Don't insult the lad like that! I thought he was brilliant personally Good draw there, they were a lot fitter than we were.
Hah no bloody way. Marin and Essien stand out best players imo. Very tough decisions for RDM coming up. I dare say Marin may be what we have been missing.
I've been to a few preseason games in the US but this was by far the biggest turnout of Chelsea support. 90% of the stadium was Chelsea,real solid Chelsea support. When JT came on it was booming. There are players who you look at the way the carry themselves,the way they are looking and reading a game that you know they are just that little above the rest. I saw 2 yesterday,Hazard,had a quiet game though, and Piazon. Wish I'd taken today off
The second half of the game was very very promising. However, I hate to say it but I think there could be a problem with a Lamaprd Hazrad partnership. Don't know about you, but when Lamps moves up Hazard seems to disappear. It's also clear that from what we have Marin is looking like a complete must in the starting line up. His dribbling is so fluid and he's got very quick feet. Tricky little player. I hope Cole and him could put soemthing together down that left hand side next season. Essien did himself a very good favour there (excluding that panic shot), he was quick, made good passes and Mikel reacted very well to having him next to him in the midfield. With regards to Mikel, I think much like Ramires neither are anywhere near match fitness. Hazard did have a quiet first half, but I do highlight he didn't do anything wrong, just wasn't helped by a very slow warming up side and Emile Heskey up top. De Bruyne will be useful but it was clear he is not a winger of any sort. He should be subbed on late on down the middle, then he'll cause problems. Kakuta isn't good enough. Hutchinson looks good but still needs to mature. Despite that Pastore goal it's clear to see Luiz and Cahill are top defenders. However, Terry's organisation and Ivanovic are a must. (I have noticed that RDM seems to be converting Ivan back to a CB in preseason, so perhaps a new RB can be expected.). Piazon has a lot of growing but I'd rather keep him with the side. Chalobah looked promising and McEachran as well, though both need to beef up a lot.
I haven't seen it yet--it was too late a kick off for me! Today we've hosted my grand-daughters 6th birthday party, so I'm now off to watch the game I recorded! PS I've now watched it. I thought Michael Essien showed some of the touches he had when he was the great bison!
Has to be said, the problem lies in our CDMs now. They should be dictating the game but the link up is poor because they leave either far too much space from defence or camp just on top of the defence. They haven't got the balance right, except for Essien. From what I've seen Essien should be back in the starting 11. I'm not sure Lampard can be considered a CDM, I'm not sure Mikel is back in his stride, Ramires as well. Though I'm not overly convinced by him I think Romeu when he returns could be very useful there. If Oscar can play deep lying then maybe him as well. I think we may end up being slow starters though...
Turnbull is an awful goalkeeper and we need to get rid. Robert Green would have been a very good back-up keeper, but we've missed out on him now.
Marin comes on, look how amazing we look. Top signing. Has to be said though, we look so sloppy at the back without JT...
I didn't stay up to watch this , but the report I read was uncomplementary about us! Bearing in mind the idea was to get us all fit for the new season, with the whole squad getting time on the pitch and a fair few key people missing, I can take 0-1 v AC Milan! The report laboured on about having no punch up front, but with Sturridge and Torres , supported by Hazard and Mata I reckon we'll have great times coming!
Complete bollocks I watched the whole game. With Lukaku he did break down moves in the first half but when Marin came on we tore Milan to shreads up top and dominated possession for most of the game. When Torres came on (though unfit) we saw glimpses of real attacking potential. Sadly on came Malouda and Ferriera which lost the pace of Ramires and the attacking ability of Cole. All in all though, it was very encouraging. Hutchinson was on top form. It's becoming a very hard choice choosing between Essien - Lampard - Mikel for the CDMs though. All have been on top form. Mikel even had a very well hit volley on target. :O Madness
