Not overly concerned, but Chelsea can't afford to get too clever here. A loss today and they might have to win the final two games.
I definitely have my doubts about this midfield. Even after Gilmore’s strong second half performance last weekend
gilmours strong second half has been grossly exaggerated imo. he had one nice turn in an incredibly high risk situation that came off but from a risk management perspective was a pretty big yikes.
Good performance from Pulisic he was the best of the three starting attackers. He wasn't able to dominate just played his role well without making any mistakes. Chelsea still struggle against bunkering teams, but they deserved a point in this one, just didn't get any lucky bounces in the box. This game could have been a lot different if Kai buried his early chance.
Luckily for Chelsea, Liverpool don't just need to beat a tired and unmotivated United, they have to beat relegated West Brom and complacent Burnley and Crystal Palace.
By continuously hacking him down and taking him out of the game via physical assaults. Ziyech doesn't receive such treatments because he does not represent the same level of threat.
Surely Pulisic possess world class talents, but he needs to up his energy and intensity level a notch. Most of the time, you can see he just casually jog around when not having the ball. Sure Mount and Werner does not have the same level of skills or talents like Pulisic, but those guys work their asses off when the team doesn't have the ball. And for that, they often starts ahead of Pulisic. I think if Pulisic can bring that same level of energy as those guys, he's a locked starter for most games. One play in particular from this game today that reminds me of the Pulisic of last season. When Kai apply pressure up top, force a defensive error from the opponent, steal the ball and went straight for goal; too bad Kai missed the target. This was the exact play that helped Pulisic scored his goal in his hat trick performance against Burnley last season, and also the play that led to his goal against Manchester City. We need that level of energy and intensity from Pulisic again, it's what makes him such a great threat for opponents. This is the play I am talking about from last season (1st goal).
Once again, Pulisic was far and away the most dangerous/threatening Chelsea player. Practically every time he touched it in the final 3rd, positive things happened. But I don’t know why Tuchel doesn’t give Pulisic a run of games on the left. He is excellent on the right (consistent beats his man and delivers balls in), but he’s not as much of a goal-scoring threat. On the left, he is still excellent at getting to the end-line and serving balls in (he had an excellent cross with his left today that no Chelsea player could be bothered to make a run onto), but he has the added dimension of cutting inside and really threatening the defense. What is Tuchel seeing that I’m not?
Easier said than done. I don’t think Pulisic is putting less effort than Werner and Mount, some guys simply have a better motor like McKennie, and Adams.
I agree with the first paragraph. He is not showing up as well for the ball, nor stepping in the passing lanes defensively. He was always a little bit shy about sticking in and chasing, but this game seems especially low energy on that score. Yes, he is getting a lot of attention that prevents him from making his dribbling runs. But he could use that more effectively if he was making sharper cuts and sharper runs.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/report?gameId=578302 Well, he subbed Gilmour off for CHO at HT, which moved Mount back deeper into the midfield. Was that the something in particular he is referring to? Or was it not starting Kante? Or Werner? Or Ziyech? Any of you have any guesses?
Jorghinho and Gilmour are not a good pairing ... Kante needs to be in there with the way he is playing and Kovacic out. maybe Werner for Havertz - but Werner and Havertz have both missed sitters ..
Interestingly, I thought he had one of his better games with respect to doing the little things today. I wasn’t focusing the entire match but recall him breaking up a couple passes, staying on his man to force a low quality crosses and at least a couple other occasions where he interrupted the other teams flow. I thought he had a really good game overall and deserved a goal.
Yes. Corner kick that Havertz flicked to far post where Pulisic chested it in. The only way he could get to the ball was to be offside.
Well, Mount was absolutely useless today. I think Mount is better coming from deeper in the midfield. Pulisic was still dangerous practically every time he was on the ball. I also don’t understand those talking about his effort. He was all over the place today.
Jorginho always carries himself like he thinks he's the smartest player on the field. I'm glad he got exposed. That being said, he's one of Tuchel's guys and is a lock to start the cup final on Saturday.
That's it, right there. Pulisic is not a workhorse type of player. He is not Jermaine Jones or Weston McKennie or even Mason Mount. People wondered last year why MM was such an automatic starter for Lampard. It's because he has so much energy and takes up sooooo much space on the field in attack and defense. Pulisic, by comparison, does not. Mount wins balls, he can shoot from distance and he can take spot and corner kicks. Oh, I forgot: he is durable as hell. He's a great "team" guy, he is sometimes a captain. What is there not to like about this guy? Pulisic is Pulisic. He can do incredible things in attack, that no one else can do. But his motor only lasts for so long. Sadly, I guess that is why Tuchel sees him as a super sub.