5 Things we learned from Chelsea’s pre-season tour

5 Things we learned from Chelsea’s pre-season tour

After a disappointing end to our very average performance in the pre season that saw us win only 1 game, here are a few points I think we need to improve/benefit from come start of the season.

1. A good backup Goal Keeper- Of all the transfers we have made so far getting in the likes of Hazard,Marin,Oscar there is one more area we might have trouble come this season and that is a proper replacement for Petr Cech. Although we do have Thibaut Courtois who we all believe will be an ideal replacement for Cech but at this moment he is on loan at Atletico Madrid and seeing Cech sign a 4yr deal recently it looks tough that Courtois will get the #1 spot at Stamford Bridge in the coming seasons. Leaves us with our 3 back up goal keepers- Hilario,Turnbull and Blackman. Of all the 3 options we have Hilario looks the best pick. Blackman still has a long way to go having made his first appearance with the senior squad and Turnbull is honestly a liability and in my opinion a face not meant to represent Chelsea.


2. Surprise Package: Marko Marin- Of all the fuss that was created of Eden Hazard signing and everyone’s eyes glued on him there was one player who silently made a huge impact in this pre season tour- Marko Marin. His amazing pace,quick movement and dribbling ability has given Chelsea an ideal winger which they have been seeking for a long time. If he can keep himself fit in the long run he might just turn out to be our wild card. An ideal replacement for Arjen Robben maybe?

3. We need another proven striker- Although Lukaku had a decent pre season tour scoring a brace in the first game and a few good moments against Milan, Chelsea just cannot rely on the likes of Lukaku and Piazon at this moment if they want to dethrone Manchester City. Although we can argue that Fernando Torres was missed a lot but we cannot just rely on Torres at this moment seeing is past record with Chelsea. With Sturridge’s future in doubt and Drogba leaving the club we need a player who can boss around the defenders. Clearly my pick would be Edison Cavani

4. Poor defensive display- For a team who rode their last season success on their defensive abilities it is unacceptable to concede 7 goals in 4 games. Yes this might be a pre-season friendly but conceding 2 against Sounders, a goal against a team without proper strike force (Milan) is highly unacceptable. We still need to strengthen our defense and a decent cover for Branislav Ivanovic is what is required.

5. Lack of chemistry in the midfield- Having completed the signing of Hazard,Marin,Oscar it now leaves us with 4 players who can play in a very similar role if you include Mata. If we leave out Marin who might just have to start off from the bench we still have 3 players who play at their best when they play right behind the striker. Hazard was a force to reckon with at Lille when he played right behind the striker which gave him a free license to play his own game. Oscar so far in the Olympics has been playing right behind Damiao and has been involved in every goal/assist so far. Mata as we all saw last season played his best football when he played right behind Drogba/Torres. A worrying point maybe for Di Matteo?

#Shikharr( @ShikharrC ) 

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