MrExcalibur100

I don't even know what to say about those 2 goals. Just abominable defending by us. Terrible. We just need to calm down and regroup. Still a lot of time.

Hazard is just wayyyy too good. Fabregas has so much quality. We need to play him much more.

Dahoud is a bit of both really. I don't think I can call him a box to box midfielder (that term has lost its original meaning). I think it's best to call him a central midfielder. You have to take Conte's system into consideration. What does he want from his CMs? I do take Conte's system into consideration of course. But when I see rumours (and I presume they are slightly more than that) of links to Verratti and Dahoud, it leads to believe Conte is slightly more flexible in the qualities he's looking for in Kante's next partner. How does having a supremely technical CM next to Kante exactly help us not to get dominated vs. the bigger European teams? If that's the case, why don't we just play Fabregas in them? I'm not sure the point you're making here. The reason why Fabregas doesn't play is because he a has next to zero footballing engine and is constantly cut out by opposition runners in midfield. He just doesn't have the physical attributes to keep up. Dahoud has the engine and the technique? How will that help us? It will certainly help with quicker ball circulation, ability to spot passes quicker and execute them, improve counter attacks, improve our ability to build attacks from the back (when say, Dahoud drops deep like I've seen him do many times Fabregas is terrible this). You're literally asking what benefits does a Kroos/Koke type player have over a Nzonzi/Kondogbia type player? I think it's obvious. I just feel we don't need what is effectively a defensive midfielder with Kante already there. If Kante is as brilliant as everyone says he is, then we can be a bit more ambitious in choosing his partner? People need to look at Conte and see what sort of system he wants to implement. We clearly create far more in the half spaces and out wide than we do from deep in CM. It has nothing to do with creation but control. We can't pass the ball out of the back vs a good press as some of the top teams have shown. We've struggled to control the midfield away from home in far too many games for my liking since November, becoming a bit of a counter-attacking team. We've invariably won thanks to our superior quality and defending.

We definitely struggle away from home in the midfield. I remember us getting dominated in midfield by our next opponents in the reverse fixture for instance. Watch some of the top European teams and they all have technically gifted players in their midfield and they dominate the tempo of the game. The only time I feel we do this is at Stamford Bridge.

Exactly. The comparisons to Toure are so lazy and completely unwarranted. Toure had way better technique and was much more talented than Bakayoko is an almost every way. If Bakayoko was even 80% of what Toure was talent wise, I'll bite Monaco's hands off to get him.

He's not as good as you're making him out to be or you think he is and also my history in this thread shows I've watched him play several times. It depends, do we want to eat at the top table of the Champions league or what? Bakayoko is a rough diamond who could become a great player. He also lacks qualities (I believe)we need in that role, so it's not worth signing him based off of potential as it would have been if we got, say a Dahoud. It's either we sign a world class or close to world class player to partner Kante or we sign a deep-lying playmaker (who isn't a complete liability without the ball like Fabregas) in the mold of Dahoud. Unfortunately, Bakayoko is neither. If we sign Bakayoko as the main prospective partner to Kante, we're going to have very serious problems controlling the midfield against middling Premiership teams away from home. And let's not even talk about how we will get dominated by technically superior European teams in the CL. Is that what you want to see going forward?

Spain ran rings around him and Kante tonight. Scary to imagine what the likes of Madrid, Barca, Dortmund, Bayern, PSG, etc will do to us next season in the CL if we're serious about this. I don't want us to be THAT counter-attacking team again, getting outclassed by superior tecnhical sides and feeding off scraps on the counter. Nobody is trying to watch that shit in 2017. Hopefully we wake up and go for a technically brilliant central mid who can help us be proactive and control the midfield.

50 mil Bakayoko y'all

Ruud is fucking clueless talking out of his arse and loves the sound of his own voice. He doesn't know shit basically.

