chelseafan26

Yes.

Yes.

Great performance today, if only he would have been up to it for the past 8 months.
Hope next season he "feels" like it.

Lol people talking about Cesc in Pirlo role. Not to first think that this is EPL, league that plays 3 times higher tempo than serie a and even real Pirlo couldnt cope in such league.
Secondly, Cesc is miles behind Pirlo. 
Many pointed out but I realy hope we get someone else for that creative role in midfield, Gundogan would be dream. But board is probably thinking of making Cesc the captain...

I understand where you're coming from, it's a sound argument but you still need senior players in the squad and Cesc is one of those, and the good thing is he actually has ability unlike someone like Oscar so he can be useful in some scenarios - i.e. when we're playing teams that park the bus, give us space to do our thing. You'd want Fabregas in your team in this case no? Or at least as an option.
I can see ourselves being in these sort of situations enough times for Cesc to actually be useful for us. We need a competitive midfield, a competitive team. That starts with keeping players like Fabregas - even if we intend on getting in someone better. My point is that you need a competitive squad. You don't want to be relying on just one player who'll have no one on his toes just in case he doesn't perform well enough. Something similar to the Matic and Mikel situation. Matic dropped form massively and Mikel isn't a great replacement for him now is he? Similarly, you want good replacements. It can work. Look at Bayern for example - they've got the likes of Thiago, Vidal, Alonso, Muller, Martinez and then have players like Rode, Gotze and even Alaba who can all play in the center of the pitch. That's the sort of level we should be aiming for in my opinion. You have to keep Cesc if you're aiming for that. It allows for rotation, competitiveness, and prevents the massive drop in quality if anyone gets injured. 
Something like (especially if we sell Oscar, this midfield would make the most sense IMO); Fabregas, Pjanic, Nainggolan, Matic, RLC. That is an elite midfield right there IMO. If Matic goes down, Nainggolan shifts in to DM and we play someone like RLC next to him and someone like Fabregas. That's still a very good midfield. Similarly if one of Fabregas or Pjanic goes down we still have the options. If we are playing against teams that will offer us more space, why not play both Pjanic and Fabregas? This is the level we should be aiming for IMO! 

I dont know the reasons for the rest of the people, but I can sure give my reasons.
For the past 6 years, we have been in transition. We have no identity, we have no stability, we have no youth players coming through the ranks, now we have no european football. Despite continously putting in 100million pounds every year ( £475,959,000 in the last 5 years) yet we have been going from bad to worse. in 2007 and 2008 we were one of the best teams in the world and again, despite continously putting in millions of pounds, we are now not only out of the list of elite clubs but also out of the elite competition. I think its safe to say that we need a change. We need a change of approach, of mentality, of attitude.
So how do we do it? We are not in CL next season, have a new manager and yet we are looking to make a system around a 29 year old CM who runs like a 50 year old. No idea whats going to happen to him  when he gets 30 in a year. I am sorry but what have we learned from the past then? Lets leave aside the fact that can cesc actually play the "pirlo role" (as this seems to be the operational word on this forum), is a player so hopelessly unathletic at the prime age of his career, playing as a CM which requires a lot of legs and running around, is he the best player to make a system around him. If not then I think he simply is not a player to keep around if the system is not built around him. 
Personally, I will be willing to have no PL for 3 years if it means we can get some identity. Build the system around the likes of RLC, Radja, Hazard, Zouma, Andreas, Tibo. 

