Well, we have to admit as Chelsea fans that we have missed Alonso's left footed Shot! ⚽
Chilwell has gotten a few opportunities like that on the wings but haven't been able to replicate.
We hope his return today provides us that attacking boost again👌🏽
And I hope his long exile has made him a wiser player.
My first half thoughts
I can only describe the general game play in two words.... "beautiful football"
The passes, the midfield control, the defense, the attack has been dynamic and exciting to watch, its just beautiful all round
The problem lies where you start wondering if these boys spent their training learning how to pass to the keeper
The shot attempts have been absolutely week
While Mount keeps blasting his own to the skies despite balling well
Kovacic should try more shots, he's seeing the space and chance
Abraham has been pretty useless in this match tho
Werner🙄🤦🏾♂️
Cursed
Alonso has been an exciting attacking threat in that whole forward movement and Thiago has been a beast, really good game so far👍🏽✨
Positives
Chelsea dominated proceedings from start to finish. The home side seldom gave the ball away, remaining patient in possession until they were able to manoeuvre shooting opportunities. Defensively they were also impressive, with goalkeeper Edouard Mendy not tested at all in the Chelsea net. Much of the praise should go to the midfield pivot of Jorginho and Kovacic, who kept the ball ticking over beautifully.
Anyways, so here's my second half analysis
The team simply built on the "beautiful football" of the first half, not only maintaining the first half energy to the last whistle but even raising it up a notch.
Now, I noticed something peculiar about the Chelsea attack that shows the disparity and sharpness of our attack compared to the lampard era
Our wingers were actively operating INSIDE the box, particular emphasis on Odoi (bless him)
He assisted from inside
He hit the bar from inside
Many of the balls he played across came from inside or just outside the box
And even James the replacement also nearly beat the keeper from close range
Needless to say, it was also inside the box
We see our wingers and even defenders, not afraid to get into the box and make something happen. Not only do they put pressure on the defenders who are wary of a penalty or any handball, the threat is also much higher as compared to lamps Era were the wingers were stretched to the extreme ends oustside the box and could only resort to crossing, offering little to no threat down the middle
This ultimately resulted to fewer goal attempts and opportunities which is something the new coach seems to have defused. Just another aspect of our beautiful football, you can't help but be impressed 👌🏽
Mount is a baller 💙
Apart from his poor shot attempts today, he was arguably the best player on the pitch for me. Beating Odoi with work rate and ball distribution
Jorginho actually played well and impressed me today, so maybe he's not entirely useless 🤷🏽♂️😏.
But it's clear that Jorginho is a player who works well only when the team in general is working well and protecting him, which is why he was more suited to a team like Mancity. When everybody is good, he thrives, but on a rough day, Jorginho can't help you
Still, I believe the coach will get the best out of him🤝🏾
Alonso, I already said it
That left leg is a blessing we have been missing out on
So good to see it again on the first day
This coach is Promising and Chelsea is finally wonderful to watch again. It just makes you happy
Up Blues 💙