OhForAGreavsie

Can't see how it could be moot. If you don't care how the passes turn out then stick me out there. I'll get it forward for you. Clearly I'm not getting a game for Chelsea anytime soon, even with you in charge, but surely it's just as clear that the quality of the passes does matter.

For me it's an unarguable fact that Costa was useless in the second half of last season. The odd goal does not change that. If you are a professional footballer, playing as a striker for a league leading team, you will score goals. That is not what counts. What matters, what decides if you have contributed well or otherwise, is the difference you personally make. What happens because you were there that would not have happened if someone else was there instead. Costa's contribution post Christmas was way below standard. Way, way below.

Fair enough we simply see it differently. I'm one of those who thought Matic was hopeless and absolute priority number one to be replaced. Bakayoko, albeit with more adjusting to be done, is already a far better player in my opinion. So too is Danny D come to that. Alvaro has some attributes which Costa cannot match but the reverse is also true. Overall Costa suits the style we have played better than Alvaro does. Or he should do. Costa, after January was a disaster and deliberately so in my opinion. The rest of the squad were trying to win the league; he was trying his best to ensure his transfer fee fell to a level Atletico could and would pay. Alvaro is a major upgrade over that version of Costa.

I had five positional upgrades in mind for the summer. I had RWB 2nd on that list, RF 4th and LWB 5th. None were resolved. I agree with you that our gains this summer are in the improved depth of the squad but I believe we may have improved the first XI, albeit very, very, marginally. If I look for positives out of the situation, I'd say one is that our transfer needs are now very sharply focused. Baring minor adjustments, squad depth has been ticked. What we need now are first team upgrades. No possibility of ambiguity or conflicting priorities. The next two windows have to be about recruiting starters.

Diego's impending move is the right solution for everybody. I'm pleased that he's got the move he wanted and I'm glad he's moved on. I will stop short of wishing Diego well because his performances in the second half of last season seemed intentionally bad in my opinion. As I put it then, his displays looked too bad to be true. When the mood took him however he played some great games for us, and that should be marked with thanks for his contributions to our club.

In fact I don't believe that Antonio has improved those players at all. He has simply put them in a team framework which gives them cover for their deficiencies and allows them to make maximum use of their strengths. In terms of their personal qualities they are exactly the same players they ever were. I was taken by surprise in the way Antonio used Victor but I was very pleased the day we signed Marcos and was fully expecting that he would be able to help us. Even so, I completely agree with your assessment that both of our wing backs need to be upgraded. I'd say that assessment of yours is evidence in itself that these players have not all of a sudden made a step up in class. Like pretty much all of us, I hoped that the window would go better than it did but I don't see it as a complete fail in the way that some do. I'm on record as saying I did not think it would be possible to recruit solutions to all of our needs so perhaps that explains why I'm not as disappointed as some. One thing is for sure. I absolutely, totally, reject the the idea that members of our board are at one and the same time more evil than Sauron, and more stupid than Mr. Bean. We know the outcome of their efforts in the transfer window, but we don't see the input. We don't know the instructions under which, or the parameters within which, our squad builders operate. Unless you know that it is not possible to make a rational assessment of their performance. People lashing out at the board are just frustrated and in need of someone to blame.

I confess I came to this thread expecting to read many assessments which disagree with mine. I therefore also expect that many members will disagree with me when I offer the opinion that Charly did not play all that well last night. Indeed I'd say it was a typical Charly Musonda performance; one that flattered to deceive. Charly has good control, both of the football and of his movements. This allows him to buy himself a bit of time and space but then what? His goal was a rare moment of decisiveness. Much of the rest of the time he drew fouls. Why? Because he hadn't gone anywhere. He was still there, able to be challenged, able to be fouled. Charly didn't, and typically doesn't, use the momentary advantages he creates to move himself and/or the ball beyond his direct opponent. Instead he squares himself up preparing to take on the opponent again. Those opponents are professional footballers. They will close your space, they will disposes you or, when it suits them, they will foul to convert what might be a big problem for their team into a smaller one. There is a strand in some players' football DNA which makes them enjoy looking poised, calm and in control. Charly has that about him. He needs to learn that it is more profitable to be effective, than to look good. He is not effectve enough, often enough and will not succeed at the highest level until and unless this changes. Some people are as happy with what they saw from Charly last night as many were with his displays at Betis. I thought, and said, it was a mistake then, and I believe it's a mistake now. We fans can afford to make that mistake but Charly mustn't. He must assess the real value of his output and seek to improve it.

Do you believe that Antonio has already turned average players into world class ones?

What?

Agreed. it was never going to be possible to solve all our issues in one window though naturally we fans hoped to see more progress. The club now has to stay calm and look for incremental gains over the next few windows. There was a headline recently which claimed Roman was 'demanding answers' over the perceived failings in the summer window. That seems to me to be a typically sensationalist and silly way to look at things. I do though think the leaders of any club would routinely want to review their operations at the end of every transfer window and that must include ours. We have much to consider seriously, starting with understanding why we are unattractive to the most highly sought after players. We here can speculate about this as much as we like but the club has to get the right answers and develop the right responses. Repairing our image will be the work of years, not a single season.

