Jase

AND THAT IS WHY HE IS WEAK MENTALLY!

If his character and recent comments about the youth are anything to go by, I'd say yes. He specifically said this regarding James just two weeks ago... https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/chelsea/chelsea-stalwart-cesar-azpilicueta-backs-reece-james-to-be-next-big-thing-at-stamford-bridge-a4220041.html Furthermore, James isn't going to be able to play every game, week in week out at this point and gotta take loss of form, injuries etc into consideration. Azpi will still get his share of games.

That's because he didn't fancy it. How often we saw him really go for it in challenges, in those 50-50 situations?

Not sure what this says about the league in general but Serie A 'do have a tendency of reviving/prolonging' the career of players. I mean, there's always a 35+ years old as one of the top scorers. And I wouldn't put it past Conte somehow resurrecting Sanchez's career. He might not rediscover his very best form but he could still be a good player.

Daily Shit. Classic transfer rumor from the media. Even when Azpi is no longer first choice, he's still a decent option to have as back up for at least another year or two.

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/christian-pulisic-gushes-about-life-at-chelsea-under-frank-lampard-221256234.html?guccounter=1

The current Spain coach said last month Kepa and De Gea could share the starting spot. Otherwise, Kepa has started the last 3 Spain matches.

Our CL squad announced: Kepa Caballero Cumming * Azpilicueta * Emerson James * Alonso Rudiger Christensen Zouma Tomori Guehi * Jorginho Kante Kovacic Barkley Gilmour * McEachran * Mount * Loftus-Cheek Willian Pedro Abraham Hudson-Odoi * Pulisic Giroud Batshuayi 19 players + 8 players on B List.

I'd say his weak mentality contributes more to that than his physical attribute. We had seen him do a decent job with his hold up play, especially when he first joined, but more often than not, he didn't fancy it. There are many players in the league with a similar build as him but they aren't afraid to get stuck in while Morata just didn't fancy getting involved in battles. Knock him to the ground once and he'll 'hide away' or complain about the rough challenges.

Which is such a shame, TBH. As you said, he has all the tools that every striker would want but he's just so weak mentally. One setback and he suddenly plays like a League One striker.

Not saying Azpi isn't struggling or declining etc but that graphic suggests we don't do well enough defensively as a team on the right hand side. The right midfielder and right center back clear do not provide enough defensive cover when you look at the attacks that go on our right defensive channel. We are either leaving too many gaps or players not tracking runners. Azpi can defend better yes but he can't do it all alone, not when he's getting overloaded out wide constantly. As the article above also mentioned... James may well do better than Azpi in 1 v 1 situations when put in the team but if people think swapping him for Azpi will instantly solve our defensive problems, then they are delusional because the more we play, the more our defensive shape as a team problem becomes apparent. If Lampard and co. don't make us defensively solid as a unit, the same problems will just keep on happening regardless of who plays.

TBF, even if we can buy in January, who can we realistically get? No clubs are sell their prized assets without asking for a big fee.

True but the thing with the likes of Norwich and Sheffield United is that they are indeed limited, poor-average sides who aren't going to spend big to go beyond being a Championship side like Wolves and they will very likely finish in lower region of the Premier League. I know Abraham is still very young but given we have been "burned" by so many poor strikers over the past few years, I'd reserve my judgment on him until he performs well and scores consistently, especially against the better sides. We really can't afford to screw up with this position going forward. It's been holding us back for so long!

Loaned to Rio Ave.

Don't think he did...? https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2019/09/02/spanish-loan-for-kenedy?cardIndex=0-0

Loaned to Getafe.

So going by what you both said, he could be out for up to a month? Thankfully, the international break is here but on the other hand, games will start to pile up after the break!

TBF, he didn't even play yet for Croatia. The club/NT likely discovered it after some tests.

He's suffered an 'inflamed Achilles tendon' (to his right leg). Any idea how serious usually is that and/or how long does it take for one to recover from that?