Chelsea

Over the past week, we have been asking you to send in the best Premier League XI your club could have put together.

We know football existed before 1992 but as a Leeds United fan asked our experts on the club to name theirs - using the Ask Me Anything form on the Whites - we stuck with their parameters.

Here's BBC Sport's Chelsea fan writer Will's effort.

And you can ask us about the Blues using the Chelsea Ask Me Anything form at the top of this page or here

Find more from Will Faulks at Chelsea News, external

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You have been sending your questions in for our Chelsea reporter Nizaar Kinsella:

Michael asked: The next two games, one with Barcelona and another with Arsenal, are true tests for Maresca's system and the Chelsea team. What do you see as critical factors that would lead Chelsea to two wins? If the team fails both tests, would you say that Maresca's tenure at the club is over?

Nizaar: I understand that some fans remain unconvinced by Enzo Maresca, even after the Club World Cup win, but I don't believe defeats to Barcelona and Arsenal would be viewed as a major internal issue. Chelsea are taking a long-term approach and will assess Maresca's performance at the end of the season. Even with those losses, he would still be in a position to secure a top-four finish and qualification for at least the play-off round of the Champions League knockout stages. That said, such results may prompt external questions about Maresca or the project more widely.

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We asked you to send in your Blues-related questions and put a selection of them to our Chelsea reporter Nizaar Kinsella:

Daffa asked: What's one internal decision at Chelsea this season (in data, squad management, or sports science) that has quietly shaped the team more than anything fans actually see on the pitch?

Nizaar: I think the whole BlueCo project has settled into place over the past 12 months, highlighted by Chelsea moving from having the worst injury record in the Premier League for two consecutive seasons to one of the best. That came despite the club competing on five fronts last season. From what I've seen, the medical department has been very good. Chelsea have also improved on attacking set pieces, though not on defending them, which may be linked to the work of set-piece coach Bernardo Cueva.

Boaz asked: Yesterday we saw pictures of Axel Disasi with the main team, is he back with the team?

Nizaar: I reported last week that Disasi is being rewarded for good behaviour behind the scenes and increased involvement at Chelsea. He has played for the Under-21s and trained with the first-team squad. That opens the door to some minutes at senior level, but he remains for sale in January, and we should not forget that Benoit Badiashile is close to a return, which will further limit his opportunities.

Read more of Nizaar's answers on this page shortly

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We had you send in questions and for our Chelsea reporter Nizaar Kinsella:

Jon asked: Do you think that the squad rotation from week to week stifles the Chelsea performance? The defence in particular seems to be the most affected.

Nizaar: I can see why Chelsea are rotating so heavily, and their argument is that it will pay off in the long run, as reported here. It is important to note that this is a club-wide strategy, not merely a whim of Enzo Maresca. However, I agree that the weakness in the process lies in defensive rotation. That may be due, in part, to none of the central defenders making themselves un-droppable. Overall, Chelsea are performing well this season. Maresca has made wholesale changes against lesser opposition and, generally, they have worked well enough. But the winter period will present an even greater challenge in that regard.

Andy asked: What is happening with the front-of-shirt sponsor? Since the takeover we have been missing a long term one, and in the era of PSR it's huge wasted income. There are rumours of an announcement soon, but what's going on here?

Nizaar: Yes, you're right. Being sponsorless has almost become the default for Chelsea, aside from the bulk of a season with AI analytics firm Infinite Athlete and a brief spell at the end of last season with the property company Damac. There have been rumours about Oracle becoming Chelsea's main sponsor. However, official sources still say it is an open, ongoing process involving multiple potential partners.

Oracle is certainly the type of company Chelsea would like to work with – a strong, blue-chip brand – but only on a long-term basis and at around £55m per season. For now, all I can say is that the process remains ongoing, and it is still unclear when the club will announce a deal.

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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I can't resist a line about Chelsea's winger Estevao, he really is exceptional. Only a tiny number of players can produce this particular special effect. If you get a chance whether at Stamford Bridge, or while watching a game on TV, close your eyes and listen to the sound of the crowd when Estevao gets the ball in the final third.

It is the purified sound of expectation, excitement and support from an entire stadium. Very few can make that happen just by getting the ball.

‌It is probably best to shut your eyes when watching it back on record as you might just miss yet another incredibly imaginative piece of brilliance from the wonderkid if you try this approach live.

