The Royal-Blues Army

The start

Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel says the wing-backs in his system have the freedom to be ‘dangerous’ in attack.

Chelsea wing-backs Reece James, Ben Chilwell and Marcos Alonso have scored eight goals between them already this season and have been heavily involved in our attacking process.

‘This is normally what any manager does in any team, that you try and not rely on any one or two goal scorers but at the same time, sometimes you wish also to rely on one or two consistent goal scorers because it gives you a lift,’ Tuchel said.

‘This is necessary if you want to reach the highest level in any competition, you need consistent goal scoring threats from your strikers.’

James now has four Premier League goals this term

After Reece James’ impressive double at Newcastle on Saturday, 13 of Chelsea’s goals this season have been scored by what are generally classed as defenders, including wing-backs.

‘I think this statistic will look a bit different if you interpret the wing-backs more as midfielders because if you play in a back three it is not really a full-back position, more of a midfield position,’ said the Bavarian.

‘I would not call them defenders but they have to defend in some moments like defenders, but they are more free to attack the opponents' box than they are in the role as a full-back.

'So it is necessary that they are included and we bring them to the box at the end of our attacks and increase the goal threat. I am happy when we create chances, and I’m happy when we have five or six players in the box to be dangerous.

‘In this system we play, it’s true that the wing-backs are there and have the freedom to be dangerous.’

ALL ANGLES: REECE JAMES' PAIR OF SCREAMERS AT NEWCASTLE

Take in Reece James' spectacular brace away to Newcastle through every angle possible!

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All Angles: Reece James' pair of screamers at Newcastle

Take in Reece James' spectacular brace away to Newcastle through every angle possible!

Tuchel also highlighted the importance of Callum Hudson-Odoi’s role within the Blues squad.

The Cobham graduate has played at left-wing in our most recent Premier League games against Norwich City and Newcastle, but was asked to play right wing-back in our cup-tie with Southampton last week.

‘He thought that it will be tough to get minutes and maybe easier in another club, but you can never be sure it is like this,' Tuchel said, referring back to the summer. 'I told him straight that we rely on him and that he accepts his role. There is still huge progress he can make within this group and club.

‘Was it always fair to let him play right wing-back? No, maybe not.’ Tuchel admits.

‘But he had to take one for the team and he did. He was always positive and he showed the right spirit. He had a very good pre-season where we could see what he was capable of on the half left side. He struggled in the beginning to prove that point in matches and now we had some injuries, and it was needed for him to show up and deliver. This is what he did.

'To get a place in this team it is all about performance and this is what Callum shows at the moment and now it is important that he shows consistency and stays hungry and keeps on progressing. 

'Enjoy the moment, but at the same time absolutely be aware of what it takes to stay in the team. It looks good at the moment.’

The Blues completed their final training session at Cobham in preparation for the game before leaving England this afternoon, arriving in Sweden shortly after 6pm UK time.

Thomas Tuchel will be without Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner, Mateo Kovacic, Mason Mount and N'Golo Kante against Malmo as all five have remained in London for treatment and recovery.

However, Christian Pulisic is part of the travelling group, as he continues his own return from injury, meaning he could be involved for the first time since the win over Crystal Palace in August.

The captain arriving in Malmo The Blues will be looking for a repeat of last month's home fixture against Malmo, when we triumphed 4-0 thanks to Andreas Christensen’s first Chelsea goal, a tidy Kai Havertz finish and a brace of penalties by Jorginho.

We currently sit in second place in Group H at the halfway point of the Champions League group stage, with two wins and one defeat, leaving us three points ahead of Zenit St Petersburg and trailing leaders Juventus by the same margin.

Thomas Tuchel has ruled Mason Mount out of tomorrow’s Champions League game in Sweden but Christian Pulisic will travel.

Mount has not recovered sufficiently from the illness that forced him to miss our weekend game in Newcastle. He travelled to Tyneside but was taken ill on the eve of the 3-0 win.

