3 minutes ago, evissy said:

So first real opponent and we are being handed our asses? About right?

Fairly even game, they just look more well drilled and we made stupid mistakes that lead to their goals. Enzo experimented with a couple of things that didn't work and changed them in the second half. It wasn't as bad as some are making out, but obviously we need to improve.

I didn’t expect miracles in preseason. But I thought we’d at least look like a half decent side and could see a way forward and some kind of cohesion.

But we’ve been appalling. Defence looks like a shambles and we’re still only an injury away from Broja being our main striker again. 

If Wrexham and City’s C team could dismantle us with ease, I dread to think what any midtable Premier side would do to us. We can forget about competing with the likes of Arsenal, Man City or Liverpool. We’re miles behind them. I was shocked by how poor we were all over the pitch. I think we’re in serious trouble. 

10 minutes ago, timetowaste said:

Probably something like this against City. 

GK?
Gusto CB? Colwill Badiashile 

Lavia 

Madueke Palmer Nkunku Sterling 

Jackson 

53 minutes ago, TheCeleryKing said:

Sure. totally agree.

 

Sarri also lost 6-0 to City and the crowd at the Bridge would often serenade Sarri with "You don't know what you're doing"

The crowd at The Bridge went nuts when we sacked a manager in 16th.

I'd never ever question the average match goers loyalty, but I wouldn't trust their judgement as far as I could throw them (and I include myself as a semi match goer in that).

 

10 minutes ago, Dr. Socrates said:

I didn’t expect miracles in preseason. But I thought we’d at least look like a half decent side and could see a way forward and some kind of cohesion.

But we’ve been appalling. Defence looks like a shambles and we’re still only an injury away from Broja being our main striker again. 

If Wrexham and City’s C team could dismantle us with ease, I dread to think what any midtable Premier side would do to us. We can forget about competing with the likes of Arsenal, Man City or Liverpool. We’re miles behind them. I was shocked by how poor we were all over the pitch. I think we’re in serious trouble. 

We've changed manager so inevitably we have to start again getting used to a new system and then definitely sets it back initially. But I'd also argue that we will have weakened our squad this season versus last season based on summer transfers/departures (completed and likely to be completed). Of all our signings only Dewsbury-Hall is likely to be a first team regular. The rest are all prospects who will mostly go on loan. Overall, I am not optimistic that we will match our 6th place finish from last season, let alone improve on it.

1 minute ago, Bob stark said:

 

Of course he likes it. Probably cannot wait to play us again on opening day, when he will no doubt praise Enzo again after we gift them a comfortable win.

FT: Man City 4-2 Chelsea

And that’s it, a comfortable win for Man City.

Haaland so lethal in front of goal.

Chelsea will be worried about their defensive display, they were so sloppy.

Madueke and Sterling were two bright sparks going forward.

 

No place for Gallagher - what a Joke we are.

 

1 hour ago, timetowaste said:

Probably something like this against City. 

We will get hammered in the wide areas if he plays both Cucurella & Gusto. Has to be one inverting and a CB.

Just watched the match. The mistakes are exhausting. Weak to blame the pitch - was the same for both teams. 

All starts at the back for me, and not a single one bar Gusto looks anywhere near where they need to be. Enzo and Caicedo, albeit first starts, have to do more. 

Too easy to play against. Trust the process I guess. 

Edited August 4, 20241 yr by PhilH930

Oh bollocks! Knew it!

Put the stream on in the spare bedroom downstairs (no AC but fans. 29°c), made myself comfortable with lots of pillows and cushions then ZZZZZZZZZZZ!

I just woke up.

I'll wait for the full match vid to hit youtube and watch it then but I guess it didn't go well, lol.

Will wait for the vid but I've read the thread and I really do hope this was a case of testing if some players are capable of playing out of position!

Mudryk on the right! Kdh as a winger! Enzo jnr still playing in a forward position! Why! Also seems that disconnect between Enzo jnr and caicedo is back 😞.

 

What happened to Nkunku as an 8? 

I have always supported that he can play as a cf but why do that now when he was/is considerably better as an 8 in this system (as seen by his last few matches) and guiu needs the team experience as a cf? Why dabble with the system they have been training too the last few weeks!?

 

5 hours ago, timetowaste said:

Probably something like this against City. 

I like this setup except I think Nkunku replaces either caicedo or Enzo, with guiu up front and Jackson behind him.

Or another option (secondary option) would be again, Nkunku instead of enzo or caicedo but palmer middle and noni right. But depends if Noni is in the mood or not. I read he scored and created more balance when he came on but palmer can do that without having to sacrifice a link/hold up player in Jackson or a speedy/strong cf in guiu. And Noni would be better as a super sub working tired opposition legs.

If gusto is the one that inverts then I can see a lot of play between him and palmer too. And sterling does run back and defend better than mudryk, which would cover cucu.

I'd also swap tosin/fofana for Chalobah but that's a moot point and definitely not happening.

