Blue Armour

We'll keep hearing that till we face one of the top 5 in the PL.

Totally in control, first half. Careless mistake in the 2nd to concede. Inter grew back into it. Midfield 3 in second was Bakayoko, DD and Jorginho..which safe to say isn't our first choice combination, so not much to talk about there. Jorginho kept the team ticking to the best he could Notable performances: CHO, Pedro. Morata was much improved compared to his last outing.

I hate how these articles just go ahead and assume that Chelsea will just go ahead and sign some shit keeper as first choice, just to appease Madrid. 'Have up to Aug 9th to sign Butland, who would be easier to sign than Pickford'. Its continuing that shit trend from last Jan, when we were linked to the likes of Andy Carrol for striker.

Roman Abramovich was watching the match at Nice today from the stands.

People are reading into friendlies too much again..Calling out performances of individual players/CB's and what not. TBH, I've been surprised with how quickly our team is adapting to not just the new tactics, but just reverting back to a back 4 again. A lot of our defenders particularly the wing-backs have the 5-at-the-back mentality drilled into them over the past couple of seasons. I'm just hoping for our regular first-teamers to slot in comfortably as well, considering the little time left for the start of the season.

Would rather have Kante as B2B, and Jorginho as CDM, pulling strings in the quarterback role.

You're right about that... Its more about sustaining that type of football rather than how long it takes to switch to it. The Chelsea teams have been weirdly malleable over different seasons. We didn't take too long to switch to an attacking brand of football under Scolari/AVB. The key is to discover the balance and maintain performance against all the different teams we are going to encounter during the season.

Also, without top 4 qualification this season Hazard might be one of our best assets to lure in any star player

This. Several times over. I hope the club recognizes this as well.

Hopefully these swirling rumors stop by next week

That express article even had a picture of someone else for Maurizio Sarri.

https://twitter.com/ChelseaFC/status/1003594630796075015

Based on the all the news articles, received so far and their reliability, The probability of Sarri getting appointed > that of Blanc, Enrique, Jovanovic. Especially if you consider the leaked stuff of Napoli players wishing Sarri good luck in London, and Sarri's assistant coaches talking about a move to London. Yet a few dodgy articles and a couple of tweets are enough to make people lose their minds. Can't blame them though, we've had a crappy couple of transfer windows tbf.

Okay, that's fair. I thought you were just referring to this seasons CL tournament alone.

How? Are you comparing Conte with what Klopp did? Taking Liverpool and their 'pathetic players' to a Champions league final? Where they lose their best player in 30 mins? The end result sucked for them in the end, but all 3 of the Madrid goals came out of nowhere. 2 being down to the goalkeeper.

Mate, in the previous summer Gary Cahill AND Azpilicueta were stressing the need for new players. You can look it up. Azpilicueta even went to the extent of saying that some of our replacement players might not be as good as the ones that left. Its nothing new here. Players say stuff like this all the time. They're just clever in the way they say it, without naming anyone. Besides, I doubt any player bothers about what's said about them in the press, especially if its in indirect quotes. You're clutching at straws here, I think.

The entire quote: "I'm waiting for new players next season," said Hazard. "I want good players, because I want to win the Premier League next season." Hazard is also aware that his next contract could be one of the last he signs during the prime of his career, adding: "That's why I'm taking my time. It's something big, so I need to think about a lot of things. But one thing is for sure: I'm happy here." "Like I've said many times before, I think the FA Cup final is not my last game for Chelsea," he said. "It's the last game of the season, that's it. "After the World Cup, then we will be ready for the next season. But, for me in my mind, I'm here. I have one week to play now. Saturday is a massive game, I just want to win, for me and them also. "We are Chelsea and we need a trophy at the end of the season and, at the moment, we have nothing. We have not qualified for the Champions League, so this season has been bad. Now we can save a little bit this season, with this trophy. So, we will give everything."

You have to wonder what he was thinking with the starting line up for the past two games... On a winning streak, chance to get back into the top 4...and suddenly he alters the lineup, and makes Christensen and Bakoyoko regulars again.

[

To add, he's been recorded as being among the top 10 fastest players in terms of top speed in the PL this season (no. 1 being Leroy Sane). Not bad for a center back, eh?

Should put Morata and Giroud in the box and get Azpi to keep whipping in cross after cross.

And while he may not be the most consistent goal scorer some people want:.... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5693851/Eden-Hazard-set-finish-Premier-Leagues-dribbler-fourth-season.html Eden Hazard is set to finish as the Premier League’s top dribbler for a fourth season and is creating chances

Just like against Messi and Barcelone at the Bridge, was head and shoulders above his counterpart Salah today...but unfortunately not getting the same amount of plaudits due to the goal count.

Wait....isn't that exactly what happened? haven't forgotten what happened in Jan though