Chelsea 2018/19 - 3rd and European Champions. Sarri, not sorry

So they have a perfect start just like Liverpool. Yet there's no wankfest over them just like over Liverpool. There are about 4, 5 articles each day on many media outlets about can Liverpool win the league, is this their year, and of course every little bit which wonderful Klopp says (mind you everything is funny as hell of course), yet no mention of Chelsea potentially doing it.
Is it cause the media loves a good story, and Liverpool winning it 1st time in 29 years is a big thing or the massive Liverpool love in in the media or something 3rd?
 
in fairness would much rather see them win it then City or Liverpool. will depend on the Europa league for me on how they will finish.
 
Ban said:
So they have a perfect start just like Liverpool. Yet there's no wankfest over them just like over Liverpool. There are about 4, 5 articles each day on many media outlets about can Liverpool win the league, is this their year, and of course every little bit which wonderful Klopp says (mind you everything is funny as hell of course), yet no mention of Chelsea potentially doing it.
Is it cause the media loves a good story, and Liverpool winning it 1st time in 29 years is a big thing or the massive Liverpool love in in the media or something 3rd?
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The Premier league "script writers" / media editors have Liverpool in for the title this season. That is the narrative and you can see why, boring with the same old teams winning the league every season. Liverpool haven't won it for so long it would be a great story. The league definitely don't want City or us cruising the title, with no title race. That's happened pretty much every year recently, except the Leicester season, although even that wasn't a real race, they won by 10 points.

I still think City have the best squad, best players and a settled style of football and will win the league. I think they'll get a similar points total to last year, maybe even higher. Liverpool have a very good team but as the games mount up I can see them struggling much more than City. Also City are better against teams sitting with 10 players behind the ball, I can see a lot of teams doing that at Anfield and them dropping more points than City do.

We maybe have an outside chance, only if Hazard stays fit and plays like Saturday every week and our defending as a team in Sarri's system starts to click. We have a huge amount of games though especially if we progress in all the cups. Can't see us lasting the distance. Third and hopefully another cup would be a great season.
 
Mb194dc said:
The Premier league "script writers" / media editors have Liverpool in for the title this season. That is the narrative and you can see why, boring with the same old teams winning the league every season. Liverpool haven't won it for so long it would be a great story. The league definitely don't want City or us cruising the title, with no title race. That's happened pretty much every year recently, except the Leicester season, although even that wasn't a real race, they won by 10 points.

I still think City have the best squad, best players and a settled style of football and will win the league. I think they'll get a similar points total to last year, maybe even higher. Liverpool have a very good team but as the games mount up I can see them struggling much more than City. Also City are better against teams sitting with 10 players behind the ball, I can see a lot of teams doing that at Anfield and them dropping more points than City do.

We maybe have an outside chance, only if Hazard stays fit and plays like Saturday every week and our defending as a team in Sarri's system starts to click. We have a huge amount of games though especially if we progress in all the cups. Can't see us lasting the distance. Third and hopefully another cup would be a great season.
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Yeah, I guess it's that then. Beautiful story about Liverpool finally winning it although it's anything but beautiful. :D I too think you'll be somewhere there but City will probably win it. As it was mentioned here already if we won't be in the mix I'd rather see Chelsea winning it then City and even more Liverpool.

Satisfied with Kovačić so far btw?
 
Kovacic is a really talented player and suits our midfield well. He's showing what he can do, linking well with Giroud and Hazard. He's also tracking back and defending too.

Hopefully he will improve more as he's going to play way more minutes this season than ever at RM. He needs a goal, as does Barkley. Really should have scored on Saturday. Once he gets some confidence in front of goal can see him getting 10+ this season.

Then hopefully we'll get him on a permanent deal in the summer.
 
cyberman said:
We won 10 out of our first 11 games, averaging 3 goals a game. Martial and Rashford on fire, Lukakau scoring in almost every game with Matic helping Pogba run riot.
Then Paul got injured and that was that for a while. My point is there's nothing to be learned over such a short period of time.
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Agreed its a long season and things can definitely change but I only expected Pool & City to compete for the title so its kind of in-keeping with pre season predictions. Chelsea were always going to be a complete dark horse as were so unpredictable.

