Vesper

Chelsea: Sarrismo has no place for a fully defensive N’Golo Kante https://theprideoflondon.com/2018/09/24/chelsea-sarrismo-ngolo-kante-midfield/ N’Golo Kante has embraced his role as Chelsea’s box-to-box midfielder. Unless Maurizio Sarri ventures into new tactical realms, Kante is not going back to his previous station. Let’s start with what we know. First, Maurizio Sarri favours the 4-3-3 to the exclusion of almost any other formation. He used it for most of his time at Empoli and all of his time at Napoli. He introduced it on day one at Chelsea, and even as the Blues will occasionally strike a 4-1-4-1 or 4-2-3-1, those are fluid formations in and out of the 4-3-3. Second, without Jorginho as deep-lying playmaker, there is no Sarrismo at Chelsea. If Sarri had not been able to bring Jorginho with him, well, he may not have taken the job. But if he had come to Stamford Bridge alone, his estimate for Chelsea playing at Liverpool’s level would be more than the single year he quoted after the draw at West Ham. Jorginho’s passing provides the temporal and spatial framework for Sarrismo, accompanied by his explicit on-pitch instructions for his teammates to fill in that framework as best they can. Jorginho could not have this effect if he was in any other role, nor could any other player have his effect in the deep-lying playmaker role. Not now, not yet, not for a while. Against this backdrop, N’Golo Kante. Sarri’s system does not employ a traditional central defensive midfielder, and the deepest midfield spot is already taken. This leaves only option: repurpose Kante into another position. The club or coach who would dismiss N’Golo Kante – not sell him because of an incomparable offer, but dismiss him for squad-level tactical reasons – does not exist except in fiction. I’ve seen some stupid things in my day, both in football and out, and yet I cannot believe there is such a club or coach. Of the two remaining midfield roles in Sarri’s schema, the box-to-box midfielder suits Kante best. The name itself makes one reason obvious: the player has to cover a wide range of the pitch. Kante already does that. Now he needs to initiate and cover transitions, and be versatile on both sides of the play. Kante has the physical capabilities and the defensive skills, requiring development only in the offensive elements and the specifics of implementing the role. The third midfielder is too far forward and insufficiently defensive for Kante’s talents. N’Golo Kante is not yet, and may never be, the perfect box-to-box midfielder. But he is already stronger than any other option at Chelsea and most other options available in the transfer market. Similarly, although he is not dedicating himself to defensive midfield, he still has many responsibilities in that realm. Kante as a box-to-box midfielder only shaves about 10% off his contribution to defensive midfield. N’Golo Kante as a box-to-box midfielder – leaving him at 90% of his best – can do more for Chelsea’s midfield defence than all but a half-dozen central defensive midfielders in the world. Ninety-percent of N’Golo Kante would still be starting at a top four team in a big five league, and he still would have started for France all the way through their World Cup win. The same does not apply to Jorginho. Taking Jorginho out of the deep-lying playmaker role and assigning him elsewhere in the 4-3-3 or changing the formation would slash what he brings to the team. Such a move would take far more out of his game – and therefore out of Chelsea’s game – than Kante experiences as a box-to-box midfielder. Jorginho’s relative lack of versatility gives his role the job security that N’Golo Kante does not need. The closest option would be for him to play further forward in Cesc Fabregas territory. But there his passes would need to be select and incisive, rather than rhythmic and geared towards possession. He could almost certaintly learn to do it, but it would come at a much greater loss of his contribution to the team, and therefore of the team’s already-limited ability to execute Sarrismo. The move would reset the team’s learning curve until someone came up to Jorginho’s level as deep-lying playmaker and Jorginho came up to the necessary level in the forward creative role. If Maurizio Sarri is unsatisfied with N’Golo Kante as the box-to-box midfielder, he must overhaul one of the two tenets we opened this article with. The most likely option would be to veer away from the 4-3-3 into a system that allows N’Golo Kante and Jorginho each to play their archtypal position. SNIP (more at the link)

