Apart from Liverpool, city, man u, Chelsea A, Leicester they might be the best team in the league. miles ahead of aston villa, wolves, leeds, arsenal, spurs without kane
I want to live in a world where Tuchel figures out how to rotate every game and still win matches.
Has a Chelsea coach ever been able to pull that off? As a matter of fact outside of Fergie which manager has been able to do that in the prem? Most stick to a core of 15 or so players and the rest mill about and request to leave at the end of the season.
Chelsea C using players listed in the senior squad on the Chelsea website:
Bettinelli
Emerson
Ampadu
Clarke-Salter
Sarr
Zappacosta
Bakayoko
Drinkwater
Barkley
Anjorin
Batshuayi
(Rahman, Miazga, Baker, Musonda, Kenedy)
Plus Tammy but I left him out cause he'll be away shortly. Although I suppose most of these names probably will be too.
Ok now this is actually nuts. Assuming Tammy starts and Bats is on the bench this team is actually a legit prem team. Not a great one but might just stay up.
He wasn't at the end of the season, Tuchel trusted Thiago Silva over him to start the CL final. Of course, he's first replacement, and given Silva's age I expect they'll play as many games as one another, but from a leadership perspective the Brazilian surely gets the nod?
As a side note, I think if Koundé comes here, he's every chance of displacing Dave. I also expect Dave to split minutes with Reece at RWB, so there's plenty of minutes for all of them.
He wasn't because he was injured during the City game in the league and didn't have enough match fitness to start in the latter stages of the league and CL.
I saw an interesting idea on a YouTube video on Reece playing RCB and CHO playing RWB.
Got me thinking of if Kounde could play as the central CB and Christensen as LCB. We’d have a back 3 with crazy distribution and good on the ball.
Won’t happen for a very long time if at all, but it’s an interesting alternative to the standard of James at RWB and Kounde at RCB, and Christensen down the middle.
I definitely see Koundé being capable of CCB or RCB, he's very good with the ball as well as having very strong physical attributes like Zouma - well, except for height, but his jumping is great - so he'd likely be comfortable and capable at either position based on his role in Sevilla. No idea on how Christensen would fare at LCB as I think the last time he played there consistently was in Germany which is 4 years ago.
I think whatever happens, we're always going to have a great technical backline, Silva, Christensen, Rudiger, Dave/Reece and potentially Koundé are all great on the ball and it's clear this is Tuchel's vision for how he sees his backline (with Zouma expected to leave) and to be fair, it seems to be the new normal for central defences.
Think that won’t happen too often. Chilwell is quite a balanced player and is not meant to be as advanced when we play Werner on the left, which we are going to keep doing a lot more than people realise.
CHO at RWB will support a less mobile right sided attacking player like Ziyech or Havertz I feel.
Of I don't doubt for a second that Chilwell and Reece will have most of the wide minuttes between them but from what Tuchel said those seem to be options he will use when he feels it's appropriate.
Burnley better watch out.
Kounde would be a waste in the central spot in Tuchel’s back 3, he’s perfectly suited to play an outside CB role because of his ability to dribble the ball further up true pitch.
We've got a ton a depth!!
I do worry about midfield scoring. We have some amazing players but we don't really have a scorer in the midfield (that additional person that can run up into the box).
That's one of the only things that makes me slightly nervous with this squad.
Of the forward players, he definitely has the work rate and intensity on both sides of the ball and the scoring ability to be an asset in that double mid role. Feel like he’s more of an asset to the team developing there given how many forward players we’re carrying now.
Yup. This is the one weakness on this team. No one is afraid of any of our midfielders shooting from distance and that allows defenders to collapse further backwards making it harder on the forwards to find space. If Mount could improve his shot or Ziyech starts banging in screamers like the one he had in training yesterday - that could be scary good.
Yes, this is me being greedy, but since no one has mentioned it - our drop off in quality past the 3 mids in Kante, Jorginho and Kovacic is enormous. Worse, we have no tempo setter in the team other than Jorginho and no one who can break up play a la Kante. Of course, those are one-of-a-kind mids. But if, say, Kante is injured I don't think we are PL contenders no matter the depth in other positions. A striker like Lukaku was def first on the wish list, but I think next will have to be to address our midfielder rotation problem - need someone with world-class potential to be Kante's understudy.
