Unionjack

Dortmund aren't daft!
New fitness coach AlicaSchmidt

 

I love the wee baldy man dearly and with so much being said online about other PL clubs after him I dont want to see that,
But for whatever reasons hes not contributing what we need right now.
We need a ball playing defender that sits in front of the defence. Someone that can pass the ball about adter winning it.
I do think that job COULD be sorted by a Kova/Billy G partnership but wont be this season. Not sure if Billy will play here even next year.
After seeing Rice today I think he could do it with Kova.

I wonder how the honest Dippers think (both of them) about what our top 4 will look like to them?

Dortmund aren't daft!
New fitness coach AlicaSchmidt

 

Everyone seems to be comparing players to each other. Way I see it is they all have strengths and weaknesses.
2 of the games I watched were Everton and Victimpool. ARGUABLY the 2 best games we played in the year. We were missing our supposed top 8 players thru injury and bans but the lads all went out just full of confidence and fought for every ball there was.
Little Billy G in those 2 games had no fear in him. He was a little scrapper. Like my old Jack Russell running after rats.
Me I was looking forward to seeing him play more with Kova. Theyre both good tacklers, attack minded and 1st thing they looked at was going forward.
I dearly love N'Golo and I had big dreams of him becoming a top box to box/ But hes not good enough on the ball I dont think. Tho his goals just crack me up/
Billys come back needs to be sorted properly. Look at CHO and RLC. Both to me look broken. CHO might be needing a loan too
Billy of course would benefit from one. But need to watch he doesnt get over played unlike some loanees who dont get enough time.

Mount?

My team
  Puli Werner CHO
    Kai Barks Kova
Ben Silva Happy Reece
          Mendy
Get the closest starters as possible to get them gelling. REALLY cant start Mason. The guys gonna end up knackered again and be useless.

Frank Lampard has used 20 DIFFERENT defensive lineups in 41 Premier League games at Chelsea... finding a reliable back four is his biggest task after latest calamity at West Brom
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8781033/Frank-Lampard-used-20-DIFFERENT-defensive-lineups-41-Premier-League-games-Chelsea.html

If we had 2 WC CBs and 2 shit hot DMs we could afford to the the HBs go forward much more and we would have 4 strong defenders we could rely on.

We should sell the whole pile of spent matches in a fire sale. Theres no chance of us receiving the prices we bought them for. And the lose value with each passing month. yet we renew their contracts and send them out on loan.
Who is going to pay Drinkales £110k wages? 2 years left on his contract and currently valued at £4.2m Can we see that rising or him running his contract down?
Just get rid of the lot.

Just imagine WH quoting Drinkwater in the Rice negotiations..

this indeed is a worry. i hope it is just a smokescreen like so many things he says bc it is obviously incorrct. Bayern had a ton of injuries but played most of last season with alaba and boateng as cb pairing. without that it would probably have been süle and alaba. Paris obviously had Silva and kimpembe mostly, Barcelona played Pique and Langlet, Madrid Ramos and Varane. Only 3men defences can afford some flexibility IMO.
Also what does communication have to do with modern football? it is just basic logic. People are better and communicating with each other when they know each other better and players play better together when they are used to each other. Maybe there are other ways to make cb pairing work but surely having them play next to each other week in week out is the most obvious way.
 

Time to start a new tradition then eh.
 
Wouldn't suprise me if Mou started a back up team then brought in his 1st team.
Full Tottenham squad
Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris, Joe Hart, Paulo Gazzaniga
Defenders: Matt Doherty, Sergio Reguilon, Toby Alderweireld, Davinson Sanchez, Juan Foyth, Serge Aurier, Ben Davies, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Danny Rose
Midfielders: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Harry Winks, Erik Lamela, Eric Dier, Moussa Sissoko, Giovani Lo Celso, Ryan Sessegnon, Tanguy Ndombele, Gedson Fernandes
Forwards: Harry Kane, Steven Bergwijn, Lucas Moura, Jack Clarke
c

Sorry, it is time (has been for some time) for the cash-in.
He is ageing out, injury prone, plummeting in value, and has been a square peg in a round hole formation wise and tactic wise. We are no longer a counter-attacking team and we have no true trad DMF in the squad. We OBVIOUSLY need upgrades at DMF and CB (no one can deny this, if they do they are either a pure troll or have the football IQ of a turnip, this is partially what set me off yesterday), and Skriniar is an upgrade, a large one, and Brozovic is an upgrade at DMF over Jorginho, and (here is your Rice deal) allows us to sell Jorginho ASAP to partially fund Rice.

Frank Lampard has used 20 DIFFERENT defensive lineups in 41 Premier League games at Chelsea... finding a reliable back four is his biggest task after latest calamity at West Brom
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8781033/Frank-Lampard-used-20-DIFFERENT-defensive-lineups-41-Premier-League-games-Chelsea.html

Pully and ziyech not quite ready per the press confence. I'd imagine they don't play this week and then play when we get back from international break.

Pulisic doesn't have any games with the USA so if he leaves him out these 2 then he effectively has another 3 weeks to fully get over the injury unless he wants to give him a 30 min run out at the weekend.

A weak coach makes his players look worse than they are.

Given we like to attack with almost reckless abandon, it might not be the worst of ideas to have 2 DMs sitting but am just throwing it out there. God knows what Lampard wants to do. Bigger point for me is that we need another defensive midfielder.

