The Red and Blue Soccer Chat - 9/25/24

Welcome back, Reds and Blues fans! We have made it through a fairly boring international break, but it did bring closure to one issue for the USMNT. The focus returns to the EPL this weekend. Let’s see what has happened and what we can expect.  Chelsea’s season appears to be building some momentum. While not always pretty, when you’re re-building (again) the results remain the focus while trying to get the performances to match. They faced Bournemouth first after the international break, and it must be said that they probably didn’t deserve any points, much less all three. But it’s a funny old, and this one saw the Cherries attacking with intent and hitting the crossbar early as well as a (tame) penalty get saved. Bournemouth huffed and puffed, but you could see the legs were gone after spending much of the game on the front foot. And Chelsea took full advantage with Jadon Sancho buzzing around the left wing and finally finding Nkunku who showed skill and strength to turn and finish in the box. And what could have been an even trickier trip across town for their derby with West Ham they scored 2 early to settle the nerves before Palmer sealed things shortly after the break. The mid-week return to the Bridge for the League Cup fixture with League Two Barrow gave them a further chance to continue their form, and they made it look easy with a 5-goal rout. The tricky Albion are up next at the weekend. United returned from the break full of intent as well. And while it took some time to really get going, as well as a fine PK/double-save from Onana, 2 goals late in the first half set them up nicely to settle in for the second half. Garnacho added a late cherry to things. They followed that with a dominating performance over an outmatched League Two Barnsley. But yet again just when things were looking up along comes a day when United played some of their best football of the season but just couldn’t manage the much-needed goal to continue their streak. And Onana was needed late on to save the blushes of a side that should have put the game away much earlier. The Europa League beckons, and FC Twente arrives at Old Trafford on Wednesday to provide further opportunity for trophies this season. Christian Pulisic continues to be a man on fire with multiple goals and assists in his last five games. Weston McKennie is also proving his doubters wrong at Juventus. And 5 Americans graced the pitch on the same day for the first time in the Champions League. Hopefully this is the first sign of the Poch effect. Long may it continue.We’ll be jumping late tackles and throwing soccer balls at heads, 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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------