Pizy

What an ugly lineup. 😂 Hopefully this is the "last chance to prove yourself before a loan" match.

So have/will these preseason matches be available on the usual streaming sites or only through the Chelsea app? I actually wanna watch this one since I think Frank will start to play what he thinks is our best team.

I guess. Wonder why Lille have here. Surely some other club would've paid up front. Or maybe all the other links were bullshit.

If they had silly money to throw at a single player like this I wonder why they didn't go and target the best CB possible.

Arse will do what Arse always do this season. They'll smack a bunch of the midtable and lower table PL sides, they'll smack most of the rando Europa League sides, and they'll have a stretch during the seasons where all their fans and some journalists ask "are Arsenal actually title contenders?" But unless they address their defense with about 3 new, top players they'll get nowhere near Liverpool or City and will probably be on the end of some beatings by top teams. Their attack will be great as it always is. Their defense will be comedy as it always is.

Apparently Arse have bid for Nicholas Pepe. So much for them only having a tiny budget.

He's the kind of player who I think Klopp would shape into a monster, so hopefully he stays away from there. Napoli sounds good to me.

He's a nightmare to play against for opposition defenders. At Palace he's really the only threat teams have to worry about and was given the Hazard treatment last season. Fouled, stamped on, hacked down at every opportunity. I feel like he'd be even more effective at a big club where other great players take some of the attention away from him. He has matured as a player since his United move which came too soon. I would absolutely hate to see him at Arsenal, not only because he one of my favorite players, but because I think he'd kill it playing alongside the likes of Auba and Lacazette.

Everyone here knows I love Zaha. This would be fantastic for both Chelsea and Palace. Really, really hope we can do it. Palace get a year more of Zaha and a year more to plan for his replacement. Zaha will be at peace knowing his future is sorted and would likely play his heart out. Then we get a top player sewn up before a potential bidding war starts next summer. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Oh, I'd certainly say we've had a better window than Arse so far. They've brought in a bench player from Real Madrid on loan after bringing in a bench player from Barca on loan who flopped last season. Then they buy a teenaged defender who they loan back and won't even see for a year. Meanwhile, they don't appear even close to addressing by far their biggest weaknesses in their defense. United have been decent thus far and will surely make a few more mega money moves. Seems Pogba will stay now. Been pretty weird that City and Liverpool have been so quiet but I guess they already have ridiculous squads.

Hey, now. We never expected those two to be stars or anything but we were plenty excited to see what they'd become. We were gonna see the return of the Kante/DD partnership, remember? 😂

Just feels super strange to go through a whole summer window without any transfer links for Chelsea. Seeing Arse, Spuds, and United linked with all these players and signing some of them makes me envious. Don't think anyone has got dramatically better yet, but seeing your club buying new players is always fun. Though I suppose having a few very talented loanees return does sort of feel like making new signings.

Couldn't watch, how did Mason and Pulisic look? Have they shown enough in their brief appearences so far to convince you they can start against United?

Outside of Bayern, the Bundesliga is essentially a stepping stone league. Players know they can go to a medium size German club, develop well, and then move to a bigger club elsewhere. Seems the clubs are using that to their advantage. They want top English talent to develop and turn a major profit on.

Linked with some of Europe's biggest clubs just 12 months ago for £60-70m and now goes to Betis for a fraction of the price. What happened?

Dunk going there surely means Maguire off to United for silly money. Don't know where their goals are going to come from with Lukaku likely leaving, but United should be significantly more dynamic this season. Assuming they get Maguire and now that they have a proper RB in Wan Bissaka their defense won't be as shite. No more relying on Smalling, Jones, and having Ashley Young out of position. I guess Rashford may play up front? Think they'll make a couple more attacking signings at least as well. I think United will be the most improved coming into the new season out of the big clubs simply because they were starting from a lower point and will probably make the most signings.

It's been pretty obvious for a while now that our club view Willian completely differently than the fans do. They think he's this big, star player. That's why they repeatedly refused big time bids for him and that's why they now hand him the #10 shirt. Oh, well. Not something I really care about but it would've been cool to see CHO get it. Probably would've meant a lot to him.

Hope the commentators doing our games and the pundits don't start the whole "he's a direct replacement for Hazard" bullshit. They will hopefully be smart enough to realize that that's not what he is and that's not was the club intended him to be when we bought him. He's still a young player with loads of potential. He isn't expected to come in and immedietly destroy the league and carry the side like Eden was. I don't really feel like hearing the comparison all season long. Our fans as well need to just let him be his own player. We need to keep our expectations in check.

It's as though our years of good fortune in terms of important players getting long term injuries has come finally reversed. So many important/exciting players out. Not being able to sign any new players would've been mitigated by starting the season with all these players fully fit. Think about opening up against Man United with CHO and Pulisic on the wings and RLC charging in behind them. 😩 With Kante a potential doubt now as well it could be a bumpy start to the season. We've got players who can fill in short term like Kovacic but we can't cope for too long without him.

I just wonder where in the pecking order he is. That 3rd midfield spot is our most packed and competitive position. Kante and Jorginho have to start in my eyes so that's Mount, Barkley, Kova, and RLC for one slot. Good problem to have, though. This is the best/most midfield depth we've had in ages. Just might be difficult to keep them all happy.

Zouma as well if he stays is basically a new signing.

So it appears imminent that Harry Maguire is off to United for at least £80m. Eighty fucking million for Harry Maguire. Utter lunacy. How much did we pay for Rüdiger, about £30m, right? And I wouldn't swap the two.

Definitely is pretty concerning that he hasn't signed a new contract yet. Guess he's waiting to see how much he plays this season before committing? Or he's still just hell bent on Bayern no matter what.

Looks as though Frank is going very experimental in these first couple of preseason games. Really trying to see what he's got on his hands with several different formations. This starting one should be interesting.

Yeah, his skill set is literally perfect for the wide positions. He most certainly won't be playing centrally. Playing him there when lots of opponents we go against will be parking the bus negates what he's best at. We have 4 players for the #10/attacking midfield role.