In your view what is Chelsea's best eleven? Is it good enough for top four this season?
With all the transfer speculation rife about possible Chelsea targets next month I wanted to ask you all two questions based on the squad...
https://www.chelseadaft.org/2019/12/in-your-view-what-is-chelseas-best.html
With all the transfer speculation rife about possible Chelsea targets next month I wanted to ask you all two questions based on the squad we currently have here. What do YOU think if our best eleven with everyone fit and available? Then, is that team good enough to finish in the top four this season?
Let's start by saying that none of us ever expected Chelsea to have sat comfortably inside the top four at this stage of the season - even if we have dropped all the points we have so far. With the young players making the step up to the first team, the long-term injuries we had and some influential characters having left the club over the past six months or so, I honestly thought that to finish near the top six would be good enough.
Now, with the performances that we have seen from the youngsters so far this season, the winning run we embarked on which was really impressive and the fact that we have just had Toni Rudiger return with Ruben Loftus-Cheek in training, it's clear that we have so much quality to pick ourselves up to get back on a winning run again.
The problem has been the defeats and dropped points as the team is currently trying to find consistency once more. With all the games coming thick and fast this time of year, Frank Lampard needs to change the team to keep things fresh with the demands of our style of play (high press etc). By making those changes it disrupts the balance of the side as people need to learn to play next to each other and how each other reacts in certain in-game situations.
Once we get through this busy Christmas and New Year period, it's imperative that we find consistency and for Frank Lampard to decide on what he believes to be the best eleven he has from the squad available. From there the second decision to make would then need to be how to implement all these players into a formation that works.
Right now for me we have to change to 4-3-3 and stick with it because the strongest part of our side is the three central midfielders we have at our disposal in Jorginho, Kante and Kovacic. Tammy Abraham up top picks himself along with Kepa Arrizabalaga at the moment because Willy Caballero is not a number one these days. That leaves the back four and two attacking/wide midfielders to choose from (remember it's with EVERYONE fit and available!) so you need to decide who that is.
In my view the back four should be James, Tomori, Rudiger and Azpilicueta. At the start of the season I would have back Andreas Christensen next to Rudiger but Fikayo Tomori has earned the right to be selected ahead of him with his performances so far. Emerson and Alonso have been OK but not much more than that so Cesar Azpilicueta moves over to the left to accommodate Reece James who has really impressed so far.
In the wide attacking areas it's a toss up between Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount and Willian. Of course we could add RLC into the equation but is that a position that gets the best out of him? Callum Hudson-Odoi hasn't hit the ground running this season or impressed to the point that he has forced his way into the team so he misses out for the time being. Pedro looks like he is on his way out in addition to Olivier Giroud. Willian picks himself with his performances, work-rate and pure pace on the ball in counter-attacking situations. On the other side, I would go with Christian Pulisic with Mason Mount on the bench.
My Best Eleven would be: Kepa, James, Tomori, Rudiger, Azpi (c), Jorgino, Kante, Kovacic, Willian, Pulisic and Abraham.
Is that team good enough to finish in the top four compared to our rivals City, Leicester, Tottenham and Manchester United? I believe it is.
What is YOUR view on Chelsea's strongest eleven and do you think they are good enough? Let me know as I want to read as many opinions as possible on this!
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