DaRick

I have no expectations from this game whatsoever. Hope I'm pleasantly surprised...

Finished 2nd with Leipzig in the Bundesliga in 2016/17 - should be interesting to see how he goes.

How very Australian of you @coco - seeing the bright side of things.

I just think that he could have rotated them better than he has. For mine he has given Willian more playing time than his performances actually warrant, whereas Pedro is more suitable to play the Callejon role because of his movement/finishing. Agree that CHO should have been used more than he has been to relieve the two.

Seems like a lifeless limp performance. Another case of a poor time-zone being a blessing in disguise then.

Since I last posted in this thread, the side has regressed rather than kicking on as they looked like doing. I do think that Sarri has been somewhat stubborn with his selections (playing Willian/Alonso too much), but I also think that with the fixture pile-up the side are struggling to play the high-pressing, high-possession style we saw up until October or thereabouts. As has been pointed out, Pedro/Willian are ageing and so can't press as effectively as they used to over 90 minutes. For now I will reserve judgement. If we wind up playing lifeless football for months on end then either the personnel or the manager need to be examined.

Arsenal have their faults - defensively they're still vulnerable and they lack cohesion, but against Tottenham they really lived up to their nickname - they have enough firepower to blast away any side on their day.

An uninspiring win, but it's better than an inspired loss, so I'll take it. My thoughts: 1) The first goal sums up why Chelsea has kept Kante as a first XI player - whatever else you can say about him, he is IMO the world's best ball-winner, winning the ball in their end before starting a counterattacks, which Pedro's movement and finishing turned into a goal. That's why Pedro should be in the starting team. Willian has nowhere near the movement or the finishing to exploit that opportunity. 2) Yes, Alonso wasn't particularly good going forward today. He's never been a great crosser, but today he couldn't seem to get any on target. 3) One theme is that Giroud is too slow to get to chances close to the goal, whether being played in by Hazard or another player. If Giroud's aerial ability isn't going to be used then all he can do is bully defenders. Not that Morata did much when he came on, wasting opportunities. I feel for Sarri RE the striker department. The best he can do is horses for courses. Against big, strong defenders or deep defensive lines, play Giroud. Against smaller defenders or against sides leaving space in behind, play Morata. Unless its a big game, in which case you would start Giroud and hope that Morata does something from the bench, as with Real Madrid/Juventus. 4) RLC again showing predatory instincts and good movement to collect the ball from Hazard and coolly finish. Where does he come in now? 5) What to do about Kovacic/Kante? Kovacic is technically impeccable and works hard, but he doesn't have that much creativity and while his dribbling causes difficulties, his movement/finishing aren't great. Kante has shown why you can't not play him, but it's not clear that he can fully perform the Allan role either, given that Allan was a bit better technically. I hope that Sarri can help Kante to improve his technique, or Kovacic is movement/finishing. Combined they'd be one hell of a player. Moreover, where do RLC/Barkley fit into all of this? Has RLC brought himself into contention with Kovacic? 6) As for Fulham, Chambers was energetic and Rico made a few good saves. Not much else to comment on though. Not looking forward to the game against Man City BTW.

We've started well. Maybe have Kante and Kovacic swap positions? Kante plays the ball-winning midfielder role while Kovacic becomes more like a Attacking Central Midfielder who does some defensive work?

Glad to see Pedro and Giroud in, with Morata being super-sub. Surprised that Barkley isn't on the bench. Is he injured?

There's no positive spin that I can place on this result. Our performances have been steadily declining since the Burnley game and today we were physically bullied by a side that played with more cohesion and seemed to understand the significance of the rivalry more than we did. Frankly, that's a damning indictment.

Can't we at least look interested against our rivals?

Alli always scores against us.

Will be a tight game; could go either way, We have played better than Tottenham this season IMO and we do have a good record at Wembley, but Tottenham have a very good side and they know how to 'win ugly'. Hope we belt them of course.

The weird thing about him at Chelsea is that he could play well against the top sides (maybe due to the formation, but still) and yet bomb against almost everyone else. Still, he's managed to piece together a few good performances so I hope for his sake that he enjoys a lasting run of form.

Joe Cole has retired... https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2018/11/13/18090954/chelsea-legend-joe-cole-one-of-our-own-retires-after-20-year-playing-career For nostalgia's sake... The two I remember, even without watching this video, are that absurd backheel against Man U at Old Trafford and that goal he scored at Stamford Bridge where he received the ball with his back to goal, then turned around, beat two players with a mazy run and dispatched the ball past van der Sar. Those two moments signified what he brought to the table more than anything else - flair and technical ability.

