Sarri said hazard and kovacic are good for 60 minutes, well he isn’t going to sub players after 30 not will he not give these 2 game time, so they have to start.

gameplan will have to be blow them away then shore things up. Interested to see how he approaches this and what changes. 

Its an interesting thought whoo is our man to come in and tighten up the midfield, only player that fits the bill is DD.

Hoping he replaces hazard with CHO so he doesn’t lose that but of buzz he got going in the preseason. 

Have to expect a win here with emphasis on some defensive improvements.

 It’s a tough call with Christensen, Luis is a helpful player in the dressing room for a new manager but he looks lost in a 4.

 Christensen made some costly errors last season but did very well overall, he needs experience, can’t let him rot in the bench, too good a prospect, and I think he would be much better in a 4 and in this system. 

Rudiger is a good player but not a top player, we really needed a top level CB and LB, these for me were top priorities with keeping hazard, lots of people told me we are overloaded with cb’s, but are any of them any quite good enough? 

I like the new look of the team but I feel the quality isn’t there defensively, I love alonsos offensive contributions but he is a bit lacking defensively and for pace, I’d try Emerson but he isn’t going to start when alonso is assisting and scoring derby winners.  

2 hours ago, WalterWhiteCFC said:

Sarri said hazard and kovacic are good for 60 minutes, well he isn’t going to sub players after 30 not will he not give these 2 game time, so they have to start.

gameplan will have to be blow them away then shore things up. Interested to see how he approaches this and what changes. 

Its an interesting thought whoo is our man to come in and tighten up the midfield, only player that fits the bill is DD.

Hoping he replaces hazard with CHO so he doesn’t lose that but of buzz he got going in the preseason. 

Have to expect a win here with emphasis on some defensive improvements.

 It’s a tough call with Christensen, Luis is a helpful player in the dressing room for a new manager but he looks lost in a 4.

 Christensen made some costly errors last season but did very well overall, he needs experience, can’t let him rot in the bench, too good a prospect, and I think he would be much better in a 4 and in this system. 

Rudiger is a good player but not a top player, we really needed a top level CB and LB, these for me were top priorities with keeping hazard, lots of people told me we are overloaded with cb’s, but are any of them any quite good enough? 

I like the new look of the team but I feel the quality isn’t there defensively, I love alonsos offensive contributions but he is a bit lacking defensively and for pace, I’d try Emerson but he isn’t going to start when alonso is assisting and scoring derby winners.  

I think Odoi played u23s yesterday?  If I'm right then no chance he will play this Sunday.

Both Kovacic and Hazard should start!!  We need to beat these guys well

On Thu Aug 23 2018 at 13:18, TrueBlueBIH said:

----------------------------Arrizabalaga-----------------------------

Dave----------------Rudiger----------Christensen---------Alonso

---------------------------Jorginho---------------------------------

-------------------Kante--------------Kova?i?----------------------

Pedro----------------------Morata---------------------Hazard----

 

However i think Luiz will be in the starting line up.

The best Chelsea can do right now

Confident the bad run up there will come to an end tomorrow.

0-3 comfortable win for the Chels.

Think we might see our full strength team for the first time tomorrow.

Kepa

Azpi  Rudiger  Luiz  Alonso

Jorginho

Kante       Kovacic

Pedro    Morata    Hazard

Willian back to his best position of coming on for the last 30 against tiring legs. Barkley/RLC to come on for Kovacic too.

I'm feeling pretty confident this time aswell. 

I think we will have so much possession it will silence the crowd, and stop the opposition gaining any sort of momentum. 

Mourinho and conte are happier to sit in and counter, especially away from home, but I just think it is a poor tactic away at Newcastle, because once you let them get there tails up, the crowd get behind them, and it becomes a difficult game for any team.

I think it will be 2 nil, hazard and morata.

On 22/08/2018 at 12:35, coco said:

Two years of them out of the premier league, and at least a couple of dead rubbers towards the end of the season as well, looks worse than it is.

I think a lot of that was also due to Mourinho, he struggles there now still. 

Time to put this bogey ground to bed once and for all. 

42 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Think we might see our full strength team for the first time tomorrow.

Kepa

Azpi  Rudiger  Luiz  Alonso

Jorginho

Kante       Kovacic

Pedro    Morata    Hazard

Willian back to his best position of coming on for the last 30 against tiring legs. Barkley/RLC to come on for Kovacic too.

Agree with what you said about Willian, I put him down to start but Willian plays best for us when he's used as an impact player. He's brilliant when he starts every now and then instead of all the time, especially when he comes on against tired legs. 

10 minutes ago, Slojo said:

Agree with what you said about Willian, I put him down to start but Willian plays best for us when he's used as an impact player. He's brilliant when he starts every now and then instead of all the time, especially when he comes on against tired legs. 

Imo his best season for the club was Conte's first year when that was his role.

4 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Imo his best season for the club was Conte's first year when that was his role.

I also thought he was very good in his first season here, particularly in the first half of the season when he was competing with the likes of KDB, Hazard, Oscar and Moses for a spot. 

