DYC.

Failing to purchase Nainggolan was a blessing in disguise. Radja is a good player but Golo possesses serious potential.

Always said he was capable of playing CB. He's been Chelsea's best defender for years. He doesn't just react, like the great majority of fullbacks, but he truly anticipates, reading plays and predicting the moves of his opponents. And with his level of (positive) aggression and commitment, he's an absolute pain to deal with for any player. His pace is a great asset as well. He's the only player in that back three who fills me with confidence. Don't understand why doesn't have the band but maybe one day. Hopefully soon.

Fantastic footballer.

Personally, I'm so bored by the whole subject of Mourinho and it's been that way for a long time. But this is hilarious. Conte asking/demanding the crowd to make noise has absolutely nothing to do with Mourinho. Chelsea produced something special and it deserved great praise so Conte was right. Typical of Mourinho to make it about him. One of the reasons I never warmed to Mourinho. Him winning titles with Chelsea doesn't change that. Maybe those who loved and worshipped him so much can now understand how a Chelsea fan couldn't love Mourinho.

Team is turning into unit. Not once did I think about the greatness of an individual today. Desperately hoping he'll be succesful in doing so.

He's completely transformed. The wingback role seems to suit him to a tee. The quality of his physicality was obvious but he's displaying great discipline and impressive tactical awareness as well. He's really shocked me with his performances. Great stuff from Vic. I'm still not convinced 3-4-3 is to stay but if it is, and if he manages to keep this up, he'll have a spot in Chelsea's starting XI.

Good day to be a Chelsea fan. Don't you just wanna adopt Kanté?

It was a good win in the end. Expectations need to be altered. This is not a 'great 90 min performance' team. There will be lesser and poor periods and frustrating moments (poor finishing for example) mixed with the good and positive. We'll witness games varying from very poor to very good. I liked the transitions in the second half. Chelsea attacked in numbers when they won the ball. Hull was surprisingly open and the players did well to take advantage of that. Both goals were sweet and technically excellent executed. Credit to Conte for switching things up. I've wanted a manager in charge who would change things and isn't afraid to experiment and Conte gave me a bit of that today. If the team can keep winning these games against the lesser gods top four should be possible.

Brilliant finish that was. When he's on, he makes it look so easy.

Moses will be crap. You just know it. That would fit into the Chelsea storyline. Alonso... please, please be good. Cahill, Chelsea captain. Oi. Give the band to Azpilicueta, man. Hazard and Costa, please save us today. It will all depend on you.

Willian needs De Bruyne and Hazard. Fabregas needs Atletico's defence and Vidal and Modric. Oscar and Matic need Jesus, Mohammed and Moses. And Buddha. Kind of amazing how Mourinho and the TD managed to find these players.

The creativity, speed and firepower in that team...

Is Traore HG?

3-5-2 is the only system that can afford both Fabregas and Hazard starting. Since defensive stability can't be found in the current set-up switching to a more cautious system might be the way to go for now. But with Fabregas in the middle, I'd always go for Oscar at CM instead of Willian because of his superior tactical sense and him being the better defender. Zouma Luiz Azpilicueta (Azpilicueta Terry Luiz until Zouma returns) Fabregas Aina/Willian Kante Oscar Alonso Costa Hazard

I just knew Sanchez had the makings of a #9. I remember writing about in a post in this thread a while back. Now he's starting to make the position his own. Always rated him higher playing in the centre than out wide. And Mustafi is impressing for Arsenal. Oh, how I remember the Mustafi is overrated posts. Chelsea could've had him but were sleeping once again. Probably end up buying some decent Serie A CB like Astori.

Cech/Begovic Azpilicueta/Aina - Christensen/Zouma - Luiz/Cahill - Luis/Bertrand Fabregas/Oscar - Kante/Matic Salah/Willian - De Bruyne/Mata - Hazard/Schurrle Costa/Batshuayi Who's got the cheat code to make this happen?

He used to be a Chelsea player... All I can do is shake my head.

It is though I'm not a fan of the idea of handing Costa more responsibility with the ball at his feet. Don't think we'll ever see it happening either. I'm convinced Guardiola would drop Yaya for Milner. Without a doubt. Not too familiar with Delph. And it's not just Yaya. Kolarov played CB ahead of Mangala because he simply wasn't up to standards. Ivanovic would never have survived.

I still disagree. If things aint working, get creative and/or do what you have to do. Guardiola dropped Hart for the inferior Caballero, he played Kolarov at CB, Silva and De Bruyne as genuine midfielders, didn't keep Bony around and instead put faith in the raw Iheanacho as a deputy for an injury prone Aguero. Yaya Toure would still be playing here just because he's Yaya Toure and what he's capable of on a good day.

Agree with you on assessment on Moses but he deserves a shot. Willian is doing far too little (Pedro doesn't do anything at all) and you can't just keep rewarding Willian for predictable and uneffective play. Even average players can perform well for a while and he's shown a willingness and drive to make an impact. No one is saying Moses should play for the rest of the season, not me anyway, but play him once or twice and see what he can do. It's ******* Hull. Light a fire under Willian's arse at the same time by benching him. Or better yet, play him in midfield instead. Can't stand how comfortable these first XI players are. Hardly any of them deserves it. 'Ivanovic will keep playing because the alternative can't do better'. Oh really, so you've allowed Chelsea to go into the new season with an alternative that's worse than a catastrophic Ivanovic. Good stuff, I hope you all received a big bonus for that. Chelsea... how the mighty have fallen.

His mom dying is horrible (didn't know that) but that doesn't change the fact that he hasn't performed in years. My point is these young players get praised into the heavens by (most) fans because they lack that ability to be critical of 'their own' or fail to see the advantages of the physical qualities at youth level.

Michael Keane, Ben Davies. Yup. That midtable life.

Yeah but how good is he really? As fans, we like to overrate young players, especially if they came through the academy. He did produce some decent stuff, I agree, and because of that I think he deserves a few chances, but he didn't ride that Napoli bench all of last season for nothing. Did not impress for years before that as well. Him coming in and somehow performing against all odds would be great but you have to be realistic.

Base of the pitch isn't his home. The subtleness, tactical discipline and the responsibility in the build-up play of the role doesn't suit him. He's much better with the tactical freedom to search and destroy. But he's the best option atm because the next best option in that role is Obi, but he's just too immobile (and too limited overall). But it wouldn't surprise me if Conte would turn to Obi at some point and move Kante to CM (not necessarily on permanent basis but for a while).

Chelsea offered €50 mil for Koulibaly, offered €70 mil for Morata. There were reports about Chelsea offering over €40 mil for Nainggolan. Last year there were talks about major money offers for Pogba and there was of course the Stones saga (£40 mil offer). The money is and has been there but Chelsea have problems closing deals. Either the clubs turn it down or the players don't want to join. One thing I'd love the club to learn is to stop buying average and decent players. Only buy players who will improve the first XI and players who will improve the squad. Chelsea had Salah for example and ended up with Cuadrado in the end. Salah is a better player than Cuadrado. That's embarrassing. And he's definitely not the only example.