8 hours ago, Munkunku said:

Palmer is playing off the right and being brilliant again shocker. Let’s hope the manager doesn’t forget & stick him back as a 10 after a few weeks off!

Playing off the right with a full back playing as an actual full back and none of that inverted bo**ocks. Football is a simple game overcomplicated by idiots at times.

I loved his work ethic throughout. He put in a real shift defensively too and was almost left wing back after Neto went off. Huge game, you could see what it meant to him at the final whistle.

3 hours ago, dkw said:

Playing off the right with a full back playing as an actual full back and none of that inverted bo**ocks. Football is a simple game overcomplicated by idiots at times.

Who would have thunk it?

If Maresca only came on here and listened to us (some of us - not the cartel obvs) then we would be champs by now

Jusr had a little look at the first few pages of the thread.... how times have changed

4 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

A bunch of silly fools on Twatter.

f**k 'em all

Maresca said he knew we'd win after the first ten minutes. I say the match was won days before it even started 😁

9 hours ago, dkw said:

Playing off the right with a full back playing as an actual full back and none of that inverted bo**ocks. Football is a simple game overcomplicated by idiots at times.

I just loved the movement of our entire attack. It all felt so natural to them. It's crazy that Pedro has only been with the squad for such a short time and has already built up good chemistry with Palmer.

It's about where Palmer can expose space the best.

Lot of teams have figured out to not fall into our 'bait press', and instead allow the CBs to have the ball while they clog the middle and channels. These teams specifically are where you want Palmer wider with Enzo in the middle instead, with Delap and/or Pedro linking up and making the direct runs. Could be the blueprint against the stubborn sides finally.

5 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

Who would have thunk it?

If Maresca only came on here and listened to us (some of us - not the cartel obvs) then we would be champs by now

The concensus on the match thread when the team was announced was that Maresca had got it badly wrong.

35 minutes ago, Liam said:

The concensus on the match thread when the team was announced was that Maresca had got it badly wrong.

Che sorpresa! Wat een verrassing! Quelle surprise!

Positivity Central strikes again.

51 minutes ago, dermott said:

Che sorpresa! Wat een verrassing! Quelle surprise!

Positivity Central strikes again.

I always need directions to Positivity Central, having no sense of direction 😬

1 hour ago, Liam said:

The concensus on the match thread when the team was announced was that Maresca had got it badly wrong.

You cannot give much weight to what the majority of people on here say - they know f**k all! Some posters have even been advocating for the donkey Jackson to play. It is madness!

However, some of us more enlightened and reasonable folk (name check for me, @Scott Harris @dkw - and I am sure others who I am forgetting) have regularly been advocating for Palmer to be playing wide right - but also, in a system that frees him up, and doesn't stiffle his talents with a rigid possession-based (for the sake of possession) approach. i.e EXACTLY like we played last night.

3 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I just loved the movement of our entire attack. It all felt so natural to them. It's crazy that Pedro has only been with the squad for such a short time and has already built up good chemistry with Palmer.

Agreed, it must be nice to play with players who you feel if u pass to them there’s a very good chance they will control it, maybe pass it back or even make something happen themselves.

This can only be good news for CP. For too long he’s been our main or only threat. Opponents targeted him, having others to worry about should in itself create space for him.

He is most dangerous at RW, been saying it all year but he likes to cut in which brings him into the middle so clever movement from team mates, overlapping fullback, JP pulling into the channel etc is key but it’s not something that can really be coached. You can’t tell players when and where to run at every given moment it has to be organic and good intelligent players make it look natural even if they ain’t played together long. There were times in games last season where Cole just didn’t bother passing to Jackson and was clearly getting frustrated.

He's so good, you have to see it in slow motion to see how amazing he is and how much of a dimension JP brings to his game

15 hours ago, Valerie said:

I always need directions to Positivity Central, having no sense of direction 😬

Stick with me, kid. It might involve a rocket ship to escape the Rapture and a glass or two of Kool Aid but we'll get there.

Cole looks like he's in seventh heaven after this CWC. Watched all post match vids and reels involving him haha He looks f**king thrilled about winning this.

Would love to see a match next season with Gittens and Estevao on the wings, Cole in the middle and Joao Pedro up front. Peope been sleeping on Gittens, the guy is a baller, he will cook on that left wing. There is so much skill in that attacking line, teams will have a hard time concentrating on all of them at the same time.

If everything clicks, this Chelsea team will be amazing in a couple of years.

2 hours ago, petre ispirescu said:

Cole looks like he's in seventh heaven after this CWC. Watched all post match vids and reels involving him haha He looks f**king thrilled about winning this.

Would love to see a match next season with Gittens and Estevao on the wings, Cole in the middle and Joao Pedro up front. Peope been sleeping on Gittens, the guy is a baller, he will cook on that left wing. There is so much skill in that attacking line, teams will have a hard time concentrating on all of them at the same time.

If everything clicks, this Chelsea team will be amazing in a couple of years.

Or Gittens LW, Cole off the right, Estevao at #10 (as he has apparently been promised) and Joao Pedro up top.

3 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

Or Gittens LW, Cole off the right, Estevao at #10 (as he has apparently been promised) and Joao Pedro up top.

If your RW is Palmer and you want him to do less defending your 10 has to be more of a "midfielder"

1 hour ago, Bob stark said:

If your RW is Palmer and you want him to do less defending your 10 has to be more of a "midfielder"

Palmer does a lot of defending though, he loves to drop deep and at times has been criticised for doing too much of it. It's why the overlapping fullback is needed to support him, to occupy the opposing LB and avoid Palmer getting double-teamed easily.

29 minutes ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Palmer does a lot of defending though, he loves to drop deep and at times has been criticised for doing too much of it. It's why the overlapping fullback is needed to support him, to occupy the opposing LB and avoid Palmer getting double-teamed easily.

Looks like I read your post wrong. Not sure Palmer love defending and I dont think we should ask him to defend a lot.

Drop deep is more of he like to be involved more.

In general, if you want your RW to to do less defending you want your 10 need to drop/run a lot more to help up defensively.

Salah has jones/Szobo. We had Gallagher last season. Hazard has Oscar. Enzo did it vs psg

Edited July 16, 20251 yr by Bob stark

On 14/07/2025 at 19:33, dermott said:

Che sorpresa! Wat een verrassing! Quelle surprise!

Positivity Central strikes again.

Maresca is a genuis

Maresca is s semi genuis, just wish he would give Walsh a run, that guy has sublime skill noone else has

3 hours ago, Bob stark said:

Looks like I read your post wrong. Not sure Palmer love defending and I dont think we should ask him to defend a lot.

Drop deep is more of he like to be involved more.

In general, if you want your RW to to do less defending you want your 10 need to drop/run a lot more to help up defensively.

Salah has jones/Szobo. We had Gallagher last season. Hazard has Oscar. Enzo did it vs psg

Palmer is a leader type person in his own way and I am 100% sure he is the first to tell you if he scores 2 doesn't count for anything if the team loses. He put in a world class performance in the final by tracking back and harassing PSG players all game long by moving around the pitch.

4 hours ago, Bob stark said:

Looks like I read your post wrong. Not sure Palmer love defending and I dont think we should ask him to defend a lot.

Drop deep is more of he like to be involved more.

In general, if you want your RW to to do less defending you want your 10 need to drop/run a lot more to help up defensively.

Salah has jones/Szobo. We had Gallagher last season. Hazard has Oscar. Enzo did it vs psg

Enzo against PSG:

Clearances 0

Blocked shots 0

Interceptions 0

Total tackles 0

Dribbled past 1

I'm sure Estevao can match those numbers.