Amblève.

It's actually easy to spot though, one just needs to follow Fabregas and Nate and see where they're positioning themselves. They've spent most of time in our own half or close to it, even when we've attacked. Zouma has no place in a team in which 2 of 3 CBs have to be de facto playmakers.

It's actually even worse when you remind yourself that Cahill plays on his off-side and does a decent amount of passing and dribbling with his left foot. Zouma looks beyond terrible on his good side fml

Zouma's on-ball skills are so much worse than Cahill's, it's absolutely terrifying.

Willian is a born bottler in front of the goal.

Zouma ffs

Koulibaly remains an overrated player for me. I have yet to see a decent game of his.

N'Golo playing for all of us 5'7" guys

Hazard had his probably best defensive game for us ever yesterday. Clyne didn't do anything all night long because Hazard was doing his part closing out and blocking passing lanes.

I think that's down to the numbers though. The lack of dominance by us as a whole emphasizes the few chances we do create in the half-field and skews the perception when we fuck up said chances; that concerns our right flank especially when Moses plays with Willian (not saying Willian is the root but definitely a factor for Moses being more ineffective offensively).

Thought he had his best game in weeks. Finally went up and down the flank again, won some crucial tackles, and was able to keep possession even when pressed by 2 or 3 men.

Ake's been less than a week at Cobham ffs. What exactly is outrageous about letting a player learn the team's tactics first?

Anyone seen this? Apparently Conte and the team (or at least some players) stayed on the pitch to do drills after the game. Talk about commitment!

With Mikel unfortunately gone now it seems like Nat is gonna fill that void in my heart longing for a composed lanky midfielder.

Not a big fan of this. Clubs should honor such loan agreements when the loan is working out, even if there is a clause. Reciprocity is the key if we want teams to give our loanees serious game time in future agreements.

If the CLL calls him a legend I don't think anyone of us is wrong in doing so too.

There are the Beckenbauers, the Maradonas, the Peles, the Zidanes, the Messis, and the Ronaldos of the game. And then there is Mikel. A player who gets as often forgotten as he gets criticised. A player who isn't necessarily blessed with great athleticism nor on-ball skills. A player who will not often wow you. But a player who, at the end of the day, has given his all and served Chelsea for years. Something, I will dare say, nobody can deny. Over 10 years ago Mikel signed for Chelsea. A tall, lanky boy who seemingly received a yellow or red card everytime he stepped on the pitch, Mikel was an interesting case. Not only because of his controversial transfer but the role he was supposed to play when he first joined: Lampard, Ballack, Essien, Makelele, Geremi, Diarra all were already at Chelsea when Mikel arrived. Various other central midfielders came and left. Over a decade later and a few hours ago Mikel was still at Chelsea. I truly believe he embraced being a Chelsea player. A boy among men such as JT and Drogba Mikel was for years one of our youngest first team players learning from the best, listening to the most dedicated, being indoctrined by those who will always be Blues until he became one himself. In the process of reaching that status Mikel experienced the biggest defeats and glories in the history of our football club and always put in his best performances when it mattered most. FA Cup Final 2007. CL Semi-Final 2009. CL Final 2012. Watch any of those games and the one thing that will stick out most will be Mikel's coolness. Mikel always knew all the angles and the space he could operate within. His composure made him a bastion of calm when we most needed it. Watch any of our greatest victories from the past 10 years and chances are good you will find Mikel somewhere. Why? Because Mikel never complained or put himself above the team. Because Mikel played when his father was potentially facing death. Because Mikel scored when he wanted. After a decade of being privileged to watching him play for Chelsea, I can, without any doubt, say Mikel was worthy of wearing our blue. He will never be forgotten, he will always be a legend.

With Mikel leaving today I am now faced with the realisation that I am having a hard time saying goodbye to Ivanovic probably this summer. Don't even get me started on JT. Fuck, man. These are the players I've been watching weekly for years now, this can't be real life.

This is too tough to wake up to. I will write a post worthy of this legend later. Shit, man.

I thought he was one of only a few Chelsea players who were able to deal with Tottenham's pressing game. Matic did well, it was Kante who couldn't do anything.

Before you all go into panic mode just fucking remember we won 13 games in a row and are sitting comfortably on top of the table.

I didn't mind Batshuayi not starting. What I didn't understand was Batshuayi not getting at least 20 minutes though considering how Hazard looked tired at around the 70th minute mark.

@Pizy didn't even shit on anyone lol. He's right, man. We've looked really boring so far. Gotta get Willian off. He opens up no space at all for Moses on that right side.

Such a frustrating player ffs. Really fits the old "all tools, no toolbox" narrative.

I can't think of anyone more deserving of leading the team out onto the pitch every weekend. He HAS to get the armband.

Even if it does it was something that needed to be done and I'm glad it was Chalobah who did it. Agüero came in flying like a driver on cocaine after a Saturday night out, if nobody steps up it sets a precedence; football simply is that savage, unfortunately.