Blue Armour

If Nkunku does play in this game, hope Poch's call to rest him in the Sheffield game was indeed the right decision.

In all fairness, it's rather a pathetic look for the league if the same team wins the PL 4 times in a row. And not a good look for us if they match our CL record. It's the only thing Chelsea has over City atm. Besides the record for least goals conceded in a season.

Hm. I think our best performance was against Arsenal- before Sanchez had his brain fart and we ended up drawing the match. Yesterday's game was okay-ish., IMO. Thankfully Cole Palmer and Raheem upped the ante when it mattered, else it would have ended up another insipid match of missed chances. Which has happened too many times against defensive opposition.

Yep, a real headscratcher that one. I haven't been overly critical of Poch so far this season, but this decision was a bit grating. This was as easy a time as ever to introduce Nkunku, and instead he opted to play Broja and Jackson up front. And later Maatsen, who's probably on the way out. A league cup game would normally be a simple fixture to make the introduction., but given how important this competition is for a squad that has won nothing of note, and also given the opposition is bloody Newcastle, I'm not so sure. Who knows. Maybe he'll have a perfect debut against Newcastle and Poch will make me eat my words. 🤷‍♂️

Yup, Caicedo had his best performance yet. Managed the whole midfield well., with support from Gallagher.

There is such a thing as bringing a player up to speed., especially one lacking a lot of match fitness.. I mean, fair enough, if Nkunku simply has an on switch, and plays at 100% for our next easy opposition Newcastle, then well done. Let's do just that.

As opposed to playing when? Might as well wrap Nkunku up in wool and not make him play a single minute for the rest of the season., in that case. If a player is fit to be in the matchday squad, he is more or less fit to play.

Instead of giving Nkunku his first few minutes, Poch decides to bring on can't-hit-a-barndoor-Broja, and make us watch him fluff his lines. Thanks Poch.

Yep, called it. Easiest fixture to introduce hi before the fixture pileup.

Not a medical expert., but isn't a surgery required only if the hamstring won't heal on its own? Not sure if there's a surgery to 'fix' his hamstrings., for good. I.e. lengthening it so that the injury has less chance of reoccurring.

Havertz did not play under Poch last season. Havertz played under shite management of Potter/Lampard So yeah, the players were not the real problem then. But this season the players are completely different. Your post makes it seem like Poch was the one handling the squad last season.

I think this will be the easy fixture in which Poch will finally introduce Nkunku. And after two back to back defeats, and James injured, he'll be desperate to roll the dice.

Exactly this. It doesn't matter how much potential this squad has. We are the youngest squad in the league and every match we start at a disadvantage because of this. The Everton team that beat us aren't classy by any means, but they are more street smart than our lot. All they had to do is wait for the opportunity and punish, because our lot aren't decisive enough in the final third. Reminds me of how late 2000s era Chelsea used to smack Wengers young Gunners team for fun. Maybe things CAN improve if Nkunku miraculously hits top form quickly enough on return and doesn't suffer setbacks Because that is one player who IS decisive in the final third., and can punish the opposition. But until then - this will be the state of the team.

Dyche and Howe took their teams forward as soon as they joined. So did Poch at Spurs. Potter was going in full reverse and smiling all the way.

When you take a slightly terrible Tuchel team and turn it into absolute shite under Potter & Lampard: THAT'S when you can question the managerial impact. When you chop up 3/4 th of the squad and replace it with inexperienced 'potential' , all in 2 transfer windows, you CANNOT really question managerial impact, because you really don't have a frame of reference for this team. And this team has 0 achievements to begin with. So no. Poch is NOT the root cause of the problems today. Even if there is someone out there that is better, I won't trust these lot up top to find them. Do you remember how LONG it took for them to even settle on Poch and hire him? How long are they going to wait till they bring in another real candidate. What low quality interim manager are they going to install

Probably works better in baseball, because with a better pitcher and better hitter playing on the field, your team can simply outplay the opposition all day long. Doesn't work that way in football which requires far more team chemistry and tactical know-how. The players individual stats won't count as much here. Again, because of their arrogance, they thought they knew better and proceeded to chop/change too quickly.

The irony now is that Kante has seemingly played without any injury since leaving us. 🤣 I guess Dave Ghrol's physio can do things few others can.

Bringing down the average age of the squad to the lowest in the league. Lowering the wage bill significantly. Thats the board's accomplishment this season. And it's job done for them.

And he is one of the more pragmatic Chelsea youtubers out there. Absolute mess until the people at the top change their strategy

Richarlison thumping the Spurs badge, lmao. This sort of thing has become a plague these days., just for social media points. Players who have barely played 6 games for the club acting like some beloved legend. Remember the days when someone like Hazard took 5 years of playing at club winning match after match before he started making such gestures to the fans.

Only if the Brazilian kids each cost more than 30m.

It looks like Ivan Toney is angling for an Arsenal move, given recent reports. Also at 30+, and lacking months of match fitness, this sort of signing is a gamble.

And now 12th position. Truly a masterclass.

And most of their point were from Tuchels first few games., before the owners really decided to enter the kitchen.