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Last night against Fulham, it did not take long for Sánchez to confirm some of my biggest concerns. At this point, it is difficult to understand how anyone can still view him as a goalkeeper capable of starting for an ambitious Chelsea side that wants to return to the top of English and European football.
It feels as though everyone can see the weaknesses in his game—except, apparently, the Chelsea ownership and sporting management. His decision-making, reliability and consistency continue to raise serious questions, and I genuinely hope the club addresses the position before the transfer window closes.
We simply cannot afford to go into the season with Sánchez as our undisputed No. 1. If the club’s objective is to compete for Champions League football and eventually challenge for major honours again, the goalkeeper position cannot be treated as an area where we simply hope for improvement. We need a goalkeeper who can provide consistency, confidence and high-level performances from the beginning of the season.
Caicedo’s absence from the squad last night also caught my attention. I do not know whether you are thinking what I am thinking, but my immediate concern was the possibility of a more significant injury.
To be fair, Alonso has already played down any suggestion that the injury is serious, which is reassuring. However, I cannot ignore the broader context. Caicedo has played an enormous amount of football over the past three seasons, including the Club World Cup and then the World Cup this summer. That is a tremendous workload for any player, particularly one who plays in such a physically demanding position.
That raises an uncomfortable question: **could this be the beginning of a workload-related problem similar to what we saw with Palmer last season?**
I sincerely hope not.
This is precisely why I believe Chelsea need to manage Caicedo’s workload extremely carefully. His importance to this team cannot be overstated. He is arguably the most important player in our midfield, and his ability to cover ground, win duels, protect the defence and maintain the intensity of Alonso’s system makes him extremely difficult to replace.
We have already seen the benefits of giving Palmer a full summer of rest. He looks physically fresher, sharper and more capable of sustaining his performances. Chelsea should take the same approach with Caicedo wherever possible.
There is no point pushing one of our most important players through unnecessary minutes early in the season only to pay the price later. We have a long campaign ahead of us, and if we genuinely want to compete for the Champions League places, **Caicedo needs to be managed as a long-term asset rather than simply maximised in every individual match.**
For me, Sánchez remains the immediate squad concern, but Caicedo’s workload is something I will be watching very closely. One issue is about the quality of the starting XI; the other is about ensuring that one of our most important players is still at his best when the decisive part of the season arrives.
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Caicedo and Palestra were both seen on the bench yesterday if I am not mistaken. So yeah I hope their injury isn’t serious. Also Palmer’s injury, he was limping before the asked to be substituted. To be fair though, Roméo Lavia played superbly IMO yesterday. If he can stay healthy, I believe he will be a very good midfielder for Chelsea and can be paired or rotated with Caicedo. We have Luton on Thursday Carabao, I just hope that we won’t risk injured players but also that Xabi won’t rotate so much as this new team needs cohesion. Especially in defense, I think Colwill, Lacroix and Acheampong should start to give them more confidence and understanding and Penders should also be given a start in the goal.
Transfer front:
Latest rumours, is that Delap will leave to Forest for 50m. If it’s true, not bad, a nice profit. And Villa submitted an offer of 60m for Jackson. Again if the rumours can be believed: a nice profit. I still believe City will submit an offer for Enzo. But not sure if the offer will match our price.After Sanchez’s display yesterday, I hope that Xabi can see that we need a GK. Martinez or Pope can be our answer.
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Aindro, I think Fofana will get picked ahead of Acheampong in that back 3. He was missing the last game due to suspension I believe.
Transfers: Yes somehow we’re getting 50m for Delap, despite his distinctly average season with us. And it looks like we’re going to offload Jackson for a decent profit after managing to get a loan fee and his salary paid for last season.
Letting Enzo go to City and Maresca would be such poor judgement, especially this late in the window with no good options to replace him in the market. I’ve read that Alex Scott is under consideration but we would be replacing someone who joined us as a World Cup winner and best young player at that World Cup with a Bournemouth player who doesn’t get into the England Squad.
Regarding Goalkeepers – I’d take Martinez. Pope – not for me. He didn’t even make the England Squad for the WC where Pickford was first choice…
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Fabrizio Romano is suggesting we are now strongly linked with Emi Martinez. I would go with that if possble, and relegate Sanchez to 3rd choice and have Martinez share responsibilities with Penders if Penders can prove hinmself. I’d start Penders against Luton as a no-brainer in any case.
