Walking along the River Thames on a beautiful September’s morning, I was excited. Whilst our win mid-week was not convincing from a score line perspective, we had looked good going forward and created more than enough chances to win the game three times over. I was no reason why we couldn’t build on that. After all, we were playing Nottingham Forest at home, a team renowned for having a poor away record in the Premier League.
How wrong I was.
Dad and I met to wolf down a quick Nandos before heading over to the Wolfpack to get a glimpse of Sheffield United vs Everton. It’s not exactly the most mouth-watering clash on paper, but it is two sides who you’d firmly expect to be fighting in and about the relegation zone come May so an important one nonetheless. On the other screens we were treated to Sunderland’s demolition of Southampton. Both games were a pretty good watch in all honesty. Certainly better than what was to follow.
The decision to make no changes from our previous line up against Luton Town last Friday was not surprising, but it was a frustrating one. Throughout pre-season we’d played an exciting 4-2-3-1 formation which looked great going forward. Christopher Nkunku’s knee injury seems to have seen this plan shipped entirely however and yesterday it cost us again. There is a time and a place for a three at the back, but Nottingham Forest at home is not it.
More than anything, I was relieved to see the inclusion of both Conor Gallagher and Ian Maatsen in the matchday squad. Both had been the subject of intense speculation on transfer deadline day the very day before. Maatsen’s case was particularly concerning to me as it’s clear Poch rates him very highly so the decision to accept a move for him only for the player to reject it is just absurd, and suggests there is a gap in communication between club and player.
The first half was pretty uneventful in all honesty, Forest had made the decision to reverse the ends of the teams prior to kick off which meant we were subjected to Forest attacking the Shed first half. On the plus side, this did mean that my view of their goal in the second half was limited at best.
Their goal was a complete joke with multiple players at fault. Caicedo is wasteful in possession and then there is a total lack of urgency to rectify this issue by the entire team as Elanga slowly places the ball into the bottom corner of the goal. I can’t help but think that Sanchez could’ve done better for the goal given the speed the ball is moving at but equally he is faced with a man bearing down on his goal one vs one.
The experiment of Ben Chilwell playing as a left winger needs to end now and never return. Not only does it waste Ben’s best qualities as a left back, it also forces Levi Colwill out of position. Worse still, it results in our entire attack being incredibly lop-sided and forcing almost everything through Raheem Sterling and wastes the other attacking players we have on the bench, stagnating them.
Mykhaylo Mudryk was not effective when he came on. I’m not entirely surprised, his minutes have been sporadic at best and it’s too much to ask him to come into a game like yesterday and immediately expect him to change it. Whilst he may have appeared in 18 games for us at this point, 11 of those have been from the bench and he’s amassed a grand total of just 720 minutes, the equivalent of eight games. It’s so clear that he’s not ready yet, and the current formation will do little to help that or our other wingers.
Cole Palmer provided a rare bright spark in our performance upon making his Chelsea debut from the bench and looked very tidy on the ball, always looking to create something. He simply has to start as a number 10 in our first game back after the international break against Bournemouth.
Nicolas Jackson, who had looked so bright in pre-season, missed a golden opportunity with minutes to go as he ballooned Raheem Sterling’s squared ball over the bar. I’ve been very impressed with Jackson every time I’ve watched him and love how direct he is whenever he gets the ball. It wasn’t long ago that people were calling him the saviour to all of our issues up top and I still firmly believe he can be just that.
The score line and result were completely deserved and the enormous roar from Forest fans at full-time confirmed this. I couldn’t even move from my seat at first, in complete disbelief of what I’d just witnessed. It wasn’t like we’d had a horror day in front of goal, missing 10 easy chances, we were just outplayed.
In the pub after, the mood was depressing. With four points in four games, this is our worst start since the 1995/96 season. In the last 38 games, we’ve amassed just 41 points. West Ham were once relegated with 42. The general consensus was clear, there’s a difference between spending money, and spending it well. What this side is now lacking is a total lack of experience and leadership.
The average age of our squad is 22 and a half years old, the average age of our signing’s this summer was 20 and a half. What’s more worrying about the squad age is it had a nearly 39 year old Thiago Silva in it. An article was published after the game which stated we had a club transfer policy this summer not to sign a player over the age of 25, it makes sense if indeed true and it will be our Achilles heel this season. It’s even more depressing when you see someone like James Maddison making a flying start to his Spurs career…
All in all, it’s pretty tough to see how we haven’t near enough completely wasted £1 billion. Both of the players we bought for huge fees in terms of Enzo and Caicedo look good, but a lot of the rest are just gambles. If they do end up winning us trophies, it will be in two to three years, not right now.
More than ever, patience is needed as we try to implement both a totally new playing style as well as a ridiculous number of players. Poch may only be five games in, but the boos and jeers at full time tell you all you need to know about the current mood at the club.
The chaos continued post-game as Thiago Silva saw it fit to respond to an Instagram account which had singled him out for his performance. Quite what game said account was watching I do not know, but it seems to be a go too reaction now to criticise Thiago simply because he’s a bit older and slower than he was a couple of years ago. Either way, you couldn’t pick a more typical way for us to head into a couple of weeks off.
Despite spending near enough £400 million in the last couple of months, I have to say just how impressive it is that I’m already excited for this incoming international break. On the other side, I’ll be back for what will no doubt be an incredibly tough game against Unai Emery’s Aston Villa.
The Shed Diaries 