Chelsea Discussion

[CaaC (John)+]

Nigeria wants Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham to play for them rather than England and say the 21-year-old expects to give them a decision by April 2020. Abraham has played for England at friendly level but can switch allegiance as he is yet to play a competitive game. (Express) 

[Cicero]

A top CB is still needed in the summer. 

[The Liquidator]

Sheffield United at Home.

I feel I must start my offering of this review of the game with thanks to Sheffield United players for not believing in themselves during the first half. If they had they would have won the game.

The Chelsea starting eleven which Frank sent out played very narrow. Both Mount and Pulisic move inside when they get the ball. There were times during the first half all 6 of our midfield n forwards were inside the lines of the 6 yard box n centre circle. Without the couple of mistakes Sheffield gave us, we created very little. (Watching the North London derby while tapping this out & both teams have created more in 45 mins than we did all game yesterday)

It’s got to be said I am thrilled with the appointment of Frank and honestly believe it’s the correct decision for the club and given time he will prove to be a excellent manager for us. Obviously when you make a decision like this you have to give the guy some slack n be prepared for poor results while he cuts his teeth on the bigger picture. Alas this past game Frank again failed to influence the game after kick off. Others before me In this review thread, have highlighted the change in the flow of the game in the second half. Much like the Leicester home game. Both games needed firm action from the bench, which did not happen and while I will stop short of calling it 4 points lost by our manager, I will say he needs to learn far quicker than his relaxed state on the sidelines suggests. While William was lively (two cracking passes to Tammy who failed miserably with both) when he came on for Barkley, the loss of Barkley contributed to helping their midfield to boss the area. Frank positioned William further forward than Barkley and this helped Sheffield enormously. We were still leading when Frank made his last 2 substitutions and again neither helped our situation. I freely admit I cheered with many others welcoming Gilmore to the first team, but I knew it was a very poor decision by his manager. I am not saying this was the cause of the dropped points, I am saying the manager did not help the team at anytime during the game. That’s both home games Frank n his staff have not been able to figure the correct changes needed to see through a win.

Frank needs to stop bathing in this “No fear of introducing youth” tag he adores and cant wait to drop in any presser or microphone put in front of him. Currently he is proving to be the biggest novice during games. Of course the penny will drop as the games go by but his performance so far has made me recall a radio show I heard not long after Frank was announced as manager. I am sure it was Tony Pulis who spoke of the brave decision to appoint Frank Jody n the rest of his very young staff. He felt Chelsea may have missed a trick by not adding someone with years of Premier League managerial experience to help over the early months. Sure makes sense after 4 league games!

Really enjoyed the day apart from the sickening gut wrenching ending (even knowing there was a huge chance it was about to happen). I am sure Frank will get it right and I look forward to the ride over the coming weeks. Come on Frank!!

I too met ChelseaAle’s better half before the game and I can confirm as others have before me he is punching well above his looks grade. Good luck too you both mate & congratulations on your wonderful news!

[The Liquidator]

On 30/08/2019 at 15:55, LFCMadLad said:

I know he had a good loan spell but Mount seems to have come out of nowhere. Looks a very promising player indeed. 

Mason has been the top Chelsea youth prospect from around the age of 13. Far in advance of almost all others who came before him or at the club at same time. The main difference with Mount over others we have had is he has excelled even with older boys. We have had plenty of have bullied their own age group, Ruben Callum ect, but Mason was the best player at 15 playing against under 18's.

[carefreeluke]

On 08/08/2019 at 20:36, carefreeluke said:

Positive of Luiz leaving is that it means there will be a lot more game time for Christensen and Zouma. Both at the moment you would say have their drawbacks but the potential in both of them is exciting. Providing everything goes well at 23 and 24 I would like to think they could be our starting centre backs for the significant future. They need to both iron out some things in their games but with a good amount of game time, you'd hope they'd come on a lot and be able to form a decent partnership. Rudiger's still recovering so the start of the season is a good opportunity for them both to hit it off and stake a claim to be the starters for the rest of the season. The Christensen and Zouma partnership excites me and I'd prefer them both to Rudiger provided that they show improvements where necessary. This is a massive season for them.