The England international joins the injured trio of Romelu Lukaku (ankle), Timo Werner (hamstring) and Mateo Kovacic (hamstring) in being unavailable for our fourth group-stage match in this season’s Champions League. The Blues are in second place in our group, three points behind Juventus who beat us in other game overseas so far.

Speaking at his pre-match media conference at Cobham, prior to flying to Malmo, Tuchel said:

‘These four players are unfortunately still out. For Timo, Romelu and Kova it is no surprise. For Mason, he does not feel really better and to stop any speculation, it is not Covid. He is negative for that.

THOMAS TUCHEL: "MOUNT IS OUT OF MALMO MATCH WITH ILLNESS BUT PULISIC IS BACK IN SQUAD"

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel confirms Mason Mount will miss the Blues' Champions League trip to Malmo with an illness, but Christian Pulisic will return to the squad for the game.

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Thomas Tuchel: "Mount is out of Malmo match with illness but Pulisic is back in squad"

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel confirms Mason Mount will miss the Blues' Champions League trip to Malmo with an illness, but Christian Pulisic will return to the squad for the game.

‘He is just ill and does not feel good enough to take part in training or take part in the trip to Malmo.

‘The good news is Christian Pulisic is back and back in the squad for tomorrow.’

Pulisic has not played for Chelsea since scoring on the opening weekend of the Premier League season. He was injured on international duty soon after.

Christian Pulisic in Monday's training

Despite still being several players short of a full squad, with the Blues victorious in the six games since the Juventus match, Tuchel reports a good frame of mind in the camp.

‘We are in a good place and I have the feeling that the group knows why we are in a good place,’ he said.

‘We know what it takes to have these kinds of results and know what effort we have to put in.

We know what we have to do for it and that makes us confident and at the same time, it sets the standards that you need to set every single match that arrives, and it's coming again tomorrow.

‘We'll start from scratch, it’s a Champions League away game, and we want to win. We're self-confident enough to say it. We know what it takes and it is up to us to deliver.’

In the week Chelsea were successful in another penalty shoot-out, our third of the season already, Petr Cech dissects the art of the spot-kick, explains the psychology involved and recalls when he used to take penalties for his club…

Penalty shoot-outs have become a mental exercise above anything else. How much does a player trust what they do? How well can they execute that plan? With the modern technology and artificial intelligence involved, you can collect all the data you want with the data analysts, so when you go to the shoot-out you know everything about every player. At the same, you know as a goalkeeper the player who walks towards you has been told by the analyst everything about you.

Both parties go to the duel with all this information but still second guessing the other: what if he changes? Once you start having these doubts, it can affect your execution from both sides.

My spot-kick strategy

Twenty years ago, I would make notes in my notebook about where I had seen guys shoot. We would have a few clips on the VHS cassette. It would be an entire game and you would have to fast forward. Now it’s an entirely different story! Analysts have all the tools, and on the highest level this became a big part of the game.

Everybody has their own way of going into a shoot-out. Ultimately you must find your way of getting the most out of it. My game was all about details and analysis, and then trying to apply it in the heat of the moment to ensure you do the right thing with the right timing.

Some people, like Kepa, have a more energetic approach. They like to move before. You can do all sorts of things. You can be still and pose a different strategy. Without moving you can make the taker think twice about whether you will move or stay.

Cech just before what he called the most important save of his career, when he kept out Arjen Robben in extra-time of the 2012 Champions League finalTiming and techniqueAs a goalkeeper, what you look at is how people shoot. It’s completely different to face somebody who watches the goalkeeper, like Jorginho, or a penalty shooter who puts his head down and runs and shoots. You know then they have probably made the decision the moment they put the ball down, and they don’t care if you move or if you don’t move. In that instance, movement is not the key. It’s about timing.

