CHOULO19

I really like Thibaut and I think he has a great future ahead of him, but for those who say that he is already one of the best in the world, did any of you watch Buffon against Milan yesterday? Because THAT is what the best keepers in the world are capable of, and I'm sorry, but Thibaut simply is not just yet.

Good. Might get back the initial investment we made in him and maybe even make a small profit!

Mate, you ran out of strikers that have worked with him You can argue that any one of them was not successful in a certain period, but everyone of them helped Conte win titles (before the Serie A was a walk in the park. Juve were massive underdogs in his first two seasons). My point is, you can't say that from all the strikers that have worked with him only Tevez was his 'style'.

Tevez aside, his main strikers at Juve (Matri, Quagliarella, Llorente..etc.) weren't particularly hard working. And with Italy he has Balotelli...

I only watched the second half and he did not at all look like he was starting to slow down when he was taken off. He was by far our best player in the second, imo.

Bad game? I didn't watch the first half so I can't be sure, but he was good in the second. Read the game well, his distribution was better than we've seen from Thibaut all season and he made a good save to keep us in it.

I'm curious, what type of strikers wouldn't suite Conte's style?

Only managed to watch the second half....apparently Mikel is our best CB! RLC was our best player, for me. No idea why he was taken off. Cesc showed some urgency and determination to get back in the game as well. Outside of those three, though, not many positive...

Thought it was just me too. Even Jim thought it was just my account that had the issue I think he's fixed it all now.

Good to read. I always felt that Ruben seems a bit distant from everyone else in the squad. Nice to read he's making good friends in the team.

No way. We NEED to make Chelsea great again!

No wonder this place is so quite if half the forum have issues posting!

Haha, nah, Jim was working on a small issue with my account and couldn't post. Was just testing if it has been resolved.

test

I know you can't really compare to the Serie A, but I think the key to the success of playing 3 at the back is you have to have the suitable wingbacks who know the role tactically by heart and who can both attack and defend well. Another interesting tactical option with 3 at the back is what Allegri has done at Juve most of the times he's played 3-5-2, and that is to have someone at right wingback who is very comfortable playing in defense (Leischteiner) so the team can actually transition to a 4-4-2 in defense. Works the other way around with 4-4-2 in attack by having a left winger who can tuck in centrally (Pogba) and have Evra push up as a wingback and basically attack with a 3-5-2 when needed. I know it's only the Serie A, but it has proven very difficult to adjust against. But again, just to clarify, I'm not per se advertising for 3 at the back. But I would REALLY like to see 2 up top next season (because I feel that is where football is headed to in the next few years) and if Conte sees that 3 at the back is necessary to do that, then I'm all for it!

Obviously we don't yet know what Conte has in mind for next season, and frankly I think it very unlikely, but if we were to actually play with 3 at the back, then Kenedy would be perfect for the wing-back role and it would certainly make the debate about whether he is a left back or left winger irrelevant.

I think if Conte is given the freedom, he would absolutely rely heavily on youth players in the Europa league, if we make it.

I know that you don't know what the difference actually is. There is probably some sort of contractual/legal difference. And of course there is a difference, but to act like the difference is so common and everyone knows exactly what exact role each term refers to is just hilarious. The only people who actually know in this particular case are the board, Conte and his agent.

You all know that he's likely never to actually play for Chelsea, right? Baker is the typical case of CFC youngster who goes on loan to get some sort of market value so he can be sold. THAT is basically our youth policy.

I've said it before, I have no issues whatsoever with him leaving. On the contrary I think it would spell a positive change for the club.

Everyone jumping on the 'head coach' thing as if they actually know what the difference is, is as funny as those who just KNOW for sure that Emenalo is responsible for all transfers despite ZERO evidence for it The proof of whether or not he will be given considerable influence on transfers will be in pudding. We'll just have to wait and see.

*gasp* What a complete shock!

Watched the rerun of the match, and you can see he still has excellent technical ability on the ball. The touch in the build up for Pedro's first is particularly good. I wish Costa could execute passes that well.

Is it me or is he kind of adorable?