On the defending players, my hopes for Zouma haven't necessarily gone to plan so far. Christensen for me has done well until this point and was unlucky to get dropped against Sheffield. Azpi we know his current situation. Emerson, on the other hand, has done quietly very well, I wouldn't say he has been a revelation of any kind but he's done very well and definitely makes a nice change from Alonso.

As for Rudiger...

 

 

 

1

On 10/05/2019 at 23:40, carefreeluke said:

I've always been a big fan but for me this season, he hasn't been as good as he was previously for us, at least not to the standard I personally saw in the past. He's been a bit up and down and recently he has grated on me particularly with his passing. He's quite wasteful with his passing and he's always looking to make that defence-splitting pass. This is a useful weapon of course but with Luiz at the moment it comes off every 1 pass in 15 and we waste possession too much for my liking.

Rudiger's the same for me with his performances, a bit up and down and we've had periods where one of the two (Luiz or Rudiger) have been playing well and the other hasn't.

I wouldn't begrudge Luiz of a new deal though, it's the right decision but yeah hopefully he and Rudiger can improve their consistency and overall performances.

 

On 31/03/2019 at 16:18, carefreeluke said:

It's even players like Rudiger though mate who was pissing me off most of the game even before that potential red card. He's OK and it's a position that's far from being a big problem for us but he isn't the high level of centre back we've been fortunate to have had in the past. The Premier League is an environment that helps him because he's a big, fast, physical player. I think on the technical level of defending though he can be found out a bit and this is perhaps something that normally separates the best defenders from the rest.

Speak to any Chelsea fan about the defence at the moment and they'll mention that Rudiger's return would make a positive impact and even provide more assurance and leadership. I think some Chelsea fans are overrating him but I agree his reintroduction could be worthwhile and he's a better option at this moment in time. I imagine he would come straight back in (if match fit enough) against Wolves which is a very different game to the one against Valencia on Tuesday,  both games should allow some good rotation for the centre backs and put them in games that better suit their attributes.

I still maintain that the highest potential with any of our defenders at the moment is with Christensen. I think perhaps if he was playing for another top club in Europe he'd be a lot more highly rated than he is now. I hate looking at football in physical terms but his physical stature has definitely been a drawback in his game since his return to the team a few years ago but I still have high hopes for him.

[carefreeluke]

He obviously didn't come to us at his peak but he was relatively very good for us the season we had him I thought and I still remember being more than impressed with the quality he showed that season we had him, great technical ability and hold up play.

Congratulations on a wonderful career Samuel Eto'o.

Quote

 

A sharply taken goal was followed by a celebration which showed he also has a sense of humor.

Samuel Eto'o scored the crucial opener in Chelsea's 4-0 rout of Tottenham Hotspur Saturday to take them seven points clear in the English Premier League -- then faked as if he was an old man with a bad back, using the corner flag as a walking stick.

Maybe it was in reaction to his manager Jose Mourinho's unguarded comments to a French TV channel last month.

The Portuguese apparently questioned the age of the Cameroon star, who is 33 later this week, as well as making unflattering reference to the other strikers at Chelsea.

Perhaps it has acted as unintentional motivation, but Eto'o showed his old qualities as he latched on to Jan Vertonghen's clumsy back pass and calmly beat Hugo Lloris to put Chelsea ahead just after half time.

 

 

[Cicero]

''Never will I sign for a team trained by Mourinho. He wrecked things completely with his behaviour surrounding the two games between our sides.

[True Blue]

Eto'o was a perfect example of a mercenary who played strictly for money. Not really a big surprise for him to shit on his own words.

In other news Emerson is injured in Italy's qualifier, so means Alonso and Azpilicueta on the flanks for this weekend.

