[aindro]

To be fair, Enzo did not start in both of our previous matches in the league. He wasn’t even even included in the last match. And Caicedo did not start either. So in term of our starting 11, it’s gonna stay more or less the same against Arsenal. We have weakened for a longer run with Enzo being one of the best midfielders in the world that he became. I just hope that Enzo’s departure won’t affect the team that much; I hope that Lavia and Reece James stay healthy and that Caicedo will be available soon.

I am pessismistic this time against Arsenal as I am not convinced yet with our defense. But who knows, our attack has been superb and if Palmer Pedro & Rogers can outplay Gabriel and co who have kept 2 clean sheets from 2 matches, maybe, just maybe, we can outscore Arsenal. They have Calafiori who is good in attacking but not that good in defending if we can exploit their left side. And Konsa/Mosquera isn’t Saliba, they’re not as good as Saliba.

Let’s hope to see an entertaining match and possibly a Chelsea victory or even a draw.

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[aindro]

Ed, it’s sure that we’re lightweight in the midfield. Monaco deceived us by calling off the transfer that had been agreed. James and Lavia are injury prone. Caicedo not sure how bad the injury is but we can see that the team is struggling without him in the midfield. We faced Fulham and Brighton, this weekend against Arsenal I think that they will dominate the match easily. Our midfield isn’t solid enough and our defense hasn’t gelled yet.

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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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Again it was an entertaining match against Brighton. Our attack was fluid, Rogers Palmer & Joao Pedro were sharp. They could have scored more goals but I am happy with 4 goals.

Nonetheless, I don’t find it normal that Brighton were back into life after going 3-0 down. Something is really wrong with our defense. Arsenal will beat us easy if we defend like in our previous 2 matches. Already it will be hard to score against Arsenal, but our defense is nowhere near top 6 quality.

Colwill looks awkward to say the least. He was always late, he wasn’t comfortable. Why doesn’t Alonso try to switch Colwill & Lacroix? Lacroix can play on the left or right side as Guehi occupied the central one at Palace before. Our midfield without Caicedo is like a colander. While Lavia was superb in these first 2 matches, he needs Caicedo to win the ball. I think in a longer run if Essugo stays, Alonso can try Essugo instead of forcing Gusto or James to play midfield.

I am pessimist for the match against Arsenal, but so far our display especially attacking wise has given a new hope. And Martinez, despite the 3 goals, what a solid and commanding display. Sanchez is a more spectacular GK but Martinez gives much more calm and assurance. It was a bold decision to start Martinez yesterday

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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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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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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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It wasn’t a good gameweek fantasy wise! I bench boosted but did not get the return I wanted. The big names that I have in my team blanked, like Fernandes, Mbeumo & Haaland. Haaland looked ok, he should have scored. But the same cannot be said for Man Utd players and unless they improve against Ipswich (which they should in theory!): I will consider selling them in the gameweek 3 or 4.

United should win easy against Ipswich at OT, and probably big, so I keep for now Man Utd assets.

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The match vs Fulham:
I did not regret asking to leave earlier from work. It was a really entertaining match. Fulham and Chelsea both wanted to attack and our attack did not disappoint. Cole Palmer looked to be limping though, it looked like hamstring but I hope it is just as Xabi said: cramp. He played really well yesterday, our best player by far and should have scored more.

Our defense is shaky to say the least. As Carragher says: we won’t be champion with Sanchez at goal. Acheampong but especially Colwill looked really uncomfortable at the back 3. Colwill was lucky not to get a red card and their 2nd goal, he was at fault. Acheampong was lucky that Antonee Robinson did not score.

Transfer window:
The latest rumour is that City are preparing a bid for Enzo. My feeling is that they will leave it until the very last moment and will leave us no time to secure a replacement. They will try to make our life difficult. In any case, any bid under the 120m price IMO should be straight away rejected by Chelsea.

