Chelsea 3 Club America 0

[JaneB]

Please use this thread for all posts relating to our Pre-Season Friendly match against Club America at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta before, during and after the game.

The match is scheduled to kick off at 00:30 hours on Thursday, 1st August 2024 (Local UK time/date)

[My Blood Is Blue]

[Ham]

1 hour ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

Is Caicedo not nearly ready for a start?  

[My Blood Is Blue]

2 hours ago, Ham said:

Is Caicedo not nearly ready for a start?  

Not sure, but if he is, throw him in for Santos. It would be nice to get a win, even if it is just pre-season. If only to move the level of crisis on here from 12/10 to 11/10.

[Sciatika]

Oddly, I am feeling quite relaxed about the pre-season this year, partly because it can't be as bad as last year, partly because I have not expected us to win any games so far and partly because losing doesn't matter much. I don't really know much about Club America. We beat them a couple of years ago. I suppose a win might lift confidence a bit.

[chara]

37 minutes ago, Sciatika said:

Oddly, I am feeling quite relaxed about the pre-season this year, partly because it can't be as bad as last year, partly because I have not expected us to win any games so far and partly because losing doesn't matter much. I don't really know much about Club America. We beat them a couple of years ago. I suppose a win might lift confidence a bit.

Feel more or less the same.... lot of handwringing and doom and gloom but I think a need for bit more of a balanced perspective,,,it's fine to point out the many negatives..but it is preseason with a lot of new issues to be ironed out..well documented.... but there are positives.not as :"interesting" as the obvious negatives which we can all over indulge ourselves with furious rage and enjoyable pre season angst!🤣

I hate it when Chelsea lose ANY game but to go to an extreme..if the tour only shows us Reece (and the rest)is back to full robust fitness and Chelsea lose every game which option would we all go for? Reece out again and clean sweep of meaningless wins?...At least the negatives showing up so far hopefully can/are being addressed taking into account the missing players,,,that factor in itself highlighting the lunacy of the ever expanding post season tournaments giving every club problems with the domestic game preperations in the competitive arena  that supports the game,

 

[east lower]

Watched bits of the two pre-season games and those bits show that we’re a bit of a shambles defensively. New manager, new system, old/new players (injury returnees), new players, experience left at Cobham - All of them individually and as any combination might be the reason. Crap keeper also.

But……………there’s no leader in defence - Maybe we miss Mr Silva more than we’d have thought. He’s played 3 games for his new side with 3 clean sheets.

Dear Reece, bless him - isn’t a defensive organiser either.

[paulw66]

Must win.

 

 

 

🙂

[Ham]

2 hours ago, paulw66 said:

Must win.

 

 

 

🙂

3 points a must. 

[chara]

23 minutes ago, Ham said:

3 points a must. 

No sweat...a penalty kick for 3 points or a dropped goal ?,,or would that count for the opposition?😄

[Ham]

14 minutes ago, chara said:

No sweat...a penalty kick for 3 points or a dropped goal ?,,or would that count for the opposition?😄

Keep your funny shaped balls out of this conversation.

[chara]

1 minute ago, Ham said:

Keep your funny shaped balls out of this conversation.

You've been peeking at my face book again. Shame on you🤣

[martin1905]

I know most of them are unavailable but as long as we start the season as close to this as possible couldn't care less  about this game or any other pre season game.

[Ham]

27 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

I know most of them are unavailable but as long as we start the season as close to this as possible couldn't care less  about this game or any other pre season game.

No Enzo?

Nkunku in midfield or number 10?

Palmer is apparently playing central this season so more likely to be number 10. 

[chara]

Unlike the previous tours I believe there is shift of emphasis and our new man is evaluating many heavy fringe players and looking for match fitness and strength of recovery from serious injuries sustained last season.

Again..the tour itinerary...if the amount of games were scheduled in such a short period in the regular season there would be an outcry I think...ok not so pressured as real competition but add the travel time/stress factor and surely someone must reevaluate the benefits of the preseason stuff?

Usual aside..I am able to watch every Chelsea game here and the other EPL/Euro side preseason tv coverage has reached saturation point,,when I arrived here in '99 anyone would be hard pressed to find any game on tv.

[east lower]

7 hours ago, chara said:

Unlike the previous tours I believe there is shift of emphasis and our new man is evaluating many heavy fringe players and looking for match fitness and strength of recovery from serious injuries sustained last season.

