Chelsea Discussion

[Cicero]

Was out for 3 months and came into a game where Villa were pressing intensely. Reece also never had the time to get into the game. 

I wouldn't look much into that. He should of been starting. 

[Cicero]

Mario Pasalic's move to Atalanta made permanent. £13.5m

[Stan]

Monaco have decided not to make Bakayoko's loan permanent. Shame for Chelsea fans. 

[Cicero]

AC Milan our only hope to sign him permanently. 

[Spike]

50 minutes ago, Cicero said:

AC Milan our only hope to sign him permanently. 

Save us AC Milan, you're our only hope.

[True Blue]

13 hours ago, Stan said:

Monaco have decided not to make Bakayoko's loan permanent. Shame for Chelsea fans. 

I just don't see how we can get good money for him. He will probably be sold for a cut price elsewhere but won't return.

[Danny]

Werner, Ziyech in, Pulisic guaranteed to start and apparently after Kai Havertz too....where does this leave Mount, Hudson-Odoi, Abraham and Loftus-Cheek?

[Cicero]

1 hour ago, Danny said:

Werner, Ziyech in, Pulisic guaranteed to start and apparently after Kai Havertz too....where does this leave Mount, Hudson-Odoi, Abraham and Loftus-Cheek?

Rotated in and out in the same manner Mahrez, Bernardo Silva, and Gundogan are. 

[LFCMadLad]

chelsea will be the next club banned from European competition because of cheating. 

[Cicero]

Right. 
 

Personally, I don’t think we are after Havertz. Lampard stated we made no approach or bid. Lots of Versatility in the squad already. Could play Pulisic/Werner/Ziyech up top with Mount as CAM. Or Werner/Tammy/CHO with Mount or Ruben Or Ziyech as CAM. 
 

Lots of options. 

[True Blue]

I would miss out on Havertz too expensive and we could look to invest money in a better option as out defense could use some investment.

[True Blue]

5 hours ago, LFCMadLad said:

chelsea will be the next club banned from European competition because of cheating. 

Don't be jelly we are loaded baby

[The Liquidator]

What to me looked very much like a training game in the first half as Chelsea allowed City to dominate possession, turned into a little better game in the second half. I have read a lot of you here are making quite a bit about this performance and result.

Not for me.

I don’t think we can label this as two sides paying at 100%. The way City knocked the ball about with ease without bothering to look for killer forward passes made it plain they were not going for it. Their managers selection forward wise underlines this and to be fair with the man, I very much agree with his words on using all players at this time.

His starting selection sure helped Christensen. I see you lovers of his continental defending are out in force praising his performance. Nobody pointing out he wasn’t up against a forward for most of the game and when City players did close to him they resembled no more than a above average sized woman. Granted Sterling and company are wonderful players, but size wise they are not a handful. Still, credit where credit due, he had probably he best game of the season thanks to their selection.

Our goalie continues to be the biggest waste of money we have had on our books for a long time and yes, we have signed a few Turkeys in our time, but nobody for that amount of money n length of contract.

I thought Alonso played his heart out in what was a very brave selection by his manager. No need to go over his history n a back four and yes he got skinned a couple of times, but overall the question of Chilwell being any better defensively must continue to be asked.

Midfield got through a lot of work chasing the ball around without fully pressing as City dominated the ball. Can’t fault their effort running around trying to put out fires before they lead to anything more, but they too benefited from the lack of urgency City showed.

With the high line City seem to always play, how annoying was it when Giroud got into a couple of first half foot races with Fernandinho when a more light across the ground player would have had a good chance in winning. By the way Fernandinho , Cesc says hello  

Willian had a very good game and was very dominant in his running any from the City players which lead to the penalty. I understand he has the reputation at the training ground as the “Pied Piper” with the young players following him around like lambs for extra training of all sorts of football skills. I really hope the club and himself can come to fruition on a new deal. 2 years and a option on a 3^rd would seem to click all the boxes for both sides, but hey ho, wait n see.

Lastly Pulisic. Looking more n more a bargain of a signing. I don’t know any fellow Chelsea fan who does not have him as a shoe-in starter when fit and we must look forward to some exciting games next season when the new guys are available too.

Eyes firmly set on up the table. More of the same results will make the end of this *asterisk* season remembered for the emergence of a possible great English manager. 

[carefreeluke]

The jury's still out on Pulisic for me, I think he's been a bit of a mixed bag overall. He loses the ball a bit too much and I think personally that's an area of his game he has to improve. He's still young though and we'll see in the next few years if he can develop even more and get some true consistency going. The potential is there though.

[Cicero]

My only worry are his injuries. Muscular imbalances 

[The Liquidator]

On 26/06/2020 at 18:32, carefreeluke said:

The jury's still out on Pulisic for me, I think he's been a bit of a mixed bag overall. He loses the ball a bit too much and I think personally that's an area of his game he has to improve. He's still young though and we'll see in the next few years if he can develop even more and get some true consistency going. The potential is there though.

Yes, to be fair too you since I wrote this on Pulisic elsewhere a couple of others have commented on his ball retention, or lack of it at times. However, the point I am making, of this seasons squad, when all are fit & available, from strict performances on the pitch, the boy is the only shoe-in of the players who play in his end of the pitch. Granted he has plenty of room to develop as you say.

