Jase

Barnsley have beaten Boro 2-0 tonight. So, we'll face Barnsley next midweek.

On a random note, I wonder if Werner is the second choice penalty taker in the team...

Well, we go to West Brom next weekend. Anyone fancy Ivanovic scoring from set pieces?

TBF, Brighton started their pre-season much earlier, played some games, did not have many players away on INT duty and I think did not have players in quarantine.

Doesn't Mendy have to quarantine for 2 weeks? Or is there some sort of sporting exemption that we can get here?

Seems like United are targeting Bale with Sancho looking unlikely. Spurs also interested.

Fair enough if Grealish feels at home at Villa and wants to stay there for a long time. Otherwise, this could easily turn out to be another Zaha situation down the road.

Have signed for West Brom. One year deal.

Werner on his debut at Brighton... https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2020/09/15/werner-on-his-first-experience-of-english-football-and-delight-a

The more I see Mount, the more I feel like he's gonna become the next Willian in the team.

Rotating the players is fine, especially when needed. But when he starts to chop and change it for the sake of it or play players out of position (like yesterday), then there is where the problems may start. One can only hope he knows what he's doing and not just someone who talks a big game without knowing how to back it up...

It's early days but I fear with all the options that we have this season, Lampard will overthink things and start to tinker around too much with the system and player selection (yesterday's match was a good example of that). Really hope he will settle on a fixed system soon and play the players in their best position and not put square pegs in round holes. It is one thing wanting the team to be adaptable and flexible, it is another to tinker too much for the sake of it. Consistency is needed if we want to have success. Even Guardiola - except when he is playing in Europe - who has a reputation of changing things too much has always largely kept the same system, player selection etc domestically. Or look at Klopp at Liverpool. Consistent system, consistent team selection and they have reaped the rewards massively over the last 2-3 seasons.

That would be the logical move but CHO must be not doing something right in Lampard's eyes if he can't even get into the XI right now with Pulisic and Ziyech out.

If everyone is fit and available, will Loftus-Cheek even be in the starting XI, even if we play 4-3-3? This is not on you but rather making a general point - I know he came back from a serious injury last season but that was some months ago already. At what point do we say "he has to perform now or he can't be in the XI"? I don't think he has done anything whatsoever since he returned to suggest "yeah, he needs to be in the starting XI". Last night's formation may not have helped his cause, for example, but he was totally useless off the ball, barely tracked back, and did zilch when he had the ball. Even Havertz, who is hardly known for his workrate, showed more desire and actually did more to track back. Also starting to wonder that managers must have had (have in Lampard's case) a good reason to constantly shift Loftus-Cheek around and/or not play him in midfield in the past.

Am not sure if there's any guarantee we will play 4-3-3 in the long run. Lampard already has a penchant of constantly changing formation. He could have easily played 4-3-3 yesterday for example - had the players for it despite some absentees - but chose not to and went with 4-2-3-1 instead.

I wonder if CHO regrets not moving to Bayern. Could have easily been a treble winner by now but instead, he has barely been able to get into the XI and although it was only the first game of the season yesterday, he didn't even start despite Pulisic, Ziyech were out and saw a new signing start on the RW.

MARTIN SAMUEL: Timo Werner is a game-changer for Frank Lampard - Chelsea have been lacking genuine pace up front for years... perhaps his signing is what got under Jurgen Klopp's skin

Assuming that is the case, how long is Lampard gonna play him out wide before moving him to the center? If Havertz continues to play out wide and let's say he continues to not do much, then that could affect his confidence and increase the pressure on him especially after the money we spent on him. The one potential problem I have is with all these options and versatility, Lampard could start overthink things and tinker around too much. I know he wants us to be adaptable, fluid and not be predictable with our attacking play but I am afraid if he starts to tinker around too much, the players won't develop any kind of of understanding and consistency because players are being moved around too much and are not playing in their best position. Be it 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3 or whatever the system is, Lampard needs to settle on a formation and start picking the best players that fit into that system - e.g. play the players in their best position.