Again..the tour itinerary...if the amount of games were scheduled in such a short period in the regular season there would be an outcry I think...ok not so pressured as real competition but add the travel time/stress factor and surely someone must reevaluate the benefits of the preseason stuff?

Usual aside..I am able to watch every Chelsea game here and the other EPL/Euro side preseason tv coverage has reached saturation point,,when I arrived here in '99 anyone would be hard pressed to find any game on tv.

If my reading of what will happen within the next 5 years, and with the majority of established PL clubs ‘enjoying’  foreign ownership (particularly the number of American owners) you’ll be seeing proper PL games on American soil - Be that the much discussed ‘39th game’ or some of the natural 38.

I’m pretty sure that those games will be extremely well received and supported in Nth America and probably in Eastern Asia. But with the fervour that the British supporters have following their clubs/teams,  I truly believe that should these games get ‘taken’ to foreign soils, there’s going to be a massive kick-back from supporters and this might, just might cause the PL success bubble to burst. 

The American Football and Baseball teams/franchises that do the same but vice-versa have seemed to prosper and I can see the counter argument to my point of view, but I see a generally more deep-rooted support for people’s football (proper) in the UK than the franchise scenario that exists in American sports. That’s not to say that there are not fans of Grid-Iron, Baseball, Basketball & Ice-Hockey who feel equal fervour for their own teams. But there’s recent evidence that if an owner feels it’s best to move, then they move.

PL clubs have taken the first steps in selling their ‘souls’ - watch this space for what comes next.

Edited July 30 by east lower

[Sciatika]

Must win  No injuries

[Mark Kelly]

Fofana seriously needs to up his game for this one otherwise he's likely to find himself looking at a long stretch on the bench , he was terrible in the last game . 

Sanchez made a couple of decent saves and then dived out of the way for at least two of their goals and the other keepers on the tour make him look like prime Cech so I'm not expecting too much to be honest .

Would like to see Guiu get off the mark and Sterling to continue as he started as he was quite good last time out .

Be nice to see some Chelsea goals for a change .

[My Blood Is Blue]

1 hour ago, east lower said:

If my reading of what will happen within the next 5 years, and with the majority of established PL clubs ‘enjoying’  foreign ownership (particularly the number of American owners) you’ll be seeing proper PL games on American soil - Be that the much discussed ‘39th game’ or some of the natural 38.

I’m pretty sure that those games will be extremely well received and supported in Nth America and probably in Eastern Asia. But with the fervour that the British supporters have following their clubs/teams,  I truly believe that should these games get ‘taken’ to foreign soils, there’s going to be a massive kick-back from supporters and this might, just might cause the PL success bubble to burst. 

The American Football and Baseball teams/franchises that do the same but vice-versa have seemed to prosper and I can see the counter argument to my point of view, but I see a generally more deep-rooted support for people’s football (proper) in the UK than the franchise scenario that exists in American sports. That’s not to say that there are not fans of Grid-Iron, Baseball, Basketball & Ice-Hockey who feel equal fervour for their own teams. But there’s recent evidence that if an owner feels it’s best to move, then they move.

PL clubs have taken the first steps in selling their ‘souls’ - watch this space for what comes next.

It would be the final nail in the coffin of the game as we all know it. It's barely the game we all know and fell in love with anyway, but for me if it were to happen then my engagement would fall away quite a bit.

[paulw66]

1 hour ago, Mark Kelly said:

Fofana seriously needs to up his game for this one otherwise he's likely to find himself looking at a long stretch on the bench , he was terrible in the last game . 

 

To be fair, he hadn't played in over a year. I fully expected him to be very rusty 

[paulw66]

11 hours ago, martin1905 said:

I know most of them are unavailable but as long as we start the season as close to this as possible couldn't care less  about this game or any other pre season game.

Doesn't look like Gallagher being an option if this mornings' reports are accurate 

[martin1905]

13 hours ago, Ham said:

No Enzo?

Nkunku in midfield or number 10?

Palmer is apparently playing central this season so more likely to be number 10. 

I've heard it mentioned Palmer will play more centrally but then where do you play Nkunku? He can play from the left or as the 9 but his best position is 10 and he has to play.

Also if Palmer plays central, which I'm not against, I'd actually like to see Palmer AND Nkunku tried in the 8/10 roles, then Madueke becomes basically first choice on the right, again not against that, I like Noni but does he get in the team above Sterling or Nkunku? 

Could argue he is better than Sterling but we know how good Sterling can be in the right setup, admittedly we haven't seen it in a Chelsea shirt but he should be one of the players that really benefits from playing under Maresca. 

