Reports of a positive covid test now circulating (explains the missed training).  If true, hopefully asymptomatic, and wishing CP a speedy and full recovery for a big season ahead.

Edited August 20, 20214 yr by PhilH930

Tuchel confirms that he'll miss the Arsenal game due to a positve COVID test. Could mean he's likely to the Liverpool game too. 

Does mean he's unlikely to travel to the US during the internal break though as they have strict rules for persons entering the country who recently tested positive. 

A shame for him to miss out given he started the season reasonably well against Palace. 

I saw his story, apparently it was earlier this week so what potentially 10 days? There's a chance he could make the Liverpool squad.

I don't think any team is going to have a full squad for the whole season unless they basically get put in lockdown...

Rest up Christian. Hopefully his bout with COVID isn't a rough on him as it was on Kai

Him and Ziyech just can't seem to catch a break one goes one comes back 😂😂. On a serious note hopefully he'll be back soon he had a good start to the season and needs to get regular game time to not only showcase what he can do and stay fresh in the manager's mind but also for his development 

8 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Werner: 54 appearances. 12 goals and 15 assists. 1 goal contribution every 2 games or a contribution every 148 minutes played. 

Ziyech: 40 appearances. 7 goals and 4 assists. 1 goal contribution every 3.5 games or every 177 minutes played. 

Havertz: 47 appearances. 9 goals and 10 assists. 1 goal contribution every 2.5 games or every 139 minutes played. 

CHO: 99 appearances. 13 goals and 16 assists. 1 goal contribution every 3.5 games or every 160 minutes played. 

Mount: 109 appearances. 17 goals and 15 assists. 1 goal contribution every 3.5 games or every 354 minutes played. 

Abraham: 82 appearances. 30 goals and 12 assists. 1 goal contribution every 2.0 games or every 109 minutes played. 

 

I agree you cannot judge a player purely on goals and assists stats but for attacking players it is a decent barometer for whether they are achieving their primary function for being in the team. 

 

So on that barometer he is about the same as every other attacking player.  No one really stands out as being heads and tails better than the others.

6 hours ago, TomCFC85 said:

I saw his story, apparently it was earlier this week so what potentially 10 days? There's a chance he could make the Liverpool squad.

Oddly enough I got covid as well.  No asymptomatic but no worse than a cold.

Been isolating in an RV since Saturday.

Somehow my family all managed to not get it even though our 3 kids have not gotten the vaccine due to age.

Edited August 20, 20214 yr by Valpo

1 hour ago, Valpo said:

Oddly enough I got covid as well.  No asymptomatic but no worse than a cold.

Been isolating in an RV since Saturday.

Somehow my family all managed to not get it even though our 3 kids have not gotten the vaccine due to age.

Get well soon, or if you like the peace and quiet, milk it!

2 hours ago, Valpo said:

 

So on that barometer he is about the same as every other attacking player.  No one really stands out as being heads and tails better than the others.

And to be honest that's half the problem. Despite having quite a lot of attacking options none of them are nailing down their place in the team. 

Stats I shared are for all competitions so when you make it league only it makes for slightly more grim reading because as an example 3 of Havertz 9 goals scored were against lower league opposition in the League Cup.

I expect Lukaku and Mount will play 75%-80% of the games, Werner and Havertz probably 50%-60%. I doubt Pulisic will get many minutes if we continue with 3-4-3 to be honest.

On 20/08/2021 at 18:05, Valerie said:

Get well soon, or if you like the peace and quiet, milk it!

Thanks, I am recovering well.  The person who gave this to me went to the hospital though.

I miss being with my wife and kids though.  But isolating in the RV did prevent them from getting it.  

Since I wasn't going anywhere but work and home and no one appears to have gotten it from me I am pretty confident I did not pass it to anyone.

Watching the game today, there is going to be a huge logjam when Pulisic is healthy. Lukaku and Mount ain't going anywhere, they will be sure things to start - that leaves Havertz, Werner, Ziyech and Pulusic having to share time for that last spot. You saw Ziyech and Werner get BS minutes today - going to be a lot of pissed off attacking players riding the pine this season.

