Could be bad from today's game. Kevin De Bruyne injured whilst scoring Chelsea's second of their ongoing match with Malaysia Reports claiming possible knee ligament damage Not good news at all
Didn't look good but it looked like his knee might have popped out. Might not be as bad as it looks he says hopefully. Great goal. Traore looks like a prospect for 17. If we don't sign him I'm sure he'll not struggle for offers.
KDB walked out for to dugout during second half on his own. think it is not worse as it looked in the beginning..
Mourinho says the injury is "not important". Jose has nothing but shining praise for De Bruyne, and no wonder. What a player he is. Thunderbolt.
Looks like it's not too bad. Very good player from what we saw, and Lukaku going like steam train is also impressive.
From what I've seen De Bruyne has been our best player in pre-season. Looks a yard sharper than everyone else and far more effective. Over-reliance on Mata should end now. As good as Mata was, he was 10 times better when only playing once or twice a week.
To quote Mourinho exactly: Mourinho said: "When he was on the floor and asking for a change, everybody on the bench, we thought the worst. "The first assessment by the doctor was that it was not the ligaments for sure and if it is something in the meniscus, then it has to be a very small injury. "So we believe it is not an important injury and hopefully it isn't because the kid is a fantastic player and is showing to you match after match and showing to me in training that he is going to be a key man on the pitch." Doesn't sound too bad, hopefully will be back in full training before the season kicks off.
Should be back for the US tour. Interesting what will happen when Luiz, Oscar, Mata and Torres come back into the squad. Demba Ba surely no.3 now.
I think (unlike at United!) all 3 strikers will start on about the same level with Jose and it'll be up to them to earn their place.
I hope the ones that don't make the first team take it in the right way - the last thing we want is players that don't get picked acting like primadonnas and kicking up a fuss from the bench. I can see De Bruyne getting picked ahead of Oscar. I can see Lukaku getting picked ahead of Torres. Hell I can even see Hazard and Mata being rotated more often, and I can see the likes of Piazon, McEachran, Moses not even getting a look in more often than not. Whoever is picked and not picked it really is survival of the 'fittest' - being those that make the TEAM most effective. Who knows, perhaps Piazon and McEachran could strike up such a magical understanding they could be picked ahead of Hazard/Mata - unlikely but we've got to be looking for effective partnerships and team play, rather than merely assessing players on individual ability.
Mourinho has already told us that there is no fixed first team. I'm sure the players know that and will get used to it. Every player will get a look in. Each has their own qualities and none are worth sidelining regularly.
I think Jose will be able to rotate some of our great mid field talent around a core of key players. The strength of being able to rest Mata and instead play De Bruyne or Oscar , and not see the join , is a huge + this season. Im really looking forward to see our youngsters run out with such a great team around them. My hunch is by mid October we will have a serious 15 or 16 man squad able to seamlessly rotate players ,yet maintain our shape and style. We will be right in the hunt at the sharp end of this season.
Well, Cech, Cole, Luiz, Ivan, Ramires, Mata and Hazard for a start. Then Frank and JT. Striker still not settled. Add to the mix de Bruyn, Oscar, Lukaku, Azpi Swartzer and I think its clear we are close to being able to seamlessly rotate and not weaken the team. Add to that Joses skill with subs, and we look pretty formidable