3rd times the charm for me posting this. Gaya is off the table. €100m release clause in new contract and Valencia will not budge. http://www.beinsports.com/au/laliga/news/gaya-pens-new-five-year-valencia-deal/881329 They told RM to sod off, and that is when RM switched to Alonso. Shame, as Gaya is a beast. He was insane v Croatia when Spain crushed them to dust 6 nil. Just ran riot all game. We are down to only 4 great options. 1. Ryan Sessegnon (IF we would use him as a left back, he is by far the best option, albeit will be crazy expensive) 2. Júnior Firpo - Real Betis (new addition, been watching him for 2 years, he is ready to play EPL ball, Shitty want him badly) If we won't spend Sessegnon money (Fulham will want £80m or more, not joking) Firpo is now my pick. 3. Alejandro Grimaldo - Benfica (so many big clubs want him, our odds are poor) 4. Wendell - Bayer Leverkusen (was a beast last night in the EL) BTW, it fucking sucks that Bayer has SO many players I drool over! Bailey, Havertz, Henrichs (gone now), Wendell, Tah, Retsos, 18yo Paulinho, (a probable superstar LW), Lucas Alario (striker option not discussed a lot), and Brandt. The drop-off after those 4 is pretty steep, in terms of who is actually available. Wendell presents problems as well, as he is on Bayer Leverkusen and there are others players from there we need more. Bailey being the big one. Ferland Mendy from Lyon might be a 5th option, need to watch him more. Let's hope Emerson can finally recover to Roma, pre injury, form. I am starting to have some doubts. Or we may have to go the full stop youth route: Theo Hernández 20yo (on loan at Real Sociedad from Real Madrid, good luck prying him away, and I think RM is insane loaning him out, as they have shit for LB backups, so if Marcelo goes down, they will have to scramble) Marcelo Saracchi 20yo RB Leipzig, they just bought him from River Plate for £11m Borna Sosa 20yo VfB Stuttgart just bought from Dinamo Zagreb for £6m tall (1.84m) pacey, huge upside Aarón Martín 21yo on loan to Mainz from RCD Espanyol Hamza Mendyl 20yo Schalke just bought from Lille for £7m Toni Lato 20yo Valencia CF Jorge 22yo on loan to Porto from Monaco

