!Hazard!

I totally agree with this. Fabregas is apparently unbenchable so we are unlikely to see Matic-RLC-Oscar midfield anytime soon so this is the only way to see them all on the pitch at the same time.

I wouldn't be suprised if Jose started baba as a RB. Baba-Zouma-Terry-Azpilicueta Let's hope not.

Apart from his goal he was woeful. Matic-Ivanovic-Cesc partnership has been nothing shot of horrific and Matic hasn't been any better than those other two. Last fall our playing style was heavily based on Matic's ability to play two players' role in the pivot. Right now he can't even do his role and is one of the major reasons why our midfield has been literally invisible this season. The most worrying fact is that we have nobody to cover for Matic. Mikel and Zouma cannot play the Matic-role and neither can Ramires or Loftus-Cheek. Loftus-Cheek could be played as the DM but not alongside Cesc. Lack of options is terrifying!

Loftus-Cheek and Baba have to start this one. We have lost 6 games, drew 3 and won only once since the beginning of pre-season. If the youth are not given chances in times like this then there is really no hope for players outside the Jose's favourite XI. I'd like to see Musonda on the bench as well.

Well if Jose doesn't improve our attacking play IMMENSELY he is going to feel Abra's shoe on his arse He has failed to bring up the youth, he failed at CL last season, only won the league thanks to one player whilst playing appalling football and now he cannot even do the one thing he usually does which is bringing home results. In fact, ever since he has tried to play more offensively our team has looked like Sheffield Wednesday. And this is not a new problem because the signs where there already last season in games against Everton, Spurs and even against the damn Newcastle. He does not seem to be able to build a functioning attacking team without making the defence miserable. 3-4-3 might actually make team more compact on the pitch while allowing our attacking players to shine. He has probably the 5th best squad on the planet in his hands and he should be able to deliver according to the squad's potential. Maybe he is just too stubborn to realize any of this...

I think that we should give it a try at least. It would be also fairly easy (although probably chaotic in real life) to switch to a 4-3-3 within a game. This way our wings would have two players on either side giving good width as well as speed and skill to our attacking play. I might work or it might not but one thing that formation does need is a more ball-playing centreback. Stones would be very good option for that and together with Azpilicueta and Zouma he would form a stable defensive department (at least on paper). Hazard and Pedro would be allowed to get more forward instead of playing that wingback role they are doing right now. Oscar and Matic would give good workrate as well as decent/good link-up play and passing down the middle. This 3-4-3 is also the formation that Pep Guardiola prefers from time to time and there is a reason for that for sure. Willian could also move to other side giving way to Jose's best buddy Ivanovic on the right wingback position. Hazard Costa Pedro Baba Matic Oscar Willian Azpi Cahill Zouma Courtois

To play the kind of football we aspire to play, we need better fullbacks and more technical fullbacks à la Filipe Luis. Azpilicueta and Ivanovic ain't good enough for that kind of play. Anyone who saw United - Liverpool yesterday witnessed how Shaw and Darmian completely bossed the game. Our fullbacks do not play like that. I hope Baba is given some real chances soon but still I can't get my head around the selling of Luis. A huge mistake not to play him and then selling him away because of it. Selling Bertrand is another mistake which should have not happened considering the lack of academy products in the squad. With an attacking minded coach Bertrand could have reached new highs if he was given a real chance to play with Hazard, Matic and the co. As to the other transfers under Jose, only selling KdB seems to be a mistake of epic proportions that will come back to haunt us. For the money received, selling Schurrle, Luiz, Mata and Lukaku were all right decisions. So if we were to get a yet another manager, who would it be? Someone who is ready to bring up our youth (Musonda, Solanke, Loftus-Cheek) and give chances to squad players when the first team isn't performing. The term first team shouldn't exist at this level as the our bench should be more the way it was during the 13/14 season. But you also need to play the players and not just leave them rotting on the bench whilst playing your favourites. The new manager should be more attacking one as our squad is clearly built for that tikitaka but still lacks few players like better fullbacks, new centreback (Stones) and a new creative midfielder to fully utilize that system. The new manager should have a record of playing with high-intensity and high-movement football in the attacking third rather than prioritising the defensive movement. Many times in the attacking third our players are literally static but as soon as we lose the ball all players start running around like rabid dogs. So who could be the new manager? I don't know. We still lack few players to play the football we want to play and changing manager right now might not be the answer. We might have to sign a nobody and hope he delivers.

We need a goal. Willian would be the worst player on the planet in that situation.

