Chelsea 2021/22 - World and European Champions

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duffer said:
Don't tell me, tell whoever said " They were considered favs or second favs on caf. "!
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So if majority of the people had Chelsea in 1/2nd position (add them) then they are considered as favs or second favs.

94 people predicted Chelsea will be 1st or 2nd.
92 people predicted ManUtd will be 1st or 2nd.

If you extend that to 1-3 position, Chelsea will be even higher than ManUtd.

Liverpool were underrated in that thread.
 
roonster09 said:
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/58141017

BBC had City and Chelsea as league winners. No other team got even 1 vote.

So yeah, they were considered as favs/second favs on caf and by pundits.
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10% of 200 people on here had Chelsea as winning the league. That's not "favourites" by any stretch of the imagination.

7 out of 20 on the BBC link had Chelsea winning it, that's not favourites either.

If you want to talk about "second favourites" then sure.

Lumping it all in together as "first or second favourites" is like saying that between myself and Usain Bolt, we have 8 Olympic gold medals. It's true but kinda misleading.
 
duffer said:
10% of 200 people on here had Chelsea as winning the league. That's not "favourites" by any stretch of the imagination.

7 out of 20 on the BBC link had Chelsea winning it, that's not favourites either.

If you want to talk about "second favourites" then sure.

Lumping it all in together as "first or second favourites" is like saying that between myself and Usain Bolt, we have 8 Olympic gold medals. It's true but kinda misleading.
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Yeah what was my initial post which you would remember for sure as you reminded me few mins ago.
 


But the tap in merchant was singing a different tune a few days ago.

 
Seems like Kovacic injured now too. Out for a couple of weeks.
 
My dick is so hard right now after those set of results!
 
I fully expected Ziyech to be fantastic for Chelsea, but he's been utterly average sadly.
 
P-Ro said:
My dick is so hard right now after those set of results!
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Three goals (two penalties) conceded in ten league games is ominous for everyone else. I don’t think you’d throw away a two goal lead like we did today.
 
Klopper76 said:
Three goals (two penalties) conceded in ten league games is ominous for everyone else. I don’t think you’d throw away a two goal lead like we did today.
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Your defence seems to have regressed. Chelsea are superbly organized under Tuchel but lack a proper top class attacker.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
Your defence seems to have regressed. Chelsea are superbly organized under Tuchel but lack a proper top class attacker.
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I think we’re just playing a really open style. Our midfield seems to evaporate though sometimes. It’s so easy to get at our back four of you beat the first press.
 
We look so much better with Chilwell and James as the wingbacks. Azpi, as much as I love him, should not be starting ahead of James anymore.

Newcastle were defending so deep Rudiger and Christensen were almost playing as #10's.

Superb weekend of results.
 
Klopper76 said:
Three goals (two penalties) conceded in ten league games is ominous for everyone else. I don’t think you’d throw away a two goal lead like we did today.
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3 goals in 10 games. It's unlikely, but if we keep this rate going the entire season, we're looking at about 11 or 12 goals after 38 games. The record is 15 goals.
 
Klopper76 said:
Three goals (two penalties) conceded in ten league games is ominous for everyone else. I don’t think you’d throw away a two goal lead like we did today.
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Indeed and the only goal they've conceded from open play was a deflected shot. Defensively they're the best team in the league no doubt.
 
Defenders scoring week in week out while their strikers offer no end product. Who’s going to be their top scorer end of the season, Reece James or Chilwell? :lol:
 
WeePat said:
3 goals in 10 games. It's unlikely, but if we keep this rate going the entire season, we're looking at about 11 or 12 goals after 38 games. The record is 15 goals.
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Having played city and Liverpool already
Very impressive
 
UNITED ACADEMY said:
Defenders scoring week in week out while their strikers offer no end product. Who’s going to be their top scorer end of the season, Reece James or Chilwell? :lol:
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Reason for this is because whilst they play 3atb, their WB's operate as attackers in the attacking phase. As a result, they cause overloads and are typically the free men so are getting quality chances. Therrfore, thinking of Chelsea's WB's as defenders isn't really true. I mean expand this out a little and I think Alonso also has a few this season because of it.
 
Dave Smith said:
Reason for this is because whilst they play 3atb, their WB's operate as attackers in the attacking phase. As a result, they cause overloads and are typically the free men so are getting quality chances. Therrfore, thinking of Chelsea's WB's as defenders isn't really true. I mean expand this out a little and I think Alonso also has a few this season because of it.
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Indeed. People talk about "5 at the back" really can't watch Chelsea.

 
Our team is very complete and extremely balanced but the one thing next summer that would take us to the next level is a wide player with end product.

