In this weekly series we will be revealing three points of interest across the Club.
Josh Acheampong
Colwill is out for the season. Fofana and and Badiashile are a couple of weeks away from being ready to start games. Now Tosin has picked up a supposedly small injury. Step up fifth-choice center back Josh Acheampong.
The nineteen year old only played 169 Premier League minutes last season, but acquitted himself well against a very physical Crystal Palace side, and Mateta in particular. There’s been much discourse about the CCB role, and he may not be the same level of passer as Colwill (which most players are not), but he did the job of a defender well, completing 6/7 ground duels and 5/7 in the air, while also completing 94% of his passes and 2/2 dribbles.
Something that particularly caught our eye was how Josh drew valuable fouls. In the 32nd minute he won two successive challenges and got Mateta booked, then around ten minutes later he drew a foul to relieve pressure in his own third – both particularly mature moments.
This is an opportunity for Josh to prove himself while others are unavailable. He should, on this showing, keep his place against West Ham.
Low Block Conundrum
Fans of the men’s team have touted low blocks as Chelsea’s kryptonite for years. Sunday was no exception.
Despite the highest share of possession in the Premier League this weekend, Chelsea could not score against Glasner’s organized 451. They did however register the second most shots so far (Man United topped the charts).
Chelsea actually registered more shots in the first half than they did in the second, but produced a lower xG. The introduction of Delap and Estevao against tired legs seemed a timely boost. The former was highly involved in attacking moves and pinned the backline well, while the Brazilian was more open to taking on his man than Neto at right wing.
It was actually somewhat reminiscent of one of our performances against Palace last season; plenty of opportunities but sometimes the ball simply won’t go in.
Could these games be an opportunity to test a front four of Pedro, Palmer and Estevao behind Delap?
Credit: @mclachbot / @chicagodmitry
Chelsea Women’s Pre-Season Preparations
Chelsea Women’s team played a behind closed doors friendly against Utrecht on Friday, winning 2-0. It’s early days, so it was a mixed team with familiar faces, new signings and academy players.
Goals came from Catarina Macario and new signing Mara Alber. There was also a debut for seventeen-year-old academy striker Lois Shooter.
On Sunday a more familiar side played Ajax, drawing 1-1 . Guro Reiten came off the bench around the hour mark, scoring a few minutes later. Bompastor’s side moved the ball well enough but found it difficult to break down a well-organized team so early in their preparations.
They now go back to Cobham and will play AC Milan on August 30th, before the season opener against Man City.
The Chelsea Spot 
Leave a comment