Don't think United/Spurs or Arsenal will compete for it this year
 
I don't know if Sarri will win anything at Chelsea this season as I feel they have more weaknesses as compared to City not to mention a weaker manager.

However if Chelsea are smart. They'll use him to build something iconic and long term there even if not instantly successful. Even if he doesn't last long there (who does?) but instills a strong identity there, that's a good cause for positivity in itself.

Although Chelsea have managed to be successful without any one fixed manner of playing, their fans have to admit the glimpses of sexy football must be refreshing even for them. Theirs something about brave, daring football that captures the imagination IMO like conservative football just can't. Unless we're talking about punching above one's weight ala Liecester.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
I don't know if Sarri will win anything at Chelsea this season as I feel they have more weaknesses as compared to City not to mention a weaker manager.

However if Chelsea are smart. They'll use him to build something iconic and long term there even if not instantly successful. Even if he doesn't last long there (who does?) but instills a strong identity there, that's a good cause for positivity in itself.

Although Chelsea have managed to be successful without any one fixed manner of playing, their fans have to admit the glimpses of sexy football must be refreshing even for them. Theirs something about brave, daring football that captures the imagination IMO like conservative football just can't. Unless we're talking about punching above one's weight ala Liecester.
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Yeah I think us fans wanted this style of football more than anything tbh.

We've won a fair amount in the last few years including a couple of titles, of course we want this to continue but there needed to be a shift at the club in building an identity and some of the entertainment back to the bridge. Hopefully we can find that blend of attacking football and consistently winning games as we are currently.
 
It's early days and Chelsea haven't really played a top side yet. We play Liverpool twice in the next two weeks and we will have better idea after those two games. I think Sarri is currently picking the best players and using them in a new exciting system. The attacking play is very quick and many teams are going to have problems keeping clean sheets.

I am also encouraged by the number of good young players coming through. I still think Hudson Odoi is a fantastic prospect and Christensen is a quality centre half but for me the most exciting prospect is Nathan Ampadu. His composure on the ball and distribution would normally be associated with a player many years older and yet he is only 17. He commands the play and looks like a leader. In some ways I see his intelligence under pressure as his best quality but I'm not sure of his best position. He can play as a centre half or midfield. It's hard to break into the Chelsea team and at 17 years old his chances are going to be limited. I would definitely start him in EL and the cups. Even against Liverpool next week. I know he's young but I think if we rest Rudiger and Luiz for the league cup game he and Christensen will be good back up.

COYB!
 
No one should be getting carried away. We've won 5 games against teams we should be beating, and been lucky at times. Remember what happened to Scolari? Even Pep only finished 3rd in his first season. That being said even in the Scolari season we finished 3rd and won the FA cup, even if Hiddink was in charge by then!

If I were Sarri I would be picking basically an entirely different team for the game away at PAOK on Thursday. Assuming all these guys are in the Europa squad and fit, something like this: Kepa, Ederson, Christensen, Cahill, Zappacosta, Ampadu, Barkley, RLC, Hudson-Odoi, Morata, Moses. That is still quite a decent team and we should be getting at least a draw.

Not sure if we should even take Hazard on the bench, save him for West Ham and Liverpool games instead. Try and get Drinkwater and Fabregas on the pitch at some point if fit. Save the rest of the team as much as possible as we have the West Ham away game and play Liverpool twice within 6 days.
 
Mb194dc said:
No one should be getting carried away. We've won 5 games against teams we should be beating, and been lucky at times. Remember what happened to Scolari? Even Pep only finished 3rd in his first season. That being said even in the Scolari season we finished 3rd and won the FA cup, even if Hiddink was in charge by then!

