It’s half time at Stamford Bridge, and Chelsea are 1-0 down against Manchester City.
It was an interesting first half – City by no means dominated, and Chelsea had their chances. They even had a goal disallowed after Nicolas Jackson strayed offside.
Enzo Maresca has introduced a new style of football, and it was very notable at times what a change there has been from the more frantic approach of Mauricio Pochettino’s team last season. There were long and considered spells of possession, as well as some patient defending.
The midfield was played through far too easily at times by Pep Guardiola’s team however, a repeat of some of the issues we saw in preseason. The combination of Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia has plenty of quality, it just needs to work (along with the rest of the shape) to be less porous. A little tackling wouldn’t go amiss, that’s for sure…
Overall, a good start against the Champions despite being a goal down. We’d like to see the team build on this in the second period.
Bad vibes leak out from the crowd
There was one thing of note off the pitch though – the crowds chanting for Conor Gallagher. We’re sure this was just a general feeling of support towards the young academy graduate, who has been cruelly frozen out of the first team as the club try to force through a transfer away – but there’s also potentially a more specific reason.
As we watched Maresca’s patient team sitting back and playing the ball around, we couldn’t help pining a little for Gallagher’s unstoppable energy. He would have been snarling around midfield causing problems for City defenders as they looked to build up.
Maybe the crowd just felt the same way as us?
