Amblève.

He's always had the flaws we saw today, it's just previously we were so desperate to see Cahill dropped we ignored them.

Everyone involved in this club can fuck right off. We can't even go 120 minutes of a fucking fotball match without some bullshit drama. Just carpet bomb the whole club and be done with it.

Everyone involved in this club can fuck right off. We can't even go 120 minutes of a fucking fotball match without some bullshit drama. Just carpet bomb the whole club and be done with it.

Everyone involved in this club can fuck right off. We can't even go 120 minutes of a fucking fotball match without some bullshit drama. Just carpet bomb the whole club and be done with it.

Everyone involved in this club can fuck right off. We can't even go 120 minutes of a fucking fotball match without some bullshit drama. Just carpet bomb the whole club and be done with it.

This whole CHO saga is everything I hate about football.

There are the Beckenbauers, the Maradonas, the Peles, the Zidanes, the Messis, and the Ronaldos of the game.
And then there is Mikel.
A player who gets as often forgotten as he gets criticised. A player who isn't necessarily blessed with great athleticism nor on-ball skills. A player who will not often wow you.
But a player who, at the end of the day, has given his all and served Chelsea for years. Something, I will dare say, nobody can deny.
Over 10 years ago Mikel signed for Chelsea. A tall, lanky boy who seemingly received a yellow or red card everytime he stepped on the pitch, Mikel was an interesting case. Not only because of his controversial transfer but the role he was supposed to play when he first joined: Lampard, Ballack, Essien, Makelele, Geremi, Diarra all were already at Chelsea when Mikel arrived. Various other central midfielders came and left. Over a decade later and a few hours ago Mikel was still at Chelsea. I truly believe he embraced being a Chelsea player. A boy among men such as JT and Drogba Mikel was for years one of our youngest first team players learning from the best, listening to the most dedicated, being indoctrined by those who will always be Blues until he became one himself. In the process of reaching that status Mikel experienced the biggest defeats and glories in the history of our football club and always put in his best performances when it mattered most.
FA Cup Final 2007.
CL Semi-Final 2009.
CL Final 2012.
Watch any of those games and the one thing that will stick out most will be Mikel's coolness. Mikel always knew all the angles and the space he could operate within. His composure made him a bastion of calm when we most needed it. Watch any of our greatest victories from the past 10 years and chances are good you will find Mikel somewhere. Why?
Because Mikel never complained or put himself above the team.
Because Mikel played when his father was potentially facing death.
Because Mikel scored when he wanted.
After a decade of being privileged to watching him play for Chelsea, I can, without any doubt, say Mikel was worthy of wearing our blue. He will never be forgotten, he will always be a legend.

As someone who never saw anything special about him at Monaco (much less with us), scouting and signing is never a sure thing and things are much easier in hindsight.
hiwever, I cannot imagine a club like Barcelona or even city (with Guardiola or not given they embraced the style) ever going for a player who never really showed the particular things those clubs look for.
I am glad that our new signings are going the right direction.

Couple weeks ago... all comments would have been that it is truly deserved. On the back of a bad game: "he is stealing a living".
Yes, he has his flaws but highly deserved and regardless of what people say, he has been a huge success here and Sarri rates him very highly.
Keep up the good work Alonso!

I think this is being disrespectful to Lukaku who is twice the player Morata is. Where is barbara who had a love-in with Morata and was hyping him up like he was prime Raul?

Since when is slipping a mistake?! Omg that can happen to anyone at any time...

Heh watch him plenty. Great technique with silky passing doing one twos all the time with his teammates (like the pk against newcastle). His end product... what would that be then? What’s the reason to attack, to link up play, if not to score? Scoring is the goal of all attacking (no pun intended ).
when you say that he’s not a good attacking FB, while I completely disagree, fair enough. One can argue he does not overlap as much as he should because of his lack of pace. But then when talking about him being targeted, then you lose me.
every attacking fullback is a weakness in defense and is targeted by the opposition. Not only because of his skill set but also the fact he will often leave his position in defense unguarded, well ... to attack.
Marcelo is a mule defending, prob the worst I’ve ever seen. And yet Real Madrid does not leak goals from his side on every game. It’s a choice they make (to employ him) and adjust the system to support him.
same way that when Eden beats a player or players with dribbling, often the defense adjusts and does not break. The system defends, not a single player. At least he's good in the air in defense.

Its unbelievable how much of an imprint he's already made on the way we play in such a short period of time. Manchester City needed a whole season and a shit ton of transfers/money spent to implement Guardiola's philosophy. Sarri in reality has only signed one of his own players in Jorginho. 
Transitioning from Mourinho/Conte ball to Sarriball is literally night and day, hell and heaven. It normally should take a minimum of 1 season and a couple of transfer windows. This brand of football is much more difficult and much more sophisticated than what both of our previous managers brought, particularly Mourinho. 
I'm impressed how far along we are already after a pre-season, community shield and 2 games. No one should moan about the defending. City were poor defensively 2 seasons ago, suffering several heavy trashings. It's a brand of football that requires time and patience and finally I think our sometimes fickle board might have seen the light. 

