Jase

Well, there was this...

Mahrez is content to sit on the bench. He's only playing a lot this season because of Sane's injury. Silva can also play centrally. If we have Pulisic (21), Sancho (19), CHO (19) and Boga (23), how do you expect them to improve, build consistency/form, develop chemistry with the others if we are constantly having to rotate them? All of them are at the age where they need to play consistently to improve. If we sign Sancho, especially when it's gonna be over 100 million, we are likely to make him first choice. Boga is starting week in week out at Sassuolo, why would he come back if he's going to be switched in and out for the team? We may have better chances of winning things than Sassuolo but for players, playing time can be more important simply winning stuff. And I'm sure Pulisic and CHO would want to play every week as well. On paper, it sounds great to have all 4 of them but in reality, there's only gonna be so many times you can rotate them before somebody becomes unhappy and wants to leave. Liverpool are a good example of how a consistent team selection can breed consistency in playing well and winning games.

Sheffield United only TWO points behind us. TWO. POINTS. BEHIND.

If we sign Sancho in the summer, I highly doubt we'll sign Boga. It's one or the other, not both, IMO.

But that doesn't translate to "I want to join only Chelsea", does it? He hasn't come out and said that. It is a persuasion factor if we do go for him but there's no guarantee he will choose us if other big clubs are in for him as well.

Juventus just lost...again. Chance for Inter and Lazio to make up ground on Sunday!

They are sort of the "dramatic" version of us, helped by the nonsense defending in the Bundesliga.

Anybody watching Leverkusen v Dortmund?

If Everton win today, they will be only 5 points behind us, albeit having played a game more. Tells you how shit this season is.

Hilarious how the Kepa issue has suddenly overshadowed the messy defensive issues ahead of him. Lampard and the defenders must be delighted...

Even the likes of Atletico, Valencia, Sevilla didn't make it! Final four are Real Sociedad, Athletic Bilbao, Granada and Mirandes. It's certainly been great after they changed the format to be like Carabao Cup's format!

I wonder what kind of XI will Klopp put out for this tie. He has never bothered with the domestic cup competitions so far, will he suddenly decide to go for the treble? Liverpool have a 12:30pm kick off after this cup tie and then Atletico Madrid after that. Suspect he might mix it up.

I wonder if Lampard has talked to Kepa and find out what he's going on. Kepa might not be an exceptional keeper but it's quite alarming how badly he has regressed this season. Has no one at the club tried to fix these problems? Christophe Lollichon and Cech are there. Obviously there's only so much one can do with a limited squad but would hate it if Lampard and co. are just gonna resort to buying players to fix problems.

Pretty sure the semi finals don't even have their own weekend anymore. Journalists and pundits then wonder why clubs are not taking it seriously anymore when the FA are making the competition almost irrelevant these days.

But I can't wait for managers to moan about the transfer window not being closed after the season has started.

Sandwiched in between Bournemouth (a) and Everton (h)...

"As long as he is protected" Says all about Alonso, doesn't it? He is not the Messi or Ronaldo of a left back or wing back (hell, he is not even Marcelo!). Making compromises to the team just to fit one average player is utterly nonsense and moreover, his goalscoring record last season in a back 4 rivals Willian's "desperate" output as a winger. Alonso had 4 goals and 7 assists in 39 appearances last season but 1 of the goals and 4 of the assists came in the first four games, meaning he had only 3 goals and 3 assists in the subsequent 35 games! Is that something worth making compromises for? I can't wait for the day when we bin the likes of Alonso, Willian so we don't have to hear people make them to be world class etc!

While we did play well against Spurs, it was ONE game and it so happened that we also caught them cold tactically. Alonso is most certainly not good enough for us to switch to a back 3 just for him!

Can someone check on @killer1257?

2-1 SOUTHAMPTON!

We'll see. At times, it feels like Lampard still doesn't know the best XI and is just simply rotating around, like with the 4 CBs.

I don't believe this but...