Patrick is not below Premier League level because of the timing of his loans at that level, nor because he failed in those loans. Rather it is the case that he failed at those loans because he is below Premier league level. Nothing, at all, ever, would have changed the fact that he is not good enough. That much was absolutely clear from the first time he appeared for our youth team.

Big shame, but true. Was very excited last season when it looked like Pep might be planning to bench Aguero for the young Brazilian. Sadly he watches training and games so, even if that is what he once had in mind, such a terrible idea could never last.

All lies and jest Stil, a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest

A perfectly rational point of view. Problem is, being a football supporter challenges rationality. As Chelsea fans, we are capable of understanding that the six teams you list, plus a few others probably, are better than we are. Are we equally capable however of being indifferent about whether Chelsea win or lose? Can we really get to a place where we don't care? I don't think so, but even if we could, how could we avoid at least hoping that our team will win every time it plays?

Sadly this is true. In fact Qarabag's CF, Love, was quite a bit more effective.

Maybe it's his club car, rather than his personal one. We no longer have the deal with Audi under which all members of the men's and women's senior squads were given club Audis but perhaps there is a new 'motoring partner'. If it is a club car, you might think the club would reassign it, or return it to the leasing company, but we need to be seen to be playing this absolutely straight with Diego. We can't give him any opportunity to claim that the club was constructively dismissing him. By holding a car for him, we are showing that we are willing to fulfil all of our obligations, if only he would fulfil his.

Dybala is already at a club which everyone who does not support Chelsea, and many who do, recognise is of a higher status than ours. Having established himself at one of the great clubs, Dybala is very unlikely now to consider a move to Chelsea until the waning years of his career. Andrea Belotti is not yet in that position. He is certainly more attainable than the Argentine. Belotti remains at Torino because, as talented as he is, he is not as technically proficient as Dybala. That's the reason no non-Italian club triggered his clause, and no Italian one would say the numbers Torino wanted to hear. That factor gave us an opportunity during the window just closed. If we had wanted to employ the strategy you recommend that is. That strategy is logical and is one I would argue the club has used in the past. We seem unwilling, or unable, to take that approach any longer however. There is a bit more I want to say here about why I think the club is right to move away from the 'overpay' strategy but I'm out of time now. I'll either edit this comment, or add another one later.

Yes, it does seem that Antonio is prepared to rotate tonight. This surprises, and concerns, me a little. When we rotate heavily, the resulting team is almost always very disjointed, and often needs to be rescued by first-teamers joining from the bench. Antonio will have studied Carabag of course so we'll have to trust that he will only make changes if he's confident the risk is manageable. As for Charly, the best perfomance I ever saw him give was as a 'regista'. That was in a development squad game a few years ago but, although the experiment seemed a roaring success to me, it was never repeated. It appears that neither the club, nor Charly, see the young Belgian as a deep lying playmaker. I was not as impressed with Charly as you were. He showed technical quality but we know that about him already. Quality is an important indicator of a player's effectiveness, but we know it's not enough on its own. I'm with you in hoping that, if Charly does start this evening, he makes the most of his chance. If I were ever able to offer Charly some advice I'm sure he'd listen politely but he'd be well within his rights to be thinking, "What the hell do you know?" Even so, I'd like to remind him that most of the times a player touches the ball, a simple pass is the most effective thing he can do with it. The opportunity to make a big impact occurs less frequently. Greatness comes from recognising those opportunities and being able to exploit them. Charly has work do in both of these regards. I'm looking forward to seeing him play tonight.

You've misunderstood what @Pizy was saying. It's not (just) a matter of who we can afford, it's also about who we can attract.

It's great that so many people who are not native English speakers want to post here about Chelsea. They clearly post because they have something to say, and they clearly appreciate that posting in English is the way to 'speak' to the audience here. All of this means that, as harsh as it might sound, your own aim of transmitting your message to forum readers will fail unless you do try to 'help it'. I hear your opinion of the relative worth of Neymar and O. Dembele. I disagree with it very strongly however.

Agreed but, if we can't get Dybala, let's hope he goes to Madrid. The further Eden gets relegated down their shopping list, the better. Them not taking Mbappe, as expected, was a blow.

Too exasperated to argue with you.

Soviet era legacy no doubt.

OK, I understand that this is your point of view but I think you are 100% wrong. police of course have to make choices in the way they deploy their resources but where a police officer is present and becomes aware of racist chanting he can and should take action. By the laws we make, and our willingness to live by and with them, our society can be judged.

Mendy spoke a truth about our club. We are not attractive to top players. I believe there are a cocktail of reasons for that. The ingredients include the accepted ones like our reputation for playing dull football as well as some which I know many do not agree with me about like the stupid, ugly and racist behaviour of some of our fans. These bleeping morons have blighted our club for as long as I've been a fan and that's longer than most of you have been alive. If these people can't muster up the brain power to change their point of view I wish they'd at least learn to shut their gobs.