If I were Sarri I would be picking basically an entirely different team for the game away at PAOK on Thursday. Assuming all these guys are in the Europa squad and fit, something like this: Kepa, Ederson, Christensen, Cahill, Zappacosta, Ampadu, Barkley, RLC, Hudson-Odoi, Morata, Moses. That is still quite a decent team and we should be getting at least a draw.

Not sure if we should even take Hazard on the bench, save him for West Ham and Liverpool games instead. Try and get Drinkwater and Fabregas on the pitch at some point if fit. Save the rest of the team as much as possible as we have the West Ham away game and play Liverpool twice within 6 days.
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The PL schedule was perfect for your team to pick up points and confidence under a new manager.
 
Mb194dc said:
No one should be getting carried away. We've won 5 games against teams we should be beating, and been lucky at times. Remember what happened to Scolari? Even Pep only finished 3rd in his first season. That being said even in the Scolari season we finished 3rd and won the FA cup, even if Hiddink was in charge by then!

If I were Sarri I would be picking basically an entirely different team for the game away at PAOK on Thursday. Assuming all these guys are in the Europa squad and fit, something like this: Kepa, Ederson, Christensen, Cahill, Zappacosta, Ampadu, Barkley, RLC, Hudson-Odoi, Morata, Moses. That is still quite a decent team and we should be getting at least a draw.

Not sure if we should even take Hazard on the bench, save him for West Ham and Liverpool games instead. Try and get Drinkwater and Fabregas on the pitch at some point if fit. Save the rest of the team as much as possible as we have the West Ham away game and play Liverpool twice within 6 days.
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Hudson-Odoi and Drinkwater are not in the EL squad.
 
kouroux said:
The PL schedule was perfect for your team to pick up points and confidence under a new manager.
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No such thing. Newcastle away is horrible for us, massive 3 points there, we've struggled with arsenal for 2 years another big win, heck even bournemouth have won twice at the bridge in recent years if i'm not mistaken. Im not confident of a win vs west ham away as we usually dont do so well, but this play style gives us a lot of the ball and is a great way of controlling games. We were extremely poor vs the lower teams last year but looks like we have turned a corner on that front. Dont see us competing for the title just yet would be surpirsed if we did. We should make he top 4 this season. Any thing more is a bonus.
 
Pow said:
No such thing. Newcastle away is horrible for us, massive 3 points there, we've struggled with arsenal for 2 years another big win, heck even bournemouth have won twice at the bridge in recent years if i'm not mistaken. Im not confident of a win vs west ham away as we usually dont do so well, but this play style gives us a lot of the ball and is a great way of controlling games. We were extremely poor vs the lower teams last year but looks like we have turned a corner on that front. Dont see us competing for the title just yet would be surpirsed if we did. We should make he top 4 this season. Any thing more is a bonus.
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Pff ffs. Newcastle away is easy. I have no idea why you would struggle against such a shit team. Previous history means feck all in reality
 
kouroux said:
Pff ffs. Newcastle away is easy. I have no idea why you would struggle against such a shit team. Previous history means feck all in reality
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We rarely seem to get results there. Think the worst was where sissokho turned in to prime yaya toure and swept us aside. Last season we lost to burnely at home in the first match yet youd say thats an extremely favourable fixture. Considering sarri has had next to no time with his first 11 in pre season to coach this style of play we have done brilliantly so far in how quickly they have taken to it. Bodes well for the rest of the season when they do get the defensive side sorted.
 
antihenry said:
Hudson-Odoi and Drinkwater are not in the EL squad.
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Does Hudson-Odoi have to be registered? I was under the impression that if you're U-something (19? 21?) at the club you don't have to be included in that list.
 
Mb194dc said:
Kovacic is a really talented player and suits our midfield well. He's showing what he can do, linking well with Giroud and Hazard. He's also tracking back and defending too.

Hopefully he will improve more as he's going to play way more minutes this season than ever at RM. He needs a goal, as does Barkley. Really should have scored on Saturday. Once he gets some confidence in front of goal can see him getting 10+ this season.

