And we're off.
A proper end to end game, and a really enjoyable one to watch for our opening game of the season. A draw feels like a fair result for both teams but part of me feels we perhaps could have nabbed a winning goal given our large periods of good play. It also means our last 7 games with Liverpool have been draws.
Lot of positives to take from this one though:
Axel Disasi and Levi Colwill both made their PL debuts, and I'd expect them to be mainstays in this Chelsea defense going forward, hopefully growing in confidence.
Colwill grew into the game, initially finding it difficult to deal with the threat of Salah down the right hand side, but had some good moments in the second half. Disasi scored on his debut and also provided a good passing threat with some good diagonal balls. Drury (on his commentary debut for Sky!) did mention that both can fill in at full back if needed, and it was mainly Colwill who did this, becoming more of a LB whenether Chilwell pushed upfield, leaving Reece to fill in on the opposite side.
Enzo had an insane game, and you just know that when Caicedo comes into this team the level will be raised even more. Does every job to perfection, passing, interceptions, chance creation and more. He's so elegant when we have the ball in advanced areas, from which he has the bravery to pick out a wide option and create good oppurtunities.
It left Gallagher to fill in the more defensive duties at times, which he did very well, given his energy and drive in this Chelsea team, something I really value. Deserves to stick around and fight for a spot because he's now proved his worth in multiple roles in the Chelsea midfield.
As for the attack, Sterling seemed to prove his worth in an intriguing inverted forward role down the right hand side where he was good with his postitioning to create chances and make himself available as a passing option - this was also useful in creating 1-2s with Reece down the right hand side which then gave us a good crossing option from the right for Jackson to attack.
Finally, whilst Jackson did not take any returns from this one, he still looked extremely promising starting his first league game, with his closest oppurtunity being blasted over the bar. Most impressively was his energy, playing the full 90 and making a full pitch run holding off defender Konate to set up an oppurtunity. We really have found a gem of a Number 9, and he's a player who I'll enjoy watching a lot this year.
Negatives
Sanchez I feel was thrown into the team after Kepa's quick departure, and had a few slips particularly in the first half. Makes up for it with some really confident claims towards the end of the game - we will have to see what kind of profile Chelsea bring in to cover for Kepa, either a more experienced option or perhaps we invest more money into a GK who may nab the No 1 spot.
In the last few moments I felt we were a bit nervy but luckily saved by Liverpools sloppiness with their final ball. Ultimately it gave us a good chance for players like Ugochukwu to come on and get some minutes in injury time.
There are noticiable things to iron out, a tiny bit more defensive stability among a back line that do need time to gel, and in particular getting more chances to Jackson quickly. This of course will get worked on and developed as Jackson plays more games for us, but if you want to talk about us winning this game, we may well could have had a few more goals if we were smarter with our choices in the final third and found those oppurtunities for Jackson to run on to.
There's a good piece that gives very detailed examples by Tactics Journal: 'Chelsea hesitate to play Nicolas Jackson in'
And of course, bringing in a profile of player like Olise would thrive in that position and would also jump at the chance to make that kind of pass, we'll see what happens this month.
Overall there's a feeling of excitement, which I think was highlighted by Poch's reception at full time which was really nice to see.
There's a good run of games for us now which I'd expect a lot of wins from, and we have a week now to iron out some issues ready for West Ham.
CHELSEA 1-1 LIVERPOOL
SCORERS: Disasi (37')
BEST PLAYERS: Disasi, Enzo
WORST PLAYERS: n/a