DaRick

Yeah my bad. I lost track of the play.

Ideally would be Rudiger, Christensen, Azpi - worked well against Tottenham. One of the more dispiriting draws I've witnessed.

Conte's tactics were poor all-round. Bringing in Cahill unsettled the defence, we didn't see his aerial abilities, nor did he play well enough to justify his inclusion. Arsenal pressed more than Conte expected and could overrun our midfield. He was IMO too slow to react to this, as he has been in the past RE substitutes. By the time Bakayoko came on, Arsenal were content to have a point and so he could not provide the same forward momentum as both Bakayoko and Cesc could have in a 3-5-2 formation. I'm not as worried as I once would be because I expect that Conte will learn his lesson from this just as he learnt from the 3-0 shellacking at the Emirates this time last year.

Sorry haven't been keeping track of developments as much as I would have like. My bad.

Hazard on for Pedro surely?

Really, he needs to: 1) replace Fabregas for Bakayoko 2) replace Pedro with Hazard. Although Willian hasn't been great, Willian is much more dangerous in counterattacking situations due to his pace, never mind his FK heroics. OR 3) simply just do a 3-5-2 with Cesc. No way will we be overrun in that midfield. On the other hand, you lose some offensive thrust so now Hazard (replacing Willian) has to play off Morata. I'm 50/50 on Cahill. He's good for grabbing us goals, but also makes mistakes and even in this game he's been dodgy. I would replace him 1) now OR 2) after we score a goal, with Rudiger replacing Cahill.

Yes, obviously the gamble that Cesc wouldn't be pressed much hasn't come off. Either sub him off for Bakayoko, or just go 3-5-2 with Cesc, which will enable us to control the midfield. At that point, you would sub in Hazard for Willian.

I'm surprised Cahill has been selected - is it because he's relatively good in the air (a known Arsenal weakness)? Same with Cesc - Conte mustn't be expecting Arsenal to press all that much.

Unfortunately the timezone for an Australian is dreadful so I couldn't see much of the game. Having seen the highlights though, it seemed that Qarabag generally sat back and played like a Championship/League 1 side, which was honestly unsurprising given the distance they traveled. Probably 5 of the 6 Chelsea goals were caused or assisted by poor defending IMO (exception being Zappacosta's goal). This is not taking anything away from this Chelsea side, which had a job to do and did it with admirable professionalism. Pedro scored one of his intermittent blinders, Zappacosta motored down the flanks and scored a truly majestic debut goal, Fabregas pretty much ran the joint from what I could tell and Michy took advantage of a tiring defense to snatch a late goal. One would hope Qarabag adjust to the demands of the CL, or at least are a more difficult proposition at home (distance should help), because otherwise I can see them winding up with 0 points.

A bit harsh, but his possession-based style didn't really suit Crystal Palace. I expect Roy Hodgson, the man for a small occasion, to fare somewhat better. His old-fashioned 4-4-2 should suit a target man like Benteke down to the ground.

From what I've seen of him for Monaco, he's strong, fast and offers more going forward than Matic. He also has a better weak foot. His main flaws are inconsistency and lapses in concentration, but I expect those issues to resolve themselves with more experience and maturity. Also IMO his passing is not yet as good as Matic's when Matic is at his best.

Hmmm...I would be amazed if Qarabag didn't park the bus, in light of the distance they've traveled and them essentially being League 1/Championship quality. Against such a side, squad management is the order of the day. I would select this side: GK: Courtois LCB: Rudiger CB: Luiz RCB: Azpi LWB: Kenedy RWB: Zappacosta LCM: Kante RCM: Cesc LSS: Hazard RSS: Pedro ST: Morata I would start our three normal CB's because I hate the idea of disrupting the central defense unless there is no stake in a game. The problem with swapping centre backs comes from their lack of familiarity with each other and therefore communication issues may arise. Kenedy for Alonso is a contentious swap, but LWB is a physically demanding role and we need Alonso to be at his fittest against Arsenal. Kante and Cesc because they work well enough together against bus-parking sides, plus we need Cesc's incision against those sides. Hazard and Pedro because their movement and vision makes them very useful against lesser sides. Morata because his aerial ability is perfect against a deep-lying defense. I would subsequently bring on Michy to try and snipe a late goal against a tiring, lesser-quality defence, Bakayoko to give Kante a rest and reinforce the defence (IMO he is better at this than Drinkwater) and Willian to keep Hazard fresh for Arsenal. Of course, these subs can change depending on the scoreline so I'm assuming we would have a comfortable lead before we make any subs.