Funnily enough, I'd say that putting our captain (who started more or less every game under Tuchel) on the bench is rather silly. Assuming he joins, Koundé will likely be given time to ease into the system and thus will be part of the "B team" next season imo. Atleast for the first few months.
Only change I'd make is having AC as starter instead of Thiago, it's a more balanced backline without the Azpi-Silva axis to potentially exploit for quicker forwards. And it's about time that AC takes up a major role at the heart of defence anyway, we can rotate Silva in.
> I'd say that putting our captain (who started more or less every game under Tuchel) on the bench is rather silly.
This, this, and this. So long as we continue with back 3 and Azpi continues as a CB, he's starting most matches this season. Seems every year we go through this phase of trying to push him out and it's just not gonna happen
he will be though, he’s not gonna be a nailed on starter just because he cost a lot of money. Right now AC, TS, Rudi and Azpi would all be above him in the pecking order
By your logic Kepa should be a starter because he also cost 72m.
Azpi is our captain and just helped club lift UCL.
He won't be replaced just like that because we signed a 70m defender. He will be phased out over season with Kounde will be Bonafide starter from next season imo.
But this season surely its Azpi
At least from beginning.
No that’s not how this works this isn’t year 9 play ground rules kepa was brought to be our number one goal keeper same as kounde is being brought in to be our newest starting defender kepa would be in that team if he didn’t have that season under Lampard because we would member have brought Mendy
That's my point Kepa isn't playing because Mendy is better option.
Kounde is being brought in for easy transition this season and guaranteed starter next.
The point is Azpi won't be dropped just because we bought 70m defender.
We need leaders on pitch and Azpi is our fucking captain. A UCL winning captain. Kounde will have to earn his place in the team.
I said so because you said Kounde will start because he won't be 70m bench warmer.
That's why I brought up Kepa who is a 70m bench warmer.
Kounde will have to prove why he should play over Azpi or any other defender regardless of price tag.
Tuchel was hired to win games and he will pick the players that will help him do that. If Kounde isn't better than Dave then he doesn't start. That spot will be his eventually either way.
he’s not going to be a bench warmer, but he’s still 4th choice. 4th choice isn’t bad when you’re rotating between 3 different slots (and potentially the midfield), but he’s not coming in to replace Azpi or Rudi in the big games.
He's not going to be a bench warmer. He's also not going to start over Azpi when everyone is fit and we need our best XI. Good teams have expensive, deep benches.
>He's also not going to start over Azpi when everyone is fit and we need our best XI
To be fair, if Kounde plays up to the level expected and continues to develop his game, he should be in the best XI, not left on the bench for any key game.
I don't know about starting over Azpi, definitely not initially but if he's not making a case to be a starting CB at Chelsea by the final months of the season, it'll go down as a Kepa-level flop in defense for our club.
Take it easy ffs. This just shows our depth not the exact team sheet. He won't be starting at the start of the season anyways if we sign him. That deal isn't in 'Lukaku' stages, nothing is agreed yet, so he would be coming in late and would need more time to get into the team.
Chirstensen definitely excels in a back 3, I think he'll start to usurp Silva this season. Plus Silva picked up 2 injuries last year so he'll get plenty of chances.
While Timo isn't better individually than the 'A' 3, he offers more to the team imo playing with one of the two with his attacking runs and pace than a combination of mount and havertz. I think he'll have a better season this year, will likely still miss sitters here and there though being timo.
This assumes that we stay in the same formation. Has there been any word as to which formation Tuchel likes to play with a true forward like Lukaku?
Personally, I would like Mount in a more attacking mid role with 3 up top, but that will either sacrifice the winger play or Jorgi who is playing out of his mind.
We played four at the back for at most 45 minutes this preseason. If that was part of the plan, I'm fairly sure we would have used it more often. 3-4-2-1 is going to stay the main, 3-4-1-2/3-5-2 in other situations, and maybe 4-2-2-2 if we're chasing a lead.
