2019/20 Rivals - Chelsea

Oxeki

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Their strikers won't even start for some mid table teams. They're going to struggle to score.

If Giroud is your most prolific goalscorer then that is a massive problem.
I expect them to get better once rudiger and Kante return.

But I still expect them to finish 6th. I'll be surprised if they finish higher.
 
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FootballHQ

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Was at Bloodstock yesterday to watch the Scorpions (:drool:) so could only follow yesterday's game by the scores.

However I was surprised by some of the decisions Lampard made with his 11. For a tough away game where the ball needs to stick, Giroud needs to start. As much as I love Tammy for what he did with us last season, he's of similar ilk to Lukaku. Makes more sense to start him in home games where you'll be dominant.

Thought the midfield make up was very odd aswell. Obviously Kante not fit so Jorginho gets in but ahead of him the other three of Barkley, Kovacic and Mount is all very sameish, all like to get forward and play on edge of opposition box.

They also need Rudiger fit a.s.a.p. Zouma can still be decent but think that bad injury has hurt his chances of ever being world class CB.

All in all their 11 just dosen't look intimidating anymore without Hazard's name in the 11.
 

Sandikan

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Didn't look that strong last year but obviously had a top class player to massively boost them.

Without him It's pretty clear they were in trouble, and then it's massively escalated with the ban.

Worst thing is if they really struggle and go back to the no young players policy.
 

Robbie Boy

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4-0 flattered United so it's too early to make a big assessment of Chelsea. Once you had in those key players that were missing they should be good enough for most teams in the league.

Can't see them standing a chance against Liverpool though on Wednesday.
Yeah 4 nil flattered Chelsea I agree. Should have been 5 or 8.
 

FootballHQ

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Many of the injured/absent players played in many of the big away defeats last season.

Doubt it would've been 4-0 though.

Probably the weakest Chelsea squad I've seen away from Stamford Bridge since the Vialli/Ranieri years when you weren't that good away from home. The record in 2019 shows that anyway.
 

charlenefan

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Question: Is this the worst Chelsea side in 20 years? I think it is.

Even before the Ambamovich money they had players like Zola, Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen, Desailly etc etc
 

Gringo

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Can't believe Mount and Abraham started. Talented but essentially they're Championship players starting their first game in the PL away at Old Trafford at 20 and 21 years of age. Huge call by Lampard. I thought Pulisic was older than he was what with his experience at Dortmund but again he's only 20 as well. It's a very young attack with an 18/19 year old Hudson Odoi coming back into the starting XI over Pedro, and not forgetting Loftus Cheek at 23 and Ross Barkley is being asked to adjust his game again at the age of 25. Have we ever seen such a young attack before at a big club ? It's going to take a long time to get things working. The away support sounded like they have the backing of the team despite the defeat. That needs to replicated in the home games to keep morale up. Because once that goes, it turns toxic quickly.
 

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I said as much when lots of people were losing their heads in the summer; we could be in Chelsea’s position.

I don’t see them as a threat this season.
 

Klopper76

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Just seen they've got Leicester next. I wonder what the mood will be like if we beat them in midweek then they go on to lose against Leicester.
 

Mb194dc

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Question: Is this the worst Chelsea side in 20 years? I think it is.

Even before the Ambamovich money they had players like Zola, Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen, Desailly etc etc
I would agree the starting 11 yesterday probably is weakest I can remember since 2003 at least.

With our full team, Kante, Rudiger, Willian, CHO and RLC all fit, + Giroud up top, we're good enough for top 6.

We need to play counter attacking football though, don't see us doing anything with style yesterday. Far too open, given the players available.

Lampard gets another big test against Liverpool on Wednesday and hopefully we'll see different style and lots of experience in the side.
 

balaks

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Only one game in so not much to go on but first impressions are not good. Anywhere in the top half of the table looks possible (outside of top 4 though).
 

charlenefan

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I would agree the starting 11 yesterday probably is weakest I can remember since 2003 at least.

With our full team, Kante, Rudiger, Willian, CHO and RLC all fit, + Giroud up top, we're good enough for top 6.

We need to play counter attacking football though, don't see us doing anything with style yesterday. Far too open, given the players available.

