Chelsea show IMMENSE mentality in closing moments of Newcastle victory

Chelsea defeat Newcastle 2-1

I want to pose this question to you the readers: Would you rather your team push for a two goal cushion or play more pragmatically and protect the lead?

It’s always a difficult situation when you have a lead because in an ideal world you want to add onto the lead late and leave your opponents starting at a two goal deficit late, but you don’t want to expand your lines to the point where you are sucepticble to a quick counter through the gaps.

I think Chelsea are still finding their identity in late stages of matches with a lead. With so much attacking talent there is a natural instinction to go forward and attack, but it’s often not to the point where they are leaving themselves too open. In today’s match you saw Noni Madueke on the right side often turn down the opportunities that he would typically take after Chelsea took the lead in the second half. I don’t know if that is coached a certain way by Enzo Maresca, but it appears they were trying not to lose the game rather than go and win it. In this instance it worked, Chelsea were able to manage the last 50 minutes or so despite giving up a few opportunities and come away with the three points.

Some of the key members of the defense were vital in holding that lead. Reece James who was playing as a LB/LCB hybrid took some of the leadership comments made by Enzo Maresca to heart and was speaking with his actions on the pitch with three massive clearances in his own six-yard box to help solidify the victory. Wesley Fofana shook off a first half injury scare and put together a decent performance, and Levi Colwill was strong defensively as well.

I think despite your answer to my initial question you have to say that this was an impressive performance from Chelsea on the mentality front. To get through this lead and not make a detrimental mistake to drop points was a step in the right direction for a young team. How Chelsea deal with the ends of matches is going to be telling in how they finish this season. I think that there will continue to be bumpy finishes to games, however as long as there is more finishes that end in wins, this team is growing stronger with their mental fortitude.

Other Notes:

• How Good is Cole Palmer? That pass was sensational, there are a handful of players in the world that can complete that. Also shoutout to Enzo Maresca as well for his decision to put Pedro Neto into the starting lineup. If that was Jadon Sancho on the left wing he would have never gotten to that pass from Palmer that led to Nicolas Jackson’s goal, but Neto had the pace to get there.

• Robert Sanchez is just AWFUL: Sanchez is an above average shot stopper, but he could have cost Chelsea the game here multiple times. His distribution was atrocious and he basically gave Newcastle the ball back every time he touched it. I don’t know how much better Fillip Jorgensen is at distribution than Sanchez, but I really think its time to see him in net.

• Noni Madueke: I genuinely like Madueke as a player. I think he has a lot of talent, but I also don’t think he captilizes on the chances as much as he should. If you take the Wolves game out of it, I think he has had a pretty underwhelming season so far. I would like to see Neto on the right more and utilize Sancho/Mudryk on the left.

• Joao Felix: I think it is going to take a lot for Felix to get into the starting 11. The problem for him is that Cole Palmer plays in his ideal position and there really isn’t any time that Palmer wouldn’t start or would come off (rightfully so). After Felix’s 2 goal performance in the UECL clash on Thursday I thought maybe he would get an opportunity to come off the bench in this match, but with Palmers pressing ability and Felix not being naturally a winger that would be subbed on I think its going to be hard. It seems like Felix has the right mentality and he will get plenty of match time in the UECL and Cup competitions, I hope that his mentality does continue to stay strong because I think he will be an important part of the success of those competitions.

Check out my latest YouTube Video recapping the match below!

~ CFCP (Dylan)