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ricardo

Ricardo's report v Chelsea

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I informed Mrs R that it was an early kick off but still couldn't get out of the usual trawl round Sainsburies and M & S this morning. However I was able to escape eventually and by the time I got to CR at  just after twelve, it was more than a touch on the warm side.

It was same again for City and I was quietly pleased to see Chelsea were without Kante and Pedro. Every little bit helps when you play these teams who have such an embarrasment of riches. The opening exchanges were cagey with both sets of players playing some easy possession but when Chelsea came forward down their right there was plenty of time and space for Abrahams to get on the end of a perfect cross and slam a low first time shot past a startled Tim Krul.

It was hugely disappointing to concede so easily but City weren't behind for long and it was lovely control from Buendia that made it. The little Argentine rode through a couple of tackles before combining with Todd Cantwell, and then Pukki as he surged into the box. Pukki might have had a go from the angle of the six yard line but clevely picked out Cantwell with a sharp pass and the City youngster made no mistake with a low effort through Arrizabalaga's legs. It was a lovely goal and one the pundits would rave about had it been scored by one of the big boys.

For a while it was even steven but Chelsea definitely had the edge in quality and the home defence were often at full stretch. A goal was coming and it wasn't a surprise when City couldn't clear their lines in the seventeenth minute. Mount's speed and clever movement left him in the clear to rifle a shot past Krul from near the penalty spot. City were only attacking spasmodically and finding it difficult to deal with the visitors sharpness in midfield. It could easily have been 3-1 just before the half hour only for Krul to superbly deny Christiansen's powerful header with a instinctive palm over the bar.

City seemed to get a second wind and came forward down the right. Cantwell cleverly dumied a pass that found Buendia in space and once again the little wizard timed his pass perfectly for Pukki to outpace a defender and fire a low angled shot that the keeper could only parry before finding the net to square things up again. It was now the home sides turn to dominate for a while and there was a big chance for them when Buendia's free kick was only parried by the Chelsea keeper. Hanley manage to get a shot in from the rebound but Arrizabalaga was able the block it and the ball was hoofed away. There were one or two other alarms for City as we ran up to half time but thankfully the defence held firm.

It was a satisfactory half but you couldn't deny that Chelsea were asking most of the questions and this pattern of play became even more obvious as City were often at full stretch in the opening ten minutes of the second period. Hanley and Godfrey made important blocks and Krul had to punch a corner away under heavy pressure. As we came up to the hour mark Emmerson had loades of space and time  on the right to hammer a shot that somehow Kru managed to grab and hold.

It looked like City might be able to hold on and there were hopes of even more when Pukki found enough space for a strike on goal but the Chelsea keeper saved comfortably high to his right. City had been drawn a bit too far forward in that attack and when Chelsea broke forward the ball was played quickly to Abrahams who made room for himself before rapping a twenty yarder past Krul.

It was hard for City now but Godfrey almost brough City back into the game with a strong run that was only with difficulty crowded out for a corner. When the cross came over it was Godfrey again with a storming header that clipped the bar and went over. With ten minutes left Farke went for a back three and took Trybull, Leitner and Stiepermann off, bringing on Vrancic, McClean and Srbeny. The home side piled forward but Chelsea looked comfortable and milked the time with a bit of gamesmanship with players falling over at every opportunity. Buendia managed to slide a ball across the visitors six yard line but unsurprisingly the legs were beginning to go by this time.

There were a few boo's at the final whistle, hopefully only for Chelsea's time wasting because I thought the boys gave everything but there was little doubt that it was the visitors who had the edge in class.

My MOM, Ben Godfrey, also outstanding contributions from Cantwell, Leitner and Lewis. Buendia was brilliant in flashes. A fair result but we always knew it would be hard against the class teams.

Edited by ricardo
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We set up to go toe-to-toe with Chelsea, trusting our collective methodology over their individual talents. No shame in Chelsea slightly having the edge over us today, we gave our best and there wasn’t a lot in it. We played some brilliant football at times and had them on the back foot with quality football.

Not shutting spaces, shutting the game down and spoiling to create an equality, but genuinely trusting our football to compete with them. A great effort from young, vibrant, talented players,playing highly intelligent, well-drilled, fluid football. 

I’m not sure what more can be asked . 