Baring in mind the high numbers of people who questioned his signing before he arrived at the club, we should be very happy with what we have seen from him during this/his stop start *asterisk* season.

[Dr. Gonzo]

My favourite part of those posts is when he starts talking about some sort of discussion that’s literally never been had on here.

[Cicero]

Both Ziyech and Werner, plus the new kit and sponsor, expected to be officially presented by the club tomorrow. 

[The Liquidator]

Strange game at Leicester. I didnt like the look of the opening selection and while I never imagined we would open so poorly, we can be thankful that Maddison was missing as I am sure he wouldnt have wasted all the opportunities of easy possession that were gifted by our mob.

While the manager is getting slaps on the back from his "bravery" 3 man subs, I tend to think the bloke who sent out that starting shower of shit should be stuck up against a wall n reminded plenty of others could be given his job.

If its true what he is alleged to have said to the players at half time, I got to say it brought a smile to my face. It the kind of stuff the whole club has needed to hear for a number of years.

Unluckiest player of the day was Tammy who had a wonderful finish ruled out for offside. I think we all agree, he really does need a goal.

Barkley continues to offer more n more to the team, although he is becoming as hit or miss as Willian on breakaways with the ball at his feet. Passing while busting a gut forward sure isnt his strong point, but overall I still think he is an absolute steal and prove to be a key player in the future.

------------------

Declan Rice returning Andre Onana replacing Kepa who is off to Valencia for a couple of years Kai Havertz keen to join Timo at Stamford Bridge, if his first choice in Spain prove to be potless and the Leicester left back said to be refusing to rule out a move to London. All these stories making the rounds, but for me none of those deals are as important as finding a natural left sided center half who is solid in the battle and comfortable on the ball. Yes, a very rare Bird, but one we need to find before we are complete.

[The Liquidator]

Well its been plain for anyone with an ounce of football knowledge, our defence has more holes in it than an evening toasted Crumpet. Last night we reached a new level of incompetence and I woke this morning to the news Christensen is hoping to sign a new 5 year contract with us before next season. Where have the days Pep touching him up escorting him off the pitch gone? At the time I said sell him!! Man we cant catch a break!

I have said it before and I’ll say it again, those giving Alonso stick do not understand football. He is a wing back and anything he does wrong in a 4 is down to the bloke selecting him. The same goes for the other useless Left wing back we have on the books.

Talking of that bloke who picks the team. As far back as the very start of the season I was calling for Frank to employ someone to sort the defending out. I watched the after game press conference where he was asked about our defending and sure enough he answers as thou he is still in denial.

Pulisic outstanding Tammy passenger Willian another above average performance Christensen and Ruduger no better than Sunday morning level. What was Dave doing? Who signed that goalie? Midfield controlled a game West Ham set up to hit on the break. Lastly, Reuben Loftus-Cheek, why on earth is he getting airtime in such important fixtures? He looks two yards behind the pace of the games. More poor management.

Well done West Ham. My phone rang within minutes of the final whistle where my West Ham buddy was full of beans, as he should have been. However, he also informed me the last time West Ham did the double over us, they got relegated!  They arnt very good, but they sure were good enough to do us over.

Edited July 2, 2020 by The Liquidator

[Cicero]

Bet you're gutted you can't pin this defeat on Jorginho 

[DNA]

There is not one centre back at Chelsea who would get into the Sheff Utd side, and this is a club who have made two marquee attacking signings of late.

[carefreeluke]

Loftus-Cheek really does look off the pace but I guess you can't really blame him given the injury. It's a big worry for me to see whether he'll ever get over it and manage to stay fit now for the significant future. He was one of our best players but whether he manages to live up to that reputation again in the future only time will tell. 

Quote

When a team is bigger than you, as they were today, you can work all week... if someone is much taller than the opponent and outjumps them then they are going to score goals. That's what happens, so we were aware they were bigger than us today and they were going to try and score goals or win the game. But the players have to deal with that on the pitch.

Lampard's said similar things before this season. Zouma coming in would help things who's probably the best player we have aerially, he's also a better defender than the two current starters. Why was Tammy, one of our tallest players on the goal line? It's not purely a height thing though is it? City are the smallest team in the league and from set-pieces, they don't concede as many goals as we do. It's the incompetence of a lot of the defenders we have on show this season.

Edited July 2, 2020 by carefreeluke

[carefreeluke]

On 02/03/2020 at 22:02, carefreeluke said:

Jorginho is suspended for three of the next four, interesting to see what Lampard does with the midfield. Would rather see him be brave and put in Gilmour rather than Barkley. As I said, with Jorginho in the match thread, I've seen enough of him now to conclude that for me he's inconsistent if anything. Looks great some games and ineffective others, recently he hasn't even got his touch and passing right which is supposedly his best trait.

Admittedly, Tomori was poor against Bournemouth but regardless both Tomori and Zouma have shown more promise this season and should be given a string of games based on that.

Will be interesting to see what happens with Jorginho in the next few months. I wouldn't be against selling him to be honest.

[Cicero]

I think he's gone with Rice coming in.