Mohamed Salah

[CHOULO19 24,332]

I'm thinking that Matic, Van Ginkel, Luis, Zouma and possibly one or two of the youngsters might be used in the coming season. It's hard to explain why pre-season matches are so important but once you've played some (in any sport) it's fairly obvious.

I think it's important for the likes of Zouma, MVG, Romue, even possibly Ake and to a lesser extent to Baker, Boga, Brown...etc. But for the likes of Matic, JT, Iva and Salah, it's just for getting match fitness. Jose won't be judging them based on those games, he'll be seeing them everyday in training for the season.

[Korea 734]

What?!?! Since when have they played as wingers? They are CFs. What the fuck have you been smoking?

Also 30 appearances might not be possible in your eyes but I think he will get about that, given he will probably start at least 10 games a season, maybe more due to injuries and suspensions.

We compete in the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and Capital One Cup so he will get a lot of sub appearances too as hes probably better coming on for 20 or 25 minutes when defenders are tiring and spaces open up for him to run into. I'd imagine Jose will field a weaker team (well in theory it won't be that weak a team as players like Salah, Zouma, van Ginkel etc. are more than good enough to play regularly in the PL imo) in the FA cup and Capital One Cup, where he would likely start.

Yes, because strikers can't play on the wings in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1.

Also, unless someone gets injured, how exactly will salah get all these games? There at least 2 strikers that will be playing, 4 ams and 3 cms. Jose doesnt really rotate, unless he's force to.

See 2012-13, who were chelsea's 5-6 ams. Marin+benyayoun. Neither came close to 20 games...

Also, with moses coming back, how exactly will he get all these games.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Forgetting the last couple of pages happened, since when are preseason matches a way to judge players? Preseason is about match fitness and match fitness ONLY.

So at what point does Jose decide who is in his plans and who isn't? Its more than fitness its a chance for fringe players to make a case to be included in the squad. Salah isn't making a case for himself at all... Yes fitness but lets not forget its fucking RZ Pellets! I would be surprised if anyone even knew this team existed before we had the game against them. He's been poor twice now.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

So at what point does Jose decide who is in his plans and who isn't? Its more than fitness its a chance for fringe players to make a case to be included in the squad. Salah isn't making a case for himself at all... Yes fitness but lets not forget its fucking RZ Pellets! I would be surprised if anyone even knew this team existed before we had the game against them. He's been poor twice now.

Why in the world would Salah not be in Jose's plans? That's like saying if Costa doesn't score in the remaining preseason matches he will be loaned out!

Salah is definitely in Jose's plans this season, he said so in many occasions last season. That's why I said preseason is important for players like Romeu, MVG and Zouma who are trying to convince Jose they should be with the first team.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Why in the world would Salah not be in Jose's plans? That's like saying if Costa doesn't score in the remaining preseason matches he will be loaned out!

Salah is definitely in Jose's plans this season, he said so in many occasions last season. That's why I said preseason is important for players like Romeu, MVG and Zouma who are trying to convince Jose they should be with the first team.

Why? because he looks shit! We have more options in that position than any other. We will see... Right now I have Salah as my 6th choice attacker after Hazard, Oscar, Schurrle, Willian, Fab... Ramires might even get a few looks there as well.

[DANILA 290]

As a former competitive football player, i can tell you that the pre-season is a very important time for a coach/manager to see which players have good chemistry and which formation/tactic is suitable for the players. I strongly believe the next game(s) Mou will start putting on more players from our starting XI and even experiment with a few formation options since we have that advantage for this year with all the talent coming in. Personally I am quite interested in seeing which formation Mou will use against Burnley, as that will likely be the formation used against all mid/lower table sides and we'll be able to see if we have solved our problem of scoring against park-the-bus teams

[Barbara 15,149]

I don't think it's up to discussion that pre-season time is used by the manager to assess his options and team, test tactics, get to know new players, etc... I think what's been questioned by Choulo is that the pre-season matches - or at least the very first of them - aren't about players causing impressions on Mourinho and more about match fitness. There's fitness and match fitness. It's one thing to get your body ready and reacquainted with the physical demands of a season (long term) and another is match fitness (short time). After a few weeks without the usual physical activity, the muscles 'go loose' again. the many subs in the first few matches isn't only about testing and seeing everyone in action, but also about getting used to 90-minute matches. It's rare to see a field player in the first couple of pre-season matches play for 90 minutes.

