OneMoSalah

Mata has always been quite prolific from the spot throughout his career in fairness. Wasnt Schweinsteiger not a regular taker for Bayern too?

Tbf if we are gonna blame anybody for that cup final the cock linesman who flagged Eden offside when he was clearly onside, going clean through and probably would of scored. Although eben then maybe that's clutching at straws haha. Penalty shootouts are as much luck as skill for me. You can research and analyse past penalties and shootouts etc again but the occasion and pressure can get to players, or others can thrive under it. I mean you can score 1000 penalties in training over a season but miss in a cup final. Or like you said about Agueros shank it a bit and still score. Even that CL final in 2012, Germans are notoriously ruthless at penalties but Schweinsteiger of all people fucked one (Cech did touch it tbf but even then he looked so nervous running up) and Olics penalty was on par with Matas in terms of how poorly hit it was no real pace or accurate placement. Even Mata he didnt look overly confident taking his one and he was probably one of the best pen takers at the club at the time along with Lampard, Luiz and Drogba.

Theyd better offer £100m at least. If they dont want to pay keep him for another year even if it means him going on a free because he will 29 then. Simple as that. Great player for us but again, dont bow down to the likes of Real or Barca, didnt last summer or didnt with Willian either.

And again Bakayoko was thrust in to the starting 11 to replace Matic despite the fact Conte wanted to keep Matic and slowly bleed Bakayoko in... Matic night not have done well for United but the last season where he played next to Kante they were very good... Matic also got 7 or 8 assists that season. 40M was a good fee but I think people really underestimated his performances with Kante, who yes is brilliant and got more plaudits, but didnt give Matic any real credit.

Great severant to the club. 7m pounds he cost. Absolute steal and he deserved an amazing send off, think hes actually been very good here over the period of his Chelsea career except last season and maybe the one when we finished 9th and deservedly ended up as captain (JT also recommended him as his successor when he left apparently). Maybe Sarri could have integrated him more but he also had the chance to go and didnt. Its a two way street not as simple as saying Sarri is at fault for not using him or respecting what hes did at the club. Regardless, a top player who had a good career here where he was a part of the clubs biggest ever success against all odds in an absolutely shambolic season in 2012. Curious to see where he goes next, maybe a move back to Villa? If hes on a free and Villa came up hed be an excellent addition. Or even at a Southampton, Wolves or Burnley for free hed make a very good addition.

For all the talk of shite football some people have a very short memory. Year we won the league under Jose with Costa, Cesc, Courtois etc we spent the last half of the season playing with a low block, using 2 holding midfielders (Mikel and Matic) playing absolutely shite against the likes of fucking Palace, West Brom, whoever else relying on Hazard and Costa effectively. We won the league yes but theres no comparison to how we played then to how we play now, apart from we had a better defensive record (which I think with the addition of another CB and LB, will definitely improve, Luiz for as good as he can be in games and what he can do with the ball is still a very inconsistent player and the LBs are both very very very average. I hope Azpi with a full summer off comes back a lot sharper and rested up for next season because he can still offer a lot, youd think he was Ivanovic at times this year though). I dont get what people honestly expect, if we continued in this manner, playing shite football, wed have come up short in Europe like we did against the bigger teams because wed probably be playing a midfield consisting of Kante, Drinkwater and Bakayoko. Cant please everyone but we are defos in the CL after a poor transitional season, had a cup final and potentially in another if we get a result in the second leg of the EL. If it was any other manager trying to totally change things would it really be that bad a season? Yes and no. But honestly, youd think we have been fighting relegation reading this threads at times this season. Some people need to suck it up we arent anywhere near Liverpool or Citys level (and probably not even Spurs level) for good reason, theyve stuck to an identity for seasons (Pellegrini started the process off at City), with good signings... weve been at it for a season with very poor/average recruitment over the last 5 windows or so and people are moaning because we dont play great, which is understandable at times considering we have got/had Kovacic, Pedro, Willian, Higuain, Morata, Alonso, Emerson, all playing regularly this season when its fair to say for various reasons havent been or arent good enough. No manager is gonna turn Willian in to a high goal scoring and assisting winger its far too late in his career for that. Pedro is a goal scorer and has done alright but again he can offer nothing if hes not able to run into spaces behind a defence, Higuain has been average and while at times his movement looks excellent the ball doesnt come quick enough... Kovacic and Barkley far too inconsistent and safe this year, Alonso started alright but tailed off terribly and Emerson has shown defensive naivety at times as well as showing his crossing is probably on par with Victor Moses....

