Kolasinac’s rugged style rubbing off on team-mates

Traversing London for a trip to Stamford Bridge felt like a decidedly tame affair, after having run the gauntlet of 20,000 Germans on Thursday night. 

However, with this being the first of five awkward awaydays, immediately following our midweek Europa League adventures, there was no mistaking the significance of yesterday’s encounter, as a third successive defeat on the road might well set a calamitous tone for our entire season.

Despite our FA Cup and Community Shield success against Conte’s side at Wembley, horrific memories of recent humiliations at the Bridge made for a less than optimistic mood, which was hardly bolstered by the pre-match revelation that neither Özil nor Alexis featured in the starting XI. I could perhaps understand the logic of including a workaholic Welbeck, with Alexis sadly still such a long way from firing on all cylinders. Yet as demonstrated, in an otherwise dire display against Cologne in midweek, even when at his worst, the wantaway Chilean is still capable of conjuring up that one inspirational moment of world class genius that Sunday’s encounter was crying out for.