Blue Armour

After dropping Lukaku for Liverpool and having those clear the air talks with him,, I'd hoped that Tuchel had stamped his authority., and wouldn't be afraid to drop him in certain games as needed. Lukaku following his goofed up interview didn't have a leg to stand on. Now it seems he's gone back to shoehorning him in every game., and Lukaku is back in favor. What gives?

Tuchel has messed up in two games against City this season. The first one where he opted for a 3 man midfield of Kante, Jorginho and Kova with a front 2 of Werner & Lukaku . And this one with the awful front 3 of Lukaku, Ziyech and Pulisic. Two completely different lineups., yet both inexplicable. Wonder why he can't just use the same playbook from last year, especially when he has the players for it (minus the fullbacks)

He's been with the team for more than half a year. Clutching at straws if he thinks he can improve his touch. With Lukakus horrible control we're playing with 10 men most of the time, which is why we need workhorses like Mount behind him to make up for it. Put Ziyech and Pulisic behind, and our front 3 were non existent.

Shambolic. I would also throw the United game in there too. Our big game management has been poor.

Well, its just down to recruitment. With our starting 11 fully fit we can give them a go. I'm sure with a prime Eden Hazard, this squad which is a great cast of supporting players would have been up there. We no longer have a marquee player in the ranks like City or Liverpool do.

And top 4 too. Don't want us to enter another rat race again like last season. Need to keep that points gap. Thankfully our two toughest fixtures for the second half of the season are out of the way.

Didn't expect much but a bit disappointed. If you look at how Arsenal gave them a go recently, our effort was woeful. Especially given how we seemed to be back on the rise after the Spurs game. The attacking lineup was also a weird one. Will never understand how he decided to go for Pulisic AND Ziyech to start this game when there were players in much better form on the bench. And then proceeded to keep them both on beyond the first half

Hah,,...I was actually thinking about your earlier comment about "short arms" Kepa when that shot went in. He did everything right in terms of positioning and his dive, but that shot was sadly outside his reach

Especially to Arsenal. POS team get an advantage every time.

It could change with Ragnick moving to the director role, no? Question is who they hire as manager to succeed him.

All for pragmatism in situations like these, so will agree. Infuriating stuff and I feel this will need revisiting in the summer, but if Tuchel himself has decided to stick with Lukaku, then why should us fans think any different.?

That entire game at the Etihad became a meme in my eyes. Conte's prematch comments about having to 'suffer'.. Fabregas standing like a zombie in front of an attacking City player. Nauseating stuff. I'm half convinced that this was the game that made Hazard 100% convinced that he needed to move.

3 in this leg. And 3 in the PL fixture at home.

I want to see more support for Tuchel from the clubs management. He deserves at least that much. I want to see how they react with the Lukaku situation. And with the contract situations. I'm writing off Christensen and maybe Azpi., but I want to see them reach a compromise with Rudiger. Offload Lukaku, and use that to boost Rudigers contract.

Get the fuck out of here. Can't believe some people tried comparing him to Drogba. What a narcissistic phony.

Having some time to process those ridiculous comments from Lukaku, and also ranting about him having to get the fuck out of here., I will say this. He hasn't really said anything negative about Chelsea. At least not directly. What he has said about the managers tactics, the fact that he loves playing with teammates from other clubs, his favorite fans, etc. are the same things that are on the minds of probably more than 50% of our squad. You only need to look at the Azpi, Rudiger, Christensen contract situations to see why. What he had done is act like a dumbass and say all this stuff publicly. And that's going to raise questions in the dressing room. I want to see what kind of reaction we will get from this. From both Tuchel and/or Lukaku., if he starts on Sunday.

Where's Jeremy Clarkson when you need him? 😄

Hmm. Media and their timing is impeccable. Probably can sense blood and are pulling out all the stops to derail our season even further so that their beloved teams can sneak into the top 4. Anyway. Like you said, regardless of the situation one month ago., he should have need careful. If he really wants to be 'professional'. You don't wash your dirty laundry in public.

Haha @Tomo Like @Jase said, you're so right again about Lukaku. Not sure if you expected him to down tools so soon though. Get him out of here.

Agree with this. Seen this happen all too often, and it doesn't take much for this squad to down tools. When the team is not within touching distance of 1st place they go on a holiday and then have a late rally to scurry into top 4.

Well...to be fair. It was sort of like that at Anfield too. James lasted only 45 mins in that game. But sigh...we looked like a different team back then. Fresh off the champions league victory and determined not to be beaten. I will say this. Squad morale has been low for weeks. And I'm pretty sure all this nonsense with contract renegotiations, whilst maybe not the root cause, has put a dampener on the team. We started to deteriorate well before the injury crisis escalated.

Also, not sure where else to ask this, but why are we suffering so many hamstring injuries to players? Feels like last season all over again, and back then some questioned Lampard's training methods.

I mean it already feels like nothing when you've lost so many key players for such large periods of the season. This season feels like a write-off to me. In light of that, 90 points or 60 points doesn't mean much IMO

After this result, I completely agree.

And on cue, we lose another right back, throw away a lead. They pick up another 3 points.