Way too defensive imo, i don't think putting Kante together with a new DM is a good idea unless ofc Lampard change his system and use a counter-attacking instead possession based system.

Exclusive: Lampard fury as Alonso tries to watch second half on bus, not with team
https://theathletic.com/2099233/
 
Frank Lampard Was 'Angriest Ever Seen' At One Player After West Brom Draw
https://www.sportbible.com/football/foul-play-lampard-was-angriest-ever-seen-at-one-player-after-west-brom-draw-20200928
However, according to the Athletic, it was the left back who got a 'dressing down' not for his performance but for not returning to join the rest of the substitutes at half time.
The outlet say that the Spaniard instead got showered and then tried to watch the rest of the game from the team bus. He eventually returned to the stands 10-15 minutes later but sat away from his teammates.
Lampard is said to have had a go at the former Bolton Wanderers left back for making the situation about him and that the manager was the 'angriest they've seen him,' though he praised the rest of the team for 'great togetherness, determination and character,' to earn a point.

contracts are running down
but COVID is fucking up the market to sell

It really started to go pear shaped when Lamps rammed Kante back into the line-up at RMF in a 3 man MF, plus when Rudiger came back from his abdominal injury (he was has been dogshit ever since, overall)

Exclusive: Lampard fury as Alonso tries to watch second half on bus, not with team
https://theathletic.com/2099233/2020/09/28/alonso-marcos-lampard-bus/

Chelsea coach Frank Lampard handed Marcos Alonso a furious dressing down in front of his team-mates after the left-back tried to watch the second half of their game at West Brom on the team coach rather than with the rest of the substitutes.
Multiple sources have told The Athletic that Lampard confronted Alonso following the 3-3 draw on Saturday evening having discovered he went to the bus on his own without permission after being taken off at half-time.
Alonso was one of two players changed at the interval. Mateo Kovacic also paid the price for a disastrous 45 minutes from the visitors, who trailed Slaven Bilic’s side 3-0.
But while the Croatia midfielder took his place in the stands with the rest of Chelsea’s contingent to watch proceedings in the second half as normal, it is understood Alonso went to the team coach after taking a shower.
Observers at the game did spot the 29-year-old within 10-15 minutes of the restart back inside the confines of the ground, but were surprised to see him in a different area to where the away group are expected to be, especially with strict COVID-19 protocols in place.
Insiders have described Lampard as being “the angriest they’ve ever seen him” as he lambasted Alonso for his actions in front of stunned team-mates. It is believed the Chelsea boss made a point of saying how while the side had shown great togetherness, determination and character to fight back from three goals down to earn a point, the Spain international had shown he wasn’t bothered about the team and that he made the situation all about him.
One source explains: “The players were saying they have never seen the manager like this. It kicked off after the game and he was going mad at Alonso. Some were talking about how they’d be surprised if he plays for Chelsea ever again.”
It was no surprise Lampard chose to replace Alonso with Cesar Azpilicueta at the break after he was guilty of errors for two of West Brom’s goals. His tame header straight to Matheus Pereira led to Callum Robinson being set up for the opening strike in the fourth minute. He also left Kyle Bartley unmarked following a flick on at a corner and the West Brom defender found the net with ease at the back post to make it 3-0 to the home side.
Thiago Silva slipped up for the second goal to allow Robinson through, but Lampard did seem to single out Alonso for criticism during an interview with Sky Sports after the final whistle.
Asked if they were the kind of goals he’s trying to eradicate at the moment, he replied: “Yes. They were clear mistakes. The first one Marcos heads it into the middle of the pitch for them for a transition. Thiago’s one is a mistake. He’s been around long enough to know that and we will certainly give him that one in his first game. And then Marcos loses his man for the third goal from the corner, a clear mistake. You can do as many meetings as you want, if you are going to make those mistakes you give yourself a mountain to climb.”
Pressed on why he made those two substitutions in particular, with Callum Hudson-Odoi coming on for Kovacic, he added: “To give a bit of urgency to the team, a speed of pass, to move it. Azpi brings personality straight into the team, even at left-back.”
Alonso’s role as first choice left-back under Lampard was already over after Chelsea signed Ben Chilwell from Leicester City for £50 million last month. The England international has yet to play a Premier League game for his new club because he has been working his way back to match fitness after a heel injury.
That has allowed Alonso to start the first three Premier League games with Italy left-back Emerson Palmieri named in the first XI for the Carabao Cup game against Barnsley last week.
However, Chilwell came on for the last 24 minutes of that match, setting up an assist for Olivier Giroud near the end of the club’s 6-0 victory. He has been named in the squad to face Tottenham on Tuesday night in the fourth round and will be expected to be in the team on a regular basis from now on, injury permitting.
Alonso will have two years left on his contract at the end of this season, but his actions have put his future at Stamford Bridge in serious doubt. Inter Milan and Juventus have been linked with him in recent months, while Emerson has attracted interest from both Serie A clubs too, plus London rivals West Ham.
Lampard is keen to reduce the size of the squad before the window shuts having spent over £200 million on Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Edouard Mendy and Chilwell, plus Silva and Malang Sarr as free agents.
Chelsea signed Alonso from Fiorentina for around £23 million in 2016 and has won the Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League since then. Should he depart before the window shuts on October 5, the most likely option will be on an initial season-long loan.

a great deal surely is
it has been manifest for over 2 years now

The one Lampard brought in is supposedly not a defensive coach per se.