Edited August 22, 20214 yr by USATim

8 minutes ago, USATim said:

Watching the game today, there is going to be a huge logjam when Pulisic is healthy. Lukaku and Mount ain't going anywhere, they will be sure things to start - that leaves Havertz, Werner, Ziyech and Pulusic having to share time for that last spot. You saw Ziyech and Werner get BS minutes today - going to be a lot of pissed off attacking players riding the pine this season.

Where Pulisic is concerned he will get minutes in cups and stuff like that. Tuchel has also hinted that there will be positional changes as well so there will be mins for right and left wingback alongside the forward positions.

18 minutes ago, LongtimerLurker said:

Where Pulisic is concerned he will get minutes in cups and stuff like that. Tuchel has also hinted that there will be positional changes as well so there will be mins for right and left wingback alongside the forward positions.

The less important games. That's what I see too. Time to fly the coop. Someplace where he can start, not play the rubbish minutes or the "let's make the second string happy" cups. I see Werner being very unhappy with his situation too. When you have an embarrassment of riches, you are going to be pushing some people out.

Edited August 22, 20214 yr by USATim

33 minutes ago, USATim said:

The less important games. That's what I see too. Time to fly the coop. Someplace where he can start, not play the rubbish minutes or the "let's make the second string happy" cups. I see Werner being very unhappy with his situation too. When you have an embarrassment of riches, you are going to be pushing some people out.

100% Pulisic and Werner stay I'll be very surprised if either pushed to leave. Before assuming they won't play understand that Tuchel will play different players for different games. Everyone in our squad has their own unique characteristics which suits this level of football and team very well. 

Some games we will play a high line Puli and Timo will likely play. Against deeper blocks Tuchel may opt for something similar to what we had today or Ziyech may start.

For me at least its way too early to assume players won't get minutes. Dont forget we also play in the Club World Cup as well. 

Let's be patient and see how things develop, we could yet see a formation change for some games or certain players playing in different positions. The more adaptable you are the more mins you will get.

The sooner Christian embraces this the better, I rate him as a forward and agree that should be his primary position. However, I would like him to play wb some games so we effectively have 4 of our star attackers.

Edited August 22, 20214 yr by LongtimerLurker

28 minutes ago, LongtimerLurker said:

100% Pulisic and Werner stay I'll be very surprised if either pushed to leave. Before assuming they won't play understand that Tuchel will play different players for different games. Everyone in our squad has their own unique characteristics which suits this level of football and team very well. 

Some games we will play a high line Puli and Timo will likely play. Against deeper blocks Tuchel may opt for something similar to what we had today or Ziyech may start.

For me at least its way too early to assume players won't get minutes. Dont forget we also play in the Club World Cup as well. 

Let's be patient and see how things develop, we could yet see a formation change for some games or certain players playing in different positions. The more adaptable you are the more mins you will get.

The sooner Christian embraces this the better, I rate him as a forward and agree that should be his primary position. However, I would like him to play wb some games so we effectively have 4 of our star 

  Will be interesting to see the pecking order of attackers in real games to come.

Edited August 22, 20214 yr by USATim

3 hours ago, USATim said:

The less important games. That's what I see too. Time to fly the coop. Someplace where he can start, not play the rubbish minutes or the "let's make the second string happy" cups. I see Werner being very unhappy with his situation too. When you have an embarrassment of riches, you are going to be pushing some people out.

There’s going to be injuries and plenty of rotation but the thing players who aren’t getting minutes need to do is work hard in training and take the chances they’re given.

Christian has been pretty underwhelming bar the odd performance for over a season now and for me doesn’t deserve to be starting ahead of anyone in front of him at the minute. It’s a shame because we all know what he’s capable of when he is playing well. 