For a player who can strike the ball so well, some of his crosses are a bit awkward.
Still, the assist for the first goal was something else. Not only a perfect final pass to Pedro, but the first touch to control the long ball.
Always a quality player in my book. Need a bit of system at work to protect him for both his lack of pace and the fact he's an attacking FB and will get forward a lot (as he should).
If he does not make that run into the box, there is no goal and no win. Only goals count in this game. 

I liked Cole very much so, and value Alonso too for different reasons.  Same way I also value Azpi even though he's not so great in attack.
Both types can contribute in the right system and the right teammates.
Given that our CM seems to be in much better shape, I'm far more concerned about Morata (and Giroud!) goal scoring slump. And the AM/winger situation since IMO we only have one (eden).

Fair enough, but many of these question should be asked of Hazard, since that's literally his job. And yet, we are here asking this of Alonso... the left-back. Hazard has the same virtues and weaknesses when playing for Belgium, so don't think he has a whole lot to do with Alonso.
Alonso link up play is underrated simply because he's a good passer with good technique - yes, in open play. Underrated in defense because his strength in the air also helps there.
The thing about Marcelo, is that people underestimate how bad he is in defense. So, when he's not amazing in attack, he never is for Brazil, he sucks.
I don't want to sound like I think Alonso is a fantastic player who got no weakness. Just that when I read this thread, I wonder if we are discussing Alonso or Bakayoko. 

If they missed every damn sitter like Morata, they wouldnt play either. 

Unlike De Bruyne and Salah, Morata has been given every opportunity to succeed. It is not my fault the board was so stupid and didn't include a buyback clause in both their contracts. They were younger too than Morata is now, so it was even more disastrous to not put one in.
I suppose they could insert one in a Morata sale, but after this year, unless he finally comes good, I fail to see much of a point, as his value will already be shot so low by then it really wont matter much, as if we did sell him, 2 years from next summer (so summer of 2021, when a buyback clause normally kicks in, 2 years after sale) he will be on the verge turning 29. We wouldn't give him a 5 year contract then, as he would be 33, and soon 34 at the end.

I wish people would stop bringing up Drogba in this thread. Drogba was an anomaly. How many player besides Drogba do you know who became as good as him in such a short time like Didier did?

He has as many goals as Lukaku and Kane so far.
I honestly saw progression in the last game. He didn't score. So what? He did everything right out there, and he didn't go down easy. Had a few great hold up plays.
Not the end of the world if he doesn't score. He had 5 less goals than Lukaku last season in about 10 less starts. The team as a whole struggled last year, and his confidence was shit, plus he had niggling injuries.
He is still super talented. He is going through a rough patch. He will come out of it. 

Regarding Alonso, I'll go out in a limb and say that perhaps the second manager, several coaches, and staff see something in practice that we don't get too see. I tend to think the starter faces the tougher opponents (than the subs), so it's usually unfair to compare them. I feel his lack of pace is exaggerated and it's a simplistic view akin to when folks say that when Hazard beats a player, it's one less defender the attack has to deal with. In any working system, neither would be true. I actually think Alonso, being the polar opposite of Azpi, is a great fit in terms of characteristics, but that's just me. Still, I feel Emerson will get minutes this season and will be able to show is value to the team. Also suspect his injury history makes the coaches a bit cautious with him, perhaps doing some strengthening on the side too.
D.Luiz is far more quirky case than Alonso. You can play Luiz as a CB, but the system has to be tweaked so much that few teams and managers are willing to do so. He gives you a lot though: his passing is of jorginho quality (would say D.Luiz has better range actually), which is of course not a key ability for a CB. But when you are pressing the opposition, David Luiz can really help a side... could def see him working well under Pep for ex.
Not overly worried. I honestly don't think the defense will be more exposed in Sarri's formation. The 4 in the back will be well protected by 2 player who defend well, plus others who can help as well (Ross). 

Alonso has been great for Chelsea since we signed him and last week he seemed to have adapted to the new system, so I believe in him. Emerson is a good player too, I don't think we'll have to deal with purchasing new left backs this season.

I know it's still early days in the season but pray this doesn't become a thing over the next 8-9 months. We used to praise Torres for his performances but not the main thing he was bought to do - score the goals. Don't need and can't afford Morata to go down the same route.

Led the line quite well, still not strong enough. Go to the gym please.

Lol I can’t even believe this is a discussion.