Straight Outta Cobham: The Athletic FC's Chelsea show

Penalty shootout with Liverpool, anyone?! Matt Davies-Adams has two of The Athletic's finest alongside him - Dom Fifield and Simon Johnson - to reflect on the emphatic 6-2 aggregate win over Boro to confirm Chelsea's safe passage to the League Cup final. We hear from Liam on the final whistle and celebrate the hugely influential return of Ben Chilwell and continued mastery of Cole Palmer. The cup...

All hail Emma Hayes... Matt Davies-Adams is joined by Liam Twomey and Luke Bosher as the Blues gear up for arguably their biggest game of the season against Middlesbrough on Tuesday night. But we start with some love for CFCW manager Emma Hayes - who because the first woman to be honoured with the Football Writers' Tribute award at a ceremony on Sunday night. We hear from Hayes herself - and Fran...

Pure profit, anyone? Matt Davies-Adams has got Dom Fifield and Liam Twomey alongside him for your second weekly dose of Chelsea chat. We begin with the news broken by The Athletic's David Ornstein that the club are prepared to listen to offers for striker Armando Broja. Then we take your questions - including whether progress has been made, dream fully fit XI's, and when José Mourinho will return...

Argylle, anyone? Matt Davies-Adams is joined by Simon Johnson and Luke Bosher to reflect on the 1-0 victory over Fulham at Stamford Bridge... Liam Twomey sends in his on the whistle report - before we take your thoughts and round up the story of the game, which wasn't necessarily pretty but secured the Blues' fourth straight home win for the first time since 2020. Meanwhile, CFCW were back in acti...

Are we sure it's not still 2023? Matt Davies-Adams is joined by The Athletic's Chelsea experts Simon Johnson and Liam Twomey with the unenviable task of looking back on the 1-0 League Cup semi-final first leg defeat by Middlesbrough. We plough through some of your angry thoughts and questions as we analyse the result - and where the blame should lie. No time to dwell - with Fulham making the short...

Well, we enjoyed the last 45 minutes at least... Matt Davies-Adams has got Dom Fifield and Liam Twomey alongside him to reflect on the 4-0 victory over Preston North End in the third round of the FA Cup. We round up the game of two halves, ask whether Sterling is back in Poch's good books after that stunning free kick - and give some love to Alfie Gilchrist and the other Cobham kids who got the ch...

A whirlwind week and a half of festive football... Matt Davies-Adams is back! With two of The Athletic's finest - Luke Bosher and Simon Johnson alongside him - to reflect on the Blues' fortunes over Christmas and New Year. There's lessons from the disappointing defeat at Wolves, late victory from the penalty spot against Crystal Palace and chaos at Kenilworth Road - which left MoPo's side with 6 p...

Season's greetings... Matt Davies-Adams has got the WHOLE gang alongside him as we sign off for 2023 in a buoyant mood following the penalty shootout triumph over Newcastle. There's a review of that game, a look back on a ~testing~ 2023 for CFC, plus a look ahead to hopefully happier times as we speculate as to what 2024 could have in store for Poch & co. There's a preview of the upcoming game...

Much, much needed... Two of The Athletic's finest - Liam Twomey and Dom Fifield - are alongside Matt Davies-Adams to look back on the crucial 2-0 win over Sheffield United. There's an on the whistle report from Simon Johnson, praise as always for Cole Palmer - and some head-scratching as to what the future holds for Conor Gallagher. Then - it's all eyes on arguably the biggest match of the season...

A set of matches that could define Chelsea's season? Matt Davies-Adams has got Liam Twomey and Luke Bosher alongside him to look ahead to the visit of Sheffield United on Saturday. But we begin with the hugely depressing news that captain Reece James will be out for the foreseeable future after aggravating his hamstring injury. Oh, and some amortisation chat too... Then it's all eyes of the Blades...

39 points from 39 games in 2023... Matt Davies-Adams has got Simon Johnson and Luke Bosher alongside him to round up the latest frustrating defeat at Goodison Park. We take your questions, discuss the general malaise around the club at the moment - and wonder whether the owners need to take more accountability for the current state of things on and off the pitch. When it rains it pours - as Chelse...

Eight points behind *this* United team... Matt Davies Adams is joined by Liam Twomey and Luke Bosher to reflect on the horror 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford. We take a deep dive into some of the worst elements of the performance, Pochettino's demeanour, ponder the bleakness of what this result means for the wider season - and take your questions. Next up, the unenviable task of a trip to Goodison Park...

