Chelsea

[Jezza]

Disappointing to squander a two goal lead. I think Frank made errors with his substitute and didn't adapt accordingly to counter Sheffield United's momentum.

The defence is a shambles. Azpilicueta's decline has been alarming and Zouma hasn't been the same player since his ACL injury from 2016.

In saying that, there's still plenty of upside for Chelsea with the likes of Kante, Rudiger, Hudson-Odoi, Loftus-Cheek and James all waiting to return from injury.

[Jezza]

Second win for Frank. 5-2 victory over Wolves.

Tammy Abraham says he hopes this can be "his season" after scoring a brilliant hat-trick - and an own goal - as Frank Lampard's young side destroyed Wolves at Molineux.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/49617985

[K]

"I’m not a defender of old or new football managers. I believe in good ones and bad ones, those that achieve success and those that don’t. Please don’t call me arrogant but I'm a European champion and I think I'm a special one" - Jose Mourinho (as quoted in an SMH article on NRL coaches).

[Jezza]

4 wins in a row in all competitions

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard says his Blues side can get "a lot better" after they swept past Southampton to move up to fifth in the Premier League.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/49868086

[Jezza]

5 wins in a row in all competitions

Marcos Alonso's second-half strike broke Newcastle's resistance as Chelsea moved into the top four in the Premier League with their fifth successive win in all competitions.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/50024393

[Jezza]

Six successive wins in all competitions!

Frank Lampard felt his Chelsea "babies" came of age as the Blues claimed a memorable 1-0 win at Ajax in the Champions League.

Substitute Michy Batshuayi struck with four minutes remaining to hand Chelsea their second win in Group H.

Lampard has shown his faith in young players this season and has now been rewarded with the biggest result of his Chelsea managerial career.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/50161741

[Jezza]

The winning run continues with American wonderkid, Christian Pulisic scoring a hat-trick

Christian Pulisic scored a hat-trick to announce his arrival in English football in sensational style as Chelsea beat Burnley for a seventh consecutive win in all competitions.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/50106246

[Jezza]

Our transfer ban is reduced, meaning we can sign players in January

Chelsea are free to sign players in January after their appeal against a transfer ban imposed by FIFA was reduced by half by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

FIFA handed down a two-window transfer ban to Chelsea in February of this year after football's world governing body found the club guilty of breaching two of its regulations on player transfers, specifically regarding bringing in U18s and 'third-party influence'.

The club had their first appeal against the sanction thrown out by FIFA's appeal committee in April, when it was criticised for "inexcusable" breaches of the regulations.

But Chelsea made a further appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport last month, who accepted submissions about the case from the club as well as FIFA.

More to follow....

https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... ter-appeal

[K]

... American wonderkid, Christian Pulisic...

I felt like objecting to the "kid" part (while voicing no opinion on the "wonder" part). I see though his D.O.B. is 18 Sep '98. Does that still count as a kid? In the Western world, maybe...

[K]

"Chelsea are fourth in the rankings thanks to Frank Lampard putting faith in youth products of the Academy. The average age of the head coach’s starting XI against Sheffield United, at 24 years and 158 days, was the Blues' youngest in a Premier League match.

The rise of players such as Mason Mount (20) and Tammy Abraham (21) from the Academy and Christian Pulisic (20) has given Lampard the chance to field such a young team."

(premierleague.com, 14 Sep 2019)


"Liverpool have signed 16-year-old midfielder Harvey Elliott from Fulham.

Harvey Elliot made history when he became the youngest ever Premier League player at 16 years and 30 days old.

The England under-17 midfielder made his first appearance in the 88th minute of a game between Fulham and Wolves in May 2019.

Elliott became Fulham's youngest player in September 2018 in the Carabao Cup at just 15. He had broken the previous record by 38 days.

The England youth international cannot turn professional until his 17th birthday next April."

(BBC, 29 Jul 2019)


"In 2015, Norwegian footballer Martin Odergaard hit the news by signing for Spanish giants Real Madrid aged just 16.

When he was 15 and 253 days old, Odergaard became the youngest player at the time ever to play in a European Championship football qualifier when he appeared for Norway."

(BBC, same article)

[K]

A look into the past:

https://twitter.com/premierleague/statu ... 4797562880

23 Dec., 2012, Chelsea v. Aston Villa.

Everyone looking so young. Lampard, Hazard, ...

[Jezza]

^ I remember that match well. One of our biggest victories in the club's history.

The only downside to that period was Rafa Benitez coaching us.

[K]

And that included a wasted penalty!

Generally, it feels like the EPL produces many high-scoring games. I'd like to see how it compares with other leagues. (Perhaps most interesting if the one-sided high-scoring games are ignored.)

[K]

Back to the present...

'Frank Lampard knew he had to change something. Arsenal had torn into a disorganised Chelsea from the off, with an unmarked Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang nodding home from a corner to hand the hosts a deserved lead.

So Lampard rolled the dice, ditched the 3-4-3 formation just past the half-hour though, withdrawing the struggling Emerson Palmieri, and switched to 4-3-3.

The decision eventually turned the game, with Jorginho proving pivotal to that reversal of fortunes.

Lampard insisted it was a change in mentality rather than tactics that helped Chelsea turn the tables on the Gunners however, praising his players for eventually finding their bite.

"No I don't think we got it wrong tactically at the start," said Lampard. "It wasn't so much the tactics, it was the spirit and the fight of the team. They were quicker, and we were lethargic initially.

"Sometimes it has to be a gesture with a change. And then after the changes we got better.

"It wasn't so much the three at the back, but then again, Mikel Arteta isn't silly: they found a way to pin our five back, and so I had to change."'

(Sky Sports)

[Jezza]

We were abysmal for the first 30 minutes. Emerson is not a proper wingback so the 3-4-3 formation that worked successfully against Tottenham did not work against Arsenal. It only works if someone such Marcos Alonso is playing in the team.

At least Frank identified his error and rectified it instantly. It's a stark contrast to what we saw last season under Sarri who was rigid and stubborn in his approach.