My thoughts on the City game

My opinion of the game and performance

Good Afternoon Ladies and Gents,

Well…… my heart has finally got back down to its usual beats per minutes after that game yesterday. I said to my Dad during the game that watching Chelsea will be the death of me at some stage in my life, via a heart attack.

We can’t have a good performance without a little bit of drama, can we?

Firstly, I went in to this game with absolutely 0 expectations and hoping for a solid team performance and not to get battered, that is the slight pessimist in me, and the fact we were playing the best team in the world. I was obviously pleasantly surprised!

The first 20 minutes or so were excellent, we pressed City so well, created some little openings and looked strong, right up until that absolute W**ker Anthony Taylor gave City their penalty. The first feeling I have on the game is pride, I am proud of the players for never giving up and always fighting back when behind (something that was also impressive when we went 1-0 down to Spurs).

The Thiago Silva header was incredibly and something that he has tried a couple of times already this season, a glancing header at the front post aimed in towards the back post area to either go in or for a player coming around the back to latch on to. If I remember correctly he made the exact some movement and header against Brentford and was visibly frustrated when Levi Colwill missed the chance to drop round and tap it in.

The Sterling goal was so impressive for so many reasons, the way we moved through the gears, the Reece James overlap, the Cole Palmer pass (although slightly overhit), but the best part was Sterling’s movement to get ahead of Walker to tap it in!

The Akanji goal was really frustrating, between Gallagher and Silva they should have sorted the situation out quicker, but what a header from Akanji, even if Sanchez doesn’t slip there is no way he saves it. Just have to say fair play to that one.

We switched off a little for the Haaland goal to make it 3-2, although he got fortunate with how the ball just rolled in. Reece and Disasi needed to communicate more there.

Jackson did so well to stay onside and pounce for his goal, the thing that I haven’t seen anyone really talk about was the little touch Jackson takes to steady himself before finishing, a few weeks ago he would have rushed it, took it first time and probably missed.

The Rodri goal was just so lucky, he had to try and block the ball, and I think it is really harsh to suggest he did anything wrong there, his leg is slightly flimsy and a sterner block stops the shot but that is incredibly harsh criticism from me.

Lets talk about Broja’s touch for the penalty incident, hasn’t played in well over a month, chucked on in a game of that magnitude with a minute to play and produces an incredible touch to set himself for a shot before being wiped out, top class form him.

I have dissected all of the goals there and will now give my brief opinion on our performance and my Chelsea player ratings.

I thought we were energetic, hungry, determined, intelligent and disciplined with how we approached this match, the players and Poch got it absolutely spot on and produced our best performance of the season so far. We did switch off momentarily on a couple of occasions and against the best sides we will get punished, unfortunately.

Overall I am over the moon with the performance and we have set ourselves a standard to adhere to now, it won’t be easy against lower sides who sit deeper and we still need to solve the low-block issue, but once we do, we will become a HUGE threat in the top half of this league and we CAN definitely challenge top 4 this season!

Player ratings:

Rob Sanchez - 7.5

Made some pivotal saves, no errors at all and distribution was good. I have criticised him a fair bit, but deserves his flowers from this game.

Reece James - 8

How good was it to see him at his best, a constant threat going forward and incredibly solid defensively, keeping both Doku and Grealish silent.

Axel Disasi - 7

Really solid from him, always seemed to be in the way and making headers/clearances, he did so well to keep his arms down and block that cross with his head to avoid giving away a penalty.

Thiago Silva - 7.5

He is just pure class, the header was excellent, his positioning was brilliant and he just reads the game so well.

Marc Cucurella - 7

Another player I am usually very critical of, he kept Foden limited to feeding off scraps, he was unlucky with the penalty and overall he was aggressive and determined. Lucky not to get a second yellow card for that woeful dive.

Moises Caicedo - 6.5

He is getting some unfair criticism for me, yes he needs to react to dangerous situations and read the defensive game slightly quicker, BUT he is very young and that sort of thing does come with age, he was really tidy on the ball and made some ‘good fouls’ at the right times.

Enzo Fernandez - 6.5

Another one who I don’t understand the criticism of, he was really tidy in possession and was pressing high with the team in the first half, that kind of game doesn’t really suit him as it was frenetic and quite frankly MAD.

Conor Gallagher - 8.5

My MOTM and my player of the season so far, he lead the press from minute one, he harasses players, wins the ball and releases it soooo well, it is so good that people are finally realising what he brings to the team. HE must be an absolute nightmare to play against for any midfielder or defender.

Cole Palmer - 8

This guy has nerves of steel, incredibly composure considering the pressure and context behind that penalty, he never looks fazed, he always wants the ball and IF he would have scored that solo run that would have been goal of the season tied up already.

Raheem Sterling - 8

An absolute menace, he gave his good friend Kyle Walker a pretty torrid afternoon with this direct play constant trickery and ability to cut inside or take him down the line, he got a deserved goal and I LOVED his Instagram post after the game!

Nicolas Jackson - 7.5

He was fairly quiet through the game, popping up with some nice touches here and there, he still looks pretty raw but also 4 goals in 6 days against Spurs & City, is a great return. He looks more confident in front of goal and his all round play is improving!

Hope you all enjoyed this!

Luke Rushbrook