Chelsea 2 Sheffield United 0

[My Blood Is Blue]

Watched some more extended highlights and whilst I can’t comment too much based off this, we seemed to do alright. Not exceptional but enough to get the result needed.

The key takeaways for me:

Playing with 4 attacking players on the pitch is much better for us than 433, although I can see why we would go back to 443 against the top teams. It will also suit Nkunku better IMO.

Caicedo looked very good from what I saw, he was heavily involved and worked incredibly hard almost all over the pitch.

Gallagher is our captain and he is flourishing under it. I’m so pleased for him this season, he’s arguably been our best/most consistent player so far this season.

Palmer is fantastic. No more needs to be said.

We need a new striker, but I would still keep Jackson as back up, whilst not brilliant I still think something may be in there. His goal return isn’t too bad considering how poor we’re performing.

Broja should go in January. I doubted him in the summer and expected/hoped he’d get a loan, but I think we just need to sell him. He is not good enough.

We won!

[Max Fowler]

8 hours ago, xceleryx said:

A good three points against a fairly plucky Sheffield United side. 

We obviously struggle more when it comes to breaking down low-block teams whether it's through our own lack of guile, creativity or execution and it was no different this time around, particularly in that first half. We don't move very well off the ball in that final third and on too many occasions players get grouped around trying to occupy the same spaces as each other. This gets compounded whenever Gallagher or Caicedo then push up from midfield. 

Once we scored though things opened up a little more and we looked more comfortable and confident. We got the ball wider quicker, we showed more decisiveness with our passes, and the movement had greater fluidity to it. 

Gallagher was a standout across the whole match, as was Caicedo. Mudryk had patches in the first half before disappearing, Sterling added a spark in that second half for 20 odd minutes and Palmer got more into the game himself. Jackson seemed to spring a little bit more to life as well playing that wide left sort of role off Broja, maybe that's something we can visit again at some point. And the defence was fairly untroubled doing what they largely needed to do. 

Onto the next one.

At this point we struggle against all types of sides Prof. Celery Sticks. Low block myth is in the past. 

[hallgalley]

44 minutes ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

 

Playing with 4 attacking players on the pitch is much better for us than 433, although I can see why we would go back to 443 against the top teams. It will also suit Nkunku better IMO.

I like the idea of an extra player too😁

seriously though hope Nkunku is given time to settle and we can pick up some points

[chrisb]

1 hour ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

 I can see why we would go back to 443 against the top teams. It will also suit Nkunku better IMO.

Welcome to cfcnet.uk Mr Boehly!

[Alex]

10 hours ago, xceleryx said:

A good three points against a fairly plucky Sheffield United side. 

We obviously struggle more when it comes to breaking down low-block teams whether it's through our own lack of guile, creativity or execution and it was no different this time around, particularly in that first half. We don't move very well off the ball in that final third and on too many occasions players get grouped around trying to occupy the same spaces as each other. This gets compounded whenever Gallagher or Caicedo then push up from midfield. 

Once we scored though things opened up a little more and we looked more comfortable and confident. We got the ball wider quicker, we showed more decisiveness with our passes, and the movement had greater fluidity to it. 

Gallagher was a standout across the whole match, as was Caicedo. Mudryk had patches in the first half before disappearing, Sterling added a spark in that second half for 20 odd minutes and Palmer got more into the game himself. Jackson seemed to spring a little bit more to life as well playing that wide left sort of role off Broja, maybe that's something we can visit again at some point. And the defence was fairly untroubled doing what they largely needed to do. 

Onto the next one.

Aside from the occasional worrying balls that were squared across our goal front that no United player could get on the end of, yes the defence were largely untroubled.

It's not a defensive line that inspires confidence though. What even is our first choice backline? Colwill being played on the left given he offers absolutely nothing going forward down the flank, I guess, is to keep him happy and to get him to sign a contract extension.

[Leo]

Amazing what happens when we go direct isn't it... 

