Blue Armour

Well at least it was that... Higuain on the other hand... Did the guy even have more than 2 touches in the second half? Not entirely convinced with what he does to keep Giroud out of the side every game.

Hope his fitness improves and Sarri sticks to word on restoring him to the starting line up within 2 weeks. His back pain was the only reason justifying Kovacic/Barkley starting ahead of him in games.

On Higuain, His movement and intelligence is there. But just like Pedro and Willian, his age has affected his sharpness a bit, and he's unable to make the most of it 100% of the time. Like how he took too many touches in the box when sent through by Hazard, or fumbled the ball over the top from Jorginho. Against the very best defenses, he won't get too many chances to redeem himself in the same game, like he was able to do so today. The good thing is that unlike Morata, he doesn't let his head go down. Because he's experienced, he knows what works. And he'll keep trying again to eventually score. We can get away with this with lesser sides, but I imagine we would need our other goal scorers to be at their top when the 2-3 really big games come, later in the season.

This is off topic, But as a side note, I hope his rest on the sidelines helps Mourinho recover some of his mojo back. He already looks to be more like himself, and in control. Still love what he did for Chelsea during his 3 PL title runs, and despite whatever crap happened afterwards, it doesn't overshadow what he's achieved with the club. His take on the Kepa situation and his take on Sarri ball are also interesting https://www.beinsports.com/en/premier-league/video/premier-league-jose-mourinho-reaction/1129197

I think it depends on the manager too. For example, when asked the question, Mourinho was one of the few pundits who said it wasn't really a problem to play Kante outside the CDM role. He felt Kante has the quality to play anywhere on the pitch. This is different from the useless narrative which states that putting Kante back in the lone CDM role (where he never really has played in the past for Chelsea or Leicester), would solve all our problems. Someone like Tim Sherwood on the other hand....

'It is not the same mentality': David Luiz admits going from title contenders to also-rans is a struggle for Chelsea's stars https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-6744803/David-Luiz-admits-going-title-contenders-rans-struggle-Chelseas-stars.html This pretty much confirms what I, and several others, have suspected for a long time. A lot of players have already 'given up' on the league, in their minds. Honestly, I'm looking forward to this game, more than I did for the man city one. A lot lies on this. I want to see if we can muster a similar level of performance, as we did in the finals. Are the players really playing for the club? Or just trying to rack up their medal count? Going to be tough though, especially after the 120 mins.

Stupid. Anyway I hope this was just a one off. We have bigger fish to fry and dont need more soap operas. Things can be sorted out after the season. We dont need a Conte Costa type situation midway

Say what you want about his interest in Madrid, but Hazard genuinely cares about this club.

Moving on from the match,.. I really wish the board/Sarri had invested in a full-back and possible a better CB. Especially since it was known that we were shifting to a back 4. Emerson might be able to do a job for now, but we probably need something better for later seasons.

starting 2 games in a row. Hopefully this means that he will be playing more often.

Hazard, and to a slightly less extent, Kante, are the only two players on this Chelsea squad that can be compared to players from Drogba and Lampard's time. If they both leave, we will be joining Arsenal to look hopefully at top 4.

IMO Cahill organizes the back 4 better than Azpi,even though Azpi is a better defender than Cahill. But that's another debate, that no longer matters.

Mistake leaving him as a captain, when clearly he's a just substitute captain to Cahill. Should have given it to Hazard mid way in the season, like they were planning,..would have made him take ownership of the team, just like he did for Belgium. He wanted it too, judging from that Instagram post where he posted a pic of himself with the armband. Azpi is a good player, but it takes more than badge thumping and watching youth games to be a good leader. Didn't act like a leader when it mattered.

Me too. Tbh, till that situation, it was going alright. Good substitutions. Good, battling performance from the players. Honestly, penalties can always go either way, so IMO it was a good day at the office, if you ignore the drama with Kepa. Now it shows that are a few more ugly things to take care of in this team, as if there wasn't enough already.

If Sarri is intent on making a statement, by dropping Kepa for a game, he should strip Azpi of the captaincy too. There should NEVER be a break down in rank. Not so brazenly.

Honestly think the player, no matter how right he might be, should yield to the manager. If he didn't agree, then he should at least walk over to the manager/coaching staff, and try to explain how he's fit to carry on. Granted Sarri should not have stormed down the tunnel creating more drama. But the coach should always win. JT said it right during commentary. But I agree with the communication part. I didn't really like how the captain Azpi tried to encourage Kepa despite all his histrionics. I know Azpi is trying to win the match, but there are things going on that are far bigger than the outcome of a stupid cup final. Big kudos to Kante, Rudiger and Hazard who tried to remain calm despite all the nonsense. Could see it in Hazard's penalty. Should have made Hazard the captain IMO earlier on in the season at that critical point, instead of sticking with the substitute captain in Azpi (great player, not a good leader). Would have made Hazard take more ownership of the team as well, like he does for Belgium in the WC. First mistake of Sarri, IMO

Alonso in midfield? Not with the way he "passes" the ball around. You would have to wait an eternity for him to just shift the ball onto his left foot before he releases it, and hope that no one nicks it off him in between.

However, speaking at a press conference, Sarri said: “You need to understand that in the same position we have Willian, we have Pedro and we have Hazard. So it is not easy for a young player to play with consistency. “I want you to remember that Callum has played 14 matches. There isn’t in England another player of 18 with 14 matches in the first team. “So I think we are using him in the right way at the moment. Of course 20 matches this season will become 30 and then 40 in the next two years. In other words, normal business resumes. Sigh.

Guardiola's face in the background. Seems so appropriate.

I don't think the result of the Sunday match will matter in the slightest. The board won't care about the outcome of a domestic cup competition. Midweek game against Spurs. All eyes on that one.

Once upon a time we used to have a player who would have been ideal for the pivot in Sarri's 4-3-3:.... But we don't. So Sarri has got to change things, if he cares anymore

Another weird thing...I could have sworn he said at the start of the season, when asked if he wanted to bring Napoli's football here,.."I want to do a Chelsea" Far from it. He hasn't adjusted anything to suit the players we have. Said he has too big of a squad to manage (although by now its probably clear what he was implying), and then goes onto play the same small group over and over. It just reeks of hypocrisy.

Is also the reason why many of them think that Alonso is some kind of world beater..smh They're just saying stuff for sound-bytes

Those are very fair points. The short pre-season, and the dealing of Conte, was a blunder on their part. I have mixed feelings about the Higuain transfer being delayed. I guess Sarri would have liked to have him earlier on. But remember, Sarri was the one who openly came out and said on arrival: "The transfer market bores me". He basically admitted he would try to coach and 'improve' the players that he already has. At the time, the board still wanted to give Morata another chance. Because they paid a lot for him, and it was technically his second season. Considering this, they have some justification for delaying the Higuain move (although it looks bad in hindsight)

Hazard may not be the leader everyone hopes for...but just consider this,.. From a Chelsea team that boasted as many as 6 national team captains playing together at one point...we only have one on the team right now. And that's Eden. Very reflective of what's actually happening on the pitch these days,..IMO