Week 9 Match Review: Chelsea 2 - Newcastle 1
Two clashes with the Toon in one week, each of which is sure to include a different starting 11 – or at least five or six different players swapped in for the Carabao Cup bout midweek. But what about the weekend action? What is there to say other than… damn, Cole Palmer is very good at football. Well, I’ll try to come up with something else, but there’s really only one place to start…
What Was Good
That Pass (You Know the One)
There really needs to be a word for an assist to an assist. A pre-assist perhaps? Either way, Palmer deserves some kind of statistical note for what currently has the belt as the best pass of the season thus far. Just take a second and look where he is and how his body is positioned when he receives the ball. Then look at how he looks up, spins his body around, and unleashes the perfect through ball to an absolutely sprinting Pedro Neto down the left hand side. It’s truly a work of art and thankfully for all of us, the new Chelsea has learned how to do something that recent previous incarnations struggled at: putting the ball in the net.
The Transition Play and Finishing
Once Neto received that absolute stunner of a pass from Palmer, however, he still had to hop over the all-out slide from Fabian Schär, before setting up a wideopen Nicolas Jackson for a perfect finish past a completely helpless Nick Pope. It was beautiful to watch, especially following Jackson’s clinically assisted goal to Palmer that had just been ruled offside. Of course, Palmer wouldn’t be stopped and he added another goal that would make any sniper proud, putting it past Pope on the nearside to give the Blues the lead and eventual win. Whatever Enzo Maresca is doing to instill this relentless finishing should be studied and celebrated after multiple seasons of relying on penalties and gritty defense.
The Team’s Health
We are, literally, so back! Wesley Fofana, Romeo Lavía, AND Reece James all started in what looked like the best 11 this team can currently field. Of course, it was odd seeing James line up on the left side, but by inverting him inwards in possession, he almost played more as an aggressive center back eyeing long passes versus an actual left back, and he did so for the entire match. Conversely, Lavía played fewer minutes, but really appears to be the perfect complement to Moises Caicedo in the middle of the field. And while Fofana looked rusty at moments, you can tell that this team is really starting to gel as, for once, everyone is healthy (and the depth chart looks deadly).
What Was Bad
A Few Small Things Rather than Any Catastrophes
Did Malo Gusto look a bit exposed at times on the right? Yes, which is probably why Maresca kept him there while James patrolled the left, thinking it made more sense for Gusto to at least play on the side he’s more comfortable with even if he’s not in top form. Did Christopher Nkunku take a dive towards the end of the game to try to draw a penalty? Absolutely. And did Robert Sanchez do some Robert Sanchez stuff to keep the game uncomfortably interesting? Of course he did, but what feels different this season – and might be a continuation of what Poch was able to draw out of this squad during the last 10 or so games last year – is that there’s a rhythm, an order, and a calmness. Even with the attacking combinations still being ironed out, Jackson and Palmer clearly have chemistry now. Levi Colwill has solidified himself as the leader of the backline and has created stability with center and fullbacks swapping in and out. And we’re really starting to see players like Neto, Lavía, and Fofana start to make the differences we hoped they would. I guess this is what progress looks like?
What’s Next
The Blues head Toonside to battle for energy drink supremacy before diverting to Manchester on Sunday to take on caretaker Ruud van Nistelrooy’s United squad. Beware the new manager bump, Chelsea. And beware a team absolutely desperate to show that they aren’t one of the most expensive collections of fuckups the Premier League has ever seen. Palmer was a childhood Man U supporter, let’s see if he can show them – and the entire city of Manchester – what they missed out on, shall we?