City are selling quite a few players now – Savinho and Marmoush for example. We can expect they will go for Enzo, but as I have mentioned before, we should do nothing to aid City or Maresca who sabotaged us.
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Ed de Goey, agreed about Fofana. And with us playing midweek, Fofana should be available against Brighton. Still I would like to see more cohesion at the back. Sanchez played really bad but the back 3 system did not look comfortable either. They need to play together more and I hope they will start against Luton. Penders will start I reckon.
About Enzo, if the player wants to leave and the price is right, I think there’s no point keeping an unhappy player. No matter how good he is. And with Xabi’s 3-4-3, we need two central midfielders: one will be Caicedo and the other can be James or Lavia. We also have Valentin Barco, I don’t know whether he is a central midfielder or a wide one.
If we get Martinez, it will be a 100% improvement from Sanchez. I read the rumours and I really hope it gets materialized. Martinez will solve our GK problem while also allowing Penders to develop. I would not only relegate Sanchez, I would sell him and get some money. Let’s also hope that Jackson & Delap’s transfers get materialized. More than 100m generated from their sale, it will be a very good business.
Unfortunately we do not make money from Badiashile and Disasi as they both are loaned-out only. Not sold permanently
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3-4-3 with Fofana, Lecroix and Colwill up to speed will be awesome. Likely to be deployed when we go to the Emirates after the International break assuming all 3 stay healthy.
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Martinez in from Villa. Hopefully Alonso has the plums to bring him straight in. Brighton and Arsenal both ahead would likely exploit Sanchez’s insecurities. Bring Martinez straight in, no mucking around. If too early for Brighton to give him time to integrate then leave Penders in there. We can’t be dropping too many points this season. Remember his ball distribution against Arsenal last season presenting Rice with a simple shot at goal which rattled the side that were going OK at the time. We can’t be having any more of those either.
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Chelsea’s defensive performances have undoubtedly been concerning, and I am not here to defend them. However, when you listen to some football pundits discussing Chelsea’s defending, you would think we have conceded ten more goals than every other team in the league.
I decided to look at the numbers so far this season:
* **Chelsea:** Played 2, Won 2, Scored 7, Conceded 5.
* **Manchester City:** Played 2, Won 2, Scored 6, Conceded 2.
* **Liverpool:** Played 2, Won 0, Drew 2, Scored 4, Conceded 4.
* **Manchester United:** Played 2, Won 1, Lost 1, Scored 5, Conceded 4.
* **Tottenham:** Played 2, Won 0, Lost 2, Scored 0, Conceded 5.At this stage, only Arsenal and, to some extent, Manchester City can genuinely claim to have shown defensive solidity. The rest are also conceding goals.
Chelsea’s defensive issues are real, but the narrative surrounding them has become somewhat exaggerated. The major difference is that, unlike last season, Chelsea now have an attack capable of compensating for some of those defensive weaknesses.
## The Difference Between This Season and Last Season
Last season, we played Fulham and Brighton and lost both fixtures. Across those two matches, we scored only two goals and conceded five.
This season, we have played the same opponents and won both games. We have scored seven goals and conceded five—the exact same number of goals we conceded against them last season.
The defensive record is therefore similar, but the attacking output has changed dramatically. That is the difference.
Having Cole Palmer back and fully refreshed has clearly made an enormous difference. You can see the benefit of him having a proper summer break. For that, we probably have to thank Tuchel—Chelsea legend!
The same can be said about João Pedro. He also had a proper summer break and arrived fresh and ready. Once again, we may have to thank another Chelsea legend, Ancelotti!
And, funnily enough, if João Pedro were still at Brighton, Chelsea would probably have been quoted £100 million or more in today’s inflated market. At around £60 million, he looks like a very good signing.
Rodgers, meanwhile, is still adapting to the system and adjusting to his new surroundings. This season may largely be about him building chemistry, understanding his teammates and becoming more familiar with the demands of the team.
## The Uncomfortable Question: Does Colwill Suit Alonso’s System?
I think we need to start asking an uncomfortable question: **Does Levi Colwill really suit Alonso’s system of playing with a back three?**
I am beginning to have doubts.
Personally, I think Hato may be better suited to playing as the left-sided centre-back in this system. Colwill’s performances are becoming a concern, and I believe he has been part of the reason why our defensive structure has looked so chaotic at times.
