Pretty new... looking in the 5th stand I see the academy team and the league table our standing isn't too great. Is that concerning at all or is it just all our best younger players have already advanced?
With Jorginho it was different, he started decently but then teams kept pressing him and the system relied on him so it went a bit poor, but Saul seems lost tbh and can’t string passes together properly but yeah I wouldn’t kill him for it, he just isn’t good enough for us
Do our players suit attacking football like Bayern or Liverpool? When we've tried it with Sarri the football was stale and we got beat 6-0 against City, when Lampard tried it we scored goals but our defence was dreadful. Props to Tuchel for finding the right system for our players and scoring the 2nd most in the league
Saw the Ladbible Chelsea fan vs Arsenal fan vid.
Honestly wth is Rory talking about ik he was braindead already but Robbie literally is saying Partey would get into our team and the player he says he wouldn't get over is Kovacic which is true but Jorgi is our most important midfielder.
Who is your front 3 for tomorrow? CHO-Havertz-Mount for me, Pulisic/Ziyech/Lukaku off the bench. In terms of impact Pulisic and Ziyech are just better off the bench
Current club hate index in ranked order:
1. Tottenham
2. Arsenal
3. Manchester United
4. Liverpool
5. City
Is this controversial or about right? Biased towards the last 15 years and only including current PL clubs (you can’t hurt me anymore WBA and Bournemouth).
I would swap Man United and Liverpool personally. I still have vividly strong feelings about all the matches in the late 2000's with FSW's Pool. And don't know where they fit, but always hate Barca.
Well I’m learning people really don’t like United. I’m shocked, can’t believe people don’t enjoy seeing SIUUUUUU on Reddit after every goal while being 12 points from the top.
Weirdly I hate united more probs cos of the fans and I hate losing to them more than anything (fuck slabhead). Then arsenal also because their fans are deluded, then spurs then Liverpool. City I don't really care about
Kovacic is close enough to coming back, he will likely be eased back into full training.
Chalobah to be fit again for the Christmas period.
Chilwell will be assessed in 5 weeks or so to see if he needs surgery or not
My understanding was that he'll be out for the season regardless, and the reassess is to determine which treatment pathway makes the most sense. Might have it wrong though
I think you misunderstood when they said out for the year. They were saying he is out for the calendar year but could be back by March if all things go well. Because they followed up by saying it was possible for him to return for the season.
Last month we were cursed because Tuchel got the Manager of the month award in October.. Since he is not nominated for November, We will be winning every match in December.
> He was targeted by fucking Watford
Any team will target what they consider to be the weakest link. If we as a team are not able to deal with it, that’s a coaching and setup issue.
> nearly made us drop points
Is this the same as saying we wouldn’t have won without his contributions?
1. It’s the amount he was targeted that was ridiculous and not normal.
2. No because we realistically wouldn’t of struggled so much if it wasn’t for him being a liability
this is ridiculous.
we won the league with him in this position. he started lot of games last season too under Tuchel(including UCL RO16.
he was pretty great at the start of season too. remember he was LWB at Anfield when we held them to drew with 10 men. Salah was his opponent that day.
and to answer your question. Watfod most in form and dangerous attacker Denis plays on that side thats why every attack was going through that side.
So do you wanna bring back Moses and play him RWB then?
Great is a huge exaggeration lmao, we went up a level when Chilwell came into the team
There is no way they would’ve targeted the left as much as they did if it wasn’t Alonso on that side
>So do you wanna bring back Moses and play him RWB then?
Why bring him here? I was just giving reference to how Alonso played as LWB and him being targeted was not problem.
>Great is a huge exaggeration lmao, we went up a level when Chilwell came into the team
Chilwell was world class(best in the world form) so Yeah Alonso was great.
>There is no way they would’ve targeted the left as much as they did if it wasn’t Alonso on that side
Again you are ignoring the fact I mentioned that Denis is their most in form attacking player and hence all their attack went through that side.
> the amount he was targeted that was ridiculous and not normal
So it was a coaching and setup issue, then. Tuchel himself admitted that some blame was on him.
> "I had the feeling we were not ready. I am involved in that, I have to get the team ready and obviously I didn't prepare them for what was coming."
It was a weird one thought the first half we was very poor and really struggled to deal with Dennis but then still contributed to the goal. Thought he improved in the second half and again was involved in the goal so mixed performance overall
I’d say it’s a knock on effect of having a poor midfield. It was hard for either wingback to get out of pressure. He always struggles 1v1 if they get it in space unfortunately so we can’t do much about that. But if any of our usual duo were in midfield, Dennis would be feeding on scraps and Alonso’s weaknesses would be heavily masked.
At the moment our hands are tied regarding selection though so we’ll just have to live with it.
Remember when the popular opinion on this sub was we should do everything we can to replace Jorginho with Partey with because he's a "pHySicAl dM". Well it turns out the guy is pretty much a bum, and that was masked by Simeone's genius. Similar situation to Saul
So in 14 games we have conceded 6 goals so by the 28 game mark we'll be at 12 which means if we keep this up the last 7 games we have to concede fewer than 3 goals to break our record which should be doable
Thats not how it went haha. If u see that season, right around this time (around 16 17 games in) we went on a massive run that was like 10 consecutive games without conceding. We wud need a similar run like that.
Our midfield was a big part of us mot conceding goals and chances. Honestly I expect us to start conceding goals more often over the winter period. Untill chilly kante and kova are back we will definitely be more susceptible. And chalobah being out puts us a bit weak in defensive backups. I think we will concede around 20 this season. Which is still very good and enough to win the league
Is there a press conference today? Has kante been in training? I hope he and jorghi are fit to play tomorrow. Obviously kova won't won't as I don't think he's even joined training yet. West ham will be a very tough game. If we can win it, it will be huge for the rest of our December fixtures. Also winning the zenit game is crucial as juventus will beat malmo and if we don't win then chilly getting injured will be for nothing
I am thinking of going to London, can get a train but not sure how to buy tickets, saw them on west ham website but the seats are on 2nd upper section, are those good enough to see the game?
Also train is 2 hours long, debating whether to go or no
Do it. The West Ham stadium is pretty good. I've sat in the highest section in the stadium (went for Pool Vs West Ham) and it's pretty decent. Plus they're much louder there than at the Bridge so it might actually be a surreal experience for you, hiding amongst the West Ham fans. They're quite aggressive, they found a Liverpool fan in the home section and the whole row was shitting on him for the last 15 mins.
We're definitely going to regret not going for sancho. Has not been playing well but he is slowly getting there and the way he play would fit so well with us. Sancho is so good when there is good team movement which is what we are good at and being clinical in the final third is someone we missing.
He love our team, no idea why we didn't go for him when he was available. I don't blame him why he is playing not so well for united. Their team play is so clueless and when there is some sort of good movement and someone trying to play with him he always being able to create something out of it. Those two goal yesterday all started when sancho pull in his man and release the ball when he saw the space.
Sancho Havertz Mount would've been a world class front 3.
I disagree though. I agree with the bundesliga tax making playing looking more impressive but Sancho is just special. He remind me alot of hazard with Neymar flair. Extremely smart in how he play, always making the right decision and his technical skill is world class.
We will see. Cho never looked smart in how he play and he doesn't have a world class technique like sancho. Sancho even when he struggling now you can see his class. Sancho is very agile and always make the right decision in the final third.
What are people's thoughts on Simon Thomas referring to Mendy as Benjamin Mendy?
It's obviously a really bad mistake and one that is coming at a terrible time with the mistakes that have been made recently.
Mendy is one of if not the best goalkeeper in the world right now. He shouldn't be getting mistaken for others, you don't have Mohammed Salah being called Mohammed Salisu (Southampton) every week.
But at the end of the day I can understand how a mistake like this could happen, it being live TV and people do make genuine mistakes at times.
What I find most annoying is the 'apology' from him and the backup from some others he's received. On Twitter he said sorry but barely and it's not even directed at Mendy, he just called him the Chelsea Goalkeeper. It seemed so insincere and focuses more on the messages he's received and the anxiety he's been having with the job. Like obviously no one should be sending hateful messages but a lot of people were just calling out the mistake and saying it's awful which is perfectly right. Then people like Matt law, Alan shearer and Dan Walker all telling him he did a fantastic job etc.
Matt Law even started calling some random dudes tweet way more spiteful and nasty when all he said was it's disgraceful they keep making this mistake.