Kevin de Bruyne stopped featuring in the team and ended up leaving altogether because of what Mourinho saw in training, not in pre-season matches where he was one of our best players last season. He gets to know those players better in training sessions more often than the first pre-season matches. I do think by the end of the pre-season preparation the matches played - normally against more difficult teams - there's more at stake in the matches, but right now is more about fitness indeed.

There's also the kind of player - like Hazard (according to many Belgians here) - that just can't take a friendly the same way as an official match. Their motivation may be different - even for the youngsters (although probably opposite to the seniors in this case), they want to be careful and not get injured during pre-season (the exception seems to be MvG - who's been a beast), etc... there are many factors (imo) that make those first few pre-season matches more about fitness than anything else.

[The only place to be 11,313]

As a former competitive football player, i can tell you that the pre-season is a very important time for a coach/manager to see which players have good chemistry and which formation/tactic is suitable for the players. I strongly believe the next game(s) Mou will start putting on more players from our starting XI and even experiment with a few formation options since we have that advantage for this year with all the talent coming in. Personally I am quite interested in seeing which formation Mou will use against Burnley, as that will likely be the formation used against all mid/lower table sides and we'll be able to see if we have solved our problem of scoring against park-the-bus teams

Exactly. And pre-season is one of the best times to lay down a marker for that first game of the season. I'd see it when I played rugby and players would look to make an impression. Yes you can do that in training, but pre-season matches are a step up especially for fringe players.

[OneMoSalah 8,614]

Yes, because strikers can't play on the wings in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1.

Also, unless someone gets injured, how exactly will salah get all these games? There at least 2 strikers that will be playing, 4 ams and 3 cms. Jose doesnt really rotate, unless he's force to.

See 2012-13, who were chelsea's 5-6 ams. Marin+benyayoun. Neither came close to 20 games...

Also, with moses coming back, how exactly will he get all these games.

Since when has Torres or Ba ever played on the wing for Chelsea - other than two games which Torres did that I can really think of, one where he made a 15 minute cameo in the CL final and another playing against Everton last game of the season under Rafa.

Marin was mostly injured in that year, he played like 3 games then was out for 4 months, Benayoun came back from a loan spell half way through the year as well (I think) or wasn't in the squad as Di Matteo didn't use him.

'Also with Moses coming back' ???? Moses won't be here at the start of the PL season, if Jose rated him do you think he would of loaned him to Liverpool last season? No.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

As a former competitive football player, i can tell you that the pre-season is a very important time for a coach/manager to see which players have good chemistry and which formation/tactic is suitable for the players. I strongly believe the next game(s) Mou will start putting on more players from our starting XI and even experiment with a few formation options since we have that advantage for this year with all the talent coming in. Personally I am quite interested in seeing which formation Mou will use against Burnley, as that will likely be the formation used against all mid/lower table sides and we'll be able to see if we have solved our problem of scoring against park-the-bus teams

Disagree entirely. Maybe at a lower level, it's about chemistry, but at the top level, it's all about fitness. Who is going to play and where has already been decided and there is no correlation between playing well or poorly in the pre-season and anything in the regular season . Our best players in the last 2 preseasons were Marin and De Bruyne and neither played much of a role in the following year. You can also see this by looking at every single year of the past. Our second to last pre-season game featured 5 starters who wouldn't start our first game. (And if the last game weren't a personal game for Mourinho against Real Madrid, you would have seen the same thing again) Managers play with different things but they know the players they have. Barring injury or a late transfer, the rotation will be Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Luis in defense. Hazard, Willian, Oscar, Schurrle, Ramires, Matic, and Fabergas in midfield (with Salah, and probably one of Van Ginkel or Mikel likely also getting some minutes) and Costa, Lukaku and Torres at striker. Zouma will probably get a few games but apart from that, the rotation is done and no matter how poorly someone in the rotation plays or how well someone outside it plays, it won't change a thing. It's what makes sense at this level anyway. These players have track records of years of competitive play that are infinitely more important.than what, 150 minutes, 200 minutes against bad teams or teams also trying to get in shape.

