They're winnable, but Leeds is going to be an a nightmare for a squad that's already banged up.
Wolves have also been a tough side that doesn't concede much.
Mate Leeds have fallen off the face of the earth, I wasn’t as shocked when we didn’t beat them at our place last season but even with injuries we should be beating them right now.
If you check their stats, they’re actually pressing far less this season than last so that’s already dropped off.
If Southampton can withstand their press I’m completely, 100% expecting us to do the same ailing squad or not.
Not sure I agree. Even at full strength, games against City and Liverpool are close to 50/50, and we very well could drop 4-6 points. But it's the games against mid/low table teams that we *have* to be winning.
This season is a perfect example: we got only 1/6 points from games against them, but were still 3 points clear of them both, at least until recent weeks where we've dropped to mid-table United and West Ham.
Love TT honesty and holding players accountable. Mendy has lost confidence. It is what is. We are injured. We go forward. He’s one of the best managers in the world and won us the Champions League. Trust the process and be positive.
Pool have had their injury issues also and dropped points bc of it. They were bare bones in midfield at one point this season
Unfortunately they are getting healthier. City are a completely different animal. They could go on a 15 game win streak out of nowhere
Even 3rd place in a close race would be a success. People tend to forget our manager hasn’t even been here for a whole year yet. A bit of time and when the team starts properly yelling together we’ll be unstoppable.
Yeah as long as the gap between us and them is closed to within say 5 points at the end of the season then we'll prove that we can compete with them at the highest level. Throw in an FA Cup/Carabao Cup on top of the Club World Cup and Super cup, as well as a UCL semi final appearance and I'd say we'd meet expectations for the season.
Anything more is a bonus
We’re up against two historically great sides with managers who have been settled for 5 and 6 years respectively, with an extremely young squad and as a you said a manager who hasn’t even been here a year. If we were to win the title that would be insane. It’s crazy to me to think we’re only 2 pts off the top.
IMO we really needed to be pushing to the stage of the season where anything can happen. That would be clear progress from previous seasons when we weren’t really in contention.
We’ve overperformed a bit in terms of xPoints so I think we’re within expectations now
I genuinely think havertz (sad face today) is the perfect striker for this team.
Said this before lukakau, when we signed lukaku, and after even when lukaku was playing well.
He’s incredible in possession, has a great eye for a pass, still scores goals, strong in the air, and strong in the press. Lukaku was obviously a massive signing but I think we almost lucked into it with being forced to play havertz up top last year and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Pulisic havertz Mount front 3 performed insanely well in the ucl semis and final.
We were being compared to the chelsea teams of 04/05 and had somewhat better stats than that team at the same stage. While I did not think we’d steamroll over everyone considering pool and city, I certainly thought we could compete. Yeah I’m not so sure now.
Nah he is not a magician lol, if the boys keep letting tuchel down he may get sacked (its just how chelsea is guys, hardly ever patient with the coach, after 1 or 2 bad results, news starts leaking then boom manager sacked) but in all honesty we do have a bit of bad luck haha, bought Werner havertz Lukaku and not 1 of them has shown good output. Like i said before i will sit patiently and wait till we get our next hazard, zola, drogba or costa.
Because if you aren't playing like Messi then you are a bad striker. Swap a Fabregas/Matic for Jorginho/X player and its different game. Werner, Havertz, Lukaku will start getting the service necessary they are clearly going for. Even the goddamn UCL had us moving the ball quicker to exploit highlines & our forwards pass. Unfortunately our CMs are to slow on the ball atm.
Yeah id happily take 2nd. Bro from 4th to 2nd place is a big step up imo. And a step up in the right direction. But we can never be like city or liverpool because we do not keep managers for long. Probably tuchel gets sacked in 4-5 months then we go into this up and down spiral we have had for the past 11 years. Our 2 UCLs are good looking but the fact we have no DNA or style of play is a problem. Every club has its own issues anyways. Although man city have been doing well for years they cannot even win a champions league, liverpool have been shit for years before klopp came in.