Anyway...damn, watched the previous pre-season games and missed the important one. Smh 

 

Edited August 4, 20241 yr by Simplymo

looking forward to the season

Not that bothered with the result, could have been a lot more if it's not a friendly. At least we will have something to prepare for going into the first game of the season against us. Most good pressing teams will have a field day against us, until we sort out the passing from the back rhythm. I think there should be less trial and error as we the tour coming to an end, maybe play the best 11 with their best position for a game, or at least 45 minutes.

Might have to watch goals 2 and 4 again to see exactly what happened. 

Just watched the game ,not sure where to start but am sitting here trying to compute  what the fek that was .Can someone enlighten me please

cos im not sure I understand the process .

What was I thinking predicting 1-1 for this match...when will I ever learn. Sometimes I'm just as stubborn as every new Chelsea manager insisting on to playing from the back.

Getting smacked about all pre season.

Another rough season ahead tbh

I keep watching in the hope some miracle would of happened . The truth is nothing has changed were a shambles   no main striker no midfield general no commanding central defender.  no Top keeper , so no matter what tactics are played nothing is going to change as the longer it goes on the players will continue to go through the motions  collect the wage and enjoy London life going to be another very long season

There are issues about playing out from the back and frustratingly some players appear way off in their progression through pre season.

There are also some positives so far, in that Lavia and Nkunku look like they can add value if they stay fit.

The biggest issue for me so far is that Maresca has openly stated that he wants Swiss army knife players, capable of adapting and being versatile in numerous positions. So far, with the experiments that Maresca has done this has actually shown up the limitations of these players, how unsuited they are in just slightly different roles. Mudryk can't play on the right, Colwill's not a LB  Gusto is wasted as an overlapping LB, Nkunku is wasted as a 9, James struggles when inverting, Sanchez is a liability with the ball at his feet, Enzo offers very little in an advanced role etc. All of these comments have been made during this pre season. 

It's a bit of irony that our SD's may have targeted a manager whose philosophy and style actually highlights the limitations in the players that these directors have generally paid over the odds for.

The manager needs to realise these inverted fullbacks don't work, concentrate on letting the defenders defend and the fullbacks pushing on.

i'd like to see Jackson given a chance to play at LW, when we played at City last season his pace gave Walker problems

The other thing that Maresca will have to realise very quickly is that there is a massive difference in the standards of forward lines in the Championship and the PL. You make 3 defensive slip ups with a Lyndon Dykes or a Grady Diangana opposite you and they might score a goal creating a bit of an uphill task for the team.

Do the same against a Brentford or a Bournemouth even and Wissa, Toney, Solanke, these guys are getting 2 or 3 goals from these same chances and that's game over. It's not just that mistakes will be made and will be punished, it's that whole matches will be written off due to our own mistakes 

34 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

The other thing that Maresca will have to realise very quickly is that there is a massive difference in the standards of forward lines in the Championship and the PL. You make 3 defensive slip ups with a Lyndon Dykes or a Grady Diangana opposite you and they might score a goal creating a bit of an uphill task for the team.

Do the same against a Brentford or a Bournemouth even and Wissa, Toney, Solanke, these guys are getting 2 or 3 goals from these same chances and that's game over. It's not just that mistakes will be made and will be punished, it's that whole matches will be written off due to our own mistakes 

Do you honestly think the bloke has got to this point in his life without realising PL forwards are better than championship forwards?

Whether you like it or not, implementing a style of play where we look to confidently play through a press isn’t going to be achieved in 4 pre season games and some training sessions.

Maresca will know full well that we are going to get punished, I think he even said so after the Wrexham game. But no one has ever achieved anything when giving up at the first point of resistance. So when we concede goals at the start of the league campaign because we’ve miss placed a pass, it isn’t going to be because he doesn’t realise that the prem players are good. It’s going to be because he expects our players to learn from the early mistakes they make.

38 minutes ago, Niall1905 said:

Whether you like it or not, implementing a style of play where we look to confidently play through a press isn’t going to be achieved in 4 pre season games and some training sessions.

We scored 4 against them in one game last season, playing through their press wasn't a problem. Not only that, none of their goals came from us giving it away right in front of our goal.

I feel like people assess things in a vacuum too much. We went toe to toe with City three times last season. Last night was a massive step backwards no matter how you look at it.

We don't need to invert a f**king fullback, just becausae its the new hipster thing to do. Just have a balanced midfield for christ sake.

Conceding two goals in the first 5 mins. Well that is a bit of a fluke. That is seriously unlucky. That is not going to happen too often no matter how bad you play. AND it was a good lesson for our defenders to lurn. Very important lesson. Enzo's Chelsea - We understand that we are going to try to play it out from the back, we understand that, but even Peps Citeh know that you have to hit it long some time. Don't be so predictable playing it out from the back. Don't make it so easy for the opposition. IF I know that the Chelsea GK and defenders are never going to hit a long ball - no matter what - then i am going to press really high and totally own them.

Enzo imitates Pep. But he has to be his own man also and have some ideas of his own. Really need to know what Enzo has - if anything - that is going to make a difference.