I dont know the reasons for the rest of the people, but I can sure give my reasons.
For the past 6 years, we have been in transition. We have no identity, we have no stability, we have no youth players coming through the ranks, now we have no european football. Despite continously putting in 100million pounds every year ( £475,959,000 in the last 5 years) yet we have been going from bad to worse. in 2007 and 2008 we were one of the best teams in the world and again, despite continously putting in millions of pounds, we are now not only out of the list of elite clubs but also out of the elite competition. I think its safe to say that we need a change. We need a change of approach, of mentality, of attitude.
So how do we do it? We are not in CL next season, have a new manager and yet we are looking to make a system around a 29 year old CM who runs like a 50 year old. No idea whats going to happen to him  when he gets 30 in a year. I am sorry but what have we learned from the past then? Lets leave aside the fact that can cesc actually play the "pirlo role" (as this seems to be the operational word on this forum), is a player so hopelessly unathletic at the prime age of his career, playing as a CM which requires a lot of legs and running around, is he the best player to make a system around him. If not then I think he simply is not a player to keep around if the system is not built around him. 
Personally, I will be willing to have no PL for 3 years if it means we can get some identity. Build the system around the likes of RLC, Radja, Hazard, Zouma, Andreas, Tibo. 

Willian is not a scorer. He's only 3 behind Costa, it's more of a testament to Costa's shit season. In the early parts of the season when we were at our lowest, he played better than anyone else.. it doesn't reflect in numbers, because he's a workhorse and his main contribution is what he does on the field, not in numbers, but for him those numbers are very good. Barbara's post is spot on, in a normal season he's a supporting player and nowhere near our main star player, but this season he has given his all and didn't sulk like everybody else. 

Nah fuck that. Listen I'm for this sale, based on factors like he's on his last year and that £50m is a great figure for a 28 year old winger.
But to discredit Willian this season based on stats alone is a weak argument. I guarantee that 16 included more match winning goals/assists than Diego Costa's. Even if it isn't, without a shadow of a doubt Willian was the best player by far this season to wear the Chelsea shirt. Football is more than statistics at times and fans often need gentle reminders. 
It depends. The one jibe in past season is his poor conversion rate in the final third. While I still take issues with this, I remember his goals return tally was awful (something like 1500mins between goals), if he can take his goal scoring and assist form in the first half of the season into a full PL season then he'll be a wonderful asset to compliment Hazard and Fabregas.

Whats weird is that people simply dont learn. Now I read that cesc can play the pirlo role, that Cesc is a must for next season, Hazard will be the PFA player of the year blah blah blah.
People must have really short memories because we just got raped at the bridge, in front of my own eyes. But since we won against Bournemouth, everything is hunky-dory.
Unbelievable.
 

Says it all

Yes.

No one without blue tinted glasses ever thought that Thibaut was only second to Neuer in the world. 
I don't understand, what exactly had he done at Atletico that was so incredible? He had solid performances along with the odd great save. The clean sheets stats are for the entire team, not just him. I remember watching entire Atleti matches with Thibaut not having to deal with more than one shot on target all game. 
Jose didn't let Lukaku go, Romelu asked to leave. Also striker is VERY different than GK. Incomparable. 
On any account, in what areas do you think Thibaut is better than Petr? For me, while both can be prone to the occosional mistake, Petr is quite clearly better at organizing his defense, decision making (especially in 1vs1s), kicking, and positioning (the most important aspect for the goal keeper) while Thibaut is only better in the air. 

17 years old. But we should definitely sell him or probably send him on a succession of loans. Look at the number of YOUTH players that has generated for us. Who cares about personal grooming. Lets the clubs who should not give a crap about players on loan take care of that aspect.
 

Well. Who knew Hummels didn't have a heart.

Now we have Cescy and because of that are reaping the benefits.
'A bitter jest when it comes too near the truth, leaves a sharp sting behind it.'
[emoji19]

Spot on with Fabregas, but i don't think it would be a good idea to throw the towel for about three years.
The more talented players would want to leave, their time is limited, they don't want to wait for years to come for silverware we can't even guarantee.
Didn't Fabregas say on monday night football that Conte wants to win something as soon as possible?
If we don't address the weaknesses properly, i'm having a hunch that it's all gonna end in tears and Guus will be back sooner or later, lol.

But i don't want to be negative, not now, i've read a lot of negative stuff.
 