Sadly, Ziyech has been a bust and looks a totally different player than what he was at Ajax. And I can’t really explain why. He was a top player who not only dominated in the Dutch league but also killed several top teams in the CL, ourselves included. Now he even screws up basic passes and doesn’t even come particularly close to scoring those curling screamers he was famous for at Ajax. I think he maybe just struggles with the pace and aggression of the PL.

And then there’s Pulisic who when fit is extremely dangerous. But he’s made of the most delicate glass on earth and spends more time out injured than he does playing.
 
Orc said:
Our team is very complete and extremely balanced but the one thing next summer that would take us to the next level is a wide player with end product.

Sadly, Ziyech has been a bust and looks a totally different player than what he was at Ajax. And I can’t really explain why. He was a top player who not only dominated in the Dutch league but also killed several top teams in the CL, ourselves included. Now he even screws up basic passes and doesn’t even come particularly close to scoring those curling screamers he was famous for at Ajax. I think he maybe just struggles with the pace and aggression of the PL.

And then there’s Pulisic who when fit is extremely dangerous. But he’s made of the most delicate glass on earth and spends more time out injured than he does playing.
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I was low key wishing we would gazzump United for Sancho. He would be superb in this team.

But yeah, Ziyech has been unlucky with untimely injuries that has halted his momentum a couple of times. At the moment, I almost prefer Barkley to him.

Pulisic is just straight up unreliable. He has missed the equivalent of an entire season since he's been at Chelsea. I don't care if he's Messi when he's fit, that kind of injury record makes it almost impossible for the manager to make plans for.
 
Dave Smith said:
Reason for this is because whilst they play 3atb, their WB's operate as attackers in the attacking phase. As a result, they cause overloads and are typically the free men so are getting quality chances. Therrfore, thinking of Chelsea's WB's as defenders isn't really true. I mean expand this out a little and I think Alonso also has a few this season because of it.
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Tuchel also mentioned this post-match - sometimes our strikers are effectively making decoy runs which helps a wing-back sneak in at the far post:

 
Dave Smith said:
Reason for this is because whilst they play 3atb, their WB's operate as attackers in the attacking phase. As a result, they cause overloads and are typically the free men so are getting quality chances. Therrfore, thinking of Chelsea's WB's as defenders isn't really true. I mean expand this out a little and I think Alonso also has a few this season because of it.
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To be fair, that's how wingback operate and being set up but not many wingbacks can do it like Chelsea's since they aren't very technical compared to Chelsea's. The big reason for their end product is obviously their wingbacks are very technical. Chilwell and James are much more technical than let's say Semedo, Azpi or Bissaka.
 
UNITED ACADEMY said:
To be fair, that's how wingback operate and being set up but not many wingbacks can do it like Chelsea's since they aren't very technical compared to Chelsea's. The big reason for their end product is obviously their wingbacks are very technical. Chilwell and James are much more technical than let's say Semedo, Azpi or Bissaka.
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The other variation we've made this year in particular is there are more rotations between whoever is playing inside forward and the wingbacks - think it's plausible that Tuchel was keeping things a bit more straightforward last year given the lack of time on the training pitch. This season they've been popping up in the halfspaces far more frequently - this might be a major benefit when Pulisic comes back since this rotation isolates the inside forward against a fullback much more easily and that's to his strengths.
 
Pulisic and Ziyech are players I would accept a decent offer for. Both are injury prone and Ziyech hasn’t impressed when fit.
 
TheMagicFoolBus said:
The other variation we've made this year in particular is there are more rotations between whoever is playing inside forward and the wingbacks - think it's plausible that Tuchel was keeping things a bit more straightforward last year given the lack of time on the training pitch. This season they've been popping up in the halfspaces far more frequently - this might be a major benefit when Pulisic comes back since this rotation isolates the inside forward against a fullback much more easily and that's to his strengths.
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I think it's actually helped elevate Chilwell and James to be honest.

I wasn't convinced by them (in an attacking sense) playing solely out wide from that area infact I was hoping James would start playing in the hybrid role under those circumstances (still wouldn't be against it long term to accommodate Livramento returning).

Adds a whole new layer to their and our game allowing them to drift in.
 
TheMagicFoolBus said:
The other variation we've made this year in particular is there are more rotations between whoever is playing inside forward and the wingbacks - think it's plausible that Tuchel was keeping things a bit more straightforward last year given the lack of time on the training pitch. This season they've been popping up in the halfspaces far more frequently - this might be a major benefit when Pulisic comes back since this rotation isolates the inside forward against a fullback much more easily and that's to his strengths.
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Chilwell especially takes up the #10 role multiple times during a game. Bit like how Pep was using Cancelo last season.
 
