Just keep it tight now please....pleaaseeeee...haizz

Yeaaaaaaahhhhhhhh what a crazy gaaammmeeeeeeeeeee

Arsenal could've gotten at least a couple of goals vs city when they intercepted ederson's awful distribution. But count on them to turn it up against us

Defense definitely needs work but I'd argue our midfielders were pretty awful as well. Shocking how everyone was just marking space inside our own box. Definitely need to sort that out.

Too gung ho and complacent when arsenal broke with speed against us. Gotta intercept the cross or stay closer to the runners but we did neither.

Hazard just stamping his class on the game,it was such a joy to watch. Unbelievable just how his level of skill and dribbling is head and shoulders above everyone else. Kovacic had a good cameo,showed some good control and awareness.

I love kante to death but I'm afraid he might be the odd one out once sarri decides on a first eleven. If kovacic shows good defensive awareness and control,he can challenge kante for that third midfield spot. Exciting times!

Note: All that talk about sarri being 'stubborn' with his first team has been dispelled to a certain extent, especially after he took off willian and barkley yet managed to keep a stranglehold on the match. Can't wait for our next match now

He's neither here nor there at the moment for me. His strength has always been his tackling and interceptions,but when he's trying to get involved high up the pitch,he looks a bit out of place. He's in an unfamiliar role,but I guess we can't overlook that opening goal vs huddersfield and he did have a shot that looked bound for the bottom corner which mustafi blocked.

If he just reinstates his defensive side a little I think we'd fare much better against more attacking sides like arsenal. Can definitely see what sarri's trying to mould him into though. Perhaps needs more time,or we're just upset how it seems like arsenal's midfielders had acres of time and space to attack those cutbacks into the middle

Competition is always good though,so would be interesting to see if sarri decides he's still undroppable.

Felt the sub was a bit harsh,but when I'm trying to recall barkley's good work,a lot of it involves hassling and harrying whoever had the ball,but not enough attacking input. Kovacic is an absolute unit,I think he's built for the league and he had like 43/43 completed passes?perfect cameo from him and was really confusing when he wore 17 and started dribbling all over the place. It was like watching eden's long lost big boned brother. Practically the same hairstyle as well

Have high hopes for him,extremely unlucky to pick up an injury in training before the huddersfield game,or else he definitely would've started

Defensive / counter attacking football will wear out the players and get stale real quick without trophies. When the first part starts to manifest,that's when the second part usually follows not long after. If you have lots of technical players,the situation deteriorates even faster. Not sure they're trying to get him sacked. It's more like the players look bored and worn out.

Aaah can't believe hazard refused to take that shot when he was through

Hahahaha yedlin thought he was smart for getting away with a blatant elbow. Suddenly scores a beautiful own goal at the other end!!looooollllll

Ref helping them a ton and they can't even secure a point hahahahahahahahaha

FIRST WIN AT NEWCASTLE IN 7 YEARS BLOODY HELL.

This post has been edited by Kerplunk: Aug 27 2018, 12:58 AM

We've set a new record of 913 passes in a premier league match,11 more than the previous record held by city. THAT'S ABSOLUTE BONKERS. Never in my wildest dreams I'd imagine a chelsea team having 900 passes in a competitive match. Crazy.

I think he needs more time to truly grasp the system, but on the other hand,as our best attacking player I feel he needs a bit more leeway to do what he wants with the ball. I think after diame's horrible challenge,his movement suffered a tad bit. Still dispatched that penalty with aplomb though.

Ball watching. Ugh. Maybe he was half expecting the ref to blow for that elbow on giroud?

This post has been edited by Kerplunk: Aug 27 2018, 02:05 AM

Yep,you're right actually. 913 was actually attempted passes,we completed bout 800+. My mistake,the record is still held by them.

Yep,once we got near their box,long shots were always out of the question and i think this is probably sarri's instructions. Still think we need to try those once in a while,especially when we come up against teams as organised as newcastle. Just to add to that, alonso and azpi frequently passed it back to the middle when they were in a good position to cross, and this made us a bit predictable.

Having said that,it's worth mentioning this same newcastle side annihilated us 3 - 0 mere months ago,and this time around they were reduced to playing 10 men behind the ball because they genuinely FEARED what we could do if they came at us. This is a feeling I really enjoyed, considering the fact that they always bring their A game against us at home,and create dozens of chances in the process.

They struggled to even string basic passes together and had to resort to dirty tactics to contain us , and scored a dodgy goal. Although our goals came late, it highlights how our relentless passing and possession eventually lead to them 'switching off' for mere seconds as we forced them into mistakes and totally capitalised on them.I don't know about the others,but i really miss that feeling of being feared by other teams, even more so when it's one that has always been our kryptonite.

3 points against two of our bogey teams in quick succession (yes arsenal have turned into that after conte's stint) suggests sarri knows what he's doing and I'm loving the process so far, however bumpy it's been!

Pedrooooooooo

Hazaaarrrrddddddd

Job done. 4 out of four!perfect start to the season,wish we didn't have that stupid international break!

Kieran richardson forgetting for just a second that we're not involved in the champions league