calculatingInfinity

I really do disagree with Kovacic. Mount had some good stuff going for him at times though, and I like him and hope to see more of him. But I don't understand taking Barkley out before him. At all.

Oof that result really stings.But I don't think it's all doom and gloom. Some obvious changes needs to be made. Abraham is just not premier league quality, sadly. He seems like a nice guy, so sad to see him not quite being there. Giroud and Michy would both be big improvements up front. Mount seemed nervous, but showed some potential. Could be very good in the long run I think, but maybe not ready for this kind of matches yet. Kante was obviously also missed. Jorginho I thought was surprisingly good today though, as a big contrast to last season. Kovacic looked much the same however, which is not a positive. Barkley was also good, and the sub of him truly puzzled me. Was he injured? I dont think he was, but in that case, fair enough. Otherwise a terrible decision. Hopefully Rudiger can return and stabilize the defense a little. Luiz would have helped today, but that's easy to sit here and say now. Without that penalty, Chelsea would never have opened up to Uniteds constant counters. But Zouma was poor, and so was Azpilicueta in truth. They are very one dimensional, and will have trouble against teams defending well this season. In the end, not too worried. But obviously not great to see the team can fall apart like that. But it's the price the club has to pay because of the transfer ban, and maybe it can end up being a positive in the seasons to come, with players like Mount and hopefully Reece James getting the chance.

Christ. He has played +150 matches for Chelsea, of course he will have looked bad in some instances during a match. Cherry picking highlights through years of matches, can make Messi look like Marko Marin, or John Terry look like Sol Bamba.

Sad to see Luiz go. Will miss his distribution that is absolutely unmatched, and his imo, underrated defensive abilities. That said, I also kind of understand him wanting to move on, being probably a backup player now. The choice of Arsenal is a bit upsetting for sure, but I fully understand him wanting to stay in London and the choice in the end makes sense. But it's not just his footballing abilities I will miss, his personality was amazing. How often would we not see him being the one, to spread good vibes and energy around the team? On top of that, he is one of the few top players, that seems like a genuinely nice person. He always seemed to love interacting with fans and kids, or doing whatever he might have been doing. So in the end, a sad conclusion that he goes to Arsenal. But I wish him all the best, well, kind of. Personal success for him, but a terrible Arsenal season of course. Some of the reactions are embarrassing in here and elsewhere, true scouse mentality to losing a player. Save that for actual cunts like Courtois imo.

Alrigh good,

If Liverpool wins CL, and Arsenal win EL, that means fourth spot in the league wont get into CL, right?

Giroud is just sadly a much better fit for the team, and it is extremely frustrating to watch Morata. His attitude doesn't do him any good either, when he looks like he is giving up and looking into the ground at every chance he gets. Mind you, replacing Costa was never going to be easy for anyone. But the contrast to seeing Costa against Real the other day, and then Morata sulk around on the pitch is just sad.

lmao yeah luiz heuheuheueheu Oh wait, this is a thread about Kepa. And I wanted to talk about Kepa's performances in the first matches of the season not Luiz. Kepa has potential to be very good. But why should we avoid talking about his weak points until that potential might be fulfilled? I like him and hope he ends up as a big success. But he has not impressed me so far. My post was not just about today, but also the previous matches where he has looked shaky and let a few goals in I think quite a few keepers in the league would have had.

Another not so great goal conceded by him today. Had his hands on it again, but somehow his wrists just seems too weak again to keep it out half the time.

While I am sure that is what he is told, there is very little reason for Chelsea insiders not to lie about this and deny everything, if it was true. There is huge implications on a potential sale, that they need to shut down rumors of it until it's official. Business editors at The Sunday Times and Jonathan Norcroft are pretty good sources, and to be honest it would make sense, even if Roman loves the club, that he wouldn't want to own such a huge English football club if the country is going to keep treating him like it is.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/e0657784-a89e-11e8-8688-ded03633f041 well...

I would probably say this as well, if it wasn't for last season, where he also looked useless for most of it.

Was always going to be close to impossible to fill the gap Courtois left, who I think really think cemented his rank as one of the best keepers in the world the last few years. So far I am far from impressed with Kepa, but I hope the scouting network, Sarri and everyone else who rated him highly, has seen the potential, and maybe that he just has to settle into the league a bit. I do remember De Gea looking like a bit of a liability at first as well, so here's me hoping Kepa can develop similarly. But it has not been two good performances so far, and the defense does not seem to trust him either.

Barkley is a trash dog. Please take off. Alonso... Well... No real alternatives on the bench. But do something.

Dear me, Kepa is looking well below the standard Chelsea is used to. The defense isn't helping.

What a snake cunt. Not the least surprised though, always been his personality to be a bit ratty hasnt it? Amazing goalkeeper as well sadly.

One completely unqualified guy for the job, to a even less qualified player for the job. Nah.

Marina!

I agree with your overall point. But just think not giving Arnesen credit for bringing such a talent as Ronaldo to PSV, is a bit silly. That was an incredible signing for PSV and although he was well known and not discovered by Arsensen, he was the one who thought highly enough of him to sign him at that young age. On Lukaku obviously every scout and their mother knew about him, by the time he played for Anderlects youth team and many probably before that as well. But it was Ariel Jacobs who gave him the chance and believed in him even at a very young age. Still think Emenalo should get credit for signing so many of these huge talents, it's not just about being the first to know about them, but also thinking they could be worth the money. Hazard however it's hard to give much credit for, lots of clubs were more than willing to pay the money. We can thank Drogba, RDM and some heroic defending in Munich for that more than Emenalo.

Yet Arsensen got Ronaldo to fucking PSV. That was a huge scoop, even if he was well known by the point, clearly no big clubs thought he was quite as good as it turned out, and he sold him for a world breaking amount at the time. That is good scouting, even if he didn't come from out of nowhere.

Well it's a mix of being extremely rich allowing them to buy the best players in the world, but certainly also having a fantastic coaching staff there. Ramos is another who both with his jumping ability and no fear, gets on incredibly many headers. But Ronaldo is just another level with the way he jumps, it looks inhuman at times.

His vision was a 3 man defense of Hector, Matt Miazga and Papy. It would be bad, but quite possibly the most entertaining defense in the premier league of all time.

His position includes being head of the scouting department, so yes, he got a very big say in the scouting of players. This can be read even from Chelsea's official site.

The last shit stain that Avram Grant left, has been cleaned up. Nice.