Huge lose, to him personally and the team. LWB is one of the area we don't have much options, Alonso will do a job but he will get caught out against good wide attackers, and this weekend will be a huge test. I wouldn't be surprised of CHO play LWB in the next month or two.

Hoping that the injury turns out to be less serious than thought, but it doesn't look good. Even if it isn't as serious they are already talking about him being out the rest of this year which is already 10 or so fixtures. While Alonso has done well enough when called upon we will need another option in case he loses form, gets injured, or even suspended. If there is an option to recall Ian Maatsen I would consider that. He has been fantastic for Coventry this season, and looked good in his handful of appearances for us in cup competitions. Failing that do we have any other options that could be promoted from the development squad? We may end up signing another LB in January too if Chilly is out long term. 

Just recall Emerson and we will be fine.

14 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

What is really frustrating is that it could have been avoided. The team were dominating, the fans were jumping and he seemed to get an adrenaline rush from it and threw himself towards the Juve player when he didn't really need to. 

I had a feeling it was bad with the way he was shaking his head when he was being helped off the pitch. If it's a tear, then he is out for the rest of the season for sure, hopefully it's not that bad though. 

You can say this about literally any injury though. A player is never going to go into a challenge half-hearted just because we are 3-0 up and they think they can let their foot off the gas. Sadly injuries are part of the game, hopefully can come back next season good to go. 

The obvious thing to do if BC is out for the season is to bring Maasten back from Coventry...unless we open the purse and buy a established LB in the January window...

On 25/11/2021 at 02:34, Scott Harris said:

What is really frustrating is that it could have been avoided. The team were dominating, the fans were jumping and he seemed to get an adrenaline rush from it and threw himself towards the Juve player when he didn't really need to. 

You know that's not how injuries work. The one to be blamed if there is any is that fecker Rabiot who challenged him from behind knowing he would never get the ball. 

Juventus were making terrible tackles all game. 

55 minutes ago, doctorblue said:

The obvious thing to do if BC is out for the season is to bring Maasten back from Coventry...unless we open the purse and buy a established LB in the January window...

How is Maatsen? Does he belong to ij the same level as Livramento or Lamptey? 

I would spend the 50mil+ needed for a proper replacement, like Theo Hernandez (AC Milan). Move Alonso on in the summer and have some proper competition on LWB.

8 minutes ago, comtrend said:

I would spend the 50mil+ needed for a proper replacement, like Theo Hernandez (AC Milan). Move Alonso on in the summer and have some proper competition on LWB.

Let's wait for Tuchel's presser first, he'll tell us exactly how bad it is, hopefully Chilly does not require surgery and he's back by March. 

If it's bad and it is indeed a season ending injury then I don't think the club will be in the market for a left full back, Alonso, Azpi, Saul and even CHO or Malang Sarr can play there, Emerson could be recalled at any time, I just don't think the club would sanction a big money move for a position there is plenty of competition for.

32 minutes ago, comtrend said:

I would spend the 50mil+ needed for a proper replacement, like Theo Hernandez (AC Milan). Move Alonso on in the summer and have some proper competition on LWB.

Would be nice although we don't have proper competition at RWB either.

Apparently Coventry are quite concerned that we are going to recall Ian Maatsen, and TT has been going over videos and our loan army reports of him.

 

2 hours ago, Deino said:

You know that's not how injuries work. The one to be blamed if there is any is that fecker Rabiot who challenged him from behind knowing he would never get the ball. 

Juventus were making terrible tackles all game. 

You got this wrong. Rabiot didnt challenge Chilwell. Rabiot got the ball and was shielding it when Chilwell ran in from behind to knick it .The referee didn't even blow his whistle because it wasn't a foul.  Chilwell probably had a rush of blood to the head and i am sure in hindsight regrets it. Below is a video of the tackle

 

11 hours ago, comtrend said:

I would spend the 50mil+ needed for a proper replacement, like Theo Hernandez (AC Milan). Move Alonso on in the summer and have some proper competition on LWB.

And what happens next season when Chiwell is back? Do you sit a £50m LB on the bench considering barring injury & fatigue you will have an established 1st choice? 
I rate Theo Hernandez highly but I doubt he will be interested in coming here unless he is a guaranteed starter.

14 hours ago, The Don Antonio said:

 

You got this wrong. Rabiot didnt challenge Chilwell. Rabiot got the ball and was shielding it when Chilwell ran in from behind to knick it .The referee didn't even blow his whistle because it wasn't a foul.  Chilwell probably had a rush of blood to the head and i am sure in hindsight regrets it. Below is a video of the tackle

 

Our team fights for every loose ball so I don't blame Ben for going for it. The last ditch attempt by Rabiot kicking out in between Ben's legs caught Ben's leg and as Ben's foot reached the ground it caused his knee to twist. Really unfortunate accident really like a 1/50 chance

It is what it is, the occupational hazard of a footballer. I don't blame anyone tbh, but being a fan of CFC, if (and it's a major IF) I can assign anyone of blame, it'd be Rabiot for throwing a late challenge in to foul Ben because Rabiot's been doing it all night at the time. 