‌He was at it again for Brazil against Senegal at the weekend. I'd pay to watch him warm up and while he might not be the best player in the Premier League (...yet), he may well already be the most enjoyable to watch.

‌Sign up to read more from Pat Nevin in his Football Extra newsletter

Arsenal, Chelsea and Real Madrid are set to enter a bidding war for Juventus forward Kenan Yildiz after contract talks between the 20-year-old Turkey international and the Turin club stalled. (Caughtoffside), external

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We have, roughly, run the numbers and here is the XI your submissions have produced.

Not much room for argument with the spine of this team. Petr Cech, John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Eden Hazard and Didier Drogba made the majority of your selections.

A fair bit of debate over right-back but Reece James nips in while Cole Palmer just made it into more teams than Gianfranco Zola, although don't expect him to or Hazard to stick rigidly to either side of the attack.

Spare a thought for opposition midfielders as well, hunted down by both Claude Makelele and N'Golo Kante.

Premier League title incoming for this formidable team?

Nicola Pearson
BBC Sport journalist

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The statistics might say playing at home is an advantage - but what happens when it is not?

So far this season, 53% of Premier League matches have been won by the home team - the highest ever rate in a single campaign.

On the flip side, just 26% have been won by the away team - the lowest rate since 2010-11.

However, this has not been the case for all teams.

For some, being on the road has been more favourable. Tottenham are perhaps the most contrasting example having the joint-most points away from home with 13, but the second-worst in front of their own fans with just five points.

In the second part of her chat with BBC Sport, performance psychologist Marie Cartwright explained: "With crowds when playing away from home, there is a reduced scrutiny as a whole for away teams in that those crowds expect the home team to be the ones in charge. The players feel less judged. The pressure is on the other side.

"Another reason could come down to something in psychology I like to call simplification of the task. The team has a better collective identity when they are away.

"The human brain still goes back to the cavemen days. We have to, as a collective, fight for something. We have to protect our name. It goes back to that hunter-gatherer-against-danger mentality.

"When players are in front of a home crowd, there can be a bit of playing up to the individuality.

"I really do believe that collective identity has a strong enough influence because it amplifies the purpose and the belonging - let's belong together, let's be stronger together."

The focus might be on the players' performances being impacted by being home or away, but what about the managers?

Wolves, West Ham and Nottingham Forest make up three of the bottom four for their home records so far this term, and all have changed their manager in recent weeks.

"100% managers and coaches can be affected, and sometimes even more so because there is so much riding on that one person," Cartwright said.

"The decision-making is the main thing. The crowd is chanting - 'take this player off, do this' - and it can lead to rushed decisions, particularly when the noise becomes relentless.

"Then there is the emotional regulation and touchline behaviour. A manager is pacing up and down, mirroring the stress state, and players see that. It can lead to mimicking and players feeling that stress too."

The impact on teams psychologically playing home or away is apparent, so how can they make the most from these different conditions?

"Our brains are wired to think negatively - it's a protection mechanism," Cartwright said.

"So when it comes to performing home and away, those players and managers who deal with it best are those who know how to use the noise and scrutiny and move on quickly from it - an ability to have a reset routine and regulate their emotions in these pressurised situations."

Read more from Marie in part one of her chat around the impact of playing at home here

Tottenham boss Thomas Frank has revealed that he was interviewed for two Premier League jobs in the space of two hours last year.

The Danish manager was in high demand during his time at Brentford, and eventually chose to swap Gtech Community Stadium for Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after seven years of service.

Read the full article here

Chelsea's Senegal striker Nicolas Jackson, 24, has no intention of cutting short his season-long loan move to Bayern Munich in order to seal a permanent move elsewhere in January. (Florian Plettenberg), external

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Nicola Pearson
BBC Sport journalist

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"Home advantage gives you an advantage."

It is a quote - among many - attributed to the famous former England manager Sir Bobby Robson - a simple, yet fair reflection of a historical format of football.

For as long as teams have played in leagues, games taking place home and away has been the norm, with the idea that playing at home will be to the benefit of that team.

But what is the impact of playing at your own ground in front of your own fans?

In the first part of her chat with BBC Sport, performance psychologist Marie Cartwright explained: "Home impact can be viewed in two ways. Sometimes it does have a positive impact, and what happens is there is an elevated motivation.

"What that means is the crowd energy increases adrenaline and that creates a momentum in effort and intensity in the players. It is also a familiar environment for the players, so that means it reduces the cognitive load. They don't have to think as much about anything else other than their play because they know the pitch, they know the routines, they feel settled.

