Morecambe match thoughts
Firstly, before I start, if anyone knows how to insert pictures, would make this much easier as I rely (heavily) on sofa score for my analysis and just being like "hey, here's a picture of Cucurella's heat map" rather than trying to describe it would make a huge difference. Anyway.....
Starting with general match thoughts.
We started poorly, very sloppy with our passing. I think this was due to players like Disasi and Veiga (the primary ones responsible) feeling like they had to prove themselves and then making poor overly ambitious passes that gave the ball away when really just moving the ball on faster (but safer) would have been the better option. Blaming Veiga alone for the early defensive frailties is probably unfair but he really looked lost in the LB role first half. Combined with a lack of tempo in the first half, it's no surprise we pretty poor.
Second half, much better. Better tempo, better decision making, Cucurella (who I think is massively underrated) fixed the defensive frailties and offered a heap of energy going forward.
Match ratings (according to SofaScore not my personal ranking) and my thoughts
Jorgensen 7.4 - He looked shakey and had a few rough moments. I still like him as a player and think he could develop into a starter eventually but clearly isn't there yet. The sofascore rating is a bit high even though he did make a few good saves.
James 7.8 - The rating looks high (dragged up by the overall team rating), but he seemed solid in his 45 minute run out. I really hope he can stay fit, as while he will probably never be that bombing wing back he used to be, he absolutely has the strength, defensive ability and distribution to be a great inverted RB in Maresca's system. He was probably our best defender first half (with all the defensive issues coming down our left).
Tosin 9.5 - Morecambe dropped so deep when defending that i'm almost surprised he didn't shoot even more than he did. He took his chances well, seemed solid defensively (in a game where there wasn't much to do in that sense). I think he's been a good signing for us, free transfer, minimal wages, doesn't expect to start every game.
Disasi - 8.1 - Another game where we are reminded clearly of Disasi's limitations as a footballer. Solid defensive, didn't make any mistakes this time (thankfully), but just offers so very little going forward. He's not a bad player, but he's just not Chelsea level and not the kind of footballer that fits the Maresca system. You could see with Tosin that he at least has the skill to make a pass and even shoot from range when the situation avails (as it did many times due to Morecambe's incredibly deep defence). I think some of the Acheampong hype has been a little over the top thus far, but I am still excited to give him a chance and patient with him to make mistakes and grow where I think Disasi is what he is and should be moved on in the off-season.
Veiga 7.8 - Really poor first half for me, Looked lost in the LB role. Much better second half when he Cucurella came on for Lavia and he took Lavia's role as the holding midfielder.
Lavia 7.2 - I don't remember him doing much in his 45 minutes. Given the whole team looked lethargic first half I think he did too and probably wasn't ready for more than his 45 minutes of football.
George 8.1 - First half he was constantly being doubled up on 2v1 with no support from Veiga. Second half Cucurella's energy overlapping and underlapping him was transformative.
Felix 9.5 - My most frustrating Chelsea player. Clearly creative, clearly our best attacker, scored twice, one was a screamer. But I still get frustrated by his tendency to take 5 touches when 1 or 2 will do (only for him to take those 5 touches and score that screamer making me look like an idiot). I really think he could be almost Palmer level if he had Palmer's mentality and directness. Anyway, he was still probably man of the match and I hope he do this against Premier League opposition.
Nkunku - 7.4 Really poor first half, but the whole team lacked energy and tempo meaning he and Giui were left super isolated. Second half showed again that he's got quality if you get him time and space which he just won't get a lot of in this Chelsea system.
Neto - 7.1 Like Tyrique George was constantly doubled up on first half and defended against super deep meaning his strengths were nullified. Sancho was a much better type of player for a game like this and the half time change made sense.
Guiu - 6.7 Went missing pretty much all of the game. First half would get a bit of a pass due to the rest of the team being poor and giving him little supply. Second half the supply was there and he was still poor. Isn't ready for Premier League football.
Subs
Gusto - 7.2 Added some energy over James when he came on but also isn't technically as good. He was fine and solid enough. The 7.2 sofascore rating is about fair.
Cucurella 7.3 This is maybe the only rating I think is too low. Cucurella shows yet again just how absolutely vital he is to Chelsea, after Palmer (and maybe Jackson), arguably our most important player. Veiga looked poor defensively first half and didn't give much going forward. Cucurella comes on and in an instant our defensive issues down the left are solved and his energy and support for George transformed his performance second half. God he's a good player.
Sancho 7.2 On for Neto second half in a straight swap. He's much more suited to a game like this than Neto.
Maresca - No sofascore rating for him, just my thoughts. I personally would have liked to have seen some more kids on the bench. I get it that if the game is going badly, you want the option to bring on Jackson and Palmer, but I feel like the FA cup isn't a priority compared to top 4 and we could have risked the bench with some youth. Veiga at left back didn't work and having both Lavia and James start might have been a mistake versus bringing them on from the bench. Still, it's hard to be too critical in a game like this given it's more about giving players a chance to play themselves into form than getting the 6th or 7th goal.
https://www.sofascore.com/football/match/morecambe-chelsea/NsGb#id:13189412
avide_Zappacosta_2019.jpg
