Blue Armour

Also in terms of defense.. I don't think its a stretch to say that having calm experienced heads like Silva, Azpilicueta and Mendy really helped? The keeper was barely tested, and Zaha was contained effectively.

Pleasure to see Havertz play today. Looks like all he need was some pre-season fitness to get going. So confident. Werner would be good in a more central role, but I wonder if playing as a lone CF against packed defenses like Palace is really his style. He might be better feeding off knockdowns from someone like Giroud against those kinds of defense.

Sadie Mane the latest player to get Covid. Infections are on the rise again, and we are playing pointless international friendliness. If we lost 2 or more players to Covid, we would be f*cked. Also, wtf are we playing CL matches in other countries? Is there any point in playing there in front of empty stadiums? FIFA and UEFA are absolute morons.

To me it feels like they are adding CHO just to improve squad depth. Just like how they used Coutinho on loan from Barca. I say fuck em. Why should we give up our squad depth, to add to theirs? If they had genuine plans to used CHO in their starting 11, and thus improve his development as a player, that's a different matter. But in a squad like Bayerns, I doubt that it's the case

Its a strange really.. There was a period early last season where he was so adventurous with his passing that he was one of the first names on the team sheet. Opened defenses up and created so many chances. Since the start of 2020 he has reverted to his passive style of play...like his worst performances under Sarri.

Hopefully yes, especially if Pulisic also makes his return. I just hope Lampard doesn't try to please members of his squad and shuffle them around to just accommodate all of them. That's my big worry.

Also as a side note, I'm a big fan of the Zouma-Tomori CB partnership. Thought the pair of them did really well today. I think it was the best defensive partnership from last season, and it coincided with our winning streak last year. I know Silva is likely to start more often in the coming games, but I hope to see Zouma-Tomori start games as well.

Not saying I disagree with you, but how in the hell do you know that?

I can't blame CHO/Mount for not killing the game of., they don't yet have the IQ of Pulisic/Hazard to kill the game off..nor will I blame Emerson, because its well established that he's a lazy ass defender. I think Lampard underestimated Spurs and Mourinho in that second half. He took the second half way too lightly, despite it being obvious Spurs were taking complete control and had yet to bring on their big guns in Kane/Moura. I can understand him saving Chillwell for the weekend, but for me he should have made a substitution for Mount instead of bringing Tammy on. Our attacking play through the middle was almost non-existent in that second half. Kante, who reinjected some pace back into our game, was also brought on too late for me. On a positive note, Mendy made some really good saves today from open play. Hope he can really do a job for us, moving forward.

Same While I see the value Mount brings to the team in games, I don't know why he's seemingly being run into the ground playing every minute like he was Hazard for Chelsea. Almost invisible today.

Maybe when Sarri was in Napoli, but his football was just boring to watch at Chelsea, almost as bad as Conte's second season football. The only thing I give Sarri credit for is with teaching the defense to pass the ball effectively out of high press situations.

Not sure why he's so obsessed with Mount playing every minute this season. Today's game he was nowhere to be found. That's why our play through the center of the park was almost non existent. Even last season, despite a great start, Mount was dropped to the bench for a significant amount of games. This season, season he hasn't had break. I wonder now if Frank is desperately trying to give him a chance to secure his place given the new arrivals. I was hoping he would have been subbed in the second half for someone else (Barkley/Havertz) because of his ineffectiveness. Instead we had Giroud come off for Tammy.

Hmm...how many more teams are we going to face with that pink kit this season: Leicester..? Everton..? Based on the track record from last season, they will make us wear the 3'rd kit even in matches that don't really need them.

Hmm...title seems to be out of context. As per the article : "but, asked if he would consider bringing in a former team-mate capable of fixing the defensive issues, Lampard provided a one-word answer: "no" Basically, would he bring in another former team-mate like Cech to coach the defense? I wouldn't mind him answering 'no' to that. Also, I thought he already hired a new defense coach for this season?? Not sure why he would go for another one so soon.

No Emerson. Most likely worse than Alonso. When it comes to defense, while Alonso lacks pace, Emerson on the other hand doesn't give a shit. He's a lazy ass defender.

Depends on whether Frank learns his lesson and decides to not persist with 3 at the back for every single game. Once in a while its okay. However, I'm wondering if 3 at the back is the right approach for Spurs this time. Mourinho's teams seems to struggle against it, but I wonder if he would have learned something by now.

The amusing thing is..., the press thinks we need to move players like Barkley and RLC out of the club in order to balance the books. No mention about players like Drinkwater, Bakayoko or Baba Rahman They've probably forgotten that they used to play for us, lol.

I'm wondering if we'll go with a back 5 for this one. Zouma-Silva-Tomori at the back. Always seemed to work against Mourinho's Spurs last season. Alonso might actually be useful if that's the case, but I doubt he's going to return to Lampard's lineup any time soon after that mistake.

On a side note...not excusing the team's performance in any way, but is interesting to see the articles popping in the English media (this from the Daily Mail): "Bilic furious with Havertz hand ball in Chelsea equalizer" "Thiago Silva sees 3 goals shipped in torrid first half display" "Chelsea fans call on club to sack Lampard in the tunnel" And for United's win: "Is this the cRaZiest premier league match ever?? " We are definitely up against harsh critics this season.

I have no idea what Frank is going to choose. I know what lineup I would select. The only thing I know Frank might finally have made up his mind on is that Havertz will play CAM, or right behind the CF for best results. That's the only certainty regarding his selection for the attacking players.

Its not going to help, and I will be REALLY worried if we don't see attacking players lineup consistently in their respective positions, within the next 3 PL games. I would expect Pulisic/Ziyech to claim the RW/LW spots, but that's about it. If I see Mount starting on the wing again, after those 2 become available, then I will really question his tactics. I'm already worried about the lack of defensive organization. Not sure a new keeper is going to helps us keep clean sheets.

Don't think he actually does, and that's not entirely on him to be fair. The lineups for our 3 PL games are something like what we would see in a pre-season tournament. Its a bit unfair on him because he haven't had a real pre-season. The glaring errors are at the back for me. We still suck at set pieces. Doesn't matter if we have an experienced head in there or not.

What upsets me is that there are still so many individual errors that have carried on from last season. Even experienced players like Silva, and lethal finishers like Werner, are bungling up at crucial moments. I still maintain that Lampard's team will perform better with Pulisic and/or Ziyech back in the fold, but moments like these make me question if its down to coaching. If teams like Everton are able to put up consistent performance, what does that say about Chelsea's man management?

Very well played today. Most importantly, his attitude was POSITIVE today. Completely unselfish, setting up Havertz for his goals. This was a big departure from the second half of last season, where he was moaning and desperately trying to score, in order to win his place back. It LOOKS like its going to be a tough competition between Tammy, Giroud and Werner for that CF role, at least based on this match. Might be a headache for Lampard, but one that's good for the club.

Is he going to be the goal scoring central midfielder we've been lacking for a while now?