Hessleboink

Why aren't we working our way higher up the pitch? All we do is lump the ball in from deep. Havertz is not the kind of guy to score a diver header, but he's good around the 5 yard box with lower crosses. Sterling has been useless since he signed for us, gets the ball, takes 10 touches, then loses it.

This is obviously not all on the manager, but on paper he has so much to work with, but we just look absolutely woeful.

Todd Boehly's Clown College end of year performance, featuring star pupil Kalidou Koulibaly and an array of other international talent. Ticket's £20 in advanced, or £25 on the door (please see Graham near the front entrance for further enquiries).

We look so rushed around the box. Felix looks like the only one that has any composure.

https://1stream.soccer/soccer/chelsea-leeds-united-live-stream/1054845?sport=soccer

I can understand the frustration here (we're all frustrated), but it seems Potter can't really win. He either says we're at a level that we're clearly not, or he admits we're way behind City (which we have been for years) and tries to get an improvement from us. He not saying we're a small club, he's just saying we're not a top side, which has been plainly obvious all season. There were some positive signs yesterday. We played out well from the back, tried to attack front to back very quickly, and committed lots of players forward when attacking. The downsides are: terrible in final 3rd, shaky at the back. I would rather we had a bad season, implementing a good style of attacking football, than doing what we did under Tuchel, which was focus on the defence, without actually sorting the attack. This worked in the cups, but in the league didn't get us much further than Lampard or Sarri. It's possible Potter isn't the man for us, but it's clear to see that anyone who wants us to start playing good football and scoring a lot of goals is going to have a tough time implementing this. Look at Pep's first season with City, or Klopp's first couple with Liverpool To be completely honest, if it wasn't for Arsenal doing so well, I would be as annoyed by what's going on. So as long as City win the league, all I want to see this season is some progression in how we attack. It will also tell us once and for all which players are up to it, as they are not being "held back" (supposedly) by a defensive system.

Surely give him 4 games to improve then, if he doesn't, insist on the haircut? Otherwise we'll soon be out of options. Joking aside, he doesn't look great. Has way more pace than Alonso, but is worse in attack, worse in possession, and also doesn't seem to be significantly better defensively.

Really not sure what our best team is atm. I'd like to maybe see our most mobile midfield and see how they do. James, Silva, Cucurella RLC, Gallagher, Kova, Sterling Mount, Havertz, Auba Wouldn't mind trying something like this.

Yep, I agree with that. Didn't want Tuchel gone (thought my Dad was taking the piss when he told me), but will now back Potter 100% and hopefully he can get a bit more out of some of our players.

Looks like he also plays 3 at the back. Anyone more familiar with his football got any idea who he's likely to favour early on/long-term? From the reading I've done, I can see a 3-5-2 of: Mendy Fofana, Silva, Cucurella James, Mount/Gallagher, Zakaria/Jorginho, Kovacic/Kante, Chillwell Havertz/Sterling, Aubamyeng/Broja Although, I'd like to see us try a 4-2-3-1 with: Mendy James, Fofana, Silva, Chillwell Kovacic, Zakaria Mount, Sterling, Havertz Aubamyeng

Very surprised by this. Think it's a bit early tbh. Bit disheartened. Tuchel has proved himself more than many of our players.

Azpi and Koulibaly look like they've just stepped out of retirement. Mount isn't strong enough defensively to play in a midfield 2. Sterling has been utter sh*te. Fofana, Kovacic, Havertz all playing fairly well. Aubameyang has looked promising, but looks hindered by the jaw which is understandable. We need to take Azpi off, move to a back 4, stick Zakaria on next to Kova and hook either Mount or Sterling to accommodate. 4-2-3-1. Koulibaly really is a worry though tbh, looks completely lost.

Broja mad a big difference physically when he came on. Think he needs to start from now on.

Mount needs to come on, RLC off.

This is so so poor. Why play our two smallest players up front with wingbacks? What chance is there of these guys scoring from a cross?

Have a good feeling about this one. I fancy him to hit 15 prem goals this season. He clearly has a big ego, which hopefully means he doesn't bottle playing for us like so many before him seemingly have. He's also the best finisher we've had for this position since Costa. He doesn't have Costa's aggression, but the players around him should hopefully be able to make up for that. If we're moving to a 4-3-3, the left flank with him and Sterling rotating should have plenty of movement/runs in behind. Then Havertz/Mount/James can provide something else over on he right (if we play a 4-3-3 with a DM, B2B, attacking mid). Or we could play Havertz/Mount/Ziyech as a number 10 behind him, with DM + Jorginho, then Sterling and Pulisic (would've preferred CHO) as width. Either way, the deadline day signings give us plenty of new options as to how we set up in attack.

This time last season, we were top and Arsenal were bottom. They almost scraped top 4 (and we just about managed it). There's a long way to go this season. I'm very confident that we will improve, and both Spurs and Arsenal will drop off as the games pile up. Think we'll come top 3.

I can't stand this guy. Only thing I've seen him do is win a leg race and then dive at the slightest bit of contact.

If we brought him back as player/chef, he could make sure his dietary requirements are more strictly adhered to, thus missing less games.

I think Brighton are taking the piss, tbh, and agree with what someone posted above: if they really want Colwill, then this should make our position stronger, ie, they'll take 50 Million (the price they supposedly quoted City), plus an agreed fee for Colwill. But they seem to be saying, give us Colwill and £55+ million? £42.5 million + Colwill (assuming he'd move), with a buy back of 25 million coming into effect within 2 years would be fair. That way, if he kicks on, they triple their money, same as they have with Cucurella.

Cheers, Azpi. Do you rate him? Where would you see him slotting in?

What's this guy like? Looks like a more mobile Jorginho from the few clips i've seen. Is he fast/strong, or rather - faster and stronger than Jorginho? I actually really like Jorginho, but his weaknesses can be exposed by top sides. Would this guy let us shift into a 4-3-3? Is he capable of holding down the DM spot in a physical league?

They apparently paid up to £36.5 million for him, and if/when they sell him on, Saint-Étienne get a 20% sell on fee. Given how good he's been, you'd think they'd want to at least double their money before even considering to sell. That's £73 million. Another 20% on top of that.. 87 odd million. They would probably want £80-90 million for him. Maybe we could get away with 70 plus add-ons.. it's a lot of money. Suppose if we do pay it and it doesn't work out, we could always loan him to Inter Milan!

This kind of hero's welcome would've gotten Werner off to a flying start!

Do you know something we don't? Latest rumours have us in lead to sign him?