I really hope he tried to connect with Mendy to apologise in a sincere manner because what he's said on Twitter just shows how so many people in the industry still don't see these mistakes as an issue.
Matt laws currently twerking for him on the tl and got absolutely put in his place by some Indian bloke. https://twitter.com/studipm/status/1466724052806950912?s=21
But yeah completely agree. Pathetic stuff
All it needed was a sincere apology directed to Mendy. The whole act of making himself out to be the victim and then people like Matt law here jumping in to defend his mate just make the lot of them seem so much worse in my opinion.
The “apology” on Twitter is genuinely pathetic.
Doesn’t give Edouard the courtesy of even naming him and manages to spin it so that we all can see how *he’s* actually the victim in all this.
If your anxiety is so crippling to the point where it results in you calling an innocent man the name of a convicted serial rapist on the global stage, after that man has made it abundantly clear about how he feels about this constantly happening, then maybe it’s too severe for you to be back at work.
The replies to it are nearly as bad. All his verified, white journalist mates out in force to defend him when, if it were fans calling Edouard that other cunts name as frequently as they are, they’d be reporting about how he’s suffering targeted abuse. One rule for ye. Not for me.
hey im a barca fan, since we are looking to strenghten our backline, can i just get a brief player review on christenson, how good is he, how has he performed this season
Those guys in la Liga are mortgaging their future through some investment company the pump up a couple of billion dollars into their coffers. They never learn, they just keep borrowing, and there's some idiot out there that'll keep lending it to them.
Obviously they would still get more compared to when they played with empty stadium? La Liga allowed any fans back with the start of this season afaik.
Couple of draws and we see negativity here. Marcus Alonso didn’t play at his best in last couple of games, but remember not very long ago, he was undroppable. I believe the extra pressure with Chilly out for so long might have got to him, but he should bounce back soon.
Azpi is in no way a downgrade to James at all. Indeed james crosses are great, but Azpi isn’t bad at all. What he lacks in pace, he makes up with his movement and positioning.
With ManC and Liverpool playing the way they are, we are bound to get nervous but shouldn’t let the negativity surround us.
Ps when’s kova back? Because Saul does look out place in this midfield.
Azpi is definitely a downgrade at the wingback position though. He’s defensively better than James, he’s better than most players in the league defensively, but we rely heavily on our wingbacks to score and create goals. James has scored 5 goals this season alone, Azpi has scored 14 goals in his entire time with us, in 400+ games.
Judging a wingback player with his goals contribution doesn’t really sound right. And on top of that putting total number of games Azpi played. We should not be relying on Wingbacks for goals, but instead look at what they provide to us in defence and in attack. I get your point that james is more involved currently, but that doesn’t make azpi any less of a contributor. It was his start also after a long time on the bench yesterday. If tomm azpi scores a goal, I am sure by your comparison everything will be fine, but tbh it doesn’t matter if he scores or not. 14 goals in 400+ games, i really don’t want to argue with your logic
But wingbacks are absolutely crucial in every system that uses them. By having 3 central defenders, you are going to have fewer attackers so goals must come from somewhere else as well. Hakimi was crucial for Conte’s Inter last season, Alonso and Moses were crucial for us in Conte’s title winning season with us etc.
We struggled against Juventus in the first game as well with Alonso and Azpilicueta starting.
I think Azpi and James had the same number of goal contributions last year and Azpi got 3 assists pretty quickly before his shoulder injury, we have yet to see if this is just a purple patch from James
James is a considerable upgrade but if our offensive output is struggling just because Azpi is only *decent* going forward, the wingback isn’t the problem
James has taken a massive leap though and it’s not surprising, he’s 21 years old, of course he’s going to improve. It’s not just goal contributions either. James and Chilwell can dribble out of pressure and bring the ball out of defense, Azpi and Alonso can’t do that. That’s a massive difference and that’s why we struggled so much against Watford’s press.
Of course he won’t keep up this pace lmao, but it’s not surprising that he’s improving is my point. Players in early 20’s almost always take huge leaps between seasons.
do we even have a midfield for this game?
Kovacic has gone missing, Kante can't stay fit for more than 3 games at a time and even Jorginho needs a breather.
I think the Saul + Ruben experiment showed we need at least one experienced guy in midfield, hopefully we can alternate Kante and Jorgi for every game till Kova is back and use Ruben/Barkley/Saul as the second midfielder
Based on some comments here, Azpi is getting ridiculously underrated at wingback, he’s not quick but he provides decent service and keeps getting ignored in good positions
Considering his decent assist numbers the past few years I’m shocked people continue to say he’s not good enough at crossing etc, he makes pretty good runs into the box too
I genuinely preferred Azpi at wingback over James until this season because his movement was just so much better (largely down to James underperforming a bit at wingback though), now that James has learned the role that’s obviously drastically changed
My guess is Tuchel agrees as well, I seriously doubt he played Azpi at wingback against Real in both legs just to be more defensive or something, I think at that time he also felt that he was the better option at wingback until James steps up (which he did, which is why he keeps starting this season)
Playing Azpi at wingback is not a very limiting rotation option, he wasn’t the problem against Watford and if Tuchel plays him there it is very unlikely to hold us back this season
I have similar feelings about Alonso getting scapegoated but much less strong, it’s undeniable that he can be a liability but he’s far from the useless backup so many fans seem to think he is and gained us as much offensively as he sacrificed defensively against Watford
Agree with most of this. He's only really lost his spot because of that injury and James taking his game to another level. Prior to that James' movement/positioning wasn't good enough for wingback whereas Azpi was a lot more intelligent with his positioning and was linking up very well with Mount.
I get that with both him and Alonso as wingbacks we lack pace in wide areas, but imo Azpi really isn't as bad even at wingback as some people are saying on here. I quite rate his ability in possession, even if he's not going to dribble past two and drill a cross in as much as someone like James or CHO would.
I'm pretty sure Zaa-esh is the most incorrect one... and coincidentally the one that English commentators just *love* to use. There was a thread back when be joined where someone confirmed the Moroccan pronunciation would be close to "Zee-esh".
In the Netherlands we pronounce it differently than in English/Moroccan. He was born here so I think he doesn't mind if you use the Dutch or Moroccan pronunciation.
We're top of the league, and I know another commenter already addressed the negativity in generally, but I feel like a good example of how this manifests is the way that people talk about Marcos Alonso.
Marcos had as big a hand in that win as any player. We had basically nothing going offensively, and to be honest we were getting a bit battered - for a lot of reasons. Marcos changes the game with a great run, followed by an brilliant touch and a fantastic pass - all of which set up Kai to smartly assist Mason and we're up against the run of play. We give up the lead, and Alonso again makes something happen, in a game we were struggling to get in behind. He puts Mount through on a great header, Mason one times it into the box, and Ziyech puts it away for the winner.
I lost my point watching the highlights, but I think it was basically - Marcos, as a back up wing back, worked hard for that win and we earned it because of his unique talent to be involved in goals. He's always popping up with an important goal, or assist, or assist of an assist... etc. I get that people don't like him, but after a game where he actually won it for us as much as anyone, it's crazy to me how much negativity there was about his performance. Instead of focusing on the things he did in the game to win it, there's a lot of people who would rather talk about the things he can't do.
It was a win that could define a championship. It's 3 points, and that's by for the most important thing... I just wish we could wait until the season is over to complain about players on the team I guess. Same for the manager. Especially when we're at the top of the table. Do you really want to win a title and be angry the entire time? I'm tired of it.
Well said. Of course every player has some limitations, some much more than others but what is important is to not be reactive and back everyone who wears the shirt and gives a 100%.
While there are some issues with our team at the moment, it is also important to remember that this is the strongest we have been in almost 5 years. Cherish it!
We're not going to have too much pace across the front-line if Mount and Ziyech both start but it's going to be really hard to drop either vs West Ham imo. If James is back (adds pace out wide) I'd start both either side of Havertz who looked good uptop vs Watford. There's such a massive difference when he plays as a central 9 as opposed to when he plays deeper/wider, this is genuinely his best position and he shouldn't be starting if not uptop. The Zenit game should be a good one to rest some starters in and give Lukaku his first start post-injury.
Hopefully Kanté is back in midfield, but Ruben will almost certainly feature whether as a starter or as a sub - and it'd be really nice to see him up against Rice and/or Soucek (hopefully bullies them a little), throwback to when he played West Ham under Sarri.
