carefreeluke

Finished. And in my opinion I have to say the third season was even better than the first two. The amount of emotions it involved, crazy.

Rob Green what a joker. Better pressing today I thought but not a game you could draw too many conclusions from.

The problems we're having with the gaps and balance in midfield are a consequence of us not pressing well enough. Teams have firstly found that space when they play out well and beat our original high press either because we've timed it wrong, it's not been executed well enough or positionally the team isn't in the right shape. Or sometimes it's just extremely good play from the opposition and they get out. If you're pressing the opposition high and they beat that, there's always going to be a lot of space for them to exploit, it's just a matter of how well we react and adjust. This however shouldn't happen too much if the team is functioning well from a tactical point of view. High pressing is designed to condense the pitch and close the exit routes but at times we’re allowing teams the space to find a way out. The second time it occurs is when we're on the attack and the opposition counter quickly, this is what @The Liquidator mentions above where it appears a lot of the players were taken out the game on Sunday. This is again a tactical thing, it's how quickly our players counter press, the positional play of the players, how deep our defence is, the relationship and shape of the different parts of the team. I agree this is in part down to the dynamism of the players we have but it's also something that needs to be fine-tuned and worked on from a tactical point of view. We were extremely good at counter pressing under Conte. And I'm hoping Kanté's return would be massive boost for us in this area, arguably Kanté's best attribute is counter pressing and winning the ball high up the pitch, some people tend to believe his best work happens in his own half just in front of the defence but I'd say further up is where we see some of his best endeavors. When Kanté was absent last season, you could really see the difference in our midfield and that was in a more conservative playing style as well. This leads to Fabregas. As I've mentioned too many times on here, Fabregas performed to a very high level in Conte's first season, you know it's very difficult to get a full season's consistency from him but if managed well, he's an asset and can be a useful squad member. The thing with him though is that he's got a bit comfortable over the years being the only central midfielder of his ilk at the club, meaning that if we need to go on the attack or need help on the ball in a game the only option we have is turning to him to help us with this. Cesc was the answer if we needed to find a goal or alternatively if we needed help controlling or moving the ball in midfield, both from deep and further up the pitch. I for one think that we should have maybe been a bit wiser in either finding another player of his style to have in the squad or even with him getting on a bit looking to replace him. We have Jorginho in a deeper position now but we also have three central players in midfield meaning that this reliance on Fabregas will continue. For the record I wouldn’t replace him, just find a similar player that can do a similar job to act as competition. Finally, on this topic of the team’s balance. It’s worth reminding us of the team’s performance away to Man City last season where there was absolutely no space for City to exploit (Conte was obsessed with balance and closing the spaces) but where we just sat off and got mugged off for most of the game. As we know Sarri will need time to implement his ideas and for the players to get fully use to things from a tactical point of view but it could potentially get a lot worse before it gets better and I’m just hoping the board give Sarri the time. Some of the space which the opposition have found against us so far under Sarri, is similar to the space teams were finding against Pep’s Man City in his first season and funnily enough this is something we exploited against them in our 3-1 win at the Etihad. Let’s just hope Mr. Sarri is given the time, then secondly, that he has the management necessary to get things right.

It's a worry for me this season, Azpilicueta at right back. It wouldn't massively surprise me if he ended up doing very well there given the type of guy he is but it has to be he's most difficult season for Chelsea so far. He was dreadful today in my opinion as well.

Yeah I forgot to comment on that and it's something which I noted during the game, obviously the players are still getting use to the new style. Wouldn't surprise me if Bakayoko's mistake was down to the new playing style as well, I don't think I've ever saw him once attempt a one touch pass last season, seemed to always need one or two touches to get himself set but Sarri is all about triangles and moving the ball quickly. As for Kante he'll play a bit further forward, Jorginho will play the deeper role no doubt. Kante's distribution and ability on the ball isn't what Sarri and the system needs there. Kante's pressing, energy and athleticism will be used further forward and there's actually some evidence in his career so far to suggest that he actually suits that role a lot more, rather than being shoehorned into a solely defensive positional role as we've seen with us and France in the past. However, yeah interesting to see how Kante is used and how he performs. I think we lack a top striker (since Costa's departure) but Morata deserves another season to show his worth and we have other options there if need be. The two positions that worry me are at full back, I don't know how Azpi will perform in a more open system at right back and everyone knows my thoughts on Alonso. Moses was brought on further forward by Sarri last night so interesting to see his role this coming season as well. Moses mind was also used a lot by Conte as a right winger in Conte's first few months as manager. The other is the third midfield position, you can't rely on Fabregas to be starting every week throughout the season, Barkley we don't know which way he'll go and I doubt the new manager will trust Ruben Loftus-Cheek there. Finally the first eleven on the starting day is going to be interesting, I know we have players coming back late from the World Cup but Sarri very much likes to keep continuity with the starting eleven and doesn't rotate too much.

Need to finish the latest season of Narcos. Vikings has been mentioned to me a few times over the years, it's worth the watch right? Will get onto it when I finish Narcos.