If Alonsos crossing is that bad what does that make Emersons? We need an upgrade on both desperately

Ter Stegen is brilliant. His distrubiton is also first class, absolutely phenomenal value for 12m euros or whatever Barca paid and obviously theyve coached him on contributing when playing out a lot too. Still think Neuer is very overlooked these days after 8 or 9 yesrs of being undoubtedly the best GK in the world, hes still very very good. Kepa has a big ceiling though, more than happy with his first season.

Title is a big statement. Hes still got to add more consistency and show he can score 10 and assist 10 goals each sesson from MF at least to be a vital cog in the team so to speak. That was my concern this season for all the dribbling and strength he shows, could he add goals, assists and key passes. He has shown the last few months he is capable. Hopefully next season he kicks on, I think Sarri really has helped him become a very complete player, he can do a bit of everything although I think he can still be ruthless in the final third times he dribbles it or passes it when I think a Lampard or Gerrard would just shoot.

Way to go tar tlall Saudi Arabian nationals with the same brush.... hardly as if anyone trying to take over Chelsea is gonna be chipping heads off....

Dont be saying that Emerson is the chosen one compared to Alonso... lets be honest both are painfully belpw average have been saying it for ages. Sarri got stick for using Alonso at the start of the season and now Emerson has played considerable minutes its clear to see both arent great (Emerson will never be the same player he was before that injury and even then it was only one season that was hugely overhyped). Alonso's end product is below par but its probably better than Emersons, or there about the same. Personally think Marcos has got a lot of stick even when hes not played purely because he hasnt been anywhere near as effective as he was in his first season. Where he actually looked pretty good despite obvious physical limitations.

Nobody in that back 4 under AVB looked comfortable and for good reason they were so exposed, extremely disjointed with huge spaces in behind. Dont even think prime Terry would have looked good in that defence and he could virtually have played with anybody when he was at his best. Luiz was a fucking bomb scare though under AVB.

Cmon Terry was about 32 when he played in that high line under AVB and even then he looked better than Luiz did except that shit show v Arsenal 😂 I mean even Cahill back then was probanly better than Luiz and Christensen (disappointed with how hes continued to struggle after a positive start last season) defensively.

Best performance by him this season? I would say so. He was very good v Liverpool too I felt.

Think certain people want Radcliffe to buy the club because they think hed come in drop about 400m for the manager to spend which is nativity at its finest 😂 no chance at all

He looks wasted deeper for United. I think hes got the skillset to play in a box to box role. Hes not amazing at one thing but he can tackle, pass, dribble and he showed at Shakhtar before he was well above that level. I think he could be a lot better next season. Another one Pep wanted before Jorginho, still surprised anybody would choose United and Jose over Pep and City these days.

Fred is harldy an appalling football in my eyes. Im not sure what his best position is but he could probably do a good job as a box to box midfielder. Hes played in a 2 with Pogba, who gets license to go on ahead of him or as the deepest MF player in a midfield diamond for United in games. Think next season Fred and Jorginho will both be better.

If he bounces back next season and plays well their opinions aill change again. Seen it with Drogba before poor first season before rapidly improving in the following seasons. Think hes a very good player and I doubt a coach like Guardiola gushing about him after Napoli played them in the CL last season and desperately wanting to sign him in the summer can justify him being a very bad player. Considering the fact Peps worked with players like Busquets, Xavi Alonso, Fernandinho who play in that role. But until Jorginho plays consistently well here there will always be scrutiny, although adapting to a faster paced league for a player with physical limitations wasnt gonna be straight forward. I think next season he will be a lot better.

