Blue Armour

He needed someone to help clog up the midfield, and Mount presses more than Barkley, CHO or RLC. If he was more adventurous he would could have played CHO on the wing and dropped Jorginho for Mount. Clearly that was not the plan. If we had Pulisic and/or Ziyech fit today, I can guarantee he wouldn't have resorted to such tactics. Jorginho would have been dropped and you would have had Mount Kova and Kante in midfield. Maybe even Kova dropped for Havertz (unlikely though, since he still hasn't settled in).

Definitely better than the Brighton game. Kepa was also more vocal in this game..Although I don't think that will matter much, now that Mendy is coming in.

Its because of the squad options available. Mount is a given in his teams. When all players are fit, you will be guaranteed to see Timo-Pulisic-Ziyech up front, with Kovacic-Mount-Kante completing the midfield 3. If Havertz settles in soon, you will see him displace one of those midfield 3.

I don't know about every big team, but he was certainly not wrong to try it today. Key attacking players missing. And no, this was not a home game. You can't call it a home game when we're playing in an empty stadium.

You wanted us to be more offensive against Liverpool? They would have gutted us like they did in Anfield. We simply did not have the players on pitch to take the game to them. I think the team did fairly well limiting them to the chances they got. Might have even pulled off a 1-1 draw if it weren't for the Kepa and Jorginho blunders.

Agreed. Surprisingly not as bad as I thought it would be. Obviously the result is terrible. Apart from the customary Kepa goof up and Jorginho's terrible penalty, team looked pretty solid. I'm really looking forward to our play following the return of squad members. Shame we have to deal with that shitty international break in between.

Like you said, it depends on how often the good outweighs the bad. Hopefully everyone will be patient with Havertz and give him the chance to come into his own. Media is going to be ruthless though, simply because of his price tag. Good to see you back btw. Been a while!

OMG...the Liverpool bias is unending. One little heat of the moment decision made by Lampard and these Liverpool hounds jump on it like some kind of unnerving itch. If they win another title this season it would be simply unbearable, not because of Klopp and his team, but because of biased clowns like these. They're everywhere.

Replace Havertz with Mount and I will agree. I can sense a lot of people on this forum are itching to see Havertz start in his favored position and prove his worth. I'm going to take the unpopular route and say that he still needs time to bed in. I absolutely dont want him to start, fail and then have the entire media and pundits jump on his back and Chelsea's back., especially after a crunch fixture like this. Unless he is the type of player who loves turning up for big games, I do not expect to him to improve dramatically tomorrow,..not after last weeks show and certainly not against Liverpool.

Haha, I was expecting someone to point that out.. he's terrible at recovering from an onrushing attacker, but he can move up the pitch to support an attack alright.

Lampards press conference pretty much makes up my mind. With all the injuries, we need to clog up the midfield, play a low block and hit them on the counter with pace, using Timo and/or CHO/Alonso. Do NOT allow them to get 3 points. Already frustrating enough that we are playing 3 out of 5 fixtures against the 'top 6' at home without any full crowds., in the first half of the season. No need to give them any more handouts.

He wanted the legendary number of Salomon Kalou

It's not his reaction to long range shots that scares me the most. It's his command during setpieces. Doesnt seem to have a clue on what to do in a crowded box, flapping at the ball, not vocal enough with his defenders. Every corner and free kick presents a nightmare scenario. I think after his confidence was shot., he has become a lot more timid, and his teammates dont listen to him during setpieces. What happened to the Kepa that stood up to Sarri and told him to return to the stands???

Did Havertz press hard though? I remember that one lung bursting run to win back the ball he lost in the 2nd half. Aside from that, and a few off the ball movements into the box, he was fairly anonymous. However, yes, I fully agree that he needs more game time. He hasn't had a pre-season, and was played out of his best position. Also, its a new league and he is really young. Hope he gets time to work his form up though. Media and opposition fans will be on him like hounds because of the price tag. Thankfully he gets to play his first few Chelsea games without the scrutiny of the crowd.

AC in particular, in this match. Surprised to see him throwing his body in the way of shots, etc. when I'm normally used to seeing him playing so passively and giving up under pressure. We are still terrible in set pieces though. Without Azpilicueta playing, we looked even worse with no one taking charge. Kepa is not vocal. Hopefully Silva and/or Mendy can fix that issue.

Considering today's match, the possible absentees, and the time taken for players to gel, I hope Frank takes the ultra cautious approach and plays on the counter. We might have to rely on Werner's pace (which could work well against Liverpool dodgy form at the back), and any other runners like Hudson Odoi and Alonso, while packing the midfield and our defensive third. With Pulisic and possibly Kovacic, in doubt, I feel that's all we can do against them. Last time I felt so sure about a match, was when I hoped we used 5 at the back when we played Spurs for the first time last season. Thankfully Lampard did exactly that.

So...VAR ruins another game?

Yep. Called it. Knew that this match was gonna be the most interesting non Chelsea one

Curious about the Leeds Liverpool match That's the most interesting non-Chelsea.match this weekend, IMO. Also gives a clue about our next opponents following Brighton

It's not really as eye catching as it sounds though. 1 assist was a deflected shot, and another 1 from a corner. The 3rd was indeed a beautiful cross field ball to Aubameyang, who still had some work to do before his brilliant goal. Still makes for shitty paper talk though, and a reason to rub it into our faces. But face it, coming off last season's form, it was highly likely Willian would contribute well to Arsenal. He will improve their squad in the short term.

You mean the likes of West Ham and David Moysey are idiots..its the lower ranking clubs that voted against it, for obvious reasons

He's tall.

Nice colour combo. Even if it maybe a concept

No doubt. Messi will become the PL poster boy if he joins. You can bet all the VAR decisions turning in his and Citys favor

Doesnt matter in the league. Other teams will roll over if they encounter Messi in attack. Messi himself will feel rejuvenated under Pep.