Straight Outta Cobham: The Athletic FC's Chelsea show

Well, that wasn't very festive Chelsea. Matt Davies-Adams has got Luke Bosher and Simon Johnson for company as we unpick the collapse in the 2-1 defeat by Aston Villa at the Bridge on Saturday evening. We discuss the failings of the squad building process of the summer, the defensive lapses which yet again came back to bite this team - and whether Enzo Maresca can avoid the pressure mounting to de...

A minor Christmas miracle in the circumstances... Matt Davies-Adams has got Sam Parkin and Cerys Jones alongside him for a look back on the quintessential game of two halves in the 2-2 draw with Newcastle on Saturday lunchtime. We talk the impressive second half comeback after a dicey opening 45 minutes, Reece's spectacular free-kick - and is Garnacho actually any good at football? Aston Villa are...

David Ornstein reports that Chelsea's Enzo Maresca is high on the list to replace Pep Guardiola - with the anticipation of this being his last season at Manchester City. It comes less than a week after Maresca's outburst regarding his 'worst 48 hours' at the club, which came following the 2-0 win over Everton on Saturday. The Athletic FC Podcast assembled to react to the news. Matt Davies-Adams an...

How was your last 48 hours?!! Matt Davies-Adams is joined by Cerys Jones, Luke Bosher and Simon Johnson (through the medium of extensive voice notes) as we look back on a pretty bonkers few days in the life of Chelsea Football Club. We take a deep dive into Enzo Maresca's post-Everton press conference revelations and the subsequent reluctance to elaborate on his angst. We've got a look back on tha...

Non bene... Producer Lucy's joined by The Athletic's Simon Johnson out in Bergamo for some quickfire reaction to the 2-1 defeat by Atalanta - which leaves Chelsea's hopes of a top eight finish in the UCL league phase hanging perilously in the balance. So where did it all go wrong in the second half? What have been the big areas of concern across these that three performances against La Dea, Bourne...

One of the dullest games in recent memory? Matt Davies-Adams has got Luke Bosher and Sam Parkin alongside him with the unenviable task of having to look back on Saturday's drab goalless draw at Bournemouth. Cerys Jones was there and sent her thoughts - and tried to take the positives from the clean sheet! But the misery was compounded by another serious injury to Liam Delap as the curse of the '9'...

It feels like more than just a point...  Matt Davies-Adams has got an OG SOC crew of The Athletic's Simon Johnson and Liam Twomey alongside him to look back on Sunday's 1-1 draw with league leaders Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. The gang reflect on the pretty remarkable point picked up against the Gunners given the first half red card dished out to Moises Caicedo, the maturity showed by Reece Ja...

Yamal who??????? Producer Lucy's joined by Simon Johnson to look back on a great European night under the lights at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea dispatched Spanish champions Barcelona in emphatic fashion, winning 3-0 and in some style on Tuesday evening. What more can we say about Estêvão?! How big was it for Liam Delap to open his account? How good is Marc Cucurella!? And how does this set the team...

Some week ahead... Matt Davies-Adams has got Cerys Jones and Sam Parkin alongside him for all the fallout from Saturday's ultimately comfortable 2-0 win over Burnley at Turf Moor. It might not have been the most memorable of encounters - but we lavish praise on Andrey Santos and his MOTM performance, ponder Liam Delap's importance despite his struggles in front of goal - and lament Cole Palmer's d...

No more international breaks until March!? Hallelujah! Matt Davies-Adams has got Cerys Jones and Luke Bosher along for the ride as we relish the return of the Premier League - and Saturday's long trip to Turf Moor to take on Burnley. We've got a round up of the international Blues in action - before pondering how that will impact upon Enzo Maresca's ever-unpredictable team selection, why this coul...

165 games later... Matt Davies-Adams has got Cerys Jones and Liam Twomey alongside him for the seismic fallout from Malo Gusto scoring his first ever senior goal - which got the ball rolling on Chelsea's ultimately incredibly comfortable 3-0 win over Wolves at Stamford Bridge on Saturday night. We talk the ongoing great rotation debate, whether starboy Estêvão should be in from the start - and whe...

Qarabag had lost all seven of their previous matches against English opposition, but that's fine... Producer Lucy's got reaction from the 2-2 draw with the Azerbaijani champions out in Baku - with Cerys Jones across the game for The Athletic on a night where the Blues avoided the embarrassment of a shock defeat, but still suffered a major blow to their hopes of finishing in the top eight of the le...