That shows to me that this is all mental. Players are too safe, not taking on their man, turning back and playing a sideways or back pass. And it gets worse as the players confidence goes down with a poor result. As soon as Sterling runs at that defence and we create panic in their shape and score. Obviously it's not as simple as just saying ''run at the opposition'' but we got to be more proactive and forward thinking as a side, because that's how you make things happen.

The amount of times Conor turned over possession for us in the first half was brilliant, but when he offloads to the ball to the attackers it always breaks down. In a better side Gallagher as the workhorse would be taking all the plaudits for starting goal contributions.

But yeah eventually we got the goals needed and that was it. I expected more from Sheff Utd under Wilder who you'd think would be a rejuvenated side sensing blood. But they were so toothless. 

PS. Is it just me or could Jackson be more influential as a wide forward, his strengths are his ball carrying ability, once Nkunku comes back I think we could see a different player and dynamic to our play.

[Ham]

3 hours ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

 

Playing with 4 attacking players on the pitch is much better for us than 433, although I can see why we would go back to 443 against the top teams. It will also suit Nkunku better IMO.

 

Answers the question "who makes way for Nkunku?"

Nobody 🙂

[Sciatika]

26 minutes ago, Leo said:

PS. Is it just me or could Jackson be more influential as a wide forward, his strengths are his ball carrying ability, once Nkunku comes back I think we could see a different player and dynamic to our play.

I think Jackson used to play wide regularly before he came to us.

Edited December 17, 2023 by Sciatika

[My Blood Is Blue]

1 hour ago, chrisb said:

Welcome to cfcnet.uk Mr Boehly!

Haha! Whoops

[NoblyBobly]

4 hours ago, Chelsea_Matt said:

Oxford Street isn’t what it was!

It took me back to being on the  terraces in the 80s when your feet left the ground and you were just carried along on some crowd surge. At one point we got thrown into Selfridges where Mrs Nob then had to be dragged away from the Tiffany section. 
She lives under some strange illusion that I have money? Very odd! 

[NoblyBobly]

1 hour ago, Ham said:

Answers the question "who makes way for Nkunku?"

Nobody 🙂

We seem to be putting all our eggs in a Nkunku shaped basket. Is that wise? I hate it when we all get disappointed 😔 

[CarefreeMuratcan]

16 minutes ago, NoblyBobly said:

We seem to be putting all our eggs in a Nkunku shaped basket. Is that wise? I hate it when we all get disappointed 😔 

I say play him as a striker. See how that goes. 

[Max Fowler]

There was nothing shown yesterday to suggest we are going to have an upturn in results. Really bad first half, did well to turn it around. Made a dreadful Sheffield side look okay. The only realistic stance to take is that our bad form is going to continue - there was no drastic uptick in performance, only the fact that we were playing the worst team in the division.

[boratsbrother]

46 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

There was nothing shown yesterday to suggest we are going to have an upturn in results. Really bad first half, did well to turn it around. Made a dreadful Sheffield side look okay. The only realistic stance to take is that our bad form is going to continue - there was no drastic uptick in performance, only the fact that we were playing the worst team in the division.

We're a midtable team dishing up levels of performances you expect from such teams.  A lot of stodgy ones, mixed with some terrible and a few good ones along the way. 

I'm not seeing a team blessed with highly talented but under performing players. I wish I was but I'm not! We have a good/very good one in Palmer.  A good, consistent workhorse in Gallagher. Flashes of quality from Sterling. Flashes of potential from Mudryk, but that's about it at this moment in time.

Also, what is noticeable from the high up TV camera' views is just how static a lot of our players are a lot of the time off the ball. This has been the case for years now under several different managers and lots of different players, past and present. Somehow, nobody seems able to do anything to fix this glaring flaw in our team.

[Chelsea_Matt]

35 minutes ago, boratsbrother said:

We're a midtable team dishing up levels of performances you expect from such teams.  A lot of stodgy ones, mixed with some terrible and a few good ones along the way. 

