Chelsea updates and news on Thursday as we bring you all the reaction from the RB Salzburg draw Good morning and welcome to the Chelsea liveblog on Thursday, September 14, with football.london.
It was a new situation for Chelsea and Graham Potter, but lots of old issues cropped up at Stamford Bridge last night in the 1-1 draw against RB Salzburg.
Raheem Sterling's opener was cancelled out in the second half to stop a first Champions League win of the season.
The result will now be the only way to judge Chelsea until they return from an international break to play Crystal Palace on October 1.
A lot of time for Graham Potter and the fans to now think about that result and hope things turn around after the break It will have made for frustrating viewing for Todd Boehly, too, after the new co-owner divided football fans across the world with his ideas of a Premier League All-star game and relegation play-offs.
We'll have more on Boehly's grand plans, Potter's new Chelsea and what will be going on at Chelsea over the coming days.
Stay with us all day, right here.
It's set to be announced around 2 PM today.
Rio Ferdinand, Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher are all in agreement that Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly's idea for a Premier League All-Star game will not work in English football.
Jurgen Klopp has already rubbished this idea whilst the punditry trio of Ferdinand, Carragher and Henry have followed suit.
Ferdinand gave his verdict on BT Sport: "There's a lot of reasons why people sit there and go 'wow, he’s just come here, been in a 100 days, sack the manager after three games, spend £250m, outlandish behaviour'.
Read the full discussion piece here.
It's not looking good for Chelsea in this regard.
SBK - Champions League Top Goalscorer Erling Haaland - 11/9 Robert Lewandowski - 3/1 Kylian Mbappe - 3/1 Mohammed Salah - 18/1 Raheem Sterling - 79/1 It would be seen as a miralce if the Blues were to win this year's competition.
SBK - Champions League Winner Manchester City - 40/17 PSG - 27/5 Bayern Munich - 33/5 Liverpool - 42/5 Real Madrid - 13/1 Chelsea - 26/1 RB Salzburg director Christoph Freund has broken his silence on links to joining Todd Boehly's Chelsea revolution after he was present during the Champions League draw at Stamford Bridge against the Austrian league winners. "I've had exchanges with Chelsea from time to time.
We spoke more often a month or two ago because they were interested in [Benjamin] Sesko," he told Sky Sport Austria. "The new owners are interested in how we do it with young players, how we integrate them into the first team.
But you do that again and again with other clubs , that's it. "Chelsea is a huge club in transition.
I can't say exactly what will happen in the next few weeks and months.
You should never rule anything out in football and Chelsea are such a huge club.
But I'm sports director in Salzburg and I really enjoy it." Read the full story here.
He will blamed heavily for the equaliser.
The Guardian "Welcome, then, Mr blue sky.
As grand entrances go, in the long storied history of seizing the stage … well, this wasn’t really either of those.
Instead Graham Potter’s first appearance as Chelsea manager was very much a reflection of the Graham Potter persona, the Graham Potter energy, the Graham Potter process. " Chelsea took a point at home to RB Salzburg and were solid, room temperature, mildly encouraging in their energy levels.
But really of course, this was about an entrance.
Did we get one?
Kind of.
Stamford Bridge was a clammy place at kick-off, soothed by a power-ballad playlist that staked out a middle ground between “stadium” and respectful. "There were union flags and a chorus of God Save The Queen (nice: old school) from both ends.
And finally Potter came out, shaking hands, being nice, stooping a little.
No waves, no performative stuff, nothing that really said: “I am actually new here you know.” As grand entrances go this was the managerial equivalent of taking your lunch tray and going to sit at the empty seat down from the teachers. "Instead, Potter just stood there, comfortably, in his rectangle, dressed in a black suit and skinny black tie, looking a little bit wedding-guest-the-morning-after.
He gestured a bit.
He clapped.
He shouted at Mateo Kovacic.
But basically this looked like Graham Potter unexpectedly watching a football match .
If nobody really cheered or sang his name, then Chelsea fans are loyal to their managers, but also choosy in how they bestow their favours.
What will they make of Graham?
How will this thing play? "Not least as Potter is very clearly intended as an expression of the new club culture, whatever that may be.
Todd Boehly’s billionaire-bro schtick will be fascinating to watch and it is always wrong to judge too early.
Although, sometimes you do wonder.
It seemed significant Boehly namechecked the Red Bull syndicate in his speak-your-brains session in New York this week.
It seems he wants to create something of the multi-club model for Chelsea.
Either that or he’s just looked at who they play next, done some Googling and had an idea.
Who knows, perhaps next week he’ll be enthusing wildly about the Crystal Palace Model." Read more of the national media reaction here.