In my eyes a manager who wouldnt change tactics, formations, drop Jorginho or Alonso at virtually any costs in the first 6 months is hardly gonna let fan unrest and fear of the sack force his hand with 2 young players and if this is the case he shouldnt be managing at the top level. Simple as that. Even if he gets sacked he woulf surely rather go out trying his way? He was brought in to change the style, not promote youth which has never been successfully done in the last 20 years here. Managers have got to do their thing, make their own decisions, if they are going to be heavily influenced by media or fans or whatever whats the point in them being the manager if they cant make their own judgement calls? Or arent confident in their ideas? Callum, Ruben, Emersons playing time being more frequent in these times were merely a coincidence with the whole sack rumours and the protests stemmed from bad results first and foremost, as well as take into consideration how poor Alonso, Kovacic/Barkley and Pedro/Willian were playing as well. Basically, playing Ruben and Callum didnt "save his job" which I think would be ridiculous to even claim, maybe it made the fans happier (fans should support the team regardless and if nobody seen an average transitional season coming then I would be speechless) but his goal is to get the team to win games, winning games makes fans happier and makes players more confident. Winning games 100% saved his job. Even then if he doesnt get CL this season chances are he will be sacked and it wont even matter. If he bowed to fan pressure regarding 2 players why hasnt or didnt he bow to disrest from fans and media about Kantes position, Jorginho, Alonso this season? Makes absolutely zero sense. Theres a reason why managers are paid huge sums of money to take the responsibility, create teams and do whatever else. If Sarri is going to bow to fan pressure regarding selections he might as well resign because that for me is ridiculous, managers have years of courses and experiencez to get to where they are if they cannot make their own judgements calls they arent fit for the job. Even if we dont finish top 4 or get the CL, is Callum and Ruben playing more frequently gonna help his case when the club, where the ambition and pressure has always been huge, review the season or consider replacing him? It will not make any difference at all. Which is why I dont think the fan unrest about not using those two earlier will not have been a factor in him selecting them or retaining his job. Honestly think fan protests were a bit stupid, yes weve been shite but it was enivitable and has been on the cards for years. If it was Conte or Mourinho and not Sarri would those 2 lack of playing time for them be an issue? Youd honestly think we were Ajax when people complain about not using RLC or CHO earlier in the season every week. We arent. The last player before Christensen (who has been the most regular academy player here in recent seasons) to have been fully integrated was John Terry. I find it ridiculous that fans who were obviously frustrated as we all were with results are going to use that excuse to mention 2 young players who in all reality havent improved our season much in the bigger scheme of things. If they had been influential in securing us top 4 yes people would have a point but theyve played in games where nothing has really changed. For instance, Ruben was great v Liverpool but we still lost 2-0.... another matter if people think those 2 playing earlier on in the season would have made a big difference in terms of how the seasons panned out they are deluded because weve not had a good goal scoring CF all season and weve struggled to keep clean sheets... also if CHO not playing was an issue what about Ampadu? Nobody has said a word. It was just a by product of frustration based on results.

Will be a really tough game. They are a very very capable side, sitting 4th in Bundesliga right now and we all know they have decent options in Jovic, Rebic, Haller and Kostic who can cause us problems. Nvm Haller injured apparently. Still good team need to be up for it.

So you are saying Sarri, stubborn in everything many have said he is, thought playing 2 x u23 year old Englishmen was the only way to appease the fans and save his job???? And if we lost all those games they played in would us fans of been happy because they still played? A good run of results were the only thing that saved his job. Yes certain players (CHO, RLC and Emerson) minutes increased and other players played less but I think your making more of it than what it is. Callums transfer request probably put more pressure on Sarri to use him than the fans or the media. He could and should of played more earlier in the season (Ruben too) but theres no doubt hes more disciplined and Ruben looks more fitter (probably fittest hes been in his career) and offering more than he ever has in terms of goals/asists. Even Ross Barkley arguably fitter than hes ever been although irrelevant. Fans can love or hate a manager for selections but if he is getting results would a club be as worried? Everyone has an opinion thats football but for a manager at any club its a result based business. If Sarri was getting results regardless of team selection it wouldnt of mattered. The sack rumours came after a spell of poor form, we won 4 on the bounce or whatever and they went away. Regardless of his starting 11. The whole CHO situation for me was a huge byproduct of the media and fans being frustrated about bad results more than anything as well as England starting him in the international break. If we hadnt had that dip nobody would of been fussed if he had played 23 minutes or 8 games in that period. Or if Ruben had played. Even with the playing style if we had won convincingly playing shite, people would be praising the team for being able to grind out results. This is Chelsea, the manager getting sacked is always a rumour at some point in the season. Contes future was heavily speculated upon after that Arsenal and Liverpool losses in his first season, which were like 4 games into the season. Sarri was "getting sacked" in month X or Y and after the cup final v City if we lost. Doesnt matter for whatever reason or that, it always comes around when the clubs in poor form, he didnt save his job by playing 2 youngsters, he saved his job because the team won games.