Oki I will bite, and post what i would like to see us work towards starting in January, in terms of the actual team (you know my 21 outs, and again, they do not all have to go at once). This all assumes Hazard does NOT renew and we sell or swap him next summer, if he stays just ignore the LW part 25 man roster GK Kepa GK b/u Angus Gunn GK 2nd b/u Marcin Bulka CB Rudiger CB ( TWO of these) Marquinhos (1st choice) or Matthijs de Ligt (2nd choice) or Benjamin Pavard (3rd choice) or Jonathan Tah (4th choice) CB (2nd of the four right above) CB AC CB Ampadu LB Ryan Sessegnon (1st choice) or Júnior Firpo - Real Betis (2nd choice and is my newest tracked player to be a WC fullback, he is big (1.84m), pacey as fuck, tenacious, great passer, I almost rate him as good as Sessegnon) or Alejandro Grimaldo - Benfica (3rd choice) or Wendell - Bayer Leverkusen (4th choice) LB b/u Emerson or (if he is indeed never going to recover to Roma pre-knee injury form) Ferland Mendy Lyon (1st choice) or Dalbert - Inter Milan (2nd choice) or Borna Sosa - Stuttgart (3rd choice) or Marcelo Saracchi - RB Leipzig (4th choice) RB Azpi RB b/u IF we bought Pavard, he would be the backup RB, if we do not, then stick with Zappacosta, but if he insists on a transfer, then Elseid Hysaj (1st choice and eventual Azpi replacement, IF he accepts waiting to start mostly) or (more likely) Davide Calabria AC Milan 21yo (2nd choice) or Adam Marusic - Lazio (3rd choice) or Melingo Kevin Mbabu - Young Boys (4th choice) DH DMF Jorginho Box to Box hybrid AMF Kante IF he cannot adapt to Sarriball by next summer, we may have to sell him (I can hear the screams now, but if he simply cannot adapt it makes zero sense to hold onto a £120m best in world DMF that sits due to system), in which case I would go for Pogba (1st choice and we would have the Kante money to flat out buy him, IF we did sell Kante) or Rúben Neves of Wolves who can play almost anywhere in MF (2nd choice) CMF Kovacic (IF we lose him back to RM, then Frenkie de Jong of Ajax (1st choice) or the others I list in next CMF spot CMF Bryan Cristante (on loan to Roma from Atalanta, 1st choice) or Amadou Haidara - RB Salzburg (2nd choice) or Roberto Gagliardini - Inter (3rd choice) or Nicolò Barella - Cagliari (4th choice) AMF Kai Havertz (1st choice) or Talisca (2nd choice) AMF Barkley LW Marco Asensio (only way he would ever come here is if RM tossed him into a Hazard deal, 1st choice) or Federico Chiesa (2nd choice and far more likely, and probably as good) or Vinícius Júnior (same as Asensio, buy maybe a WEE less unlikely, 3rd choice) or Mikel Oyarzabal (4th choice) LW b/u CHO RW Bailey (1st choice BY FAR) all the rest are b/u RW b/u David Neres (1st choice) or Suso (2nd choice) CF Icardi (1st choice) or Dybala (2nd choice) or Martial (3rd choice) or Krzysztof Piatek (4th choice) CF b/u Maximiliano Gómez - Celta Vigo or Giovanni Simeone - Fiorentina (flip a coin, lol) CF 2nd b/u Giroud Junior Firpo David Neres Bryan Cristante Frenkie de Jong Angus Gunn Giovanni Simeone finally, because MF is so damn complicated, here is a complete breakdown where I list all remotely available and also go into our targets

Lolol, hell no, I would never call Sarri average, even if he fails here, as he has a unique vision that can deffo work, IF Roman and the asshole board backs him with the right players and does things in a truly proper future-forward intelligent manner.

average PLAYERS, not average manager LOL I so so so so DO NOT WANT HIM OUT AT ALL, lol no clue where you get that takeaway I am patient with managers, more so than players I just think he did what he perceived to be the right thing with starters and bench decision in last 2 games and it failed we all make mistakes, so hopefully he just moves on and doesn't double down I am ENTIRELY bought into his system why else do you think i want those I listed out? they do not fit into IT or are simply not good enough, or are damaged goods

great post, and yes, I can maybe see getting £50,55m, the £40m number was my bare minimum (mainly due to his age, as there are only TWO WC LB'S over 28 in the world, Marcelo and Alba. Marcos turns 28 in December, so IF RM bought him next summer, they only get less than a year and half out of him until he turns 30. Then again, he was never a speedburner, so I could see him basically the same player for the next 3, 4 or maybe even 5 years with only a slight drop off. Emerson is now into the possible perma damage category. IF he recovers to Roma pre-injury form, he can be our starting LB. If he is a Zouma case, we gotta let him go. Fabregas is not one of the sell NOW NOW NOW ones, he could hang on for 2 years or so (remember I said those 21 could obviously not be sold all in one window or a window and half) I will only list (the sell prices) I disagree with Luiz: £25B £30m (its what PSG offered and we turned it down) Tiémoué Bakayoko £30B £35m and done Gary Cahill £10B I would go for £15m, he is English so a 50% premium in EPL Davide Zappacosta £15B £20-25m, to a Serie A club, they are desperate for Italian players Danny Drinkwater £15B £30m, he is only 28 and English, and a great player for a West Ham type club Victor Moses £20B £25m Baba Rahman £10B I want to give him a shot at finally playing LB (probably as a backup) for us, if he has to be sold, then £15m Kenedy £10B £15-20m Kurt Zouma £15B £25m at least, he is young and still pretty decent and counts as HG Charly Musonda £5B £10m or so, young and could help some teams Michy Batshuayi £40B same as Baba, I really want to see if he could be our striker, if not, you are close, I say £40-45m I won't list my wanted team here the board is full of my desired teams again, good post