Brighton and Hove Albion midfielder Moises Caicedo has admitted that he wants to reunite with Graham Potter at Chelsea in the long-term as Todd Boehly gains a transfer incentive over Arsenal, Liverpool and Man Utd. "It made me very sad now that he left for Chelsea because he helped me a lot and I wanted to continue having him as a manager, but that’s football," Caicedo told Ole via the Evening Standard. "Right now I’m very focused on Brighton and the World Cup.
I want to have a great World Cup and then we’ll see what happens. "I think they are one of the best teams in the world and nobody would turn down an offer from Chelsea or any other club like that.
It’d be a dream to be in the best teams in the world and succeed there." Read the full story here.
More on football.london soon.
Chelsea might regret losing young attacker Jamal Musiala just like they did after allowing Mohamed Salah and Kevin de Bruyne to leave several years ago.
Former England youth international Musiala, who now represents Germany, was outstanding for Bayern Munich in their 2-0 Champions League victory over Barcelona, The Express wrote.
The 19-year-old has enjoyed an excellent start to the season with the Bundesliga champions.
He has scored six goals and provided three assists in nine appearances across all competitions.
But his best performance of the campaign so far came against Spanish giants Barcelona on Tuesday night.
Musiala created Leroy Sane’s goal to make the score 2-0 and was one of the best performers at the Allianz Arena.
Could he be joining one or both of Luis Campos and Christoph Freund in making up the new footballing structure in SW6?
Potter takes Champions League risk It would have been very easy for Graham Potter and his coaching team to take a no-risks approach to their opening game in charge, especially as Chelsea needed a victory to get off the mark in this season's Champions League .
Instead, the 47-year-old was bold with his team selection.
There was a back three of Cesar Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva and Marc Cucurella and Reece James and Raheem Sterling with the supposed wing-backs.
Only Sterling was never truly playing that role with the England international pushed high up the pitch alongside the likes of Kai Havertz and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
In the opening period, it ensured Sterling had plenty of one-vs-one opportunities on the edge of the box.
Unfortunately, he wasn't able to make the most of them.
Yet just three minutes into the second half, he collected Mason Mount's cross and planted a wonderful shot into the far corner.
It was a victory for Potter's tactical approach.
Sadly, it didn't result in Chelsea claiming a much-needed three points.
The reason for that was individual errors in defence.
Thiago Silva , otherwise utterly imperious, failed to intercept a pass forward and that allowed Junior Adamu to square for Noah Okafor, who had escaped the attention of Cesar Azpilicueta and guide a shot beyond Kepa Arrizabalaga.
The reaction inside Stamford Bridge was one of frustration, especially as Chelsea supporters felt Mateo Kovacic had been fouled in the build-up.
That was the case on the touchline too, although not from the measured Potter.
It meant that Ben Chilwell, who was among the substitutes, picked up the baton left by Thomas Tuchel and complained vociferously to the fourth official.
Read more the talking points here.
N'Golo Kante's long-term replacement?
Once again, Stamford Bridge was witness to a new leader in the dugout.
Graham Potter has spent less than a week in the job and experienced his first night of Champions League football in person, a scenario where there is little room to hide.
With the postponement of the Blues' clashes against Fulham and Liverpool, Wednesday night's match would be the only opportunity for pundits and supporters alike to cast their judgement until after the international break when Chelsea take on Crystal Palace.
Of course, that may have some benefit in some of the squad adjusting to their new coach's methods before a hectic period in October.
Read the full story, here.
Kepa Arrizabalaga - Played Jorginho into a difficult situation early in the match but generally stood up well to Salzburg's attacks.
Was unfortunate to concede to Noah Okafor's deflected strike. 6 .
Cesar Azpilicueta - The Spaniard's pace was exposed in a couple of moments, but the Chelsea captain was still able to provide some big clearances for the Blues. 6 .
Thiago Silva - Showed his ability to make the perfect tackle and his enduring quality as he prepares for his 38th birthday.
Unfortunately, he was caught out when attempting to tackle Junior Adamu in the build-up to Salzburg's equaliser. 6 .
Read the full story, here.
He also spoke in his post-match press conference here.
Good morning and welcome to football.london's coverage of Chelsea on Thursday.
We will bring you all the post-match reaction throughout the day.
Graham Potter demonstrated early signs of tactical flexibility against RB Salzburg.
The former Brighton manager was tasked with getting a better tune from his new Chelsea players and went about things similarly, yet still differently, to Thomas Tuchel.
Although it is far too soon to judge or even predict what Potter may envision Chelsea to be or to become, his use of key players showed signs of balance and change that was missing in the final weeks of Tuchel's reign.
A quicker pace of football was expected, and in parts, that was evident as Chelsea moved through the gears but fell to similar final third issues once more.