No problem man.

I disagree with most of this. My responses are in bold.

I don't contest that Pep is a very fine manager and that his sides can play some incredible football. Upon reflection, I will also give Pep credit for learning to be a bit more pragmatic with the keeping of time. He did change his side's approach in response to Liverpool, for example. However, I maintain that his general style, high-pressing tiki-taka, requires such skill and stamina to pull off across a season that he can struggle to get the best out of his personnel where his side isn't clearly the strongest in the league. His travails during his first season in the PL (2016/17), with a squad that was flawed but nonetheless IMO weak favourites to win the league, is a case in point. Some will point to his 2008/09 Barcelona side, but while he deserves credit for bringing in Alves/Keita/Pique and removing Deco/Ronaldinho, he also benefited from a dysfunctional league challenger in Real Madrid, a fully fit Eto'o, plus Messi/Iniesta beginning to peak both physically and in terms of performance. He is not quite like Sarri elevating a fairly mediocre Napoli side to legitimate title challengers against an incredibly dominant Juventus side.

I get the feeling that you quoted the wrong post. On the City situation, I don't have anything against City as a club, but I agree that their situation is different from ours in that we had the wealth of one man behind us whereas they, like PSG, have the wealth of an entire state behind them. I also agree that while Chelsea have benefited greatly from their wealth during their time, they weren't allowed to circumvent existing UEFA rules the way that City have. I will also note that while Chelsea actually broke into the Top 4 at the time of Roman's takeover, Man City when the Arabs bought them was more of a mid-table club.

It's not a coincidence that we've not played particularly well in the Premier League after being forced to travel in midweek. Looking at the highlights, Pickford probably prevented at least one goal from being scored (his save off Alonso was great), but on the other hand Chelsea didn't really seem to be at the races and were perhaps lucky not to have Jorginho sent off. Everton's pressing seriously unnerved Chelsea in possession and probably led to a lot of fouling. Luckily they didn't create that much and were wasteful on the counter. We need a big improvement against Tottenham. They've not been at their best either and the game is at Wembley (where we have a good record), but that game could still go either way.

Arsenal were probably even worse than we were today. At this point, they'll struggle to finish in the Top 4.

I assume Sarri's starting Willian because Pedro played most of the BATE game. A game wherein Everton may be hard to break down would suit Pedro better at face value besides. Kovacic I'm comfortable with.

Ahh crap...

Preliminary thoughts: 1) WAGNH has usefully provided an overview of this game which I broadly concur with. I won't repeat what that article says. 2) Even though he hasn't been playing particularly well, Walcott's sheer pace up against Alonso is an unnerving thought. Hopefully we can keep the ball so Walcott can't burn past Alonso and that Alonso himself doesn't give it away. Azpi is a better pure defender than Alonso, but he needs to be vigilant against Bernard's sharpness and trickery. 3) Kovacic will probably start given Barkley's exertions against BATE. I am a little torn about this - Marco Silva knows how to set up a defence so Barkley's extra goal threat could be useful, but Kovacic is more consistent and is better at retaining the ball. Given that Bernard is sharp and Walcott is effectively a sprinter playing football, retaining possession will reduce Everton's chances to counter, so upon reflection I'm comfortable playing Kovacic. 4) If Richarlison is unfit, that would be a big boost to our chances. He is the one player who IMO has a good chance of making our first XI. 5) RE Sigurdsson, he would compete for a place in our midfield. However, his most dangerous qualities include his passing, his free kicks and his long range striker. He needs to be closed down so he can't feed their front three with through balls. Our high line should also be able to keep him away from the goal. 6) Apparently Zouma has been Everton's best defender this season, inspiring Keane to some better form after a poor 2017/18. Even his passing (!) has apparently impressed. Hopefully his absence is telling, for while Mina is highly rated he hasn't fully integrated into his side. 7) Idrissa Gueye, or Kante-lite, is one to watch out for. He intercepts and tackles like almost nobody's business and he could get the ball off our midfield/attackers to trigger counter-attacks. Probably another reason by Kovacic should be starting - he doesn't give the ball away much. 8) Chelsea must be careful not to give away too many corners or free kicks. We should look to play as close to their box as possible so fouls turn into free kick opportunities and clearances turn into corners. Again, our high line should help in this regard. Anyway, I am a bit nervous about this game. We should win, but Everton may very well win a point, given our midweek exertions against BATE.