Blue-in-me-Veins

Why even bother.

Poor performance. Clyne had him in his pocket the entire game. Don't know why he didn't switch with Willian to have a go at Milner.

Same old, same old. Can't beat his marker, and when he does, best believe that cross is hitting the first man.

How can the players look so tired given their week off? And Conte got his tactics alllll wrong tonight. All wrong.

What a shambolic, sloppy performance that was in the first half. We looked dead. How many misplaced passes did Willian, Cahill, Matic, and everybody else make in that first half? Very very sloppy from the lads. Our "wing play" has been shambolic. Team has failed to isolate Hazard/Willian 1v1 against L'pool's FBs, and our attacking shape is reminiscent of the dreaded LVG U-Shape. Think Conte's gotta bring on Moses for Willian, and Cesc for Oscar/Matic.

Cant believe he's gaining a more prominent role at NBCSN, need to cut him out and all the BS he spews. He'll be America's Guilliam Beallague or however you spell that guy's name

Say what now?!

Cesc in midfield against Liverpool's dynamic pressing?! Ivan----Cahill----Luiz----Azpi ----------------Kante---------- Willian-----*Matic*-----Oscar----Hazard -----------------Costa------ *Not a fan of Matic in this match simply because he's not mobile/quick enough to deal with Liverpool's athleticism/pace in mudfield. But because i doubt Conte will drop him, Matic will be the key player if we are to have any chance of winning this match. 3 things Matic has to do extremely well for us to win this game, is to make many key tackles, positioning has to be spot on, and release the ball as fast as possible before liverpool's players swarm to press him. Pretty much revert back to Matic circa 2014. No big deal. Am also not looking forward to Firminho vs Ivan... Nope, not at all.

Amen.

I know a lot of people what to grill Conte for not starting/bring on Fabregas earlier, but we were in complete control before they equalized. Chelsea currently lead the league in Expected Goals Against at about 1.79. Swansea couldn't create one clear cut opportunity until we had to chase the game. We've been very solid defensively. Here's the stat. *And our ExpGA would be a 1/3 less if you takeout that Fer/Cahill foul to goal. What Conte has to answer, is how the hell was Azpilicueta the ONLY man back from that free kick which resulted in their counter? We were so disorganized at the back, and had no bodies In defense to take up the positions for Cahill/Ivan/JT who had gone up for the FK. Either players forgot their assignments, or that hasn't been practices enough, idk what happened, but that was League One stuff from us. That simoly cannot be happening. Otherwise, can't wait to see how Conte prepares us for Liverpool.

Might be an unpopular opinion but Cahill had a very good match. If you remove that whole Fer Fiasco, he was very solid, even after that incident too when he made that double block clearance which jumps to mind. Cahill was cutting out many attacks, and was always in the right place at the right time. Obviously Cahill should have gotten rid of the ball much sooner, but JT didn't do him any favors passing him the ball that close to a defender. Think an underrated aspect of this Chaill/Fer fiasco is the fact that I think Cahill knows he's fighting very hard to keep his place in this team. Not only with Luiz's arrival but Zouma's too. Im not discrediting Cahill's sincerity in that Post game presser, but the pressure is well and truly on for our defenders to perform at a high level or face the axe.

Think a lot of people are criticizing the "usual suspects" just because we drew. We currently lead the league in ExpectedGoals against at about 1.79GA/game. And Swansea created jack shit all match before we fell behind 2-1. Fabregas wasn't needed at all before their equalizer. We had chances to kill off the match, and didn't take them. And that's the greatest takeaway for me. As much as I hate to see Matic AND Kante playing aginst the lower teams in the league, we were still able to create more than enough real goal scoring opprotunities.

Yeah I really really hope Pojhanpalo makes it. Leverkusen really need a replacement for Stefan Kiesling, and hopefully he can be that man. And becuse of Schmidt's use of 2 Strikers, constant high energy football, and Leverkusen's propensity to rack up many injuries, a rotation of Chicharito/Volland/Pohjanpalo should be more than adequate.

