Current form last 5 matches: Chelsea 2W 1D 2L Grimsby Town 2W 1D 2L Likely out injured for Chelsea - Emerson, Christensen, Rüdiger, and Mount. Hoping to see this lineup. Caballero James Zouma Guehi Maatsen Kovacic Barkley Gilmore Pulisic Batshuayi CHO With a bench of: Cumming, Tomori, Wakey, Alonso, McEacheran, Kante, Giroud We are so thin defensively, we can't risk any senior squad members. I've watched Guehi a few times for the U23 side and he's really good at that level. Also think he'll feature a few times for us this season. Maatsen has been training with the first team so it's pretty natural for him to be in the discussion here. Add in our injury issue and he has to start. The rest is all pretty self explanatory I guess.
Why would you want Pedro to start? If Pulisic doesn't start here I'll be pissed. No better opportunity to get him minutes.
We're now entering a stage of the season where we should be getting close to maximum points, "rebuild" or not, before we meet City on November 23. Grimsby Town (win) Brighton (should win) Lille (draw or win) Southampton (should win) Newcastle (should win) Ajax (draw or win) Burnley (draw) Watford (should win) Ajax (draw or win) Palace (draw or win) City We should probably beat Grimsby.
Also, Grimsby are in 9th in League 2. They got to the third round by beating Macclesfield Town 1-0, 0-0 (5-4, PKs).
Agreed. The results against Sheffield is disappointing and Leicester too. Assuming we get a few pieces back from injury, you have to think we out match each of these upcoming sides. Grimsby Town is the perfect match for us to play some yoof and get healthy. As I said in the OP, this is the perfect opportunity to see Puli play out wide. It's like playing a CONCACAF match here. All three of Guehi, Maatsen, and Gilmore have to feature because we need them to. Rest almost everyone else we can. Let Barkley captain the squad.
I think a lot of fans are expecting to see Pulisic play, but I will not be surprised to see CHO start up top with Pedro and Bats. Ah, CONCACAF - sort of, but without the corrupt refs, shit fields, and fans who hate you/throw garbage at you because of America's years of political interventions and destabilization policy that favored the rich and powerful in the name of fighting communism during the Cold War.
I mean in regards to the tactics. There will probably be some hard fouls from Grimsby, especially if we throw out Maatsen, Guehi, Gilmore, Pulisic, and CHO.
No but putting an inexperienced player young player out there in a match you really should win is a risk. I'm not sure he is even ok to have in the 18.
Both he needs pedro to be fit and sharp so he can help in pl matches, pulisic doesn't need that so maybe pedro for 75 and then puli on late or on late for CHO. The issue though being he may want to get both pedro/cho 90 for fitness reasons. In that case no pulisic. He just doesn't fall into either category of why you play people in this type of match. 1....a rotation type player who needs min to stay fit 2....a youngster who they just want to get some minutes.
With Tino being involved, it's possible we see him and Barkley or Gilmore and Tino. Tino is bigger than RLC at that age as well so he's really strong. Not the same can be said for Billy who's pretty frail.
except that you could make a case that pulisic is actually both of those things.....and also a third which is a player with something to prove. i mean, this is literally the exact kind of match typically used for players that haven't been playing to prove they should be playing more, it's how both CHO and RLC forced their way in last season.
He isn't going to prove anything wed. Let's say he scores 5 and has 5 assists....the reaction would be he isn't as league two player which I think we all agree with already. Last year was with th ed devil sari and this year we have saint Frank so u can't compare the two. There is nothing he c as n do to prove he us ready to play on the weekend against a league 2 team.
The Development Team is playing right now in the EFL Cup, pretty sure this is the former Johnstone Paint Trophy. Interesting notes, no Gilmore, Anjorin, Guehi, or Maatsen. Cumming is in goal (thought maybe he'd be on the bench, and McEacheran is starting, thought maybe he'd be in the squad tomorrow. So no word yet on who's starting but definitely think all 4 will likely be heavily involved.
Of course he can. There a whole host of things managers will be looking for. On top of all of that he's already played 4 PL matches and as we've discussed due to a rash of injuries he really hasn't gotten a chance to play because of forced substitutions. Whether you are playing a League Two side or a PL side there is merit for how well one does or doesn't do. Playing against a League Two side and it not mattering aren't mutually exclusive. Of course it matters, just like playing Red Star Belgrade on a Thursday night in Belgrade does. We should want him to play because he's good and hasn't been. This is the perfect opportunity for him to take a step forward.