There's a lot of speculation around Eden and it seems very serious this time. Too many, (and now reputable) sources reporting the Madrid interest and that he's interested. This could be the season we all thought will inevitably come. Remember his words "If I ever leave, it will be after winning the league".

I just realized he played more games than Maldini and Giggs. Put some respekt on this man's name.

And what about LWB, a partner for Kante, Cahill and Moses? Also Sanchez is not that good on the right as you seem to think he is. He's much better on the left. Even though admittedly, in a 3-4-3, it's more narrow. Ultimately, they also will never sell him to us. Bernado Silva is good but so is Pedro and the latter is a greater goal scoring threat. I just don't see this huge difference in quality between Bernado Silva/Pedro/Willian that some are seeing. He's not the difference between us and Barcelona/Madrid/Bayern. We're still too weak in other areas.

It still remains to be seen how good Christensen will be when he returns. Even though I rate him highly, you talk of him as if he's Nesta or Maldini. He's still a young, frail talented CB with a lot to prove. Putting your eggs in one basket is crazy at this point, especially considering what happened last season. Our priorities should be in this order : CM, CB, LWB, RWB, RW. Also, Pedro has been fantastic this season and Willian has been good when called upon. Both of them are very good players we can rely on. Matic/Fabregas (due to his athletic defeciences), Cahill, Alonso, Moses are all not good enough in the long run despite their contributions to our success this season. We can't reach the level of European elite with these players starting for us. All any good team needs to against us is press Cahill and our two holding midfielders and we can't build from the back. Our transition from defense to midfield is terrible and against United, we couldn't do anything for 25 mins until one inspired moment from Hazard. It was the same against Spurs. Against City as well. We're dominating the league now because we have world class players in critical positions and a bunch of grafters surrounding them but in Champions league next season, many quality teams will press us high up the pitch and we need to be ready for that. I just hope Roman has learned from last season and brings out the cheque-book to back Conte seriously in the market.

Bernado Silva is a very good player but he's not the priority now and shouldn't be. We currently have a gaping hole in our midfield next to Kante. We need a new CB to replace Cahill who is an average player if we're being honest. There are also question marks around the quality of both Marcos Alonso and Moses in the long term. Costa's future is also shrouded.

He's a playmaker in the mold of David Silva. I'm not sure where some of these other comparisons are coming from.

Dahoud is apparently 5'9 so while he isn't Matic or Ballack tall, he won't be Kante's midget partner either. I think it's an interesting question you ask concerning height in our pivot and how that relates to finding a suitable partner for Kante. IIRC, we've been linked to Verratti and Conte apparently is a huge fan (who isn't?) so I'm guessing any potential height issues isn't a problem for Conte? Or maybe like you stated, we're thinking of going after Verratti with the idea of going 3-5-2. Personally, I don't believe Conte is interested in changing our system and he shouldn't.

I will pay over the odds for him at this point. We can't afford to let him go to Dortmund. I hope we've spoken to his representatives and told them he has a great chance to be a member of our starting XI. The competition for his position isn't great. Dortmund are a great club with the best group of young players in Europe but surely the opportunity to play alongside established world stars and a top manager we can offer should trump what Dortmund can offer him?

Sub out Willian and Matic and bring on Fabregas and Pedro. We're playing like we're winning 5-0 with 10 mins to go.

Moses complete trash in big games. Time for Cesc in 2nd half

Was it really a big test though? Seriously thought they were one of the worst sides we've faced away from home all season. Maybe the worst.

He's a good goal scorer but there are other good goal scorers there who don't have the touch of an eel and the decision making of a rock. In the summer, if the Chinese are still interested, we have to seriously consider our options.

The only thing exciting about today's game was Hazard. Everything else was a huge snooze and rather predictable. West Ham are an abomination of a side. Typical 80's English 'ball.

Costa still absolutely horrendous despite the goal. wow

West Ham are just the jammiest bastards imaginable. Disgusting side.

Costa gets a lot of shit here for his in game play but the good thing about him is he scores in almost every game.