OneMoSalah

Nuno still a bit of a risk at a bigger clun. Bad spell at Porto and one good year with Valencia before a terrible half a season after in which he resigned. He has been impressive at Wolves I wont disagree but dont think he would be able to replicate that success here.

Filipe Luis is still one of the best in europe too. Scary

The thing is though, qhen a new manager comes in it wipes the slate clean. If Conte remained in the summer, guys like Willian, Luiz, Hazard would have all left. Other than Eden due to his ability, would Luiz and Willian leaving have been a bad thing? If someone comes in again and gives Willian, Luiz, player x, y, z a clean slate then we are gonna keep getting the same shit. Sarri has been bold enough to move Kante for Jorginho. Hes even started dropping Alonso in recent months. I think he should be given another summer although our transfer ban is gonna fuck us now, to clear out a few more and get some fresh blood in to change the dynamic. No point continuously changing managers every season or two which weve been doing for almost 10 years now. We used to be able to throw a few hundred million at a few players and paper over the cracks but you cant do that do that every time these days because City, United, Liverpool are all adding more and more quality every window. Personally if we got rid of 5-7 players and had 5-7 new players I reckon there would be a huge difference in how our season has gone. He had a very very good chance to score, which was saved. The difference in him and Morata is night and day. Costa was one of the best strikers I have seen in years for movement but Higuain is certainly making very good runs that Costa would of made. The difference is he hasnt been as clinical. Fitness is an issue but again, it was well documented in Italy and since his arrival. Playing Hazard after he had played in every game upto the semi finals of a world cup is different though surely? I know what I said but I dont think any manager is stupid enough to do that because its more than inevitable a burnout or injury would of occured due to not being given a break of some sort. Without a world cup or euros the rest time before pre season is greater which is better for players returning to get match fit.

Was always gonna be out of his depth here but good to see hes managed to rebuild his reputation as he was a promising player when playing for Augsburg.

Because regardless you pick your best players to win games. Like when we played Costa when he wasnt fully fit under Jose and Conte. For instance as well, if Eden or Kante were only 60 or 70% fit would you think Sarri would bench them? Not a chance. Playing Giroud from the beginning, as much as I like Giroud, what he offers and his attiude when he plays, would have been a mistake.

If Giroud started people would have been calling for his head lmfao. There is no comparison unfortunately for Oli who is a reasonably solid player but if he led the line every week people would be calling for Sarri to be sacked.... Also theres about 8 weeks to go of the season, why bring Steve Holland in now? Its blatently obvious the players are as big an issue as the manager. Either not commited or not good enough. Same happened under Jose and Conte. Yet when it happened the players were responsible (after a while past Joses public comments and Contes sulk) a lot more than they are now it would appear. Its hilarious we are going to have this same cycle again if Sarri was to be sacked and replaced. Some of these players are too comfortable.

'Underwhelming' or not - would say underwhelming is a bit harsh for someone who was never fully fit - hes shown everything you'd want. Im glad that when the ball goes in to him he can hold it up unlike Morata (who I was a massive fan of) and Torres. Its not a lot but it helps. His movement is still good and he was unlucky not to score that chance Jorginho (the man who doesnt assist...) set him up with. I think if he had been here in the summer he would of been fit and he would be on 10-15 goals easily. Interesting now to see if we sign him or not but I think in terms of a stop gap whos proven he can play at the highest level, there arent many better out there. Realistically we are never gonna get the likes of Jovic or Werner who everyones clamoring for (Jovic is going to go to the likes of a Real, Juve or Barca this summer coming or next 100% and Werner will be a Bayern player inevitably) was ever gonna go for Piatek after 6 months of goals for a mid table Italian side.

First half good. Second half shit. Same issues we had under Jose to an extent and Conte, although it was more the other way around. The players need a long hard look at themselves. The drop in intensity was frightening.

A man never known for rotation or using young players doesnt rotate or use a youngster ahead of a senior pro. Not really a surprise. Just being picky. Id love to see us play 4 or 5 youngsters every opportunity but its never gonna happen here realistically. Poor squad management and Chelsea goes hand in hand.

I think de Ligt to Barca is probably as good as already done. Cant see him going anywhere else. Couldnt have seen him going anywhere else at all, even more so when de Jong signed for Barca.

Good game. Was one moment where he could have set Pedro up for another assist but took too many touches. Got to be in contention to play at the weekend surely?