yes you did, and I am NOT spoilt I want a good team and to win trophies Are you going to call Barca, RM, Bayern, Juve, Manure punters spoilt? Why should the biggest team in the arguably most important city in the world for the last 150 to 200 years settle for average?

As i repeatedly post, there is a grand total of TWO world class LB's over 28yo, just 2 Marcelo 31 in May 2019 Jordi Alba 30 in March 2019 thats it, not joking at DMF, there is ONE WC player over 30 Fernandinho, and soon (2 years more MAX) we will not be WC, as he turns 34 in May and is already showing signs of slowing done compared to last year even

I never ONCE said Sarri out! FFS! Thats a complete bullshit takeaway. I am reality based, you apparently are not and/or just a hit 'n run cheapshot artist

Give Manure Willian, Luiz, Morata, Moses or some other combo, there are 21 players I want gone so a shit tonne of options), we get Pogba and Martial then we ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK Pogba has taken it up a level, I think he would be a BEAST in Sarriball and Martial would become our instant number one striker I await your hate......

The board loves average, otherwise the numpty cunts would not be talking about EXTENSIONS for shit Willian and Luiz and Sarri as well, as he keep playing the rotters. I don't want Willian or Luiz on the team, I want them sold, which should have been done 2 or 3 bloody months ago along with (not say all these should have been sold at once, obviously, but they ALL (or almost all) need to go go go and the sooner the better, as we lose value each passing month) Willian (listed again just to make sure all know) Luiz (listed again just to make sure all know) Álvaro Morata GONE, DONE, ffs, what a blunder, bitter I am over all of it, including Conte/Costa Tiémoué Bakayoko just sell him, as long as it is 35m or so, good riddance, complete bust, foolish shit board buy (he is a really nice guy though, true shame he is shit, I Thought he might have been a beast,he SHOULD have been a beast, oh well) Willy Caballero (surely we can find a better backup keeper,and in this case a homegrown one) Gary Cahill should have been sold last January, surely this summer past Marcos Alonso (sorry bruv, you going to RM for £40m or so, ciaooooooo) Emerson (sell him IF he is permanently fucked up from his knee and cannot ever again reach Roma form) << this is a fucking shame, as he was a badass LB at Roma, pre injury, Alonso's ass would be gone or backup if he had not been hurt so badly Davide Zappacosta (he has been a bust overall, again very disappointing, but we need to find Azpi eventual replacement, and Zappa aint it) Cesc Fàbregas bye bye, too old Danny Drinkwater nothing more needs to be said, a true WTF! Ruben Loftus-Cheek (with a buyback clause) or loan him out please, flip a coin, after baka and Morata, the most disappointing player on her, and most frustrating as she should be a MONSTER Marco van Ginkel , sell him to PSV as soon as he recovers, he actually, if not hurt is better than Drinkwater, I fully believe that Lucas Piazón sell him, bye bye, not upto snuff, not even close, sorry Victor Moses Sarri obviously doesnt want him, that said, i would have done a backflip if he had started today over Willian at RW, hell he might have scored against his old team Baba Rahman I want to give him a shot to see if he can play Sarriball, if he cannot, GONE, sell the lad, he is my wildcard longshot in that I think he might actually be good, another injury nightmare has fucked him Kenedy sell sell sell, shame that cunt Ashley is fucking criminally cheap twat (I think the FA needs to stepp in and make him sell the club, he is raping it for his own fat ass) or we he would have been sold to the Geordie twats last summer Kurt Zouma, the WORST injury victim, a fucking shame, he would have been a top 10 CB in world, a monster, but he isperma fucked, sell him, he will never be as good as before, Charly Musonda he isn't good enough,and has a shit attitude, bye bye Tammy Abraham sell him, maybe put a buyback clause in, I don't rate him at all atm, huge bust so far Michy Batshuayi , I have no clue why we loaned him out, he could be either (1) our starting striker and finally the answer or (2) we would know for sure he isn't good enough and then WE SELL him, loaning him out was fucking stupid move 21 deadwoods or non fits for Sarriball (or players we need to finally found are or are not deadwood or non'fits) lots of chopping needs to be done in an ideal world, Bats, Baba, Emerson (injury lingering is his issue) and RLC finally come good, but I doubt it we also will have to sell like 30 other loanees too, IF FIFA new 8 man limit is put into effect