Lampard gets another big test against Liverpool on Wednesday and hopefully we'll see different style and lots of experience in the side.
How much money do you expect Chelsea to spend next summer?
 

Dancfc

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Can't believe Mount and Abraham started. Talented but essentially they're Championship players starting their first game in the PL away at Old Trafford at 20 and 21 years of age.
Mount is anything but a Championship player, he is and will be very good.

Abraham I agree is a bit underwhelming but for the way we play probably the best of the bad bunch as unlike Giroud he can actually move and unlike Michy has some sort of use at times other than being one on one with the keeper.
 

M Bison

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Just seen they've got Leicester next. I wonder what the mood will be like if we beat them in midweek then they go on to lose against Leicester.
I didn’t realise #lampardout had started before yesterday’s game, if the results go as you say above, it’s going to gather serious momentum, which feels unfair given what he’s up against.
 

Klopper76

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I didn’t realise #lampardout had started before yesterday’s game, if the results go as you say above, it’s going to gather serious momentum, which feels unfair given what he’s up against.
The fans seemed to still be singing his name at the end of the match, so they'll give him time. I'm not sure if Abramovic will though.
 

balaks

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Mount is anything but a Championship player, he is and will be very good.

Abraham I agree is a bit underwhelming but for the way we play probably the best of the bad bunch as unlike Giroud he can actually move and unlike Michy has some sort of use at times other than being one on one with the keeper.
That may well be true however it is highly unlikely he will be scoring 20+ goals this season.
 

RedSky

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Mount is anything but a Championship player, he is and will be very good.

Abraham I agree is a bit underwhelming but for the way we play probably the best of the bad bunch as unlike Giroud he can actually move and unlike Michy has some sort of use at times other than being one on one with the keeper.
He was unlucky not to score to be fair. The issue you had yesterday was in your own half.
 

Dancfc

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That may well be true however it is highly unlikely he will be scoring 20+ goals this season.
No, but he could get around 10, which would be a very respectable return.
 

Mb194dc

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How much money do you expect Chelsea to spend next summer?
I would expect to spend the Hazard and Morata money so £180M ish. Probably on just a couple of players as pretty much direct replacements.

Personally I am happy to try and keep 4/5 youth players in the first team. Just need to be sensible, go for experience in the big away games, or cup finals. The kind of playing style and team we had out yesterday would be ideal for a home game against a bottom 10 side.

Away from home, and against the top 6 we need to play on the counter this season, don't have the players to take the game to decent sides away from home.
 

SilentWitness

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They need to trust in Lampard and realise this will be a season full of ups and downs which will occur when you have a young but talented side and no signings.

Zouma was rubbish yesterday but he was fantastic last year for us at Everton - having someone like Keane beside him there helped massively and now being beside Christensen who isn't that experienced either doesn't help. Zouma and Rudiger will be great as a pairing in terms of experience and ability.

Pulisic looked promising when he came on and Abraham/Mount were good in the first half despite losing their way a bit during the second. It's to be expected though when they've both been playing in the Championship and are suddenly thrust into a starting line-up for Chelsea against United at Old Trafford on the opening day.

Getting 6th will be fine this season for them Anything worse for them will be an issue yet not disastrous as long as the performances look promising. They need to use this as a learning season which can build them up for 2 or so years down the line when these youngsters have a bit of experience and Lampard has a transfer window to make some changes.
 

Dancfc

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I would expect to spend the Hazard and Morata money so £180M ish. Probably on just a couple of players as pretty much direct replacements.

Personally I am happy to try and keep 4/5 youth players in the first team. Just need to be sensible, go for experience in the big away games, or cup finals. The kind of playing style and team we had out yesterday would be ideal for a home game against a bottom 10 side.

Away from home, and against the top 6 we need to play on the counter this season, don't have the players to take the game to decent sides away from home.
Yeah i think playing like we did yesterday we should have far too much for the bottom half sides 9 times out of 10.

There's 60 points available against those sides, if we can get 50 (last season we got 53) that should be enough to flat track bully our way to a top 4 challenge all be it probably just miss out.
 

KennyBurner

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Lampard is a very naive manager. He actually had the audacity to play with his fullbacks so high away from home? This is also knowing his defense is the worst aspect of his team? He definitely won’t last till December if he doesn’t start coaching with more caution.

