Growing into the role as expected. Lot more to come in attack from him as his confidence grows. 

5 hours ago, True Blue23 said:

Still not entirely convinced by him but that second half was pretty good. Let's hope this gives him some confidence to build on. He does have a good cross on him.

Hold on; this is 2nd game in the PL. 2 assists in a new league at 20yrs old is no small feat. To put things into perspective Reece James has only had more than 2 assists in a whole season in the PL once! in that freakish 21/22 season. 
For me he is no backup but competition for the RB role.

3 hours ago, ducavis said:

Hold on; this is 2nd game in the PL. 2 assists in a new league at 20yrs old is no small feat. To put things into perspective Reece James has only had more than 2 assists in a whole season in the PL once! in that freakish 21/22 season. 
For me he is no backup but competition for the RB role.

I'm basing this on his profile. To me so far he seems pretty average in most categories. Not bad, but not good either. His speed seems average, seems slightly below average physically, average technically, average dribbler, slightly below average passing, average defensively. Only thing he really seems good at for me so far is crossing. I agree that this is very early on and a bit harsh on the guy, as he's a 20 year old who just came over to the PL and has done well in the second half. So let's hope he can prove me wrong and show that he actually excels at something other than crossing. Totally possible that with confidence and maturity and confidence he improves on the ball, physically and defensively and I'd love him to. We're going to need him. I'm just not seeing it so far and 2 assists against Luton, one of which was a simple pass to Sterling are not enough to convince me. It's a start though.

Regarding competition to James: Let's hold our horses here... James is streets ahead physically, technically, dribbling and passing wise, while also being a better one on defender. Oh and his shooting is also great (though I haven't seen enough of Gusto's shooting to judge it so far). James was the best RB in the world at some point, Gusto had a good half against Luton. Cucurella had 2 assists in his first 4 PL games for us. James only had more than 2 assists in 1 PL season. Shame Cucurella isn't a RB, he could provide great competition for James too.

It's all well getting excited by good performances from new players, but statements like those are a bit annoying to me. I remember people saying we were going to be fine when Hazard inevitably leaves because we have Kennedy... I remember people proclaiming we had a suitable Hazard replacement when Pulisic had his purple patch... Let's not diminish what these players have showed for us, because of a purple patch (or in this case a good half against Luton).

Edited August 26, 20232 yr by True Blue23

Growing in confidence. First half, lots of backwards and sideways passing. Second half, more positive, doing a pretty decent Reece James impression.

He will turn out to be a bargain just like Azpi really like him and great competition at fullback, we don’t have to worry if James is out now because we know he probably will be on the injury table more than on the pitch.

Mate 😭

 

14 hours ago, True Blue23 said:

I'm basing this on his profile. To me so far he seems pretty average in most categories. Not bad, but not good either. His speed seems average, seems slightly below average physically, average technically, average dribbler, slightly below average passing, average defensively. Only thing he really seems good at for me so far is crossing. I agree that this is very early on and a bit harsh on the guy, as he's a 20 year old who just came over to the PL and has done well in the second half. So let's hope he can prove me wrong and show that he actually excels at something other than crossing. Totally possible that with confidence and maturity and confidence he improves on the ball, physically and defensively and I'd love him to. We're going to need him. I'm just not seeing it so far and 2 assists against Luton, one of which was a simple pass to Sterling are not enough to convince me. It's a start though.

Regarding competition to James: Let's hold our horses here... James is streets ahead physically, technically, dribbling and passing wise, while also being a better one on defender. Oh and his shooting is also great (though I haven't seen enough of Gusto's shooting to judge it so far). James was the best RB in the world at some point, Gusto had a good half against Luton. Cucurella had 2 assists in his first 4 PL games for us. James only had more than 2 assists in 1 PL season. Shame Cucurella isn't a RB, he could provide great competition for James too.

It's all well getting excited by good performances from new players, but statements like those are a bit annoying to me. I remember people saying we were going to be fine when Hazard inevitably leaves because we have Kennedy... I remember people proclaiming we had a suitable Hazard replacement when Pulisic had his purple patch... Let's not diminish what these players have showed for us, because of a purple patch (or in this case a good half against Luton).

Average?? 

He is not average in pace or passing, he's settling into a new team don't forget. Also you have seen him play in 2/3 games how can you call him physically/technically average? 

Been watching him in Lyon and hes a very good player, his low cross to sterling was accurate, how many times have we seen James hit a cross like that? 

James is better though but meh I'd take any at RB right now

This is all we ask for. Good options when others are out.  He had a great start. on to the next 

Glad we signed him. With Reece out 10-20 games a season, he’ll get a lot of playing time

9 hours ago, Conte said:

Average?? 