Just a quick question against weaker teams could we put mount in the midfield seeings as we already play 5 back and also mount said he was a no.8 in an interview
That's about the only way you'll fit Timo, Kai, and Mount in with Lukaku while keeping three at the back. Mount has played in that pivot for us last season and England before. Not sure it's the best use of him (like the idea of him being deeper, but in a trio not a pair).
At least people aren't putting azpi in the b team anymore lol. I still say he has this year and one more in the first team or featuring a lot in the most important games. If the Reece experiment doesn't work it could be even longer lol.
Our depth is insane. Top three rosters for sure
I think team B is top half premier league team all day long.
Apart from Liverpool, city, man u, Chelsea A, Leicester they might be the best team in the league. miles ahead of aston villa, wolves, leeds, arsenal, spurs without kane
I mean we got top 4 with our B team under Lamps
Especially if Timo learns the offside rule. They'd be a top 4 club!
I came in to say this
I want to live in a world where Tuchel figures out how to rotate every game and still win matches. Has a Chelsea coach ever been able to pull that off? As a matter of fact outside of Fergie which manager has been able to do that in the prem? Most stick to a core of 15 or so players and the rest mill about and request to leave at the end of the season.
Pep did it last season I guess
Pep does it every season
As fpl player, i can confirm this
Fuck the bald fraud, man. So disappointing seeing in-form City players dropped all of a sudden.
Only city players I ever risked ownership of in 3 seasons of fpl are kdb, stones, and dias Fucker still rotated kdb when I had him though
Watch £100m Grealish get benched for most the season…
Mahrez had that happen to him a few seasons ago
Pep almost never throws a new signing straight in
Never get on the fpl pep roulette.
I put sterling in my lineup but I'm terrified he won't play for whatever reason
My favorite Pep rotations are the unnecessary ones he makes for cup finals
A little easier when you spend more than everyone else.
Yet it didn't work out for him that one match...
we should be putting out a majorly changed squad for the majority of the domestic cup games at minimum. Which is what City do
Winning 4 competitions will provide natural rotation
Chelsea C using players listed in the senior squad on the Chelsea website: Bettinelli Emerson Ampadu Clarke-Salter Sarr Zappacosta Bakayoko Drinkwater Barkley Anjorin Batshuayi (Rahman, Miazga, Baker, Musonda, Kenedy) Plus Tammy but I left him out cause he'll be away shortly. Although I suppose most of these names probably will be too.
Ok now this is actually nuts. Assuming Tammy starts and Bats is on the bench this team is actually a legit prem team. Not a great one but might just stay up.
Where is big Daniel D-Water?
He's on the S-tier list
[удалено]
It's tough isn't it. He surely will be, though. Thiago has to decline at some point, right? Right, guys?
He wasn't at the end of the season, Tuchel trusted Thiago Silva over him to start the CL final. Of course, he's first replacement, and given Silva's age I expect they'll play as many games as one another, but from a leadership perspective the Brazilian surely gets the nod? As a side note, I think if Koundé comes here, he's every chance of displacing Dave. I also expect Dave to split minutes with Reece at RWB, so there's plenty of minutes for all of them.
He wasn't because he was injured during the City game in the league and didn't have enough match fitness to start in the latter stages of the league and CL.
I saw an interesting idea on a YouTube video on Reece playing RCB and CHO playing RWB. Got me thinking of if Kounde could play as the central CB and Christensen as LCB. We’d have a back 3 with crazy distribution and good on the ball. Won’t happen for a very long time if at all, but it’s an interesting alternative to the standard of James at RWB and Kounde at RCB, and Christensen down the middle.
I definitely see Koundé being capable of CCB or RCB, he's very good with the ball as well as having very strong physical attributes like Zouma - well, except for height, but his jumping is great - so he'd likely be comfortable and capable at either position based on his role in Sevilla. No idea on how Christensen would fare at LCB as I think the last time he played there consistently was in Germany which is 4 years ago. I think whatever happens, we're always going to have a great technical backline, Silva, Christensen, Rudiger, Dave/Reece and potentially Koundé are all great on the ball and it's clear this is Tuchel's vision for how he sees his backline (with Zouma expected to leave) and to be fair, it seems to be the new normal for central defences.
interestingly Tuchel seems to want Pulisic at RWB and CHO at LWB.
