London is Blue Dispatch #056

Fighting for a place in a new manager’s starting XI is strong individual motivation, but erasing the humiliation of an early 4-1 hiding proved a far more galvanizing collective incentive as the Blues strolled to a comfortable 3-0 win over Club América. An actual box-to-box midfielder in the LCM role and half the starting XI benefitting from precious minutes greasing slightly rusty wheels resulted in the most encouraging 45’ from a small sample size of five.

Kiernan Debuts Very Enthralled

Debutant Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall added what had been missing in earlier games in central midfield – shining in a tactical role he has become all too familiar with in the past year spent under Maresca’s tutelage. Almost all of the Blues’ brightest moments involved him, a well-timed run to arrive on Sterling’s cutback on a 5v5 transition (he blazed it over on his weaker right), then nearly opening his Chelsea account with a left-foot hit that skewed wide. With Nkunku and Chukwuemeka both preferring space between lines rather than behind it as 8s, KDH burst forward to the byline in the 21^st minute, and found the impressive Marc Guiu on the near-post, who nodded in his first Chelsea goal. With a bid for Conor Gallagher from Atletico Madrid accepted by the club only hours earlier, the 25-year-old could well be first choice in that position.

Improvements Under Pressure

Interestingly, Chelsea managed only 48% of the ball in the first half, and benefitted from transitions that set the front 5 galloping against the opposition backline. Sterling and Madueke both managed several 1v1s but struggled with their final decisions, and Nkunku excelled by dropping in pockets, pirouetting and swiveling effortlessly away from Club América’s laggard pressing. Robert Sanchez, to his credit, impressed on the ball, with the backline radiating more composure against a press than in the first 180 minutes of preseason. Romeo Lavia, playing back-to-back 60+ minutes for the first time in 431 days, also looked good as the deep-lying progressor.

Against Wrexham, Chelsea’s CBs were up against a physical front 2, against Celtic, a wily Kyogo Furuhashi dropped, drifted, stayed offside and ran them ragged. Tosin and Benoit endured a far easier afternoon this time around, with Martin, the lone CF, barely making an effort to disrupt them off-the-ball.

Good Tidings

Post-game, Maresca also revealed that work had gone into addressing mistakes in defence from the last game. “What I didn't like against Celtic was we held the line very high even when there was no pressure on the ball, and this is suicide. You can't do that." It is a positive sign of flexibility from Enzo Maresca, especially as their next two opponents – Man City and Real Madrid – are specialists in exploiting space in behind.

The second half saw an understandable easing off in intensity after Club América subbed their entire 11 out compared to just two changes for the Blues, with Enzo Fernandez and Filip Jörgensen coming on for their first minutes in preseason. The shot count dropped from 11 in the first half to 6 in the second, with the debutant Danish GK showing some adventurous sweeping to help preserve Maresca’s first clean-sheet.

A scintillating display of zapateado from Christopher Nkunku left even the opposition defenders awestruck, resulting in a third penalty in three games for the Blues (back at Cobham, Cole Palmer rubbed his shoulders in glee.) Nkunku, having dispatched the first penalty, generously handed it to Madueke. With no Jackson or Palmer to take the ball away from him this time, he expertly put it away to make it 3-0.

Worryingly, Malo Gusto went down and had to be subbed, but Maresca later revealed to the relief of many that it was only cramp (Nkunku and Badiashile endured the same predicament.) There was more good news from the manager as he revealed that Moises Caicedo and Nicolas Jackson were very close to joining team training. More quality in the ranks before games against the English, Spanish and Italian champions will certainly be welcome.