BXL70

Alonson ... what a liability. And bad positioning from Caba.

We did not play VERY good in the first half: instead we were completely dominated by Liverpool. What did we expect? To me, Kepa is also partially responsible for the first goal: he should have communicated better with Christensen. He is a game-changer but in the wrong way. Second goal is entirely his fault. Kepa is a real liability. Jorginho is also a liability - we can't play against top team with this kind of player. Harvetz was poor again (but he needs time to adapt) - Willian would have done much better in the same position. James, Zouma, Kanté, Werner were pretty good actually.

Defense was OK. Especially James and Zouma. Bu then we have these liabilities of Kepa and to a lower extent Jorginho + Mount lost on the pitch and Harvetz nowhere near 70£ worth, he was walking on the pitch.

Jorginho is absolutely nowhere.

Last game of Kepa for Chelsea.

Game over. If there ever was a game.

Difficult to argue against this red card.

Pulisic was fit to play against Brighton. For the game against Liverpool, he is not fit. What happened? That will be a tough game. Especially if we play Alonso on the left-back (who else?) and Kepa as GK (who else?). Having said that, it seems that Edouard Mendy will join us soon and that we will try to sign another defender with Rice as a priority. Hope that Hakim Ziyech and Ben Chilwell will recover soon from injuries and Silva get ready as soon as possible.

Mentality and work ethics of Timo say a lot. To me, he was MoTM against Brighton. Just look how he obtained this penalty: pace and fearlessness. Yes, it will be a different story against Liverpool. But I am convinced we now have that killer to score goals.

Ok, slow start against a poor team. But the young guy just joined our club and needs some time to adapt to his team-mates and PL.

^ ^^ hopefully so. Because we cannot continue with Kepa if we want to challenge for trophies.

Come on, it is only first game of the season. And we win it. All good so far.

I would like to believe you. But they are basically 32 weeks this season for all competitions - so 2 games a week on average depending on how far we are going in these competitions - and the European championship starting in June 21. Even with no injuries, his body will not be able to cope with that. Hardly for any players by the way. Also French league is not PL - much more competitive. He will already miss first game due to lack of fitness. Hopefully, he will be able to play many games and for sure his role in the dressing room and during training will be as important as what he is doing on the pitch. Still, I believe we would need another world-class defender at least as a back-up. wdyt?

Our defense is likely to be improved with the addition of Ben Chilwell and Silva. However, Silva is turning 36 and won't be able to play all of the games anyway.. As for Chilwell, I am not sure how good he is. Both are anyway not fit for the start of the season. I think we would need to sign another world-class defender. Unless Rudiger and Zouma are finally up to match our high-level expectations.

After a first disastrous season at Real Madrid, we'll see next season what he can deliver to RM. At the moment, it does not bode well. He is not fit and he decided to miss training with RM to join instead his teammates for Belgium for this Nations League that almost no-one bother about. And he did not play either because the coach of Belgium Martinez estimated he is not fit enough. And indeed he is again over-weighted following summer holidays. RM is infuriated and I can understand that given the fee they paid and his huge salaries. Although I very much like what Eden did for Chelsea, this situation does not displease me: it sounds as a warning for those stars that want to leave our club. They better have to think twice before leaving our club.

Stil no official news about the signing of Kai Havertz. Hopefully it will be happen in next few days. Otherwise, a lot of discussions for nothing.

How bad is Ziyech injury? Could he still be fit for starting PL?

Welcome to Chelsea Football Club!

Still no official news about this transfer?

Messi is on a 50 million salary at Barca, NET. How much is it GROSS? Who can afford to pay 80 millions or so for a player, every year, given that this player is 33?

This thread is about Kai Havertz, not Hakim Ziyech.

Yes, in the Dutch League. You cannot compare Dutch League with PL.

We do not have any attacking midfielder that can score 10-15 scores in the PL every season, neither Kovasic, Kante, Jorginho, Barkley or RBC are fit for that role, apart maybe from Mason Mount, but he is the only one.

He would not be for free. Wages have to be paid. The guy will not play for free. But again, I am not against that signing. I would just prefer someone else.

It is not without reason that he is being offloaded by PSG. At 36, and for any players, performance is declining rapidly and exponentially. I am not against that move; I would just prefer that same profile for a player aged 27-30 or so.