CHO has incredible potential. His passing has been as effective as Ziyech's imo, plus he has the physicality and speed Ziyech lacks, and he's 7 years younger. He was long known as the crown jewel of the Chelsea academy and was considered more high potential than even Sancho in their youth days.
Which surprises me. I thought Kova looked so good last season, but this season he seems to struggle every match. Then again, the whole team is filled with talented players performing at half of their ability, an issue which again falls mainly at the feet of Frank.
As I said in an earlier post, the one thing I do really appreciate about CHO is his ability to switch the field of play with a dangerous cross-field pass to the feet of teammates. That is one thing I wish CP had developed during his time at Dortmund - but that is not his style/skill set
I don't think it's a case of Pulisic not being able to make that pass. It's just that it's pretty rare for the other winger or fullback to be further up the field than him. That said, CHO does switch the field well.
I don't get the point of playing gorginho...he slows down the game too much and makes too many back passes and sideways passes.. so frustrating to see him make a back pass when he was free to easily turn and make a positive forward pass. Chelsea needs to play faster and more thru the middle, like City/liverpool. Chelsea build up is too slow and too many passes out wide.
The subs today were wild. I kept thinking our lad was going to come off but every time it was somebody else. I was excited to see Puli play in the middle some. He looks good at that spot and if Frank ever figures out how to play with him or Ziyech in that area I think the link up problems will be solved. In the latter stages of the game, and before the goal it looked as if Kova was really looking to get the ball to Puli. I think CFC should be alternately looking to get it to Puli or Ziyech as early and as often as possible. I don't know if it is Chilly or Puli, but those two guys really do not look like they are on the same page. Pulisic and Mount looked to be the only CFC players with any sense of urgency. Playing with build up does not mean slow the ball down and take three touches before passing sideways.
Reece James will be a huge upgrade when he gets back, I think that's been overlooked. Azpi is on his last legs. The problems are definitely in the midfield though. Pulisic has played well except for the 1st half yesterday and I think teams are focused on shutting him down. However the team isn't clicking so it makes sense for Lampard to experiment some. I wouldn't be shocked if pulisic is on the bench on Tuesday.
Pulisic, Ziyech and Hudson-Odoi all received a 6.5 from this commentator - so let's look at the comments: "Christian Pulisic completed zero of his four attempted dribbles; he also won zero of his six ground duels. He did create two chances, including one clear cut chance, which is impressive because it was the only clear cut chance that Chelsea created and it came in the 93′. Pulisic was simply another victim of a very disciplined defense. ..." "Hakim Ziyech did what he was bought for: try to create goal-scoring chances. He had his work cut out for him, playing against a well-organized and very resilient Fulham team. There were murmurs of discontent among the fanbase during the game, complaining about crosses and whatnot, failing to mention that Chelsea’s goal eventually came from the result of two unsuccessful crosses. ...." "Callum Hudson-Odoi was a refreshing difference from Ziyech. He did well to stretch the pitch and gave the Fulham players a different decision to make. He certainly wasn’t the beam of brilliance that the fans say he was though. He definitely wasn’t the best player on the pitch when he came on, not even close. Blues fans always seem to want what is absent, they quickly get tired of what they’re seeing and want something different, so when they see that something different, they convince themselves that it’s better than it actually is. Hudson-Odoi was good when he came and he needed to come on, but he was nowhere near as fantastic as certain reviews are suggesting." https://theprideoflondon.com/2021/0...s-fulham-performance-less-important-points/3/
It's something CP has never consistently done, that progressive ball which switches the attack and bypasses midfield. CHO can ping those right on the button, he had a couple yesterday. CP has always struggled with that in all the time I've watched him... he's struggled with the final ball in general IMO, and as such he's really turned into a dribble-first player over the past 2-3 seasons. Which isn't bad, since he's so good at it. But CHO offers something different. I don't even necessarily consider them direct competition for one another, as someone else said if the midfield were in better shape you could theoretically put out 4 attackers. Liverpool are playing United right now, and because they have 2 fantastic CMs they've deployed 4 other attackers. And they have been dominating this game with that tactical decision. But it is about personnel. This is why I keep going back to my argument last summer, Havertz doesn't fit in with these other signings, he never did, especially if they want to keep both of CHO & CP.
Managers starting to give Lampard some friendly advice... https://www.football.london/chelsea-fc/news/kai-havertz-hakim-ziyech-chelsea-19639673
pulisic looked better in the second half playing against 10 and cho benefitted from the same. cho had a few bright moments and so did pulisic. first half notwithstanding rest is just shiny new thing
Chelsea football club’s number 10 has played almost 800 league minutes. 1g 0a Simply not good enough.
I agree and that is why I feel that so many people are questioning Lampard. All teams go through bad spells but this one has been particularly ugly, especially considering the talent.
All true, but the biggest surprise is just how vulnerable they've been to attacks and counter-attacks through the middle of the park all season. That was a noticeable weakness of Lampard's Derby side and it's continued now he's coaching Chelsea. There's no excuse, especially since Kante - the EPL's best DM since Makelele - is in the side.
Ziyech is to blame for Havertz's struggles? How many matches has Ziyech played? How many matches has Havertz played? Havertz is to blame for his own struggles.
When four absolutely phenomenal players, who have all been consistently great elsewhere are all struggling under a new and inexperienced manager without anything like the body of work those players have, as a manager, I would fire the manager and bring in someone else asap.
If said manager wasn't Frank Lampard, he would have been fired already. Lampard has a longer leash than any other managers at Chelsea.
You guys are right. Maybe they should unload him. It’s unfair to all concerned for Chelsea to be paying that much for someone who is “just not good enough.” Presumably, a change of scenery will be good for both parties.