About GK, I think if we can get Nick Pope of Newcastle, he would be a great addition. Newcastle don’t need him anymore; he can ease the pressure from Penders. GK can make mistakes, series of mistakes, but for Sanchez, I think I got enough. He cost us points, and looking at his performance yesterday: he was lucky not to costing us any point. He will cost us points in the near future.

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Their goal, Sanchez was at fault big time. Small angle and he got beaten. I think Xabi is starting to regret not to bring a new GK. Our attacking play looks good though with Palmer, Pedro & Rogers all connecting well. But the defending is pretty much suspect. Hato is weak, but Colwill somehow is our weakest link in the first half besides Sanchez (this we kinda know).

One positive point from our defender is Lacroix. An absolute steal it looks to me so far.

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Ed de Goey, agreed. I was so confident and now I am starting to worry. No Caicedo, our ball winner, not even on the bench. He must be injured; I hope nothing serious. Palestra, not sure either, he was all the time present during the pre-season but it’s more Caicedo’s absence that worries me the most.

Enzo, he is on the bench. I suppose it’s because Caicedo is absent. We can’t leave the midfield wide open as Enzo defends much less than Lavia or James both both of them defend much less than Caicedo. Our bench, if we can keep the score 0-0 until 60th minute, I think Xabi could then substitute Hato and Gusto to Chavarria and Neto and possibly Lavia or James to Enzo.

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This is our starting line-up against Fulham:
Chelsea: Sanchez; Acheampong, Lacroix, Colwill; Gusto, James (c), Lavia, Hato; Palmer, Rogers, Joao Pedro
Chelsea substitutes: Penders, Chavarria, Barco, Fernandez, Neto, Quenda, Gittens, Estevao, Welbeck

Not sure what happens with Palestra, he isn’t even amongst substitutes. Same as Caicedo, he is not in the squad. With Hato & Gusto on the wing backs and Lavia & James on central midfields. A weird line-up in my opinion without Caicedo.

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Adidas20, thanks mate to have joined my league!
Same here, I’ve been playing Fantasy since a decade.

For the first time I bench-boosted in GW1. I’ve never done it and now I don’t think that it’s a good idea. I was too sure of a Man Utd win when in reality they lost 2-0 against Hull. I was also sure of an Arsenal win. I will roll the transfer for now, and will do 2 transfers in GW3 to get Brighton players such as De Cuyper or Hinshelwood. They ran riot yesterday against Villa; they looked good. And probably Szoboszlai as he is a penalty taker, confirmed yesterday.

IMO I wouldn’t be too hasty with the wild card. I would save it for later where my team really will need a total change. For now, if we have Haaland, one or two Arsenal defenders or GK, Ndiaye or Sangaré, Szoboszlai: we should be good.

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It’s great too see everyone back posting. Hope y’all had a good summer and are coming back refreshed.
I have the same feeling as Blues1967 & srilankanblue that we would have a good result but also I can see what Wise-Fan & Ed say that this is a derby, so it tends to be a difficult match. So let’s just see and enjoy the match. I just ask my boss to finish early today as I want to stream the match live, let’s see if he will be ok with that. My prediction is 1-3 for Chelsea with Palmer scoring.

About Enciso, we had Buonanotte before, Garnacho … we cannot buy all the talents in the world. We are already packed in the midfield and attacking midfield slots. And some players look good for other teams but can’t develop at Chelsea. I would prefer Xabi concentrating on our current squad and if possible sell some players to balance the book. About Enzo, if we can sell him for the price we ask, I totally agree. We can forgive him but it’s just happened too many times. The insult to French players after Argentina won the world cup, and recently the Madrid fiasco. No doubt he is a good player but for me his mentality isn’t right for Chelsea.

Surprise results day 1 cannot be interpreted for anything but I cannot help to think that we have a chance. Every team bar Arsenal is unstable due to the changing manager and players. City were lucky to win. Liverpool were lucky to draw. Man Utd lost. Villa, it’s early but I am not sure how they can cope with the loss of Tielemans, Digne, Rogers and soon Watkins and Emi Martinez.