This formation or system he needs to be patient, if we ever switch to a 4-3-3 he should be ahead of anyone on the left wing but right now it looks like he's at best the third in line after Mount and Werner. But we'll see, the season just started.

11 hours ago, USATim said:

Watching the game today, there is going to be a huge logjam when Pulisic is healthy. Lukaku and Mount ain't going anywhere, they will be sure things to start - that leaves Havertz, Werner, Ziyech and Pulusic having to share time for that last spot. You saw Ziyech and Werner get BS minutes today - going to be a lot of pissed off attacking players riding the pine this season.

no to forget RLC and CHO too. hence unless we play a 433.. going to be trouble for most of them.

On 20/08/2021 at 19:35, comtrend said:

I expect Lukaku and Mount will play 75%-80% of the games, Werner and Havertz probably 50%-60%. I doubt Pulisic will get many minutes if we continue with 3-4-3 to be honest.

 

I wouldn't count him out so quickly.

 

20 hours ago, USATim said:

The less important games. That's what I see too. Time to fly the coop. Someplace where he can start, not play the rubbish minutes or the "let's make the second string happy" cups. I see Werner being very unhappy with his situation too. When you have an embarrassment of riches, you are going to be pushing some people out.

 

A lot of you are really discounting Pulisic's fight & will.

He wants to be at the best clubs in the world to prove himself and compete, Chelsea is that club. He's not going anywhere unless Chelsea decides they no longer wants him.

Pulisic did not leave the USA at 16 because he wants the easy route, he wants to be the best (he can be) so he'll definitely stay and fight for minutes.

I am confident that he will makes it very difficult for TT to sit him, the only question is can he stay healthy.

 

9 hours ago, Jangz said:

no to forget RLC and CHO too. hence unless we play a 433.. going to be trouble for most of them.

 

I really can't see RLC getting any minutes.

As an attacker, he's got Werner, Kai, Mount, Pulisic ,and Ziyech ahead of him.

As a midfielder, he's looking at Jorgie, Kovacic, and Kante.

As for CHO, I think most of his minutes will be coming from WB.

On 22/08/2021 at 14:27, LongtimerLurker said:

100% Pulisic and Werner stay I'll be very surprised if either pushed to leave. Before assuming they won't play understand that Tuchel will play different players for different games. Everyone in our squad has their own unique characteristics which suits this level of football and team very well. 

Some games we will play a high line Puli and Timo will likely play. Against deeper blocks Tuchel may opt for something similar to what we had today or Ziyech may start.

For me at least its way too early to assume players won't get minutes. Dont forget we also play in the Club World Cup as well. 

Let's be patient and see how things develop, we could yet see a formation change for some games or certain players playing in different positions. The more adaptable you are the more mins you will get.

The sooner Christian embraces this the better, I rate him as a forward and agree that should be his primary position. However, I would like him to play wb some games so we effectively have 4 of our star attackers.

 

This . . . Tuchel showed last year that he's pretty happy with rotating the lineup around based on the matchup and to keep his players fresh.

 

Honestly against lower and even mid-tier EPL teams I wouldn't be surprised to see Mount on the bench to keep him fresh for CL matches and matches against higher level EPL clubs.

There is really no firm starting 11 here that starts all the games or even just EPL and CL games.  The strength here is in the depth of the team.  Tuchel does not seem to have a problem taking advantage of that depth.  

Edited August 24, 20214 yr by Valpo

On 23/08/2021 at 10:23, haviet1 said:

 

I really can't see RLC getting any minutes.

As an attacker, he's got Werner, Kai, Mount, Pulisic ,and Ziyech ahead of him.

As a midfielder, he's looking at Jorgie, Kovacic, and Kante.

As for CHO, I think most of his minutes will be coming from WB.

 

CHO I think would benefit from a year on loan honestly.   He is young and has talent but he's sort of the odd man left out in the rotation.  

However I think it would be a mistake to get rid of him entirely because Azpi who sort of rotates with Reece James at the right wing back role (as well as playing CB) is 31.