Christian Pulisic at AC Milan

What a crappy YA morning

 

Chelsea fans really not happy with Werner and Kai.

Seems most think Kai is in over his head at this level.

 

I want to see Pulisic, Giroud, and Ziyech across the front with Mount behind them.

 

Fans expect way too much from attacking signings early on.

Like, Rodrigo at Leeds, formerly of Valencia, is way more accomplished than Havertz over the course of his career, and he has looked like shit at Leeds so far. He needs time to integrate with the other players in the attack, to know which passes to anticipate and when, what runs to make, etc.

When you have a player like Havertz, whose job is eventually going to be to orchestrate the attack, the integration period is always going to be rough. Doubly so when the player in question is only 21. Triply so when the manager might actually be the one in over their head at this level.

 

The right back at Barcelona had a fantastic match

 

The lineup Chelsea put out initially was, at least on paper, a class above United's and they should have been able to put something away. Still think they need a lot more time to gel. United started to outplay them when they made subs. Cavani is class, you can see how intelligent his movement is.

 

Does Peacock do feeds without the fake crowd noise?

The fake fans in the stands is worse than an empty stadium.

My Debbie Downer moment.

 

True but for me it Doesn’t quite make up for three Injuries and mediocre individual performances everywhere else

 

0 goals
0 assists

on the year. Pretty slow start for the player.

 

Agree. Chelsea's form after the restart benefited from Giroud's holdup play and linking with Pulisic.

Werner has blinders on but also isn't the holdup type.

 

I think Werner will come good but he really lacks composure sometimes, even in acres of space.

 

If I was Frank I would be ok with that result. The defense looked fortified. 3 in back seems to work. The front 3 still not complementing one another in terms of the runs they make etc. But Mendy seems likely to be a big plus over last year.

 

I'd like to see the 4-3-3 from last year with Mendy and Silva in the back. I think you get 3-1 wins instead of these 0-0 draws. I think Werner needs a game off.

 

Havertz was a superfluous signing at the time (obviously should have fortified defense) even if he comes good, & so far he hasn't because his vision + take-on ability has been extremely underwhelming.

They'd be better off w/ Ziyech in that spot, integrating Kai slowly off the bench, trying to figure out his role. Right now it's a tweener between a 10 & 8. So like Kovacic.

 

Werner has not shown much of an ability to hold the ball up or combine with other attackers.

 

Timo Werner completed fewer passes (13) than any other player on the pitch during his 70 minutes vs. Man Utd and failed to produce a shot on target.

Even Edouard Mendy completed more passes (16). pic.twitter.com/MyR6k663zV

— Squawka (@Squawka) October 24, 2020

 

havertz needs to adjust to physicality and speed of the prem. he still seems surprised when defenders don’t bounce off of him and that he doesn’t have an extra second.

werner i am beginning to really worry about. they don’t play a style that comports with him at all

 

It's not saying much, but in my opinion, Havertz has been the better of the two players so far this season.

 

All the players are good, but Lampard's not a good coach and they bought a bunch of statement pieces rather than trying to furnish a room.

 

I think they are going to have to pair him with Giroud or Abraham to get anything out of him. Both Werner and Havertz blow up the good stuff Chlesea did last year. As I posted a few minutes ago, it would be nice to see last year's attack in a 4-3-3 with Mendy, Silva and Chilwell.

 

I think Werner was a poor signing for Chelsea. He’s a better player than what he’s shown, but he doesn’t hold the ball up well enough as a center forward, and likes to occupy a lot of the same spaces as Pulisic. So many times, Werner floated out wide, which kind of pushed Pulisic inside. That’s fine if Werner can thread the ball into CP, but that’s not his game. I feel like it will be very difficult for those two to thrive together.

 

You could maybe do a 4-2-3-1 with Kante ... don't really care about Jorginho or Kovacic, but one of the two. Then band of three with Pulisic, Havertz, Werner. And then Abraham or Giroud up top. The key is you have to tell the forward he won't lose his job for not scoring; he needs to link up play and press like hell.

 

The lack of awareness on the play where he missed Puli wide open on the right side of the box was astounding.

 

See, I think Werner made sense for Chelsea. Havertz also made sense. Werner AND Havertz made no sense, however. They should've chosen one or another and then seen if Upamecano was available.

 

Lampard should bench him while he adjusts to protect the young signing