Daniel1980

Yeah, Spanish NT is a mess at the moment, but still, he doesn't seem to do all that well when he has a lot of possession.
Actually, according to WhoScored, we and Atletico have practically identical "Action Zones": 31% in the attacking third. I know that Koke creates the majority of Atletico's goals from set pieces, but that doesn't make Koke a creative playmaker - it makes him a great set piece taker, is all. We aren't doing too bad in that regard either, but unlike Atletico, we score a lot more goals from open play too. And in open play Koke doesn't bring that much to the team. The fact that Atletico scored 12 goals from open play in half a season is very poor, regardless of their set pieces - we scored 30, with about the same amount of possession as Atletico. It says nothing good about Atletico players' creativity.
Look, I know where you're coming from - Oscar isn't the most creative player around and I'd be happy if we get someone who could offer more in attack, but Koke isn't the answer. Oscar has his flaws, but he created 27 chances from open play this season. Koke created just a bit over 10. Regardless of Koke's superiority in set pieces, he should do more in open play to be called a playmaker. Cesc has created over 40 chances from open play in addition to the set piece chances. That's what a playmaker is supposed to do.

Don't get me wrong: I think Koke is a very promising talented midfielder, but if we are to replace Oscar, I would prefer to have someone a bit more decisive creatively at CAM. We already have Willian who is not decisive enough. Though I think using Koke in 4-3-3 with Matic and Fabregas would work, but IMO, Koke cannot be the leading midfielder and the playmaker to dictate the play. We could also play him in the pivot next to Matic and move Fabregas to the hole to do the playmaking from higher up the pitch, but Koke should not be a direct replacement for Oscar - creatively it wouldn't be much of an upgrade if he plays #10.

Don't get me wrong: I think Koke is a very promising talented midfielder, but if we are to replace Oscar, I would prefer to have someone a bit more decisive creatively at CAM. We already have Willian who is not decisive enough. Though I think using Koke in 4-3-3 with Matic and Fabregas would work, but IMO, Koke cannot be the leading midfielder and the playmaker to dictate the play. We could also play him in the pivot next to Matic and move Fabregas to the hole to do the playmaking from higher up the pitch, but Koke should not be a direct replacement for Oscar - creatively it wouldn't be much of an upgrade if he plays #10.

Yeah, Spanish NT is a mess at the moment, but still, he doesn't seem to do all that well when he has a lot of possession.
Actually, according to WhoScored, we and Atletico have practically identical "Action Zones": 31% in the attacking third. I know that Koke creates the majority of Atletico's goals from set pieces, but that doesn't make Koke a creative playmaker - it makes him a great set piece taker, is all. We aren't doing too bad in that regard either, but unlike Atletico, we score a lot more goals from open play too. And in open play Koke doesn't bring that much to the team. The fact that Atletico scored 12 goals from open play in half a season is very poor, regardless of their set pieces - we scored 30, with about the same amount of possession as Atletico. It says nothing good about Atletico players' creativity.
Look, I know where you're coming from - Oscar isn't the most creative player around and I'd be happy if we get someone who could offer more in attack, but Koke isn't the answer. Oscar has his flaws, but he created 27 chances from open play this season. Koke created just a bit over 10. Regardless of Koke's superiority in set pieces, he should do more in open play to be called a playmaker. Cesc has created over 40 chances from open play in addition to the set piece chances. That's what a playmaker is supposed to do.

Yeah, Spanish NT is a mess at the moment, but still, he doesn't seem to do all that well when he has a lot of possession.
Actually, according to WhoScored, we and Atletico have practically identical "Action Zones": 31% in the attacking third. I know that Koke creates the majority of Atletico's goals from set pieces, but that doesn't make Koke a creative playmaker - it makes him a great set piece taker, is all. We aren't doing too bad in that regard either, but unlike Atletico, we score a lot more goals from open play too. And in open play Koke doesn't bring that much to the team. The fact that Atletico scored 12 goals from open play in half a season is very poor, regardless of their set pieces - we scored 30, with about the same amount of possession as Atletico. It says nothing good about Atletico players' creativity.
Look, I know where you're coming from - Oscar isn't the most creative player around and I'd be happy if we get someone who could offer more in attack, but Koke isn't the answer. Oscar has his flaws, but he created 27 chances from open play this season. Koke created just a bit over 10. Regardless of Koke's superiority in set pieces, he should do more in open play to be called a playmaker. Cesc has created over 40 chances from open play in addition to the set piece chances. That's what a playmaker is supposed to do.

The problem with him imo is not his size. It is the question of does he have any outstanding qualities such as pace, dribbling or creativity. He is not poor in any of those aspects but he is not outstanding in any of those attributes either. What I see often is that he is able to play well with other members of the team but he cannot do anything spectacular if we are playing poor. For me that is down to the fact that he is not outstanding in particularly anything. Sounds harsh but that is how I feel.

He was very poor today, tbh. At times I thought even Mikel was better. Maybe he's just tired.

