I can’t remember the last time I saw Chelsea’s players finishing like they did yesterday against Fulham. Perhaps when Cole Palmer was sizzling and scoring for fun.
Granted, Jadon Sancho also did it against Ipswich to save our total embarrassment in that game. But other than that, we just don’t finish like that enough.
Literally just half a sight of goal, one touch, and BANG! Sometimes they don’t even need the touch.
Ironically, Chelsea and Enzo Maresca were saved by a Cobham starlet yesterday. After spending £1.5bn building a big and expensive squad, the hero of the day was Tyrique George, who banged in a worldie to save another embarrassing defeat.
The ball comes to him, he has half a sight at goal, and his first touch is hit with conviction.
Why don’t all our players do this? Why aren’t they coached to do this? All of our attackers and midfielders need to watch this goal on repeat and do the same thing.
Perhaps that is exactly what Pedro Neto had in his mind when the ball came to him in a similar area in stoppage time yesterday afternoon, because his finish was even better and even more instinctive.
Neto let the ball glide across his body with his first touch, and spun to smash it home with his second.
The definition of one touch, BANG!
Please can we do more of this. This is how you score goals. Don’t allow time for players to reset and get the blocks in and more numbers behind the ball, just smash it with conviction. We don’t need to make that extra pass when a shot is on.
The irony in this goal as well was the build up was so quick before it, very much not what we have grown used to seeing from ‘Maresca-ball’. But the game opened up at this point and went very end to end which obviously suited us much better.
Trust in Cobham more, perhaps?
Play more direct and fast, perhaps?
Take shots even when you have a half sight on goal, perhaps?
Do all those things and we are immediately better off.