It wasn't until he started playing every game under Mourinho we saw his limitations. He plays much better when he's confined to a limited playing time, especially when he's competing for his place. 

11 hours ago, WalterWhiteCFC said:

Sarri said hazard and kovacic are good for 60 minutes, well he isn’t going to sub players after 30 not will he not give these 2 game time, so they have to start.

gameplan will have to be blow them away then shore things up. Interested to see how he approaches this and what changes. 

Its an interesting thought whoo is our man to come in and tighten up the midfield, only player that fits the bill is DD.

Hoping he replaces hazard with CHO so he doesn’t lose that but of buzz he got going in the preseason. 

Have to expect a win here with emphasis on some defensive improvements.

 It’s a tough call with Christensen, Luis is a helpful player in the dressing room for a new manager but he looks lost in a 4.

 Christensen made some costly errors last season but did very well overall, he needs experience, can’t let him rot in the bench, too good a prospect, and I think he would be much better in a 4 and in this system. 

Rudiger is a good player but not a top player, we really needed a top level CB and LB, these for me were top priorities with keeping hazard, lots of people told me we are overloaded with cb’s, but are any of them any quite good enough? 

I like the new look of the team but I feel the quality isn’t there defensively, I love alonsos offensive contributions but he is a bit lacking defensively and for pace, I’d try Emerson but he isn’t going to start when alonso is assisting and scoring derby winners.  

I think most of this is spot on except that Rudigier is between good and top and might become top. He as pace and a good passing range. Maybe ampadu can also be in the mix. Last season he looked capable. 

So I've managed to get a ticket for the game this Sunday. I'm going alone, just wondering if any Chelsea fans have a pub pre-game that they tend to meet up in? 

Haven’t posted in a very long time....can’t wait for this game...we need to win up there. Also, just wanted to concur that this new look Chelsea is obviously  looking great. 

1 hour ago, DavidLuiz4 said:

So I've managed to get a ticket for the game this Sunday. I'm going alone, just wondering if any Chelsea fans have a pub pre-game that they tend to meet up in? 

follow your ears.

We cannot stop our run, it would be difficult but possible. Newcastle aren't at their best now, we're better. 

----------- Kepa ----------

Azpi - Rudiger - Luiz - Alonso

--- Kante ----- Jorignho ----

Pedro - Kovacic - Hazard

------- Morata -------

 

Pedro is one of our best players at the moment, let's hope he will continue to perform like that. Willian has to be benched for this game. Hazard and Kovacic to start, both of them made a change in our last game and looked good. 

Let's do that job and keep raising, COME ON CHELS!!!!!

With city dropping points and Liverpool not increasing their goal difference significantly this is a good opportunity to go top.

It shouldn’t be underestimated how much psychological benifit it gives to the team being top even this early, especially with an unbeaten record, when you have something to protect the players fight that much more and pay more attention to not making errors.

When you are sort of mediocre heads drop easier and we have seen that a lot with this team in recent years, for me this is a good opportunity to put down some intent and get a good mood circulating around Cobham.

Sarri said we need 2 or 3 months to get into our stride, if we can sit in around the top until then we are in good shape.

You win the league beating the teams you should beat, when you score bags of goals that’s always easier to do...

We need to beat that lot by +3 goals to go top of the Premier League table.

I see no reason why we can’t do that against the FSW. 

Kepa

Dave, Rudiger, Christensen, Alonso

Kante 

Jorginho Kovatic 

Barkley

Hazard Morata 

Subs: Cahill, CHO, RLC, Willian, Ampadu

 

Won't happen. There will be a Bomb Scare Luiz and a Pedro in there but I can but dream.

Surely we can't play as badly there as three months ago?!

I think we will see Barkley start, and I think Willian and Pedro start too.  Hazard of Kovatic to be impactful subs once more.

Hope we get over the jinx of SJP.

Also, based on Sarri's comments about it being most difficult for a defender to get into the team, i think the back 4 will remain pretty constant.  I also feel that Sarri like Luiz because he's better with the ball at his feet, even though he's not as good a defender as Christensen.

 

               Kepa

Azpi    Rudi   Luiz  Alonso

           Jorginho

        Kante   Barkley

Pedro                    WIllian

              Morata

Weather looks dreadful tomorrow. Washout expected all over the country. Hopefully it doesnt rain too hard.can see tackles flying in 

Edited August 25, 20187 yr by zes

If I were a betting man, id put it all on a tie or Newcastle win.

 

but Im a starstrucken fool and will bet on us winning 

5 hours ago, zes said:

Weather looks dreadful tomorrow. Washout expected all over the country. Hopefully it doesnt rain too hard.can see tackles flying in 

You are correct. The forecast for kickoff is 90% rain and for the whole match. Could be an ugly one.

Hopefully, the rain does not equalize the talent level.

Come on you Chelsea!!

On ?22?/?08?/?2018 at 11:29, PloKoon13 said:

Bloody hell, we haven't won at St James' Park since 2011...

So hopefully we put that right with a  win today.

Come on Chelsea.

'Blue is the colour'.