Dazzy_Vance

What does Sarri see in Alonso?

I wish Alonso would cop some yellows

Time to play Loftus-Cheek over Kovacic. Don’t get me started on Willian and Alonso. Hazard is a level above everyone on the pitch. Fantastic half. We would be so lacklustre without him.

I don’t think Hazard is prolific enough in Real Madrid’s eyes to warrant the price tag that we’ll slap on him, but he’s desperate for a move so it gets awkward for both parties. Is there middle ground? I would be disappointed if we didn’t get around £100m plus for him, especially when you consider he’s running down his contract, but would Real Madrid cough up that much? In my opinion, there are better options out there for them than spending that type of money on Hazard. Hazard talking about Real Madrid at every opportunity is a funny one as well. It seems like he’s doing it to invite offers, but I get the feeling none are coming through, which is why he’s doing it repeatedly. It’s coming across as a desperate “come get me” plea, but Real are sitting on their hands. I could be wrong though. Maybe Real Madrid have told him to do it to lessen his value and condition Chelsea to the fact he wants out. Either way, it’s an ugly tactic and you just get the feeling that Chelsea and Hazard are not going to end on good terms if he leaves.

Seriously getting over him and not too bothered if he leaves now. He’s forcing the move. Hopefully it doesn’t get ugly or he’ll be remembered how Torres is at Liverpool. Great player but not a club legend. I couldn’t put him in the same category as Drogs, Lamps, JT, Cech, etc.

@chef bump the Gabby Jesus thread for me. Another woeful performance from the most overhyped player of all time.

Does anyone take them seriously considering they’ve done f*** all in Europe? I find it hard comparing them to the greatest PL sides, don’t think they’re in the conversation to be honest.

Does David Silva get on anyone else’s nerves? He has a nice guy reputation but I reckon he’s a smug little pr*ck. Won’t forget the day he smirked hard after Frank scored against us. You just know that him and Aguero have it in for us. C***s. Anyway, f*** em. How good were the chants at the end: “...Champions of Europe, you’ll never sing that!”

I bag the shit out of the guy but holy f*** Luiz was a warrior tonight. KTBFFH! So glad we beat those f***ing c***s! Eat your invincibles up your arse! Blues baby!

I get dizzy watching City pass the ball around

Conte’s fault.

He’s better than Willian already. Just give him a shot.

So over this guy openly discussing his future with the media. Won’t be bothered if he pisses off. Would rather players that actually want to be here.

We must retain him. Absolute quality.

I think there are different interpretations of “striker” but not “pure striker”. Pure by definition means “not mixed with anything else”. Strikers that are pure include Zlatan, Lewandowski, Kane, Morata, etc. They’re poachers. Their role is to get into the box and score and not do much else. Firmino does not fall under this category as I consider him a false 9, which makes him more of a decoy/advanced attacking midfielder. Salah, like Ronaldo at Madrid, drifts into the centre at will. Therefore, his role is a lot more similar to a pure striker’s largely due to the fact he’s a finisher and plays more advanced. Also disagree that modern day wingers score more goals than strikers. Generally speaking, strikers always have and always will score more than wingers.

I never said Salah was a striker. I said he’s more of a pure striker than Firmino. If you’re playing more advanced and are the predominant finisher, you’re more of a striker than a player shifting deeper acting as a playmaker. I don’t care where your name sits on a team sheet. It’s your role that counts. I wouldn’t compare Salah with Morata, Morata with Firmino or Firmino with Salah as their roles vary too much and they’re incomparable.

This. Salah plays more advanced than Firmino despite Firmino being played centrally. Salah is more of a traditional striker in Liverpool’s system than Firmino is. Same goes with Benz and Ronaldo.

Any reports on his progress?

Happy for him. In hindsight it’s easy to criticise buying him but he was good at Monaco and even showed the occasional glimpse with us. Hopefully he can turn it around permanently and forge a successful career somewhere far away from Chelsea.

The elephant in the room.

Disaster IMO.

Killing it in the Bundesliga. It would make perfect sense to bring him back.

It’s good in that he backed himself in to finish it, but I reckon he lacked composure by attempting the lob. A cool head would’ve gone round the keeper and slotted it. I also don’t think he’s in any position to start getting cute considering he often fails with basic finishing. Agree in that he needs to aim for 20+ goals. Still don’t think 20 is out of the question this season. If he can get another three or four (approximately one every two games) before the year finishes then he’s set himself up nicely for it.

I don’t think he should be playing so advanced but I get what you’re saying.

Barkley and Kovacic should both be in the side. Kante should lose out as he has been shoe-horned out of his natural position. Sarri is trying to turn him into Allan, which he’s not. IMO our best midfield going forward in terms of balance and fluidity would be: Kovacic-Jorginho-Barkley