Match Day Thread Chelsea V Bournemouth

Hopefully we will do a bit better than last seasons calamitous result

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42799048

We owe these guys a tonking.
Bournemouth like to play open football, and given our transitional defensive tactics I expect to see lots of goals in this game.

My prediction:

Chelsea 4-2 Bournemouth

 

5-2

 

Amazed Conte kept his job after that reverse

 

i'm hoping 3-0 but i reckon it'll be more 3-1

 

So do I but who will play?
I'd start with the following,

Willy, Dave, Christensen , Luiz, Alonso ( Rudiger changed only to see how Luiz goes with Christensen)
Kante RLC Georghino
Hudson Odoi, Morata (last chance) Hazard

Sarri will probably start the same team as Newcastle. If he does then I hope he uses his subs earlier and more creatively than like for like.

 

I know you're desperate for us to use our youth .

Why Willy? Surely you want kepa our future to get as many games as possible.

If anyone is to be dropped in defence it has to be luiz. I wouldn't put hudson in unless as a second half sub.

Only change i would make is to maybe give RLC a chance although Kovacic looked great against Newcastle imo.

I think you are underestimating Bournemouth here. They are on a good run and the last thing we want is to hand them the initiative. More than happy for christensen, odoi and RLC to have chances but i'd prefer it for the last 30 mins of a match rather than as starters. Nothing worse than trying to chase a game. Even in cups, i prefer to get the game done and dusted and then rest players/test players.

 

Fair enough, I may be underestimating Bournemouth and getting impatient as well. Kovacic looked really good but ran out of puff and apparently asked to be subbed.Since Hazard wasn't starting because he was not fit enough, then thought the same should apply to Kovacic. Hence RLC gets my nod ahead of Barkley.
I felt both Pedro and Willian were below par last game and Odoi was out of his skin last time he played, so he gets my call as well.
I will concede defeat with Willy and Christensen !!!!! 4 changes is probably too many .

 

Yes Pedro was totally nullified last game and for an attacking player needs to be doing a bit more. On the other hand it's on the side with Dave and Kante who aren't naturally brilliant going forward and Pedro has lost the ability to take his man on so in that respect odoi is better than him at that.

Lastly odois last match was in the charity shield against city and was pretty average although he improved in the second half. Definitely needs development though.

At the moment I'm looking at us playing and we are still only winning by the odd goal which suggests to me we are still struggling a bit which is why I'm loathe to switch it up too much (deffo sub on the players we want to develop).

We should definitely try to give more time to odoi,rlc and ampadu though

 

I’ve stuck 4-2 on my super 6.

Same team as last week for me but Willian for Pedro.

 

We have, what looks on paper, to be a slightly easier run of fixtures coming up, for what that is worth in the PL.
Bournemouth, Cardiff and West Ham. Games we should expect to win (though you just know West Ham are gonna get their first win of the season against us).
All this before our first real test, Liverpool on 29th Sept at the Bridge.
We need to sort our **** out by then, but am confident we can.

 

Why make so many changes when we are trying to learn a new system

 

Nullified in he had two good chances to score but didn’t?

 

True. Had to think about when that happened. We were pretty toothless the whole match so I couldn't remember them

 

Not toothless Bobby breaking down a 10 man defence is difficult especially when the Home team only had 18% possession. Given hitting the bar and Pedro’s missed chances on another day it could have been 5-0

 

Hang on, I backed down from 4 to 2 under pressure from Bobby D !!!
Seriously, hard to know whether to stick or twist.
Pedro, Hazard, Kovacic, Dave and several others sure had their moments, but Alonso apart, no one has played a great 90 mins every game, not even Kante.
My theory is some of the regular starters are not adapting well enough, and when the tough games come along, sooner than we would want, we won' t have worked out our best team because too many contenders haven't had a go.
On the other hand, some consistancy never hurts.
Who'd be a manager???

 

Being the devils advocate have you considered that the manager doesn’t need to see a player play in the team to see if he is good enough?

 

I think he'll pretty much stick with the Newcastle side with a view to Kovacic maybe coming off around the hour mark if tired.

In terms of result, basically it'll be

No cescy = party
Cescy = no party

 

Dont make me get the hose!!

 

Likewise. No Alonso we win 2-0.

With Alonso we win 5-4

 

I think they are probably all good enough players but its the ones who can play the Sarri style best who will ultimately form the 1st choice 11. Sarriball demands that each player be an integral part of the whole, otherwise there is a big chance of leaking goals.
Pretty stupid to be settling on players after 3 games I know, but already it is clear Alonso can do it, Georghino can, Rudiger is improving quickly, Dave and Luiz not so quickly, Kovacic can when fit, Barkley is playing better but not yet adapted to Sarri, likewise Kante and Hazard, with Willian and Pedro OK ish.
I'd rather we find the best 11 sooner than later, meaning a change or two from now on may not be such a bad idea. Perhaps not 4 a game as Bobby D rightly points out !!!!