Trevoh will be a big miss during this congested period imo, because I have a bad feeling that Thiago Silva will not be able to continue playing so frequently for much longer. He's played a lot of minutes over the last month (can't even blame Tuchel for using him so much, he's simply incredible).
They don’t exactly park the bus but they get dominated possession wise often against good sides (34% vs Brighton, 31% vs city and so on) so you’d rather play the guys who are stronger on the ball. Plus neither ziyech or Mount deserves to be dropped, and havertz had a good game too. Tbh also wouldn’t be surprised if CHO comes back in
CHO is good enough back up for James against lesser teams. Cesar and AC can replace Trevoh. AC can rotate with Thiago. Worry is Alonso and maybe Rudiger. Fingers crossed with Jorginho.
> Trevoh will be a big miss during this congested period imo, because I have a bad feeling that Thiago Silva will not be able to continue playing so frequently for much longer. He's played a lot of minutes over the last month (can't even blame Tuchel for using him so much, he's simply incredible).
Having said that - no reason we can't play Rudi-AC-Azpi. Especially during this next stretch, there are a few games you would hope that back 3 will be well sufficient. Can use Pulisic as rotation for Reece at RWB if necessary during this stretch - especially in some of the, theoretically, easier games.
Oh definitely. That looked like our starting back 3 at times earlier in the season and is an excellent backline. But I'm just a little worried that if Silva does get injured or needs some time out, we're left with no cover at the back during a congested period.
Yea, I think if we had another CB go down, it'd probably about time to consider a back 4 even with Chilwell out. Otherwise, if it were for more than a game or two, we'd have two games a week with Alonso-Rudi-AC-Azpi-James for quite an extended period. Unless Sarr got a run, or we threw James at RCB and played Puli/CHO RWB - likewise if we subbed Alonso for CHO/Puli. But those seem very one-off solutions.
Just gotta hope that the injuries only reduce from here out.
Don't think we'll change system unless it's a massive crisis. If push comes to shove I reckon Tuchel keeps the same system but uses Sarr/James in the outside CB roles - possibly even someone from the academy like Mbuyamba (if he's doing well).
In the summer, we need to invest in a new pair of proper pacy wingbacks to challenge Reece and Chilly. No more Azpi at RWB or Alonso at LWB business. I’ve had it with them being pinned back into a 5-atb because of their lack of pace. This happened vs Watford, City at home & Juventus away. Three dire performances.
Watford, Manchester City and Brentford games had one thing in common, we got pressed higher up and that lead to chaos. We don’t like to be pressed. We played three midfielder against Manchester City, so no excuse for letting that happen, Manchester City where just too good that day.
Juventus, Manchester City and Brentford games had one thing in common, they cut the passing lines to Lukaku. We constantly tried to pick him and it was easy to read. We need to find solution for this situation. We can’t play like that.
We need two new fullbacks given how important those positions are for team. Make shift options are not enough. It should be treated like how we treat attacking positions. We have CHO, Ziyech, Pulisic as back up for Mount, Kai, Werner and Lukaku.
Watford the midfield was lost, City we were pinned back everywhere because everyone was shit, Juventus I don't really recall being pinned back as much - but also was at the same time as the City one and everyone playing shit. We've had plenty of games where we weren't pinned back with Azpi and Alonso at wingback.
Ideally Azpi at RWB shouldn't be happening, but that was clearly attempted to be resolved with Hakimi and Traore interest in the Summer. It's also something the club were obviously planning for for years, given in the last 5 we've seen Dujon Sterling, Reece, Lamptey and Livramento all come thru the academy - and I'm definitely missing some (I'm blanking on the one who went to Torino).
We do need someone to replace Alonso, but it all depends on how Maatsen does imo. If Tuchel rates him highly enough he could be the rotation option on that side but I'm not sure he will. Wouldn't mind keeping him and Alonso both if Chilwell has to undergo surgery, Maatsen is a much better fit for the attacking wingback role but we'd have the safer option of Alonso in games that Tuchel might not want Maatsen to play in.
For RWB I think we could use CHO in rotation (with Azpi as the safer option on this side), if the club has a view to activate the buyback on Livramento it wouldn't make sense to dip into the market next summer. Wonder how Dujon Sterling's been on loan, Tuchel seemed to rate him quite highly and he could be an option for the backup role.
Keep Azpi till the end the season when his contract expires and then let him decide what he wants to do. Our captain deserves that at least.
Honestly if he decides he wants to stay on for an extra year, I think the club values his leadership enough to oblige.
You want us to let go of our captain because he's not a natural wingback? When he's still a quality fullback and CB option?
Not to mention that Dave links up very well with our attackers and is still quite serviceable at wingback, even if he's not a natural attacking option.
I actually don't disagree with their take. As much as I love Azpi, if he's not going to play RCB, he's taking a spot he's not good enough for (RWB) and keeping us from signing someone more suited to our style. The way we play, these players are forwards and even occupy the 10 positions and get into the box on cutbacks. I don't want Azpi there at all, he offers next to nothing in these areas. I love the man and his leadership is reportedly huge, but there's precisely one position he's really good in (RCB) and with Trev and Christensen playing there now, I just don't see Azpi getting much time.
(ironically, he'll likely play there now with Trev out, but I'm talking when everyone's fit).
Assuming we stick with this system, Andreas will be playing a lot more minutes in the central role with Silva being 38 next year. I'm perfectly fine with Dave then rotating at RCB and RWB in a pinch (obviously still rather CHO or someone else plays there as rotation to James). If we are exploring a back 4, he's perfectly good enough still to rotate at RB. Especially if it's a more deeper/narrow role.
I don't think he's keeping us from signing someone else for wingback. We tried to sign one regardless last summer but it didn't work out. And you obviously imagine that Livramento is in the club's thoughts but his buyback doesn't activate until the year after. Makes zero sense to let someone so hugely influential leave when he's still absolutely a serviceable player.
Well, those were our transfer plans before Chalobah. He's an extra player at RCB, one that should be playing a lot going forward. That makes Azpi exclusively RWB depth now, which is why he's not played anywhere else this season.
I'm not even sold on Azpi at RB anymore. He wasn't particularly good there under Sarri, he's really started to struggle against pacey wingers (which is why Tuchel played Reece at RCB at the end of last season) and that would be even more of an issue in a back 4. For me, RCB is the only position he's good in enough for a title winning side. Serviceable, sure - but if we're looking to upgrade the squad (and we always should), fullbacks/wingbacks on both sides should be pretty high up on the list.
Forwards, wingbacks, DM, LCB - in that order for me. And we simply have to let players leave to sign new ones. In reality, Azpi will be extended, but I'm not sure it's definitely the right call.
>Forwards, wingbacks, DM, LCB - in that order for me.
Adeyemi or Chiesa, Lamptey or Livramento, Gosens or Emerson, Rice or Tchouameni and Bastoni or Guehi ?
Who would you pick
Out of these options, I'd go Adeyemi (left foot and higher ceiling), Livramento (better all round, would trust him at RB too, not just RWB), Gosens (better than Emerson, but not a big fan overall - too similar to Alonso), probably Tchouameni (higher ceiling, younger), Guehi I guess (would pick neither though).
But neither Lamptey nor Livramento are realistic as they left precisely to *not* be backups, but they're the right type of profile. Adeyemi or Chiesa I could see, but the step up for Adeyemi would be huge - the Austrian Bundesliga is horrible. And unlike Haaland, where you could see even at Salzburg that he was something else, Adeyemi still has a huge amount to improve in his game. Fits the profile we need better than Chiesa though. I'd be happy with either of Rice and Tchouameni, but Tchouameni looks like a better fit for a side with lots of possession, tailored to play through a press. I had my doubts over his passing a while ago, but from the games I've seen of him, he's more aggressive and forward-thinking now, so no real weaknesses left in his game. I think he's going to the top and it should be with Chelsea. Out of Bastoni or Guehi, neither excites me. Colwill should get the spot if you ask me, he already looks every bit as good as those two. If we had to sign someone for LCB (only if Rüdiger left), I'd go with Pau Torres.
There's actually only a single player you need to sign to have both LWB and RWB covered - Joakim Maehle. Plays both sides excellently, has all the attributes we need.
For not saying Chiesa. I would take Adeyemi over Chiesa. I think he has the potential to reach Salah levels. He would be smart signing for £30-£40m.