Frosinone v Juventus HD stream http://neosportek7.blogspot.com/p/premier-league-3.html

Chiesa Celebrates with Little Brother after Scoring from Great Move! | Top Moment | Serie A

Piatek scored again today, but Genoa got hammered 4 1 by Lazio.

Of the top ten keepers in the world, only Courtois and Ederson are left footed, and Ederson is actually ambipedal. Pickford is so nowhere near top ten. There are at least 25 I would take over him in a flash. He is so overrated because he is English.

I have no idea why this shit cup has two top 15 clubs in world with a rammed in game in the bloody 3rd round. Makes zero sense.

Not true howlers, but multiple soft ones were mixed in

Kai Havertz saves Bayer again (video) Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs Mainz 05 Highlights Watch Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs Mainz 05 Highlights Start date: Sep 23, 2018 2:30 PM Location: Leverkusen Venue:BayArena Referee: Marco Fritz, Germany https://highlightsfootball.com/video/bayer-04-leverkusen-vs-mainz-05-highlights-3/ Bayer has so many players I would love to get. BTW, Mainz has one player, Jean-Philippe Gbamin, a 22yo super young DMF who all the big clubs are after, a real beast RW Leon Bailey (of course) AMF Kai Havertz, and remember he is only 19! CB Jonathan Tah (1.94m beast, the more I see of him, the more I think he might become my number target as Pavard is looking very unlikely, and Marquinhos is a pipe dream) had a superb pass in the game highlights also CB Panagiotis Retsos superb young Greek potential buyperhaps, he is great at didtribution and ball play) LB Wendell super solid young player LW Julian Brandt (not in my top of list, but still is a really good player) LW Paulinho (18yo new Brasilian signing, HUGE HUGE potential, could be a £60-70m plus player in a few years) CF Lucas Alario (would be a great backup striker option) Jean-Philippe Gbamin

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/7327643/antonio-rudiger-injury-latest-update-chelsea-liverpool-return/ Maybe 3 or 4 days out, hopefully. Not sure if he can play v the Scousers.

Good call on Azpi, Zappacosta probably would have been bombing crosses in. Fabregas too.

I had zero issues with 2 of my 3 favourite players to bash. Morata and Luiz. Wilian now, well........ ysbddnjdjsjsj£×*#&$*$*$

For all those who wanted Pickford (hopefully not a lot) one stat for you last 6 games v Goonas, he has let in 21 goals, (and counting)

here is a MONSTER post of mine, explains me and my passion Italian football, Serie A players, its super detailed and fully explains my philosophy in depth

This game cried out for Barkley starting,and CHO and Fabregas coming in. Pedro was out, I think, but hell yes,him too OR even Moses (would have like to see what he could do at RW), plus Ampadu or AC in for Luiz (both would have ended up playing as Rudi got hurt) Emerson too, in for an obviously tired Alonso. Shameful player management in last 2 games. I call it how I see it, not afraid to sound like a bitch, lol.

None of those have happened yet, thank dog. No issue with Giroud signing a one year deal, BUT Luiz and Willian need to be fucking SOLD ASAP. Worthless and will fuck us up, to be absolutely blunt (and correct)