Christian Pulisic at AC Milan

When this happens, games turn into cagey, boring affairs (e.g. Chelsea v. Tottenham).

 

20 year old Ferrán Torrest thrived. Close enough.

 

It's like a blockbuster summer action movie. Some of us prefer different material.

 

And he may represent stiff competition to Pulisic on the LW unless he can show useful attributes as a Center forward (other than speed).

 

I have been saying this for a while now. Werner will play. He was a very expensive Lampard purchase so they will sink or swim together. But he has not been great as a center forward so far.

 

I've been saying since the preseason, there's no way all 3 of Ziyech, Werner, Havertz are hits. One will certainly wash out; I'd assumed Ziyech just by looking at him -- he's a bean pole made out of q-tips -- but he's been really excellent at times; very smooth, very agile, able to anticipate and avoid crunching challenges. I agree that Pulisic and Werner have similar games and I think they'd play well off each other. Luckily none of the four have made a real case for themselves and I *hope* CP's talent will win out and guarantee a spot but that's some tough competition.

After adding in Tammy, Mount, and to a lesser extent Giroud and CHO and this is obviously CP's toughest season yet in terms of minutes on the field.

 

Pulisic is the only 1-1 player among them so if CP is healthy and in form, he starts. His game is basically nothing like Werner's, although they are both very good.

 

Does Werner have any history playing right wing ?

 

No, Timo started as a LW and moved to forward. If he's played RW a handful of times back in his Stuttgart days, that's about it.

 

Havertz is an interesting purchase considering how expensive he was and he's basically whipped cream on this side. A luxury player they are perfectly good without, and seems to have had the most trouble adjusting. Werner and Ziyech were cheaper and filled in places of actual need. Havertz is very young though, of course.

 

I think this is the plan but Kovacic is very good and still pretty young.

 

Another way of saying this is that CP almost guarantees chaos in the opposing PA. His dribbling runs past defenders pulls the back line into frantic mode. I am looking forward to seeing CP and Werner work together, improving each other.

 

there was a chart floating around twitter showing how often clubs from each of the big 5 clubs get attackers in the box this season to date. chelsea decidedly middle of the pack with the ‘best’ clubs looking the best. contrast that with pulisic launching all five foot nothing of himself at a back post cross in his few minutes on the weekend.

 

Werner is a speed merchant.

Pulisic is a dribbling demon.

Werner makes the open run, while Pulisic carries the ball. They can play very well together. I assumed that's what Lampard had in mind.

 

pulisic and werner are probably about the same speed. fastest werner readings i e seen are marginally faster than pulisic maybe a couple tenths of mph

 

Let's measure again when the beard comes off.

 

I’m actually afraid that they can’t play well together. They both want to play in similar areas, and I don’t think their skills mesh well together. Werner fits more in a system where his teammates are looking to dump the ball into space behind defenders and let him run onto it, while CP does better getting the ball played to his feet on the wing, dribbling toward the penalty area, and looking to combine with the cf. or having the cf hold the ball up and cp making runs behind him to combine.

 

zero evidence of that. why be prematurely pessimistic they are both fine players.

 

Fine players usually - usually - find a way to work together. Sometimes they don't, but that's mostly when both players are very similar and play the self-same position and role, which is what happened to Lampard and Gerrard for England. Pulisic (a winger who can play CF) and Werner (a CF who can play wide) are quite different and play in different positions with different roles.

The real obstacle to CP nailing down starter at his best position is not Werner but Ziyech. CP is very good at LW/LWM but is outstanding at RW, which is where Ziyech plays if he's not playing AM.

 

Exactamundo!

Werner seems better at anticipating through balls and using his speed accordingly. I specifically recall the time this season that he dummied to himself and ended up 5-10 yards behind the defender on the play.

Pulisic has great speed and acceleration on the dribble.

Both can score lots of goals.

 

I was wanting to see both Pulisic and Werner on the transition with the ball at speed.

 

I too.

 

Starts

Here's our team to take on Sevilla! 👊#SEVCHE pic.twitter.com/wFcu38lDTL

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 2, 2020

 

Giroud!

Edit: What a lineup!

 

Happy to see Giroud. Not happy to see Jorginho, who seems allergic to forward passing. Also, complete 2d string in the back. Jorginho has a decent shot of getting an assist for Sevilla.