Then hopefully we'll get him on a permanent deal in the summer.
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Kovacic is never scoring 10+ goals. He'll do well to score five all comps. He's just not that type of player.
 
autopilot said:
Does Hudson-Odoi have to be registered? I was under the impression that if you're U-something (19? 21?) at the club you don't have to be included in that list.
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Yeah, you're probably right about CHO. Drinkwater is in a tough situation, though. He's clearly not in Sarri's plans at all.
 
Pow said:
We rarely seem to get results there. Think the worst was where sissokho turned in to prime yaya toure and swept us aside. Last season we lost to burnely at home in the first match yet youd say thats an extremely favourable fixture. Considering sarri has had next to no time with his first 11 in pre season to coach this style of play we have done brilliantly so far in how quickly they have taken to it. Bodes well for the rest of the season when they do get the defensive side sorted.
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I know what you mean but it is better than having to face much better teams. Sarri has done so far a good job but facing weak teams has also been a bonus.
Newcastle might caused your team issues before but they were terrible in that game.
 
They're playing well but I don't know how they're going to claw back that 25 points Liverpool appear to be winning by.
 
cyberman said:
We won 10 out of our first 11 games, averaging 3 goals a game. Martial and Rashford on fire, Lukakau scoring in almost every game with Matic helping Pogba run riot.
Then Paul got injured and that was that for a while. My point is there's nothing to be learned over such a short period of time.
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This is true. No-one should be trying to call leagues before Xmas, it’s a fools game.
 
cyberman said:
We won 10 out of our first 11 games, averaging 3 goals a game. Martial and Rashford on fire, Lukakau scoring in almost every game with Matic helping Pogba run riot.
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Wow, forgot how well you started last year! :eek:
 
They didn't. They won 7, drew 2 and lost 2 in their first eleven games. Decent start but nothing special.
 
unbeatabla said:
They didn't. They won 7, drew 2 and lost 2 in their first eleven games. Decent start but nothing special.
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Not just the league. We cant exactly exclude CL as if its a minor competition!
It all adds up to the " Manager has team x playing so well, its all gravy from here" mindset.
If I remember correctly your win at the Bridge last year was our 3rd defeat in 30 odd games. 2 of those defeats came when we chucked the league for the EL.
Form can turn out of nowhere. 5 games really is nothing.
 
royce987 said:
https://preview.redd.it/sqgodd013wm11.png?width=1024&s=5f9d25f722af524a54f0bd5cc0f300f74c8b0264

Sky stats last season v this season.
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Guessing only City are above in short passes. Looking forward to seeing our 2nd team in the EL on Thursday. A lot of players that haven't even made the bench yet this season will be playing and hopefully give Sarri a selection headache for the games coming after. IMO, Hazard, Jorginho, definitely shouldn't even travel and basically the rest of the players who've played the 5 games so far. Our squad is massive and no need to get tired with the games coming up the week after.

The game away at Anfield in the league cup will be very interesting to see. I'm hoping we're going to put our full team out for that game even though it's the league cup and we're playing them at the bridge on the Saturday as well. Need to see how this new style and team will stack up against a Liverpool team that are in form and made the CL final last year. Good opportunity to put a marker down for the rest of the season.
 
Mb194dc said:
Guessing only City are above in short passes. Looking forward to seeing our 2nd team in the EL on Thursday. A lot of players that haven't even made the bench yet this season will be playing and hopefully give Sarri a selection headache for the games coming after. IMO, Hazard, Jorginho, definitely shouldn't even travel and basically the rest of the players who've played the 5 games so far. Our squad is massive and no need to get tired with the games coming up the week after.

The game away at Anfield in the league cup will be very interesting to see. I'm hoping we're going to put our full team out for that game even though it's the league cup and we're playing them at the bridge on the Saturday as well. Need to see how this new style and team will stack up against a Liverpool team that are in form and made the CL final last year. Good opportunity to put a marker down for the rest of the season.
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Hazard isn’t traveling but Jorginho apparently is. I think Sarri still wants that reliance on being able to have his midfield maestro if the second string aren’t working out. Hopefully he can spend the match sat on the bench though.
 