Gonna be good

[Cicero]

Not serious 

[True Blue]

14 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Not serious 

Good news then

[Cicero]

Reece James back training with the first team. Rudiger and Kante fit for Saturday

Edited September 11, 2019 by Cicero

[True Blue]

10 hours ago, Cicero said:

Reece James back training with the first team. Rudiger and Kante fit for Saturday

Great news they were both missed, any news on Pedro?

[carefreeluke]

3 hours ago, True Blue said:

Great news they were both missed, any news on Pedro?

He has started the season quite well, his absence has gone under the radar a bit, shame really about his injury. He has looked quite fired up and motivated, let's see what the rest of the season brings for him.

Edited September 12, 2019 by carefreeluke

[True Blue]

1 hour ago, carefreeluke said:

He has started the season quite well, his absence has gone under the radar a bit, shame really about his injury. He has looked quite fired up and motivated, let's see what the rest of the season brings for him.

Pedro since day one was a model pro and always puts a shift in. Scored some important goals for us too, i wasn't too sure about his signing now in his 5th season still going strong. Still i think that Pulišić and Odoi should start every game when possible ahead of Pedro and Willian who are both 30+.

Edited September 12, 2019 by True Blue

[The Liquidator]

Eto, along with Agüero are the two players I most regret we missed out on when they were about to reach their peak. At a time when we were bossing the transfer market both players were heavily linked with us and for whatever reason we chose not to sign them. The latter player for me is a bigger miss, but Eto also proved to be top class from that point on. I know we should console ourselves that we already had Drogba, but I am sure I am not the only Chelsea fan who would have liked to have seen either two players alongside Drogba.

[Cicero]

We had the chance to sign Agüero, Ancelotti wanted Torres. 

One of the very bad decisions that year. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 hour ago, Cicero said:

We had the chance to sign Agüero, Ancelotti wanted Torres. 

One of the very bad decisions that year. 

I think Roman personally wanted Torres, like he did with Sheva

[Cicero]

30 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I think Roman personally wanted Torres, like he did with Sheva

No it was Ancelotti. Ray Wilkins said it was Carlo’s decision in his book. 

[Bluewolf]

 

[carefreeluke]

Ok I'm being a little generous with favouring youth players and some things may need re-working at centre back and in the forward positions in particular but it's not really an exaggeration to say that this could be our starting eleven soon. Maybe not every game but it's something that you could possibly see happen at some point in the future. 7 players from the academy. Almost utopian.

Edited September 14, 2019 by carefreeluke

[Cicero]

Mine personally, 

Kepa

James---Christensen---Rudiger---Emerson

Jorginho

Kante----Ruben

CHO--------------------Mount

Tammy

[carefreeluke]

10 hours ago, Cicero said:

Mine personally, 

Kepa

James---Christensen---Rudiger---Emerson

Jorginho

Kante----Ruben

CHO--------------------Mount

Tammy

Yeah mate, mine would probably be the same. I was just looking to favour the youth players as much as possible. Tomori has been brilliant the last two games though, keeps Rudiger and the others on their toes.

Also, at the same time, we all have no idea how these players are all going to develop over the next few years, so anything could happen I guess.

By the way, hats off to Willian and Alonso yesterday, they had good games.

Edited September 15, 2019 by carefreeluke

[True Blue]

My team is possible

Kepa

James Rudiger Christensen Emerson

Kante Ruben

Odoi Mount Pulisic

Tammy

 

However i adapted Ruben but i think he isn't that usefull this deep. Perhaps use him as box to box midfielder.

And yes i have the best team 

 

[Cicero]

Looks like Emerson, Rudiger, and Kante won’t be fit for tomorrow. 

I’d stick with the same lineup as Wolves. 

[True Blue]

21 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Looks like Emerson, Rudiger, and Kante won’t be fit for tomorrow. 

I’d stick with the same lineup as Wolves. 

Even with the formation?