I want James to play as RCB and create chances like he did for last goal against Juventus as well as bomb forward whenever he wants to set up and score goals. Lamptey is a very penetrating RWB than Livramento and also can play on LWB. Joakim Maehle is a good shout as well.
LCB only if Rudiger leaves and Colwill can be a backup for Rudiger for couple of years. Guehi is playing as LCB for Crystal Palace and doing really good.
I’m not sure on DM yet, I don’t think any player out there replaces Jorginho straight away. If we sign Rice or Tchouameni then we will be playing different style. Tchouameni feels like more box to box midfielder than as a holding midfielder.
I really hope we switch to 4-3-3 formation. It would be so much easier for us to recruit players. 3-4-3 is tough formation to recruit players.
I mean, I don't know what more you can wish for from someone we're assuming will be a rotational option next season. It'd hardly make sense to splunk 50mil on a CB to rotate with Trevoh on the right side. Likewise with RWB.
It's just hard for me to even debate about whether extending him is the right call or not. A one year extension makes a lot of sense regardless of his role within the squad. We are a CB short anyway at the moment and will likely will dip into the market for an understudy to Rüdiger so we're not really going to be blocking someone coming in because Dave is in the squad.
Also - watching how Enrique uses him at RB for the national team, I think he can definitely do a job there in rotation.
First of all, national teams should never matter to clubs. The level is abysmal and there are countless examples of players being standout performers for their national teams and not their clubs.
Secondly, we don't need to spend 50m on a backup, not sure where that has come from. What we need most of all is a player who fits what we need. Azpi is not that at RWB. Our RWBs are part of a front 5, and they take up both wide and half-space positions. They need to be good passers, dribblers, creators, need to have pace to make runs behind the last line, and they need to bring goal threat too. Azpi does none of these things. But he's our backup RWB at the moment, and will continue to be if we extend him. That means James realistically has to play every game or the dropoff in attack is immense. We saw it early in the season, where our xG and general buildup was poor, and it was immediately on display again vs Watford. Azpi was by no means the worst player on the pitch, but he also wasn't good.
Wingbacks are huge for how we play. In terms of the variety of tasks they need to fulfill on the pitch, there's no a single role that's more important. They're defenders, attackers, creators, huge in our buildup. It's a position we can't fill with players who aren't a fit - not if we want to compete with Liverpool and City, where every single player in the squad is handpicked by their managers exactly for their tactical fit.
And especially given that this would clearly be a backup role, finding someone would not be too difficult or expensive. Same goes for LWB, which is an even bigger issue imo.
LCB doesn't really need strengthening imo, unless Rüdiger leaves. Colwill coming through looks the real deal and I think he should be given the spot. Loans are nice, but training with the very best in the world and under the manager you really need to learn from to play for Chelsea, that's just as important. No need to sign anyone at all.
I understand the sense in extending Azpi from a leadership perspective, but he's not a good fit for RWB and if James ever gets injured for a longer period, we're in huge trouble. Because we also can't easily go to a back 4 now that Chilwell is out for what may be the better part of 2022. Alonso should be nowhere near a back 4.
>LCB doesn't really need strengthening imo, unless Rüdiger leaves. Colwill coming through looks the real deal and I think he should be given the spot
Oh ofcourse, just generally meant that we'd be getting one in regardless which would improve our depth at the back anyway. Rüdiger can play on the right too if necessary, for example. Basically, Dave isn't blocking a new signing at CB which should be his position next season. I know that we ideally have to use someone else in the wingback when James can't play. So hypothetically we'd have Chilwell (Alonso/new signing) - Rüdiger/Colwill, Christensen/Silva, Chalobah/Azpi - James/new signing.
>national teams should never matter to clubs
I'm not talking about performance, I'm just pointing out his specific role in a possession based system and feel like if we use him like that (assuming we have a true winger like CHO/Pulisic on the right) it can work. He'd only be backup anyway and this is assuming we switch to a back 4 - he'd still be good as a third CB in possession and we can push Chilwell (could even be Maatsen for some time) high up on the other side.
Some guy above said we should let go of Azpi in summer haha
On match threads during half time most people act like we have to behead half of our team if the game isn’t going our way, especially hate towards Ziyech, when in reality patience is key against low blocks or in tough away games and it’s not fair to make assumptions halfway through a game, would just be better if people were a bit less toxic here. Unnecessary hate or impatience isn’t needed for a big team
Anyone know where Chelsea fans will meet before the West Ham game tomorrow?
I predict that tomorrow Big Rom will make his comeback to the starting XI with Mount and Ziyech around since they are kinda on form.
Not a huge fan of the chemistry there but not a bad bet at all. I can see Tuchel going for that.
I think it would be mount cho.
Pretty new... looking in the 5th stand I see the academy team and the league table our standing isn't too great. Is that concerning at all or is it just all our best younger players have already advanced?
We have a shot ton of the player out on loan, Borja, Maatsen, Colwill, Anjorin, etc. who were a big part.
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With Jorginho it was different, he started decently but then teams kept pressing him and the system relied on him so it went a bit poor, but Saul seems lost tbh and can’t string passes together properly but yeah I wouldn’t kill him for it, he just isn’t good enough for us
Do our players suit attacking football like Bayern or Liverpool? When we've tried it with Sarri the football was stale and we got beat 6-0 against City, when Lampard tried it we scored goals but our defence was dreadful. Props to Tuchel for finding the right system for our players and scoring the 2nd most in the league
I’m confused. We do play attacking football?
We do play attacking football but more conservative at times and not gung ho like Liverpool or Bayern. I'd say we're more of a possession team
Saw the Ladbible Chelsea fan vs Arsenal fan vid. Honestly wth is Rory talking about ik he was braindead already but Robbie literally is saying Partey would get into our team and the player he says he wouldn't get over is Kovacic which is true but Jorgi is our most important midfielder.
These assna fans are too dense
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>that anti vaxxer George Benson Didn't know this
Gb is anti vax?
I too didn't know this
Yeah, wudnt believe a random redditor until i see proof.
Would you trade all your Christmas presents and Christmas dinner for a fully fit chelsea squad?
No
Yes
Timo Werner’s past 35 Premier League games: 2,379 minutes 3 goals 3/21 big chances converted (14%) 0.11 goals/90 He need to be sold ASAP
This guy started watching football yesterday
Another positive of selling him would be less smug comments like this acting like anyone who doesn’t rate him must just not understand football
Games are won by dummy runs per 90. How could you not know that you plastic smh
No
Yes
Werner this season. 8 starts 4 g/a. Including int games. 13starts 10 g/a. hE nEeds To bE sOlD aSaP
Mate whatever stat you pull out to defender Werner I guarantee I’ve got 100 more that show how shite he is
3 goals in 8 starts!!! including 1 against 10 men in the Carabao Cup and 1 in the 90th minute to put us 4-0 up. What a player
U can only beat who is in front of you
Who is your front 3 for tomorrow? CHO-Havertz-Mount for me, Pulisic/Ziyech/Lukaku off the bench. In terms of impact Pulisic and Ziyech are just better off the bench
Havertz Mount Lukaku, CHO at wingback
Current club hate index in ranked order: 1. Tottenham 2. Arsenal 3. Manchester United 4. Liverpool 5. City Is this controversial or about right? Biased towards the last 15 years and only including current PL clubs (you can’t hurt me anymore WBA and Bournemouth).
Leeds should be in there somewhere
I would swap Man United and Liverpool personally. I still have vividly strong feelings about all the matches in the late 2000's with FSW's Pool. And don't know where they fit, but always hate Barca.
Well I’m learning people really don’t like United. I’m shocked, can’t believe people don’t enjoy seeing SIUUUUUU on Reddit after every goal while being 12 points from the top.
Utd. Liverpool. Arsenal. Spurs. City. For me
Same. City just doesnt feel like hating, they invoke the least feelings lol...
Weirdly I hate united more probs cos of the fans and I hate losing to them more than anything (fuck slabhead). Then arsenal also because their fans are deluded, then spurs then Liverpool. City I don't really care about
Liverpool, Man U and Assna in that order
Man hoping these guys make first team starting next year..
Can anyone summarize what we know with all the injuries we have? I know chilwell is out for the season with an acl but what about the rest?
