Week 2 Match Review: Wolves 2 - Chelsea 6
Oh, what a difference a week – and playing Wolves rather than City – can make. For game two of this young season, Noni Madueke became the three-pointed thorn in the entire city of Wolverhampton’s side, Cold Palmer has returned, and… the defense still looks like a work in progress. Regardless, we move.
What Was Good?
Noni Madueke Knows How to Finish (and Annoy an Entire Fanbase)
Oh to be 22 and have almost a million followers on social media. Not long after Madueke shit on one of the West Midlands’ greatest cities, he scored a hattrick in the second half to put the game completely out of reach for a Wolves team that looked to be gaining momentum when they tied things up at the end of the first.
All three were efficient, clinical finishes on the right wing, and with each strike, you could feel Madueke’s transfer value tick up just a bit while the fanbase will now hope to see him stay and continue to evolve under Maresca after absolutely crushing the preseason tour. It’s easy to forget that on a team full of such young talent, Madueke was once looked at as the best of the bunch. The Blues might be Palmer’s team now, but if Madueke can be a consistent threat, that opens things way up for the rest of the front line. Speaking of Palmer…
Cole Palmer Is Back Doing Cole Palmer Things
After looking mostly asleep in first game of the season against his old dad/club, Cole Palmer returned to Mr. Freeze mode and sent a chill down the entire league’s spine after scoring the second goal of the game (with a nifty little assist from Nicholas Jackson) and following that up with a hatrick of assists to Madueke. Palmer’s role as a facilitator is what will take him to a new level this season and with Madueke showing he might be the guy on the squad who can actually pick up what Palmer puts down, this is a great sign for the offense moving forward. There’s still a chance Madueke leaves before the end of the month – my eyes are on a move north – but if he makes it past the close of the window, he should remain as the starting right wing, and wingman for Palmer.
The Team Looked Cohesive in the Second Half
It turns out that the best way to distract people from the flaws in a system is to score six goals and completely torpedo the other side in the second half. While it was nice to see Jackson score on an absolute sitter to start things off, along with his assist to Palmer for CP’s first goal of the year too, it was the portion of the game after the break where the offense suddenly looked like a legit force. Three goals in under 20 minutes that can each be explained as “Palmer to Madueke” and then the new Portuguese regime stepped in with Wolves’ favorite recent son Neto assisting beautifully to the recently returned Joao Felix for an extremely satisfying sixth goal. The second half of the game was pure joy for Chelsea fans, pretty gross for the home crowd at Molineux, and a refreshing cleanse from two lame performances to start the 2024-25 campaign.
What Was Bad?
With Great Offense Came… Questionable Defense
The first half of the game was about as wide open as Chelsea has played in the past… four years, and while some of that can be blamed on Wolves’ proficiency on the counter – and Matheus Cunha looking at this season as an opportunity to level the fuck up – the back line still looks porous, to say the least. Colwill and Fofana are still trying to gel, and Sanchez isn’t long for the starting lineup, but man, just getting Reece James back in another week or two will be huge from a leadership perspective if nothing else. Well, that and him balancing out Marc Cucerella’s repeated bullying seen on the other side of the pitch.
Mykhailo Mudryk Is Completely Lost
There are a lot of ways to view Mudryk’s time at Chelsea and none of them are particularly positive. His bloated transfer fee, and clear preference to join Arsenal, cursed his arrival from the start, but his complete lack of understanding of tactics (whether that was under Potter or Poch or Lampard and now Maresca) is pretty damaging. There’s no doubt that he’s a physical specimen, and one who particularly shined against the subpar competition during his time at Shakhtar, but simply being faster than everyone isn’t going to cut it, which is exactly why Maresca pulled him so early in the game. Maybe more than any other remaining player on the squad, Mudryk could use a loan to Ligue 1 or Serie A to get a lot of playing time and try to regain his grip on the game.
What’s Next?
The Blues are halfway through their 13-day, four-game onslaught with the second leg of the Servette series coming up this week, followed by a visit from Palace at the weekend. Based on the first game against the Swiss Napkin Brand (not my joke, but a good one nonetheless), this should be another good opportunity for some of the fringier players to get a look and build some confidence. Similarly, Palace has underperformed a bit to start the season, but with Eddie Nketiah potentially joining soon, and a worldie from Eze feeling inevitable, it should be a fun game if nothing else. GET WELL SOON, REECE