He is not average in pace or passing, he's settling into a new team don't forget. Also you have seen him play in 2/3 games how can you call him physically/technically average? 

Been watching him in Lyon and hes a very good player, his low cross to sterling was accurate, how many times have we seen James hit a cross like that? 

James is better though but meh I'd take any at RB right now

I know my sample size is small, and I conceded that I might be a bit harsh on him, something like blistering pace or good technique is something you can notice pretty quickly usually though. He's been in sprint duels and he had lots of touches on the ball. He's not slow, but he doesn't seem to be particularly quick either. Hence my assessment. His passing hasn't been great so far. For the few games he misplaced quite a few simple passes or underhit passes slightly, so that his teammates had to check their runs etc. His technique on the ball also seems nothing special. Those last two aspects however are something that can change with confidence and when he built an understanding with your teammates. When you play within yourself, you will be more ponderous on the ball, hesitate before passing, and therefore play the passes at the wrong moment, etc. 

I know his cross was superb, I wrote as much. He already produced some good crosses against West Ham. His crossing technique is very good.

I'm not saying he's bad and that he'll flop for us, and I'm happy he had a good second half and seems to be finding his feet, which is important with James' injury record. I'm just calling what I've seen so far. And I know my sample size is very small, so my opinion about him isn't set in stone at all. If he now has two great games, I'll think about him very differently.

19 minutes ago, True Blue23 said:

I know my sample size is small, and I conceded that I might be a bit harsh on him, something like blistering pace or good technique is something you can notice pretty quickly usually though. He's been in sprint duels and he had lots of touches on the ball. He's not slow, but he doesn't seem to be particularly quick either. Hence my assessment. His passing hasn't been great so far. For the few games he misplaced quite a few simple passes or underhit passes slightly, so that his teammates had to check their runs etc. His technique on the ball also seems nothing special. Those last two aspects however are something that can change with confidence and when he built an understanding with your teammates. When you play within yourself, you will be more ponderous on the ball, hesitate before passing, and therefore play the passes at the wrong moment, etc. 

I know his cross was superb, I wrote as much. He already produced some good crosses against West Ham. His crossing technique is very good.

I'm not saying he's bad and that he'll flop for us, and I'm happy he had a good second half and seems to be finding his feet, which is important with James' injury record. I'm just calling what I've seen so far. And I know my sample size is very small, so my opinion about him isn't set in stone at all. If he now has two great games, I'll think about him very differently.

Pretty much agree word for word.

5 hours ago, Deino said:

Glad we signed him. With Reece out 10-20 games a season, he’ll get a lot of playing time

Let’s hope it’s not more 

He's actually playing better in terms of possession than James this season.

https://chelseafcanalysis.com/analysis/malo-gusto-chelsea-english-premier-league-2023-24-data-stats-analysis-scout-report

2 hours ago, Gol15 said:

He's actually playing better in terms of possession than James this season.

https://chelseafcanalysis.com/analysis/malo-gusto-chelsea-english-premier-league-2023-24-data-stats-analysis-scout-report

 

 

This guy can not cross a ball to save his life. Ok performance otherwise just pointless having him overlapping. 

I actually think he’s a decent 1 on 1 defender but his crossing is pathetic 

One of the few bright spots of the season for me.  Thrown right in at the deep end and shows character.  

Was it Gusto or Gronkjaer out there today? He scared the pigions sh*tless with his crosses.

I like him. He's a great option to have. But I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion he is never gonna be the same quality of Reece James. Few right backs are.

He provides decent cover for Reece, and that is something we didn't have before. I'd regard his signing as one of the better ones under the new owners.

7 hours ago, PhilH930 said:

One of the few bright spots of the season for me.  Thrown right in at the deep end and shows character.  

He is good at everything except for crossing the ball. We should just consider him our main RB at this point anyway. Reece can not stay fit fore more than 2-3 games. Ideally we can use him for the "big games" and let Gusto play the rest.

Crossing would be a darn sight easier if we had a few more bodies in the box to aim at 🙂 

12 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

Crossing would be a darn sight easier if we had a few more bodies in the box to aim at 🙂 

Are you saying we should play Chilwell as lw instead of Mudryk? 

😬😬😬

13 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

Crossing would be a darn sight easier if we had a few more bodies in the box to aim at 🙂 

Jackson was in the box for Chilwell's excellent cross. Landed on Jackson's head. Except he somehow seemed not to see it coming. Bounced off his forehead.

39 minutes ago, dermott said:

Jackson was in the box for Chilwell's excellent cross. Landed on Jackson's head. Except he somehow seemed not to see it coming. Bounced off his forehead.

It was a cushioned header back to the keeper. He simply forgot what end of the pitch he was at.