I could easily see him becoming an Alonso-style 'bolter' provided that he adjusts to the PL (Alonso had PL experience so was a surer bet in that regard). He's apparently good going forward, has plenty of energy, works hard, is reasonably quick and crosses well. Apparently he's rather average defensively, but then so are Moses and Alonso. Indeed, Moses is just a reconstituted winger.

Interesting perspective. Problem is though that the weaknesses of our best defender at that point (lack of pace/acceleration) were well and truly exposed with a high defensive line. For much the same reasons, Alex could not play one either. Luiz's positioning has always been a weakness, so you couldn't expect him to reliably maintain an offside trap, which you really need to do if you're playing a high line with a four-man defense. Even Cole's previously impressive athleticism was waning. I don't think the players got 'comfortable' so much as AVB rubbed senior players like Lampard up the wrong way.

Personally I thought Mata's inability to properly track back was down to his relative lack of athleticism rather than a lack of professionalism.

IMO they're not directly comparable. Makelele was a classic anchorman whereas Kante is more box-to-box. As I've said in the past, Kante and Essien are IMO more comparable. Essien definitely offered more going forward, but Kante IMO is better defensively.

In terms of squad, 2011/12. AVB's high-line tactics were utterly unsuitable for the squad at hand, but when your best performing player is Ramires (!) you know you have some personnel issues. In terms of performance, 2015/16 by a long, long way. The only silver lining there was that no CL commitments made it easier for us to take out the 2016/17 PL.

I actually agree, especially when you consider that: 1) Mata has never won a league title, and 2) Both of our 2014/15 and 2016/17 sides were built on a strong defensive work ethic, which Mata could not provide. His lack of tracking back would make it easier for opponents to counter after one of our offensives. Willian and later Pedro, despite lacking Mata's overall talent, are very strong defensively and so could fit the 2016/17 side much better than Mata could have. However, I reckon Mata could have been a valuable impact-sub for both sides. Whenever some offensive thrust was needed, he could replace Willian or Pedro on the right. In 2012/13 he was arguably at his most dangerous when allowed to cut in onto his natural left foot.

Hazard's the best finisher of the three as well, plus we miss his penalties.

Pretty routine win. 3-0 would have been a fairer reflection of the game IMO but can't complain. You can tell that we're still missing Hazard's goals though. Even though it's early doors Morata looks like a good replacement for Costa. Too early to compare directly with Costa but he certainly looks an aerial threat (never a Costa strength).

The ominous thing about Man U is that this is Jose's second season with them. The man doesn't know the meaning of a sophomore slump. Certainly I don't think he's quite the manager he once was, but he's often at his title-winning best during the second season, when he's been given time to assemble the side he wants. However, as others have said, high-pressing sides might have some joy because none of Herrera, Matic or Pogba are particularly agile or quick and the latter two in particular can make poor decisions when pressed. The defense-first way Jose sets up his sides also allows lesser opponents to frustrate them by setting up defensively, as we saw ad nauseam during the 2013/14 and 2016/17 seasons. Still (and I retch as I say this), another Man U title would not come as a surprise.

Morata has started impressively despite appearing less than match fit to start with.

Magic Cesc.

Really impressive goal from Mooy. Early days, but he definitely looks PL-quality. Huddersfield have started very well, but hopefully they don't become another Blackpool 2010/11, who burnt out after a good start.

Tragic news about Tiote. He was a decent destroyer. RIP.