Clockwork

Honestly i don't think he does enough and people are happy he is not garbage. For me the only thing he does well is carry the ball in space and decent movement off the ball. His passing is not sharp enough in the build up. Can't really beat anyone in tight space with feet/dribbling, doesn't really have the vision or passing to create in the final third. Not really providing anything meaningful from a defensive standpoint. Does anyone here think he warrants a starting position? For me absolutely no, but it is nice to see him in shape.

Got a lot of hype after the Perth Glory game, but for me he doesn't do enough. What are others thought on him after a few preseason games?

Also from a defensive standpoint he is quite reactive, i think this system would benefit from a RB that would be more aggressive to stop the runner instead of him mostly backpedaling. Beside the striker situation, the FB situation is a worry.

Azpi does not overlap like Zappocosta.

I am calm about Alonso starting, he has been the number 1 choice for the past two seasons. Sarri is going to give him an opportunity, it won't be long before he realizes what we all know about Alonso.

According to Globo Esporte, he didn't have any blank spaces on the passport.

That is the thing your opinion is probably is a huge contrast from the club. If Sarri wants to keep him, they probably see him as a guy who could succeed. Unlike Morata, Bats actually has successfully led a team line. Morata has never done that, he was a SS and bench player at Juve. At Real he was primary the backup to Benzmea. Conte always wanted to sign Morata, he was his guy. So he was bought in by a guy who had complete confidence in him and gave him every chance to succed, and he still had mediocre season. Bats on the other hand was never really given an opportunity, he was immediately in the doghouse from the get go and tbf he was also backing Diego Costa one of the best in the world. So i think Bats could be one who would really benefit from the new manager, and unlike Conte, Sarri actually prefers poachers. Personally i don't have high confidence of Morata or Batshuayi coming good. I think Morata has Torres esque mentality, while Bats lack the skills. But here is hoping Sarri can do his magic, imo he is one of the best at improving players.

It is really not puzzling, the striker position is up for grab and Sarri wants to see if any of them can make the position their own. it is a new system and a new manager, everyone gets a reset.

We finished 30 points off from 1st place, and we have only made one significant signing. That is terrible, you are significantly overrating our current squad. I am not sure how you think we will be okay. Plus we are changing our style, the transition will not be easily and there will be growing pains. Added quality could mask some of it.

You can be AWOL without purposeful intent. All world cup players were given 3 weeks of vacation, and Brazil played their last game on the 6th. So yeah he is Awol.

Lol if you think we are a smart club. We paid 45m for Bakayoko, 40m for Drinkwater, and we paid over 60m for Alvero Morata. They were terrible transfers, i am not saying this in hindsight. I said this a year ago. All these players are significant downgrade to the players they replaced, and should be binned this summer. We are not a smart club, there just maybe a lot more stupid clubs in the PL though. I don't think there is a single club in the PL i would call smart.

I guess we will see what happens, but if nothing changes we are really setting Sarri for failure. We are coming off a year when we didn't finish in the top 4, and we are embarking on a radical challenge changing our playing style from suffering ball to possession football. The only significant signing we made was Jorginho, that is not good enough for the challenge that lays ahead this season.

He is back to training, good for him to cut his vacation short to return to training. He is an immense talent, just needs to stay healthy so he can continue to improve.

Is he back to training? It seems like Chelsea are giving the world cup players 3 week brakes. Brazil last game was July 6th, so he should have been back on Friday.

I guess you could bait Dortmund for a swap deal by including Bathuayi.

This is the time to sign players like Pulisic, if you wait than clubs like Bayern, Madrid, and Barca will come knocking. Especially Bayern, who rate him very highly. Than forgot about competing for his signing at that point. I want to sign him, because this an opportunity to sign one of best promising players atm. It is probably not ideal, since his best position is LW. I think he could also play in midfield, where Barkley currently plays at. Not sure who would be ideal, who would fit that? Btw i actually believe that Pedro will start over Willian, if both players remain at the club.

Well he didn't he hit the cross bar twice. I guess you could say he was unlucky, but his goal scoring record says it all. His overall performance was just decent. Compare yourself

Willian could never put in this type of performance against a top team.

Disagree on the Emerson part, as i posted earlier. Interesting on the Azpi part. Zappacosta has actually been very impressive, he looks the part of what you look for in this system. He is much more energetic, aggressive, and better moving forward. He played so high, always provided passing option and overlapped. I thought the downgrade from Zappacosta to Azpi was noticeable. Not to say Azpi played bad, he was solid.. obviously you would give Azpi the benefit of the doubt, because what we know about these players. But if i didn't know any of that strictly based on what we have seen, Zappacosta would be the choice..

I am dumbfounded by this statement. Alonso was a nightmare through out the game, you could see the opposition taking advantage of his lack of speed. Most opportunities came through his flank. And very clumsy on the ball. Emerson came in around the 65m, he had a relatively quiet game. I actually rewatched the 2nd half after he came in because i was so confused by the critique of his cameo. He gave the ball on one occasion and one bad pass other than that i can not find another criticism. He was solid, very aggressive, and always made himself available as a passing option further on the pitch.

I could see Pedro playing as a striker if Morata stinks it up.

Excellent move it would be, i think too much generally is made of the armband. Because in every locker room everyone knows who the leaders are and they don't need an armband to direct them to. In this case it would be a great motivational tool, to make Eden take ownership of the team. Challenge Hazard to take his performances even further and make him feel responsible for the team performances and result.

Not if they sell Caldara in the process. I think Juventus ends up selling either Rugani or Caldara. For whatever it is worth, Juve fans rate Caldara higher. The majority would be okay with selling Rugani. I really wouldn't mind missing out on Rugani, he just doesn't move the needle for me. Not my type of defender either, he is way too passive.

Not sure in practice, but in their preseason games they have used 4-3-3 exclusively. He is using Mount as the most advanced of the three midfielder. Seen a little bit of videos of their games, know little but it is clearly a proactive and possession style.

He was left out due to injury.