OhForAGreavsie

Technique a huge question mark. Power a big strength. Pace not a killer weapon but something definitely to be reckoned with.by opposing defence. Hold up play, enormously and, to me at least, surprisingly improved last season.

The assesment of many people is that Kennedy is not good enough to claim a place in the side as an AM. For those of us who think that way, the attention then switches to discussing his chances as a full/wing back..

And through almost all of his career in our development squads.

Did he say that in an interview with Chelsea TV? If he did, I'm afraid we can discount almost all of it. The in-house TV station regularly abuses our players by pointing a camera at them, shoving a microphone in their face, asking a banal question and expecting them to find something informative, interesting, and remorselessly positive to say. It's excruciating watching at times. The channel is desperately in need of and new editor with a whole raft of new ideas. Anyway, comments delivered on that platform carry little weight I think.

In any case where is the logic in thinking that just because one 20-year-old is ready that means that another one must be too? I'm sure we all have an opinion as to whether Bertrand is as ready as Andreas, but that's a matter for football judgement. The numbers on their birth certificates can't make that decision for you.

? Something is going with fullbacks that's for sure. If Kennedy really is going out on loan then either reinforcements are heading to The Bridge, or Antonio must really believe in Ola and Jay. The alternative, that he would go into the season with just two fullbacks, is impossible. That simply can't be.

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Do I remember correctly that there was a story about an injury during pre-season? Maybe I'm just imagining that, but if there was, that would explain the absences and maybe give the lie to the idea that his non-appearance at the open training session means he's about to join the loan army. If Kennedy is set for a loan move then I think that's a positive thing for him,

That, in my opinion, was always clear. I used to say that DM was the best of the three positions Nathan offered. These days that's no longer true because CB seems to have dropped off Nat's slate all together. He's done far better at left back than I thought he would but I still say DM is the place for him. Absolutely thrilled that Eddie Howe seems to agree about that.

Why so?

I don't know anything about this bloke, although I must say he produces some beautiful football in the video you linked, but I completely agree with your ideas about the importance of technique. We've lived without it in too many areas of the pitch for many years and, for me, this is the main reason our side has never reached the heights it should have done . If we could somehow conjure up the two players required to put together the recipe you describe for our midfield, it would be a huge step forward.

I don't think you are saying what you mean because, as I said right at the start of this, I can't believe you mean that you actually think that you, and all the other people who mean you are not alone, are noticing the bad passes, poor positioning etc, and that Jose does not. How is it possible to think that? You watch the game, he watches the game, several times in fact, are we to imagine that Jose and Guus and the temp all shut their eyes every time Brana is involved in the game? Outside of doing that how can they possibly not process what is happening right before their eyes? .I think you mean that Jose does not see the same solution as you. You see dropping Brana as the the soloution, Jose did not. You clearly did not agree with his choice and that's legitimate but you are never going to convince me that Jose did not see the problems. That is just imposible. So I know you are not alone in thinking that Jose's response to what he saw was the wrong one but I hope you are alone in thinking he did not see the good and the bad of the performances in the first place because that just makes no sense. That implies that you understand the dead obvious, basic, things about football better than not just one, but several, professional coaches. Sorry to repeat myself but that notion is ridiculous.

If you've read many of my posts you'll know that I don't think managers are above criticism. You might even know that I think Claridge needs to learn the meaning of the word misnomer so he can stop misusing it every other sentence and that, like Savage, he is a know-nothing who is unbelievably lucky to keep getting work. Just today, I have repeatedly said that people can disagree with managerial decisions. I just ask people not to make silly statements. Why do you imagine that you can see the things Brana is doing poorly but that Jose can't? That's beyond ridiculous. Just because Jose does not take that informatin and make the decision you want him to, does not mean that he does no have the info. It just means he does not agree with you about what to do with it. It means that in Jose's opinion, and in Guus's and the temps for that matter, that the other options are even worse. I've no idea why Jose kept picking Brana, I just have enough respect for other people to know that he must have had his reasons. The two worst managerial decisions in Chelsea history were both made by Carlo, First in turning down Aguero when Roman offered him the Argentine, and then in demanding Torres. I have often expressed the opinion that Carlo is extraordiarrily overrated as a manager and that he was simply lucky to do the double. That does not mean however that I think he's an idiot. He had all of the nformation I had, plus some I did not have, and made his choices. If he watches Brana play, he sees exactly what I see. I can criticise him for what he does after that but I'm not going to pretend to myself that I'm somehow cleverer than he is.

It does mean that yes. It does not mean that you have to like it but someone has to choose. It was the manager's job to make that decision and he made it. If I had the job I may have made different choices but somebody somewhere, maybe you, would now be complaining about me. That's what happens when you make choices. that's just the way it is. Never in a zillion years would i have signed Torres but Carlo wanted him. I was right and knew (in my own mind that is) that I was, but which of us had earned the right not only to make that decision but to be paid for making it?

Far better to buy a cab and drive him to Leicester. This bloke does not look at top class talent to me, at all. He has a great agent though. First he was going to Barca, then he was coming here, then he was snubbing us to join Juve, and now? As I said a while ago in this thread, I'll be shocked if any top club wants this lad. I'll even be fairly surprised if Leicester take him.

