Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 Chelsea 6

[JaneB]

Please use this thread for all posts relating to our Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux Stadium before, during and after the game.

The match is scheduled to kick off at 14:00 hours on Sunday, 25th August 2024 (Local UK time/date)

[blueandproud]

Looking forward to this as much as a trip to the dentist.  Our recent record at Moulinex is poor.

Edited August 19 by blueandproud

[Thiago97]

1 minute ago, blueandproud said:

Looking forward to this as much as a trip to the dentist.  Our recent record at Moulinex is poor.

Strangely, I am actually looking forward to it. It’s the first game that gives us some sort of idea what early path we are on. I took nothing away from yesterday really, we perform almost exactly as I expected, and regardless of what people try and make out, city were cruising for most of the match. The only take out was we looked more structured than of many occasions last season.

I doubt we learn much on Thursday, but good or bad , we learn something about the squad and manager on Sunday.

[JaneB]

Ref: Darren England

VAR: John Brooks

[Mark Kelly]

9 hours ago, JaneB said:

Ref: Darren England

VAR: John Brooks

At this point they may as well just say 

Ref: Idiot 1

VAR: Idiot 2 

and be done with it.

[Ham]

Could also justify Nkunku on current form as, controversially, Palmer's recent form for Chelsea hasn't been that great, including the end of last season.  

 

Edited August 22 by Ham

[xceleryx]

1 hour ago, Ham said:

Could also justify Nkunku on current form as, controversially, Palmer's recent form for Chelsea hasn't been that great, including the end of last season.  

With Palmer going off, albeit not sounding serious, I'd not opposite taking the cautious approach and starting Nkunku ahead of Palmer, then using the latter off the bench if required. 

Alternatively, Nkunku upfront, Palmer in behind and Jackson on the bench. Or even throwing Joao Felix in there somewhere.

I guess it's nice having options for once. 

[My Blood Is Blue]

What I’d like to see:

What I think we’ll see:

I imagine we’ll see Felix, Neto and Madueke off the bench at some point.

 

 

[Thiago97]

This is a big game already. It's not big in the sense of the manager's future or anything like that, but it's big in the sense of providing an understand of what type of season lays ahead.

I know some will think this sounds crazy 2nd game in. However, its a stand out type of game that we have slipped up in for the last 3-4 seasons. It's against a decent team with players who can hurt you, played in a intimidating atmosphere.

If we come away with a win here, it offers some promise for the season ahead. We don't have to play well.

If we come away from this with 65% possession and lose by one goal, well the signs are there very early one that it is likely to be another season of mediocrity. My biggest concern with Maresca from the start was too much possession , fewer chances created, putting more emphasis on being clinical when chances do arrive. Yet, Chelsea has not been clinical turning chances into goals probably since Conte was here, which coincided with having a top class striker leading the line.

We can lose and still improve over the season, but lose here and I think there should be some serious readjustments to expectations, for those who think top4 is easily in reach.

[xceleryx]

41 minutes ago, Thiago97 said:

If we come away from this with 65% possession and lose by one goal, well the signs are there very early one that it is likely to be another season of mediocrity. My biggest concern with Maresca from the start was too much possession , fewer chances created, putting more emphasis on being clinical when chances do arrive. Yet, Chelsea has not been clinical turning chances into goals probably since Conte was here, which coincided with having a top class striker leading the line.

Would this not be a rash conclusion to reach only two games?

Surely the reasonable stance to take is to actually allow for a reasonable period for adjustment? When you consider we're got several new faces, several returning from long-term injury, and of course a new manager with a desire to see his team play in a specific manner. 

Realistically, the group has probably had two or three weeks of actual time on the training park to work on system specific things. The pre-season trip to the US really wasn't anything more than fitness work and observation, so actual training pitch work to bed in something new and have it fluid and fully functional is still at its infancy. 

I'm expecting this season to be similar to last where the first half of the season is a bit so-so as we find our feet, and the back end seeing stronger performances with greater rhythm and understanding as comfortability grows. Hopefully we'll pick up a few more wins and not throw as many game away as we did last season. 

[Thiago97]

16 minutes ago, xceleryx said:

Would this not be a rash conclusion to reach only two games?

Surely the reasonable stance to take is to actually allow for a reasonable period for adjustment? When you consider we're got several new faces, several returning from long-term injury, and of course a new manager with a desire to see his team play in a specific manner. 

Realistically, the group has probably had two or three weeks of actual time on the training park to work on system specific things. The pre-season trip to the US really wasn't anything more than fitness work and observation, so actual training pitch work to bed in something new and have it fluid and fully functional is still at its infancy. 

I'm expecting this season to be similar to last where the first half of the season is a bit so-so as we find our feet, and the back end seeing stronger performances with greater rhythm and understanding as comfortability grows. Hopefully we'll pick up a few more wins and not throw as many game away as we did last season. 

I would say it depends on what expectations are and were.

We are two games in and my biggest fears are already visible and playing out. Yes , the players will get a better understanding of things as the season progresses. However, we are already seeing some influence of Maresca, we are possession heavy and we are already not working the oppo goalkeeper. We do look more structurally organised. You only have to look at Maresca style, then look at the games Leicester did lose last season. It was generally cos they didn’t score and got done by one goal. 
You can get to grips with tactics, formations, philosophy all day long. If you are not creating chances and scoring goals, you’re simply not winning football matches. Added to that , if you continue to be mentally weak and not able to stand up in difficult games, again you are not winning football matches ( not Mareseca related but 2 seasons of rot is starting to set in here)

All the other points that you are considering above, well they are all self inflicted and internal club decisions.

