CHOULO19

Yeah, I had him in mind writing that. Also why I was excited about the possibility of Morata. Inter just declined a 70m offer from Napoli for him. He's not THAT good!

I'd rather have him magically transformed into Luca Modric, but that doesn't seem likely either.

Yeah, I was willing it in as well. But he looks like he won't have much trouble getting on the score sheet.

If Hazard is going to play in the second striker position, him and Pedro will need to step up their game. That left wing position won't be up for grab for long. If neither claims it, we'll probably be looking to sign someone in the next two windows.

Don't think he was nearly as bad yesterday as some were making out. Will need to be tested in competitive matches, but he seems reliable enough to be a backup fullback for us.

Am I the only one who's not really fussed whether he leaves or not? I'm not really keen about Lukaku but in a two-striker system Costa is easily replacable. On either account, if Conte is planning on playing Hazard as the second striker (which I think is very logical) then I would rather have the main striker be someone with good technical ability to be able to like with Eden.

I never thought I'd say this, but can we please have Oscar back in the number 10 position? Or even on the right wing??! If Conte is planing on using him ins central midfield in any competitive match, we're in deep shit.

Making a real claim to be part of our first team this season. Good for him. He's always had a lot of potential but the over hyping, particularly during his time Watford, set him back a bit. Happy to see him keep his head down and work hard to get into the team rather than go down the McEachran road..

First impressions: Loving what I see! Good hold up and first touch, decent technique, pure strikers instinct.

Here's the thing: RLC has been marketed for about a year now as the prize jewel of our academy. He's in every single photo shoot, fans event, PR stunt...etc. He was 'chosen' to end the "since John Terry" line that everyone uses. The problem is, this was under Jose, and now he does not fit ANYWHERE in Conte's 4-4-2. THIS is exactly what I and many others mean when we talk about the importance of some sort of managerial stability for youth integration. Now, for me, keeping him here while we insist on play this system, is only going to hurt him. A loan is needed for him, maybe even selling with a buy-back clause. But I know that that won't happen because the board has A LOT riding on his success here. So instead, he's most likely going to stay here, get next to no minutes, get loaned out mid-season to some PL club who don't need him, before he starts being loaned out to championship clubs while his value rapidly falls until we sell him for next to nothing.

Aaand Matic taking our FKs is my cue. Good night guys.

Actually we don't! Barely get 2 hours per day in the summer. My house is mostly solar powered.

Surprised you know what that is, grandpa!

No seriously, we CAN'T have Oscar play in central midfield in a competitive match. WAY too easy.

Yeah, but don't hold back, mate. Tell me what you REALLY think of Oscar!

Really liking Traore's pressing. Also, Aina is doing well in defense. Yeah, that was kinda my point.

Doing much better than Matic till now, though. Luckily, if we are going to play 4-4-2, most likely, neither are going to be staring in central midfield.

I know it's a meaningless preseason that's meant to improve physical readiness, but jesus, Matic!

Matic with best chance so far...for both teams!

Are the kids who walked out with the players really wearing McDonald's shirts?! That's just...wrong!

That was the case before this loan. If anything, this loan made that less likely because we are now A LOT more likely to sign a new fullback.

This is good news. At worst it means that Aina will be our back up fullback this season, at best it means we are going to buy a top LB to replace Iva in our starting XI. I was one of the first and still am one of the most vocal critics of Ivanovic as a fullback, but Baba was never the answer. The best we can hope for now is him having a great season in the Bundesliga so we don't lose money if/when we sell him.

I know there's a lack of top 'traditional' strikers everywhere, but you just can't call a player world class when half our academy has better technique than him - and I'm being generous there. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate Diego. I think his movement is among the best I've seen from a striker, his instincts are good and on form his finishing is exceptional. But, in addition to his lack of technique, he's weak in the air, his ball retention is almost nonexistent and his decision making can often be well below the level of the team; he chooses to dribble so many times, especially on the wings, despite the fact that he's so predictable and bad at it that even the weakest defenders can stop him most of the times. But all that doesn't take away from the fact that he can be an excellent striker if we play to his strength. To me, this is like when people were calling Matic the best DM in the world, or Thibaut the best GK in the world, almost no one without blue-tinted glasses thinks that. Doesn't mean that all of them aren't/can't be very good.

This is beyond stupid. He's at the very least at the same level as our other CBs, only considerably younger. Pay the penalty in the loan contract, bring him back, put him straight in the team. This is like when we refused to give Bertrand a chance when we had no one else at LB and and have been stuck since then with Azpi on the left and Iva on the right while Bertrand makes it into the EPL team of the year. Except this time Christensen has A LOT more potential and we'll probably end up with Mikel being moved permanently to CB!

You get the feeling that Matic has been holding that one in since the 'can't make a simple pass' comment!