0.05 xG?!? Matt Davies-Adams is accompanied by two of The Athletic's finest - Simon Johnson and Luke Bosher - to look back on the 1-0 victory over Tottenham. It was a rather bizarre evening without major incident compared to the recent mayhem between these two sides - but we discuss the complete nullification of Spurs, Robert Sanchez's impressive command of his box (while hearing from the man hims...

Five wins in a row is a myth... Matt Davies-Adams is joined by Sam Parkin and full debutant Cerys Jones to look back on the late 2-1 defeat by Sunderland at Stamford Bridge. We begin with the verdict of Simon Johnson direct from the press box in SW6 - before dissecting some of the finer points of the disappointing performance and result including the struggles of Joao Pedro and Marc Guiu, Enzo Mar...

Don't they know Chelsea are the ones who get the red cards?! Producer Lucy's got reaction to the 5-1 rout of Ajax at a rainy Stamford Bridge with analysis from the press box provided by Blues reporter Simon Johnson and The Athletic's Senior Data Analyst Mark Carey. 10 changes but no problems for Enzo Maresca's side - who made a little bit of history by becoming the first team to have three teenage...

Oh, mate... Matt Davies-Adams, Simon Johnson and Sam Parkin assemble on a gloomy Monday morning to look back on the game of two halves at the City Ground as Chelsea eventually came out 3-0 winners and spelt the end for Ange Postecoglou at Nottingham Forest. We discuss how Enzo's side tried their best to hand Forest the three points in a difficult first half, the impact of the half-time changes (no...

MDA Derby pending... Matt's got a vintage combo of Sam Parkin and Dom Fifield alongside him as we gear up for the return of the Premier League and a trip to Nottingham Forest at Saturday lunchtime. Two weeks on from that dramatic triumph against Liverpool - will the feel-good factor still be in full effect? Or will the international break travel and toil mean this is a tougher assignment than it l...

EsteWOW hasn't been used yet, has it?! Matt Davies-Adams is joined by The Athletic's Simon Johnson and Luke Bosher to revel in the glorious 2-1 victory over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening. Despite initial trepidation when the team sheet dropped before kick-off, we reflect on the hugely impressive defensive performance, yet another Caicedo banger, the importance of this result (an...

The Jose show was back in town for one night only... Matt Davies-Adams has got Luke Bosher and a sleep-deprived Liam Twomey back alongside him to reflect on Tuesday night's narrow 1-0 win over Benfica at Stamford Bridge! We touch on the concerns which were mounting after the performance at Lincoln and Saturday's Brighton defeat - before diving into some of the key themes from the victory over Mour...

13 games without a league win at Old Trafford... THIRTEEN!!! Matt Davies-Adams has got Luke Bosher and Simon Johnson along for our post-Man United pity party after the shambolic showing in the torrential Manchester rain on Saturday night. We discuss Enzo's baffling substitutions, the Robert Sanchez experience, whether we need to start worrying about Cole Palmer's groin - and the strange case of Ty...

Not *quite* the return to Europe's top table we were looking for... Producer Lucy's got The Athletic's Chelsea reporter Simon Johnson on hand to bring his post-match reaction to the 3-1 defeat by Bayern Munich in Matchday 1 of the 2025-26 Champions League campaign. We hear from Enzo Maresca on how the Blues can 'build something special from this defeat', discuss the huge gulf in experience on this...

A draw?! At Brentford?! Never... Matt Davies-Adams has got The Athletic's Simon Johnson and Thom Harris alongside him to look back on the frenetic 2-2 draw with the Bees at the Gtech on Saturday night. We discuss the controversial late equaliser, the eyebrow-raising first half team selection - and whether this shows that Enzo Maresca still has a lot to learn about juggling the Premier League and E...

Let's not get stung by any Bees... Matt Davies-Adams has got Thom Harris and Sam Parkin alongside him as we prepare for the return of the Premier League after it was rudely interrupted by the international break! We begin with some early reflections on the season so far - and some of key tactical moves and talking points which have stood out from Enzo Maresca's side in the opening three games of t...

It's not physically possible for deadline day to be dull, this is Chelsea lads... Matt Davies-Adams has got a slightly delirious and sleep deprived Simon Johnson and Luke Bosher alongside him to try and sum up all the chaos from another highly eventful transfer window for Chelsea Football Club. We dissect the dramatic Nicolas Jackson to Bayern Munich deal that almost didn't happen, the ongoing Rah...

No Palmer? No problem (on this specific occasion at least...) Matt Davies-Adams have got Simon Johnson and Luke Bosher alongside him to look back on the impressive 5-1 win over a pitiful West Ham at London Stadium on Friday night. We give props to the team for adapting to the late line up change, revel in Estêvão's youthful exuberance and heap some love on comeback kid Trevoh Chalobah. Next up in...