Lack of youth integration, dull tactics and PR shitstorms over Eva etc....Abra is about to press the eject button very soon.

You gotta be kidding me.... Continue with Ivanovic and apparently Mikel is the answer to all of our problems. Where are players like Baba, Traore, Ramires anyways?

Oh my bad. I did not even remember that he served his suspension already since the international break has been so long!

Oscar out, Courtois out, Terry out, Cesc in miserable form. Time to experiment with two strikers? Falcao Costa Hazard Pedro Willian/Cesc Matic Baba Cahill Zouma Azpilicueta The defensive line for me is the most important. If Ivanovic starts again something has to be very wrong in Mourinho's head at the moment. Why buy 20million left-back if you are not going play him even when Ivanovic is the WORST right-back in the league in his current form. The likelyhood of this lineup happening is obviously very low but I believe it would work out the best for us at the moment, with Oscar eventually being the number 10 instead of Willian. Such a shame that he has to spend time in the sidelines just when he was starting to discover fantastic form. However, I do think that if Azpilicueta is moved to where he belongs, Cesc might actually perform a lot better when he has Dave as his cover.

Buy him in January!! We can afford to offer him bigger wages than Bayern because of how strong the pound is right now. 200k euros per week is only 145k pounds at the moment. And for example Fabregas is making around 200k pounds at the moment in here.

I hope he is loaned to Everton as part of the Stones deal. Otherwise we all have got to be disappointed with this transfer window. Jose sure loves his big and physical players. Any stats on how many players has he signed for us that are over/under 6 feet tall?

50 mil for Mangala cracks me up everytime but paying 80m for this guy isn't even funny anymore.

Baba - Papy - Zouma - Dave, Loftus-Cheek, John Obi, Hazard and Kenedy . We would certainly win the title if having the funniest named squad was the criteria.

Recall Kalas for fuck sake.

But thing is that if we do not play Azpi as a LB, we cannot have Terry as the left centreback because he would get exposed. And if we don't have Terry on the field, we "need" to have Ivanovic who happens to be the vice captain...It's going to be a tough transition period at Chelsea's defence department this season. We should have gone for Otamendi.

I agree with this. Now is the time to give chances to the squad players/youth when our stars are underperfoming massively. On a sidenote, we need to start playing proper attacking football soon with more players committed to attack throughout the game. There are around dozen teams in Europe right now where Hazard could shine and perform on another level simply because their football is all about the attack. Eden is going to leave Chelsea if he has too keep playing in a clueless attacking side like ours. I have never seen such a static attacking play as Chelsea's in the beginning of this season. However, I think Pedro, Oscar and Hazard have the potential to play amazing football together but they need the midfielders and more importantly the full-backs to give them more width and options in attack. Then Costa wouldn't need to drift to the winger positions and leaving the box empty of Chelsea attackers.

Has to be BS. Only Messi is worth that.

I disagree. Imagine if it was Pogba instead of Cesc shooting that volley for example. Also the team is screaming for a new Lampard who actually wants to try shooting at some point during the game. Cesc was in a shooting position like 5 times during the game on the edge of the box but decided to pass the ball to someone else instead. I wouldn't sell Oscar though...I see Oscar-Matic-Pogba as a well balanced midfield for big games as well as the games likes of yesterday. Give 'em money and Willian and Ramires... Just sign him!

Well actually I was talking about what RLC did on the pitch last season when he was provided with this first chances of first team football.... I agree that he looked fairly good yesterday.

Buy Pogba, send Cesc for a vacation for few weeks together with Ivanovic after the international break. In the meantime play Pogba-Oscar-Matic in midfield, Pedro and Hazard on the wings, Costa in front and Baba-Azpi as our fullbacks. Cahill and Zouma seems like a decent CB pairing to be honest and they would look much more stable without Ivanovic messing up on the right. Good thing we have pretty much the easiest CL group possible so we get to experiment with players like Kenedy, Baba, RLC and Traore. And remember that Barcelona was in some sort of crisis only 5 months before they won the treble last year....

Finally a youngster who has balls to actually do something besides sideways passing (yes I am talking about you RLC). That is what I want to see and I can imagine that is exactly what Jose wants to see as well. Since we only have Hazard, Pedro, Willian as our three main wingers with Kenedy and Traore as back ups I can really see him getting some good opportunities this season. Hardly ever has Jose bought a youth player from a league like Brazil and instantly put him into the squad instead of sending the player on loan.

Streams?