I'm not seeing a team blessed with highly talented but under performing players. I wish I was but I'm not! We have a good/very good one in Palmer.  A good, consistent workhorse in Gallagher. Flashes of quality from Sterling. Flashes of potential from Mudryk, but that's about it at this moment in time.

Also, what is noticeable from the high up TV camera' views is just how static a lot of our players are a lot of the time off the ball. This has been the case for years now under several different managers and lots of different players, past and present. Somehow, nobody seems able to do anything to fix this glaring flaw in our team.

The static thing - 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯

[Max Fowler]

48 minutes ago, boratsbrother said:

We're a midtable team dishing up levels of performances you expect from such teams.  A lot of stodgy ones, mixed with some terrible and a few good ones along the way. 

I'm not seeing a team blessed with highly talented but under performing players. I wish I was but I'm not! We have a good/very good one in Palmer.  A good, consistent workhorse in Gallagher. Flashes of quality from Sterling. Flashes of potential from Mudryk, but that's about it at this moment in time.

Also, what is noticeable from the high up TV camera' views is just how static a lot of our players are a lot of the time off the ball. This has been the case for years now under several different managers and lots of different players, past and present. Somehow, nobody seems able to do anything to fix this glaring flaw in our team.

I largely agree, but I am sorry I never buy this "its been the case for years under several different managers" argument (it's lazy). At least, for me, that doesn't seperate the clear daylight we have seen between the performances and results under Potter/Poch/Lamps reign 2 and Tuchel/Lamps reign 1. People will say Tuchel had similar issues at the end of his reign, but it was never anywhere near this bad.

Not to say we haven't had systemic problems scoring goals for a while - but that isn't the problem now. Its childish, below schoolboy play that makes a mockery of the Premier League. Poch or no Poch, many of our actions are totally embarrassing. The easiest ball giveaways, miskicks from goalkeeper to centre forward.

We've gone from a team who struggles to score to a team that struggles to kick a football.

[Max Fowler]

I mean right now the decision to sell Havertz and buy Jackson looks...

[Sciatika]

Jackson has seven goals in the PL. Havertz has five. 

[Bones]

9 hours ago, kev61 said:

No he wasn't and KDB the same.They went on to great things but nobody could have predicted how well they would do.

What we are doing now is insane.7 year contracts! to unproven players!.

I recall KDB starting 2-0 first EPL game against Hull I think. He was so smooth, I really do remember thinking he will go on to be a top player.

[Max Fowler]

26 minutes ago, Sciatika said:

Jackson has seven goals in the PL. Havertz has five. 

Also the decision not to go for Kudus 🤔

[Ham]

31 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

I mean right now the decision to sell Havertz and buy Jackson looks...

Reactionary much?

[east lower]

Just now, Max Fowler said:

Also the decision not to go for Kudus 🤔

Read an article that was attributed to Kudus that said the TBSD tried low-balling tactics - so the agent went elsewhere.

Looks a bit of a f**k-up considering we’re struggling for goals from midfield. Haven’t watched enough of him to look at other area’s of his game, but his goal-scoring attracts attention.

[Max Fowler]

21 minutes ago, Ham said:

Reactionary much?

Well yes, but the situation is changing. Havertz is killing it right now and if he continues it looks like a mistake selling him.

[Ham]

12 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

Well yes, but the situation is changing. Havertz is killing it right now and if he continues it looks like a mistake selling him.

I think you're forgetting the shit he got week after week in the match day forum, often justifiably, for his performances. 

 

[Max Fowler]

30 minutes ago, Ham said:

I think you're forgetting the shit he got week after week in the match day forum, often justifiably, for his performances. 

By that logic we will be selling Mudryk, Jackson, Enzo, Caicedo, and Disasi in the summer.

It's about having some experience. And not selling everyone all at once. Some continuity.