At some point , excuses have to stop and improvement has to happen. Otherwise, we end up forever living in a world of reduced expectations and standards. 

Edited August 23 by Thiago97

[Holymoly]

I think it's still too early for our new collection of players. Draw or lose.

[Chelsea_Matt]

19 hours ago, xceleryx said:

Would this not be a rash conclusion to reach only two games?

Surely the reasonable stance to take is to actually allow for a reasonable period for adjustment? When you consider we're got several new faces, several returning from long-term injury, and of course a new manager with a desire to see his team play in a specific manner. 

Realistically, the group has probably had two or three weeks of actual time on the training park to work on system specific things. The pre-season trip to the US really wasn't anything more than fitness work and observation, so actual training pitch work to bed in something new and have it fluid and fully functional is still at its infancy. 

I'm expecting this season to be similar to last where the first half of the season is a bit so-so as we find our feet, and the back end seeing stronger performances with greater rhythm and understanding as comfortability grows. Hopefully we'll pick up a few more wins and not throw as many game away as we did last season. 

In peace, genuinely curious: when do you think would be reasonable for us to start challenging again?

Edited August 24 by Michael Tucker
Removed the seemingly endless silly emojis

[Bert19]

1 hour ago, Holymoly said:

I think it's still too early for our new collection of players. Draw or lose.

And that in itself is a big problem - starting all over again for what feels like the 5th or 6th time in as many years 

[asvaberg]

We will win this. I am very confident. No injuries, just James out on his second of three banned games.

[Sciatika]

On 21/08/2024 at 07:47, Mark Kelly said:

At this point they may as well just say 

Ref: Idiot 1

VAR: Idiot 2 

and be done with it.

I would never have guessed their middle names,

[Sleeping Dave]

I predict the following;

Sanchez

Gusto

Fofana

Colwill

Cucurella

Caicedo

Lavia

Madueke

Enzo

Nkunku

Jackson

 

 

[Holymoly]

1 hour ago, asvaberg said:

We will win this. I am very confident. No injuries, just James out on his second of three banned games.

Isn't he injured (again) as well, or else why wasn't he playing last night?

[chara]

7 minutes ago, Holymoly said:

Isn't he injured (again) as well, or else why wasn't he playing last night?

Off the top of my head I would think the benefits of allowing Reece to have time to recover from a possible injury outway the need to disrupt Gusto's run in the side..no point in one game then two off especially when Gusto is rapidly developing beyond a Reece position warmer!

[Ham]

59 minutes ago, Holymoly said:

Isn't he injured (again) as well, or else why wasn't he playing last night?

Maresca said he was still injured but picked for the A squad as he's expected to be fit for the 2nd leg.  

[chara]

41 minutes ago, Ham said:

Maresca said he was still injured but picked for the A squad as he's expected to be fit for the 2nd leg.  

That would make a lot of sense if he plays..fitness test and warm up run out.... start the game and pulled at say 60 minutes with the game hopefully dead in our favour.

[Rob B]

13 hours ago, xceleryx said:

Would this not be a rash conclusion to reach only two games?

Surely the reasonable stance to take is to actually allow for a reasonable period for adjustment? When you consider we're got several new faces, several returning from long-term injury, and of course a new manager with a desire to see his team play in a specific manner. 

Realistically, the group has probably had two or three weeks of actual time on the training park to work on system specific things. The pre-season trip to the US really wasn't anything more than fitness work and observation, so actual training pitch work to bed in something new and have it fluid and fully functional is still at its infancy. 

I'm expecting this season to be similar to last where the first half of the season is a bit so-so as we find our feet, and the back end seeing stronger performances with greater rhythm and understanding as comfortability grows. Hopefully we'll pick up a few more wins and not throw as many game away as we did last season. 

Most of the squad returned early July so have been working together for 7 weeks, of which only 2 weeks were in America.

We have seen the likes of Ange, Emery and Tuchel come in and make an immediate impact with squads.  I don’t think anyone is expecting Maresca to do this necessarily, but equally, if all we have is another repeat of last season then you have to question why bother changing managers in the first place??

I think Thiago97 was spot on in his post.  We were progressing under Poch.  It took a while but post-Xmas our form was excellent and all of the signs pointed to a positive mood in the camp.  As Bert19 said, we decided to rip all of that up and effectively start again this summer, but why should the fans be more patient? 

I believe Sunday is a huge game for so many more reasons than 3 points…

[Bob Singleton]

3 hours ago, Holymoly said:

Isn't he injured (again) as well, or else why wasn't he playing last night?

As well as serving a 3 match PL ban (this will be game number 2) Reece is also injured, which is why he didn't play last night. However, Maresca believes he'll be available to play some part in next Thursday's game (presumably off the bench?)

[Holymoly]

29 minutes ago, Bob Singleton said:

As well as serving a 3 match PL ban (this will be game number 2) Reece is also injured, which is why he didn't play last night. However, Maresca believes he'll be available to play some part in next Thursday's game (presumably off the bench?)

Is the guy capable of getting out of bed without pulling a muscle? Unless he can prove to be more resilient what is the point of hanging on to him?

PS. He has missed over 20 games in 4 of the last 5 seasons.

Edited August 23 by Holymoly

[xceleryx]

11 hours ago, Chelsea_Matt said:

In peace, genuinely curious: when do you think would be reasonable for us to start challenging again?

I presume you mean consistently challenge again? 

I'd like to think within the next 5 years we'll be up there again, depends on how a few of our guys develop and if we're able to have a period of actual stability for once. It's obviously hard to put an exact time frame on things as it's such a volatile environment that can drastically shift in such a short period of time.