petre.ispirescu

I might be wrong and this is just my personal view on Pulisic's trajectory, but from what I saw at Dortmund and the little he has played here, he does not look to me as a future world beater, I simply cannot see the fuss about him to be honest. I know he is young and all this, but what I know also is that there is another young player that is English and really looks like the real deal by the name of Jadon Sancho who happens to be a Chelsea fan, too and best friends with another superstar in the making, CHO. An English core of Hudson-Odoi, Sancho, Loftus-Cheek, Mount, Abraham, Reece James, Tomori would simply be unreal. Surely the Sancho stuff is just a wish for the moment, but if indeed Chelsea can pull that off then surely the wings are covered for years to come, hence no place for Pulisic. Probably a loan next summer would help at least maintain his value on the market.

Been unlucky, too, though... Right now I can remember at least seven or eight big chances in the past couple of seasons, all headers.

United at home! Yesssss

Academy Day whoo hoo!!! Callum back

It might be repetitive and boring at this point what I am saying and I don't want to sound like I am kissing Klopp's ass and as much as I hate Liverpool and I am frightened of the thought of seeing them winning the league for the first time in my life, but they have now come to the point of which you can look up to them and it just shows what a quality, charismatic and passionate manager could do given time and having the backing of the board and the entire fan base. This is 100% Klopp's creation and if you go a few years back you would see the difference between Klopp's 1st and 2nd season there and this Chelsea right now is minimal. They would, like Lampard's Chelsea, be good going forward and their players would find themselves in good finishing positions, they were just too soft at the back and in midfield. Really looking foward to the moment when Loftus-Cheek comes back, too, by that moment Hudson-Odoi would probably have been back in the first team and Mount... I don't know, he does not look like being dropped anytime soon. To be fair, if we are transitionin, why not have a midfield three of Kante, Mount and Loftus-Cheek? Don't think it looks bad and frankly does not look soft either.

Ha ha, good one, but it's on Frank to solve this 'good problem' in the middle of the park. All I know is we need a successor to Hazard and Hudson Odoi has all the tools to be that man. I can't even remember when was the last time England has had so much ballers on the wings?! Now it's Sterling, Sancho, Hudson Odoi. If Southgate is still an England manager for the 2022 WC and could integrate all three of them in the same line up... Wow. They would mean business.

Although I totally agree I also think it was a 50/50 situation because he is a left winger and that place was Hazard's. CHO on the right, I don't know, looks like he is a left winger only. Some would argue that if you are good enough you can play anywhere, but then you have some solid examples like Hazard, Messi, Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, Robben, Ribery and others that have always played where they felt comfortable. Could you imagine Robben on the left? Or Neymar on the right? I can't and surely they would (or would have, in Robben's case) be inefective there. Same goes for CHO. But now he can make that left wing his Great news that he finally signed that contract, hopefully we get to see a solid full 90 min v Grimsby from him maybe.

Being a transitional season makes me more relaxed watching (and enjoying) matches so I don't really care about the results, still it's a bit hard for me to understand why would Barkley be put on penalty duties, if indeed it was the coaching staff's decision when he's been average for some time and not even playing as a regular. On top of that there was Jorginho who has not missed a pen, Abraham was also on a hot streak and even Willian who has played well v Wolves and last night. If it was me I'd have given it to Tammy to continue his streak, I know maybe Barkley needs some confidence, but Tammy to keep the streak going was more important at least in my view.

I hate Madrid but facts are facts and they are arguably the biggest football club on this planet, nobody can deny this. And the Bernabeu stadium is simply a five star one, definitely the best one I have put foot on so far and it was a football match, not a tour. The experience, the comfort, the luxury, the heating system, all of this make you feel perfect there.Truly a perfectly run club. But their fans and Spanish people in general - wow. Left me a bad taste. The most arrogant you will ever meet, they really live in their own bubble thinking the world starts in Andalucia and ends in the Basque Country. Arrogant, mean and ignorant.

When I saw the line up I thought it would be Christensen in midfield, but it was indeed three at the back. My point though is - Lampard chose to go three at the back with Rudiger, which was the normal choice, Tomori and Christensen. Well the debate for me was between Christensen and Zouma because of the NT break. Christensen travelled all around Europe to play the full 90 min v Gibraltar and Georgia, whereas Zouma was in France and did not play a single minute for France's two matches in Paris. Was clearly fresher than Christensen, but Lamps went for the Dane. Pretty much this confirms me Zouma is now the last in the pecking order. Which is fair. He genuinely looks like a likeable dude, but simply not good enough for clubs like Chelsea.