Hope that we’ll get a victory for our opening match. KTBFFH

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Transfers:
Our strikers, in order, are Joao Pedro, Welbeck and Emegha. Delap’s no:9 shirt was given to Pedro. It looks more and more that Xabi wants Delap and Jackson to find a new club as they were reported to train separately from the main group. They are not bad players, so I am pretty optimistic that we’ll find buyers for them before the transfer window closes.

Disasi and Badiashile, unfortunately, it’s gonna be a loan again for both. We can’t get rid of them permanently since several seasons already.

There’s hope to sell Tosin, but I cannot see any interest for Guiu and Datro Fofana though. I really hope that Chelsea will be able to make some sales, even Enzo Fernandez in the remaining window. Otherwise I am afraid of the financial violations.

vs Fulham (A):
Not sure why, probably due to Xabi Alonso simply, I can see us winning against Fulham. I did not follow their pre-season but Xabi was able to do a proper pre-season with important players like Fofana, Palmer, Colwill, Estevao and Joao Pedro all not participated in the World Cup. Caicedo also returned early from the World Cup.

My preferred team would be: Penders – James,Colwill,Lacroix – Palestra,Caicedo,Enzo,Neto – Rogers,Palmer – Joao Pedro.

I wouldn’t be surprised though if Xabi starts Welbeck upfront to give Joao Pedro more room to create as no:10 and bench Rogers as he arrived late from the World Cup. Same as Lavia ahead of Enzo due to transfer rumours and his late return.

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I also have doubts whether Joao Pedro can play no:9, as a lone striker, the whole season. As far as I know, at Brighton he played kinda no:10 behind Welbeck. But Welbeck is now with Chelsea. And for this reason I would prefer Delap who is a pure no:9 to stay than Jackson.

Rumours say that Chelsea increased Neto’s price to 100m, so it looks to me that we don’t want to lose him. It bothers me to see no one departing since quite a time. Even Badiashile whose deal with Napoli has been touted for awhile. Our squad is too big with no European football.

I cannot see anymore incoming though to be honest unless there’s big outgoings like Enzo or Neto.

Anybody watched the Community Shield? I could not here, but Maresca looked to be outclassed by Arteta. I cannot help but to smile with that 3-0 defeat. Rodri’s departure has been confirmed, with a sizeable transfer fee, so I wouldn’t be surprised if City will bid for Enzo Fernandez or for Neto.

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Blues1967, it seems to me that Xabi is still undecided between Sanchez or Penders between the posts. We will see Monday next week, but my feeling is that Sanchez will start.

Pre-season:

Watched the extended highlights against Real Sociedad, our attack looked decent. Joao Pedro continues his fine form and I hope he can carry it in the league. The club decided against investing in striker and in GK, I wonder whether this will backfire further in the season. 0 goal for Palmer (and 0 assist I think?) during pre-season is a bit concerning. Where is the Cole Palmer that we knew before his injury?

Xabi played again 3 centre backs. Not sure how quick Fofana and Colwill will adapt but Lacroix is used to play 3 CB at Palace. Fofana looked weak though, with back 3 may be Xabi should start trusting Josh Acheampong?

Transfers:

Neto and Enzo Fernandez are continually linked with exit despite the club’s deadline had passed for Fernandez. But with Rodri’s transfer is confirmed, and Savinho is expected to leave to Spurs: I think Man City will have some money to spend and it won’t be a surprise if they come back for Enzo. I can’t see them bidding for Neto though. The idea of selling players to Maresca isn’t pleasant but after spending so much money this summer, I think Chelsea won’t have any choice but to sell some players. And to be honest, I am more afraid to lose Neto than to lose Enzo. He already had stated in the past the preference to leave and I hope that Chelsea can make a lot of profit from his sale.

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About GK, I think the club (or Xabi) believes that Penders can be the one. I have never seen him play but he is Belgian, tall, young and it must remind us of Courtois. Cech and Courtois joined Chelsea when they were young too. We just can hope that this decision will pay off.

