The Chels

How so? For all we know Sandro could have been using our interest just to get this pay rise at Juve. There's also this: http://www.football-italia.net/105097/juve-offer-new-alex-sandro-deal

Wasn't that only spouted by the perennial bullshitter @Carefreedaily?

Well it is what it is. Probably not his first choice but this does seem like a Conte signing. Tweet from last summer (apologies if already posted):

I assumed nothing would actually happen but then The Times said that we were on the verge of signing him. They got my hopes up, damn it.

I reckon Conte's pressure will force the board to finally spend big. Unfortuntately it's going to be for Lukaku lol

I don't understand how a good team performing badly in a big game can simply be put down to a lack of motivation. So we weren't motivated playing United away or in the FA Cup FINAL but were pumped to play Sunderland at home in a dead rubber? The sooner we accept the fact that we were outdone tactically and technically (by teams decimated with injuries) and instead discuss how to go about addressing that, the better. Pretending it was just a matter of motivation helps nobody.

4 seasons is enough evidence in my eyes. Conte consistently struggles in cup competitions and big (away) games (and so I certainly wouldn't have high hopes for the CL), but he is extremely good at flat-track bullying his way to the league title and that alone makes him a very useful asset, mind.

Can't let it go from here now, Chels. The funny thing is that the points total Spurs are working towards would probably have won them the title last year.

That's true. I might have been harsh by saying we were exposed. Liverpool and Spurs didn't really create all that much in our games with them (but finished well), although against Arsenal and especially City, we conceded too many chances. Either way, we weren't particularly convincing in any of those big games, and as you mentioned one of the main reasons for that is our inability to cope well with pressing (coupled with our often passive approach limiting our chances going forward). Our standing in the 'top 6 mini league' isn't actually that bad though. It might be something that won't really be fixed until we get some better players in, but I do hope we at least see some improvement against Liverpool and Arsenal in the upcoming fixtures.

I said in the pre-match thread that it's important not to overreact whatever the result, but it must be said that our performances against the bigger teams this season have left a lot to be desired. Liverpool, City, Arsenal and Tottenham all exposed us defensively. The media have definitely overrated us in that respect and the big teams know we are there to be got at. It's therefore even more vital that we remain consistent against the lesser sides. This will hopefully be enough to get us over the line.

This'll be a draw, I reckon. Could quite easily be a defeat though. We need to remember that after an incredible 13-game winning streak, a bad result will come sooner or later. So let's not have a meltdown when it does happen. It's how we bounce back that matters most.

Exactly this. I think people are downplaying expectations to avoid disappointment, but win our next two games and we're on target for 98 points ffs! It's extremely unlikely that we'll get close to that total but the title is the target, make no mistake about it.

I read earlier that he's now won 41 of his last 47 league games. Pretty insane, that. He needs to kick on a bit more in the cup competitions to earn the 'Best in the World' title though, in my opinion. Right now the priority is to just maintain our league standing but it can't harm to hope we have a decent FA Cup run. And I have confidence from Conte's showing in the Euros that he can do better in the CL (next year, hopefully) than he did at Juve.

Did his trademark 'lose the ball whilst on an aimless run and then feign an injury to the face instead of getting back to defend' in the first half against Sunderland

I politely request a moment of silence for Gilvorak.

Yeah either this season or the next will be his last there, by the look of things.

4-2-3-1 is back? #ConteOut

I think you're really overrating their players. If there's one team over the past few years that's been MUCH more than the sum of its parts, it's Simeone's Atletico. They're having a bad season (domestically) but you can't write Simeone off already.

Our hero.

Captain.

Hmm dunno, this (like every game I guess, lol) has the potential to be one of those frustrating days where we miss a bucketload of chances and then they score with their one and only attempt. Hopefully not though and we make it 9 wins in a row.

Winners focus on winning. Losers focus on winners.

An ultimately pointless statistic but win this game and we'll have more points (37) after 15 games than we did in our title-winning 14/15 season (36). Exciting times.

It's normal to be outplayed against a Guardiola team at home. In some ways it reminded me of the Bayern-Atletico game in last year's CL SF. Sure we were lucky not to go 2-0 down (although we could ourselves have taken the lead through Hazard...) and there's a lot of work still to be done, but we exploited their defensive weaknesses with ruthless efficiency. That's how you win these games.

City claiming the moral victory for having created more chances