Written by kirsikka…
Slight miscalculation on my part for this one. Decided to watch it in a bar with a Chelsea supporting friend only to realise when we got there the ice hockey U20 world cup was on and Finland were playing. We managed to get a screen changed to the match but not commentary and everyone else in there focused elsewhere. So it was an odd experience.
Onto the match and, the truth is, we never laid a glove on them. Sure, we did push a bit towards the end but only when they’d decided to sit back and let us come on to them so they could take advantage of all the space being left behind. They were 3rd gear all game and could easily have had four or five.
There’s no shame in being outclassed by a team like Chelsea. They clearly can put players on the pitch that we couldn’t dream of signing. However, I would have hoped we could put a fight up and give them something to think about. That wasn’t the case tonight.
The change to five at the back was a failure. Rather than shoring us up, we looked vulnerable at all times and were repeatedly nearly undone by long balls into channels. There should have been a man available to mop those up. A lot of work to be done on the training pitch if we want to use this successfully.
We looked marginally better in the second period. Not much else to say than that really. The game felt done and dusted after about twenty minutes.
Positive performances:
Zemura+Anthony: They were by no means perfect, and JZ looked suspect defensively at times, but on those occasions we did show some few bits of class going forward it almost always involved them.
Solanke: Worked his socks off to try and make things happen and ghosted past players a few times. Never troubled the keeper but it was still a decent showing, all things considered.
Room for improvement:
Moore: Did he touch the ball? Not sure. It some ways it’s a thankless task to lead the line in a game like this but you still need to make an impact. Hold it up at times and make space for others to run into.
Smith: Looked suspect all game. Very lucky that third goal was chalked off, and another ref would have given a penalty against him. Even though it would have been harsh. We need him back on it v Palace as we know who their main man is.
GON watch:
There have been far bigger defeats against one of the six, but it never felt like a match we were going to get anything from once it had kicked off. The five at the back didn’t work. A bold manager might have switched it in the first 20 minutes when it was clearly not containing Chelsea or allowing us to get forward. Maybe he’s too early in his career to make a move like that. Still, learning on the job will have nights like this. That’s part of the deal we have to accept when we chose to appoint him.
Your say…
I was hoping a back 5 would be good but it just…wasn’t. Didn’t look like we had much of a strategy, which is kind of the bare minimum you should be expecting. Not sure this is something to worry about though as we’ve been set up very well for teams under O’Neil before.
This Chelsea side truly aren’t that great tbh. Disappointing that we didn’t really give them a game, they made loads of mistakes at the back. We need to find some kind of creative spark in attack, either from the bench or the transfer market. A leaky defence doesn’t matter if you can score, and I don’t think we’re going to fix the defence any time soon. Our attacking players isn’t actually that bad most of the time.
Am concerned about the lack of genuine top level coaching experience we have, and last night didn’t do a lot to dispell that worry. Playing Phil on the left is just nonsense.
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