Straight Outta Cobham: The Athletic FC's Chelsea show

Xabi Alonso has made his first official signing as Chelsea manager and Real Madrid have got the Straight Outta Cobham team scratching their heads again. Matt Davies-Adams is joined by Liam Twomey and Cerys Jones to discuss Marco Palestra’s arrival from Atalanta. What might it mean for both Reece James and Malo Gusto? Will Enzo Fernandez still be Palestra’s teammate at the start of the season? Real...

Enzo Maresca is officially the new Manchester City manager and, while the rest of the football community pretends to be shocked, Chelsea release a blistering statement about how disappointed they are in their “former head coach”. Matt Davies-Adams, Cerys Jones and Sam Parkin react to another tumultuous couple of days at Stamford Bridge, and discuss where this all leaves the club now everything is...

It’s part three of the Straight Outta Cobham team’s summer squad review and it’s time to sort out who on earth’s going to be playing in midfield for the Blues next season. Enzo Fernandez is the main name on the lips of Matt Davies-Adams, Simon Johnson and Cerys Jones. Is he off to Real Madrid? And if so, is it going to take all summer to happen? Might a disappointing World Cup for Ecuador be a goo...

Marc Cucurella is on his way to Real Madrid and he’s timed it perfectly just ahead of the Straight Outta Cobham team’s review of Chelsea’s defensive unit. Matt Davies-Adams is joined by Liam Twomey and Sam Parkin to discuss what the Spaniard's exit might mean for the rest of the squad. Is Jorrel Hato the main benefiter at left back? How might Xabi Alonso get the best out of captain Reece James nex...

The summer is here and it’s squad review time for the Straight Outta Cobham team. Matt Davies-Adams is joined by Liam Twomey and Cerys Jones to discuss all things goalkeepers. Has it been the weakest position during the BlueCo era? And how might they go about fixing it? Will Robert Sanchez still be between the sticks next season or is Mike Penders the answer? It’s not going to be either Filip Jorg...

World Cup pending... Matt Davies-Adams has got Liam Twomey and Sam Parkin alongside him for our first podcast of the summer break. And we're taking a deep-dive into the Chelsea FC representation at the 2026 World Cup - with the first game of the tournament kicking off in just a week and a half. Plus, what about some of the high-profile Blues who won't be out in Mexico, Canada or the USA this summe...

Signing off on a sorry season... Matt Davies-Adams has got the whole SOC squad alongside him for a round up of the 2025-26 season for Chelsea Football Club. What are the main takeaways and reflections on this crazy campaign? What does not being in Europe mean from a financial perspective? Who have been the big winners and losers in the squad? And what's top of Xabi Alonso's to-do list heading into...

A dire end to a dire season... Matt Davies-Adams is joined by Simon Johnson and Sam Parkin for a look back on the 2-1 defeat Sunderland - which condemns Chelsea to a 10th-placed finish in the Premier League. The Blues were outplayed and outfought by their hosts - and that added to Wesley Fofana's red card sums up what a poor season it's been. Thankfully all was not lost this weekend - with the U18...

It's Tottenham, lads... Matt Davies-Adams has got two of The Athletic's finest - Cerys Jones and Luke Bosher - alongside him for a look back on the absolutely inevitable but pretty unconvincing 2-1 victory over Tottenham at the Bridge on Tuesday night. Then - the end is (finally) here! The Blues make the trip to Sunderland on Sunday - with a place in either the Europa League, Conference League or...

Matt Davies-Adams has got The Athletic's Simon Johnson and Liam Twomey for company after a rather busy days for Chelsea Football Club... A seventh straight defeat in a final at Wembley? Bad. Xabi Alonso announced as the new Blues manager? Now, that's more like it! We've got all the latest on Alonso's appointment, plus a look back on the narrow 1-0 defeat by Manchester City in the FA Cup final AND...

Surely the Wembley curse has to come to an end eventually?! Matt Davies-Adams is joined by The Athletic's Liam Twomey and Luke Bosher for a mega look ahead to Saturday's FA Cup final against Manchester City at Wembley. Do the Blues have any hope of beating Pep's men given their 13-game winless streak against them? What are the key selection issues heading into the final? And just what an incredibl...

Seven straight defeats? Not in these parts... Matt Davies-Adams calls up Simon Johnson and Sam Parkin for a look back on the 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday lunchtime. We take the positives from a far better showing that the sorry Forest defeat, laud the return of Levi Colwill - starting his first game of the season - and ponder whether this will be the boost they need to go into a...

