Essien19

United had three bad games in a row: the one against City was where it all started. Their confidence has gone down the drain. But before all of that, they won the first three games in the Premiership and on top of that, the one against Leicester. The difference is that last season, Fabregas together with a few other Chelsea lads looked as they don't give a fuck from day one. Wouldn't say that's the problem at United these days if you ask me. Fabregas likes to talk. As it was yesterday i remember him and Henry together in the studio, Fabregas had a big mouth. He said everyone had to do better. But the talking he did on the pitch was in a complete different language, no one could understand him. But everyone was upset af. I welcomed Fabregas when he arrived, i actually wanted him here. But he's just here because he had no where else to go to. I only tolerate him because he's got all the tools to be a special player, or better, used to think that. Fabregas gives you little good moments during a match: the one good pass, but apart from that, he leaves the door open for everyone. He's such a liability and thank fuck Conte got it. So long story short: i don't want him to play here anymore because i think he's not good enough, his constant messages on social media in a tone only a lawyer conducts himself look very false to me and of course because of his history with Arsenal (they even show his face on the flag) leads me to cutting him little to no slack. He never did it for a year for Chelsea. I hold the likes of Cole in so much higher regard. They gave it a go, especially when the team needed them the most. Can't say the same about Fabregas, though.

He dropped Casillas and Terry, maybe this time around he's too afraid of a revolt, Real/Chelsea taught him a lession. Or there's pressure from the executives, Rooney is the biggest brand in England, no one ever dropped him. Sweet, sweet gift from Moyes, back in the day Ferguson was ready to cut him off. Wayne could be the first player who more or less won the battle against Ferguson.

Horrible display, losing 3 in a row isn't just bad luck anymore. They have possession, but no incentive to play towards goal except crosses, no quick passing, no metronome. Must make big calls now, Rooney, enough is enough! Fecking Pep is running away with it...

Absolute shite. It's time for Jose to earn his money, he must change something. Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk

Won 3 leagues, let's find a guy who can do better, not easy, isn't it? Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk

Best player in the league so far, today he's unbelievably good. Pep is working wonders for City.

Mourinho played de Bruyne, the reason it didn't work out was that they had personal issues, imo. Both of them are like the pretty girl who definitely knows what she's got. My point is, in the past no boy from Chelsea's academy reached similar heights. Aina, Chalobah and Loftus-Cheek aren't far away from the team, imo. It's just been 5 games, let him assess the squad a bit more, will you? By the way how many youth players did Guardiola make great at Bayern? Exactly, none! Which gem did he find at City so far? None, Iheanacho is Pellegrino's baby. To be fair, i fumed because of the Luiz purchase, but i believe that he's better than Cahill and with him the team is better. Yeah, i still think there would have been better targets out there, but the chance to win something with Luiz is higher than without and Cahill, imo. Haven't seen much of Alonso, don't know about you, but give the boy some time wouldn't be an outrageous thing to say, i guess.

Are you calling Conte out for not being good enough when it comes to 'youth' and simply young guns? After what, just 5 games from which the club got 10 points out of? Conte's being hired for his expertise and he did change something. Fabregas hasn't been part of the starting lineup anymore, so it's not the same old same old after last season. A 19-year old Pogba would strongly disagree with your assessment of Conte's ability anyway. The old saying 'if you're good enough you're old enough' is tailor made for Conte's suit. Maybe just maybe a lot of the Chelsea youth is just overrated: none of the guys pulled a Kevin de Bruyne elsewhere. Sure there must be a gem in it, but this golden boy from the academy doesn't seem ready to me. You can only show him, in the end he has to do it himself. Not ready yet! Kanté £30m, David Luiz £34m, £33 Batshuayi, £23m Alonso = about £120m. Sure there were sales, but none of the first or second teamers in Conte's view, imo. Anyway those figures put you on number 3 in the net spending table and definitely not too far behind the money monsters from Manchester. The club granted a lot of money, sure splashing out even more wouldn't have made things most likely worse, but the club really tried to be competitive. Pool's gross spent is about £50m lesser than Chelsea's, they even sold a proven Premier League striker which Chelsea didn't do. If you play the big name game, some clubs have less talented players within their ranks, but despite all of that they really are fine. Conte has already shown that he can push the team forwards, doesn't work all the time but most times they can go all out for the win, if that's what's demanded. So i wouldn't be worried at the moment.