3 hours ago, ducavis said:

And what happens next season when Chiwell is back? Do you sit a £50m LB on the bench considering barring injury & fatigue you will have an established 1st choice? 
I rate Theo Hernandez highly but I doubt he will be interested in coming here unless he is a guaranteed starter.

Doesn't matter really, the best players play. It's not like it's never happened before and we really do need a quick fix to the situation. Can't expect Alonso to play 20+ games until May. 

Even with Chilwell out, I would have thought the combination of Alonso and Dave (as back up) would be adequate cover for left wing back. Alonso is arguably even better in that role than Chilwell !

TT may even have other ideas up his sleeve. 

Maatsen is probably better off left to play at Coventry. It would be a big step up for him, granted he may well be up to it, and has definitely handled the Championship challenge much better than Castillo. We've also got Baba Rahman at Reading of course ... :-) 

Unfortunately Tt has confirmed the expected. Ben has suffered a partial ACL tear:

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11668/12479372/ben-chilwell-chelsea-head-coach-thomas-tuchel-says-wing-back-suffered-acl-injury-against-juventus

Club are trying to treat it without surgery and will see how that treatment works over the next 6 weeks. So far he is responding well to it.

Means we need an Alonso alternative as I really doubt he can play 3 matches a week at a high level without big errors or getting injured himself. Need to manage his game time like we do with Kante.

3 hours ago, Deino said:

Doesn't matter really, the best players play. It's not like it's never happened before and we really do need a quick fix to the situation. Can't expect Alonso to play 20+ games until May. 

I think it’s high unlikely in a World Cup year to find a starter for a top footballing nation willing to leave a club where he is a guaranteed starter, and move to one where he will be competing to start. 
The best option out there IMO will be Tagliafico at Ajax who is refusing to sign a contract, and at 29 after one last big move. He will probably be content to play backup in the long run. The Danish LB Maehle is the other option as he can play both LB/RB and could see more playing time because he is brilliant on both sides.

I suppose, all things considered,  that is optimistic news. Two or three months out is certainly preferable to nine. If we are lucky he'll be back for the Champions' League last 16 in [presumably] February.

That said, I do agree with @axman2526 about having a ready alternative to Alonso. My guess is that Saúl will prove reluctant/unsuitable, so hopefully one of the procession of wingers we try there is a good enough fit. Presumably the first backup option would have been Hudson-Odoi, however with his recent form it may well end up being Pulisic (assuming Werner, Lukaku, etc. return to fitness).

I have faith in Alonso for the majority of the games, he started the season really well after all. Azpi and Hudson-Odoi could rotate with him as well. Tuchel seems to have the knack of briging the best out of the players he has available.

1 hour ago, PloKoon13 said:

I suppose, all things considered,  that is optimistic news. Two or three months out is certainly preferable to nine. If we are lucky he'll be back for the Champions' League last 16 in [presumably] February.

That said, I do agree with @axman2526 about having a ready alternative to Alonso. My guess is that Saúl will prove reluctant/unsuitable, so hopefully one of the procession of wingers we try there is a good enough fit. Presumably the first backup option would have been Hudson-Odoi, however with his recent form it may well end up being Pulisic (assuming Werner, Lukaku, etc. return to fitness).

While I know you dont like the idea of Rudi going there, and fair reason since he is playing so well where he is, we have the option of Sarr to be tried there or recalling Maatsen or Colwill.

3 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I have faith in Alonso for the majority of the games, he started the season really well after all. Azpi and Hudson-Odoi could rotate with him as well. Tuchel seems to have the knack of briging the best out of the players he has available.

Would rather try Pulisic there if we are going to drop a winger back.

Callum is building some serious momentum on the front three so he should stay there.

19 minutes ago, Argo said:

Would rather try Pulisic there if we are going to drop a winger back.

Callum is building some serious momentum on the front three so he should stay there.

If we drop a forward player there then we should put Mount there. He has the worth ethic for it at least and is the most out of form player of our forwards bar Lukaku and we cannot put him there. 

 

2 hours ago, axman2526 said:

While I know you dont like the idea of Rudi going there, and fair reason since he is playing so well where he is, we have the option of Sarr to be tried there or recalling Maatsen or Colwill.

Recall Maatsen, he fits the profile perfectly, he is very fast and can attack, love to see him get a chance when we have to rotate Alonso 

Edited November 26, 20214 yr by azpi28