It’s been a good week for Chelsea. The first game of the season went better than Thomas Tuchel could possibly ever have hoped it would’ve. Stamford Bridge was almost full to the brim and Crystal Palace rolled over conceding to a nice and easy 3-0 win. Whether you love Marcos Alonso or not, he’s a prolific goalscorer. The Blues’ first Premier League goal of the season was another stunning free-kick from the Spaniard’s boot. Christian Pulisic bundled the second in against his favorite opponents. However, the absolute highlight of the game was Trevoh Chalobah grabbing his first senior goal for Tuchel’s side. The emotion he showed following that fine strike from outside the penalty area was as sweet as the shot itself.
Whilst Chalobah was rightly lapping up the plaudits, one of his former youth academy colleagues, Tammy Abraham, was dragging his suitcase out of the Bridge, onto the airport and off to sign on the dotted line for Jose Mourinho’s Roma. It’s incredibly sad that, having spent all but six of his 23 years on this Earth with the Blues, he’s become collateral damage for Tuchel’s brave new regime. The fall guy, maybe, he’s better than that though. There are many who believe Abraham is the real deal and a spell under the watchful gaze of the Portuguese one will see him return to London joining John Terry’s world-beating Chelsea in 2025—you heard it here first.
Tottenham begin its charge for European supremacy in the UEFA Conference League this week and the summer transfer rumour mill has Kurt Zouma heading for north London. Chelsea’s next manager, JT, has jokingly indicated it’s a bad plan on his Instagram account and I concur. We can’t, as a club, strengthen a local rival and Zouma would certainly do that. Kurt won’t go . . . he won’t . . . he definitely won’t.
Tottenham’s other near neighbours, Arsenal, must be quaking in its boots ahead of once again having to face a genuine, old school Chelsea No. 9. Didier Drogba and Diego Costa both terrorised past Arsenal defences. Going back even further, Kerry Dixon and Peter Osgood did likewise. Romelu Lukaku will, hopefully, be the next incarnation to scare the bejesus out of Mikel Arteta’s team. Recent games against them have seen the Gunners with the upper-hand, that needs to stop and Lukaku can lead that charge.
This week, Chelsea held an open training session with fans inside Stamford Bridge. I attended one of these once, way back when Luiz Felipe Scolari was in charge. It was a good opportunity to see the new manager and get close-up with the players. It was a good natured, happy occasion. I’m sure that would have been the case this time around, except for the one imbecile, who called for Timo Werner to “get out of the club” whilst on microphone. Hats off to the lady that stood up and defended the German and called the idiot out.
The advent of social media has empowered so many people. We all have opinions, the fact we can spout them out all and sundry at the drop of a keyboard goes to some of our heads. I’m ‘old and wise’ enough to realise that none of this really matters, the fact that some don’t is neither here or there. What is important though, is supporting the team you love unconditionally. The world of football social media—let’s face it, I mean Twitter—can be toxic to say the least. It’s laughable how seriously some of these people take themselves. A fine example appeared over the last couple of days, I’m sure you’ll be able to track it down should you so wish. Unless you’re reporting actual facts, most of what Twitter throws up are simply fan-based opinions, as you’ll find here. You may agree or disagree but it’s just not worth being fussed about, it’s really not.
To finish up, whilst it’s been a good week for Chelsea, it’s been an incredibly bad one for British comedy. Noted Chelsea fan Sean Lock sadly passed away this week following a long fight with cancer. He was most known for the panel show, 8 out 10 Cats and the corresponding show, Cats Does Countdown. He was a year older than me and I can’t say how sad the news of his death made me. I’m so sorry for his family and friends, their feeling of loss must be awful. If you do nothing else this weekend, check out one of Sean’s many videos online, it will be time well spent. Rest in Peace, Sean.