Haven't seen a similar way of defending then the one before the first goal for a long time. Pool were all over the second post, a group of Chelsea lads just focused on the ball and didn't look back, maybe Courtois should have said something... but granted things happened quickly. Can't fold Conte for a mistake like that, surely the players must know better than this. The second goal happens, (not good enough) clearance in open field and the instant shot which came right back at us like a boomerang. Apart from the aformentioned two goals in addition to Origi's header, Pool controlled the game, but couldn't get much on target. Everything will be alright!

Glad his PR team is out in full force again and always providing a message for the fans. How could i survive the day without it, don't know. Looks so false to me...Fabregas (others too) cost Chelsea so many games in the past, the first few months were outstanding then never the same. Don't get me even started on last season. I really appreciate Conte's approach to remove the Gooner blood from the team. Nothing personal, but enough is enough.

Some guys seem to be of the opinion that Henderson's strike could have been saved? Looked impossible to me, though.

Fabregas shines when he gets on the ball a lot of times. He needs good off the ball movement: the run determines the pass. What other than just hoofing it towards Costa could he had done? I'm not convinced that the team could have made it a nicer environment for him. Could it really been better with him 20 minutes earlier?! Mhh. Mané has been in good form for the last couple of weeks, however against Chelsea he couldn't do shit. Maybe he had a one-off, or Chelsea took good care of him. How many clear cut chances did Pool really had? Sure they played the ball around, but they didn't get behind the central defence many times. There must have been some defensive stability from Chelsea's midfield and that wasn't just Kanté, imo. I wouldn't downplay the importance of a move that brought us right back into the game. You need to start from somewhere, need a basis and if that free kick from Fabregas had gone in, it would have been one important point. But yeah, not every of his moves was a good one, most people know that he's all about that left foot and can be a bit ackward with the ball at this feet. Between Fabregas and Matic it's a question of what you want. You said it yourself, you want to take more risks, more action, many people would go with Fabregas in this scenario, i guess. Against this Klopp side you need to pass the ball quickly, Fabregas might have been a start, but most part of the team aren't good enough for this kind of stuff, so maybe it wouldn't have worked. We've only seen him for a short amount of time but for me there was nothing that suggested a different outcome. For me Hazard was poor, didn't see much of him in the second half. I liked more of what Willian did. When was the last time Chelsea won a league game when they were 2:0 behind at half time? But yes, your proposal (Batshuayi) in the last paragraph sound good to me. Wasn't it Oscar's job?

If Chelsea win the next match everything will be fine again. That's how it is.

Maybe Luiz wasn't the first target, i agree, but paying the money Chelsea did should make it clear that Conte approved the decision, otherwise why did they hire him in the first place and why should he risk his reputation? Just for money, i don't believe that. Chelsea needs better playing it out from the back, Juve did it because of Bonucci. Luiz happens to be one of the better players who can do it in world football and more importantly, i don't believe that in today's game he's any worse than Cahill. That particular partnership got exposed big time last season, enough is enough. Overall i think that's just his wishful thinking. In recent times i remember hearing something similar about another club. Because of this Pool's chances aren't going up.

Is Koulibaly better than the David Luiz we've just seen? Early days, but if he can keep this up...? Maybe Nainggolan coming in could have put an end to Matic's second coming at Chelsea who did okay, imo. But yes, a few more quality signings wouldn't have been an idea, if they ever were for a club apart from Madrid...

If i remember correctly, according to Carragher (today) Chelsea will go back to the glorious Terry and Cahill partnership. I would have preferred someone else, but Luiz played his heart out, he's of course better than the current players who play in his position. You know what you get with him, he's always trying, always giving it a go for the fans, can't fold a guy for doing that. Impressed by his deliveries, didn't remember them at this level, respect! Nevertheless he needs to keep it up at this level.

Matic was one of the reasons why Costa scored the goal the way he did. Conte did the right thing to let him play. Do you think Matic was that bad overall? I think his good moments overshadowed the poor, is Fabregas really the better solution? Oscar could have ended up getting substituted...Fabregas showed that he can play football at an acceptable level again, still, expected a better free kick (under these circumstances) and not every of his passes were good, a bit knee jerk, i guess. I'm not a fan of his, Luiz showed that he can deliver those long balls. You say we were already 2:0 down, but you shouldn't forget that this particuar scoreline is the one which has been most times overcome. You only need one goal to be back in it, i would have much rather brought on an agile attacker, someone like Batshuayi. But i have no problems with Conte's decision making. Chelsea will win lots of games because of him.

