Only managed to see the second half so missed the best bits, but Hudson Odoi has to start the season looked magical at times and will give full backs nightmares with his pace and trickery, I was also impressed with Abraham looks a handful and is growing in stature Batsy will have his work cut out if he is going to be a starter, by all accounts from the comments on Premier sports Morata had a very good game too, it doesn't look good for Bakayoko terrible mistake to give the ball away in his own half that led to their goal. I may have had a mental orgasm when I saw Zola in a Chelsea shirt again.
Ross is doing alright. Danny & Ross were hard done by Tony last season Remember Moses was an average (English Nigerian) signing from Wigan until season before last season. Need to give Danny & Ross some chance. Danny can be excellent squad player and Ross an impressive catalyst & game changer.
Just watched Liverpool and United on ESPN. Very good game lots of new faces of course but some decent goals notably from Shaqiri who scored a worldy overhead kick. 104,000 crowd in the stadium that I used to live about 500 yards from.
I generally take zero notice of Pre season. Most of time, it has zero effect on what kind of season you are going to have. Especially when its a World Cup year and most teams are missing half their squads. Might be interesting, as we have a new manager, to see what kind of formation and style he may use, but even then managers will use pre season to see what his new squad is all about and test out weird ****
Zola could walk on anytime and still be better than any midfielder we have. I was hoping Bakayoko would come good this season, and won't judge him on a pre season game, but he looks like he needs a confidence upgrade. Morata ,now fit, should appreciate a more attacking minded approach and Tammy Abraham must be itching to fire up in the first team. If Michy also runs into his bundesleague form then things are looking great. Hudson Odoi is ready, Ampadu is ready as are a couple more kids. Just hope Sarri has the bollocks to pick on form not reputation.
He seems the type to do so, if I am honest. He plays a completely different style to Conte, or Mourinho before him, so some of the players who flourished under those managers may find themselves out in the cold, and vice versa. For example, I cannot see Giroud doing well under Sarri, given what I have heard about Sarri's attacking style. Where as Morata and Hazard will probably flourish. Kante I think will fit anywhere, in any team. We may also see David Luiz get a new lease of life at the back
As for Baka, Drinkwater and Barkley, I am willing to give them another season and a chance to impress under a new manager and a new style. We have paid for them so we may as well see if we can get any use out of them, one or more of them may surprise us.
You are right that we may well see some players come good under a new system and some not deal as well with it. With our midfield though, we have so many players that it will be hard to give them all a fair go. I think one or two will be let go to bring the numbers down to a more sensible scale.Add RLC in and we have what, seven?? I really hope Luiz thrives again, in my opinion his removal by Conte made our defence disconnected from the midfield and unable to contribute to any meaningful attack. Even Dave stopped most of his forward runs. Will be fascinating to see how it all pans out. Looks really hopeful at last.
I thought the exact same. Our defence was far more fluid with him in it, he had his reckless streak in his early years, but that has been greatly improved since we re-signed him. People forget he was a key member of our last title winning team I would like to see him given another shot.
lol, i love Luiz, he's been a great servant and his enthusiasm is infectious and he does a lot in the community. However, in a 4 at the back i just know there will be brain farts. When i look at our CBs, Rudiger, Luiz, Christensen, Dave (maybe), Cahill, I would say only Dave is a proper Leader who will organise his other CB which is worrying in my book as i reckon he'll go RB as people think he's too short for CB. As for the 2 i think it will be, Rudiger and Luiz worry me as both are front foot defenders when normally you want 1 front foot 1 sweeper.
Don’t you think Luiz could play as sweeper?? Dave could play alongside Luiz with Rudiger as right back?? Actually Christensen is more than quick enough to play right back and Emerson or Alonso at left back. Seems Sarri might have a few options as all can add something. Looks like Cahill will still be with us, and he’s got some quality as well, though might struggle to get a good run. Going to be fascinating to see who cements a starting place in every position, and expect some suprises.
Christensen baffles me. He doesn't seem that slow but i dunno if he was injured or just leggy but when Suarez out ran him (and he's not leopard) i decided Christensen is actually quite slow. I also wouldnt fancy him at RB as i'm not sure he's actually that good on the ball (he brings it out nicely and proceeds to panic and loses the ball punting it forward imo). Luiz could play as a sweeper (he was sort of doing it as middle of the 3) but for me he just likes to attack everything rather than doing the wise thing and standing off. He is an aggressive defender and rather waiting for the right opportunity to tackle, he likes to dive in. The ultimate sweeper we had was carvalho. Rudiger could go RB but i'm not sure thats where he wants to play
Me too, always rated him. Would like to see Rudi with Luiz as a partnership, but also Ampadu given games.
nice. Tbh i'm not a fan of zouma. he is unbelievably bad on the ball and i didn't think he looked great for stoke.
