The Red and Blue Soccer Chat - 12/4/24

And we’re back! We hope you enjoyed the additional week off for Thanksgiving, America’s oddest holiday celebration. And we’ve made it through the final international break of 2024. How did the USMNT fare in their 2-leg Nations League encounter? And how did our clubs do upon their return from the break? Let’s dig into the leftovers! Chelsea returned from the break with an away day at faltering Leicester, and they seemed hungry from the start. Chelsea dominated for the most part, with only a late pk to spoil their clean sheet. A slightly comfortable win away to Heidenheim keeps them atop the Conference League table, and that was followed up on Sunday with a rousing 3-0 victory over the wobbling Villa to keep them firmly in third in the PL standings. Things are beginning to get congested as they always do in December. Chelsea will travel to Southampton in mid-week before making the short passage across London to face a Spurs side that is unpredictable at best. Chelsea’s form has them in good stead as the year comes to its clogged-up ending. More of the same will be the manager’s talking point for now. The Ruben Amorim era started with a bang that quickly fizzled back into United’s recent form as they scored within 90 seconds against Ipswich only to yet again cough up a soft goal. And it appeared that would carry over to the Europa league as they once again scored early before somehow being opened up for 2 goals in quick succession. But a newfound resilience gave the manager a bounce with Hojlund scoring 2 either side of halftime to spare the new manager’s blushes. A 4-0 thrashing of Everton – who indeed could have scored early themselves – has United fans feeling optimistic heading into the Wednesday fixture against a flying Arsenal before hosting Forest at the weekend. Any positive result away to the Gunners will be welcomed, but it may be too early a test for Amorim’s new formation and strategy. Poch took his young eagles to Kingston and got the sort of grind-it-out result that is so often needed in CONCACAF before coming home to St. Louis and showing what this team is capable of. 1-0 away and 4-2 at home showed that this team can put in the hard running when needed, has the attacking tools to take control, but still has some work to do to keep the opposition out. Poch now has a blueprint and the insight to see what this group needs moving forward. Less than 2 years out, can he find a way to solve those issues? We’ll be making leftover sandwiches for days, so join us live from Chatham Tap Fishers at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, follow along on Facebook Live and YouTube Live, or catch us at your leisure on our other platforms listed below. Please like, subscribe, and comment wherever you choose to find us. CHEERS! ⚽🍺⚽🍺⚽🍺⚽🍺 #TheRedandBlueSoccerChat#ChathamTapFishers#ChelseaFC#manchesterunited#USMNT#USWNThttps://linktr.ee/theredandbluesoccerchathttps://feeds.captivate.fm/the-red-and-blue-soccer/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIH_XXtwLOX74un6Jr367HAhttps://www.facebook.com/TheEvanAndAaronShowhttps://open.spotify.com/show/7gC93OQZpUrk1ZKkHG7byainstagram.com/theredandbluesoccerchat