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Message: [QUOTE="IthacaMatt, post: 3072455, member: 405"] For those who want to know more about Christian Pulisic's team, here is my pre-season profile: Chelsea's offense starts with three center forwards who all offer something different, but none are considered "elite". Michy Batshuayi is a 25 year old Belgian international who has been loaned out by Chelsea a couple times to get playing time at other clubs. He has had some successful loan spells, and some that were not. He has scored a few significant goals, but is inconsistent and wasteful in front of goal, and he doesn't really hold the ball up as a target man, if you are being pressed in the back. Olivier Giroud is a 30 year old French international who won the World Cup in 2018. While he hasn't scored a ton of goals in recent seasons, he is an elite target man, he acts as kind of a "point center" and distributes the ball well when it is booted upfield for him to capture to break an opponent's press. In the Europa League last year (for newbies, think the NIT tournament for European soccer), Giroud was the top scorer with 10 or 11 goals. So he still has it, but can he do it consistently, and against the very best competition? The youngest kid, Tammy Abraham, is about 20. He scored 20 goals last year for a team that got promoted to the Premier League from England's "second division", The Championship. He's tall, lean and quick to run behind defenses. If he can provide that outlet, and that interplay with the wings, he could be special. So, none are really "proven", all have flaws. A couple have to produce. Among attacking midfielders, Chelsea has Pulisic, who looks the real deal, Pedro, who used to play for Barcelona and scored 11 goals last year. Willian had a bad year, and simply dribbles sideways across a defense these days, seldom threatening the opponent's goal. He has a scowl on his face a lot, and doesn't work that hard on defense anymore. At age 30 or so, it's probably his last season at Chelsea, and if he's a pain in the neck, I wouldn't mind to see him go before the rest of Europe's transfer window closes at the beginning of September. Hudson-Odoi has been pursued by Bayern Munich, and nearly left Chelsea because he didn't think he'd get a real chance to play under the previous coach. He likes Lampard, but has been dragging out signing an extension of his contract. He's talented, but he doesn't currently have the "end product" (finishing skill) of a Pulisic or a Pedro, who has sublime skill. So this kid might turn into a pain, but it's good to give young talent a chance. In midfield, Ross Barkley has been playing really well and may resurrect his career here under Lampard. Barkley is actually kind of a Lampard style player, so this might be a really good match. I think that when Ruben Loftus-Cheek returns from his own achilles injury (also probably in late Sept or Oct), he will give Chelsea another young dynamic attacking player. Throw in perhaps the world's best defensive midfielder, two-time Premier League Champion and World Cup winner N'golo Kante, and then your alternating choice among Jorginho, an Italian pass-master, and Mateo Kovacic, a Serbian player with grit and some skill. He can make a tackle and pick a pass. He seldom scores, but he interplays well with others in midfield and the attack. Among the youngsters, Mason Mount played for Frank as a Chelsea loanee at Derby County last year, where Lampard was the head coach in his only year of experience. Mount has also looked quite talented, although his build is a little sleight for the Premier League. I could see him playing a big role in the Cup competitions, as the number 10 on the "second team", so to speak. On defense, you're looking at Antonio Rudiger, a young German World Cup winner, as the new alpha dog. He's a terrific player. Alongside him, when he too returns in October, will be Andreas Christensen, a young Danish player with very good composure and skill on the ball, and who is also a German Bundesliga trained defender. So he's very talented, but a bit thin and can be muscled off the ball sometimes. The third central defender is Kurt Zouma, a young African player who plays for the French team, who is physical, like a Jeremy McNeill kind of defender. Like McNeill, he is a bit rough on offense, but he has closing speed and can put in a tackle, although he seems to stand a little too far off the offensive player (which gives them room to shoot), so far this preseason. On the left wing, you have Emerson, who has beaten out Marcos Alonso, who is an outstanding offensive winger. He gives you a lot of goals from that position. In a back 5, he plays closer to the attack and has more cover behind him. He was part of Conte's Title winning team, with Victor Moses on the other side. In a back four, though, he doesn't have good enough speed or defensive instincts to provide elite cover on his side. Emerson is a more defendable defensive player, and offers a good amount going forward. On the other wing, you have Caesar Azpilicueta, one of the best one-on-one defenders around. But he has aged a bit these past couple years, and has begun cheating toward the center of the field, so as to avoid getting exposed by offensive players out on the wing. He over-commits toward the center when he is on the weak side of a corner kick. That leaves openings at the back post, which he should be covering. It reminds me of when John Terry (Leader, Lecher, Legend ) started losing a step, those last couple years. They cheat deeper and try to read the game. That's easier to do when you're centra. Frank is moving Brazilian Kenedy to the right wing, to give him a shot there to push Azpi. Finally, in goal Chelsea have a young Brazilian named Kepa Arrizabilagga (something like that - they call him "Kepa"). He's a very promising young goal keeper, but he's still a bit young. We don't have an elite backup. Kepa's distribution is fairly good, but not elite. This sometimes leads to awkward and dangerous turnovers deep within your own half. Chelsea has done this an alarming number of times already this pre-season. This is probably Lampard's biggest job, to be honest - getting the defense in order. We'll see what happens. It should be a really exciting season. Liverpool only lost ONCE in 38 games last year, and finished with something like the 4th or 5th highest point total in league history - and they lost the title by ONE POINT to Manchester City. Tottenham and Arsenal have strengthened at the very end of the transfer window. Man United has let a lot of players leave, but may have a better culture in the locker room for it. They added a couple good defenders late, including Harry McGuire. [/QUOTE]

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