52 minutes ago, Evenflow20 said:

It's literally his first game in the Prem.

The arrogance of some Chelsea fans is mystifying 

It was his first game in the Prem don't know why people use the most overused word literally thank you Jamie Redknapp. No one was expecting a Messi type performance but we weren't expecting that although hopefully he will improve.

Kova was fantastic

Saul was terrible. The worry for me is his weakness in the centre was obvious to Simeonev which was why he was shifted. It’s not the same as Havertz. For me cho and ziyech were their usual selves. Chalobah still finding his way but put in a decent shift overall. Like others say with Jorginho we ran the game, without him we were a shambles. Amazing really. 

1 hour ago, charierre said:

 

Not bad for a club that has no History. I would have expected Liverpool or Arsenal to get it before us

 

Honestly, Saul is not really big problem. First this is his first game with 0 pre season, and if it doesn't work out it is just a loan move. 

But boy CHO and Ziyech are problematic. CHO need to absolutely destroy defender as wb and he didn't. Ziyech need to slow down,not all passes need to be Hollywood pass, you are not cesc. 

Edited September 12, 20214 yr by Bob stark

5 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

A poor first half, but the second half was more controlled.  Mendy, Silva and Kovacic were our best players today.

Kovacic is just a very2 frustrating player. Ridiculous technical quality, excellent on ball defender but his decision making and his awareness defensively is just very2 bad. 

He is really a poster child why young player should not spend their early 20s playing as bench player. 

 

Perfect result after the messy International break, the type of game we drew or lost in past couple of seasons. Having a world class striker made the difference, it was never in doubt once he fired those shots away. To be fair, Villa made it tougher than we expected, pressed us hard into errors, and Mendy bailed us out in the first half. Once Jorginho came in, we got the control back and shut them down. Can't be harsh on Saul, they obviously targeted him, and he will get a lot better with time. Kovacic was close to MOM, pass, dribble, and even scored the goal by keeping going forward. Can't ask much from this game.

Clinical, absoutley clinical.

There keeper did nothing except pick the ball out of his net and take goal kicks. Cracking finishes by Big Rom and Kova.

3-0 does not tell the story of the game and both Silva and  Mendy saved us big time, otherwise we are down and put at 1-3 at half time.

Best we can say for Saul is he is not a DM, and he cannot pair with Kova. He needs to play with Jorgi or Kante but the problem. For him is Kante, Jorgi and Kova are so so good he is going to have to produce and be really good to get minutes otherwise it is dead rubbers and the league cup for him.

CHO was useless, although still more useful the Havertz (who gets a pass as he has been pretty darn good otherwise) and Ziyech, the latter strolled around like he was billy big time even though his stupid flicks kept losing the ball and he could not complete a simple pass.

Villa are a good team, and it is a good sign we beat them while not being that good ourselves.

8 hours ago, The Don Antonio said:

He might start against Zenith but we need Big Rom against the Spuds

Why not both Timo & Rom in the lineup vs Spuds.  They seemed to play well together for that few minutes today?

17 minutes ago, BluesPower said:

Why not both Timo & Rom in the lineup vs Spuds.  They seemed to play well together for that few minutes today?

Common opinion is both Mount and Havertz have to start so leaves only one space.

52 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Common opinion is both Mount and Havertz have to start so leaves only one space.

I'm lobbying for TT to try a back 4 to get all 4 of them in the starting 11.

We got away with one today...the score line doesn't reflect the chances Villa had...Tuchel has to learb that making 6 changes in the Premiership leaves you vulnerable...let's hope that a normal line up returns againt Zenit on Tuesday night...

5 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Common opinion is both Mount and Havertz have to start so leaves only one space.

I’m still not convinced Havertz should be a guaranteed starter. He floats in and out of games a bit too much for my liking. He’s probably deservedly starting at the moment but I don’t think it’s cut and dry that he starts ahead of Werner/Pulisic/Ziyech every game. 

10 minutes ago, Dubair said:

I’m still not convinced Havertz should be a guaranteed starter. He floats in and out of games a bit too much for my liking. He’s probably deservedly starting at the moment but I don’t think it’s cut and dry that he starts ahead of Werner/Pulisic/Ziyech every game. 

I'm sure there will be plenty of rotation between Mount, Havertz and Werner with two games per week. Pulisic, with his injury problems and Ziyech are 4th and 5th choice.

