16 minutes ago, evissy said:

Great to see Slolina but as I had no idea what type of keeper he is I was a bit disappointed he is more of a Courtois and not Alisson/Ederson. Courtois is best in the world but his distribution is questionable in the standard of the football today. 

Casadei - Gallagher pivot looked like it is not to be. Gallagher looked excellent though but his young italian counterpart really didn't. Mainly his decision making was wayy off. PL sides will punish you for those mistakes more than regularly. 

Jackson and Nkunku are players we really want and have needed for years. I think these two will terrorise defences years to come. We've had Werner, Pulisic, Ziyech... and countless others trying to do things. They all ended up doing a lot less of things. Hopefully these two are just not pre-season wonders.

Maatsen has to stay. He is the versatile player we absolutely need and he really seems to enjoy Chelsea.

Good shout re Nkunku and Maatsen..

14 hours ago, just said:

Still can't get my head around rival fans standing together with their colours on. I get that that's how it should be in a civilized world, but it still seems odd. Perhaps we could give it a try next season when we play Tottenham or Liverpool. Wonder how it would turn out?

It wasn't unusual when I started going to football in ancient times.

We stood on the North Bank ( never even heard of it, it wasn't even a thing back then ) at West Ham first game of the season after the world cup, a group stood on halfway opposite the chicken run as well and it was fine.

You'll see scattered about Chelsea fans cheering when Charlie Cooke ( I think) scores at that end.

Within a year maybe 18 months it had all changed.

And you know who I blame ?.. Liverpool and the fecking Kop, everyone wanted a singing  and chanting end behind the goal  after seeing them either on TV or at Anfield for the first time .

End of History Lesson 😀😀😀

12 hours ago, evissy said:

First trophy of the season! 🤣

Why wasn't there any fireworks and exploding confetti when James lifted the trophy?😀

Actually James looked a bit sheepish, but it good experience for everyone on how to handle trophy ceremonies later in the season 

6 minutes ago, The Rising Sun said:

Why wasn't there any fireworks and exploding confetti when James lifted the trophy?😀

Actually James looked a bit sheepish, but it good experience for everyone on how to handle trophy ceremonies later in the season 

I like your optimism !

Especially the use of the plural LOL

I’d say we’re short a good cheap backup striker like Ba or Giroud, a good CM-CDM hybrid that can score 8~10 goals and 10~15 assists a season, a really good CB(Hopefully Disasi is it) and a Petr Cech-type keeper.

 

I'll be behind the Chelsea bench, first row, for the Dortmund match. 

1 hour ago, Sconnie Blue said:

I'll be behind the Chelsea bench, first row, for the Dortmund match. 

Stay out of the technical area.

From the BBC website:

During the match only one person can stand at the front of the technical area and, while a second person can stand, they "must remain very close to the technical area seating" and "all conversations between the two standing must happen close to the technical area seating" as everyone else stays sitting down.

Chelsea play their final pre-season game in the early hours of Thursday morning as they face Borussia Dortmund in Chicago.

 

Wednesday evening? 7.30pm Central time or something?

7 minutes ago, TheCeleryKing said:

Wednesday evening? 7.30pm Central time or something?

I thought it was Friday morning at 00:30 for the UK, so Thursday evening in the US?

27 minutes ago, Mod said:

I thought it was Friday morning at 00:30 for the UK, so Thursday evening in the US?

Yep. Thursday (tomorrow) morning. 2.30am my time. Bastards. 

Saw a report that Mudryk came back from the U21s not fully fit. Might explain things.

Edited August 2, 20232 yr by dermott

18 minutes ago, dermott said:

Yep. Thursday (tomorrow) morning. 2.30am my time. Bastards. 

I just discovered Sky Italy's two dedicated football channels are both showing Juve v RM in lieu of Chelsea! Stronzi!

Edited August 2, 20232 yr by dermott

I don't see it on Sky Sports either so probably just a blank screen again on 5th stand!

Maybe Sky were only covering the "tournament".

https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2023/8/2/23816893/chelsea-borussia-dortmund-live-stream-time-tv-channels-how-to-watch-preseason-friendly-online

Anyone who has IPTV should be able to get it on Viaplay1 or Supersports Premier League. I'm all set up and ready to go.

Pitch is horrible

Any news about the lineup?

Chelsea: Kepa; James, Thiago Silva, Colwill, Chilwell; Enzo, Gallagher; Sterling, Chukwuemeka, Nkunku; Jackson

Subs: Slonina, Bergstrom, Chalobah, Humphreys, Cucurella, Gusto, Maatsen, Santos, Ugochukwu, Casadei, Angelo, Moreira, Hall, Mudryk

 

I'd have had Santos instead of Gallagher in the pivot,  but otherwise this might well be the line up that takes on Liverpool.

Fingers crossed for no injuries - pitch looks very poor in the pics !

Looks like a likely lineup for Liverpool. Which would mean starting with Sterling over Mudryk or Maatsen....

Still could be worse I guess, he could start with 10 men or pick Lukaku.

19 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Pitch is horrible

Yeah but at least it looks like Cucurella won't be playing. He hasn't even got his kit on.

13 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

Chelsea: Kepa; James, Thiago Silva, Colwill, Chilwell; Enzo, Gallagher; Sterling, Chukwuemeka, Nkunku; Jackson

Subs: Slonina, Bergstrom, Chalobah, Humphreys, Cucurella, Gusto, Maatsen, Santos, Ugochukwu, Casadei, Angelo, Moreira, Hall, Mudryk

 

Wow our bench looks really average. Boehly needs to spend the cash 

12 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

I'd have had Santos instead of Gallagher in the pivot,  but otherwise this might well be the line up that takes on Liverpool.

Fingers crossed for no injuries - pitch looks very poor in the pics !

Would prefer sterling on the bench and Mudryk starting mind you. But it’s definitely close to what we will see in a week. 

3 minutes ago, SimonH said:

Would prefer sterling on the bench and Mudryk starting mind you. But it’s definitely close to what we will see in a week. 

Mudryk being subbed on against a tiring defence is not a bad idea though