If Chelsea want to improve defensively and start keeping clean sheets, there are a few possible solutions.
One option would be to move Colwill into the central centre-back role, although that would likely displace Lacuix. Another option would be for Alonso to drop him temporarily and play Hato as the left centre-back, with Chavaria operating as the left wing-back.
On the right side, I would currently prefer Acheampong to Fofana. If that option does not work, there could even be an argument for moving Neto into the left wing-back position, depending on the tactical requirements of the match.
The main issue, however, may not be the defence alone.
## The Midfield Problem
Our midfield is extremely concerning.
Part of the reason our defence has been under so much pressure is that the midfield has often been almost non-existent. When the midfield fails to control possession, protect the central areas and stop transitions, the defenders are inevitably exposed.
This is why I do not believe the defensive problems are entirely down to the back three or individual defenders. The lack of midfield control has been a major contributing factor.
The injury to Caicedo raises even more questions.
I asked this in my previous post: **Could this be the beginning of workload-related injuries?**
Chelsea desperately need midfield reinforcements—at least two midfielders, in my opinion. The current situation does not provide enough depth, especially if injuries begin to affect key players.
At the moment, I can only see Enzo leaving. The relationship between him and the club appears to have broken down beyond repair.
Overall, Chelsea have obvious defensive problems, and nobody should pretend otherwise. But the situation is not as unique as some pundits are making it out to be. Several major teams are conceding goals, and Chelsea’s ability to score seven goals in two matches has given the team something we lacked badly last season: **an attack capable of winning games even when the defensive performance is not perfect.**
The challenge now is to find balance.
Chelsea cannot rely on outscoring opponents every week. The attack is clearly improving, but the midfield needs greater control and the defensive structure needs to become more stable. If Alonso can solve those problems while maintaining this attacking threat, Chelsea could become a very dangerous team this season.
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Wise – The defence doesn’t look assured, that’s true to say as they adapt to a new system. However, the goals at Fulham were both GK errors, and against Brighton we had a freak own goal, and a goal where Martinez made a good save and the ball ricocheted to the Brighton player who pulled off a volley he probably couldn’t replicate again. Their 3rd goal I put down to us having a lapse of concentration in defence, but nevertheless I wouldn’t have seen any other keeper saving Gross’s header.
Hato looked pretty good, I like the look of Lacroix so far, and I agree that Acheampong has the edge on Fofana for now. Colwill obviously needs more time to adapt to this system. On a side note, it will be interesting to see where Palestra gets played when back from injury – he can cross of both feet and looked good during pre-season.
I agree that we look a bit vulnerable in defence, but at least some of that problem stems from our midfield troubles. It’s abundantly clear that we lack depth – why on Earth is Gusto starting in central midfield for example? The defence are not being afforded enough protection from our 2 central midfielders. Lavia played well but as a unit, him and Gusto are not going to protect the defence sufficiently. Lavia plus another may be able to, but not with Gusto or, dare I say it, James who doesn’t convince me as a central midfielder.
The situation with Enzo needs to be sorted out because if he had been starting with Lavia, then the conversation today would probably be quite different. It seems to late to find a replacement now, so if he moves on then we are selling ourselves short, particularly given our shortage of midfield players. We shouldn’t sell to City or Maresca just on principle, anyway. Reports have us linked to Lamine Camara who plays at Monaco. If we get him, I hope he doesn’t become another Bakayoko…
Next game is Arsenal away – I expect us to lose, but hopefully the team can put in a good shift and gain some confidence nevertheless.
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Wise and Ed, Blues1967 has started a new thread. May be it’s better to continue there on the new thread as it’s a new season.
So far it’s a new hope under Xabi. And we played without Enzo, without Caicedo. Imagine when Caicedo will be fit and back.
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I am posting in this thread to not disturb the positive vibes on the new thread. As I predicted, Man City completely f**ked us with their last minute Fernandez bid and we did not have enough time to secure a replacement.
Good thing is that now we should not be worried anymore about any financial violation as the transfer is 125m pound.
I don’t want Enzo anymore but with Caicedo now injured, we only have Lavia & James who are both injury prone as we loaned out Essugo. There’s Barco but I find him too lightweight for a DM.
Otherwise, kudos to Chelsea to have replaced Sanchez with Martinez, to be able to sell Tosin, Datro Fofana, Guiu and to loan Mudryk out to a Premier League team.
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