Second half both teams were going through the motions a bit, with the highlights being in that second part some good individual performances coming from Hudson-Odoi and I thought Rudiger did well when he came on, with Abraham doing relatively well as well. As for the game as a whole, Hudson-Odoi was the main positive and we played well in the first half at a good tempo for the most part, with that tempo dropping as the first half and overall game went on. Thought Bakayoko (yes despite the mistake) was OK, Caballero looks a little low on confidence, Alonso and Drinkwater were just their usual self. Not bad but they have their level and that's it. Think I know the team Sarri will play on the opening day if everyone's fit, with the centre backs being the only position where I don't know who he'll use. It will be between Luiz, Ruidger and Christensen, not sure who he'll favor. We'll also have to see how the Christensen injury is which hopefully isn't a bad one.

Saw the above hashtag on Twitter. Why do Chelsea fans always pin the blame on one person? So Marina is choosing all these players, is she?

♪ I fear I'm on an island in an ocean full of change Can't bring myself to dive in to an ocean full of change ♪

When he first joined he was thrown into a couple of games and in some of those it was because we didn't have any other option, if memory serves this was the case against Arsenal in the League Cup. Since that handful of games in the early months of this year, he's had some injury problems again and Conte has constantly said throughout the year that he needs time, that he's not ready and that we need patience with him. The press asked about him a few times and Conte said the same thing every time. We still have to see what Sarri's plans are but perhaps there's space for him in the 4-3-3 (if he goes with what he did with Napoli) with Kante and Jorginho. Of course, the first thing it depends on is whether he can stay injury free and fit, then if that's the case, I don't think he's expected to be a first teamer but rather a regular squad player. The most important thing with Barkley's future though is Sarri, the tactics and whether or not he takes a liking to him. I would say though that the future under Sarri doesn't look bright for the three Englishmen, Cahill, Drinkwater and Barkley but Barkley probably has the biggest chance to have a bigger role out of the three if he stays fit.

Very excited about Sarri to be honest, even if there's some things about his personality that I may take a disliking to as the season unfolds. Very excited because of the style of football as that's what I'm an advocate of and I'm willing to give him a lot of time to embed his ideas. I praise the club for the new direction. At the same time because of his style, this has even more potential to go tits up and it's a bigger risk than having someone like Conte or Mourinho for example. Zola is a good appointment as I think he will work well to steady the ship and help get the players on Sarri's side however AVB also brought in Di Matteo as a number two when he became manager so this is not always a guarantee. On a random note, I could write a small book on AVB's problems.

That's been the case most of his career mate. If he doesn't suit the new manager's style fair enough but under the right conditions and management Cesc is still an asset. I'm not saying he should be a starter but when managed well, he's a fantastic player.

Long live Cesc.

One of those days.

I've been offering some of my students extra practice for their English exam which they have coming up at the end of June where I've been giving them a meeting type thing where we discuss their essays and where we mostly do some speaking practice for the exam. In my work of teaching English to English learners particularly in the context of academies in Spain, for teachers to offer their students something like this (as far as I know) is very rare. It's not something like where you're at university where it's common to see students have meetings with their teachers for example. What I've offered my students is totally free for them and entirely for their benefit. I've done this for two weeks so far (there wasn't the opportunity last week) but I will try to continue it up until their exam. So far I've done this with two students in this particular class, one was very thankful both times. First of all initially when I offered it to him and after every 'meeting' he was very thankful and this is for a Spaniard (where their concept of saying thank you is a lot different to us Brits). I'm not saying one culture is right or wrong, just there's a cultural difference in this context of manners and behavior which is worth mentioning before I go on. So student number one was very thankful, he'd recognized what I was doing and what not. Student two however a different story. It was one Wednesday which is my busiest day teaching, it's the day where I have the most classes and where I also teach young kids. So I finish work at 21:30, tired and then I spend nearly an extra hour with this student, intense speaking practice for him, one on one, useful for his exam which he has paid a lot of money for and we finish the 'meeting' and not a single 'thank you'. I wasn't waiting for it at all, I'm not expecting them to love me for it or anything but I walked off from the meeting and realised I've just basically given this guy an extra free class on top of what he's had this week at the academy and I didn't even get a thank you. It's worth mentioning when I offered him the opportunity of this extra practice a few weeks before, he was very grateful in that moment but still to do all that on that particular Wednesday and not get at least a 'thank you' after the meeting. Jeez. It's true this bloke is a bit of a character and there's the context of him conducting himself in a second language but still, he's an advanced student and he's been banging on all year about how he loves Britain and how polite we are. I really enjoy teaching but teaching English (depending on who you're teaching and where) you're generally underpaid for what you do so you can throw that in there as well hence me offering something like that, it's asking a bit more from me. It's not as if I'm earning loads and then offering these classes if you see what I mean. I also have a big thing for manners.

Still negativity spreading after an FA Cup win. Perhaps more confirmation that Willian and Conte don't get on.

Haha mate of mine said the same but it was entirely my fault. If it was a random Spaniard in the car I would have been treated a lot differently.

Was cycling in Seville (using the city’s biking scheme) this morning going to play football and where we play is near Seville’s stadium. Was about to cross a small road and had to stop suddenly as a Range Rover was coming round the corner, it wasn’t a sudden sudden stop but because the lane was wet it made it look worse and I skidded and fell slightly off the bike. Luckily no harm done at all. As I got up I was expecting some abuse from the driver which would have been in typical Spanish fashion however the driver stopped the car to see if I was OK and was really nice about it. To my shock, it was the one and only Éver Banega.

Happy Birthday @True Blue Have a good one mate.