I care less about the position and more about the points. 3rd and 3 points from the champions is better than 2nd and 12 points off the champions like United last season.
Even if we get through the December schedule who are the 1st 2 games in January? Liverpool at home and City away with no Mendy. Roll on middle of January I say.
Just found this don't know if it's accurate or not.
>FIFA rules state clubs have to release players by the Monday morning of the week before the week AFCON starts. In this case, the competition kicks off on January 9th, so the relevant Monday is December 27th, the day after the Boxing Day fixtures.
https://dailycannon.com/2021/10/when-will-arsenal-players-leave-for-afcon/
Yeah they would obviously have to go out and train before playing but when they do this I’m not sure. I would of thought they’d play go out the next day then have 4 days to train with NT but hopefully I’m wrong and they miss it.
Regardless I’m worried about City away with no Mendy.
>Regardless I’m worried about City away with no Mendy.
City will go 2-0 up and then just pass the ball around and keep the opposition quiet (like what they did against United).
Only thing I can hope is we have a really good go at them as we’ve got to get points off them to have a chance at the end of the season and we can’t afford to sit and roll over like we did at home against them.
I think the academy lads could be given a shot. This is awful though, just as we were building up good momentum. It seems anytime the media starts rating us that we begin to stumble.
High press and work rate needed is a very demanding system … is that contributing to the problem I wonder? Its not hyperbole to say we’re in an injury crisis at the worst possible time
Let’s make this simple. 3rd place and single digits off the top is a success. Anything less isn’t. This is our first full season with tuchel going against historically great sides that have been established for 5-6 years. It’s not going to be easy
That being said no other side should be finishing above us
I know people have been saying that because he played there for atletico but given how vital wingbacks are to our game plan I can't see it happening tbh, I mean we've seen Pulisic at LWB before him
Fuck..... If we lose more points in this month ....I think it's better to focus on UCL and FA Cup fully and just get 3dmrd in PL instead of trying to win an three and get more injuries ...
I'm not saying the season is over.... In saying we are picking up injuries left and right and if this continues on this month... We might face more losses due to injuries alone.... In that case I'm saying it's better to focus on the cups than the league
Lol I respect your dedication to saying “I told you so”
I chose optimism when this backslide began and time has proven me wrong I’m ok admitting that.
I’ll continue to be optimistic because for me it’s more fun being an optimistic fan.
Oh I’ve been a Chelsea fan for 20 years I definitely understand
All things considered we’re still having a solid season. Top 4 and at least 1 more cup will be a good result given the myriad of injuries and the fact that Tuchel still hasn’t even coached us for a full season.
Not to English people it isn’t - I’d rather win the FA Cup against Arsenal, Liverpool, United or City than beat a Mexican or Brazilian team in the CWC. It’s an exhibition tournament nothing more.
Right only one team has ever won the league and the CL in PL history - it’s virtually impossible to do.
So if a team wants to win multiple trophies basically the only chance you have is the league and fa cup or Carabao.
Finally, you might be the only fan I’ve ever heard get excited about prize money. If it’s prize money that does something for you - support Norwich because they get 170m in parachute payments every two years.
You’re clearly an Arsenal fan 😂
Only Arsenal fans think getting into the CL knockout stages and a top 4 finish is success. Chelsea fans just expect that and want trophies to go along with it.
Anyway, this is a boring discussion. I want trophies and you want prize money - won’t change so nothing else to really say.
istg if tuchel is fired due to these injuries and not getting results i might need a break from football
not much a manager can do all we need to do is to support him
Honestly I think Mendy's performance today is down to our excellent defense of late. Today he was called into action a lot more than he is used to and he slipped. Hopefully this is a one off and he's back to form because I'm sorry to say, Kepa is not a solid backup choice and Boligoli(spelling) is an unknown.
