!Hazard!

Have we heard similar complaints from Napoli dressing room in terms of boring rigid training sessions etc.? As far as I know many of the players like Mertens seemed to praise Sarri for the work that he had done and not bitch about his training methods

I'd give Sarri another season and two more transfer windows to show what he's got. I think any manager deserves two full seasons, at least one full pre-season and four transfer windows to shape the squad to his liking. We need to get rid of those rotten players one way or another, might as well do that under Sarri's management. At least he will prefer technical and intelligent players that can be useful for any manager that tries to play modern football and not load the squad with players like Alonso, Willian, Drinkwater, Barkley etc. And even if he fails he will undoubtedly prepare the squad to play proper possession football and the new manager could pick it up and continue to build on that. Under the condition that he's forced to integrate several youth and loan players of his choice to the squad I am ready to back him up in this transition. I am sick and tired of blaming the manager every single time when it's clear that many of the problems lie elsewhere.

It really is bizarre. What has happened to him? I remember him joining us in pre-season and during his 45 minutes I thought to myself that's a proper midfielder. Now he can't even pass the ball When was the last time a top class player came to Chelsea and was top class still 6 months later? Somehow players always get gradually worse at this club

Counter attacking team?

Very true unfortunately. Azpi thrives in certain type of tactical systems and clearly Sarriball (or any kind of possession-based tactic) isn't one of them

I remember watching that 2016/17 team and thinking how the hell doesn't Alonso have 15 goals and 15 assists considering how much space he had on those flanks. But the opponents knew that he isn't exactly Jordi Alba quick going forward so they gave him ridiculous amounts of space and sometimes even ignored him completely because he wasn't much of a threat (except in the box) Nevertheless, gotta give it to Conte. Winning the league with Alonso and Moses as wingbacks remains as one of the greatest heists in modern football history. We were of course helped by the fact that nearly all of our rivals were utter shite and extremely inconsistent throughout that season. There's no way that team could win the league this season.

That is just so shocking to see. Sarri's football is all about creating spaces and then making those type of thru balls. Why does Sarri does keep choosing this fucker? Is Emerson really even more shite in his books? Then why didn't he tell the board to buy a new left-back in January? Honestly, if he prefers Alonso solely because of his height then please play David Luiz as LB, at least he has the vision and skill to make that pass

We might have plenty of 'technical players' in the squad but it's becoming too apparent that the players simply do not have the intelligence to handle this football nor do they have the fighting spirit to keep on improving and impressing the coach or the fans. In the Ajax system, football IQ is one of the key areas scouts look for when identifying talent and intelligence is very much interlinked with their definition of technique. “Technique is not being able to juggle a ball 1000 times. Anyone can do that by practicing. Then you can work in the circus. Technique is passing the ball with one touch, with the right speed, at the right foot of your team mate" – Johan Cruijff Clearly our board are simply happy with stepovers and backheel tricks when signing the likes Willian, Alonso and Barkley who wouldn't make the bench at true possession-based team like City even if all their other players were injured or in a coma.

It would be typical Chelsea to appoint Simeone. From Conte to Sarri to Simeone – no logic or continuity whatsoever

Lol

Nobody at Chelsea wants him back tho so too bad for him I guess

Such an embarrassing performance. I thought that City game last season was the most embarrassing performance I've ever seen from Chelsea side but this is rivalling that one. Higuain looks class though!

This. My God Alonso is having a shocker

Marcos Alonso. What the fuck

These two managers are the complete opposite when it comes to making changes to their lineups: Sarri who never changes the starting XI or Pep who always comes up with the most mysterious lineups. Bernardo Silva playing winger, Gundogan instead of David Silva, Zinchenko coming to the lineup out of nowhere. Bizarre

Considering that there's VAR in use why are they showing the viewer these shitty angles. Same as the Kane offside call in the cup, the angle that was shown to us was horrific

United is starting to scare me. Their honeymoon period under Solksjaer just doesn't seem to end

My God do we miss some of this right now

Am I the only one who would rather take James Rodriguez than Isco in exchange? Assuming that Bayern will not take their option to buy the Colombian (why would they, he sits on the bench a lot these days)

You're right, why didn't I think of Juve. But look at their age structure though. This season might be their last opportunity to win the Champions League

It's not just a Chelsea problem though. To me all Premier League top6 teams seem to lack those traditional captains to the extent which makes me wonder if those types of characters even exist in the modern game. None of the top teams in Europe seem to loaded with those types of personalities the way were, or United were, 10 years ago.

Feeling fairly confident about this game. We outplayed them during that outstanding 2nd half in the last match and we have only improved our play from the back ever since. We might have trouble breaking down busses but our transition from defense to midfield has been very promising (although we rarely see enough of that since the opponent is always parked in the own box)

France has high levels of inequality these days and for many kids (of which many are of African descent )sports is the only escape from those horrid banlieus. France has effectively followed the American model as high percentage of their top sports talent comes from those poor ghettos. I don't know what going on in Brazilian favelas but they don't seem to be producing top talents at the same rate as in previous decades.

No need for Wan-Bissaka when we got Reece James. All we need is a proper new LB. Chilwell and Reece could be the fullbacks for the next 10 years

We need more HG players and we need a new LB. This deal is a no brainer really and we cannot allow our rivals to get him first