[DANILA 290]

Disagree entirely. Maybe at a lower level, it's about chemistry, but at the top level, it's all about fitness. Who is going to play and where has already been decided and there is no correlation between playing well or poorly in the pre-season and anything in the regular season . Our best players in the last 2 preseasons were Marin and De Bruyne and neither played much of a role in the following year. You can also see this by looking at every single year of the past. Our second to last pre-season game featured 5 starters who wouldn't start our first game. (And if the last game weren't a personal game for Mourinho against Real Madrid, you would have seen the same thing again) Managers play with different things but they know the players they have. Barring injury or a late transfer, the rotation will be Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Luis in defense. Hazard, Willian, Oscar, Schurrle, Ramires, Matic, and Fabergas in midfield (with Salah, and probably one of Van Ginkel or Mikel likely also getting some minutes) and Costa, Lukaku and Torres at striker. Zouma will probably get a few games but apart from that, the rotation is done and no matter how poorly someone in the rotation plays or how well someone outside it plays, it won't change a thing. It's what makes sense at this level anyway. These players have track records of years of competitive play that are infinitely more important.than what, 150 minutes, 200 minutes against bad teams or teams also trying to get in shape.

What you are saying makes sense.. i guess I am thinking too much at the lower-level where I had experience where every player who wants to play really pushes themselves so the coach/trainer can see, and its evident this is not the case in professional, top tier football with established line-ups.. Apologies

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Disagree entirely. Maybe at a lower level, it's about chemistry, but at the top level, it's all about fitness. Who is going to play and where has already been decided and there is no correlation between playing well or poorly in the pre-season and anything in the regular season . Our best players in the last 2 preseasons were Marin and De Bruyne and neither played much of a role in the following year. You can also see this by looking at every single year of the past. Our second to last pre-season game featured 5 starters who wouldn't start our first game. (And if the last game weren't a personal game for Mourinho against Real Madrid, you would have seen the same thing again) Managers play with different things but they know the players they have. Barring injury or a late transfer, the rotation will be Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Luis in defense. Hazard, Willian, Oscar, Schurrle, Ramires, Matic, and Fabergas in midfield (with Salah, and probably one of Van Ginkel or Mikel likely also getting some minutes) and Costa, Lukaku and Torres at striker. Zouma will probably get a few games but apart from that, the rotation is done and no matter how poorly someone in the rotation plays or how well someone outside it plays, it won't change a thing. It's what makes sense at this level anyway. These players have track records of years of competitive play that are infinitely more important.than what, 150 minutes, 200 minutes against bad teams or teams also trying to get in shape.

Wrong, well at least under Jose you are. Last year De Bruyne was given every opportunity to succeed and failed... He started the first game of the season and then again in a big game against Utd, he failed to impress and then was dropped.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Wrong, well at least under Jose you are. Last year De Bruyne was given every opportunity to succeed and failed... He started the first game of the season and then again in a big game against Utd, he failed to impress and then was dropped.

That hardly constitutes as "given every opportunity", especially considering he did well in the first game.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

That hardly constitutes as "given every opportunity", especially considering he did well in the first game.

Bottom line is you have to take your opportunities when they are presented when you are fighting your way into a top club. Its an extremely high level where no one is safe and that includes the likes of Terry as well as Costa or Salah... You have to use every opportunity given to you to impress the manager.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Bottom line is you have to take your opportunities when they are presented when you are fighting your way into a top club. Its an extremely high level where no one is safe and that includes the likes of Terry as well as Costa or Salah... You have to use every opportunity given to you to impress the manager.

I agree with that, but that still doesn't mean you can say KDB was given every opportunity to succeed here. His opportunities were scarce, as it is at most big clubs to begin with anyway.

[romeeh 139]

Bottom line is you have to take your opportunities when they are presented when you are fighting your way into a top club. Its an extremely high level where no one is safe and that includes the likes of Terry as well as Costa or Salah... You have to use every opportunity given to you to impress the manager.

i dont agree with u about costa situation, his place in team is totally safe

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

I agree with that, but that still doesn't mean you can say KDB was given every opportunity to succeed here. His opportunities were scarce, as it is at most big clubs to begin with anyway.

maybe not every but when you're further down the pecking order than say... Hazard, you have to do much more to impress the manager.

Salah to me is in a similar position to DeBruyne as far as where he is in the pecking order. He needs to show that he can be a big time player before he gets week in week out chances.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

i dont agree with u about costa situation, his place in team is totally safe

You think so? What if he goes on a run of 5 games where he doesn't score or impact the game? meanwhile Torres scores goals as a sub in each of them, you still feel his place is safe? Its all about form, 1st choice only gets you the first look not the day in day out role