It’s exciting, it gives you an opportunity, and it’s a test of your mental and physical skills.—Petr CechA penalty shoot-out, or penalties in general, is something you should have a feeling for. The sense of timing, the intuition, some people have that. They don’t bother too much about statistics or data, they just go in and save it. That’s a gift. People have different approaches, and ultimately you have to find the way that suits you and gives you the most success.

No substitute for the real dealYou can never replicate a penalty shoot-out because you can never replicate what is at stake. It’s as simple as that. When you shoot in training, there is nothing at stake. Even with a punishment, like having to wash the dishes in the kitchen if you miss, it might be what you hate but ultimately, what does it mean?

We would do little games where whoever missed would have to take everyone out for dinner, things like that, but it doesn’t replicate the real thing, because missing a penalty in an important shoot-out never leaves you.

You have the pressure of the moment, you have the physical exhaustion of the game, and you walk from the halfway line where you can change your mind with each 10 steps. People underestimate that walk. You have so much time to think. For people who have never been in a situation like that, it’s difficult to imagine how much a player can feel the weight of the occasion.

Cech denies Ronaldo, one of the great penalty takers of the modern era, in MoscowThe crowd can have a big impact on the takers, too. For a goalkeeper, they are behind you, so you don’t have the visual movement with people waving their arms. If somebody pulls their trousers down, I don’t see it! But for the taker, it can play a part.

If you look at major tournaments or big games, you have seen in the past how many fantastic players have missed. The better the player, the bigger the pressure because everyone expects you to score. Think Roberto Baggio at the World Cup in 1994. He was the best player of the tournament.

One of the most famous penalty misses everI took penalties once!I used to take penalties when I played for my Under-16 team in Czech Republic. Then we changed the coach and he was not that keen to send the goalkeeper up. He was worried I would miss and then the opposition team would break!

When I was 16, I had an open high strategy aiming for the top left. That was the safe one for me, I felt comfortable, not completely side-footing it.

I never took a penalty in a shoot-out in my professional career, though. In one game for Rennes I was the sixth taker, but it never came to that because I saved the fifth one. I was thinking I had to save it otherwise I would have needed to take a penalty! I preferred just trying to save them. It’s exciting, it gives you an opportunity, and it’s a test of your mental and physical skills.

Pat Nevin: Where Ben’s goal will rank in season’s best and who deserves credit for Edou’s improvement Pat Nevin

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Jet-setting Chelsea legend Pat Nevin looks back on the weekend win and the team selection that produced it, and he looks ahead to a ‘must-win’ Malmo game…

The Thomas Tuchel international man of mystery guessing game regarding his team selections was well on show at the weekend, and he threw everyone yet again. Did anyone apart from TT himself have Malang Sarr, Trevoh Chalobah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek all in their proposed starting line-up before the Brentford game? Every reaction I noted when the team was announced was the same - ‘Interesting!’ With maybe even a raised eyebrow emoji thrown in there too. Once more it worked, even if there were some hairy moments near the end. It is extraordinary how many changes he has had to make, particularly after international breaks, yet somehow the obstacles are overcome and a path is found.

By the next day I was up at Newcastle for the visit of Spurs. In amongst a monumental number of stories and events on the day, it was noticeable that Nuno Espirito Santo kept exactly the same team that won their last outing against Aston Villa. Nuno clearly doesn’t feel he can afford to rest or rotate any of his core players, even if they had been playing in the jungle city of Manaus in Brazil just a few days earlier. That will surely come back to haunt them in time as eventually the stresses catch up.

Thomas Tuchel on the other hand has hopefully got quite a few recovered top-class players to call on tomorrow night against Malmo. The medics will advise the gaffer on fitness levels but this is an art, not a science much of the time and the boss has the steady hand of an old master at the moment.

