Well the "attacking" we were promised after the Fulham debacle never showed up. Instead we were outrun, out played, out smarted and out of steam again against Ipswich. In both games we showed zero urgency, and preferred mindless, endless passing across the back line rather than actually trying to be direct. We have perfected the art of defenders walking instead of running, of passing to men already facing backwards and of missing every half chance we create. Against a far less talented team we were beaten because they were much more determined and committed and we had no answers and no players to turn it around. Again our formation was just wrong. Fernandez playing forward left Caicedo exposed and having to work like 2 men to defend. So Ipswich just ran through the middle. Conversely, Cucurella was so far forward a simple long pass sent their wide players racing down our open sideline. Time to have a really good think about selections. Joao Felix has been pretty hopeless, Nkunku is NOT a striker, Disasi is NEVER a right back. Maresca has a problem to stop this trend and needs to step up and consider his options more carefully. Attitude is his biggest problem and possibly complacency ?? We are better than this form and need to keep things simple, a bit more direct, and upping the speed of our general play,
Disasi sure is full of mistakes and often bad ones. I don't want to watch again, but I'm guessing it was his pass that led to the 2nd goal?? To be scrupulously fair, he wasn't the only one who's passing was well below par, so many times ours went straight to Ipswich players who were more alert and quicker than our blokes all night. It's the midfield that has me concerned, just a lack of someone to take control and spray a few telling passes around. That's NOT Fernandez for mine , closest we have is Lavia who when paired with Casiedo helps balance our Team, who defend and attack better. Despite his recent better scoring efforts, I still think Fernandez is our misfit. Todays game revealed Joao Felixs' limitations too, he's not a left winger, and not as good as Palmer nor Nkunku as a #10. Nkunku also showed why he isn't a striker, while 3 goal Guiu got splinters and Jackson was brought on when we hadn't had a player clean through on goal due to the muddling play from midfield on back.. With Disasi behind him, Madueke got nothing but scraps all game as did Felix with Cuckoo often in front of him !! Just a ****ty game with dopey selections and players out of position. Not Marescas' best work either.
Something seems to have gone awry. Even though December is a notoriously bad time for Chelsea we should be beating a bottom 3 team.
I gotta agree about the midfield inbalance. As better as Fernandez's form has been of late, a midfield of he and Caicedo is not good enough and too unbalanced. Why was Nkunku started as a striker when Jackson and Guiu are both fit? And why did Felix start when Neto and Sancho are both fit? Am not sure about this bizarre tactic of fullbacks doubling as attacking midfielders either I understand Maresca has a big squad and maybe wants to utilise it, but there hasnt been any European games this week and we are out of the league cup so there really was no need to rotate so much for this game.
Chelsea must be kidding themselves if they think they will get a decent fee for Chilwell !! His 200 Gs a week salary would deter pretty much every Club in the UK. Similarly Chukwemenka is unlikely to bring in more than half what we stupidly paid, then don't integrate him. Both these guys have had their values halved by Chelsea. So how come we're expecting 75 mill in "sales" for the 5 players we want to sell ? Chilwells' is a weird situation. Maresca says he "doesn't fit" but neither did Cucurella nor Fernandez, who now start every game. Time for the owners to consider some pragmatic solutions to solve Marescas' dilemma. Playing Disasi (often out of position), Felix as a winger, Nkunku out of position, and NONE of them "fits" either, nor do they do much when in their correct position. Yet he plays all 3 together in a weakened starting 11 and wonders why we don't go well ??? I don't believe he would do this by choice. There must be more to it for Maresca to do this sort of thing. Is he being pressured from above?? Who knows ??? I feel for Chilly, and understand his stance to not accept a pay drop just to help Clearlake sell him, AND he's contracted until 2027 !! Those money whizzes need to settle some "buy-out" agreement with Chilly to allow other Clubs to take him on, maybe as a free Agent or at least for a sensible price. Might be the best way out in the end for everyone.