Most interesting one for me is where Caicedo plays, I think he is wasted as a 6, especially if we are going to press aggressively high up the pitch. If he takes up one of the box to box positions that only leaves one more, if Palmer has been earmarked for it then what about Enzo?

Putting aside his off the field antics I expect to see a completely different player next season and have been one of his biggest fans since he arrived, talking purely about his footballing ability now and not taking into account my personal views on him as a person. Personally I'd play him as the 6. People will argue he's too weak defensively but he will have James/Gusto/Cucurella alongside him.

So Enzo/Lavia as the 6.

Caicedo/Dewsbury-Hall as the 8.

Palmer/Nkunku as the 8/10

For best balance I think we should start the season with something like this...

If we want to be a little more defensive we could line up like this....

If we want to go more attacking then...

The beauty of our squad is how versatile a lot of the players are, most of them can play multiple positions and multiple roles in each position. Certainly our midfield and attack. I could spend all day playing around with this line up selection thing and make so many variations but I'll stop, for now.

[Ham]

46 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

I've heard it mentioned Palmer will play more centrally but then where do you play Nkunku? He can play from the left or as the 9 but his best position is 10 and he has to play.

Also if Palmer plays central, which I'm not against, I'd actually like to see Palmer AND Nkunku tried in the 8/10 roles, then Madueke becomes basically first choice on the right, again not against that, I like Noni but does he get in the team above Sterling or Nkunku? 

Could argue he is better than Sterling but we know how good Sterling can be in the right setup, admittedly we haven't seen it in a Chelsea shirt but he should be one of the players that really benefits from playing under Maresca. 

Most interesting one for me is where Caicedo plays, I think he is wasted as a 6, especially if we are going to press aggressively high up the pitch. If he takes up one of the box to box positions that only leaves one more, if Palmer has been earmarked for it then what about Enzo?

Putting aside his off the field antics I expect to see a completely different player next season and have been one of his biggest fans since he arrived, talking purely about his footballing ability now and not taking into account my personal views on him as a person. Personally I'd play him as the 6. People will argue he's too weak defensively but he will have James/Gusto/Cucurella alongside him.

So Enzo/Lavia as the 6.

Caicedo/Dewsbury-Hall as the 8.

Palmer/Nkunku as the 8/10

For best balance I think we should start the season with something like this...

If we want to be a little more defensive we could line up like this....

If we want to go more attacking then...

The beauty of our squad is how versatile a lot of the players are, most of them can play multiple positions and multiple roles in each position. Certainly our midfield and attack. I could spend all day playing around with this line up selection thing and make so many variations but I'll stop, for now.

Liking those options. 

[Mark Kelly]

49 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

I've heard it mentioned Palmer will play more centrally but then where do you play Nkunku? He can play from the left or as the 9 but his best position is 10 and he has to play.

Also if Palmer plays central, which I'm not against, I'd actually like to see Palmer AND Nkunku tried in the 8/10 roles, then Madueke becomes basically first choice on the right, again not against that, I like Noni but does he get in the team above Sterling or Nkunku? 

Could argue he is better than Sterling but we know how good Sterling can be in the right setup, admittedly we haven't seen it in a Chelsea shirt but he should be one of the players that really benefits from playing under Maresca. 

Most interesting one for me is where Caicedo plays, I think he is wasted as a 6, especially if we are going to press aggressively high up the pitch. If he takes up one of the box to box positions that only leaves one more, if Palmer has been earmarked for it then what about Enzo?

Putting aside his off the field antics I expect to see a completely different player next season and have been one of his biggest fans since he arrived, talking purely about his footballing ability now and not taking into account my personal views on him as a person. Personally I'd play him as the 6. People will argue he's too weak defensively but he will have James/Gusto/Cucurella alongside him.

So Enzo/Lavia as the 6.

Caicedo/Dewsbury-Hall as the 8.

Palmer/Nkunku as the 8/10

For best balance I think we should start the season with something like this...

If we want to be a little more defensive we could line up like this....

If we want to go more attacking then...

The beauty of our squad is how versatile a lot of the players are, most of them can play multiple positions and multiple roles in each position. Certainly our midfield and attack. I could spend all day playing around with this line up selection thing and make so many variations but I'll stop, for now.

I think it's a great tool to confuse the opposition too , our opposition won't know for certain where players are going to be . 

[Ham]

1 minute ago, Mark Kelly said:

I think it's a great tool to confuse the opposition too , our opposition won't know for certain where players are going to be . 

Neither will our players 😂