Blue Armour

Well tbf...they finished above us., so they were always a threat. I'm more concerned about the new threats that have sprung up this season. Teams that finished well outside the top 4 last time.

Rotating front 3 --- ala Drogba, Anelka, Malouda

Ironic, considering that we used to be the MOST (or one of the most) dangerous team to visit Old Trafford during the Fergie era.

@Tomo I know you have pointed out how good our style of play was under Frank in the early part of last season, with the 4-3-3 and Kovacic/Jorginho in midfield In hindsight, I do wonder if that was a by-product of 1 year of play under Sarri, or something that Frank wanted, and introduced. I'd like to think its the latter, as it seemed like a breath of fresh air compared to the majority of our games under Sarri, were we seemed to have dollops of possession with no-real end product. I guess Frank did over complicate things since the season re-start, but our play these days doesn't seem to resemble any of the high press, high octane football from early last season. Hope its just development phase, where he is trying to reintroduce those tactics to a rebuilt first 11

Also, just saw the Sky Sports news about Son and Kane getting close to the all time no.1 stats of deadliest PL duo, which is currently held by Drogba and Lampard at 36. Ffs, I think we're the only club in recent history to simultaneously hold records for that, highest scoring PL team, highest points tally, least goals conceded, highest scoring midfielder, most wins in a PL season, best undefeated home record, highest scoring defender. All those records are slowly being taken by other clubs over the past few years. We really need to turn ourselves around in the coming years.

Fucking hell...seen this happen too many times over the years. Underperforming shite side suddenly gets their tails up and in cup final mode when we come to visit. Hoping for something anticlimactic, and we instead tear Burnley a new one. Dont want to listen to another press conference about a Sean Dyche masterclass.

At least Kovacic can break out of a midfield press by dribbling. His passing is lacklustre. Jorginho's passing game has regressed from his early season form last year. These days he is effective only against teams that sit back. Kante I feel is underperforming. Not that he's worse than the other two, far from it. Its just that without someone like Conte or Sarri to apply pressure, he is letting his offensive game slip. He is so indecisive when in the opposition third. Mount is too lightweight to play in a central midfield pair. He would fare better in a 3 man central midfield. I would stick with Kovacic-Kante for most games and swap Kovacic for Jorginho only against teams that are sitting back. Against teams sitting back, I might even swap Kante for Jorginho, but that's not going to happen.

Haha, at this point I think it's a testament to the quality of the Chelsea academy. Even those that don't make it to the first team can find great success elsewhere.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.chelsea-news.co/2020/10/frank-lampard-reveals-players-failed-follow-instructions-southampton/amp/ Frank Lampard reveals the players failed to follow his instructions for the second half in 3-3 draw Well, its nice to know that it wasnt part of the original plan to be suckered into Southampton's press.

Should trade ours for theirs.

If we're going to blame individuals for mistakes, that's one thing. But it looks like there are different individuals vying for that every weekend. Against West Brom it was Silva and Alonso. Today, you could also argue that Havertz, who otherwise played well up front., imagined that he was back in the Bundesliga when he sloppily gave up possession for the first goal, and lost his man (Walcott) for the their 3rd goal. You can blame it on individual errors for the odd upset, or if it's the same repeat offenders. Not sure that applies to us anymore. It doesnt seem that simple

Kepa, De Gea, Pickford and Adrian walked into a bar.... .....well let's just say there was a lot of beer on the floor afterwards.

Adrian vs Pickford

No, but this way he gets to do more damage against rival teams

Not to worry, we are still unbeaten at the...oh nvm. One less thing to worry about!

Is Arsenal even interesting to watch? Yeah they've been solid in several games, but they seem to be a boring team that plays it safe. Good for them though. If you looked at Lampard's and Arteta's tactics, and then tried to guess which one of them worked with Mourinho, and which one worked with Pep, you would likely guess wrong. The irony is not lost on me.

But it will be at the cost of jeopardizing this season. Ziyech and Pulisic are not going to start every game this season. CHO is the only natural winger in our squad.

I'm pretty sure their plan is to use him in the same way they loaned Coutinho from Barca. A cheap way to add a squad player. No transfer fee involved.

lol...exactly. When I saw Palace's lineup at the start, I was thinking to myself that its been ages since we've faced 4-4-2. More often than not, its been some clone of Antonio Conte's 3 at the back formation. Even Mourinho resorted to it in the league cup game.

Exactly. For this reason alone, we should tell them to fuck off.

I know I'm the one that posted this picture, but I get oddly distracted by Ashley Cole's untied shoe laces. But then I remember that its Ashley Cole.

Ben Chilwell ready to take his game 'to the next level' at Chelsea with the help of a pep talk from Blues stalwart Ashley Cole following emotional departure from Leicester https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8800343/Chilwell-ready-game-level-Chelsea-help-pep-talk-Cole.html

Wouldn't want him to go there, simply because its fucking Bayern. The arrogance with which their manager speaks about another club's player as if it were their right to cherry pick is annoying. Entitled, arrogant club.