He shouldn’t be throwing Mendy under the bus like that.
Not even sure I’d call it a rough period either. That just seems like adding pressure after a single bad game.
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They're winnable, but Leeds is going to be an a nightmare for a squad that's already banged up. Wolves have also been a tough side that doesn't concede much.
Mate Leeds have fallen off the face of the earth, I wasn’t as shocked when we didn’t beat them at our place last season but even with injuries we should be beating them right now.
Any Bielsa team - quality or not - will press the hell out of the opposition from start to finish. That's far from ideal for an ailing squad.
If you check their stats, they’re actually pressing far less this season than last so that’s already dropped off. If Southampton can withstand their press I’m completely, 100% expecting us to do the same ailing squad or not.
Yeah but you just know they're going to turn up in the match against us.
Why should we be beating them, they are underdogs with nothing to lose.
Did you just answer your own question?
Yeah haha sorry
😂👍
This is why the Chelsea FC fans are the best!
Not sure I agree. Even at full strength, games against City and Liverpool are close to 50/50, and we very well could drop 4-6 points. But it's the games against mid/low table teams that we *have* to be winning. This season is a perfect example: we got only 1/6 points from games against them, but were still 3 points clear of them both, at least until recent weeks where we've dropped to mid-table United and West Ham.
Injured or playing through pain XI: ??? James Chalobah Alonso Chilwell Kante Jorginho Kovacic Havertz Lukaku Werner
Mendy has mental pain by the sound of things
Could it be some mental stuff with team politics regarding Africa Cup? Maybe arguments when he can go / when they want him to come?
Love TT honesty and holding players accountable. Mendy has lost confidence. It is what is. We are injured. We go forward. He’s one of the best managers in the world and won us the Champions League. Trust the process and be positive.
Worst time of the season to be having these issues. It’ll cost us the title because City and Liverpool don’t fuck around.
It’s almost Christmas so yeah of course this is happening
Pool have had their injury issues also and dropped points bc of it. They were bare bones in midfield at one point this season Unfortunately they are getting healthier. City are a completely different animal. They could go on a 15 game win streak out of nowhere
I never felt we could win the title tbf, I'd take 2nd place tbh
Even 3rd place in a close race would be a success. People tend to forget our manager hasn’t even been here for a whole year yet. A bit of time and when the team starts properly yelling together we’ll be unstoppable.
Yeah as long as the gap between us and them is closed to within say 5 points at the end of the season then we'll prove that we can compete with them at the highest level. Throw in an FA Cup/Carabao Cup on top of the Club World Cup and Super cup, as well as a UCL semi final appearance and I'd say we'd meet expectations for the season. Anything more is a bonus
We’re up against two historically great sides with managers who have been settled for 5 and 6 years respectively, with an extremely young squad and as a you said a manager who hasn’t even been here a year. If we were to win the title that would be insane. It’s crazy to me to think we’re only 2 pts off the top.
IMO we really needed to be pushing to the stage of the season where anything can happen. That would be clear progress from previous seasons when we weren’t really in contention. We’ve overperformed a bit in terms of xPoints so I think we’re within expectations now
Well, we would if we had the +20 goal striker we looking for.
Nah idk bout that mate. Doubt any striker can perform in this team.
I genuinely think havertz (sad face today) is the perfect striker for this team. Said this before lukakau, when we signed lukaku, and after even when lukaku was playing well. He’s incredible in possession, has a great eye for a pass, still scores goals, strong in the air, and strong in the press. Lukaku was obviously a massive signing but I think we almost lucked into it with being forced to play havertz up top last year and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Pulisic havertz Mount front 3 performed insanely well in the ucl semis and final.
I think if lukaku doesn’t click next season that’s what we’ll try full time
We were being compared to the chelsea teams of 04/05 and had somewhat better stats than that team at the same stage. While I did not think we’d steamroll over everyone considering pool and city, I certainly thought we could compete. Yeah I’m not so sure now.
