Matchday 1 / August 11, 2019: Manchester United v. Chelsea FC

I thought Kante + Kovavic would have provided the defence better cover. It's just that Kante's not match fit yet. The team put out today should still be good enough to beat lesser teams on a less unlucky day. Personally I'm expecting a mid table position at the midway point this season. Thereafter, the returning players from injury should be able to give us a lift.

 

Good: Emerson, Mount, Barkley.

Bad: Tammy, Zouma & the defence overall.

We consistently gave up big chances when losing the ball in attacking areas, and Tammy was particularly bad for this.

I don’t think we have the quality of players to play with a back four right now, I would not be surprised to see a 3-5-2 tested at some point. Our current lack of depth on the wing gives us another reason to switch.

Considering the players we have returning in the next few months (RLC CHO R.James, Rudi, Willian), our starting eleven could look vasty different.

PS, first time posting in ages, nice to see my fellow BS pensioners still hanging around

 

Yea we need Rudiger and Kante back and fit.

 

That wasn't a 4-0 game! Showed our lack of experience there, fell apart a bit after taking off Barkley, I've seen enough to think the future will be OK but we have to accept that mid table will probably be our finishing spot, looking for a fight with Leicester, Everton, Wolves and West Ham for 6th if you ask me. Leicester At home is when our season starts. At least we are above West Ham in the table (for now)

 

Yup. I saw enough reasons in our performance today to be optimistic once some of the other injured players are back. Next season is when we would really kick on, with 2 or 3 right signings.

 

Tammy scores that first goal, different story.

But Pulisic over Barkley next time, please.

 

Barkley continues his tradition of being great in pre-season and then immediately sucking.

 

Why all the Barkley hate? I just don't get it? We literally fell apart when he came off?

 

Didn’t think he was all that bad. Tammy, Zouma, Jorginho were all hands down the worst on the pitch for me imo.

 

1. Great to see you posting!
2. Barkley good - you mean for United? He was atrocious!

 

Well now I have had dinner and time to think, I am much happier after that then many a Sarri ball game last season where I seriously considered not renewing my season ticket.

But then again I am not a football conissour I just support Chelsea.

Leicester at home will be interesting, I suspect that teams will sit back and try to hit us on the break.

Once one team exploits a weakness the others are quick to catch on.

It will be interesting to see how Frank responds, I don't think he is a head in the sand and to paraphrase "if it's broken don't fix it" manager. He will have a plan B

 

I think Barkley played badly because he kept giving the ball away and playing passes to the opposition. Which is general what he does - his end product almost never justified his promise.
Unless you’re suggesting I have some other reasons for disliking Barkley. I don’t know what they are.

 

@Kerry Dixon's Boots

Did you have to pick Sam Axe to replace sideshow bob?

 

As KDB just said we are missing IMO 5 starters if fully healthy. That's pretty drastic. CHO and RLC start for me along with Willian, Rüdiger, and Kante. That's a lot of talent left out there.

 

So, now that a bit of time has passed (and a few drinks in):

Positives: We looked relatively cohesive in attack, though that was in part because we were quite aggressive. Mount looked a solid cog, though lacked end product when he got the ball into dangerous positions. Hopefully that's nerves, he's quite young. Pedro remains solid. Christensen had a pretty good game, no yips from him. Emerson had a solid game, albeit with the occasional walkabout defending one expects from him. Kovacic doing more dribbling is good to see, that will be useful, especially when Kante is back.

Mixed: Tammy put himself about, but after the first 15 minutes was mostly a non-factor. Giroud didn't do much better so it was likely the formation, but not great. Pulisic didn't set the world on fire, though he had a few dangerous moments. Lost the ball too easily at times. Jorginho remains Jorginho, for both good and bad.
Azpilicueta is still defensively solid, though what he was doing on the third goal is a bit tough to figure out. Obviously he's no longer that fast, but more on that later.

The bad: Zouma had a bad game. Jorginho's defending was mostly bad. Barkley was pretty bad. In particular, however, I don't understand the tactical setup. Against a side that's best at counterattacking, why did we set up very aggressively with a high line? And why did we play Zouma and Azpi if they're not suited to the pace, especially with Kante out (who also doesn't appear to be fit)? Why not use our own pace to play on the counter and soak up pressure? When we soaked up pressure the few times United had the ball with possession near our box, they looked pretty clueless and kept passing the ball into our defenders. Instead we played directly to their strengths. Nor is this some kind of hindsight reasoning - I thought from the beginning that if we let United counter all game it would be a long day. It was.
I'm very curious to see what Lampard does going forward, but this was not an auspicious tactical debut, which I think he got very wrong.

 

That would mean Willian and CHO start while Pulisic does not, and RLC plays at the 10, which negates his biggest strength (dribbling). Neither the numbers nor the positions add up.

One of my issues with Lampard's 4-2-3-1 is that it requires a #10, which we clearly do not have, instead of 3 CMs, who we do (if Kante/RLC are both fit).

 

Dave gave the ball away 22 times, more than anyone else. Pedro created 5 chances, more than anyone else in the PL. Second goes to Mount... With 4.

 

So where does RLC play? I'm genuinely curious because our numbers are a mess.

Edit: In a 433, I see. Honestly, I totally agree here. Kante & (Jorginho/Kova) and the RLC advanced. I think Mount works there too. Not sure we have a need for Barkley, really at all.

 

I've been saying that since before we bought him, but whatever. Our personnel works better for a 4-3-3, especially once CHO comes back. Mount is the closest we have to a genuine attacking midfielder, and even then he's not remotely a #10. Which makes the 4-2-3-1 an odd fit. When the midfielders are fit we'd have Jorginho, RLC, Kovacic, Kante and Mount to choose from for a 3 man midfield.

 

I get it with Barkley. He has random moments of good followed by today. I like our midfield depth but I agree, not sure 4231 suits our side. We have 4 wide players, 6 mids, and 3 strikers.... 13 players for 6 spots....

433 just fits.

 

I don't think either of CHO or RLC as default starters. CHO wasn't good enough last season to be one. Think back to the Pool game, for instance, where we gave him a start and he was clearly in over his head. He's a very promising player, but it's way too soon to call him a definite starter.
I also don't really see where RLC is an easy starter. He's not a #10.