David Luiz is a clown playing for the circus club Arsenal FC, always baffles me to hear that "We're by far the greatest team, the world has ever seen" chant. A delusional song coming from a more delusional fan base. If you watch Arsenal's match closely, you will see that buffoon Emery trying to replicate Klopp with a Walmart squad and not a Gucci one, like Liverpool's. Was watching the match v Watford the other day and it was criminal from Emery to give that much free role to Ozil, Aubameyang and Pepe. I mean I know Salah, Firmino and Mane don't track back that much for Liverpool, but they are backed up by a working midfield and a top defence. What does Arsenal have? Xhaka and Guendouzi and THAT defence lead by David Luiz!!! HA HA HA. Watford ran past that midfield like they we're playing charity football against some highschool guys. A comedy club led by a total fool on the bench, a defence led by a clown David Luiz and Xhaka as captain haha. Arsenal deserve all this because of their fans' delusional levels.

Buzzing not only for the win, but the atmosphere in general around this team. I mean I live miles away and I am completely buzzing to see Chelsea graduates succeeding under the guidance of a total CFC legend, I can only imagine how it feels to be an actual English Chelsea fan atm. And some are yet to play (CHO, RLC, James). What I wished for before this season was for Lamps to be a bit like Pochettino in his approach and manage to shift formations if needed and for him (and the club) to maybe find a striker and get him the Kane route, because in this days a world class striker you either nurture yourself or you pay 100M, there is no two ways about it anymore. Well, it seems both my wishes are on the right path

I personally don't think they'll be looking for a left full back, maybe a back up one should Alonso decide he wants out. Emerson has established himself a regular for both club and country, think the only way for him is forward and will improve a lot given he also seems to have the gaffer's trust as well.

Well to be fair we all know Chelsea probably would not have gone this route (youngsters & Lampard) had everything at the club would be fine. I mean no ban and Roman back in London. Rather than a planned transition this actually is a kind of forced one given the ban and Roman's reluctance to splash big money at least until his visa problems get sorted. I mean Lampard or not, Chelsea would have still had to play this season with last season's squad - plus Pulisic. And no Hazard!!! I mean, this squad right now is not top 4 quality, not because they are dross, but because there are so many young and inexperienced guys. But at the same time, nor was (top 4 quality) a first team of Willian, Pedro, Alonso, Giroud (and all the others, bar the youngsters). I know you will probably say "But they did it already, finished 3rd last season" - I know this, but would you see that first team with no Hazard do it again this season? I personally do not. I agree youngsters need wins, but at the same time this is the perfect moment for them because there is no pressure and can develop w/o the burden of having to think "I need to score, do this, do that, we might be out of the title race, might be out of the Cup, need to winnat all costs, this is Chelsea, manager's position is in danger because I do not perform etc." I don't know for a fact (I would not be able to), but my view is that everybody at Cobham has been informed (from the higher up) this is a totally transitional season in which Lampard is 100% safe no matter what and has to play/develop Academy graduates. Will all this pay off in the long run? Nobody knows, we can only hope it will. But all I know is that there was probably never a better time to introduce the youngsters than now. We've been fortunate enough to win so many major trophies during the last 15 years, maybe it is time for a dry patch for us, too. Liverpool have gone through this for years before last May and always spent to get back, Arsenal are yet to win a major trophy (don't count FA Cup) in bastard years and spend every summer, United it's their 6th season and they continue to spend with no results. It'll probably take a couple of years but I am sure we'll be back challenging for the title by 21/22 season.

You are right at this point there is not even a debate where we at compared to the big clubs, but if you want my two cents on what is going to happen next summer well I believe we'll be in for a couple of marquee signings, ban is going to be over, the money is there, maybe not Mbappe level type of transfers, but quality ones, like Mane type of transfers, or Salah, you know what I mean? Does not mean it has to be attacking players, I just gave an example of a footballer profile, quality players that would go right into the first team and improve it instantly. Klopp finished 8th in his first season and 4th the next two seasons, only to be challenging for the title in his 4th season after he got his squad all settled and truly ready to roll. There are two routes to football glory and those are the Man City route and the project route and we seem to have taken to second one and frankly it takes time. Klopp is a more accomplished manager than Frank Lampard and it took him three years to hit the jackpot.