I'm so disappointed with Sarri's team selection for tomorrow. Eight starters from PL traveling to Greece. Why? Arsenal last season finished EL group comfortably first without using 11 starters from PL.
We would do the same with Caballero, Zappacosta, Emerson, Christensen, Ampadu, RLC, Barkley, Fabregas, Odoi, Willian, Morata. Put on bench Moses, Cahill, Bulka, Drinkwater, Piazon (those two not even registered) and a couple of youngsters and that's it! Instead of using this no CL situation as our advantage we get completely opposite because Thursday-Sunday is gonna kill us. And it's not like EL is important to us, it's obvious we gonna finish in top4.
Really don't understand Sarri with this.
 
NikkiCFC said:
I'm so disappointed with Sarri's team selection for tomorrow. Eight starters from PL traveling to Greece. Why? Arsenal last season finished EL group comfortably first without using 11 starters from PL.
We would do the same with Caballero, Zappacosta, Emerson, Christensen, Ampadu, RLC, Barkley, Fabregas, Odoi, Willian, Morata. Put on bench Moses, Cahill, Bulka, Drinkwater, Piazon (those two not even registered) and a couple of youngsters and that's it! Instead of using this no CL situation as our advantage we get completely opposite because Thursday-Sunday is gonna kill us. And it's not like EL is important to us, it's obvious we gonna finish in top4.
Really don't understand Sarri with this.
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Bitching much. You don't even know who gonna start and who not gonna start. We know Morata is gonna start that means either Willian or Pedro start with maybe CHO or Moses on the next side. Then we are sure Caba or Kepa will be in goal. Then Emerson is sick so Alonso starts Zappacosta on the next side, Christensen and Rudiger, as Sarri would be mad to try to young defenders. Then Jorgi Barkley and RLC or Fabregas.

At the end of it all, wait until you see a line up and not because its the EL mean you can take teams lightly and underestimate them, we are also learning a new playing style we don't know how competent the backups are with the change in style of play.

And even if we go with your lineup what if things are going badly who are the game changers? And you might have forgot this is Chelsea and we win trophies we won the EL the last time we were in it and we are gonna try and win it again because its a trophy and we love winning trophies no matter what type of trophy they are.
 
Damien said:
I'll be surprised if Chelsea players don't get burnt out this season. Not that much rotation there.
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Agree that is a possibility and also why I definitely can't see us getting near the title. Interesting to see who plays Liverpool games next week or if we're just going to keep playing nearly the same team. Maybe we'll play the kids against Liverpool instead in the league cup on Wednesday? I'd be disappointed by that though; would rather try put one over on them, Liverpool press is getting annoying. You do get a CL place for the Europa though and maybe Sarri (& the club) are thinking they want to prioritise the EL to get it.

Good news for us is the early kick off at 17:55 UK time so presumably the team are coming back tonight and shouldn't be too late. Also good news is our league game is on Sunday. It isn't really that different from Utd playing a full team yesterday and then playing on Saturday / Tuesday.
 
Damien said:


I'll be surprised if Chelsea players don't get burnt out this season. Not that much rotation there.
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That's a surprise with West Ham away on Sunday.

Europa League can be a killer. In the last three seasons Liverpool, United and Arsenal all reached the latter stages of the competition. None of them got close to the top four/a title challenge.

Has a side starting a season in the Europa League ever challenged for the league?
 
Risking his players getting exhausted too much ?

I'm surprised because Sarri was playing second string team in every competition bar the league last season. Expected him to do the same here.

If they played with full strength they can easily win the tournament but it can have a big effect on their league campaign.
 
Rudiger, Jorginho and Alonso are the only ones I would've rested. The rest have been in and out of the side.

Kante does not need resting, he's like some of those sled dogs who don't get tired.

Would've been nice to see CHO but I can see why Sarri wants to start off with a win.
 
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