I don’t think you can blame Pickford for England’s failures though. England had David Seaman for so long, he played his trade at Arsenal, and England didn’t win anything either during his reign despite having Beckham, Owen, Lampard etc. Look at Brazil, they never had good GKs IMO and they won the World Cup. With Taffarel, Dida at the goal. And Argentina won the World Cup with Pumpido (even worse than Brazil’s GKs) in 1986.

Back to Chelsea, I think the problem now is offloading some players. Badiashile is looking on his way out, a loan to Napoli. We won’t make money from him then. I don’t believe we’ll make money with Disasi either, with any of our bomb squad. I am not sure about the financial state of the club after spending more than 400m. It doesn’t look that there’s any panic. But if we need to get some money to balance the book, the only way is to sell Enzo, Jackson, Delap and/or Neto.

I also lost respect and am still angry to Maresca. He single handedly jeopardized our last season. And I (wrongly) blamed BlueCo and everything else but him. But it turned out that it was Maresca’s doing. I hope that Pep’s shadow is just too big for him and City will fail miserably.

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Ed de Goey, I have to agree. If we can loan Mudryk to Conventry, he will have gained a precious experience playing in the Premier League under Lampard’s tutelage. I hope Chelsea will sanction this move. And also as CFC website just confirmed Jorgensen’s loan to Strasbourg, we only now have 1 loan spot left there. And I would prefer using that spot to loan Satpayev to Strasbourg or Anselmino.

In Jakarta & Kuala Lumpur, Xabi started to play his signature back 3 instead of back 4. So about Fofana, I don’t think he will be starting. Lacroix fills the right side with Colwill in the middle and Hato on the left. Supported by right wing back Palestra and left wing back Pep Chavarria (not confirmed yet, but it looks to me that it’s a done deal).

I was always against you about GK, but I think Xabi will regret not to buy a GK. Sanchez is good but not good enough for an ambitious team. He makes mistakes too often.

And about our attacking area, my understanding is that Joao Pedro is our main striker with Welbeck as his backup, or as the preseason showed us: it’s Welbeck as the main striker and Joao Pedro in the no:10 role. This flexibility will help Chelsea to me more unpredictable for the oppositions. One or both of Jackson and Delap have to be sold to raise money. And simply there’s not enough place for both of them. If I could prefer, no matter how good Jackson is, I prefer Delap to stay than him. Delap is a pure no:9 and he is still 23.

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I just wanted to comment about our latest preseason matches in Indonesia and in Malaysia.

Pre-season:

Only watched the extended highlights for both, it seems to me to be 100& bizarre to organise 2 friendlies in a space of 2 days in two different countries. I think Chelsea needed the money but did not want to prolong the preseason in Asia. Anyway it looks like the new set-pieces coach has been successful to improve our set pieces. 2 goals in Jakarta from corners, Caicedo’s volley was a beauty. I hope that this set-pieces improvement carries on in the league. Arsenal won the league thanks to set-pieces. Where was Palmer though? He regressed a lot since the Clubs World Cup last summer and then his injury.

The 2nd friendly in Malaysia raised a lot of question marks about our 2nd strings. Jackson looked good but was still not able to convert any chance. Same as before, lacking in his finishing. Delap looked ok but could not convert an easy 1 on 1. The defense was so bad. Our bench doesn’t have the necessary quality. We were second best against a Malaysian side who were not able to achieve any glory at Asia level.

Transfers:

From the friendlies: Tosin has to go, Anselmino I think has to look for a loan. Both aren’t Premier League quality. Gittens IMO should be loaned-out to a Premier League side. Mudryk should be loaned-out to RC Strasbourg IMO.
A sad news as Chalobah left for Como after 20 years with the club. I would have preferred Fofana or Badiashile or Disasi to go, but it’s Chalobah who left. Filip Jorgensen is also only just waiting for the confirmation as it seems that everything is agreed for his loan at Strasbourg.

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