Of couse it's a possibility, but i don't think they have the depth for it. There team is full of energy, on their day they will take off points from almost anyone in the league, imo. One thing is for sure, Klopp is top notch!

He'll bounce back. If he plays a new guy and that guy happens to make a mistake, hell breaks loose anyways. Conte knows stuff, the team will go back to the winning days. What should he have done differently apart from not subbing on Batshuayi?

You already said it, we're talking about one game. Why are so saying that Conte's turning into a Mourinho of last season? The spirit is completely different, the attacking play is on another level, i for one had in most games so far the feeling Chelsea could always score. I'm really of the opinion that some things are different, despite that i would have stood by Mourinho, Conte is an interesting one, there're changes and he should be given at least half a season before pulling out the gun. Maybe you're saying it because of the substitutions. Batshuayi should have been brought on, but otherwise Chelsea's options on the bench don't instill confidence to me. Manchester City are looking fantastically. I guess saying Mourinho's United will finish in the top 4 isn't outrageous. Klopp is also a contender, but the other teams aren't better. Conte can also beat the aformentioned ones. Top 4 is safe and sound for Chelsea this time around. We'll see mate, we'll see.

Nah i don't think the game was that bad. Pool are no newbies, today they were better, but they didn't have many shots on target. Chelsea had the chances to get the draw or even better. There were combinations in small space, Chelsea upped their attacking play, poor days do happen at the office. I can't understand much of the criticism Conte's already receiving. I'm not sold on Fabregas, don't think the substitutions showed much. So far i think Conte's doing a good job, the so-called useless Matic was part of the reason for Costa's goal. Costa kept his calm, Luiz played well, big save from Courtois. Conte's doing things differently compared with Mourinho. People should appreciate him more, it really is a different approach. Chelsea will continue to win lots of games this season, no one wants to play against this team.

You made some good points. Nice comparison with other managers. But overall i wouldn't call it dull. They really went for it against Hull, kept going. Against a much better opposition (City) their good spells were way too short, though. You'd expect more from him and his team, not debating it. Early days, but their opponents are up for it, i guess that's clear.

Played fantastic football for parts of the 2014/2015 season, though. From their perspective the City game was so disappointing, results speaking it could have been a draw, but football wise people expected so much more. City created more chances, they knew what to do before they even had the ball, with this attitude you minimalize the chances of losing, simple as that. Their midfield can't dictate play: Mourinho changed the line up for that game against City and got it wrong: too passive, too defensive. Pogba too far away from goal Rooney still untouchable Martial low on confidence and immediately been dropped; Mkhiraryan unfit for duty and inconsistent Lingard were fielded out instead. I don't believe that Madrid took away his abilities, the game's changed. These days even a David Silva wins you 'enough' headers, height is overrated, imo. Crosses should only be part of the game, even with someone like Ibra upfront. More movement off the ball More pace More variability on the ball, passing with an idea, an idea to score a goal. I agree that running away with the league back to back seasons looks nearly impossible. Early days, but Pep's football has been looking fantastically Conte's attacking play is unpredictable, he changes stuff, dropping Fabregas has been a top decision, imo. Klopp's team is very uncomfortable to play against. And of course, all of three them have enough money to buy their targets. All three of them will win lots of games. Mourinho is known for finding the weak spot in most of the teams around, but relying on a few opportunities is a risky call these days. If he can't come up with something quickly, he won't win the league this season. Opinions differ, i think he can do it, but i agree, it's not a sure thing. So far, people expected more!

Has as many CL trophies as Guardiola. Wait till the end of the season, City were better, today wasn't good enough, but it's still a long way to go. Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk

Why should i bother to argue with you or others time and again over the same stuff? On the one hand Mourinho is gone -the message is move on, on the other hand you're constantly bitching about him. Mourinho thread, KdB thread, English football thread all are active af. Sure, KdB did well, City were better for most parts of the game. Congrats on cheering for the winner. Anyway, don't know what you want to hear, ahh of course: Mourinho is a fraud, how could i forget. [emoji4]