Parma 

 

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8 minutes ago, Parma Ham's gone mouldy said:

We set up to go toe-to-toe with Chelsea, trusting our collective methodology over their individual talents. No shame in Chelsea slightly having the edge over us today, we gave our best and there wasn’t a lot in it. We played some brilliant football at times and had them on the back foot with quality football.

Not shutting spaces, shutting the game down and spoiling to create an equality, but genuinely trusting our football to compete with them. A great effort from young, vibrant, talented players,playing highly intelligent, well-drilled, fluid football. 

I’m not sure what more can be asked . 

Parma 

 

Agreed, there will be a few like this against the top teams but there may well be enough points to glean from the also rans to stay up. It was great entertainment and I for one don't want to go back to the days of backs to the wall and hope to nick a point. I think Farke has enough credit in the bank for us to say carry on as we are.

These days its a joy to go to CR even if we don't always get the result.

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Thanks for the report, and yes what entertainment. We did all that we could and I was proud of the lads, I just hope that we are going to be able to sustain the level of energy we are showing throughout the season.

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We will sustain some set backs for sure but I see Arsenal are making our 1-4 defeat at Liverpool look very reasonable😀

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I absolutely love Ben Godfrey as a player, though I genuinely thought Todd Cantwell was our Man of the Match today. High work rate, excellent link play, getting into more dangerous positions than he sometimes does and covering defensively with real determination and good reading of the game.

Parma 

 

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9 minutes ago, ricardo said:

We will sustain some set backs for sure but I see Arsenal are making our 1-4 defeat at Liverpool look very reasonable😀

I'm waiting for a commentator to suggest that Arsenal's defending has been "naive". 

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Thanks for the report Ricardo

 

That second half was a great example to anyone watching why we need to play our usual game and not sit a bit deeper. We were slightly better defensively, but still open and much less proficient in attack as a result. It didn't look like instruction, we were just pinned back and I think the players decided to stand off a bit but it showed what would happen if we approach every game like that. 

 

We remind me at the moment of us at the start of last year which gives me hope we'll improve even more. We were very open at the start of last year, then after a few personal changes and a settling in period we got to grips with the defensive side of the game much more while still retaining our attacking verve. 

 

I like Trybull but I don't class him as a DM, more a hard working deep lying playmaker and cover for Leitner and I think we need Amadou or Tettey in there next game. Plus Hanley out for Klose. I rate him higher than most but i don't think him and Godfrey is working as a partnership for whatever reason and if one has to be dropped then it's obviously Hanley. Something has to change in that area because if we'd have been more solid in this position we'd have probably drawn today and kept a clean sheet v Newcastle. Needs to be addressed asap

 

With a more solid base once Buendia and Stiepermann find form we'll really start looking the business. I doubt we'll keep many clean sheets, but I think we'll look a lot less vulnerable. Could be a mad season where we finish with no clean sheets in the league but our striker bags over 20 top flight goals. Gonna be interesting that's for sure! 

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My one frustration was that Farke didn’t make a sub (or two) at 2-2, to give Chelsea something different to think about. It’s my one minor criticism of Farke over the past year that, in my opinion, he delays making substitutions.

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I watched the game in a sports bar on the Buda side on a wallsized screen, and in the end felt frustrated for not taking a well deserved point.  Maybe if we stayed defensive, we could have kept it at 2-2. Maybe not. That said, after Chelskis extended attacking spell I was the loudest to demand to take the ball to the other side...

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Proud of the team today. You have to hold up your hand and say the better team won - certainly the more skillful collection of individual players won - our overall team performance was not enough to succeed.

That's the way it is, we are a young team and we have some additional players we can integrate over the next few games that I hope will reduce some of the performance gaps. Overall I am very happy about what I'm seeing, and also very grateful that we are not following a "just don't concede 2" approach.  

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Yes Ricardo, I thought Godfrey was outstanding once again although possiibly pulled out of the middle for their second.

I used several different streams to watch and each commentary team thought it was a very entertaining game played by two young sides who only thought of playing touch football and attacking.

We have to realise that the pace we play at, we will make mistakes with our passing. And they pressed us more than we did them. We lost the ball in our own half many times. I understand there will be calls for Amadou to play even though no-one knows what he is capable of. His absence says to me that he isn't up to our passing standard yet.

But the beauty is we score goals and if we keep doing that. we will stay up. 

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