I don't understand why some of you act with soooooo much arrogance towards these clubs. It's not me and you or some other Sunday League folks that Chelsea have blown a 2 nil lead against, in the end it's a PL club and the fact they are not named Man City does not mean they are useless. It's not the name on the badge playing, it's the people on the pitch and Sheffield have faced an attacking trio of 20 year olds (Mount, Tammy and Pulisic) playing - such as Sheffield's players - their first PL matches, a hit and miss midfielder - and average at best if you ask me - (Barkley) and a defence of two below par guys (Zouma and Azpilicueta) and a youngster (Tomori). This was not Lampard, Drogba, Terry, Ashley Cole's Chelsea that have blown a two goal lead, it's simply a new, very young and inexperienced one and definitely not light years ahead of clubs like Sheffield United as some of you like to think. In three or four years maybe, if these young guys follow their projected trajectory, but at the moment we can't hope for free points just because the name is Chelsea FC.

He's bound to mistakes just like the youngsters playing at the moment. Who cares really?! It's a season of transition at the end of which everybody will have learned more and be more experienced going into the next one, including Frank Lampard. His chat with Kovacic during the match yesterday showed me the atmosphere at the club is better than ever and that's the most important thing after some toxic seasons. There are two established clubs at the moment that happen to be some of the best in Europe, as well (City and Liverpool) and two others that have good squads to easily finish top four (Spurs and Arsenal). Do you think Chelsea can finish ahead of one of Spurs or Arsenal? With this squad and so many youngsters playing? I don't, so the bottom line is people should chill a bit and enjoy this season, top four is out of reach. It is the perfect season to lay the foundations for the future - Hudson-Odoi, Loftus-Cheek, Reece James, Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Tomori (hopefully others to come, too) - Chelsea through and through, guys that have this club in their blood, football is going nuts with all the crazy transfer amounts and greedy agents and money grabbing cunts like Neymar. This season will most probably end bad in terms of trophies and standings, but I am sure it'll benefit a lot in the long run should youngsters continue to play.

If this had ended in a win we'd probably be talking how brave Frank was to bring Gilmour in with 5 minutes to go and a nervy finale. The problem is the so called seniors Azpilicueta and Zouma give away an easy goal. One gets bullied by fucking Callum Robinson and another can't time his bloody run. R. James, Rudiger, Tomori/Christensen and Emerson should be the defence with Kante, Jorginho and Kovacic the three midfielders.

I'm fucking fuming right now and not because of the result, but because of how fucking shite Azpilicueta is. I need some Reece James updates asap!!!

Me too, I can attend the matches in Lille and Amsterdam, but it must not be the matchday 1, I'm doing other things in September. Other than that I'm fine with any date. Fingers crossed you get the first match at the Bridge!

Late September - Reece James and Hudson-Odoi's first full 90 minutes match maybe?

The two centre backs and both midfielders in front of them, think a bit too soft for PL standards and the reason we look shaky, but things will get better I guess when Kante and Rudiger come back and cement their places. Happy for Lamps' first win, on to the next one, small steps but we're on the right track!

The first 15 minutes were simply brilliant, but at the same time it's impossible to keep that monstrous intensity for a long time. It is the exact same football Klopp used to play in his first two seasons at Liverpool when they looked brilliant for the first half of the season and then crumbled miserably because their tank was totally empty come late February. Now Klopp changed his approach a bit and keeps the same intensity, but in patches and deliberately gives possession away and that's what I am expecting from Lampard to do, too. I was thinking he'd go back to that totall football in the second half at some point, but my feeling is that the legs were too heavy after 120 minutes in Turkey and just three days rest. Let's see how we do in the next two matches with proper rest in between both.

If everything goes well with the young lads and the likes of Hudson Odoi, Pulisic, Loftus Cheek, Mason Mount, Reece James, maybe even Tammy and Tomori make the next step in their development and Chelsea make top four, too, next summer, I think Frank is going to concentrate primarly on a top centre forward, a top central midfielder and two top centre backs. Come next August, I see Hudson Odoi and Pulisic as definite starters on the wings, Emerson, too, at left back (really feel Lampard likes him there and will make that spot his), one of Azpilicueta/Reece James at right back, Kante a certainty in the middle and one of Loftus Cheek/Jorginho/Kovacic next to Kante. The other four spots (CF, CM and the two CBs) I feel and we must go for top, proven players. Whether it's English players or not, Frank must build Chelsea a strong core again. But I think it is imperative at least the two centre backs and the centre forward are of very high quality.

Confident about this one. 3 nil for the Chels