Another 90 minutes are in the book for Chelsea during pre-season but the Blues played well for only 45 minutes of the defeat against Charlotte.
Christian Pulisic opened the scoring in the 30th minute and the starting XI played well in the first half, creating good chances.
They turned the gears on after the goal and dominated the remainder of the half. However, a second goal escaped them due to a strong performance from Charlotte FC keeper Kristijan Kahlina.
It was during the second half when things went wrong for the Blues. Thomas Tuchel made ten changes, with all outfield players being replaced. The formation remained a 3-4-3 in both halves.
Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho kept control of the midfield in the first 45 minutes but their replacements Ethan Ampadu and Conor Gallagher failed to do the same.
To Gallagher's credit, he did put in a lot of effort and was vocal throughout the half, trying to create chances and making some good passes.
Ampadu has played as a midfielder but he did not look very comfortable in this game in a two-man midfield system, as his lack of confidence and experience was clear to see.
However, the biggest issue was the defence. Thiago Silva marshalled the defence and was excellent in the first half, but Malang Sarr, Levi Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah were subpar.
Chalobah's handball led to Charlotte's late penalty and even before that, this back three struggled to contain the attack.
Colwill was nervous and unsure near the ball as he was probably thinking too much about impressing the boss and locking down a place in the squad. It would be impossible to demand perfection from the young defender, knowing that the Blues want to sign two more centre-backs.
Sarr and Chalobah weren't too convincing either. Chalobah is the most senior out of all the three but we could see he's not equipped to lead any defence yet.
As shown by this lineup, Chelsea struggled in two areas in the second half against Charlotte: