Chelsea XI to face Aston Villa: Kepa Arrizabalaga; Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen, Marcos Alonso; Mateo Kovacic, N'Golo Kante, Mason Mount; Willian, Olivier Giroud, Ruben Loftus-Cheek #CFC#WelcomeBack#ASTCHE
Ruben Loftus-Cheek plays his first games since 12 May 2019.
N'Golo Kante starts his first game since 12 February 2020.
England and the other six (Belgium, Dutch, Swiss, Germany, Denmark, Wales) release joint statement saying they will no longer risk wearing the 'One Love' armbands after threats of sporting sanctions for captains. They are frustrated FIFA ignored their written request to wear it.
FIFA win the political skirmish but it only serves to highlight the political mess between football's governing body and European nations. England will find other ways to support the LGBTQ+ cause in Qatar.
There's no way teams can go into matches with any player already on a yellow card for 90 minutes.
Then there's the issue of accumulating cards. If you want to succeed at the #FIFAWorldCup, you can't risk it.
Harry Kane on wearing the 'One Love' armband against Iran: "I think we've made it clear as a team, staff and group that we want to wear the armband. I think we are discussing it with FIFA but we want to wear it." #FIFAWorldCup
Gareth Southgate reiterates what Kane said and then the world's longest question is asked. It has been going on for about 2-3-4-5 minutes.
Southgate on Iran: "I understand the frustrations from your team, it is a very difficult situation. I have been asked a lot of political questions down the year. There's a responsibility on me to answer some of those questions. I have a lot of respect for our opponents tomorrow."
Koulibaly on Potter's non-selection of him: "It is true that I haven't played with the new manager but I know my time will come. I am a big worker and when I don't play I make sure I work well. I am trying to show on the training pitch that I can play my first game for him." #CFC
Koulibaly: "We have to absolutely do everything to win this game tomorrow because we haven't started the Champions League well." #CFC#UCL
Koulibaly: "I miss Napoli and Naples but I wanted to come here and join this club which is one of the best in the world."
"I knew it would be difficult to go from Italy to England. I am going through a process that's normal, I am working hard and happy to be here." #CFC#UCL
Graham Potter press conference incoming at Stamford Bridge.
Potter on Chelsea team news: Mendy is fit, Kante is training 'more and more but not fully', Jorginho felt his abdominal vs Palace and is a doubt, as is Havertz. Everyone else is fit including Cucurella. #CFC#UCL
Potter on Milan: "We're playing a top opponent so we have to play well and create a good atmosphere to get our supporters behind us." #CFC#UCL
Todd Boehly dropping bombs @SALTConference: “We’ve talked about having a multi-club model. I want to continue building out the footprint. I think there’s different countries where there’s advantages to having a club.” #CFC
@SALTConference Boehly: "I think Tuchel is obviously extremely talented. He is someone who has had great success at Chelsea. Our vision for the club was finding a manager who really wanted to collaborate with us. There’s a lot of walls to break down at Chelsea." #CFC
@SALTConference Boehly on Tuchel: "No one is right or wrong, we just didn’t have a shared vision for the future. It wasn’t about Zagreb. It was about a shared vision of what we wanted for Chelsea Football Club to look like." #CFC