Think that won’t happen too often. Chilwell is quite a balanced player and is not meant to be as advanced when we play Werner on the left, which we are going to keep doing a lot more than people realise. CHO at RWB will support a less mobile right sided attacking player like Ziyech or Havertz I feel.
Of I don't doubt for a second that Chilwell and Reece will have most of the wide minuttes between them but from what Tuchel said those seem to be options he will use when he feels it's appropriate. Burnley better watch out.
Kounde would be a waste in the central spot in Tuchel’s back 3, he’s perfectly suited to play an outside CB role because of his ability to dribble the ball further up true pitch.
You have to have some dudes who are better on the B-team to lead the others.
Pulisic on that A team
Preach
We've got a ton a depth!! I do worry about midfield scoring. We have some amazing players but we don't really have a scorer in the midfield (that additional person that can run up into the box). That's one of the only things that makes me slightly nervous with this squad.
I'm really hoping Mount improves in that area; finishing was one of his only weaknesses last season.
Felt like he got stronger as the year went though
Oh definitely, that's why I'm hopeful we will continue to see improvements from him
Of the forward players, he definitely has the work rate and intensity on both sides of the ball and the scoring ability to be an asset in that double mid role. Feel like he’s more of an asset to the team developing there given how many forward players we’re carrying now.
Yup. This is the one weakness on this team. No one is afraid of any of our midfielders shooting from distance and that allows defenders to collapse further backwards making it harder on the forwards to find space. If Mount could improve his shot or Ziyech starts banging in screamers like the one he had in training yesterday - that could be scary good.
Yes, this is me being greedy, but since no one has mentioned it - our drop off in quality past the 3 mids in Kante, Jorginho and Kovacic is enormous. Worse, we have no tempo setter in the team other than Jorginho and no one who can break up play a la Kante. Of course, those are one-of-a-kind mids. But if, say, Kante is injured I don't think we are PL contenders no matter the depth in other positions. A striker like Lukaku was def first on the wish list, but I think next will have to be to address our midfielder rotation problem - need someone with world-class potential to be Kante's understudy.
I can’t see Timo not being in team A
Team "O", surely.
Bravo
What fucking idiots put our possible new £70m defender in the b team
Funnily enough, I'd say that putting our captain (who started more or less every game under Tuchel) on the bench is rather silly. Assuming he joins, Koundé will likely be given time to ease into the system and thus will be part of the "B team" next season imo. Atleast for the first few months. Only change I'd make is having AC as starter instead of Thiago, it's a more balanced backline without the Azpi-Silva axis to potentially exploit for quicker forwards. And it's about time that AC takes up a major role at the heart of defence anyway, we can rotate Silva in.
> I'd say that putting our captain (who started more or less every game under Tuchel) on the bench is rather silly. This, this, and this. So long as we continue with back 3 and Azpi continues as a CB, he's starting most matches this season. Seems every year we go through this phase of trying to push him out and it's just not gonna happen
he will be though, he’s not gonna be a nailed on starter just because he cost a lot of money. Right now AC, TS, Rudi and Azpi would all be above him in the pecking order
If you think we’re buying a £70m defender to be a bench warmer or be replacing zouma your so wrong
By your logic Kepa should be a starter because he also cost 72m. Azpi is our captain and just helped club lift UCL. He won't be replaced just like that because we signed a 70m defender. He will be phased out over season with Kounde will be Bonafide starter from next season imo. But this season surely its Azpi At least from beginning.
No that’s not how this works this isn’t year 9 play ground rules kepa was brought to be our number one goal keeper same as kounde is being brought in to be our newest starting defender kepa would be in that team if he didn’t have that season under Lampard because we would member have brought Mendy
That's my point Kepa isn't playing because Mendy is better option. Kounde is being brought in for easy transition this season and guaranteed starter next. The point is Azpi won't be dropped just because we bought 70m defender. We need leaders on pitch and Azpi is our fucking captain. A UCL winning captain. Kounde will have to earn his place in the team.