I think this is pretty straightforward TC but you need context: If a manager picks a player you can only assume that it means he thinks that player is the best option he has, not that he thinks the bloke is a world beater. It might mean just that but you can't infer it from the selection. If a manager says one of his players is a world beater, it might mean just that but you can't assume it. You have to apply your own filter and decide for yourself. When Jose said, in 2004, that Frank Lampard was the best player in the world maybe he meant it but, even before he gave the quote I mentioned above, I never thought so. Did you? For what it's worth I think Jose does believe that Brana has been one of Chelsea's best signings but can I asume from this that he didn't notice how poorly Brana was playing at the start of last season? How arrogant would I have to be to think that something which was blatently obvious to me, escaped the attenion of any football professional? The answer is that I'd have to be exceptionally arrogant and exceptionally stupid to boot. As i said earlier in this strand of the conversation, all it is logical for us to assume from the consistent selection of Brana ahead of all alternatives is that the coaches, plural, who made that decision thought he was the best option available to them. If you prefer you might phrase it differently and say they believed Brana was the least bad option, but that just means the same thing.

Assuming you mean that to spell out, in English, the correct way to say Dave's name then I'm afraid you have it wrong. Maybe not so easy then. In any case, it was just funny not serious. The Dave song includes a pronunciation of Daves surname after all, albeit the same incorrect version you've given.

Has nothing to do with it. You are not so naieve as to take a manager's public comments about his players at face value are you? Just in case you are, let me help you: "My players are always the best in the world even when they are not the best in the world.", Jose Mourinho, 2004.

How do you get stubbornness out of this? Jose did not think KDB should be slected so he didn't select him. TSO may have been right in that decision, he may have been wrong, but are you suggesting that it is stubbornnes for a manager to pick the players he thinks are right for the team? Am I to assume that if you were the manager you wouldn't pick the players you believed were best for your side, but would pick the other ones instead so no one could think you were being stubborn? Tell us you think Jose was wrong by all means but don't expect an easy ride if you just want to throw baseless accqusations at our former manager.

Are you serious? Are you claiming to know of Chelsea fans who care more about how Jose and United fare than they do about Antonio and Chelsea? I don't know any, not a single one and I'll be stunned if you do either. In fact if anyone self-identifies as one of us but then says she/he subscribes to the ManU before Chelsea silliness, I'd say that's all the evidence you could need that they are either deluding themselves or just plain lying. Me? I want Jose to do well but since I always want Chelsea to win everything, there's a limit to how well that amounts to.

Lots of people who are just as much Chelsea as you agree that they want United to fail. I therefore can't deny that yours is a widespread point of view but I don't think the Jose hatred is shared by a significant percentage of us. The anti-Jose minority is hugely over represented in this forum's membership. Personally, I'd be happy if Jose wins the Europa League and finishes second in everything else.

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This is why I mentioned the Eva incident. There was, I think, discernible dissatisfaction within the squad about the tactical change Jose made after the Tottenham game in January 2015. A dissatisfaction which had already manifested itself in pre-season but which was given focus, and rallying point, by Jose's behaviour during and after the opening game of the season. You are absolutely correct that it is the manager's responsibility to maintain squad morale. Jose clearly lost the group and paid, as managers must always pay, with his job. This does not however absolve The squad of its share of the blame. The title win is clear evidence that our squad is better than 17th. Had it not "betrayed our work", as Jose put it, 17th would have been out of the question. Do you believe however that any other manager could have taken that group of players to an eight point title triumph? I don't but they clearly did. I hope they realise now that they were wrong and lest anyone imagine that the title was a fluke please remember that an even weaker group of players were still title favourites three weeks from the end of the previous season. Had they managed to win all of their games from that point on, the 2014/15 victory would have been a successful title defence, not a first crown in five years. When The Beatles thought they had outgrown George Martin and produced an album without him, the outcome, Let It Be, was, I think, a good bit of work. The Beatles are The Beatles after all but when they asked Martin to return for their next LP, and agreed to allow him the control he requested, the level of control he had had previously, they created the Abbey Road masterpiece. Our lot got carried away. They thought they were the Beatles in full creative flow and demanded to be let off the leash. You only have to read the urgent pleas on this site for many of them to be discarded and replaced to realise that they are not however . In any case even the Beatles were better when they accepted guidance.

I do not, repeat not, object to your opinion on Brana. In fact as long as 3 1/2 years ago, around the time of the Swansea semi-final, I was calling for him not to be selected any more. I'm glad we're on the same page about what the coaches can and can't see. it's just a statement of the obvious that they can see what we can. Where I think you and I differ is in your comment that the coaches think Brana is a top-class full-back. With respect, you don't know any such thing. You know that they select him, but all you are entitled to assume from that is that they think he is the best option they have. One after another very skilled, trained and experienced football people have made the same choice. I'm as convinced as you are that if they thought they had a better alternative they'd take it but none of them has. That suggests to me that no matter how bad we think Brana is, the coaches think everybody else is worse. Despite the fact that so many people wanted to see Dave moved to the right and Baba brought in on the left, successive managers have rejected that plan. This should tell us something and I suggest Baba's departure on loan merely confirms it. Where I think there is room for criticism is in the fact that the problem has gone unsolved for so long. Presumably someone thought the signing of baba would be the solution. Let's hope it won't go on much longer.

Thanks Iggy. My coments about the things I see being posted were not referencing you, but rather were examples of why I might be coming across a bit hostile. I agree with you about JT and said so at the time of the controversy. Indeed I was furious with him for the stunt he pulled in that post game interview. I made the point that loyaty goes both ways, that the club had stood by him through bad times and that although he stayed when City were sniffing around, he had been handsomely rewarded with a big new contract. I felt he owed the club better behaviour than he showed then. My objection to what you said is the suggestion that we, here & in the stadium, can see things that the coaches can't. The notion is just ridiculous. They see it and they choose the best solutions available to them. If they don't choose the same solution I might, or you might, that is in part different opinion and in part because they have more information than we do. We need better defenders but the coaches don't have the luxury to just moan about it or to just wish new world class players into the squad with no thought to the cost and other practicalities of their recruitment, Instead they have to put a side out. When they do, they have reasons for the choices they make and it is, I think, no coincidence that they all seem to choose the same ones.