"However, there are a couple of potential negative impacts as well, with the potential intensification in pressure in the home fans, most times, expecting dominance from the home team. That can lead to mistakes from players feeling bigger to them.

"There can then be what we call a threat state. The players might perceive consequences as high, so they feel they might be facing more criticism when they are at home."

While those who watch football know there are more factors than just where the match is being to take into consideration, the statistics do suggest the influence is there.

Since the Premier League started, the home win percentage has outweighed the away win percentage in all bar one season - the Covid-hit 2020-21 campaign in which fans were largely not allowed admission saw a 38% home win rate compared to 40% away win rate.

So how a team handles this additional crowd pressure seems to be a key factor.

"In psychology, there is something called the challenge and threat theory," Cartwright said.

"In reality what that means is a 'challenge state' can push the player into thinking, 'I've got this, I've got the resources to cope with this'. That leads to better decision making and quicker reactions.

"The threat state, on the other hand, players might think the consequences outweigh their ability to cope. In any match context, that can mean they have a narrow sense of focus, the focus is not quite the same, so the play becomes slower because of overthinking."

"It can also be called 'red brain or blue brain' - with red brain being the one with fear-based dialogue and internal negative self-talk, while blue brain is the cool, calm and collected one that can handle its emotions.

"What sits in the middle of these is distraction. How a player responds to distraction and filters out the noise, like the crowd, can impact which of these mindsets they move into and ultimately how the team performs."

Read more from Marie in part two of her chat about why teams some teams play better away from home and how it impacts managers - that will be on this page early next week.

Here's another clutch of selections for your best Premier League XI.

See what you make of them.

Patrick: 4-3-3. Cech, Azpilicueta, Terry, Desailly, Cole, Makelele, Lampard, Kante, Hazard, Drogba, Zola. Hard to choose, but this is just a current opinion.

George: 4-3-1-2. Cech, James, Terry, Silva, Cole, Caicedo, Makelele, Lampard, Zola, Hazard, Drogba. Solid goalkeeper, a defensive partnership with so much experience and die-for-the-team attitude and frightning attacking speed and skill. Scarily potent midfield and three Chelsea legends up front.

Adeniyi: 4-3-3. Cech, Gallas, Terry, Carvalho, Cole, Kante, Makelele, Caicedo, Drogba, Lampard, Costa. Terry and Carvalho for their understanding, Makelele as holding midfielder with Kante and Caicedo to press. Lampard, Drogba and the Gov to score goals.

Ian: 4-4-2. Courtois, Terry, Cole, Carvalho, Azpilicueta, Lampard, Hazard, Kante, Fabregas, Zola, Drogba. Amazing team, full of winners. Wonderful.

Phil: 4-3-3. Cech, Cole, Desailly, Terry, Azpilicueta, Gullit, Lampard, Zola, Drogba, Hazard, Robben. It is a strong starting XI and I think they could win a Champions League.

Gary: 4-2-1-3. Cech, Ivanovic, Terry, Silva, Cole, Caicedo, Kante, Lampard, Cole, Drogba, Hazard. Skill, power and all mentality monsters.

George Mills
BBC Sport senior journalist

In a recent addition of the Football Extra newsletter, Roger asked BBC Sport: Players are frequently injured on international duty - such as Chris Wood for New Zealand last season, which may have ultimately cost Nottingham Forest a Champions League place. Are clubs compensated by the country or does insurance cover compensation?'

Since 2012, Fifa's Club Protection Programme has covered the salary of players injured on international duty - although there are some conditions.

Firstly, the player must be out of action for a period of at least 28 consecutive days and the injury must have been sustained during an "accident", which is defined in very boring and legally-specific detail in Fifa's guidelines, though it covers most of the examples you could think of.

The scheme pays the salary of an injured player up to the maximum amount of €7.5m (£6.6m) until they are declared fit to return for their clubs.

Transfermarkt lists Chris Wood as missing 18 days - three games - with the hip injury you mention from last March, suffered on international duty with New Zealand. As he returned inside 28 days, Forest would not have been eligible to claim compensation.

There are a couple of clubs who will currently be beneficiaries of this scheme though, including Newcastle United, whose £55m summer signing Yoane Wissa is yet to make an appearance since suffering a knee injury while playing for DR Congo.

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Nizaar Kinsella
Chelsea reporter

Chelsea have reached an agreement in principle to sign 16-year-old defender Deinner Ordonez.

