King Kante

West Ham have a +1 year option that essentially makes the contract he signed a six year one. No way do they not activate it.

Be interesting to see what happens with him exactly in the Summer. Personally, I cannot see us going near him as he is going to be super expensive if he keeps this up (probably approaching Grealish money) as he still has three years on his contract. This doubles with the fact we do not need a CM as with Jorgi, Kova, Kante, RLC and Gallagher we are pretty well stocked and will probably prioritise elsewhere in the squad. Utd on the other hand are desperate for a CM and I could see them wanting him and going in with insane money to get it done. However, if West Ham get CL via the Ropey League or 4th and Utd don't get it, I could see him staying at West Ham for another season.

This game was one of those that happen in football were you should win 3 to 6 nil, then somehow draw/lose. For me, credit needs to be given to Burnley/Pope for hanging in there and for us to not lose prospective. I mean AC and Silva both only just missed mistimed their headers, Pope made two good saves against CHO (although CHO should've done better with the rebound on the first), Harvetz then makes a great run across the six yard box and the defender gets a slight nick to send it over (I didn't see a reply, so if that was him putting it over then that was a bad miss.) On their goal, Rudi slightly falls asleep to play them onside and they take their chance. Stuff like this happens all the time, it is frustrating but we shouldn't lose perspective.

Unfortunately Lukaku is a known quantity. This isn't like a Harvetz/Salah/KdB etc situation where they were young boys and needed time to acclimatise. Furthermore, this isn't even a Werner sort of situation where you should allow someone time to adapt as they've no experience of the league. Lukaku is 28 and has plenty of experience of the PL. He is as close of a plug and play type of signing as you can get. What people such as myself and @OhForAGreavsie are saying is that the level that we're getting out of Lukaku is what we said his level would be due to his technical limitations. The kind of performances you're seeing is what his level is and he hasn't ever shown anything else apart from a rare performance/moment here or there. What happened this Summer however was a lot of people drunk the Koolaid and thought that Conte had performed some sort of voodoo magic spell and transformed his technique. As @OhForAGreavsie says, it didn't take a stroke of genius to know this was nonsense. I mean even his stats weren't that great as in Serie A even 39/40 year old Zlatan, who only has one knee now, was posting similar stats to him (and he was in a worse team) whilst this season Giroud on a minute to minute basis is also outperforming him and Giroud doesn't even take penos.

In my opinion, he is much better getting a full game once or twice a week like Gallagher. He isn't going to get that here in the foreseeable. In my opinion he should be loaned to Spain or Italy where his size won't matter so much. I mean how many minutes does Saul have? 120? That really isn't enough for him.

I thought the same but have watched him a bit more recently and have been impressed with him as his close control is good, he has a good shot on him, presses well and he always will to take someone on. Will he be a world class player? Probably not, but I can see him being productive. Only issue I see is how he would handle low block defences as he won't get the space he gets at Leeds at a top 4/6 side. One thing that really stands out for him about him however is how determined he is. He gets some rough treatment at times but still picks himself up and gets on with his game. This I feel is a bit of an underappriciated quality and something that non-PL players can take a while to deal with. For instance, Werner is a prime example of someone who seems pretty overawed/scared by the intensity of the league. As for Lukaku, 100% agree, he shouldn't be in the starting XI against the good teams as his limitations and lack of pressing make him a passenger. I was telling everyone he was still a the same player as he was at Utd when we were linked but they obviously got carried away by some Youtube videos or simply don't understand football. Insane transfer with the money he cost, his age and wage.

Sorry, physically Hazard is done. No way should he be coming back. Only AM's we should be looking at are Chiesa and Raphina.

Problem is, he'll go off on international duty and get injured again.

Be interesting to see how CM plays itself out as it is actually quite complex when you take contracts into consideration. I would break the players down into five categories. Cat 1 - 100% safe/certain to be here next season Kovacic - Peak age and playing well. No chance he leaves. Kante - only way he doesn't stay is if Newcastle or PSG (possible if they fail in the CL as their CM is their weakest position) go mental and offer £70m+ or something (this however I do not see due to age and injury record over the past 18 months.) However, even if one of them do, I cannot see him being keen as by all reports he is super settled. Maybe 99% certain rather than 100%. Cat 2 - Contract situation Jorginho - Only has one year after this season. 30 in Dec and reportedly was in contact negotiations that have gone very quite. Agent has made some comments about him going back to Italy. I think he'll see out his contact but wouldn't rule out a Summer move 100% as club will probably want to avoid another Rudiger. Cat 3 - Not good enough/not needed/difficult to move Saul - goes back after loan. Still think he is a decent player but looks lost at sea in the PL. Barkley - Ok, he is getting a few minutes here and there but he is clearly just making up numbers. Issue however is contract as I reckon the only reason he isn't sold/loaned again is due to his wages. Could end up just being loaned until contract expires. Outside chance of a sale. Cat 4 - Sold to raise some cash, possibly one more year. RLC - This one may be controversial. In midfield we have a lot of players and he is now at an age where you cannot class him as consistent enough to depend on (injured again and not enough of a track record.) For me, I reckon a bid of over £20m (his wages caps his fee) gets him. May get another year depending on what happens with Jorgi/Gallagher. Cat 5 - Loan players Gilmour - Don't see him back next season. Should really have been loaned last season and is now not playing again. Still only 19. In my opinion, loan him out to Spain or Italy (why didn't he go there instead of Norwich this season as he is a prefect fit there?) Personally, I think it is in everyone's interests for him to get 80+ games before he returns as his type of position/play style requires experience/maturity. Only way he comes back is if the Jorgi situation doesn't resolve itself. However, even then he'll need a full half season operating at a very good level. Gallagher - Looks ready to come back. Situation is complicated however due to the above players. Personally, I don't see the point of him coming back to initially play the CM4 role. With Kova and Kante here for certain at best he starts at CM3 (if Jorgi leaves.) If Jorgi stays then it will be a toss up between him and RLC. If RLC is able to keep himself fit this season, I can see a situation where it is decided that he is best off at Palace being a top dog, playing week in, week out for another season for the experience.

