OneMoSalah

Still genuinely think most strikers would struggle in this side regardless of age, quality or whatever. The ball goes into the final third centrally or wide on either wing and instead of looking for a quick release to the CF or whatever, it is far too slow, far too laboured, theres far too many touches, too many people coming towards the ball rather than make runs away from the ball even if they dont recieve it. So regardless, if its Jovic, Morata, Higuain, Suarez, Benzema, Kane or whoever, if our play in the final 3rd is the same next season our striker will struggle. I think Eden leaving could be a blessing (yes I have said that), one of his greatest attributes is dribbling but theres times I want to see him pop it off and run in behind a defence to get into more scoring positions rather than try beat peoole. Willian is another who dribbles more than what you'd normally have seen at Napoli under Sarri with Insigne and Callejon in the wide roles. The speed of our play all over the pitch is a massive issue, regardless of personnel.

The whole team struggled in the first 20 minutes. After we got into the match Alonso wasnt any worse than anyone else, he actually did alright all things considering. I was glad Emerson was dropped in all fairness as he has been shocking in recent games. Its a tough call to say who is actually better but I think Alonso is the better of the two, we need an upgrade though if we persist with a flat back 4.

A short corner in the 97th or 98th minute, thats fucking embarrassing. Hazard and Pedro should both be fined for that shit just get it in the fucking box you idiots. Just sums up our afternoon nobody gave a shit, not one player, embarrasing they were there for the taking today.

Do any of the players give a fuck that top 4 is at stake? Not seen anything yet to see otherwise.

End game is an excellent film, seen it Friday, was speechless, probably be better than watching the match even if we win haha. Marcos Alonso first goal scorer 100% 🤣

In all fairness, 25m is worth a punt. Hes not been great, hes actually been disappointing in terms of when hes played in that more advanced role but 25m for a potentially very dependable squad player who can cover all 3 MF roles and hopefully would be used more at the base of midfield. Why not? I think if he could be more penetrative with his passing hed be a good player. Not outstanding but very rounded in terms of passing, dribbling, tackling... 25m for him wouldnt be the worst signing weve ever made. We spent 40m on Bakayoko and the cunt couldnt even run, yet alone dribble or tackle, so if its him or Bakayoko next season Id take Kovacic 100%.

Erik Ten Hag would be an absolutely massive risk. Riskier than Sarri, AVB and Di Matteo appointments. Cant believe people think he would actually get time. Hes done extraordinary well with Ajax but lets see how he does next year with no de Ligt, De Jong, Tagliafico, as well as potentially Neres and Ziyech who have had good seasons. Even then Frank de Bor and Petr Bosz are prime examples that winning at Ajax, where each coach adapts to the clubs philosophy which is ingrained doesnt mean that it can be easily done elsewhere. In hindsight, Sarri is a very similar example without trophies, his style was clear at Napoli for 3 years but hes struggled to implement it here to its fullest yet people want his head and want to go for someone of the same ilk arguably which could have the exact same problems. I would get it if people wanted a Diego Simeone or Max Allegri because they are different in styles and adaptable but the coach of Ajax, who was the ex coach of Utretch and Go Ahead Eagles is undoubtedly gonna try and implement a very similar possession based style because thats how most teams try to play in Holland. If the club were to appoint him he would probably need even more time than what Sarri needs. Which say a year in people will be fed up of him and want another manager to come in. Basically rinse and repeat. Whoever is in charge next season, if they are sticking with this possession orientated style, needs time because theres a lot of work to do.

Not really. Hes great at dribbling and finding a final pass also. His time at Barca hasnt been a huge success and his stats are poor but the player he was at Liverpool was more than basically just a long range shooter merchant. He was hugely overrated based on the fee he went for but theres so much more to his game than just shooting. In 152 PL games for Liverpool he had 41 goals and 35 assists which means he was involved in a goal (scoring or assisting) every 2nd match, which for a attacking midfielder or wide 10 is pretty good, obviously some goals were shots from outside the area but he got a decent amount of assists too. Would basically be like calling Lampard nothing but a long range shooting merchant or Hazard nothing but a dribbler. Theres much more to his make up than just long shots. I am surprised hes struggled at Barca though, really quite am and that has put me off the idea of going for him in any capacity, particularly even more as the most advanced midfielder in our 3 which a lot of people seem to think he has excelled in during his career although he struggled at Barca in that role where he was specifically picked out to be the long term replacement for Iniesta. His best football has been from the left side be it in a 433 or 4231 or 3421 or 442.

Hes been shite recently but I think hes trying to be too aggressive in the air and in the tackle. I think he knows hes 3rd choice and trying to impress which as a younger player maybe makes him want to compete for everything when perhaps he should just stand or get tight but dont try and tackle (Rudiger and Luiz also still have these tendencies but AC doing it is interesting because he didnt do it as often the previous season, he was quite clean in taking the ball and won headers without conceding fouls). He still has a future here, he had a great 5 months under Conte last season before his wobble and despite inconsistencies this season and recently very poor performances I still think hes better than Zouma and Ake.

Think we should beat them. They are on a shocking run. Even then despite our mixed performances, we should be able to get a good performance against them. We will have a lot of the ball and if Pogba and Matic play as bad as they did the last few games we should be able to get at their back 4.

