I took my wife and kids to their first ever Chelsea match last night in Philadelphia. I am a local (Philly Blue), the stadium is walking distance from my house, so this was the perfect spot for their first match.
We were sat in the supporters section, behind the goal in the South half of the stadium. I missed the first few minutes of the match as I was saying hello to a few familiar faces I knew from previous matches I've attended. Most were supporters I met over 10 years ago on the old CIA message board from NY, Dallas, Boston, and LA.
The announced crowd was 65,000 and it felt as if 95% were wearing Chelsea shirts. It was nice to see an entire section of BHA supporters behind the opposing goal.
The crowd was loud and engaged, but not in the way I expected. Any time a song was started, it was quickly overpowered by the oooo's and aaahhh's of the rest of the stadium. We tried and failed with 10 Men Went to Mow, Born is the King, and John Terry has Won The Double but none ever really gained much momentum. (Other matches I have attended in the US had more supporters singing along.)
The play on the pitch was expectedly sloppy. There were quite a few poor passes and missed opportunities, but the boys have only been at it for a few weeks. I was impressed with the speed some of new players showed. Once everyone is on the same page, Mudryk, Nkuku, Jackson are going to be a handful for opposing defences.
Win or lose, up the Blues.
Does anyone want to discuss Chelsea's acquisition of young talent? Is anyone concerned?
It seems there's been a shift and the type of player that Chelsea is signing. The last dozen or so years had us signing proven, first team ready superstars. The last few transfer windows have shown a shift a from that thinking.
We now have a manager that has a proven track record for developing young talent. We also have a transfer strategy that sees us acquiring young talent. Does this mean that the next few years will see Chelsea finishing out of the top five while these players are learning the game under Pochettino?