Honestly buddy, I wouldn't hold your breath. This is how he played at Utd and Inter. Only reason people got excited about him at Inter was due to him playing against weaker teams and only looking at stats/highlights.

That won't be in the next two games.

James is quite a complete player, two good feet and reads the game very well for his age. I still not sure he will spend his entire career at RB/RWB however as he isn't that quick compared to some others' and I think his crossing is much better when he gets to set himself (which is hard at RWB as a lot of the time you have to play the ball first time.) Personally, I could certainly see him moving to RCB or DM/CM (think Essien) in the next couple of years. That goes double if Livra keeps on improving at his current rate and we activate the buy back. Either way, he'll be a Chelsea player for a long time.

Could see Utd paying £100m for him (or close to that.)

I'll admit that I thought Chilwell was overpriced (still do tbf) however, credit where credit was due, he has improved this season and if he continues to do so then yes, he'll be a great player. That said, I still have issues with how one footed he is as when ever he receives on his right, 95% of the time he has to play it straight back as he doesn't trust it enough to turn with it. For me, he'll need to work on that if he wants to become world class.

Of course, however that is the one objective of the three that is least likely to be met. They're playing very poorly at the moment and Napoli and Milan are both very consistent whilst Inter really should have more points than they do with how they have played. From where I am sitting they'll be in a bun fight with Atalanta, Lazio and Roma for that last position unless one of the other three really drop off.

That could make things interesting.

I think it will be a strong side due to the fact that we lost to Juve and can't take any risks. Mendy Dave AC Rudi James Jorgi Kante Chilwell Mount/Ziyech Havertz CHO

He is progressing very nicely. CM however is a bit of a funny one at the moment in its make up. I see him back, just not sure whether he may get two years at Palace or not as it may be better to allow him the game time.

I think Kante rides out most of the rest of his career with us now. There was an argument that he should've been sold in Summer 2020 as we would've still got very good money for him however now I see a situation where he is happy to stay in London and the club won't push someone out that is so loved. In future seasons, it may be we just manage his time rather that run him into the ground.

I think this is a case of how you watch the game. I don't really disagree with your analysis however I calculated that we were in control and were wearing them down. As for James, he is one of the few players we have that are capable of such shots. For sure, cannot expect quite the level of that one week in week out, however from my perspective the Chilwell, Alonso and James are all capable of taking chances that present themselves if given time, which they should get if they overload properly. Chilwell in particular has impressed me with his finishing recently as it seems to have improved.

Reading the pages of the first half wasn't what I saw personally. For me it looked like we were in control and running them ragged which was going to pay off in the second half as teams cannot defend like that for 90 mins. Additionally, we had a marginal offside goal plus Ziyech missing a very decent chance. Could the forward line have been more fluid? For sure, but it also needs to be remembered Mount was a last minute drop out, St James' is one of our bogey grounds and Ziyech/Harvetz/CHO as a trio haven't had that many games together. All in all, I actually thought the game as a whole was incredibly professional and well executed. As for the rest of the results, we couldn't have asked for more really unless Brighton really should've scored another of something (not seen highlights yet.) Additionally, I am surprised (ok, not really) that people are still struggling to comprehend that in a 3atb system the WB's are only defenders in the defensive phase of play and attackers in the offensive phase. For me, I have no concerns about having goals come from them as they're the ones meant to be causing overloads. Of course, teams will adjust to this a little if they keep going at this pace, but if they do that it should create more space for the AM's and CF (hopefully not Lukaku who I want starting from the bench when he returns as I prefer him pointing for there.) All in all great day, onwards and upwards and let's ensure we get a similar type of performance against Burnley next week.

I hate this fixture with a passion as we always seem to have a nightmare up there. For me, it has to be full strength. Mendy AC/Dave Silva Rudi James Jorgi Kante Chilwell Mount Harvetz CHO

What did he do?

Yeah, I had to take a break from the nonsense I was reading about how Lukaku had turned into a top CF by beating up on Serie A sides.

I cannot believe the kid signed a five year contract + 1 year option. He is going to have to roll with West Ham for another two years now. I do still have some reservations about his passing ability if dropped into the Chelsea midfield. That said, he does look like he is continuing to steadily improve.