122 passes84% Pass Completed4 Chances Created3/8 Crosses2/2 Take-Ons4/6 Corners3/5 Tackles1 Clearance17 Ball Recoveries. 17.Clearly Matic is rubbing off on him.
Pity he didn't get at least an assist today. Totally bossed the midfield.

Whoscored on Matic.

Not too bad I suppose. His defending and passing got even better this season despite his below average performances at the beginning.

Goal or Assist in 8 of the last 10 games. Becoming more decisive.

He did link up very well with Eden and Cesc. We looked dangerous on the left wing with three of them interchanging.
But it's blatantly obvious defensively he's far worse than Azpi, especially 1 vs 1. It would have been okay if we had fast CBs who could cover if he makes mistakes. But we don't have fast CBs. Azpi was missed.

1. Luis was playing with Atleti last season, not Marseille. he doesn't need to time to raise his level to Chelsea's because he was already playing in that level.
2. Azpi was 22 when he joined us and hence it was only normal that he can still significantly improve and develop, while Luis is 29 now.
3. Luis has had more game time than probably any of our non-XI players, so the argument that he has not been given chances is obviously baseless, and I think we've seen more than enough to start to judge him.
4. Given point 3, I have no idea what you define as the "needed amount of time", because in most of the matches, you can't afford not play your best players which are very obviously Iva and Azpi.
5. Saying that Luis has been playing better than Azpi or even Iva is just deluded if I'm honest. In his time with us, he's looked physically weak, gets beat way too easily and even in attack is very inconsistent and gives the ball away too cheaply.
Again, I think he's a valuable squad player to have, but I haven't seen anything to suggest he's starting XI material yet. Hence why we should really stop moaning about him not starting games because he has not at all made a proper case for himself till now.

As I said, I'm not a fan of Mikel and I don't like the pivot Matic-Mikel. It's too rigid and one-dimensional. But I like Cesc at #10 more. Eden links up very well with him. For example, the last 3 matches Cesc played #10 next to Eden, Eden scored 2 goals from Cesc's passes and Cesc scored 1 goal from Eden's pass. That's what I want to see.
Ideally, we would need an upgrade on Mikel for that, though.

What I liked about his interview was that he spoke like a proper leader. One example is how he reponded when the interviewer asked him about the reaction: "I liked the reaction. I'm happy with the players." If someone like Cahill was here, with no disrespect to Gary, I assume he would have replied by saying, "We reacted very well."
These little things can you the differences in true leaders. I also loved when he said he doesn't care about assists and he just wants Chelsea to win.
I didn't like him when he first joined, but every day I love him more and more. Great attitude, positive, and upbeat.
And one last thing, the man has got charisma in him.

After 2009, he played higher up the pitch all the time for Arsenal. That's when he started scoring goals. When he played a deep-lying playmaker like he does for us, he barely scored any goals for Arsenal too - only assisted a lot.
He plays #10 for us only occasionally. He scored against Stoke just the previous match he played #10. As long as he plays in the pivot most of the time, don't expect him to score many goals for us.

Definitely. I'm starting to agree with all you guys. We need one more signing.
Whether it's a Cesc alike to replace him in the pivot without compromising how we offensively dominate games and dictate rhythm when Cesc is there or we sign someone to the RW.
We're falling short because whereas Cesc is amazing, unbelievable and incredible versatile, he can still only play one position at a time. Some times today I saw Mikel playing higher than Matic and I wanted to slam my head on the wall.
If we have a better AM - a more creative one - Oscar and Willian can rotate the remaining position according to the profile of the match. Oscar should play home games because he links up better with Cesc and Hazard than Willian can even dream of. Willian for some of the away games and definitely in the bigger matches.
If this player doesn't come, and we have to move Cesc to #10 then we need another someone years light better than Mikel to play alongside Matic.
I feel if Ramires was fit we'd be playing him in the pivot and I suppose it'd be better. Whereas he's way more wasteful than Mikel, he has 2-3 insights of good things in the whole match. It takes Mikel 50 matches approximately to come up with one good insight in the attack. I'm far from being Ramires' biggest fan, but I admitted then and I state in present time based on how he started the season - back then he was better than anyone among Willian, Mikel, Schurrle and who else we might think about playing in the RW or alongside Matic. Hopefully he'll recover fully soon and will carry on from where he's stopped. The problem is, when Ramires is in bad form, he's even worse than Mikel.

They were.
So glad Eden scored away and scored such a needed goal. Pure class.

Had the same thought. A bit too obvious.

Yeah, always thought so. Fabregas is the best CM we have to partner Matic, but he's also our best #10 to partner Eden. A bit of a dilemma.

hazard was fantastic in the first half both offensively and defensively..
Didnt see the second half, but I thought hazard and cesc were class.

His performance and post match interview today are things that other team fans should be very very jealous about now.

A draw away against a Top 4 side isn't that bad compared to City's home draw against one of the worst teams in the PL.

"I don't care about assists and all that; I just want Chelsea to win and today we didn't so I'm going home upset."

SEAN DYCHE YOU ABSOLUTE LEGEND YOU GINGER MOURINHO YOU BEAUTIFUL SEXY FUCKING BASTARD!

Haha, totally different ways of life then B, if that happened in England people would be creeped out!