It annoys me when I see articles saying a new coach will play this way because this is the system he used at his old club. Just because a coach has played one way before does not neccessarily mean he will not change and adapt the way he sets up the team. A good coach will find a system that best suits the players available to him rather than doing a Southgate. With all respect to Leicester, the Chelsea squad is totally different, KDH apart.
From what we have heard of Maresca, he is a highly intelligent coach and people are assuming he will use exactly the same system and tactics he has always used. He has been accused of not having a plan B and being too intransigent in his approach in the past, but he now has a much deeper and skilful squad of capable players able of make an impact from the bench, a luxury he has never had before as a manager. Let's just not assume it will be more of the same as we have seen before.
Thanks, Dylan for your insightful article. It is very thought-provoking and whilst it raises lots of questions I’m sure many of them will be answered over the next three weeks before they get back from the USA.
With you based in the US and knowing the grounds that we are playing at what do you think of the state of the pitches at each of the venues. Is there anything that we should be worried about, at each of them
Notre Dame is a bit concerning to be honest because it's turf, but likely will have grass over it. I think the rest of them should be ok. Thank you for reading as always Craige. Your support is outstanding!
Over the last few weeks I have been reading about the state of the pitches in the US for Copa America. Makes me have Loftus-Cheek / Nkunku injury flashbacks.
As an American, the field conditions for Copa America were incredibly embarrassing. There are dozens of great facilities designed specifically for soccer (forgive me) in the US, but most of them seat 15,000-25,000. The pitches you saw during Copa were mostly brand new sod laid very close to the beginning of the tournament. Those stadiums/fields were designed for American football and don't convert easily. I can only hope these venues plan properly for the 2026 World Cup and get their sod situations fixed months in advance.
As for the Chelsea preseason tour, unfortunately all of the matches will be played at stadiums built for American football so it's probably going to be more of what you saw for Copa.
Don't need to apologise to me for "soccer". I am Australian; we refer to it the same way.
Yep, understand why the pitches are like this (laid over artificial turf) to maximise crowds. But it amazes me that European clubs or international teams allow their (expensive) players to compete on them.
It annoys me when I see articles saying a new coach will play this way because this is the system he used at his old club. Just because a coach has played one way before does not neccessarily mean he will not change and adapt the way he sets up the team. A good coach will find a system that best suits the players available to him rather than doing a Southgate. With all respect to Leicester, the Chelsea squad is totally different, KDH apart.
From what we have heard of Maresca, he is a highly intelligent coach and people are assuming he will use exactly the same system and tactics he has always used. He has been accused of not having a plan B and being too intransigent in his approach in the past, but he now has a much deeper and skilful squad of capable players able of make an impact from the bench, a luxury he has never had before as a manager. Let's just not assume it will be more of the same as we have seen before.
Made me think.
Thanks, Dylan for your insightful article. It is very thought-provoking and whilst it raises lots of questions I’m sure many of them will be answered over the next three weeks before they get back from the USA.
With you based in the US and knowing the grounds that we are playing at what do you think of the state of the pitches at each of the venues. Is there anything that we should be worried about, at each of them
Notre Dame is a bit concerning to be honest because it's turf, but likely will have grass over it. I think the rest of them should be ok. Thank you for reading as always Craige. Your support is outstanding!
Over the last few weeks I have been reading about the state of the pitches in the US for Copa America. Makes me have Loftus-Cheek / Nkunku injury flashbacks.
As an American, the field conditions for Copa America were incredibly embarrassing. There are dozens of great facilities designed specifically for soccer (forgive me) in the US, but most of them seat 15,000-25,000. The pitches you saw during Copa were mostly brand new sod laid very close to the beginning of the tournament. Those stadiums/fields were designed for American football and don't convert easily. I can only hope these venues plan properly for the 2026 World Cup and get their sod situations fixed months in advance.
As for the Chelsea preseason tour, unfortunately all of the matches will be played at stadiums built for American football so it's probably going to be more of what you saw for Copa.
Don't need to apologise to me for "soccer". I am Australian; we refer to it the same way.
Yep, understand why the pitches are like this (laid over artificial turf) to maximise crowds. But it amazes me that European clubs or international teams allow their (expensive) players to compete on them.
Big time worry. Hopefully it will be ok. Thank you for reading.