Jase

Yeah, judging by the reaction when he went off, thought it was quite serious. Luckily it wasn't and especially at the moment, we have no backup for James if Azpi's out for a long time.

Lampard on Pulisic's injury...

Out for 6 weeks with the hamstring problem.

Out for 3 weeks with the hamstring injury.

Kante and Loftus-Cheek fit to start the game.

The 23-man squad in Munich. No Willian. 12 players allowed on the bench. So, everyone will be in the matchdays quad. https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2020/08/07/blues-land-in-munich Kepa Arrizabalaga Antonio Rudiger Andreas Christensen N'Golo Kante Ross Barkley Tammy Abraham Willy Caballero Ruben Loftus-Cheek Kurt Zouma Mateo Kovacic Olivier Giroud Mason Mount Callum Hudson-Odoi Michy Batshuayi Reece James Fikayo Tomori Jamie Cumming Emerson Palmieri Lewis Bate Dynel Simeu Henry Lawrence Ian Maatsen Armando Broja

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aston_Villa_F.C.#Management_hierarchy Villa have 2 assistant head coaches, including Terry. So either Shakespeare is added to the 2 or he replaces 1 of them...

FORZA INTER!

Nominated for Manager of the Season...

Just because a club have spent more than another, it doesn't mean that other club can't be competitive. Atletico have spent considerable money themselves and in Barcelona, their spending has been all over the place in recent years with no clear plan on what they want to do. Simeone is a good manager and is good at what he does. One would be silly to dispute that but majority, if not all, the top European clubs these days want to play progressive football, attacking football. They want to win and win with the style. Clubs now are not just satisfied with winning anymore. Juventus, for instance, went for Sarri last summer simply because of his playing style. They didn't care about the fact that he had won only 1 trophy in his career. Heck, we hired Sarri for pretty much the same reason as well. There's a reason why managers like Mourinho finds himself at Spurs or Benitez in China. To Simeone's credit, he has tried to make Atletico more attacking but that hasn't exactly worked out. If only life works that simple...

"Upset and offended" because the club did not cave into his demands? What a joke!

Nominated for PL Young Player of the Season.

This is gonna set some people off. Mount nominated for PL Young Player of the Year.

lol Going by the logic above, guess every manager is terrible then.

One bad game and it's put you off on a manager? Okay...

What are you even going on here? Did I discredit their cup wins or cup runs or any of their achievement under Simeone? Am I wrong to suggest that they are nothing more than a cup team? I am aware that they have had to deal with Messi and Ronaldo over the years but even with those two, Real Madrid and Barcelona have had underwhelming seasons and did Atletico even get close to the top? Apart from that one season, they have not and I don't think anyone is saying our league record in the last decade is great either, considering it's either been awesome or crash and burn. We ourselves have often criticized the club, the manager, the players when we have failed in the league. Should there be any difference with Atletico when they have also spent money? How is Arsenal a bad example? I mentioned them because they kept Wenger for far too long and allowed the rot to set in. Sure, they won a few FA Cups and finished in the Top 4 but that only papered over the cracks and the post-Wenger period has only served to justify that. Again, Atletico are not in a bad situation like Arsenal were under Wenger a few years ago and am sure they are still happy with Simeone but that doesn't mean or shouldn't prevent from looking to the future when the time comes. They shouldn't let fear or the thought of 'oh shit, we are screwed if Simeone goes' cloud their judgment.

Letting players go like that doesn't mean much when they are so early in their development. Slightly different scenario but we sold the likes of Salah and De Bruyne because of 1-2 bad performances, only to be proven wrong later. In any case, am just speculating what Lampard wants to do with Rice. He may well have a good plan to make him a good CB or may end just using him as a DM.

But is it wrong to wonder if Atletico could do more under Simeone? He's been there for 9 years and let's not pretend as if his style doesn't restrict creative players, for example. I don't expect them to win La Liga every season or something like that to barely even challenge the big two, despite having spent millions over the years and those being inconsistent in certain seasons? That is underwhelming. Imagine us spending hundreds of millions but don't challenge Liverpool and Man City for the league title and only ultimately good as a cup team! Sooner or later, Simeone will leave Atletico and they are gonna have to sort it out anyway. You used United as an example and I can use Arsenal as an example, where they stuck with Wenger for too long and allowed the rot to spread throughout the club and now they are having to build back up. Atletico are obviously nowhere near that but they are arguably have a decent enough team and good club structure that when Simeone leaves, the next manager wouldn't suffer too much. Assuming they hire a competent manager obviously.

Lampard's presser will take place tomorrow (Friday) at 6:45pm UK time.