resilient Villa team, can't really judge him on that.

I just couldn't stand that workrate off the ball, some missplaced passes I can forgive, but he didn't look botherd at all to recover the ball, or cover space & players.

Edited September 11, 20214 yr by comtrend

Welcome to the premier league!

He had a pretty bad 45 minutes, maybe he isn't expecting to play so much deep but with Kovacic he simply must be that deep, I hope he isn't disappointed with his role but rather with his play. He is also a number 8 like Kovacic, not a DM like Jorginho. 

I doubt he expected any different.

 

I don't care that much about his debut, EPL takes time to adapt to but he certainly needs to put in a lot of work and dedication to become the player that we need. (Also I would like to point out that today was a good case against Trev as a DM in our system)...I'm just crossing fingers that Saul can get himself motivated to do it the hard way (the only way) given he hashad an über-demanding manager for the last couple of years and didn't had the best way out too. To get yourself rolling in a complete new environment with another über-demanding manager within a league that never gives you pause to breathe isn't too easy...

 

....yet I'm still very happy he's here.

Edited September 11, 20214 yr by weetee

That was a painful 45 minutes for him, and us, but I'm sure he will learn and get better as time goes on.

Maybe earmark for the Villa League cup match to ease him in gently.

Awful display, biggest concern is he looked so lightweight. Pressed off the ball too easily and shocking passing.

Compare that to Jorgi coming on and boy what an upgrade our midfield got.

Good thing he's on loan, if after 20 games he's still like that so we will wave him goodbye. To be fair, wasn't the easiest game to debut, and Villa did a good job pressing us. Jorginho had similar problem in his first season when being pressed with no time to breath.

Thing for me is Atletico spent the whole window trying to get shot of him. Why?

 

Did we get our answer today?

First game, give it time and lets see how he adapts.  That said, Friday evening I watched one of those YouTube video clips showing who we had signed.  All silky midfield touches and turns, but what stood out to be in a highlight real was actually how slow he was to receive, manipulate and release the ball.  I'm concerned the PL is far too fast for him, and he is more Slavisa Jokanovic than Tiago Mendes.  Probably a reason Simone faded him out.

Anyway, a good learning experience and want to be proven wrong.  Let's see what you've got Saul.

Edited September 12, 20214 yr by PhilH930

Probably not the best idea to throw him in after he's been at the club for all of five minutes. Especially not a good idea against a rough-and-tumble team like Villa, and especially not without a sturdier midfield partner.

While yes, it was a complete disaster of a debut, I'm glad to see that nobody is writing him off just yet. Ease him in a bit more gradually - sub appearances, cup games, possibly European games. Hopefully we'll end up seeing the Saúl of a couple of years ago, who looked like a genuinely brilliant player.

It was a shocking debut: underhit passes, passes straight to opponents. But what really struck me was the lack of engagement, lack of tackles or interventions, just dawdling about. Not seen anything like it since Bakayoko, and not what I was expecting at all. I know Villa are a quick, hard-working side, but seriously not sure that’s an excuse and not convinced he’s in any way an upgrade on Gilmour or Ampadu. I thought we were getting a word class player. Now we’re talking about easing him into games, like he’s a kid from the academy. Blimey. We brought him here to start straight away. Clearly that was Tuchel’s thinking yesterday. 

 

Edited September 12, 20214 yr by Socrates

2 minutes ago, Socrates said:

It was a shocking debut: underhit passes, passes straight to opponents. But what really struck me was the lack of engagement, lack of tackles or interventions, just dawdling about. Not seen anything like it since Bakayoko, and not what I was expecting at all. I know Villa are a quick, hard-working side, but seriously not sure that’s an excuse and not convinced he’s in any way an upgrade on Gilmour or Ampadu. I thought we were getting a word class player. Now we’re talking about easing him into games, like he’s a kid from the academy. Blimey. We brought him here to start straight away. Clearly that was Tuchel’s thinking yesterday. 

 

I found that shocking as well. He comes from a Simeone side. You would think effort, fighting, tackling and defending should be right up his alley.

I was surprised to see him struggle that hard. 

#lewiscook

I see the slagging off of players started early

1 hour ago, Socrates said:

It was a shocking debut: underhit passes, passes straight to opponents. But what really struck me was the lack of engagement, lack of tackles or interventions, just dawdling about. Not seen anything like it since Bakayoko, and not what I was expecting at all. I know Villa are a quick, hard-working side, but seriously not sure that’s an excuse and not convinced he’s in any way an upgrade on Gilmour or Ampadu. I thought we were getting a word class player. Now we’re talking about easing him into games, like he’s a kid from the academy. Blimey. We brought him here to start straight away. Clearly that was Tuchel’s thinking yesterday. 

 

I think "just dawdling about" is a good description of what I saw from Saul. There was more then one time a Villa player would jog into a dangerous position outside our 18 yard box from midfield, with Saul almost alongside him the entire time.