What a match that Leverkusen vs Hamburg was! Really thought Leverkusen were about to begin the season in complete Leverkusen fashion, but wouldn't you know it! Pohjanpalo with the 15 minute hattrick off the bench to save the day! What a result! Think it must be clear to Schmidt that he simply HAS to play with 2 Strikers up top. This business of playing Calhanoglu as a false SS is not working. Pohjanpalo up top with Chicharito next match simply has to be guaranteed. Julian Brandt, the young German phenom, also deserves a shout. Because he turned it up in the last 15 mins, driving past defenders, setting up the first goal, and finding the right passes, really happy to see him continue where he left off for Germany at the Olympics. Not the biggest fan of Schmidt's suicidal, kamikaze tactics, and I don't believe he's the man to take Leverkusen to that next step. I mean, his tactics work brilliantly at times (see Barcelona home in last year's UCL group stage match), but even in a match like that, Leverkusen outplay Barcelona for first 75mins, and then instead of dialing the pressing down once the players are tired later on in the match, Schmidt still instructs his players to play pedal-to-the-metal football at all times. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bayern vs Schalke yesterday was a very entertaining match. I think it's clear that Bayern simply won't be as dominant under Carlo in the league. Schalke should have been one/two goals to the good before Carlo made those substitutions in Costa and Vidal which swung the game back in Bayern's favor and won them the 3pts. Bayern Munich are the only team in the bundesliga that can grind out results even after being outplayed for large stretches of matches. I mean just look at the German Super Cup, and Dortmund's loss today against RB Leipzig as prime examples.

Lots of reports on twitter linking us to former Juventus CB/RB Uruguayan International Martin Caceres. Antonio Conte Considering Reunion with Free Agent Martin Caceres Rumor mill starts back up: Chelsea linked with free agent Cáceres Don't see why we shouldn't sign him given he passes the medical from his Achilles injury. Achilles injuries across all sports, are usually 2 year injuries, but maybe he can still do a serviceable job even if it's later on in the season. Add in the fact he may help displace Ivanovic from the starting XI, and would come on a free transfer too.

Welcome Marcos Alonso! Please hold down that LB for seasons to come and hopefully you can deliver consistent crosses that don't always hit the first man. Is it too much to ask?

Hollywood FC For the Win. You know you love it.

Can't tell if being sarcastic or not? You for or against the transfer? Curious.

Yeah that was NOT him at all. And I'll admit, I had no issues with him being sold because that fee was massive. No way Chelsea could turn that down, none. Especially when you consider the fact the club were still focused on abiding by FFP. The only problem I have is that Chelsea have found it impossible to sign ball playing CB to replace Luiz. Stones, Koulibaly, Marquinhos, Ragmnoli, and a couple others. All targets have failed. As long as Christensen comes back, Cahill/Ivanovic are no longer starting passed this year, we'll be in a much better place than we are currently, hell we're in a much better place today than we were last week. We had to sign a CB/LB this window, the board got it done. We know Luiz has massive brainfarts in defense and will have very frustrating moments, we all get it. But he's a big personality, very marketable, fan favorite, always showed up in the big matches for us, Can play as a CDM as well to free up Kante as a B2B destroyer as well. It is what it is.

Luiz wanted the move. He said in an Interview, Ibrahimovic/Silva told him about the project at PSG and he wanted to experience something different. Fast forward couple years, and Luiz has had enough of life at PSG walking the league. But for a fact, he pushed for the move to PSG, if i find the interview i'll link you to it.

It's for the Theater! The Drama! The Suspense!

Your opinion on Luiz coming back? Im feeling all sorts of emotions tbh. I understand Luiz will blow hot and cold, is error prone, and not the consistent 7/10 performer we need. But on the other hand, he's a huge personality, which this team lacks. Will still put in great performances at times, chip in with a few goals, can play as a CDM and free up Kante as a B2B destroyer, and is a ball playing CB. Must be said, a CB pairing of Zouma and Luiz would be a straight disaster in my opinion, as both have severe lapses in concentration, and rely on their pace to bail them out of trouble. But Luiz and JT/Cahill duo with Kante protecting them may get the job done, in regards to finishing top 4. Like I said, really don't know how to feel. Just happy the club signed a CB and LB. I know they both weren't the club's first choices, but we simply couldn't have survived the season with that current back 4, we couldn't.

Not saying Luiz wouldn't be open to coming back, or that Chelsea isn't interested. But now PSG gotta scan the market for a CB that fits their system, and all that comes with getting transfers done on a hectic final day of the transfer window. We'll see though.