Well - at least it's not dull right?! Matt Davies-Adams has got two of The Athletic's finest Liam Twomey and Simon Johnson alongside him to round up the bonkers 3-2 win over Brighton at Stamford Bridge. It was another rollercoaster of an afternoon involving Chelsea - but there's praise for a huge afternoon for Enzo Fernandez, thoughts on the Gallagher red and general chaos that comes with this sid...

A response is needed... Matt Davies-Adams has got The Athletic's Dom Fifield and Luke Bosher alongside him to look ahead to the visit of Brighton to Stamford Bridge on Sunday. We ponder team selection given some of the costly suspensions in the backline, whether Roberto De Zerbi's swashbuckling style will actually suit Chelsea - and if the much-anticipated return of Nkunku could be upon us... Ther...

It was all going too well... Matt Davies-Adams has The Athletic's Chelsea experts Simon Johnson and Liam Twomey alongside him to reflect on the hugely disappointing 4-1 defeat at St. James' Park. But we begin with our tributes to Terry Venables - who has sadly died at the age of 80. There's analysis of where it all went so horribly wrong against Newcastle, Poch's post-match fury, ill-discipline an...

Better late than never... Sickness has threatened to derail proceedings but alas - Matt Davies-Adams has got Dom Fifield and Producer Lucy alongside him to chat the latest Blues news and look ahead to the trip to Newcastle on Saturday. We talk stadium redevelopment and the threat of sanctions before turning our focus to matters on the pitch - and Chelsea's hopes of coming away from Tyneside with a...

WHAT. A. GAME. !!! Matt Davies-Adams has Simon Johnson and Luke Bosher alongside him to reflect on the extraordinary 4-4 draw with Manchester City at Stamford Bridge. We take your thoughts and questions - lauding Cole Palmer, the character and spirit showed by the players - and what an important week it's been for Mauricio Pochettino. It was a good weekend all round - with CFCW picking up a 3-0 vi...

Recovered from Monday night yet? Matt Davies-Adams is joined by Dom Fifield and Liam Twomey to look ahead to the visit of Manchester City to Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon. We ponder team selection, the Cole Palmer Derby, embracing the underdog status and whether the Blues are actually a bit better than we're giving them credit for... The Emma Hayes farewell tour begins on Sunday - when CFCW...

The purest of pure Barclays... Matt Davies-Adams is joined by two of The Athletic's finest - Liam Twomey and Simon Johnson - to TRY and round up one of the most ludicrous matches in Premier League history. It finished Tottenham 1 Chelsea 4 - but how did we get there and how on earth did Nicholas Jackson manage to score a hat-trick?! And why on earth did Spurs play into their hands?! And just what...

A precious home win... Luke Bosher, Dom Fifield and Matt Davies-Adams are with you to reflect on the 2-0 win over Blackburn which secured safe passage to the quarter-finals of the League Cup - and set up a meeting with high-flying Newcastle in the next round. Simon Johnson pops up with his take live from Stamford Bridge - before we round up the rest of the main talking points from the ultimately c...

Just when you think things are starting to turn... Matt Davies-Adams is joined by The Athletic's Simon Johnson and Luke Bosher to reflect on the 2-0 defeat by Brentford at Stamford Bridge. With just one win in THIRTEEN Premier League home matches - we try and get to the root of the problem in SW6. Attention then turns to Wednesday night - and the visit of Blackburn Rovers in the fourth round of th...

Can Chelsea avoid being stung again? The Athletic's Liam Twomey and Luke Bosher are alongside Matt Davies-Adams to look ahead to the visit of Brentford to Stamford Bridge. We begin with an insight into the visitors with the help of Bees expert Jay Harris - plus questioning whether Ivan Toney is a likely January target for Mauricio Pochettino... Plenty of focus on how Chelsea approach the game incl...

So near yet so far... Matt Davies-Adams is joined by Liam Twomey and Luke Bosher to look back on the 2-2 draw with Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. We've got a downbeat Simon Johnson on the whistle report - but we're not quite so despondent about the result and performance in particular. We take your questions and comments and round up the win which slipped through Chelsea's grasp. Chelsea Women contin...

Let's *really* put this Chelsea side to the test then, shall we? Matt Davies-Adams has got Luke Bosher and Dom Fifield alongside him as the Premier League returns... We start with a preview of the visit of Arsenal to Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening and all the ~narrative~ around it. There's a round up of the other Blues news - before paying tribute to Hazard the only way we know now... a quiz!...

Back-to-back-to-back?! Two of The Athletic's finest - Liam Twomey and Simon Johnson - are alongside Matt Davies-Adams to round up the 4-1 win at Turf Moor which means the Blues head into the break on a high. We talk through the result and take your questions - including Sterling's brilliance, praise for Palmer and whether this really means Mauricio Pochettino's side are starting to build some much...