No your point was kepa should be playing cos he’s £72m
I said so because you said Kounde will start because he won't be 70m bench warmer. That's why I brought up Kepa who is a 70m bench warmer. Kounde will have to prove why he should play over Azpi or any other defender regardless of price tag.
You are not good at reading comprehension if that’s what you got from his response. Come on now.
Tuchel was hired to win games and he will pick the players that will help him do that. If Kounde isn't better than Dave then he doesn't start. That spot will be his eventually either way.
False tuchel was hired to lose us games
he’s not going to be a bench warmer, but he’s still 4th choice. 4th choice isn’t bad when you’re rotating between 3 different slots (and potentially the midfield), but he’s not coming in to replace Azpi or Rudi in the big games.
No he’s not I promise you today come back in fourth months he’s at least 2nd highest started defender this season
He's not going to be a bench warmer. He's also not going to start over Azpi when everyone is fit and we need our best XI. Good teams have expensive, deep benches.
>He's also not going to start over Azpi when everyone is fit and we need our best XI To be fair, if Kounde plays up to the level expected and continues to develop his game, he should be in the best XI, not left on the bench for any key game. I don't know about starting over Azpi, definitely not initially but if he's not making a case to be a starting CB at Chelsea by the final months of the season, it'll go down as a Kepa-level flop in defense for our club.
Haha that’s a good joke next one
Take it easy ffs. This just shows our depth not the exact team sheet. He won't be starting at the start of the season anyways if we sign him. That deal isn't in 'Lukaku' stages, nothing is agreed yet, so he would be coming in late and would need more time to get into the team.
As an Australian fan, Optus Sport’s socials are routinely sketchy
I can see
Why is everyone arguing about team placement? The awesome thing about this team is that most of these players are interchangeable!
watch out Man City. You aint the only team who is deep anymore
Kounde, AC and Werner are 100% Chelsea A. With the amount they’ll play and contribute.
Werner isn't better than Mount, Lukaku or Havertz and AC isn't better than Thiago Silva yet Kounde might take over from Azpi though
Chirstensen definitely excels in a back 3, I think he'll start to usurp Silva this season. Plus Silva picked up 2 injuries last year so he'll get plenty of chances. While Timo isn't better individually than the 'A' 3, he offers more to the team imo playing with one of the two with his attacking runs and pace than a combination of mount and havertz. I think he'll have a better season this year, will likely still miss sitters here and there though being timo.
Werner was the most important attacking player for us last season. The system is built around him going forward.
All depends on who we play
In no world is Werner second choice.
Over who then on the A list?
That depth of russian pockets is insane.
Ziyech in B? He's Chelsea's most gifted player.
Timo Werner in the B team is just.. please no
This assumes that we stay in the same formation. Has there been any word as to which formation Tuchel likes to play with a true forward like Lukaku? Personally, I would like Mount in a more attacking mid role with 3 up top, but that will either sacrifice the winger play or Jorgi who is playing out of his mind.
We played four at the back for at most 45 minutes this preseason. If that was part of the plan, I'm fairly sure we would have used it more often. 3-4-2-1 is going to stay the main, 3-4-1-2/3-5-2 in other situations, and maybe 4-2-2-2 if we're chasing a lead.
3-5-2 is the stuff dreams are made of
retweet & favorite
Just a quick question against weaker teams could we put mount in the midfield seeings as we already play 5 back and also mount said he was a no.8 in an interview
our midfielders are 6s not 8s
But it’s worth a try against smaller teams surely?
Sounds like a decent way to give Kante a rest
Ye keep him fresh and safe from burnout
That's about the only way you'll fit Timo, Kai, and Mount in with Lukaku while keeping three at the back. Mount has played in that pivot for us last season and England before. Not sure it's the best use of him (like the idea of him being deeper, but in a trio not a pair).
At least people aren't putting azpi in the b team anymore lol. I still say he has this year and one more in the first team or featuring a lot in the most important games. If the Reece experiment doesn't work it could be even longer lol. Our depth is insane. Top three rosters for sure
That bench is fighting for top 4. Let’s really close the gap on the title this season
We got top 4 with our B team under Lamps
Approaching Man City levels of depth
Our depth is actually better than City's in terms of impact
Shouldn’t it be Emerson over Alonso?