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He had a really good game. Can't believe that he is being criticized by a few. Don't get me wrong I don't want him playing as a CM in most premier league games as he will be more susceptible to losing the ball against better midfield players, however he was very good last night, for a player who has not had much action, he constantly drove us through with his marauding runs. Really pleased with his performance.

Wow. Wow. Total dominance. That second half change worked wonders. Absolutely dominated after that change. Dominated the midfield. If Rudiger wants £200k p/w, I hope the club give it to him. He is a colossus. Thiago Silva was a boss. He is still one of the best CB in Europa at his age. Christensen was fantastic too. Alonso had another fantastic game, he was simply brilliant. He made a couple fantastic leaps and is able to stand his own against physical strikers. Kovacic again I will say had another fantastic game but he does not get the praise he warrants from the media and even Chelsea fans alike. I was worried about the team we put out as thought it was a bit too defensive and first half it was very 50/50, however that change second half helped us dominate the game. Will be interesting now to see if we go 5-3-2 against City. KTBFFH!

Could be wrong but just feel the team looks way too defensive. Not enough pace for me and I feel we should be doing more to pose a threat to them offensively.

He retired from national duty. In any case they are well stocked at CB anyway.

Yep that's my only worry. I am mean that will most likely be the team, but there isn't enough pace in that team. Werner for instance last season was a brilliant outlet for the game and won us the penalty and his pace caused problems. We defo are the better team, but I feel if we go with the expected team, it may be quite difficult to break down Spurs.

Feel for Werner and Chilwell. If there was one game to see Lukaku and Werner together, was tonight. Don't understand Chilwell not starting too. He has not played a game this season and I don't see him starting against Spurs, so a bit bemused about that. Although Ziyech was not that good against Villa, good to see Tuchel giving him another chance as these are type of games we really bought him for tbh to unlock those defences.

Funny thing is he isn't starting.

Chalobah looks so solid once again. Not the best performance, but a clinical win. Mendy was solid in goal. Kovacic the best player on the pitch by far. Saul had a poor game. Was way too confident and needs to realise the PL is a lot different. Hopefully a lesson learned. Lukaku, clinical! P.S there needs to be a statue made of Lukaku waving out his arms to his players or some sort of emoji with it, complaining when he does not receive the ball. It makes me laugh. He is so passionate and gets so irritated when he does not receive the ball and moans at his team mates. Been doing it for years. Kovacic could have played him in twice tbh, and missed both opportunites bar the first goal. Kovacic had brilliant game nevertheless. 4 games, 1 goal conceded, 9 goals scored. Yes, good, solid start.

Put some respect on his name!

Kovacic is such a good player. Will repeat and repeat again, the most underrated player in the league. Pure quality.

This is crazy. The game has started and then the game has been halted. How was this not sorted out before the game? This is quite ridiculous.

I am a huge fan of Kovacic. One of the most underrated players in the team for me. But generally agree with you. But that is my point with Kante. Quality player who is very important for the big games but against 3/4 of teams we play we can play them off the field with our domination of play. Against the likes of Palace, Southampton, etc we are fine with Kovacic and Jorginho. Arsenal in recent seasons have been a bit of a bogey team and we looked more than assured with a Kovacic and Jorginho midfield in the game this season.

We already have a big advantage in that Martinez and Buendia both will be unavailable for this due to traveling for Argentina's qualifying games.

Lol. I am a bit shocked to how blinkered you are. I have been saying that Jorginho and Kovacic are a better partnership for most games, well before Jorginho won his award so you can put that talk to bed. Jorginho's performances go unnoticed to Kante. Kante gets rave reviews because of his excellent work rate, however Jorginho's dictating of the game gets less plaudits and is underestimated. If you are shocked about a Chelsea fan thinking Jorginho is more important to the team then Kante, then I don't think you watch enough games for us. I watch every Chelsea game and as good as Kante has been, we have proven we can win games without him and with ease too.

You are mad if you think that Kante is more important for the system than Jorginho, I can argue. You are mentioning the gegenpressing is made for Kante, without mentioning that we look to dominate the ball in most games anyway, which is when Jorginho is more crucial. Our domination of possession is paramount to having Jorginho in that team.

But effectively there is no guaranteed player. Jorginho is probably guaranteed to start more games than Kante due to the way we play. But over majority of games we play, Jorginho is more crucial one can argue.

Kante is not a guaranteed starter as well. He will be rotated. One, because majority of teams we play, our CM pairing of Jorginho and Kovacic is a better partnership. Secondly, he is injury prone. As good as Kante is, a lot of his best performances come when he is rotated out the team for the odd game and then comes back in fully refreshed.

Thanks god for that. We just needed another CM. Was absolutely crucial. A good one we have too. It is just very risky and not helping ourselves to rely on Kovacic, Jorginho and Kante as our only 3 out and out CM in the squad. Man City have KDB, Rodri, Fernandinho, Gundogan as natural CM who can play that role. Kante on other hand is injury prone which means we sometimes are relying on only two natural CM. We are competing for PL, UCL, Fifa Club World Cup, FA Cup, Carabao Cup. We need the depth. Especially after loaning out Gallagher and Gilmour, you would think it is a no brainer. Very good transfer window but still annoyed it seems we will not be buying Kounde this summer. We have sold more than we have bought and for a 22 year old who is one of the best CB in Europe and is as accomplished as a CB you can get, you would think we would pay that little bit extra for him, especially now we have the money for Zouma. Who knows next year if Kounde even will join us. He would be also good for playing that LCB role as well as well as anyhwere else in backline. If we got Kounde, it would make it a perfect window as it means where we have sold, we have also bought replacements too. I mean if a late deal can happen for Kounde as it happened with Saul, then great. Very happy with the squad depth but just irritated we havent stumped up that extra cash for one of the best CB in Europe currently who is only 22 years of age and will only get better.

Out of interest, why are you called 'Patrick Bamford'? Always wondered Is it your name or just an interest in the player?

Kovacic was absolutely brilliant when he came on second half. Christensen getting better and better. He was on the field from beginning so can see why pundits gave him MOTM but Kovacic done so well in keeping the ball, and his ability to play himself out of difficult situations is really underestimated. Will take that. Almost feels like 3 points.

This why another CM is needed. Only 3 games in an already Kante is having injury issues from the opening game of season and has gone off in a key 3rd game.

Really frustrating as if it wasn't for the game being completely turned by that one event, I thought we looked rather comfortable and we were bound to get a second on the counter. Really annoying.

LOL...

He was not forced. He decided to loan out a £27m signing in Saliba and not trust him. Not buying that.

Most people expected Arsenal to lose to us and City, but the manner in defeat is embarrassing. I was always happy with Arsenal keeping him because I always thought he was out his depth. 3 games played where they could have a GD of -10 and no goals scored. But you know they probably will keep him.