29 Sep 2021 21:50:29
I think we can now truly understand and appreciate Mason Mount's importance and impact to our team.
He is our most important player, we have no one close to what he brings to our team.
Can't wait to have him back.

I also think RLC should be considered more often and at this point I would take Barkley over Ziyech any day of the week.

1.) 29 Sep 2021
29 Sep 2021 21:53:52
I am starting to think the same Ashk. We deeply need his energy, press and composure on the ball.

2.) 29 Sep 2021
29 Sep 2021 22:00:39
Mason is a class act and he make such good use of the space between the lines and he can carry the ball at pace.

We did miss him but there were also some very average performances tonight.

3.) 29 Sep 2021
29 Sep 2021 22:01:47
Mount would have made no difference he has been poor all season as have all Chelsea’s attacking players. None of our wide players are taking players on and putting in decent crosses. We are crying out for a creative midfielder. Dave is not effective as a RWB. None of the substitutions made any difference. Our bench is way behind City’s. Barkley are you joking! Put tonight behind us; very important to get 3 points at the weekend to stay in the mixer before the useless international break. TBH City and Liverpool look much better than us.

4.) 29 Sep 2021
29 Sep 2021 22:30:47
At the end of last season we beat City three times but we did get outplayed by them last week having strengthened our squad.

Our games against the Scousers under TT have been very close and I would say we have a much stronger squad than them.

Mount is a top player but like all players he will have poor runs of form.

When you play three at the back you rely heavily on your wingbacks to be creative.

5.) 30 Sep 2021
29 Sep 2021 23:50:06
True Tom but Dave is not effective as a wing back nor is CHO, Alonso has gone back to his old self and even Reece was poor before he got injured he seemed to be reluctant to take players on and continuously pass backwards. People say we haven’t got the players for a back four: maybe we haven’t got the players for a back three either.

6.) 30 Sep 2021
30 Sep 2021 07:40:28
I agree to some extent Jimbo.
Yeah Mason wasn't his usual self, but even then he created chances and made some great runs. He is simply irreplaceable in my opinion.

My statement about Barkley was made to show how poor Ziyech has been and you can add Havertz to that as well. He has simply been not good enough and we are running out of excuses for him. He is still young but he has to adapt and find his game quicker.
Dave is good for RCB and RB to some extent and he can do a job at RWB, but you can't expect him to be at his absolute best after starting 3 4 games in a row.

Anyway, this is not the end of the world. Our defence is still pretty good but we need something more.

7.) 30 Sep 2021
30 Sep 2021 08:12:45
We lost to Juventus away. Who is one of the best teams in Europe.

Why have such a big overreaction?

8.) 30 Sep 2021
30 Sep 2021 08:38:25
When are people going to get it. TT is a defensive coach by instinct. Chelsea attacked under Lamps in the group stages and done the business, under TT in the CL Chelsea scored then defended. And it all worked. In the PL under TT particularly at home some of the performances were wretched defensive slow ponderous affairs. His team selection last against at a team who are on a poor run told you everything. I cannot stand Jorginho Ziyech and Alonso and all three were in the team. Jorginho is too slow too weak too safe and belongs to the 1980s cattanachio era, Alonso is untrustworthy, lazy, limited ability and imo he lacks class, Ziyech? Well take your pick, low in fitness, poor strength, and offers no contribution in any sense, yet he has had loads of games. Chelsea are almost at Sarri point. Utterly boring. It is nearly October and he finally gets Chillie on the pitch at Juve away. How unfair is that. RLC deserves the chances that Ziyech has enjoyed, yet that is twice he has been slung into a sluggish one paced performance. Imo the team that finished the game minus Barkley (which was a bit of a joke in itself) would not have lost that game. In fairness to TT he did not have the option of MM. But according to some on here he is on a run of bad form?! You couldn’t make it up.

9.) 30 Sep 2021
30 Sep 2021 09:16:15
It’s how you lose and I don’t think mount would of made that much difference energy maybe but he still not Greta a picking a pass.

10.) 30 Sep 2021
30 Sep 2021 10:19:48
Great post Stephen. We are very solid defensively, in fact we are one of the best in Europe in quite some time. But without Mount, we are nowhere near good enough offensively and even when he is on the pitch, we are not at the level of Liverpool, City or other good attacking teams.

We need to try something new soon if we want to continue our success under TT.

11.) 30 Sep 2021
30 Sep 2021 11:17:26
I agree, Stephen - the CL win papered over the cracks. Jorginho was awful against City and somehow managed to be even worse last night.

I just don't get it: a midfielder that can't run, can't tackle, can't head, doesn't create, doesn't score, is as slow as a grandma, but somehow is feted.

12.) 01 Oct 2021
01 Oct 2021 08:50:55
I think very important players were missing like reece and if jabte is played up front takes away what he brings to the team. He's very effective when he's played in the middle where he face the opposition attack and no balls are played behind. i believe City over ran us because there wasn't enough steel in the middle to brake up the balls and collecting lose balls. Again tt should try to harness the attack the same way he did in the defence. Lukaku always isolated. We don't drive the balls into the box often. I believe we can hut our stride of last season when all players are back and fit. Like our defense is more efficient when ca play ib the right defence and reeece on rwb. reece compensate for ca loss of pace with his energy and doggedness.
I would like TT give saul a run of games to adapt and regain sharpness and see what he can bring to the team because obviously we need a midfielder with a different attributes especially creativity and forward balls.