Pizy

This is the kind of match and opponent where having a second striker type is needed. Pulisic has to come in. When a opponent can just pack 2-3 defenders directly on Tammy he's taken out of the game.

Holy shit, our crossing is staggeringly poor! From everyone!

Every small team deploys the exact tactics against us. Press us when we're in our half, sit extremely deep and block off their box when they're in their own half, and grind the game to walking speed by time wasting. Yet it works every time even though we know it's coming. Fucking annoying as hell.

We sure as fuck better win this then if their manager is already looking ahead to that game by resting their best player!

Well, that's a surprise. Especially not seeing Pulisic start after not playing against Spuds. Nice to see CHO finally start again, though, and I hope he really sharpens up. Also, that Southampton XI looks so poor. Shocked and kinda glad not to see Ings starting. Hasn't he been in good scoring form lately?

Jose looks absolutely miserable on the touchline once again. His softer, more "mature" rebirth hasn't lasted long.

I see a couple of shit sources are linking us with Isco. While I don't believe them, I don't think he'd suit our team anyways. They say Real Madrid want to sell him and sign Eriksen. Which to me makes no sense because Isco is a superior player.

I agree. I think I can recall 3 times where we got into excellent scoring positions on counter attacks and failed to even have a quality effort on goal. This is the area Frank has indicated he wants to strengthen for that very reason.

It is comforting to know that Frank can drastically change both the system and personnel like this and have the players execute the changes perfectly. Maybe a new lease on life for Alonso? With 3 athletic freaks at CB to cover for him he's a real weapon.

Fitting that Willian has his best ever Chelsea game against Spuds. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

You know what sometimes happens immedietly after a great Chelsea half... I've jinxed us twice this season I think so I won't say it!

Remember when I wondered if Lamps tried to surprise Spuds with this formation pre match? Welp. It most certainly did. They looked completely unprepared for us to play without Jorginho, Pulisic, and a back 4.

Frank probably just thought that since this is a massive game under the lights with everyone watching AND since its against a reinvigorated Spuds side that we'd have been steamrolled in midfield if Jorginho had started. You know these cunts will come out like a bat out of hell to try to blitz us. I just find it difficult to see us creating much for our attacking players here.

Must be said, I highly doubt Mou and Spuds will have prepared for a Chelsea XI that didn't include Jorginho and Pulisic. So I guess we're trying to catch them off guard?

What in the actual fuck is this lineup!? 😷😷😷

Don't think pressure will be on Lamps if we lose but more so the players. There isn't anything at all that could cause Frank to be sacked, so what pressure is on him? If our players embarrass themselves again their necks need to be on the line to be replaced in a couple weeks when the window opens. If we seen another shocker from Zouma or a totally ineffective attack in yet another big game we need to go all out in January to save the season.

I know I just said that I'm not even paying attention to the sides ahead of us, but I didn't realize Leicester have Liverpool up next in Boxing Day. If we can win our next 2 matches we can really start to reel them in. Cant see it happening, sadly.

Does anyone really care about the CWC? Who other than Liverpool fans would bother watching that?

I'm not even thinking about either of these two anymore. It's all about staving off what's behind us. If we lose again tomorrow I think we're in big trouble.

As sensational as Leicester have been this season, there's still a pretty massive gulf in class between them and City when City are in form. And this is without their CB's, without David Silva, and without Aguero. Maddison and Tielemans have literally done nothing this half. Barely a touch between them. This match is really another illustration of the big difference between us and City. Any given weekend they can have a different attacker dominating. One match Sterling is unstoppable, another KDB, and another Mahrez or Aguero. We only have one reliable goal scorer.

Some of these names I'm seeing us linked to are great and others are players I've literally never heard of and are the sorts of signings Europa League level clubs would go for. We need players that will instantly and significantly improve us. Werner, Sancho etc is the level we have to be shopping for. Not lads from the Championship or dudes at small French clubs. We already have loads of young, inexperienced players who have potential. We don't need anymore gambles or risks. We need ready made stars. When you're Liverpool you can afford to take a punt on a Japanese forward from Germany. Their team is already stacked. When you're trying to reach Liverpool's level like we are you can't do that.

12 points ahead of them when Mou took over. TWELVE! And in that time frame they've had tougher fixtures than we have. No one really expected us to be in the top 4 this season but it hurts way more having been so damn far above our rivals and plummeting down rather than never having been up there. United and Spuds had their shit runs at the start, we're having ours now. We have to hope now that this lights a fire under our players' asses. Though that should've happened after West Ham. Or Everton.

I swear to god Billing intercepted the ball with a sliding tackle 10 times today. Just easily cut out everything we tried to play. Rudiger and Zouma each blasted the ball out of play 10 times. None of our 4 players who played wide did a single thing. Midfield totally nullified. And then we once again give away a one in a million fluke goal.

We were at one point 10 or 12 points above Arse, United, and Spuds just a couple of weeks ago. All 3 may now go above us by Christmas. And what top player will want to then join a team on the slide in January instead of waiting to see how things pan out until the summer?

In my 15 years of watching and supporting Chelsea that was genuinely the worst performance I've ever seen. Humiliating and embarrassing. That would be a result that would've gotten any past manager the sack. At home, against a side on a 5 match losing streak, 1 point above the relegation zone, missing a handful of their best players. And we looked like THAT. In what was a breezy run of fixtures, we are now in free fall. I worry for us now. We'll be outside of the top 4 before the new year.