Guardiola, Zidane, Mourinho are literally the bench mark and only ones I can really think of in terms of "inexperience" - which is debatable with Mou as he had veen a coach for 4 years before we got him - and instant success. Throw in Simeone and Conte too (although both were coaches for 5 years before going to Atletico and Juventus). Joachim Low at international level although his club career coaching wise is mediocre and he had 12 years experience of coaching at different levels before being Germany boss so basically he was hardly inexperienced. Apart from Pep and Zizou, not a huge huge amount. But even a huge bit below that calibre of coaches Andre Villas-Boas won how many trophies at Porto? 4 in a season? Was the 'next big coach' and he got spat out for trying to do something like what Sarri is. Unai Emery decent spells in Spain with Seville, flopped at PSG and is doing mediocre at Arsenal (but he will get the time to grow into it and develop the team). Julian Nagelsmann is potentially going to break the mould but hes hardly won anything. Inexperienced managers that will actually either 1) be given time to do well or 2) can get instant success at big clubs are few and far between. Regarding Zizou: Next season we will see more of what Zidane is like now as a manager without Ronaldo and with a huge rebuild needed. I don't think he will be nearly as successful.

Exactly. Do people really think a stubborn manager bowed to fan pressure with CHO or RLC even? I really dont think so. I look at our 2-0 v City with Willian and Pedro and at the time I doubt CHO would of been as effective in the defensive phase as he was v Liverpool for instance. And as you said Kante would be DM (although hes never played as a sitter in a 3 man MF in the PL except first 4 games under Conte) as well if it was down to fan pressure. Also if Sarri really did bow to fan pressure 'to save his job' Jorginho, Kovacic and Alonso would have also been dropped months and months ago. He also probably would have swapped from 433 to 4231 if this was the case. RLC wasnt regular due to fitness and back problems. CHO probably needed to learn and improve off the ball in the other phase which the difference is night and day because weve all seen how cruical full backs are at the top level these days and nulifying them helps, as weve found out on many occasions like when Atletico dumped us out the CL seasons ago with Filipe Luis (I think) getting a massive assist after Hazard didnt track him and even Luke Shaw yesterday providing that assist through being unmarked. Dont think the whole fan and media going on about it made a huge difference, I doubt he even took huge notice of it. Someone as stubborn as Sarri or even in the past Conte and Mourinho, is/were hardly gonna give in to the media or the fans, regarding Callum or any other player in the past. Maybe Callums transfer request put pressure on Sarri to show him he wanted him to stay by playing him but I cant see the fans and media (who are tossers with agendas) having as huge an influence as some may believe in terms of coaching and picking teams or squads. I doubt many football clubs and managers are bothered about what the press has to say in footballing terms. If we were winning chances are nobody would of gave a shit anyway. Just like at the start of the season. Fans have opinions but I doubt a manager is going to be hugely bothered whether or not they are angry that he isnt playing player X or Y, even with the style has he changed despite the fuck Sarriball chanting shit? No, not one bit. Fans are fans and managers are managers. For instance do you think Pep gives into City fans or English media wanting to see Foden play more? Probably not. Think despite the poor season he will be here next season. If its another shite season then its fair to say sacking Conte was a big mistake but again this time last year the Conte thread was effectively the same, 'why does he not play Emerson?', 'wheres Luiz?', 'hes gonna drive players out of the club', 'the football is boring and shite to watch...', 'why did he sell Chalobah to sign Bakayoko?' etc etc. I think its clear regardless of manager, regardless of philosophy that the squad is a bigger concern. Realisitically 3 "bad" seasons in 4 or 5 years. Same core bulk of players minus Courtois, Terry, Cesc, Costa and Matic and a few others. Some of them have declined, some of them have lost their hunger, some probably arent good enough and some probably dont/didnt want to be here at the start of the season.

I was going to say other than his final ball didnt think he was all that bad today. There was no urgency from any players today but didnt think Azpi was horrendous, he had a bad start (whole team did) and Lukaku absolutely smashed him but other than that did okay or so I though?? Hes played better yes but him and Alonso for all the flack they get played okay today. Even Jorginho played okay defensively today. Be interesting what happens in the summer if we have no transfer ban, Sarri wanted Hysaj and he wanted to move. Reece James also is a question Sarri will have to answer if hes still here.

True but they offer purpose or penetration with their passing, which if Kovacic could add would make him a threat because he can carry the ball, beat people and retain it in tight areas. Rakitic is actually a very rounded player probably more than what hes given credit for. Modric is Modric we all know how good he is. Kovacic has the potential to become an excellent player but until he starts doing more with the ball be it goals, assists, being more penetrative/purposeful with his passing... he will never be an elite player. Still think for another season on loan with an option to buy next summer for 25m we should take a gamble. Its been a very up and down season for us and him.