Dancfc said:
I think it's actually helped elevate Chilwell and James to be honest.

I wasn't convinced by them (in an attacking sense) playing solely out wide from that area infact I was hoping James would start playing in the hybrid role under those circumstances (still wouldn't be against it long term to accommodate Livramento returning).

Adds a whole new layer to their and our game allowing them to drift in.
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Completely agree - just personally not sure we've seen the extent of the potential benefits yet as it doesn't hugely suit any of our inside forwards to rotate wide (CHO aside, and I don't think it's a coincidence that we've looked much better with him at LW recently).
 
TheMagicFoolBus said:
Completely agree - just personally not sure we've seen the extent of the potential benefits yet as it doesn't hugely suit any of our inside forwards to rotate wide (CHO aside, and I don't think it's a coincidence that we've looked much better with him at LW recently).
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I have to be this person but I think we are looking so much more fluid without Rom as I feared would happen.

Which leaves a problem as his transfer fee makes it hard to justify dropping him.
 
Dancfc said:
I have to be this person but I think we are looking so much more fluid without Rom as I feared would happen.

Which leaves a problem as his transfer fee makes it hard to justify dropping him.
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To some extent I agree - but at the same time I don't think it would have taken as long to score had he been playing yesterday, personally. I have faith that Tuchel will sort it out to be honest - even if that means Lukaku doesn't start every big match.
 
The last two games have been against dreadful teams that Rom could have feasted on. I do not see anything that we have been doing that could not happen if Rom was on the pitch. If all the goal production was coming from Havertz or Havertz setting people up, then that would be a knock on Rom.
 
Dancfc said:
I have to be this person but I think we are looking so much more fluid without Rom as I feared would happen.

Which leaves a problem as his transfer fee makes it hard to justify dropping him.
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I said it numerous times, Werner compliments our team more than a traditional forward. The runs he makes break open defenses whether to get the ball or be a decoy, he is so quick teams need to have a man or two following him.
With Romelu we play more in front of the defense and it makes it easier for teams to choke us.
 
TheMagicFoolBus said:
To some extent I agree - but at the same time I don't think it would have taken as long to score had he been playing yesterday, personally. I have faith that Tuchel will sort it out to be honest - even if that means Lukaku doesn't start every big match.
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It's a bit of a catch 22, Lukaku is a better finisher than the others but at the same time we're less creative with him on the pitch.

For example the Norwich game, with Lukaku we probably "only" win by 3 or 4 with him getting 2/3 and we'd all be saying afterwards what a grind that would have been without him.
 
SirReginald said:
I said it numerous times, Werner compliments our team more than a traditional forward. The runs he makes break open defenses whether to get the ball or be a decoy, he is so quick teams need to have a man or two following him.
With Romelu we play more in front of the defense and it makes it easier for teams to choke us.
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I hope when he returns he's tried in the RF position Martinez often plays him at as that's probably the middle ground between fitting him in and largely sticking to the system that works (ideally I'd have him benched until he earns his spot back but can't see that happening).
 
Lukaku shouldn’t walk back into the team though when he’s fit unless we are struggling. He should play against Man Utd though as he will be absolutely desperate to play against them.
 
Zaphod2319 said:
The last two games have been against dreadful teams that Rom could have feasted on. I do not see anything that we have been doing that could not happen if Rom was on the pitch. If all the goal production was coming from Havertz or Havertz setting people up, then that would be a knock on Rom.
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Think Harvetz work off the ball is being overlooked by you. Sure he isn't stat padding like Lukaku does against the riff raff but he pulls defenders about more which opens up space for everyone else.

I get the feeling watching him, he is going to end up like a Firmino player, where the stat focused people don't understand what he does.
 
3 goals conceded is extremely impressive, Tuchel is doing wonders, it's crazy what a good coach can do to a team.
 
SirReginald said:
I said it numerous times, Werner compliments our team more than a traditional forward. The runs he makes break open defenses whether to get the ball or be a decoy, he is so quick teams need to have a man or two following him.
With Romelu we play more in front of the defense and it makes it easier for teams to choke us.
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It was one of the big fears I had last summer when everyone was talking about buying a #9. I preferred to run it back again with Havertz and Werner than to just get a #9 thinking we can just plug him into the team and voila, now we can finish all the chances we create. Well the way we play, the CF is a huge part of the chance creation and my fear was getting Lukaku, or another striker not named Haaland, would have a negative impact on that chance creation process, and its proving to be accurate so far.
 
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