I do tend to mention this problem regularly and that is partly because I am a little weary myself with the travelling. Right now I am in Bruges for the Man City game but will be back in London for the Malmo match. Travelling via Scotland-Holland-Belgium-France-England and then back to Scotland is wearing and that is nothing compared to those who travel and have to play games too. Granted the players are a bit younger than me with comfier seats on their flights but even so, they need to be checked constantly for wear and tear.

I’m not complaining for a moment about my travels, other than the days of planning and PCRs that are needed (rightly so!) for the jet-setting. What is clear is that any player who looks sharp and has been rested has to be considered for the starting line-up. Ben Chilwell fell squarely into that category.

After a stuttering start when Marcos Alonso was the go-to player, Ben was ready to step up as soon as his Spanish amigo needed a break. The results have been spectacular. Three goals in three games is stunning but what was really spectacular was the winner against Brentford. Over the last few weeks we have witnessed some incredible finishes, Mo Salah’s mazy wonder goal being the pick of a brilliant bunch. Don’t however underestimate the quality of Ben’s banger.

The technique was impeccable, the ball was still rising from the bounce, the conditions were zippy to say the least, and he couldn’t lash at it. He had to concentrate on perfect technique under pressure, strike through it perfectly and he nailed it. I’m not sure we will see a cleaner strike by any player this season. It was a goal worthy of winning any game.

Even though it was that good and Ben is in the middle of a deep purple patch, he still couldn’t grab the headlines. Those of course went to Edouard Mendy for a display that every goalkeeper dreams of and every striker playing against him has nightmares about for weeks after. We all witnessed the breath-taking blocks, with the tip over the crossbar from the overhead kick being merely the most spectacular of the lot. It might not even have been the best save and it was only close to his bravest moment of the afternoon.

You sometimes hear about players ‘growing’ in confidence. Against the Bees, Edouard grew in confidence but also looked like he was growing physically too. It was one of the most memorable performances in recent years by a stopper, not just at Chelsea but at any top club.

One of the many Mendy saves on SaturdayAs time has passed he has become a better, wiser and more considered player. The slightly over-enthusiastic sweeper-keeper moments that cropped up now and again seem to have been ditched. I still recall with a shudder that moment at Sheffield United back in February which ended up in a Toni Rudiger own-goal. I remember it but it’s a fading, distant memory now, one that looks unlikely to be repeated any time soon with his growing ability to read the dangers in the game.

The man to applaud first and foremost for these improvements is Edouard himself, but top-quality counselling and help in the keepers’ art is always on hand out at Cobham. Surely he is the one player who cannot be rested for the Malmo game? It’s unlikely but then if Kepa did start, would we really be totally gobsmacked by the boss’s decision? I’m not sure we would as Kepa’s recent appearances have shown that his game has also improved immeasurably with the training ground tuition.

If you look around closely, and I say this with the greatest respect to the ‘goalkeepers’ union’, how many teams, even at the very highest level, have two goalies that are truly top drawer? It’s fewer than you think, and even if the reserves are capable, there is a difference between that and the real international-class operators.

Goalkeepers at work!Part of the difficulty is obviously that unlike other areas of the team, rotation isn’t that common for this unique position, apart from domestic cup games and that often isn’t enough to satisfy one of the real big guns. That is one of the many tough decisions the boss has to make for every game. He also has to somehow keep both relatively happy, which is a balancing act I wouldn’t fancy trying.

Whoever it is between the sticks, it’s pretty close to being a ‘must-win’ game if we are going to have a chance of winning the group. It is not a given that these are going to be three easy points, but the chance of a win will be good if everyone is in shape, ready, on form and in the right frame of mind. Few people predicted how tight the opener against Zenit would be and more often than not, the ‘smaller’ sides give someone a fright at some point in the group stage.

What would be preferable is an early Blues goal for once in the Champions League, so we could cruise to some degree and enjoy the game with as little stress to the players and indeed the fans as possible. And anyway, with the travelling I’m doing (not that I’m complaining mind) I fancy a bit of relaxation on the job for once. Wouldn’t that be nice.