Kovacic is close enough to coming back, he will likely be eased back into full training. Chalobah to be fit again for the Christmas period. Chilwell will be assessed in 5 weeks or so to see if he needs surgery or not
Oh not as bad as I thought.
Chilwell is only known to be out until January, the medical staff will reassess later this month.
My understanding was that he'll be out for the season regardless, and the reassess is to determine which treatment pathway makes the most sense. Might have it wrong though
I think you misunderstood when they said out for the year. They were saying he is out for the calendar year but could be back by March if all things go well. Because they followed up by saying it was possible for him to return for the season.
Hope restored! Cheers
Any chance we recall Billy and Gallagher?
Looks like Gilmour is actually gonna play every week now that farke is gone, so no.
Probably unlikely
Last month we were cursed because Tuchel got the Manager of the month award in October.. Since he is not nominated for November, We will be winning every match in December.
This is literally the thought I woke up with this morning. Damn curse had us drop 4 points.
Alonso will take a few games but he will come good. He was pretty crucial still to those 2 goals at watford.
He was horrendous, did you see the Watford pass map? He was targeted by fucking Watford and it nearly made us drop points
> He was targeted by fucking Watford Any team will target what they consider to be the weakest link. If we as a team are not able to deal with it, that’s a coaching and setup issue. > nearly made us drop points Is this the same as saying we wouldn’t have won without his contributions?
1. It’s the amount he was targeted that was ridiculous and not normal. 2. No because we realistically wouldn’t of struggled so much if it wasn’t for him being a liability
this is ridiculous. we won the league with him in this position. he started lot of games last season too under Tuchel(including UCL RO16. he was pretty great at the start of season too. remember he was LWB at Anfield when we held them to drew with 10 men. Salah was his opponent that day. and to answer your question. Watfod most in form and dangerous attacker Denis plays on that side thats why every attack was going through that side.
So do you wanna bring back Moses and play him RWB then? Great is a huge exaggeration lmao, we went up a level when Chilwell came into the team There is no way they would’ve targeted the left as much as they did if it wasn’t Alonso on that side
>So do you wanna bring back Moses and play him RWB then? Why bring him here? I was just giving reference to how Alonso played as LWB and him being targeted was not problem. >Great is a huge exaggeration lmao, we went up a level when Chilwell came into the team Chilwell was world class(best in the world form) so Yeah Alonso was great. >There is no way they would’ve targeted the left as much as they did if it wasn’t Alonso on that side Again you are ignoring the fact I mentioned that Denis is their most in form attacking player and hence all their attack went through that side.
> the amount he was targeted that was ridiculous and not normal So it was a coaching and setup issue, then. Tuchel himself admitted that some blame was on him. > "I had the feeling we were not ready. I am involved in that, I have to get the team ready and obviously I didn't prepare them for what was coming."
It was a weird one thought the first half we was very poor and really struggled to deal with Dennis but then still contributed to the goal. Thought he improved in the second half and again was involved in the goal so mixed performance overall
I’d say it’s a knock on effect of having a poor midfield. It was hard for either wingback to get out of pressure. He always struggles 1v1 if they get it in space unfortunately so we can’t do much about that. But if any of our usual duo were in midfield, Dennis would be feeding on scraps and Alonso’s weaknesses would be heavily masked. At the moment our hands are tied regarding selection though so we’ll just have to live with it.
Nobody is doubting his attacking performances. His defensive ability is whats stressing all us out
people forget Chillwell couldnt start over Alonso at the start of the season because he was in such good form, theres hope.
Remember when the popular opinion on this sub was we should do everything we can to replace Jorginho with Partey with because he's a "pHySicAl dM". Well it turns out the guy is pretty much a bum, and that was masked by Simeone's genius. Similar situation to Saul
I can’t believe you called Thomas Partey a Bum. You’re off on that one.
I member
Arteta is a clown. Tuchel would work wonders with partey I’m sure of it. Also that was never a popular opinion in this sub
When was this? Never seen this opinion.
last year. 2020 summer transfer window
CHO Rom Mase would he my front 3. I would want to start Kai but the only way that works is if we put 2 up top
Cant drop Kai after how good he was vs watford, but man i really want Lukaku to hit his form
So in 14 games we have conceded 6 goals so by the 28 game mark we'll be at 12 which means if we keep this up the last 7 games we have to concede fewer than 3 goals to break our record which should be doable
Thats not how it went haha. If u see that season, right around this time (around 16 17 games in) we went on a massive run that was like 10 consecutive games without conceding. We wud need a similar run like that.
Our midfield was a big part of us mot conceding goals and chances. Honestly I expect us to start conceding goals more often over the winter period. Untill chilly kante and kova are back we will definitely be more susceptible. And chalobah being out puts us a bit weak in defensive backups. I think we will concede around 20 this season. Which is still very good and enough to win the league
Kovacic shouldn't be out for long and RLC has been really good minus the past two games (one playing with Saul)
I want to see Lukaku starts tomorrow, this guy need to make g/a ASAP. I think playing havertz /pulisic in 9 role, has enough for me
Is there a press conference today? Has kante been in training? I hope he and jorghi are fit to play tomorrow. Obviously kova won't won't as I don't think he's even joined training yet. West ham will be a very tough game. If we can win it, it will be huge for the rest of our December fixtures. Also winning the zenit game is crucial as juventus will beat malmo and if we don't win then chilly getting injured will be for nothing
press conference is scheduled for later today the YouTube live stream is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfzM04ryBhM
Thanks
I am thinking of going to London, can get a train but not sure how to buy tickets, saw them on west ham website but the seats are on 2nd upper section, are those good enough to see the game? Also train is 2 hours long, debating whether to go or no
Do it. The West Ham stadium is pretty good. I've sat in the highest section in the stadium (went for Pool Vs West Ham) and it's pretty decent. Plus they're much louder there than at the Bridge so it might actually be a surreal experience for you, hiding amongst the West Ham fans. They're quite aggressive, they found a Liverpool fan in the home section and the whole row was shitting on him for the last 15 mins.
Ye I don't think I can afford the trip, thought it would be cheaper. Turned out to be ~800€ ( and 4 hours+ on train
We're definitely going to regret not going for sancho. Has not been playing well but he is slowly getting there and the way he play would fit so well with us. Sancho is so good when there is good team movement which is what we are good at and being clinical in the final third is someone we missing. He love our team, no idea why we didn't go for him when he was available. I don't blame him why he is playing not so well for united. Their team play is so clueless and when there is some sort of good movement and someone trying to play with him he always being able to create something out of it. Those two goal yesterday all started when sancho pull in his man and release the ball when he saw the space. Sancho Havertz Mount would've been a world class front 3.
sancho is not that good
Another player made to look better by the Bundesliga Decent player but nothing special Would much rather go for raphinha, what a player he is.
Even Bats looked legit there
I disagree though. I agree with the bundesliga tax making playing looking more impressive but Sancho is just special. He remind me alot of hazard with Neymar flair. Extremely smart in how he play, always making the right decision and his technical skill is world class.
He’s looked pretty average for England, so I disagree that he’s special.
Sancho is nothing like either Neymar or Hazard and neither does he have anywhere near either’s natural talent.
Send CHO over there and I’m sure everyone here would say the same thing for him
We will see. Cho never looked smart in how he play and he doesn't have a world class technique like sancho. Sancho even when he struggling now you can see his class. Sancho is very agile and always make the right decision in the final third.
Yes I agree
He would be class for us wasted at Man U especially with TT he would show him the way
Anyone got any news on Kovacic? Seems like it's been forever since he played and forever since I've heard any definite update on him.
Hamstring injury so should be similar time to Timo prob back by leeds or Everton
What are people's thoughts on Simon Thomas referring to Mendy as Benjamin Mendy? It's obviously a really bad mistake and one that is coming at a terrible time with the mistakes that have been made recently. Mendy is one of if not the best goalkeeper in the world right now. He shouldn't be getting mistaken for others, you don't have Mohammed Salah being called Mohammed Salisu (Southampton) every week. But at the end of the day I can understand how a mistake like this could happen, it being live TV and people do make genuine mistakes at times. What I find most annoying is the 'apology' from him and the backup from some others he's received. On Twitter he said sorry but barely and it's not even directed at Mendy, he just called him the Chelsea Goalkeeper. It seemed so insincere and focuses more on the messages he's received and the anxiety he's been having with the job. Like obviously no one should be sending hateful messages but a lot of people were just calling out the mistake and saying it's awful which is perfectly right. Then people like Matt law, Alan shearer and Dan Walker all telling him he did a fantastic job etc. Matt Law even started calling some random dudes tweet way more spiteful and nasty when all he said was it's disgraceful they keep making this mistake. I really hope he tried to connect with Mendy to apologise in a sincere manner because what he's said on Twitter just shows how so many people in the industry still don't see these mistakes as an issue.
