Preseason reflection period: Thoughts and observations

By: Jamie | August 8th, 2011

Thank the football gods, for preseason is over and the Premier League season is finally upon us.

Seven wins out of seven in preseason, one goal conceded, Sturridge our top scorer. New manager, new assistant. What did we learn? Here are a few of my thoughts and observations – feel free to add your own.

Our defense looks good. AVB has tried several different combos in the center, and everyone seems to be working together well. Even Chalobah represented himself well. As for the fullbacks, I think Patrick Van Aanholt is one of the standout kids and should be good back-up for Ashley Cole now that Zhirkov is gone. Paulo Ferreira also showed he’s still capable and competent. Interestingly, AVB never put Ivanovic in the right back position.
Bosingwa may not be a completely lost cause with his crosses.
Give Drogba first dibs on freekicks. We had a few people try them, including Ashley Cole, Torres, Sturridge, Alex and of course Lampard. I’d still let the Drogs have first crack.
Sturridge deserves a place in the starting eleven. Unfortunately, he may have to wait a while to get it as he is banned for the first three matches of the season due to the red card he received in Bolton’s final match in May.
AVB = crouching tiger.
Mikel being part of the attack on corners? I like it.
Do we have a coach who might actually have a Plan B if things aren’t going right? Will he be able to switch up the team if he needs to? I liked the variety of tactics. He seems to want to continue our 4-3-3 solo striker approach, but he also tried the diamond and I also didn’t think we looked so bad when he put Drogba and Torres on at the same time, either.
Sadly, I cringe whenever Lampard steps up to take a penalty. Just blast in into the roof of the net, mate.
Young Josh McEachran looks a very calm and quietly confident player. He’s so young but he looks so comfortable out there with all the big names. He’s not afraid to shove someone off the ball and he really has the eye for a perfect pass. I look forward to seeing him get more opportunities in the first team as well.
Our corners still need work. I still can’t decide if I’d rather Drogba taking them or being in the mix to receive them. He was our best corner taker last season.
We scored a lot of goals, but I’m still concerned about our lack of a true playmaker. I still feel like, when a team decides to park the bus, we won’t be able to break them down.
I’m also curious as to how David Luiz and Ramires are going to work into AVB’s plans. We got a glimpse of Rami against Rangers, but Luiz got an extra day off. I’ve liked the idea of trying Luiz in the defensive midfield position and letting him go on the attack more… and hopefully keeping some of those fouls out of our penalty box.

What am I missing that you also noticed?

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Category: Chelsea Team News, Opinion

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dan

I might be wrong on this, but I think by bringing in Lukaku we hit our max foreign player limit. I think if we want to bring in anyone else someone needs to be exiting. I think this is what has been fueling the 30 million + yossi. Personally I would rather keep him as a sub and ship kalou and/or anelka out
Sean Finnegan

I am 100% for bringing Sneijder to Chelsea. We're in dire need of a true playmaker, and Sneijder fits the bill perfectly.
Keaton_the_Eskimo

1) Although we have been perfect all
preseason we have yet to play any competitive games so lets not all get ahead
of ourselves, not yet.

2) I was surprised
by the performances by both yossi and danny, im anxious to see where they fit
into the starting 11.

3) Still
unhappy with right fullback situation

4) I’m all
in favor of signing all this young talent, but worried all the same about us
developing them properly due to our track history.

5) Players
seem refreshed and reenergized alas, can we manage to keep that up and not have
another midseason crisis.

So the upcoming
season sure looks promising. Lets get ready to buckle down for the long haul,
and start kicking names and taking some ass.

KTBFFH
Ray

Excellent article there.
3 things we still lack ..
1.Left attacking player/winger
2.A Very good right back
3.A Central playmaker.
Smart00000000

Did he try to put Liz in DM position or it is just an idea. nice post pal.i think we need an attacking right back cause ferriera isn't capable of moving forward .
Jamie

Luiz as DM is just an idea I've heard tossed around that I'd like to see us attempt.
Mattvanryn

I think that the attack has relied less on long balls. Drogba was too slow in making his move, allowing defenses to gather around him last season. I see more diagonal passing, but we need Frank deeper, linking the defense and the attack, instead of being so much a part of the attack. I think Modric is too expensive; how much better than Benayoun is he, really? Benayoun has looked pretty good out there, crafty. The real deals to make are Anelka + cash for Sneijder, and Alex to Juventus for that young winger they have - does he play on the right?
Mateo

The Crouching tiger part was awsome, i was waiting for someone to bring it up, looks so cool and analitical when he watches the game in that position!
Asasd

Some of the my observations are :
1) Torres is coming back to life, agsint Aston villa his movement off the ball was very good, he was coming back and helping the defense , now this is the sight to behold :-)
2) We still lack the cunning and guile of a true dribbler, may be Sturridge can fill that role and i think he can be a very good player in that role but he needs to be a little less selfish to be a true team player.
3)We are now playing a little bit more pressing game, although its not as the fierece as Barcelona, but EPL teams will do find it difficult to handle our new pressing game.
Chris Harnan

also definitely agree on lampard's penatlies, since he had such a good record in the past (which i always found amazing since it was middle-bottom-left nearly every time) it must be hard to take it away from him.. but drogba's penalties always seem fantastically emphatic and i can't remember him missing one.
Ray

No Drogba on penalties please.
Chris Harnan

really? who else then? because lampard has been awful at them lately. As far as i remember drogba converts most of his.
Ray

Torres , Yossi , Ramires , McEachran
Chris Harnan

you can't trust torres at the moment, mceachran is 18, and ramires and yossi seem like pretty random choices
Joe_6326

spurs away last season
Chris Harnan

That Kalou is the one who should make way for Lukaku, despite not playing badly.

can we sign david cameroon as a coach or something?
Gianfranco

Nah. Nico said he wont mind leaving when his contract runs out so keep Kalou as he is like 8 yrs younger and is the Chelsea Super Sub!
Devin Anand

Excellent stuff J.
Jack

Well done, Jamie.
Wayne

Im sorry but i believe that if we sign lukaku then Anelka must go because we cant just push sturridge away. if one striker were to go if has to be anelka...
Rajanandhan TerryBlues

1.you didnt mention anything about Yossi mate...! and he was our best playmaker in the preseasons...!
2.Also that Kalou has gone down the pecking order still....He has failed to impress....so too Anelka, though he was good in parts...!
Tegabaloo

i think both kalou and anelka should part way with the club.
bettorvalue

Anelka is off on a Bosman at the end of the season so I can see Sturridge getting more of a chance there. I also would prefer to see Yossi in midfield than the purchase of Modric for £30million + (far too expensive for an upgrade)
Tegabaloo

you are right but we needed a roaming midfielder too in modric or wesley. i dont think chelsea need to wait a season for nico again, this time is right for him, kalou, bosingwa, and probably fereira.
Jamie

I've mentioned Yossi before when I talked about preseason (as the red Scouse I actually approve of), but you're right - he deserved some more discussion! I think he's been great.
Jack

Good point on Yossi. I also thought he contributed well, though it remains to be seen how exactly he'll be involved this season. Either way, he's a valuable commodity to have in reserve.
Devin Anand

Don't forget Slobodan. Dude is a beast.
Jack

Work permit. Now.