Kovacic deserves extra special praise, was amazing all game.
+Kante
Chalobah was a bit shaky today but a few performances like this should be expected seeing how young he is. A good result overall and a boost for a tough month ahead. Also, this match showed why Tuchel and the boys have it in them to go the distance in UCL!
Just did a bit of digging into our recent starting line-ups.
1. Since 20th Nov, we have played 13 games and used 13 different starting XIs 2. We've had our preferred pairing of CMs in just 5 of these 13 games (preferred pairing=combination of any two of Jorginho/Kante/Kovacic) 3. Tried 6 different pairings of LWB/RWB (normally this would have been fine but with Alonso's abysmal form, we've suffered here as well. Shows how much we need a replacement LB) 4. Had 5 different players at CF/ST position (Lukaku, Havertz, Pulisic, Vale, and Werner). On only 2 occasions, has a striker started consecutively (Havertz: Watford (W) - West Ham (L) & Pulisic - Everton (D) & Wolves (D)) 5. Some of our most important players (who would walk into starting XI easily) have sat out major chunks of this period. In terms of appearance: Chilwell (2/13), Kovacic (3/13), Kante (5/13), Lukaku (2/13)
Our record has been 6-6-1 during this period with some unlucky draws/loss. Just wanted to bring this point out because even though a lot of people recognize that we have suffered from injuries/COVID, the narrative that we don't have it in us to challenge for the title and City are well ahead of us is a bit overblown. They are a squad with much better stability but it's quite clear that Chelsea has been quite unlucky with injuries. Also, these figures don't take into account the recovery time it takes for a player to regain match fitness.
Rated E For Everyone.
Comments
Shame Lukaku has done you all so dirty. I’m fine with it as a Liverpool fan mind 😅
That’s about as bad as Chalobah’s header
PuliGOALsic
Look at this and you might feel better:
Just glad Origi isn't on the bench.
So much for Chelsea parking the bus looks like Liverpool have it well parked with all players on their defensive half playing the counter
This, just watched the last 10 mins or so and it's all Chelsea with Liverpool in their own box
You know who will post that here.
+Kante
Chalobah was a bit shaky today but a few performances like this should be expected seeing how young he is. A good result overall and a boost for a tough month ahead. Also, this match showed why Tuchel and the boys have it in them to go the distance in UCL!
1. Since 20th Nov, we have played 13 games and used 13 different starting XIs
2. We've had our preferred pairing of CMs in just 5 of these 13 games (preferred pairing=combination of any two of Jorginho/Kante/Kovacic)
3. Tried 6 different pairings of LWB/RWB (normally this would have been fine but with Alonso's abysmal form, we've suffered here as well. Shows how much we need a replacement LB)
4. Had 5 different players at CF/ST position (Lukaku, Havertz, Pulisic, Vale, and Werner). On only 2 occasions, has a striker started consecutively (Havertz: Watford (W) - West Ham (L) & Pulisic - Everton (D) & Wolves (D))
5. Some of our most important players (who would walk into starting XI easily) have sat out major chunks of this period. In terms of appearance: Chilwell (2/13), Kovacic (3/13), Kante (5/13), Lukaku (2/13)
Our record has been 6-6-1 during this period with some unlucky draws/loss. Just wanted to bring this point out because even though a lot of people recognize that we have suffered from injuries/COVID, the narrative that we don't have it in us to challenge for the title and City are well ahead of us is a bit overblown. They are a squad with much better stability but it's quite clear that Chelsea has been quite unlucky with injuries. Also, these figures don't take into account the recovery time it takes for a player to regain match fitness.