Jase

Silva should never play against West Brom...ever again.

Yeah. Thought he would start on the left or right instead. Understandable to rest Havertz but think Giroud also didn't play too much during the recent France games.

But I question the wisdom of starting Werner as the central striker in this particular fixture.

Word is that he's not fully fit yet, given his ankle problem.

Looks like 2 of the front 3 will consist of Werner and Ziyech. Werner was confirmed by Tuchel yesterday. Ziyech on pre-match media duties.

Tuchel on Werner's form... https://www.football.london/Chelsea-fc/news/thomas-tuchel-Chelsea-press-conference-20309382 "It was a bad pass from Ilkay Gundogan is how I see it! I'm only joking. He missed that chance and everybody is passionate to talk about it which is a bit annoying. It's easy at the moment to point the finger at Timo, which I can't understand. I am happy he is back here. To look at it honestly, he is in a moment where he lacks confidence and things aren't too easy. The goals are not working out as usual but he works out for us. He still scores for us, still assists for us, still wins penalties. If this is the most critical point of his career you can say it's still pretty impressive so far. Timo has scored since he was five years old and he never stopped. So he can trust his brain and body, it will come back. That's easier said than done. Yesterday I sent him in from training because he wanted to do extra finishing with us. But I sent him in because it will come. The goals will come. Of course, he needs to do something and the best thing to do is to work hard. Work hard against the ball, make runs, don't hesitate, be fearless, don't overthink it. That's easy for me to say but it's the challenge right now. Timo will start tomorrow and there we go." Also dropped a zinger of a quote... "If a woman doesn’t want to go out with you, you cannot force her. Step back and maybe she will call you..."

Tuchel on Gallagher... https://www.football.london/Chelsea-fc/news/thomas-tuchel-Chelsea-press-conference-20309382 "He has fought his way through as a loan player. He never stops improving, is a regular for West Brom. I want him completely focused on that. When is the moment for us to decide on his future, we will decide. But that's not now."

Tuchel also (out of nowhere) mentioned Werner will start this game.

Everyone is fit except Kante. Will likely miss the game against Porto. Could be back in time for the 2nd leg.

So what? If we sign Aguero, does that mean we're giving up on Haaland already?

That is debatable. City are already an established force, especially domestically. If a player wants to win something immediately, you would likely go there. We are still trying to get to City's level. We are building a team of potential but aren't the finished article yet and won't know if we will actually get there. You only have to look at our record in recent years and realize that we have been jumping between success and failure in drastic fashion, with no middle ground. So does Haaland want to be the face of an established team or does he want to be the face of "potential" top team? Some of the frustration he's displayed after some of Dortmund's poor results could easily happen here when we can be prone to very similar poor results. And not to mention, City also have stability from top to bottom while there's always some sort of upheaval here. Who knows if Haaland prefers stability and like the idea of immediate success.

Looks like Ramos will miss both CL games against Liverpool.

If the Football Manager season schedule during the 2022 World Cup is anything to go by (lol), then 2022/23 should start at the end of July, which is only 1-2 weeks earlier than the usual start time of the Premier League season.

World Cup is in November.

Has been linked with the England U21s job.

?????

Werner was bought to score goals. I'm sure the board still expects that of him and I'm sure he still expects that of himself, but what is becoming clear is that he can't be relied on as the team's primary goal source. The way things are unfolding, the more it looks like he'll be similar to what Pedro (or maybe even someone like Anelka) was to us, someone who will score goals - and provide assists - here and there, someone who can be the secondary goal source with like 10-15 goals per season, someone who can be the supporting act to the main striker. As for his problems, I really want to know if anything happened behind closed doors in the last INT break. Even though he was still missing some chances back then, every thing started going downhill for him after the November games, when it also included Germany getting spanked 6-0 by Spain. Apart from the swap deal talk, I don't see why we should bin Werner after just one season. If we're still talking about the same issues this time next season (hopefully not), then sure, we can look at that. Giroud looks likely to leave this summer. If Abraham doesn't want to sign a new contract, then we would be looking at another sale there. Potentially letting 3 strikers go at one stage would be crazy. Moreover, if we want to challenge Man City and even Liverpool for top honors, then we're gonna need a good squad depth. Plus, it's worth remembering that while Pulisic is fit right now, he still has that dodgy injury record hanging over his head and Ziyech will be gone for at least one month in January next season.