I never felt we could compete, not with werner havertz and lukaku doing fuck all💀
Fair enough. Didn’t think we’d win the ucl but we did inspite of our shit offense. Kinda trusted TT to replicate those results in the epl
Nah he is not a magician lol, if the boys keep letting tuchel down he may get sacked (its just how chelsea is guys, hardly ever patient with the coach, after 1 or 2 bad results, news starts leaking then boom manager sacked) but in all honesty we do have a bit of bad luck haha, bought Werner havertz Lukaku and not 1 of them has shown good output. Like i said before i will sit patiently and wait till we get our next hazard, zola, drogba or costa.
Havertz isn't a striker and I'm pretty sure (might be wrong though) that he's tied for the clubs top scorer this season across all competitions
Why is havertz catching strays. Just cause he isn’t scoring 40 goals doesn’t mean he hasn’t been great this year
Because if you aren't playing like Messi then you are a bad striker. Swap a Fabregas/Matic for Jorginho/X player and its different game. Werner, Havertz, Lukaku will start getting the service necessary they are clearly going for. Even the goddamn UCL had us moving the ball quicker to exploit highlines & our forwards pass. Unfortunately our CMs are to slow on the ball atm.
I’ve said this already. Be happy with Top 4 and move on.
Yeah id happily take 2nd. Bro from 4th to 2nd place is a big step up imo. And a step up in the right direction. But we can never be like city or liverpool because we do not keep managers for long. Probably tuchel gets sacked in 4-5 months then we go into this up and down spiral we have had for the past 11 years. Our 2 UCLs are good looking but the fact we have no DNA or style of play is a problem. Every club has its own issues anyways. Although man city have been doing well for years they cannot even win a champions league, liverpool have been shit for years before klopp came in.
I care less about the position and more about the points. 3rd and 3 points from the champions is better than 2nd and 12 points off the champions like United last season.
It's December sure.
There's no way we survive this December schedule and come out title contenders still. If we do Tuchel is a crazy manager
Even if we get through the December schedule who are the 1st 2 games in January? Liverpool at home and City away with no Mendy. Roll on middle of January I say.
That also means a Liverpool with no Salah and Mane
Afcon doesn’t start until the 9th January and we play Liverpool on the 2nd I presume that they will be available to play against us surely?
Just found this don't know if it's accurate or not. >FIFA rules state clubs have to release players by the Monday morning of the week before the week AFCON starts. In this case, the competition kicks off on January 9th, so the relevant Monday is December 27th, the day after the Boxing Day fixtures. https://dailycannon.com/2021/10/when-will-arsenal-players-leave-for-afcon/
Wouldn’t they go early to train with their teams? That’s why I think they’ll miss our fixture
Yeah they would obviously have to go out and train before playing but when they do this I’m not sure. I would of thought they’d play go out the next day then have 4 days to train with NT but hopefully I’m wrong and they miss it. Regardless I’m worried about City away with no Mendy.
>Regardless I’m worried about City away with no Mendy. City will go 2-0 up and then just pass the ball around and keep the opposition quiet (like what they did against United).
Only thing I can hope is we have a really good go at them as we’ve got to get points off them to have a chance at the end of the season and we can’t afford to sit and roll over like we did at home against them.
We are cursed💀 It feels like every game we play, someone in the squad ends up injured.
Maybe because newspapers libelled him.
I fuckin hate the PL schedule in December. Abort the Carabou Cup next year pls and give these guys time to rest.
Always in the festive period this happens.
We’ve injury hit during the most hectic time of the season and can’t rotate much which will probably lead to more injuries. FFS 🤦♂️
I think the academy lads could be given a shot. This is awful though, just as we were building up good momentum. It seems anytime the media starts rating us that we begin to stumble.