I was suprised Alonso didn't pass on the arm bad after Jorginho came on at half time and even after Azpi came on. Rumor has it that Alonso also went to bed with the arm band last night.  LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOO

Even after the utter chaos of the first half, and despite never really getting out of second gear, and missing half of our starting XI, we still managed to beat a decent, [presumably] top-half side by three goals, and kept a clean sheet. Pretty impressive stuff. Imagine what we might achieve if we actually start playing well!

Great result, and plenty of room for improvement.

Villa challenged us and I reckon we would have dropped points in a match like this in previous seasons.

Lukaku, Mendy and Kovacic were the standouts. Lukaku will be our best striker since Costa, and Mendy's development has been outstanding.

Saul struggled with the pace and tempo of the game, but it would be silly to write him off after a single game. Need to give him some game time in lighter games, such as the League Cup.

Premier League Wins

1. Manchester United = 690
2. Chelsea = 600
3. Arsenal = 598
4. Liverpool = 583
5. Tottenham Hotspur = 483
6. Manchester City = 447
7. Everton = 409
8. Newcastle United = 369
9. Aston Villa = 342
10. West Ham United = 321

3 hours ago, comtrend said:

I'm sure there will be plenty of rotation between Mount, Havertz and Werner with two games per week. Pulisic, with his injury problems and Ziyech are 4th and 5th choice.

I don't see Havertz & Werner being that pivotal this season with Lukaku upfront. I would say it's a toss up based on competition & injuries.

Lukaku is the only one guaranteed a start in my eyes

Even though we weren't at our best yesterday it was still a pretty good display. No words needed for Big Rom who is already showing what he's capable of.

But the highlight of this beginning of the season for me is how important Mendy is for the team. Not only because of his crucial saves, but the confidence he instills in our defenders is phenomenal. Just imagine what could've happened if we didn't have him in goal yesterday or against Liverpool.

P.S. It feels so nice to be back to the forum after a loooong break. 😁

 

Edited September 12, 20214 yr by wizardous
Typo

Great result and a reasonable performance. Made hard work of it when we gave away the ball also out of possession took time to win it back. A couple of times this resulted in good chances for Villa.

like others have said Chalobah and CHO can’t play together at present. Sorry to say that CHO played in two positions and wasn’t good at either.

was sitting behind Kova’s run for the first goal and the tv angles don't show how good the dummy he throw before moving forward with the ball was class.

The back three were great and Silva didn’t make me feel nervous at all. His reading of the game and positioning is superb.

On 11/09/2021 at 07:43, The Don Antonio said:

It has nothing to do with fitness. Alonso has been our best wingback .

Alonso played awful vs Liverpool as he couldn't keep up with their speed. Chilwell hasn't plAyed since the Champions League final. I He also didn't do much vs Villa. I am not sure how he lost his starting position. He needs some real game action this week. 

On 11/09/2021 at 15:18, turnyitb said:

Jesus give the guy a chance! 

Saul has been out of form with Athletico Madrid the last couple of years.I don't expect that he is going to magically turn back to his playing form from three years ago. Lots of unforced errors. Chelsea really needs a backup number 6 to Kante and I question whether Saul is fit for that role. He hasn't been the same player since his kidney injury s few years ago. 

2 hours ago, TheGreatestGame said:

Alonso played awful vs Liverpool as he couldn't keep up with their speed. Chilwell hasn't plAyed since the Champions League final. I He also didn't do much vs Villa. I am not sure how he lost his starting position. He needs some real game action this week. 

Tuchel obviously doesn't agree with your assessment and neither do I seeing as Alonso started against Villa and was made captain..

I was terrified of Salah and TAA ripping Alonso a new one in anfield but he held his own and even offered some support to the attack regardless of being a man down

I prefer my coach making decisions based on performances in training and not reputation. Alonso has been by far our best wingback this season and I am sure Chilwell recognizes this. He will get his chance sooner or later but for now I prefer the false 3

2 hours ago, The Don Antonio said:

Tuchel obviously doesn't agree with your assessment and neither do I seeing as Alonso started against Villa and was made captain..

I was terrified of Salah and TAA ripping Alonso a new one in anfield but he held his own and even offered some support to the attack regardless of being a man down

I prefer my coach making decisions based on performances in training and not reputation. Alonso has been by far our best wingback this season and I am sure Chilwell recognizes this. He will get his chance sooner or later but for now I prefer the false 3

Alonso initially got more game action when Tuechel assumed the manager role, however when Chilwell started playing he assumed and kept the starting role through the Champions League  games. I  expect that the same scenario will play out this year as Chilwell is a more complete player than Alonso, including his ability to serve crosses in the box with Lukaku there this year to finish them.