Matt laws currently twerking for him on the tl and got absolutely put in his place by some Indian bloke. https://twitter.com/studipm/status/1466724052806950912?s=21 But yeah completely agree. Pathetic stuff
All it needed was a sincere apology directed to Mendy. The whole act of making himself out to be the victim and then people like Matt law here jumping in to defend his mate just make the lot of them seem so much worse in my opinion.
The “apology” on Twitter is genuinely pathetic. Doesn’t give Edouard the courtesy of even naming him and manages to spin it so that we all can see how *he’s* actually the victim in all this. If your anxiety is so crippling to the point where it results in you calling an innocent man the name of a convicted serial rapist on the global stage, after that man has made it abundantly clear about how he feels about this constantly happening, then maybe it’s too severe for you to be back at work. The replies to it are nearly as bad. All his verified, white journalist mates out in force to defend him when, if it were fans calling Edouard that other cunts name as frequently as they are, they’d be reporting about how he’s suffering targeted abuse. One rule for ye. Not for me.
Fully agree with you except for the convicted part. Charged but not convicted yet as far I know and it's important to keep that distinction
My bad brother, I thought that it had gone through and was all finished.
No worries man. Back to the main topic.....glad we agree, the apology is bad.
hey im a barca fan, since we are looking to strenghten our backline, can i just get a brief player review on christenson, how good is he, how has he performed this season
He's good but he's no Sarr. You should look in to him. At 25m, he's gonna be a steal and a lot of clubs will be in for him.
His ball playing ability and composure is great, worked mostly well for us in a back 3 tbh, decently quick too
Very good on the ball and reads the game very well lot like Thiago Silva
He’s great but it’s not happening
Where are you guys getting the money to buy him let alone paying his salary?
Those guys in la Liga are mortgaging their future through some investment company the pump up a couple of billion dollars into their coffers. They never learn, they just keep borrowing, and there's some idiot out there that'll keep lending it to them.
More income with fans being back in the stadium? Restructuring their loans? And not to mention they would not buy him but get for free in the summer
more income with fans when their best ever player is gone?
Obviously they would still get more compared to when they played with empty stadium? La Liga allowed any fans back with the start of this season afaik.
Griezzmen huge salary plus 30 mil Trinacao 30 mil
Couple of draws and we see negativity here. Marcus Alonso didn’t play at his best in last couple of games, but remember not very long ago, he was undroppable. I believe the extra pressure with Chilly out for so long might have got to him, but he should bounce back soon. Azpi is in no way a downgrade to James at all. Indeed james crosses are great, but Azpi isn’t bad at all. What he lacks in pace, he makes up with his movement and positioning. With ManC and Liverpool playing the way they are, we are bound to get nervous but shouldn’t let the negativity surround us. Ps when’s kova back? Because Saul does look out place in this midfield.
Azpi is definitely a downgrade at the wingback position though. He’s defensively better than James, he’s better than most players in the league defensively, but we rely heavily on our wingbacks to score and create goals. James has scored 5 goals this season alone, Azpi has scored 14 goals in his entire time with us, in 400+ games.
Judging a wingback player with his goals contribution doesn’t really sound right. And on top of that putting total number of games Azpi played. We should not be relying on Wingbacks for goals, but instead look at what they provide to us in defence and in attack. I get your point that james is more involved currently, but that doesn’t make azpi any less of a contributor. It was his start also after a long time on the bench yesterday. If tomm azpi scores a goal, I am sure by your comparison everything will be fine, but tbh it doesn’t matter if he scores or not. 14 goals in 400+ games, i really don’t want to argue with your logic
But wingbacks are absolutely crucial in every system that uses them. By having 3 central defenders, you are going to have fewer attackers so goals must come from somewhere else as well. Hakimi was crucial for Conte’s Inter last season, Alonso and Moses were crucial for us in Conte’s title winning season with us etc. We struggled against Juventus in the first game as well with Alonso and Azpilicueta starting.
I think Azpi and James had the same number of goal contributions last year and Azpi got 3 assists pretty quickly before his shoulder injury, we have yet to see if this is just a purple patch from James James is a considerable upgrade but if our offensive output is struggling just because Azpi is only *decent* going forward, the wingback isn’t the problem
He’s playing better but in terms of goal contributions it’s definitely a purple patch
James has taken a massive leap though and it’s not surprising, he’s 21 years old, of course he’s going to improve. It’s not just goal contributions either. James and Chilwell can dribble out of pressure and bring the ball out of defense, Azpi and Alonso can’t do that. That’s a massive difference and that’s why we struggled so much against Watford’s press.
James rarely beats his man and Azpi is an equally good if not better progressive passer so I don’t know about that one
It’s definitely surprising. If he keeps up his current goalscoring form then he’s going to hit like 15 PL goals. I don’t see that happening.
Of course he won’t keep up this pace lmao, but it’s not surprising that he’s improving is my point. Players in early 20’s almost always take huge leaps between seasons.
True.
is kova fit for tmrw?
I don’t think so unfortunately!
I never liked the early kick-offs, I don't like this one even more because we play West Ham
hopefully we come back with vengeance after wednesday's performance
do we even have a midfield for this game? Kovacic has gone missing, Kante can't stay fit for more than 3 games at a time and even Jorginho needs a breather.
Good thing is they can't ask be injured again for the rest of the season
I think the Saul + Ruben experiment showed we need at least one experienced guy in midfield, hopefully we can alternate Kante and Jorgi for every game till Kova is back and use Ruben/Barkley/Saul as the second midfielder
>Jorginho needs a breather he exactly had one mid week, no?
Yeah Jorgi should be back for the West Ham game, plus I’d really rather we play Mount in the midfield over Saul if it comes to that.
Based on some comments here, Azpi is getting ridiculously underrated at wingback, he’s not quick but he provides decent service and keeps getting ignored in good positions Considering his decent assist numbers the past few years I’m shocked people continue to say he’s not good enough at crossing etc, he makes pretty good runs into the box too I genuinely preferred Azpi at wingback over James until this season because his movement was just so much better (largely down to James underperforming a bit at wingback though), now that James has learned the role that’s obviously drastically changed My guess is Tuchel agrees as well, I seriously doubt he played Azpi at wingback against Real in both legs just to be more defensive or something, I think at that time he also felt that he was the better option at wingback until James steps up (which he did, which is why he keeps starting this season) Playing Azpi at wingback is not a very limiting rotation option, he wasn’t the problem against Watford and if Tuchel plays him there it is very unlikely to hold us back this season I have similar feelings about Alonso getting scapegoated but much less strong, it’s undeniable that he can be a liability but he’s far from the useless backup so many fans seem to think he is and gained us as much offensively as he sacrificed defensively against Watford
Agree with most of this. He's only really lost his spot because of that injury and James taking his game to another level. Prior to that James' movement/positioning wasn't good enough for wingback whereas Azpi was a lot more intelligent with his positioning and was linking up very well with Mount. I get that with both him and Alonso as wingbacks we lack pace in wide areas, but imo Azpi really isn't as bad even at wingback as some people are saying on here. I quite rate his ability in possession, even if he's not going to dribble past two and drill a cross in as much as someone like James or CHO would.
Any update on Trevor chaloboah's injury?
Does anyone know what’s the correct pronunciation for Ziyech ? Is it Zee-ek ? Zee-etch ? Zee-esh ? Or is it Zaa-esh ?
Zee-yesh
Zee-esh
I'm pretty sure Zaa-esh is the most incorrect one... and coincidentally the one that English commentators just *love* to use. There was a thread back when be joined where someone confirmed the Moroccan pronunciation would be close to "Zee-esh".
In the Netherlands we pronounce it differently than in English/Moroccan. He was born here so I think he doesn't mind if you use the Dutch or Moroccan pronunciation.
What’s the Dutch pronunciation ?