I remember a former member on here stating Muller wouldn't get into most top XIs. An abomination of a statement, if there's any player in the world who could fit into any system its Muller. Versatile, adaptable and a threat from anywhere on the pitch, he's what Oxlade-Chamberlain should've been looking up to when developing as a all-round midfield player. 
Ancelotti will use him, should he say. It's been evident United were highly interested in Muller last year but Bayern weren't going to lose two club legends in one window like that, not with Kroos going the year before (or two). This summer's going to be one of the more interesting transfer windows, we're seeing clubs like Chelsea and Real Madrid planning to reinvent entirely while clubs like City, Bayern, United will be looking to add minimal players (perhaps United will spend more).
Again I go back to Bastian going to United. No CL football, no guarantees of it the following season, multiple CL/League/WC winner. 
As I always maintain on this forum, money talks. Regardless of who we're talking about, and yes there are exceptions and other factors, money will always be the most important commodity a player will look to have more of. Chelsea are arguably one of the highest paying employers in football right now, we're a mere £300,000 behind what United and Bayern paid out in 2015.
And it'll only get worse next year as the influx of money from the new TV deal for the 2016-19 PL will "confirm that England has the most powerful football league on the planet, with recent research suggesting all 20 Premier League clubs will immediately be in the world’s top 30 richest clubs."

Muller is going to stay, Pep's not, Ancelotti won't bench Mulller, not against these kind of opponents.
Sidelining Muller in such a game looks like a proper sabotage mission, Pep cares too much for getting his Spanish treble done;
lost all their first games against Spanish opposition in the semis. Very well done!

On the subject of Fabregas and Lampard (I know it is rudely off-topic and may offend Nemanja if he ever reads this thread), but I remember how Frank used to completely bully Cesc every time we played Arsenal or Barca. It was like they had something personal between them.
Btw, look at these  This is what I mean by us being a battering ram, and Franky was one of the softer guys.


 
 
 

True. Cant disagree with that even if i wanted to.

They didn't have to be, we weren't a creative team, we were a battering ram with incredibly all-round players with specific world class traits (no jacks of all trades but master of none bullshit). The partnership between Lampsy-Drogba and Lampard's consistent 20 goals per season meant we didn't need anymore goal providers in our midfield. Essien provided his fair share of goals as well. None of the three you mentioned will be able to reach such heights in terms of offensive contribution I'm afraid.

In all fairness, I never thought Lampard-makelele-essien was a very creative midfield 3. Infact bayern have lined up several times with vidal-alonso-lahm (mostly since thiago was injured for a spell). 
Regarding cesc, I seem to have a mental block now (and not without cause). some want him  to play the "pirlo role" with matic and radja acting as bodyguards. I think I had a converstation with you regarding my doubts about cesc's ability to play the role. Pjanic is not much different to cesc, i feel. Koke would be the absolute ultimate buy but the probablity of that happening is 0. While radja and Kante are not "creative', i think each of them have a very good passing range. radja has a mean shot with him and we have the likes of hazard, willian to do the creative work. One thing I would be worried about is the runs into the box from the midfield. I dont think any of these 3 is good at that. So maybe, yes, it is overkill. But I just dont want cesc here next season. 
PS - This just makes me appreciate exactly how great a player Lampard truly was. All round midfielder with 20 goals a season. What a player. No doubt we miss such a player. 

It was a clash of completely opposite philosophies. Possession attack vs. countering defense. Atletico are so good at what they do it's unbelievable. I agree with the guy who said that this is what we should have become. In this state we are closer to Aston Villa than any of the two.

That midfield you named lacks offensive power and is solely focused on destroying, not creating. Mourinho would love it of course. Throw Fabregas or Pjanic next to Kante and Radja and we're golden. Matic and RLC would still get good minutes as direct backups.
Regarding defence, it's clear that JT is not good enough anymore if we want to play a high(er) line, which we need to start doing eventually. Cahill and Ivanovic are not good enough full stop. One or two of them can stay as backups, but nothing more. Zouma needs a proper ball-playing partner, a Carvalho to his Terry if you will.  If we fix our midfield and central defence, then we could even go another season with Ivanovic and Azpi as full-backs, but eventually we'd need to move away from such archaic pairing as well.