News just in... unfortunately we can't forfeit this game... Matt Davies-Adams is once again joined by two of The Athletic's finest - Simon Johnson and Liam Twomey - for a look ahead to the weekend trip to Merseyside to take on Liverpool. Will the players actually bother to try and put in some kind of performance on Saturday? What players are even available? And do they need to string a couple of r...

Can the season just end now? Matt Davies-Adams enlists The Athletic's Chelsea experts Liam Twomey and Simon Johnson for our latest doomcast after the horror show against an unrecognisable Nottingham Forest. What can you even say after that performance?! The lack of effort, the shortcomings all over the field, the terrible end to what should have been a special day for Jesse Derry, the magnificent...

MDA Derby pending... Matt Davies-Adams has got Sam Parkin and Liam Twomey for company - and a smorgasbord of Chelsea-related chatter to get stuck into ahead of a busy weekend of action. We look ahead to the visit of Nottingham Forest. We discuss any managerial developments and hear from Italian football expert James Horncastle on why it may be difficult to tempt Cesc Fabregas away from Como. We ch...

So, that's what effort looks like!? Matt Davies-Adams has got The Athletic's Simon Johnson and Luke Bosher alongside him for a look back on Sunday's trip to Wembley - where Chelsea set a date with Manchester City in the final after a 1-0 win over Leeds. We discuss the much-improved performance from the end of the Rosenior reign (although that's not saying much!), discuss the captain Enzo's goal, t...

106 days later... The SOC gang assembles under emergency measures after the news dropped late on Monday afternoon that Liam Rosenior has been sacked by Chelsea after less than four months as the club’s head coach. Appointed in January to succeed Enzo Maresca - he began by winning eight of his first 11 matches in charge. But Monday's defeat to Brighton was the seventh time they have lost in their l...

What were you doing in 1912? Matt Davies-Adams, Cerys Jones and Liam Twomey jump aboard the pretty downbeat party bus for a look back on the 3-0 defeat at Brighton which condemns Chelsea to their fifth straight Premier League defeat without scoring. We get into Liam Rosenior's pointed post-match comments, the bizarre formation, the totally inept performance across the board - and what this latest...

Gallows humour at the ready... Matt Davies-Adams has The Athletic's Simon Johnson and Luke Bosher for company to look back on the latest shambolic result for Chelsea Football Club - this time in the form of a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester United. We touch upon the pre-match protests, before focusing on another day to forget at the Bridge to condemn the Blues to their fourth straight defeat...

Four Premier League defeats in a row for just the second time this century? Surely not?! Matt Davies-Adams is in the company of The Athletic's Cerys Jones and Liam Twomey for a look ahead to the visit of Manchester United under the lights at Stamford Bridge on Saturday night. We discuss what kind of team we're expecting to see face up against Michael Carrick's side with Enzo Fernandez in from the...

All downhill from here? Matt Davies-Adams has got Simon Johnson and Sam Parkin alongside him for a look back on the 3-0 defeat dished out to the Blues by a far superior Manchester City. Why was the second half showing so poor? Would Enzo Fernandez have made any difference if he wasn't on the naughty step? And does it feel like it's now only a matter of time before the club move on from Liam Roseni...

Matt Davies-Adams has got Luke Bosher and Liam Twomey for company for a look ahead to the visit of Manchester City to Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon. Who the heck is going to be in the starting XI?! What chance do Liam Rosenior's side have of frustrating Pep's men like they did at the Etihad back in January? And can they avoid losing 3 successive league games without scoring for the first tim...

How can you come away from a 7-0 victory... still kind of unconvinced?! Matt Davies-Adams has got his Easter bunnies Sam Parkin and Liam Twomey alongside him for a look back on the thrashing of Port Vale in the FA Cup. Who were the big winners and losers from the game? Why didn't Josh Acheampong get more minutes? And what does it say about Liam Delap's future that he was left out - and then still...

Anyone else want to speak out in the press? Matt Davies-Adams has got Cerys Jones and Luke Bosher for company as we return from a short international break of our own to look ahead to the return to action of the men's team. But we begin with disappointment in the UWCL for CFCW - 1-0 winners on the night against Arsenal but knocked out of the competition at the quarter-final stage 3-2 on aggregate....

Losing isn't exclusive to the men's team at the moment... Matt Davies-Adams has a new-look starting line-up - with The Athletic's Charlotte Harpur and Michael Cox joining forces with SOC's own Cerys Jones for a closer look at all things CFCW hot off the back of Chelsea's 3-1 defeat by Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final. We look at the big talking points from the match...