Southampton 1 Chelsea 5: My Thoughts!

Stroll on the south coast

Good Evening ladies and gents,

Well that was as comfortable as we would have liked it to be……

Overall we actually didn’t play our very best in my opinion and I thought we were very sloppy and complacent in attack during the 2nd half especially.

The 2 centre halves worried me endlessly through the first 45 mins and show a real drop off between Colwill & Fofana and our back ups, the biggest difference in ability in our squad, by positions.

But, a 5-1 win, 2nd in the league is not to be sniffed at, superb stuff and the away end singing Enzo Maresca’s name and “we’ve got our Chelsea back” really warmed my heart and made my day.

I’ve missed this!

On to my player ratings;

Jorgensen - 7.5

Not much to do, could have got away with sitting down and having a cuppa during the 2nd half but kept his concentration really well to make an excellent late save adding to a really good save in the early exchanges. Really comfortable on the ball and is bashing Maresca’s door down for a more prominent role in our “1st XI”.

Gusto - 7.5

Poor positioning early in the move for the Saints goal, he could have prevented the move early if he was more aware. After that he was completely solid and a real warrior defending 1v1 in the first half. Was a flying full back in the second half and maybe should have walked away with a goal involvement or two.

Disasi - 5

Although he scored he looked completely uncomfortable and like a fish out of water in the first 15 mins, slightly more comfortable after that but still a mistake waiting to happen, can’t feature often in the league.

Tosin - 6

Couple of early clearances, doesn’t seem at his most assured on the left of a centre back partnership. Hit the woodwork a couple of time From set pieces but overall notmuch to report

Cucurella - 6.5

Solid start to the game, won some early duels and was good on the ball, his biggest impact was his hairstyle. A quieter game for him but didn’t put a foot wrong and stood up a nice chipped cross to Madueke who should have scored.

Enzo - 8 - SPTC MOTM

Out run for the underlap for the goal, good corner deliveries throughout, another assist. He pulled strings through the 2nd half and has carried on his resurgence.

Caicedo - 7

His usual ratty (in a good way) self, lovely first time passing and controlled the game in the first half. Made some excellent interceptions but overall a pretty easy nights work.

Madueke - 6

Did really well to win the ball and roll it to Nkunku for 2nd goal. Incredibly wasteful in the final third, poor decision making, could have walked away with a hat-trick of goals and assists. Got MOTM on the tele but nowhere near it for me.

Palmer - 6.5

Good start floating around unmarked and positions are dangerous. Should score after superb pass from Felix, also robbed of an assist by Felix, nicked a goal on a night where he could have had a bagful oF goal involvements.

Felix - 6

Lively start but lacking end product with an early chance that should have been converted. Unbelievable pass to set Palmer free on the counter, deserved an assist. So inconsistent in the final third, should score 30 seconds into 2nd half. Similar to Noni too wasteful in the final third.

Nkunku - 6.5

Incredibly quiet, ice cool finish for his goal. His “assist” for palmer was a soft shot that Cole tapped in. He’s just not a 9 for me.

Subs;

Sancho - 7

Tidy on the ball, fitted straight in to the game and superb finish for his first Chelsea goal!

Dewsbury-Hall - N/A

Didn’t feature enough to judge.

Veiga - N/A

Didn’t feature enough to judge.

Thanks for reading

Luke Rushbrook