Jase

Is it just me or has Luiz reverted to the old Luiz? In the last couple of games, he has charged out of position like a headless chicken to intercept the ball. Worked a few times but it has left us exposed on other occasions and we nearly paid the price.

Unless we switch to a back 4, playing 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 is a double-edged sword. If we go with 3-5-2, we'll have no width and risk letting their FBs have freedom to bomb forward at will. If we play 3-4-3, we'll most definitely get dominated in midfield but will have more width and able to check their FBs.

6 wins out of 6 and counting as captain... W 4-2 Spurs W 2-1 Spurs W 2-0 Everton W 2-1 Leicester W 4-0 Stoke W 1-0 Bournemouth

AS Roma 3-0 Chelsea PRE/POST-MATCH DISCUSSION, LIVE CHAT AND ANALYSIS 2017/18 Champions League Group Stage Matchday 4 31st October, Tuesday, 2017 Stadio Olimpico 19:45 Kick Off (UK time)

A comfortable win and a welcome clean sheet but we were really good in patches. Should have thrashed them considering they were so poor.

Why does Conte speaking his mind gotta be associated with pressure getting to him? He may have used a swearword but at no point during the press conference he lost his composure. It was a measured response to what the media have been reporting and quite frankly, don't we all feel the same way about those rumours as well? And if you have read his quotes or watched the presser, you'll know he was more upset about Steve Holland getting dragged into this. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/oct/27/antonio-conte-report-carlo-ancelotti-chelsea-return

Their next 6... Huddersfield (h) Maribor (h) West Ham (a) Southampton (h) Sevilla (a) Chelsea (h)

It's only one extra midfielder. In any case, my point was more about the traveling. Going to Azerbaijan, playing on Wednesday, coming back on god knows what time on Thursday morning, having less than a day to rest/prepare, then heading off to Liverpool on late Friday etc. Plus we all know Liverpool are going to go full throttle at us at Anfield and the crowd is going to be pumped up. It all depends on the matchday 4's results. If we lose at Roma and Atletico beat Qarabag, then there's only 3 points separating Roma, us and Atletico, making the Qarabag match a MUST win game and likely forcing Conte to play a strong XI. Can't afford to be underestimating them anyway considering Roma only just beat them and Atletico didn't even do that.

He'll be lucky to get one considering the same fellas were reluctant to give Lampard and Terry one previously. Maybe but do tell what has he improved? Which part of his game has he genuinely improved? Saying he was preferred by manager X, Y, Z doesn't say much when we didn't have many options before.

Worth noting that we only have 2 days of rest between the Qarabag and Liverpool games. If we thought playing Atletico and City in 4 days was bad, this might well be even worse.

Looking back, it's kinda laughable that Cahill made a fuss about not being guaranteed first team action 2-3 years ago and we went on to give him a contract extension. His continuous inclusion in the starting XI really continues to baffle. What does he offer that Rudiger and Christensen don't? The latter two may be relatively new to the team and Premier League but I would rather them play in the XI, make mistakes and learn from them than someone who continues to make mistakes and not learn or can't seem to improve his game. In fact, how much has Cahill actually improved since joining us? It feels like it has been nothing more than constant average-ness throughout these 5 1/2 years. Mentioned this before, for a manager who likes his team to defend properly and play out from the black, Conte sure has a "strange" preference with Cahill. Is it because he's the captain? Can't defend properly unless it's back to the walls stuff and can't play out from the back either. Opponents tend to have it easy in shutting down his passing options - cut out his option to Alonso and make him pass across the back. They are taking advantage of the fact that Cahill doesn't even take some risk with his passing. Have noticed a couple of times this season when opponents press us, there's space in midfield with one of our players occupying it and he could have easily passed into him to bypass the press and yet he's never done it. How did he even become captain in the first place? Never mind his performances, he doesn't even seem to have that authority or assurance of a leader when he speaks. It's not easy to speak to a big crowd but I remember him getting nervous addressing the fans during the title celebrations in May. Stark contrast to when Terry was speaking. Honestly, the board need slapping if they even dare think of offering him another contract extension.

Cesar Azpilicueta shows exactly why he should replace Gary Cahill as Chelsea captain

But on the other hand, whenever we do just hit corners into the box, it'll more often than not hit the first man or be comfortable for the opposition to do well. Don't think either approach is bad. It's just the execution of it. It's like we don't even practice any of them.

First of 5 away games in next 6. Bournemouth (a) Roma (a) Man Utd (h) West Brom (a) Qarabag (a) Liverpool (a)

Bournemouth 0-1 Chelsea PRE/POST-MATCH DISCUSSION, LIVE CHAT AND ANALYSIS 2017/18 Premier League Match 10 28th October, Saturday, 2017 Vitality Stadium 17:30 Kick Off (UK time)

League Cup quarter finalists Arsenal Bournemouth Bristol City Chelsea Leicester Man City Man Utd West Ham Draw tomorrow at 4pm UK time.

Performance was meh but good win, I guess. Another game we'll have to contend with in December and there are already loads of league games that month!

Elsewhere...Bristol City 4-1 Crystal Palace.

We're in October 2017 and people are still pretending like Costa hadn't down tooled since January and wanted to leave. Right...because Mourinho, for example, didn't created crisis in his previous regime - moaning about the lack of signings, having a go at team doctor, challenging the board to sack him, throwing players under the bus after defeats etc.

http://resources.fifa.com/mm/document/the-best/playeroftheyear-men/02/91/68/49/faward_menplayer2017_neutral.pdf Hazard got 24 votes - only first place vote (came from Roberto Martinez) - for FIFA's Men's Player 2017 Award, 3 less than Kante.

http://resources.fifa.com/mm/document/the-best/playeroftheyear-men/02/91/68/49/faward_menplayer2017_neutral.pdf Kante got 27 votes, including 3 first place votes (one from Hazard), for FIFA Men's Player 2017 Award, 3 more than Hazard.

Their U23 coach will take charge of this match, according to Guardian. Honestly, don't think I'm overly bothered about this game. Important to keep winning run going but might not be a bad thing if we get KOed here.