Blue Armour

Alonso is obviously more experienced as a WB., but I think if Chillwell can get more used to it (in terms of when to push up and when to stay back), he can work his way back. Alonso hasn't been spectacular (barring that one goal he scored), so there's a chance for Chillwell to return sooner rather than later

Its blatantly obvious, but the big gap between City and Liverpool is really in terms of their squad strength. No matter what with Liverpool, you know the best you're going to get from their attack is their front 3 of Salah-Firminho-Mane. Its been like that for 3 years, and eventually things can go stale. Its troublesome if a club doesn't do much to improve on what they have. You're asking for trouble. They don't have the options that City have to mix things up and surprise the opposition.

Sigh...why can't we just face a team on a winning streak instead. 😅 Hope we can nick a few away goals, regardless of the result.

I've said it before. It depends more on Chillwell than anyone else. Chillwell was dropped because of his indifferent form, rather than Alonso doing anything spectacular. Chillwell will get his chances before the end of the season, and if he steps up, he will go back into the starting 11.

Its been happening for a while really. We've slowly been shedding players with grit and footballing IQ, and instead chasing eye candy with flair and technique. The result is that we have players with specialized skills but unable to do the basic things correctly and professionally. A player like Kovacic is symptomatic of this. A guy with such excellent close control on the ball, is unable to keep 90% of his shots low enough to hit the target. That's why we are becoming nothing more than a top 4 team, and not a team that is able to go the whole distance and actually win a title.

In our case, we better take some away goals. Regardless of the result, we have to play on the front foot (probably how Atletico likes it, but still).

Sorry to burst your bubble, but when has facing a team that came off a poor result ever been an advantage this season? Chelsea is always ready to put you back up on your feet.

He was better than Kova today, but that's not saying much

Where did we struggle against the press? Southampton barely pressed us all game. We had excess possession, especially in the first half. The only time we conceded the initiative were in the minutes following Mount's penalty and before Kovacic was subbed off. We did well to control the game overall, but we were let down by: 1. Poor decision making and lack of invention in final 3'rd (apart from Mount) 2. Zouma playing as sweeper (poor awareness shown for runners behind) 3. Tuchel's reluctance to ditch the 3 CB formation and bring on an additional attacker when we were trying score the second. Ever since Tuchel got here, the one thing that has dramatically improved is our quality in the first 2/3'rds of our pitch. The players are clearly being well instructed to control the game and deal with pressure. We're playing out from the back a lot better. But I guess there's only so much a coach can do when dealing with a lack of quality from the players (Rudiger's brain fart for his own goal, Zouma not noticing Minamino and terrible choices in the final third).

Heh...that would be ironic.

I have a feeling that Tuchel has sort of taken CHO 'under his wing'. Basically he expects a lot more from him, and is trying to hold him to a higher standard. Granted, his decision to bring on Ziyech instead did no favors, but its simply a case of Tuchel being strict with his pupil I think.

I said it weeks before and stand by it. City, Utd and Liverpool are nailed on to finish in the top 4. Its the likes of Leicester, Spurs, Everton, W Ham, Villa and their results that we need to be bothered about. From those 5, the latter 3 are pretenders. The poor GD is evidence, so its really Leicester for me. Spurs are a bit behind in terms of points to be overly concerned about.

Sigh....the players (apart from Mount) keep getting cold feet whenever they're in the final third. Absolutely criminal by James to sky his shot in the last few minutes. As someone said before, good coaches can instruct the players on how to get to the final third but its mostly on them to make decisions in the opponents box. And our decision making is poor. Having said that, playing Zouma as the sweeper CB was a strange decision. He just doesn't have the awareness of someone like Silva, and it wasn't the first time this season that runners have got behind him. Also, the reluctance to not switch from the 3 CB formation and bring on more attacking players like Giroud was far too conservative for me. Why keep all of Azpi, Rudi and Zouma on when we're trying to get a must win result? Not a good sign ahead of our obviously tougher set of upcoming fixtures

No titles for the next 2 years (as in 2 seasons)? That's a bit much, don't you think. I can guarantee the club did not bring in someone like Tuchel with those kind of objectives in mind.

Man, I wish his professed love for playing with Lampard also translated into the fact that he is some kind of Chelsea fan... Regardless, there's going to be a long queue of clubs waiting in line for his signature. We'll need any advantage we can get in order to sign him. Still think he, or at least a striker in his mold, is the missing piece in our attack.

Its not just a few disgruntled fans,..a bunch of journalists are also concerned that Chelsea could displace one of their beloved clubs from the top 4 spots, and have been taking pot shots at Tuchel since he arrived. Just today I read an article about how Tuchel 'failed' to get Kante to celebrate after the Newcastle win,. and ESPN was talking about how Pulisic would be looking for a way out in the summer. The pre match articles ahead of the Man Utd game next week are going to be unbearable.

I'm looking at Mount to chip in with more, especially with the position he now occupies. Also, did you see the number of times in the Newcastle game that CHO passed to Kovacic to take a shot, instead of taking one himself (and even when he had a much better angle)? 🤦‍♂️ Reece James on the other hand comes in and immediately looks to stick one in the net. I think more of our players need to be more bold and take more shots at goal and learn to take better shots for that matter (looking at Kovacic). If you look at United's midfield, they have plenty of players who aren't afraid to take a pop at goal. Fernandes, Pogba, and even mediocre ones like Scott McTominay. Same with Marsenal.

Phew...that's good to know

On a serious note though, that second half was frustrating. Players seemed to take their foot off the gas in the final third, and did not do enough to seal the win with a 3rd or even 4th goal. On Kepa starting, that gives me anxiety. He really wasn't tested today, and I'm worried about what a more decent side will bring out of him. I don't see anything convincing about his recent performances to warrant a starting 11 spot. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised to see him start another league game, with Mendy probably starting again in the Champions league against Athletico.

Brace yourself for incoming Werner goal scoring and Kepa clean sheet memes

I think so too. Honestly, if Kepa costs us another game again., I will fucking swear that Lampard did the right thing by giving the board the middle finger.

Those reports from the Athletic ARE true. Maria wants Kepa to be the starting goalkeeper they spent 70mill on. Absolutely ridiculous.

I think Alonso's has crept his way in only because of 2 reasons: 1. And this is the main one. Chillwell's indifferent form. His 'audition' under Tuchel against Wolves was terrible. His form has been deteriorating mid season, and he really needs a kick up his backside to know that his starting 11 spot can't be taken for granted. He is no doubt the better fullback, but he needs to show it. Same goes for Ziyech who has also lost his starting 11 spot due to poor form. 2. Back 5 and LWB, enough said. Jorginho on the other hand, is a bit more frustrating. I can't throw too many complaints his way yet, because he definitely has made improvements under Tuchel. But I don't think he adds much value other than his John Obi Mikel type metronome passing. While he is a bit better on the ball when being pressured, he does not have any defensive nous. The fact that he isn't ambitious with his passing means, we are more reliant upon players upfront to create something. Its no wonder we are struggling to break down teams despite having better 'control' of the game these days. It doesn't bode good when facing teams like West Brom or Athletico.

Yep, we expected him to be like Mikel but with better, quicker passing. Now we have someone with Mikel like passing, but with none of the defensive nous.

Okay. Now its getting interesting