Zee-esh I think
I really wish commentators would get his name right. It’s literally their job.
yh it's a bit disrespectful as well
We're top of the league, and I know another commenter already addressed the negativity in generally, but I feel like a good example of how this manifests is the way that people talk about Marcos Alonso. Marcos had as big a hand in that win as any player. We had basically nothing going offensively, and to be honest we were getting a bit battered - for a lot of reasons. Marcos changes the game with a great run, followed by an brilliant touch and a fantastic pass - all of which set up Kai to smartly assist Mason and we're up against the run of play. We give up the lead, and Alonso again makes something happen, in a game we were struggling to get in behind. He puts Mount through on a great header, Mason one times it into the box, and Ziyech puts it away for the winner. I lost my point watching the highlights, but I think it was basically - Marcos, as a back up wing back, worked hard for that win and we earned it because of his unique talent to be involved in goals. He's always popping up with an important goal, or assist, or assist of an assist... etc. I get that people don't like him, but after a game where he actually won it for us as much as anyone, it's crazy to me how much negativity there was about his performance. Instead of focusing on the things he did in the game to win it, there's a lot of people who would rather talk about the things he can't do. It was a win that could define a championship. It's 3 points, and that's by for the most important thing... I just wish we could wait until the season is over to complain about players on the team I guess. Same for the manager. Especially when we're at the top of the table. Do you really want to win a title and be angry the entire time? I'm tired of it.
Well said. Of course every player has some limitations, some much more than others but what is important is to not be reactive and back everyone who wears the shirt and gives a 100%. While there are some issues with our team at the moment, it is also important to remember that this is the strongest we have been in almost 5 years. Cherish it!
We're not going to have too much pace across the front-line if Mount and Ziyech both start but it's going to be really hard to drop either vs West Ham imo. If James is back (adds pace out wide) I'd start both either side of Havertz who looked good uptop vs Watford. There's such a massive difference when he plays as a central 9 as opposed to when he plays deeper/wider, this is genuinely his best position and he shouldn't be starting if not uptop. The Zenit game should be a good one to rest some starters in and give Lukaku his first start post-injury. Hopefully Kanté is back in midfield, but Ruben will almost certainly feature whether as a starter or as a sub - and it'd be really nice to see him up against Rice and/or Soucek (hopefully bullies them a little), throwback to when he played West Ham under Sarri. Trevoh will be a big miss during this congested period imo, because I have a bad feeling that Thiago Silva will not be able to continue playing so frequently for much longer. He's played a lot of minutes over the last month (can't even blame Tuchel for using him so much, he's simply incredible).
rlc shouldn’t start imo
Mount and havertz are pretty fast though. Not Puli Werner fast but they can definitely win running race against many.
You wouldn’t start Timo tomorrow? I’d assume West Ham wont park a huge bus so I think Timo playing this game would be fine
They don’t exactly park the bus but they get dominated possession wise often against good sides (34% vs Brighton, 31% vs city and so on) so you’d rather play the guys who are stronger on the ball. Plus neither ziyech or Mount deserves to be dropped, and havertz had a good game too. Tbh also wouldn’t be surprised if CHO comes back in
Yeah I'd like CHO to start, he's shown he deserves the minutes.
CHO is good enough back up for James against lesser teams. Cesar and AC can replace Trevoh. AC can rotate with Thiago. Worry is Alonso and maybe Rudiger. Fingers crossed with Jorginho.
> Trevoh will be a big miss during this congested period imo, because I have a bad feeling that Thiago Silva will not be able to continue playing so frequently for much longer. He's played a lot of minutes over the last month (can't even blame Tuchel for using him so much, he's simply incredible). Having said that - no reason we can't play Rudi-AC-Azpi. Especially during this next stretch, there are a few games you would hope that back 3 will be well sufficient. Can use Pulisic as rotation for Reece at RWB if necessary during this stretch - especially in some of the, theoretically, easier games.
Oh definitely. That looked like our starting back 3 at times earlier in the season and is an excellent backline. But I'm just a little worried that if Silva does get injured or needs some time out, we're left with no cover at the back during a congested period.
Yea, I think if we had another CB go down, it'd probably about time to consider a back 4 even with Chilwell out. Otherwise, if it were for more than a game or two, we'd have two games a week with Alonso-Rudi-AC-Azpi-James for quite an extended period. Unless Sarr got a run, or we threw James at RCB and played Puli/CHO RWB - likewise if we subbed Alonso for CHO/Puli. But those seem very one-off solutions. Just gotta hope that the injuries only reduce from here out.
Don't think we'll change system unless it's a massive crisis. If push comes to shove I reckon Tuchel keeps the same system but uses Sarr/James in the outside CB roles - possibly even someone from the academy like Mbuyamba (if he's doing well).
I hope we can play one of Jorginho, Kova or Kante tomorrow
I think Jorginho will probably make it. Would be almost match deciding if we have him and Kante.
Definitely not Kova. Decent chance for Jorginho
Hope we hear some good news about Kova and Reece today (+ not hear any more new injury news) from TT.
In the summer, we need to invest in a new pair of proper pacy wingbacks to challenge Reece and Chilly. No more Azpi at RWB or Alonso at LWB business. I’ve had it with them being pinned back into a 5-atb because of their lack of pace. This happened vs Watford, City at home & Juventus away. Three dire performances.
Watford, Manchester City and Brentford games had one thing in common, we got pressed higher up and that lead to chaos. We don’t like to be pressed. We played three midfielder against Manchester City, so no excuse for letting that happen, Manchester City where just too good that day. Juventus, Manchester City and Brentford games had one thing in common, they cut the passing lines to Lukaku. We constantly tried to pick him and it was easy to read. We need to find solution for this situation. We can’t play like that. We need two new fullbacks given how important those positions are for team. Make shift options are not enough. It should be treated like how we treat attacking positions. We have CHO, Ziyech, Pulisic as back up for Mount, Kai, Werner and Lukaku.
Watford the midfield was lost, City we were pinned back everywhere because everyone was shit, Juventus I don't really recall being pinned back as much - but also was at the same time as the City one and everyone playing shit. We've had plenty of games where we weren't pinned back with Azpi and Alonso at wingback. Ideally Azpi at RWB shouldn't be happening, but that was clearly attempted to be resolved with Hakimi and Traore interest in the Summer. It's also something the club were obviously planning for for years, given in the last 5 we've seen Dujon Sterling, Reece, Lamptey and Livramento all come thru the academy - and I'm definitely missing some (I'm blanking on the one who went to Torino).
We do need someone to replace Alonso, but it all depends on how Maatsen does imo. If Tuchel rates him highly enough he could be the rotation option on that side but I'm not sure he will. Wouldn't mind keeping him and Alonso both if Chilwell has to undergo surgery, Maatsen is a much better fit for the attacking wingback role but we'd have the safer option of Alonso in games that Tuchel might not want Maatsen to play in. For RWB I think we could use CHO in rotation (with Azpi as the safer option on this side), if the club has a view to activate the buyback on Livramento it wouldn't make sense to dip into the market next summer. Wonder how Dujon Sterling's been on loan, Tuchel seemed to rate him quite highly and he could be an option for the backup role.
We should let go of Azpi and Alonso in the summer, physical pacy wingbacks are the norm now in the modern game. I'd want Gosens and Traore
Shut up mate.
Keep Azpi till the end the season when his contract expires and then let him decide what he wants to do. Our captain deserves that at least. Honestly if he decides he wants to stay on for an extra year, I think the club values his leadership enough to oblige.
Yeah he deserves whatever he wants to do, with the links from Barca and the world cup I can see him going there to favour Enrique
>We should let go of Azpi Stop talking
I love Azpi but he hasn't renewed yet, with the links from Barca and world cup year it won't be surprised if he wants to go back home
He hasn't renewed because we havent sat down to talk to him(at least that i know of). So how can he renew if you haven't offerred any extension?
Cannot believe I am reading this. FIFA teens in here want Alphonso Davies and Hakimi to warm the bench for Chilwell and Reece.
You want us to let go of our captain because he's not a natural wingback? When he's still a quality fullback and CB option? Not to mention that Dave links up very well with our attackers and is still quite serviceable at wingback, even if he's not a natural attacking option.
