Jase

Likely 4-2-3-1 since Kovacic is suspended.

It is too simplistic to say that injuries played a big part in Mount and Tomori getting game time. With Mount, Lampard clearly had planned to integrate him into the XI from the start. He had him on loan at Derby last season and got him to stay this season, instead of opting to loan him out again. Plus, you can tell from the way Lampard speaks about Mount that he values him and the qualities he brings to the team. As for Tomori, he actually got into the XI in the 4th league game of the season, well before Christensen had his injury. Think the idea with Tomori was to slowly integrate him in but given the Christensen-Zouma partnership was a bit of a disaster early on and we were conceding goals left, right, center etc, he was perhaps fast-tracked in. And on a whole, Tomori has looked the part. Do we even need Isco? Our midfield is already stacked as it is - Jorginho, Kovacic, Kante, Mount and that's without mentioning Loftus-Cheek as well as Gallagher and Gilmour. I highly doubt the approach we have taken with the young/academy players would change. Not saying we will go full kids in the team but I believe we are definitely committed in developing these players (you only have to look at the reaction of everyone connected to Chelsea towards seeing these young, academy players contributing in the first team) and building a young team that will (hopefully) help us dominate for years to come. What makes you think Abraham, Mount etc will immediately lose their place just because we may buy Werner, Isco (I don't believe the Isco rumors BTW)? The new signings will have to prove their worth, just like every other existing players in the squad right now. They're not gonna come in and command a starting spot from the get-go, not when Lampard himself has talked about meritocracy. I get what you're saying but it's ironic you said we're not some development squad for young players but the players you mentioned there - Sancho, Werner, Chilwell - are all around the same age as Abraham, Mount, Tomori etc. Sancho is 19 years old while Chilwell and Werner are 23. Mount is 20, Abraham is 22. No doubt the likes of Werner, Sancho are quality players but they aren't exactly finished products, are they? Also, define development squad. Are you thinking something along the lines of what Dortmund do, for example? Because we may have young players in the squad but we do not develop them, only to sell them later like Dortmund do. We aren't a stepping stone for younger players to go on to better things, again like Dortmund. As mentioned before, I think the approach we have taken is a genuine attempt to rebuild the squad with younger players - complemented by having experienced players - and dominate in the coming years, a la to our 2004-2012 squad. EDIT: Lampard said this today, mind you.

Letting De Bruyne go was definitely a mistake, that we all agree. The situation was made worse by the fact that we didn't include a buy back clause (IIRC).

It's all ifs and buts, with the benefit of hindsight. De Bruyne was never played in midfield until Guardiola at Man City and even then, he is not a deep lying midfielder. He had primarily played on the wings or as the No.10 before then. When was this exactly?

This will improve Mourinho's mood

*sees headline* *sees sources*

No one is denying the club's interest but people getting excited over social media likes is just so...never mind. It'll be funny though if things don't turn out the way people expect too.

What are you talking about? They weren't even competing for the same position. De Bruyne was primarily used as a RW at that point, with Lampard used as one of the two deepest midfielders in the pivot.

No wonder he was popular in the dressing room last season... https://theathletic.co.uk/1476643/2019/12/24/rob-green-exclusive-the-rudderless-ship-the-manager-asleep-in-his-office-as-players-trained-and-getting-hammered-after-defeat-to-germany-at-the-2010-world-cup/

Rob Green with interesting bits on Sarri last season... https://theathletic.co.uk/1476643/2019/12/24/rob-green-exclusive-the-rudderless-ship-the-manager-asleep-in-his-office-as-players-trained-and-getting-hammered-after-defeat-to-germany-at-the-2010-world-cup/

If we're going to play the back 3 again at Arsenal, better off saving him for that one and play Emerson on Thursday. Rotation needed with 4 games in 11 days.

Maybe this is because Lampard is a manager now and/or he is not as close to Mourinho as Terry is but Lampard said the right thing here...

Lampard said this in his presser today...

TEAM NEWS - Lampard said Azpi had a small issue (not sure had or has, thanks to the press conference stream cutting off early!), which is why he came off at Spurs. Other than that, a few bumps and bruises for the players.

Pretty sure Wenger only started playing the back 3 after Conte made it popular in England.

I don't know why people always read so much into these things. Are friends not allowed to like each other's social media posts?

But it is stupid to handicap yourself for someone who is inconsistent and prone to making defensive errors. We want to be right up with the very best - Liverpool, Man City etc - and yet want to compensate for average players. The fact that you only focus on the Alonso's goals and assists says it all, because those are the only stats favor him way more often than not. Other stats show Emerson matches or betters Alonso's contribution. What is pretty clear this season that Alonso is rubbish in a back 4 (always is), can't be trusted defensively, and got binned for like 8 straight games prior to last weekend.

Hilarious how it has not taken long for the real Mourinho to show up at Spurs. But it makes it extremely sweet that we are the ones who've rattled him. Think he got arrogant and overconfident before the match, thinking his Spurs will just roll us over by turning up but instead, got out-thought, out-fought, out-witted, beaten by for a former player for the second time.

But this isn't a case of taking a faux moral high ground over some trivial matters. If the football authorities continue to ignore racism issues and don't do anything significant to deal with them, then don't be surprised if one day the players have had enough and decide to take a stand, make a statement by walking off, because why should anyone stand around and be abused if the people in power aren't doing anything about it? The chairman bit is just your assumption because you don't know if clubs discuss the matters behind closed doors and some managers have said that they would support their players if they decide to walk off the pitch over racist abuse.

Really? Think it is well established by now that Alonso is useless in a back 4 and if we want to get more out of him, we basically need to switch to a back 3/5. Otherwise, we would basically be playing with fire in hoping the "good" Alonso turns up. It's amusing some people bash Azpi for his poor offensive play and yet are somehow okay with Alonso who is so SLOW and immobile for a modern full back. Stats don't obviously tell the whole story but here's a comparison between Alonso and Emerson (and Chilwell for good measure). Also, Alonso turns 29 on Dec 28 and is on big wages. If we can get it off the books to open space for others, then all the better.

Said a similar thing not too long ago but his age (he's 32 now, turns 33 in May) is a sticking point. In theory, he could/would do well in the short term but he probably needs some time to adapt and if so, how long does he need, will he fully adapt etc?