Pizy

The Saints play a style that we normally really struggle against so I'm not very confident that we'll win this. Hard working, high energy, lots of pressing, and great in wide areas. Hopefully Conte has everyone fully prepared and ready for all that and we don't have a huge letdown after such a great result against United.

Hey, guys, remember that young dude we had in our team...tall, solidly built, future Chelse star... Ruben something. What ever happened to that guy?

We MUST adjust our defending of Valencia. Can't keep allowing him to pump in cross after cross with Ibra in there.

Really worried about Rashford against either Moses or Alonso.

Man, imagine what a huge psychological boost a win would be. Not just for the players either. Conte getting a win against a huge opponent after those beatings we took at the hands of Liverpool and Arsenal.it would feel like vanquishing a demon and proving to ourselves that we can compete at the top. My biggest areas of concern are Matic and the wing backs Moses and Alonso. Matic has been very solid in the last few matches but will have some very athletic and highly mobile midfielders to deal with in Pogba and Herrera. Those are they types he normally struggles with. Then I'm nervous about how Moses and Alonso deal with a master tactician like Mou who is an expert at exploiting potential weakness. Luckily, I think I read Martial is out injured so we won't have his pace and trickery to deal with. If you offered me a draw right now I'd definitely take it.

In any other circumstance I'd agree, mate. Think he'll be having wet dreams all week about Pogba (the one player he wanted above any other but we couldn't get for him) scoring the winner so he can give Roman a fist pump from the touchline. If there's one thing we should all know as Chelsea fans is that José is a vindictive bastard who never lets anything go. He'll go for it.

Nah, I don't think there's any way José parks the bus against us like he just did there. He'll be out for revenge and trying to prove a point. He would love nothing more than to humiliate us like Arsenal and Liverpool have done. I expect them to press us high and kick the shit out of Hazard and Willian and wind Diego up as much as possible. Lets hope Costa's head is right and he just plays football instead of trying to fight everyone. Hazard also has to step up in a big game and not go into his shell.

Think I heard that's 8 penalties in 8 games for City. Ridiculous. Have we had a single one yet? I can't remember.

If we can maintain that level of performance and add an in form Willian instead of Pedro we'll be a very tough side to beat. Pedro just needs to calm down and slow down. It always looks like he's rushing everything. His touch is so erratic and his delivery is so poor. Then when he gets into perfect, clear cut scoring positions he fluffs it.

Experimenting with this 3-4-3 against shite like Hull is one thing. The pace and movement of a side like this is a whole other level. Be prepared for a struggle. Also lots of slow, zombie football where we can't string 3 passes together since w're coming out of an international break.

Really nervous about this. Mostly because if we get a bad result here we have fucking United next week where José can add to our misery. Win these next two matches and we're title contenders again, lose both and I don't think we're getting top 4 once again.

Just look at the pressing, energy, and athleticism that Spuds play with. Like Liverpool, they don't have world class players but have an elite coach with a well defined and similar philosophy that every single player buys in to. I hope that with time Conte will be able to get us playing like that. Most teams can't deal with constant pressing. We'll need to replace players like Matic and Fabregas if we want to play like that, though.

Kante, Moses, and Costa were all excellent. Alonso and Matic were both solid. Defense mostly untroubled after the first 10 or so minutes.

This has all the hallmarks of one of those matches where we dominate play but Hull get a flukey screamer to win 1-0.

Same story as our first 3 matches here. Attacking build up is okay but the final touch or ball is off. Diego also isn't getting any service at all.

I swear it feels like we've committed about 16 fouls so far. Unbelievably frustrating.

Jesus Christ, we can't string 2 passes together!

Let's see if that "Matic as an advanced midfielder" experiment is over. I pray it is.

What other choice is there? Ivanovic at CB was the only one and this isn't the time to experiment. Would like to have seen Bats start.

Nah, if it's a straight choice between Cahill or Ivanovic starting I'm choosing Cahill every time. Unlike Ivanovic who is simply old, slow, and played out of position, Cahill has the physical tools and ability to play his position effectively. He just has to focus and regain confidence which an opponent like Hull should help with. Teams will always target Ivanovic from minute 1 and he can't really do anything about it. He hurts not only the right side of our defense but also takes Willian out of the game completely since he constantly has to go back and help. Having 2 actual fullbacks should help Cahill.

I think if we can just keep pace in weeks like this we have a chance to get 4th. Weekend where our rivals have tough games and we have (on paper) weak opponents. We're still only 3 points behind Liverpool and Arsenal who everyone is jizzing about so we're not quite in crisis yet.

Like last season, after these shit 3 results we've just had the small teams of the league like Hull will have a simple game plan for us. All their manager will need to tell them is that if you press Chelsea and get physical with them they'll get rattled. We've shown time and time again that we're soft. I expect us to struggle mightily tomorrow in a match we should be blowing them off the pitch. This season would become another write off within the first month if we lose.

This is the sad truth. Put Hazard on City or Madrid/Bayern/Barca and he'd be a world beater. We simply don't have anyone with technical ability near his level around him. He'd be surrounded by top class footballers at those clubs rather than just athletes who are only good for running like we have here. It's going to be very hard not only watching him leave next summer but also watching him blossom into the player we've hoped to see for years. And no chance we can replace him with someone else at his level. It would be hard enough with CL football. Without it, the best we can hope for is to get a Mané type deal. A player from a small club coming off a great season.

Like someone mentioned earlier in this thread, we probably had a solid game plan and plenty of confidence and then Cahill puts a goal on a plate for Alexis and we (exactly like last season) just imploded and gave up after conceding. Arsenal, from a quality of personnel perspective, aren't that much better than us. We have the players that should be good enough for 4th but so many of them simply go missing. All of our supposed top class players bar Costa is performing. Hazard and Willian should be embarrased with themselves. They've been unbelievably poor.

I just never could've imagined we'd be so poor again after last season. There are legitimately 5-6 sides in the PL that are better than us right now. That's unacceptable for a club like Chelsea. Even on paper you'd expect us to be competitive but Diego is the only player who's at it. Hazard has gone totally missing after all that talk about putting last season behind him and a great start to this campaign. Willian looks absolutely terrible. Hasn't had a single good game this season. Matic is woeful anywhere other than as a sitting midfielder. Just stop playing him further forward. There is zero link and cohesion between our midfield and Costa. We either have to hope Cesc pulls off some magic or we can forget about any creativity. Cahill and Ivanovic...no words can describe my disgust. They're Championship or lower standard. They wouldn't start for a relegation battling side. Conte has to play Alonso and Azpi as the fullbacks, move Matic back, Kante forward, and give Cesc a run of games to get up to speed. It's just so depressing to think about the hope we all had entering the season and seeing now how it's likely to turn out. With is finishing around midtable again. From league winners 2 seasons ago to a laughing stock.