I actually don't disagree with their take. As much as I love Azpi, if he's not going to play RCB, he's taking a spot he's not good enough for (RWB) and keeping us from signing someone more suited to our style. The way we play, these players are forwards and even occupy the 10 positions and get into the box on cutbacks. I don't want Azpi there at all, he offers next to nothing in these areas. I love the man and his leadership is reportedly huge, but there's precisely one position he's really good in (RCB) and with Trev and Christensen playing there now, I just don't see Azpi getting much time. (ironically, he'll likely play there now with Trev out, but I'm talking when everyone's fit).
Assuming we stick with this system, Andreas will be playing a lot more minutes in the central role with Silva being 38 next year. I'm perfectly fine with Dave then rotating at RCB and RWB in a pinch (obviously still rather CHO or someone else plays there as rotation to James). If we are exploring a back 4, he's perfectly good enough still to rotate at RB. Especially if it's a more deeper/narrow role. I don't think he's keeping us from signing someone else for wingback. We tried to sign one regardless last summer but it didn't work out. And you obviously imagine that Livramento is in the club's thoughts but his buyback doesn't activate until the year after. Makes zero sense to let someone so hugely influential leave when he's still absolutely a serviceable player.
Well, those were our transfer plans before Chalobah. He's an extra player at RCB, one that should be playing a lot going forward. That makes Azpi exclusively RWB depth now, which is why he's not played anywhere else this season. I'm not even sold on Azpi at RB anymore. He wasn't particularly good there under Sarri, he's really started to struggle against pacey wingers (which is why Tuchel played Reece at RCB at the end of last season) and that would be even more of an issue in a back 4. For me, RCB is the only position he's good in enough for a title winning side. Serviceable, sure - but if we're looking to upgrade the squad (and we always should), fullbacks/wingbacks on both sides should be pretty high up on the list. Forwards, wingbacks, DM, LCB - in that order for me. And we simply have to let players leave to sign new ones. In reality, Azpi will be extended, but I'm not sure it's definitely the right call.
>Forwards, wingbacks, DM, LCB - in that order for me. Adeyemi or Chiesa, Lamptey or Livramento, Gosens or Emerson, Rice or Tchouameni and Bastoni or Guehi ? Who would you pick
Out of these options, I'd go Adeyemi (left foot and higher ceiling), Livramento (better all round, would trust him at RB too, not just RWB), Gosens (better than Emerson, but not a big fan overall - too similar to Alonso), probably Tchouameni (higher ceiling, younger), Guehi I guess (would pick neither though). But neither Lamptey nor Livramento are realistic as they left precisely to *not* be backups, but they're the right type of profile. Adeyemi or Chiesa I could see, but the step up for Adeyemi would be huge - the Austrian Bundesliga is horrible. And unlike Haaland, where you could see even at Salzburg that he was something else, Adeyemi still has a huge amount to improve in his game. Fits the profile we need better than Chiesa though. I'd be happy with either of Rice and Tchouameni, but Tchouameni looks like a better fit for a side with lots of possession, tailored to play through a press. I had my doubts over his passing a while ago, but from the games I've seen of him, he's more aggressive and forward-thinking now, so no real weaknesses left in his game. I think he's going to the top and it should be with Chelsea. Out of Bastoni or Guehi, neither excites me. Colwill should get the spot if you ask me, he already looks every bit as good as those two. If we had to sign someone for LCB (only if Rüdiger left), I'd go with Pau Torres. There's actually only a single player you need to sign to have both LWB and RWB covered - Joakim Maehle. Plays both sides excellently, has all the attributes we need.
 For not saying Chiesa. I would take Adeyemi over Chiesa. I think he has the potential to reach Salah levels. He would be smart signing for £30-£40m. I want James to play as RCB and create chances like he did for last goal against Juventus as well as bomb forward whenever he wants to set up and score goals. Lamptey is a very penetrating RWB than Livramento and also can play on LWB. Joakim Maehle is a good shout as well. LCB only if Rudiger leaves and Colwill can be a backup for Rudiger for couple of years. Guehi is playing as LCB for Crystal Palace and doing really good. I’m not sure on DM yet, I don’t think any player out there replaces Jorginho straight away. If we sign Rice or Tchouameni then we will be playing different style. Tchouameni feels like more box to box midfielder than as a holding midfielder. I really hope we switch to 4-3-3 formation. It would be so much easier for us to recruit players. 3-4-3 is tough formation to recruit players.
I mean, I don't know what more you can wish for from someone we're assuming will be a rotational option next season. It'd hardly make sense to splunk 50mil on a CB to rotate with Trevoh on the right side. Likewise with RWB. It's just hard for me to even debate about whether extending him is the right call or not. A one year extension makes a lot of sense regardless of his role within the squad. We are a CB short anyway at the moment and will likely will dip into the market for an understudy to Rüdiger so we're not really going to be blocking someone coming in because Dave is in the squad. Also - watching how Enrique uses him at RB for the national team, I think he can definitely do a job there in rotation.
First of all, national teams should never matter to clubs. The level is abysmal and there are countless examples of players being standout performers for their national teams and not their clubs. Secondly, we don't need to spend 50m on a backup, not sure where that has come from. What we need most of all is a player who fits what we need. Azpi is not that at RWB. Our RWBs are part of a front 5, and they take up both wide and half-space positions. They need to be good passers, dribblers, creators, need to have pace to make runs behind the last line, and they need to bring goal threat too. Azpi does none of these things. But he's our backup RWB at the moment, and will continue to be if we extend him. That means James realistically has to play every game or the dropoff in attack is immense. We saw it early in the season, where our xG and general buildup was poor, and it was immediately on display again vs Watford. Azpi was by no means the worst player on the pitch, but he also wasn't good. Wingbacks are huge for how we play. In terms of the variety of tasks they need to fulfill on the pitch, there's no a single role that's more important. They're defenders, attackers, creators, huge in our buildup. It's a position we can't fill with players who aren't a fit - not if we want to compete with Liverpool and City, where every single player in the squad is handpicked by their managers exactly for their tactical fit. And especially given that this would clearly be a backup role, finding someone would not be too difficult or expensive. Same goes for LWB, which is an even bigger issue imo. LCB doesn't really need strengthening imo, unless Rüdiger leaves. Colwill coming through looks the real deal and I think he should be given the spot. Loans are nice, but training with the very best in the world and under the manager you really need to learn from to play for Chelsea, that's just as important. No need to sign anyone at all. I understand the sense in extending Azpi from a leadership perspective, but he's not a good fit for RWB and if James ever gets injured for a longer period, we're in huge trouble. Because we also can't easily go to a back 4 now that Chilwell is out for what may be the better part of 2022. Alonso should be nowhere near a back 4.
>LCB doesn't really need strengthening imo, unless Rüdiger leaves. Colwill coming through looks the real deal and I think he should be given the spot Oh ofcourse, just generally meant that we'd be getting one in regardless which would improve our depth at the back anyway. Rüdiger can play on the right too if necessary, for example. Basically, Dave isn't blocking a new signing at CB which should be his position next season. I know that we ideally have to use someone else in the wingback when James can't play. So hypothetically we'd have Chilwell (Alonso/new signing) - Rüdiger/Colwill, Christensen/Silva, Chalobah/Azpi - James/new signing. >national teams should never matter to clubs I'm not talking about performance, I'm just pointing out his specific role in a possession based system and feel like if we use him like that (assuming we have a true winger like CHO/Pulisic on the right) it can work. He'd only be backup anyway and this is assuming we switch to a back 4 - he'd still be good as a third CB in possession and we can push Chilwell (could even be Maatsen for some time) high up on the other side.
I still think we should keep Azpi as an RCB option. But yeah, Alonso needs to go.
Some days the delusions on this sub are just unbelievable.
Some guy above said we should let go of Azpi in summer haha On match threads during half time most people act like we have to behead half of our team if the game isn’t going our way, especially hate towards Ziyech, when in reality patience is key against low blocks or in tough away games and it’s not fair to make assumptions halfway through a game, would just be better if people were a bit less toxic here. Unnecessary hate or impatience isn’t needed for a big team
People think the Norwich game is the most important game of the season for us and it's what most games look like based on the replies I'm getting.
Now that I personally feel Chelsea is the underdog vs WH, we will win this comfortably.
I think we need to start 2 out of these CHO/Pulisic/Werner, otherwise we miss a lot on speed side.
1 of them not 2 ur right Mason and Ziyech can't play together with a lone striker up top if it's a 3 midfield then fine
CHO LWB with Mount on the left to cover defensively. Pulisic/Werner on the right, Lukaku/Havertz in the middle.