Blue Armour

Also, Caicedo and Enzo play so far apart from each other it's a bit ridiculous at times. As a double pivot, the 2 CMs should be staggered of course, with one midfielder holding back, but they play so disjointed. In fact, it's not clear to me whether they are even a true double pivot. Caicedo sometime positions himself as the lone CDM (which he isn't),. and Enzo rockets so far up the pitch, sometimes ahead of Gallagher. And we know Enzo can't score., so that's useless. This team needs a Viera or Keane type to whip these two into shape and start playing proper formations. No wonder we lose control so easily in matches.

Tha lack of control over a game is not anything new, though. It's been the case in nearly every game. That's why the team is midtable. Chances of getting a positive result is like almost like a coin toss., with this team.

We played the same as we typically play. Nice chances, but no real killer instinct. And no real control of the game, because our central midfield doesnt know how to do that. It could have easily ended in a draw. But no complaints. This is just how it's going to be this season.

Apparently Kante hasn't had a significant injury since moving to Saudi.

It's not just one clown. We have a whole circus.

That's the problem isn't it? What would Clownlake's next move be. Considering how long they took to appoint a full time manager., there won't be anything to look forward to in terms of an interim appointment.

He needs to stop this obsession of round pegs in square holes. Make players play in positions they are meant to play in. Not saying that Cole Palmer cant do a decent job as false 9, and 1-2 players out of position to cover up for squad deficiency is okay, but anything more than that for several games is a bit much.

And Nkunku's new hip injury happened in training. FfS, there are more players getting injured in training than in actual matches. Wonder how long he's going to be out. And without Jackson., it's just Broja atm. Not a good look for upcoming PL matches.

Why wouldn't they? They sold Jorginho and Havertz to Arsenal. Once they smell a profit, it doesn't take much to get them going. Selling Cobham products is pure profit.

Tbf., we never really controlled the game at any stage. Even at 3 up. Our central midfield is too inexperienced. I'm not dissing on the individual players, necessarily. But as a whole, they are inexperienced and quite frankly, suck. Not good at breaking up play, not good at deciding when to keep the ball or when to move it forward

Would be nice to know if there's a stat that shows the amount of goals we've conceded versus the chances we've conceded. I bet that's high too. And going by conceded goals xG, versus the goals conceded (29) so far., there's a good indicator. Points to a team that easily loses control in key moments.

Yes, there was an article a while back about Gallagher being reluctant to sign a new contract because of the length of the terns. Not everyone wants to sign a long term deal and lock their salary

Gotta make that Cobham money. Wyss seeing dollar signs. Old scavenger. I don't care how limited Gallagher is as a player. There is such a thing as team chemistry, and taking away a player that is one of the only consistent pieces of the team in the middle of the season would only typify how moronic this new administration can be. This is their way of retribution because Gallagher didn't sign their ridiculous long term contract.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-12905533/John-Terry-tips-Alfie-Gilchrist-20-academy-star-impact-Chelsea-team-defender-makes-Blues-debut-2-1-win-Crystal-Palace.html John Terry tips Alfie Gilchrist, 20, to become the next academy star to impact Chelsea first-team... before the defender makes his Blues debut during 2-1 win over Crystal Palace

I mean look at this gif Giving me John Terry vibes 😂

Yep, Lavia looked really clued in from the moment he came on. Didn't show signs of rustiness despite being months out. And that's saying something, considering he's only a teenager.

Also did anyone else also enjoy our youth player Gilchrist's enthusiasm today? This is what I want to see from Chelsea academy players. Would like to see more of him on the pitch.

Also fought with Drogba when they played in France, lol.

Well deserved. Palace fans were booing Gallagher throughout the game too. Result blew up in their face

Another game with so many up & down moments. While you can look at the goal we conceded and blame Caicedo or Colwill, IMO the problem started way before that. The real cause is our poor game management, as result of having a really young side (in case you dont know by now, the commentators kept bringing this up throughout the game). In the 1st half we had Palace on the ropes, but towards the end of the half we started moving the ball back into our own half, allowing Palace to advance. Gallagher was fantastic today, but in the end of that first half, our midfield slowly conceded the initiative to Palace. This is just how it's going to be this season until the side matures. More up and down moments, and topsy-turvy results. Just enjoy the wins when it happens. Still on course for 8th in the league table.

Yep, the longer this club goes on a winless, trophy-less streak, the less leverage it will have against the players and their agents. Unless Chelsea keeps breaking the wage limits to convince them. But that goes against everything this new administration is trying to do. Which is, keeping the wage expenditures low.

This is basically the direction the club has chosen to go in. Basically swallow the pill, rebuild the squad from near scratch, in order to evantually get to a talented team on inexpensive wages. Take a few steps back before moving forwards Personally I didn't agree with, and still don't like the fact that we had to tear down the squad so much to get to where we want to go, i.e. a consistent, talented team all singing from the same hymn sheet. Only time will tell if this decision pays off, but for now, it means enduring more crappy games like the one against Wolves.

Midtable madness!! The sheer excitement. 😆

United with the win. While I agree that Emery is a good coach with a better trophy count than Poch, I doubt he would have made a big difference to our current squad. We would have wound up in the same position league wise, and we would have complained about Count Dracula on the touchline instead. Arsenal were 8th when he got removed.

Yup. United 3 Villa 2 Hojlund with 1st goal. Villa have caved in.