ozboy

It’s been obvious Pulisic would be injured most of the time since the day he joined. Can’t say I’m the least bit surprised. Lampard pointed out he needed to be managed with care. Think we’ve done our dough there to an extent and I’m a big supporter of him as a player when he is fit. will Kante and Jorginho be fit? Can azpi play twice a week as wing back? dave/cho chalobah christenson Rudigier alonso Jorginho kova havertz mount (Timo if mount unable) romelu

And by the way Jorginho being off shows why we do depend on him and why him being overplayed is such a worry. If that’s what it was.

With Kante at his best that’s probably true, Kante was very average in that game and personally I think we do lack a bit of depth. Like you say ziyech and cho are not on the same level right now and with Pulisic injured a lot of the time that makes things thin. Equally Saul clearly isn’t going to be up to the job for a while so after Kante is injured we’d struggle if RLC wasn’t around. Missing Pulisic is not irrelevant. Far too strong a view.

I agree with that, but these day I think Guardiola has done enough to show he is a good coach, he clearly improved some players, his teams have style. How good I don’t know.

Lucky goal but not the wrong result on balance of play. Better when havertz was on. Good news was RLC who was pretty good albei when they were tiring. Kovacic was strong. Sigh. first time since Tuchel’ s been there that we were outclassed. hopefully that result will put a bit of extra steel into the team.

Good lineup I think. Hopefully Werner and Romelu click. Havertz can come on for Werner or a midfielder depending.

I rarely get a Tuchel team right but I think he will pick mendy dave christenson Silva Rudigier alonso kant Jorginho kova havertz lukaku

This is a big but not vital game, either side could lose and still go on to win the premiership. Unless pep makes the same mistake as in prior games and over extends in attack, it may well be low scoring. With mount out most likely it’s most likely Kante, kova and Jorginho but I think there’s a case for playing Werner instead of say kova. Our attacking options limited right now. Werner, ziyech, cho. Pulisic is very important to the bench and will be missed.

from espn. Tuchel's grand gesture for Paris cleaner Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel's Paris Saint-Germain legacy means the world for one family in particular: his former cleaner in Paris. Tuchel and his family employed a cleaner during his tenure as PSG coach from 2018-20. After being told by his wife Sissi that the cleaner had been working extra hours as she looked to afford surgery for her son, who had a heart problem, Tuchel paid for the hospital costs involved, sources told ESPN. When his spell at the Ligue 1 giants was coming to a close, Tuchel had a long chat with his cleaner in Paris about her wishes for the future. Sources told ESPN the woman said her biggest dream was to own a house in the Philippines, where she was from. Tuchel was sacked by PSG just before Christmas in 2020 and moved to London a month later to take over as Chelsea boss from Frank Lampard, but not before giving his cleaner the keys to a property he bought for her. -- Julien Laurens

This game won’t determine either team’s season. Probably matters more to them than us.

I never thought he was suited to the deeper role but in general he didn't do himself any harm against Villa. He doesn't have the passing range or the defensive positioning skills of Jorginho but using his strength and footwork he is as good as Jorginho or Kova in receiving the ball in tight space and getting the team free. He can shoot, and of course he runs with the ball very well. Really its a pretty good package. On the performance tonight he would be way in front of Saul for me. Not sure about the consistency. Another of Jorginho's attributes is to turn in his best game about 90% of the time he's on the pitch. Reminds of what Grandad used to say about grandma's VW, max speed 60, cruising speed 60, town speed 60.

Chalobah was badly turned once and RLC’s positioning in defence isn’t quite right and win backs a bit low but in general they were both the two that Iimproved their reputations tonight. Chilwell was way off his best but improved as the game went on. Sarr isn’t ready yet but he gets a oasis as first season near the team. Saul was very dissapointing but you can still say only his second game. I’d prefer RLC when it counts. Reece is wasted in back 3 but did the job. ziyechs ratio of good to bad is all wrong but he does bring flashes of excitement. Cho still needs to man up. Got to learn to play on the right.

But ofcredit to villa. They were no mugs.

Chalobah looks like a proper chelsea player, and RLC also good. Ziyech, Saul not so much.

James, as good as he is, not being Kante, can't play both wing back positions at once so I guess Chiller will get the left back spot.