I think chemistry and cohesion are potential problems if the Havertz transfer goes through. this year, Abraham, CP, Willian, and Mount have been their primary attacking players, but bringing Havertz in would likely mean that’s three of those four are replaced. Even if Mount plays a lot as a central midfielder, it could take a good bit of time for those guys to develop chemistry together. also, Abraham has been up and down this year, and I’m not too high on him long term, but he has scored 14 league goals. I can’t imagine him just going along with being forced into a competition with Giroud for backup minutes. Same for Mount if he isn’t a starter in midfield. You also have CHO who they had to basically bribe into sticking around further getting cemented to the bench. I think these are generally the right decisions from Lampard, but it’s a lot to adjust to in one season, and I think it won’t go down well in the locker room.
They just need to score more goals than the rival. Go for broke: attack with six. We'll be seeing many Chelsea games ending 4-3 or 3-2 if not more.
New interview with Sky Sports: https://www.skysports.com/football/...t-form-with-chelsea-and-premier-league-dreams
Unfortunate news for one of Pulisic's teammates. Gilmour seemed a little lightweight to me in defensive midfield, but that probably would have improved with more game time. Good news for Jorginho though: Lampard on Gilmour: "Gilmour has had an operation on his knee this morning. He will be out for between three or four months, unfortunately. We are disappointed here and Billy is himself. I spoke to him at length, giving him support." #CFC— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) July 10, 2020
That means that 3 of the 4 (non-attacking) CMs that have started for Chelsea since the restart are now injured. I'm not sure Chelsea even have any more options in the squad at this point other than Jorginho.
Geeze! The fans are just plain apathetic! One has his eyes glued to his laptop! Who brings a laptop to a game??? [emoji41]
9 goals, 8 assists with at least half a dozen games to go, could we see him finish with 15 goals/15 assists or so in all competitions? what do you guys think?
You think he's going to average a goal and an assist the rest of the way? Why not say he scores four to lead Chelsea past Bayern and then to the Champions' League title, including a four-assist performance in the final? I'd take continued strong play, starting a majority of the games left, and Chelsea finishing in the top four. That's hard enough.
For those who have coached the game (not me) or watch with a coach’s eye, how do you feel about the Chelsea back line? Is the roster of backs sufficient to make a run at the EPL championship next year? If your answer is yes, is that because you think the offense of firepower will overwhelm opposing teams so that a mediocre defense is good enough? Or is that because you think Chelsea has a critical mass of championship caliber backs on the roster now. As somebody who has coached other team sports, my instinct is that weakness in central defense will always come back to bite you. From what I read and see, each of these backs is good enough at some things but not good enough at others. And taken as a group, their weak spots don’t appear to be at the offensive end. I recall last year seeing Rudiger play very well, but he seems slow footed now. I recall thinking of Azpilicueta as one of the best outside backs in the world. He seems more inconcsistent now. I am optimistic about Tomori and Zouma rising to the challenge next year. Alonso is a major asset in the attack, but lately he also seems erratic and unreliable at the defensive end. So I guess my ancillary question, is why is that analysis wrong? Or if it isn’t, why don’t we hear about Chelsea targeting defenders whose specialty is defense. P.S. I have a similar concern about replacing Kante, but one issue at a time.
he's on a goalscoring run with assists. Chelsea can still make it to FA Cup Final and a prayer to beat Munich. it's forseeable he can score several more and assist several more. maybe he finishes with 12 goals and 10 assists but I'm quite optimistic for more.
never want to see anyone injured, but hard to disagree that gilmour doesnt physically look up to the role. granted kante doesnt pass the eyetest either, but you watch him play for 5 minutes and see that he has the strength and athleticism. with gilmour i cant help but think what people would say if lamps were gregg and chelsea were the usmnt and he was a starter.
There is always room for a player like Havertz... He would be an awesome addition to the squad. I would prefer that Chelsea spent that money on a couple elite defenders but if they want to try and win with a fantastic offense then I think they are on to something. Things can change quickly at the EPL level but based on what I have seen I would think that the optimal offense would look something like: CP - Werner - Ziyech Mount - Kai - RLC -------- Kante ---------- But do that have 3 who can play in the back that won't give up goals on counters? They surely need a new GK at the very least because Kepa is a total joke.
Problem with that plan is it requires Kante fit for the entire season. They really need, in addition to Kante, a bruising mid that can physically intimidate someone once and awhile. Weston McKennie!
Some of us did say those things in this thread or the gameday threads of the last two matches he played - no imagination necessary. Hope he recovers fully, gets stronger, and finds his right position. I'm getting nervous he's not going to make it at this level.
Transfermarkt has a different definition of an assist.... and the 8 is across all competitions. It states that he has 4 in the EPL. I actually think it is a more realistic description of his service / chances created this season. The more I watch CP serve balls to Willian et. al. that don't get put away the more I have a problem with the assist metric.
Transfermarkt gives an assist to the player who draws the foul on a successful penalty kick, so that gets you to 4 in the league, plus 2 CL assists (1 via penalty), 1 League Cup assist, and 1 European Super Cup assist. So it's 8 in all comps with penalties, 5 in all comps without, 4 in the league with, 2 in the league without.