Last year Chelsea weren’t that great if you remove hazard from the equation. Now that he is gone they will struggle to create and score goals. There is not a single great player in their team right now which is scary. They don’t have a pogba or de gea who can save them when things are rough. It’s going to be a long season in my opinion.
 

charlenefan

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I would expect to spend the Hazard and Morata money so £180M ish. Probably on just a couple of players as pretty much direct replacements.

Personally I am happy to try and keep 4/5 youth players in the first team. Just need to be sensible, go for experience in the big away games, or cup finals. The kind of playing style and team we had out yesterday would be ideal for a home game against a bottom 10 side.

Away from home, and against the top 6 we need to play on the counter this season, don't have the players to take the game to decent sides away from home.
Any murmurings as to who you've got an eye on or not really due to this years transfer ban? I just wonder if you may be the club that finally gets Zaha out of Palace
 

Dancfc

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Lampard is a very naive manager. He actually had the audacity to play with his fullbacks so high away from home? This is also knowing his defense is the worst aspect of his team? He definitely won’t last till December if he doesn’t start coaching with more caution.

Last year Chelsea weren’t that great if you remove hazard from the equation. Now that he is gone they will struggle to create and score goals. There is not a single great player in their team right now which is scary. They don’t have a pogba or de gea who can save them when things are rough. It’s going to be a long season in my opinion.
Actually if pre season and yesterday is anything to go by creating won't be a problem, if anything some players are coming out of their shell a bit without Hazard, Barkley especially.

Defensively is a real problem however i agree, I'm holding hope it's personnel and not a flaw in his coaching (Kante, James and Rudiger back will answer that) but if it's the latter he seriously needs to swallow his pride and get an expert defensive coach in.
 

duffer

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Any murmurings as to who you've got an eye on or not really due to this years transfer ban? I just wonder if you may be the club that finally gets Zaha out of Palace
Zaha, Chilwell and Coutinho are the names I've seen mentioned the most.

I don't really want any of them, we need a centre forward. feck knows who though.
 

Mb194dc

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Zaha, Chilwell and Coutinho are the names I've seen mentioned the most.

I don't really want any of them, we need a centre forward. feck knows who though.
No chance we'll sign Coutinho if anyone at the club has actually watched him play in the last year, unless it's very, very cheap or free.

End of the season sure good players will be available who haven't been getting minutes. Who knows..., looks like RM might sign Neymar for LW, they already have Vinicius as well, then what happens to Hazard? Buy him back for half or even less of the selling price perhaps in the summer :lol:?
 

ash_86

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They desperately need a top class striker and a very good defender. Their Midfield is pretty good IMO and they have a good buildup play. If Frank can survive the season which i think is going to be little rough, i think they will make some quality additions over the summer.
 

Dancfc

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They desperately need a top class striker and a very good defender. Their Midfield is pretty good IMO and they have a good buildup play. If Frank can survive the season which i think is going to be little rough, i think they will make some quality additions over the summer.
If Moussa Dembele keeps up his current trajectory he will be a perfect option.
 

balaks

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They need to trust in Lampard and realise this will be a season full of ups and downs which will occur when you have a young but talented side and no signings.

Zouma was rubbish yesterday but he was fantastic last year for us at Everton - having someone like Keane beside him there helped massively and now being beside Christensen who isn't that experienced either doesn't help. Zouma and Rudiger will be great as a pairing in terms of experience and ability.

Pulisic looked promising when he came on and Abraham/Mount were good in the first half despite losing their way a bit during the second. It's to be expected though when they've both been playing in the Championship and are suddenly thrust into a starting line-up for Chelsea against United at Old Trafford on the opening day.

Getting 6th will be fine this season for them Anything worse for them will be an issue yet not disastrous as long as the performances look promising. They need to use this as a learning season which can build them up for 2 or so years down the line when these youngsters have a bit of experience and Lampard has a transfer window to make some changes.
I think this is spot on - I also think Lampard will be manager at the end of the season unless it is an absolute horror show (bottom half)
 

Dancfc

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Not for a starting premier league striker though - at least not for one in a top 4 side.
We on about Mason or Tammy?

I think Mount could potentially get 10, he gets in very good positions to score.