If true... Romagnoli, Suso, Piatek (has shown for Milan he could do it at a bigger, more competitive club), Andre Silva or Samu Castillejo too possibly could be worth looking at in some capacity. Honestly dont think we will get any with the transfer ban but they would 5 Id say we should look towards if Milan were to have an exodus. Even Pepe Reina as a number 2 (like at Bayern) but his history at Liverpool, doubt hed move even if Sarri is here.

Doesnt look that bad to be honest. Not the greatest but not the worst.

Same old. When its confirmed by Chelsea or someone trying to buy the club then I will believe it. Been a weird year, lots of rumours with no real substance other than shelved stadium plans and Abramovichs Visa issues.

Seriously? His attacking play is not shit, its pretty decent... could do with work on final ball but theres a reason us, Man United, Man City, Spurs and whoever else have all been linked with him. Hes good defensively yes and ranks for most tackles in PL (or is it Europe) IIRC but his attacking play certainly isnt shit. I think potentially here (obviously with work in the team) or at a Liverpool or a City he would be very good in an offensive capacity and a big issue because hes so quick and can beat people 1 on 1 too. I actually hope none of City, Liverpool Arsenal, Spurs or United go for him and Chillwell. They would be some full back pairing.

He might make it there next year if hes still set on leaving....

Think Heung Min Son from Spuds should of definitely been considered as well as Hazard instead of Pogba but during voting period Pogba had been involved in like 15 goals in goals and assists in that 10-15 period under OGS. Anyway. Its always a popularity contest. Alexander Arnold shouldnt be in, personally I think Wan Bissaka has been better, probably one of the break out players of the season in that regard too but City and Liverpool are in the title race so what do you expect.

If Sarri stays and we continue with 433 he will not play in his much more natural positions which are either as a 10, second striker or a CF. Unless Sarri changes his system or we change manager there is no chance this happens, he is good enough to play wide probably but hes more effective centrally be it as a striker in a 2 or off the striker in whatever capacity. 100m or whatever we get for Hazard for a player to shoehorn him into a wing position which is likely, would be a bit odd. Unless Sarri goes 4312 like he did at Empoli but doubt it.

Im sure it was said we were after him before Ajax got him.

Think if we dont get a transfer ban and miss out on Pepe, although I reckon he will go Bayern like reported a while ago, Neres should definitely be considered although it probably would be better for him to be loaned back to Ajax for another season as the guy is a bit lightweight and can still make the wrong decisions at times as seen in the CL this season vs Juventus but he has impressed me with his willingness to run at players and has been involved with 16 goals in 20 starts and 8 sub apperances in the Erevidise. As well as 2 goals and 2 assists in the CL. Definitely be interest this summer from other clubs though due to Ajaxs CL run and maybe some of them, such as a Dortmund,.would be better suited. Even if he came here and didnt go back to Ajax I think his directness and dribbling ability would offer us something different to Pedro and Willian. Hopefully we are still tracking him, I am sure we were before he went to Ajax.

Felix will eclipse both of their careers in the game, the guy will be a top, top player. He is better than both of Callum and Christian. We dont have a chance, Ronaldo has told Juve to sign him and Barca/Real/Bayern will all be very interested too.

Has made big steps but think him and Rudiger are too similar to play together. Also dont think hes technically competent enough to play out like Luiz, Andreas and Rudiger.

Hasnt shown anything this season yes but watch the other seasons he played for Dortmund there is definitely something there that with a bit of work could be a very good player. Yes 60m is an inflated fee but what isnt these days? Way I look at him is, Sterling cost City 49m and that raised a lot of eyebrows despite him being a better level than Pulisic. The fee wound people up even more so after his first season at City which was very poor, you need to wait and give these young players time. He has potential, not the level of Sterling but its just a comparison in regards to how his first season panned out at City in comparison to now where hes arguably the best goalscoring winger in the PL alongside Salah and Mane. Pulisic could come here do decent then properly kick on the next year. Realistically talking thats like Eden under RDM and Benitez, first season here was probably inconsistently below what he and many of us would of liked considering his reputation/talent but few seasons later and boom (again Pulisic will never be Eden level but in terms of progression even the Sterlings and Hazards can need a year or two to grow). People are also getting far too caught up with Jadon Sancho at BVB and the fact Pulisic hasnt played as regularly this season, it will be interesting how both of them do next season. A lot can change, as Pulisic probably didnt expect 2 seasons ago when he was playing regularly to now be a bench player for a season.... dont think its fair to judge him on a season where he was in a contract dispute and signed with a new team midway through the season. If hed played every week and done poorly fair enough but he hasnt and with previous seasons showing promise (end product needs work) it could turn out a decent move still. 60m is a lot but thats modern day football. Lukaku cost 75m. Alexis Sanchez makes 500k a week. PSG bought Neymar for 220m. Any deal can be looked at as ludicrous.

Writing off Pulisic before hes even pulled on the shirt is typical Chelsea isnt it?

Hazard is 110% off. Regardless of CL or not. As for Pepe? Transfer ban? Hopefully it is only 5 or 6 months instead of 9 months like they can be but regardless, hopefully he gets a good recovery and can come into contention some point next season.

He got more space staying wider in both matches though in fairness. While I will agree he needs to come closer to goal to have a bigger influence but even for his assist today he started outside the box and had a chance to isolate someone one on one as opposed to coming inside and being met by a plethora of bodies.