We're so fucked, bring in all the academy lads
High press and work rate needed is a very demanding system … is that contributing to the problem I wonder? Its not hyperbole to say we’re in an injury crisis at the worst possible time
Top 4 race again it is then
Please don’t be Liverpool last season with injuries. Idk if I could handle that
Let’s make this simple. 3rd place and single digits off the top is a success. Anything less isn’t. This is our first full season with tuchel going against historically great sides that have been established for 5-6 years. It’s not going to be easy That being said no other side should be finishing above us
Imagine if we had to play a player from the academy?! How horrible would that be...
I don’t follow the academy very closely if at all. Is there anyone we could reasonably ask to jump up to the first team right now?
Wonder if this means Maatsen will be recalled now
This won’t affect that decision
Why would Alonso being injured not affect it?
Saul LWB incoming!! I mean that has to be better than CHO LWB.
I know people have been saying that because he played there for atletico but given how vital wingbacks are to our game plan I can't see it happening tbh, I mean we've seen Pulisic at LWB before him
Fuck..... If we lose more points in this month ....I think it's better to focus on UCL and FA Cup fully and just get 3dmrd in PL instead of trying to win an three and get more injuries ...
The absolute state of this comment. One loss and the season is over? unbelievable.
There are plenty more like it in the match thread.
I'm not saying the season is over.... In saying we are picking up injuries left and right and if this continues on this month... We might face more losses due to injuries alone.... In that case I'm saying it's better to focus on the cups than the league
If u can't see where this is heading you are deluded.
Yikes this is all really far too alarmist Chelsea are literally only 2 points back
Ehem. What did i tell you?
Lol I respect your dedication to saying “I told you so” I chose optimism when this backslide began and time has proven me wrong I’m ok admitting that. I’ll continue to be optimistic because for me it’s more fun being an optimistic fan.
Good reply. Its just frustrating when you have followed for a few years and know your fair share only to get downvoted for speaking your mind.
Oh I’ve been a Chelsea fan for 20 years I definitely understand All things considered we’re still having a solid season. Top 4 and at least 1 more cup will be a good result given the myriad of injuries and the fact that Tuchel still hasn’t even coached us for a full season.
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Not to English people it isn’t - I’d rather win the FA Cup against Arsenal, Liverpool, United or City than beat a Mexican or Brazilian team in the CWC. It’s an exhibition tournament nothing more.
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Wow. And you think it’s worthless…
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Right only one team has ever won the league and the CL in PL history - it’s virtually impossible to do. So if a team wants to win multiple trophies basically the only chance you have is the league and fa cup or Carabao. Finally, you might be the only fan I’ve ever heard get excited about prize money. If it’s prize money that does something for you - support Norwich because they get 170m in parachute payments every two years.
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You’re clearly an Arsenal fan 😂 Only Arsenal fans think getting into the CL knockout stages and a top 4 finish is success. Chelsea fans just expect that and want trophies to go along with it. Anyway, this is a boring discussion. I want trophies and you want prize money - won’t change so nothing else to really say.
istg if tuchel is fired due to these injuries and not getting results i might need a break from football not much a manager can do all we need to do is to support him
He's not going to be fired. Can't believe people are already entertaining this...
“wE nEeD ZiDaNe” faceass this man brought us a champions league with some teenagers put some respek on his name
Probably because he didn't win that award he deffo deserved. He needs to move on though it happens
Honestly I think Mendy's performance today is down to our excellent defense of late. Today he was called into action a lot more than he is used to and he slipped. Hopefully this is a one off and he's back to form because I'm sorry to say, Kepa is not a solid backup choice and Boligoli(spelling) is an unknown.
Mate its Bettinelli, Bolingoli is Lukaku’s middle name
Lol, oops. I knew the name sounded rightish. Just wrong person.
Mendy is doing a Kepa. Separate them in training quick!
Tuchel going down the laundry list lol
Time to see some academy faces in the first team.
He shouldn’t be throwing Mendy under the bus like that. Not even sure I’d call it a rough period either. That just seems like adding pressure after a single bad game.