The Ecuadorian will join in January 2028 on a long-term contract from Independiente del Valle.

Club executives have a close relationship with the side, which produced star midfielder Moises Caicedo and Kendry Paez, currently on loan at sister club Strasbourg, through its famed academy.

The move is also typical of Chelsea's current recruitment strategy of stockpiling talented young players and pre-signing youngsters who have been scouted from abroad.

Chelsea have pre-agreed deals for Sporting winger Geovany Quenda, FC Kairat striker Dastan Satpayev and Corinthians defender Denner Evangelista to join next summer.

It may be the international break, however, there is still plenty to talk about at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea are well positioned in the Premier League and not too far away in the Champions League, but there are some big games on the horizon.

So, do you have questions about how Enzo Maresca will approach the next few weeks? Player injuries and form? The January transfer window?

Our reporter Nizaar Kinsella is here to help and will be answering a selection of your questions next week.

Get yours over to us using this form

Chelsea are preparing a blockbuster 150m euro (£132m) bid to sign Argentina striker Julian Alvarez, 25, from Atletico Madrid next summer. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external

Meanwhile, top Serie A clubs have joined Chelsea, Rangers, Bayer Leverkusen and Tottenham Hotspur in the race to sign 19-year-old Nigerian midfielder Sani Suleiman, who currently plays for Slovakian club Trencin. (Rudy Galetti on Substack), external

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We asked for your views on who would be in your dream Chelsea Premier League XI?

Here are some of your comments:

James: 4-3-3. Cech, Ivanovic, Carvalho, Terry, A.Cole, Kante, Makelele, Lampard, Hazard, Drogba, Zola. Defensively robust - no-nonsense defending with an attacking threat. Midfield with high energy and legs. You cannot leave Makelele out, and the front three needs no explanation.

Joshua: 4-3-3. Cech, Azpilicueta, JT, Cahill, Cole, Kante, Essien, Lampard, Hazard, Drogba. Some players pick themselves. Zola's influence on Chelsea and his ability on the ball is often forgotten. The only player in our modern history to have had a number unofficially retired until Moises signed for us.

Richard: 4-2-3-1. Cech, James, Rudiger, Terry, Cole, Caicedo, Makelele, Hazard, Lampard, Robben, Drogba. Best goalkeeper, defensive and attacking midfielders and forward in Chelsea history. Surrounded by pace, strength, skill, will to win, maverick talent and consistency. I think this XI would be a challenge for any competition

Jonty: 4-2-3-1. Cech, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Terry, Cole, Kante, Makelele, Palmer, Lampard, Hazard, Drogba. A tough team to pick, but a combination of the best from multiple eras.

Justin: 4-3-2-1. Cech, Azpilicueta, Terry, Carvalho, Cole, Essien, Caicedo, Lampard, Hazard, Oscar, Drogba. This team would have been incredible! The correct amount of defensive stability and attacking power.

Ian: 4-3-3. Courtois, Terry, Cole, James, Carvalho, Lampard, Kante, Caicedo, Hasselbaink, Hazard, Zola. Strong team with lots of flair - be great to watch.

Crystal Palace and England midfielder Adam Wharton, 21, is top of Chelsea's wishlist for the January transfer window. (Teamtalk), external

However, the Blues have not made a move for Real Madrid and Brazil forward Rodrygo, 24, who is interesting Manchester City and Tottenham. (Fabrizio Romano), external

Meanwhile, Juventus are hoping they can convince France keeper Mike Maignan to join them when his contract at AC Milan runs out in the summer, with the 30-year-old also linked with Chelsea. (Gazzetta dello Sport - in Italian), external

The Turin giants have also failed to reach an agreement with 20-year-old Turkey forward Kenan Yildiz - who has been linked with Chelsea, Arsenal and Real Madrid - and contract talks between the two parties have been halted. (Gazzetta dello Sport - in Italian), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

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Boreham Wood have signed Chelsea academy goalkeeper Ted Curd on loan.

The 19-year-old moves to the National League club on an initial month-long deal, although Boreham Wood say it is a season-long agreement.

Boreham Wood have brought the England Under-19 international in after 35-year-old goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore joined National League North side Bedford Town on loan for the remainder of the season.

It's international break so let's have a bit of fun to pass the time.

Now we know football existed before 1992 but for the purposes of this little exercise, keep it Premier League please.

So tell us, who would be in your dream Chelsea Premier League XI?

The debate starts here.

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