chiefBlueCFC

Well, we know we need a damn striker thats for sure. Hopefully Tammy proves that he can score some goals and makes the need for a striker less. We also know we need a LB. I also think we could use another winger that can play centrally as well. I'm not too familiar with who is available and what not so I won't list names but I've seen a lot of Chilwell, Sancho, and Skriniar. I know of Sancho and Skriniar obviously but not too familiar with Chilwell. I think as long as we go after the top targets we want and are aggressive we should be okay. But if we do what we have done previously, and spend 200-300 million on squad depth then we won't make the necessary improvements we need.

Come on CHELSEA!

Champions League, always and forever.

I couldn't watch the match yesterday. From what I read, we were unlucky not to have scored 2-3 goals ourselves. Of course, who knows how the match plays out at that point. Well, we knew that the season wasn't going to be a bit of a roller coaster so, here we go!

Kepa Azpi Zouma DL EMerson Kante Kova Pulisic Barkles Pedro Tammster This is my guess as the starting line up...

Defense might be a leaky this year. Granted there is no Kante right now and that matters but...

He can be good depth if he can accept his role within the squad. There really is no need to completely isolate him from the first team like Sarri did, but at the same time he is 4th choice at best behind Kante, Kova and Jorginho. When we play in a 3 man mid, he falls even further behind RLC, Mason, and Ross. Maybe he can work his way into the squad to give the primary central mids days off against lower competition in the League cup and FA Cup. Maybe a match or two in the Champions League.

He can be good depth if he can accept his role within the squad. There really is no need to completely isolate him from the first team like Sarri did, but at the same time he is 4th choice at best behind Kante, Kova and Jorginho. When we play in a 3 man mid, he falls even further behind RLC, Mason, and Ross. Maybe he can work his way into the squad to give the primary central mids days off against lower competition in the League cup and FA Cup. Maybe a match or two in the Champions League.

For me it would be Reece James, Tammy Abraham, and Mason Mount (I feel like I could put a good decent amount of players in this list). Reece - with the campaign he had at Wigan, I want to see what he does in the premier league. The few matches I saw, he was absolutely amazing. I want to see if by Christmas he has pushed Azpi to CB or LB since he has played both. If not by Christmas by the spring. Need him to get healthy so we can see him for real in the premier league. Tammy - I am ready to see what he can do in the premier league with decent quality around him. Not what he had at Swansea. I think the kid could be that striker that we have been searching for because Giroud is not getting any younger and Batshuayi hasn't been the most consistent. I do like Bats but I don't know if his style fits ours. Mason - I mean, in all honesty, I could've added RLC, CHO etc but those two being injured, I don't think we are going to see them at their fullest abilities at any time this season. It will be next year for them for me. But I am ready to watch Mason grow further under Frank. In all reality I'm excited to watch Ross as well and see how he improves under Frank as well, but let's be honest, Mason has loads of potential and he is starting well in preseason. If Mason pushes Ross and they both are competing for the no 10 role then obviously that is a win-win for Chelsea. Not exactly looking forward to Alonso and Zappacosta: Alonso - I think if Frank switches it up to 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 then Alonso has a good deal to offer, but in a back 4 I think he is more of a liability. Plus, you can't really afford to have your LB banging forward and playing next to the striker in the opponents box. It's great when he scores, and he does have a knack for scoring some big goals in some big games, but his lack of pace and his playing so far out of position it compromises the entire back 4 makes it not worth it for me. Zappacosta - This was one of those signings that I didn't see it working out well from the beginning but one of those you hoped that the scouts knew something and they were right and you were wrong. His crossing isn't all that amazing. He sometimes has flashes but you don't really trust him against the top teams of the premier league. If he stays I don't know when he gets into the squad because I have Azpi and Reece ahead of him and it's by a decent amount.

That's right! It was Stoke, thank you. The few amount of matches of Everton I watched, Zouma was their best defender in my eyes, but I didn't watch to critique all of them and I didn't watch that often either. It seemed to me that prior to his injury, he was improving quite a bit every week and was becoming one of our better defenders. His injury was a bad one and it takes some time to fully get your feet under you after an injury like that,

Hopefully he proves that view to be wrong, but it looks like we are going to find out either way. I didn't watched him a whole lot while he was at Palace (I think it was CP) and Everton, if I'm being honest. I don't watch out rivals all that much really. Sometimes I do, but I don't spend every week watching as many matches as possible. I pretty much stick to Chelsea and that's it. Hopefully we see him improve in that regard (positioning and timing his jumps) if your critique of him is true.

I understand that viewpoint. Personally, I think selling him would be a mistake. I see him as potentially taking over that dominating presence in the middle of the defense. He's very strong in the air and I feel he reads the game well. In fact, if he wouldn't have gotten injured a few years back, I think he would be a stalwart in our defense already.

I think the extension gives Chelsea the opportunity to sell next season as you say. While we won't get the 60 million Barcelona were supposedly offering, there are several mid table-esque clubs in the top five leagues that would take him on. I say that but I'm not taking into account his wages and age and demand for playing time which could easily turn off some mid table clubs that would rather have a younger player. I feel like I see a plan currently at Chelsea for the first time in a while. Now, they could throw that completely out the window when we are allowed to make transfers next summer and overpay for squad depth as they have been doing lately. But, I feel like now with Frank at the helm, maybe they've realized that there needs to be a distinct strategy for everything they do with a common goal at the end.

So do you think we should sell Zouma then? I would include Zouma in my squad and loan Tomori to a premier league team if I could. I would also include Baka, but other than those two players I think you're probably got the squad down if it were up to me.

I think this season we will need Willian. If we are hoping to rely on Willian for goals this season it will be a long one regardless. But Willian, however frustrating he may be, will bring quality to our team. While his final product isn't that of Hazard or even Pedro, he does well to retain possession and he is very good on the ball. Once CHO is back and gets to full match playing fitness, my hope is Pulisic and CHO will be our primary wingers with Willian and Pedro as the backups. But until he is back I imagine we will be seeing a lot of him and Pedro unless another young player steps up and takes playing time away from one of them.