What if they has gotten injured could occur to any of the 22 players who started for both teams and any of the subs who came on.... it was 3-0 after the first leg yea but I think Sarri was right not to throw out a hugely changed team. We need momentum running into the remainder of the season to keep on winning and playing decent. Ampadu could have played yes but instead of who to start with? Rudiger and Christensen have shown they are a decent partnership together and with no Luiz, Rudigers aeriel ability and physicality was needed. Kovacic played instead of Jorginho and the last time Ampadu played that number 6 role he was poor giving the ball away a lot and slowing it down too much, against much weaker opposition too. Sarri played Callum, played Ruben but is still criticized for not using young homegrown players. And Kante for me should start every match he can because he is our best midfield player comfortably and offers so much. Theres no point in complaining that Ampadu didnt play or that player x did or whatever. We won 5-0. There wasnt a lot of negatives tonight.

Dont see the fuss.... we won 5-0, Ruben played, Calum played and scored. For the 25-30 minutes Jorginho and Azpi played it would hardly of made a huge difference if it was Ampadu or someone else or those guys who came on. Weve come away with a good win on a shit pitch with 0 injuries.

I think the game was always gonna go Liverpools way after one of Lewandowski and James never managed to get onto that cutback right across the goal mouth from Gnabry or Rafinha in the second half, if that had resulted in a goal I think Bayern would of managed to go through. Bayern look a shell of the team they once were though, they have still got amazing players but theres something missing. Think they showed Liverpool too much respect at home actually, played within themselves, Ancelotti, Pep, or Heynckes Bayern would never have played like that at home. Against anyone.

Fair enough misleading or not but if you look at the fact who those other teams have playing upfront/attacking positions as well as in MF and their goal /assists outputs its hugely better than ours. Obviously some teams have more depth than others but look. Man City: 105 goals in 180 PL starts between these players. - Aguero 18 goals, 6 assists in 24 PL starts and 2 sub appearances. - Sterling 15 goals, 9 assists in 24 PL starts and 3 sub appearances. - Sane 8 goals, 9 assists in 18 PL starts and 7 sub appearances. - Mahrez 6 goals, 3 assists in 12 PL starts and 12 sub appearances. - D. Silva 6 goals, 6 assists in 22 PL starts and 4 sub appearances. - B. Silva 5 goals, 6 assists in 25 PL starts and 4 sub appearances. - Jesus 6 goals, 2 assists in 7 PL starts and 16 sub appearances. Man United: 58 goals in 101 PL games between these players. - Rashford 9 goals, 6 assists in 20 starts and 6 sub appearances. - Lukaku 12 goals, 0 assists in 18 PL starts, 9 sub appearances. - Martial 9 goals, 2 assists in 15 PL starts and 6 sub appearances. - Pogba 11 goals, 9 assists in 26 PL starts and 1 sub appearances. Liverpool: 63 goals in 108 games between these players. - Mane 16 goals, 1 assist in 27 PL starts and 1 sub appearance. - Salah 16 goals, 7 assists in 29 PL starts and 1 sub appearance. - Firmino 11 goals, 4 assists in 26 PL starts and 3 sub appearances. - Shaqiri 6 goals, 2 assists in 11 PL starts and 10 sub appearances. Arsenal: 50 goals in 75 games between these players. - Lacazette, 12 goals, 7 assists in 21 PL starts and 8 sub appearances. - Aubameyang 17 goals, 4 assists in 25 PL starts and 4 sub appearances. - Mkhitaryan 6 goals, 4 assists in 13 PL starts and 4 sub appearances. Tottenham: 57 goals in 119 games between these players. - Kane, 17 goals, 4 assists in 25 PL starts and 1 sub appearance. - Son, 11 goals, 5 assists in 18 PL starts and 6 sub appearances. - Eriksen, 5 goals, 9 assists in 22 PL starts and 5 sub appearances. - Alli, 5 goals, 2 assists in 15 PL starts and 3 sub appearances. - Lucas 6 goals, 0 assists in 18 PL starts and 6 sub appearances. Then us: 59 goals in 142 games between these players. - Hazard 13 goals, 11 assists in 25 PL starts and 3 sub appearances. - Higuain 3 goals, 0 assists in 6 PL starts, 0 sub appearances. - Giroud 1 goal, 4 assists in 6 PL starts, 14 sub appearances. - Pedro 8 goals, 1 assist in 17 PL starts and 7 sub appearances. - Willian 3 goals, 5 assists in 22 PL starts and 5 sub appearances. - Barkley 3 PL goals, 4 assists in 10 PL starts, 12 sub appearances. - RLC 3 PL goals, 0 assists in 1 PL start and 14 sub appearances. The big difference for me is City, Liverpool. United, Spurs and Arsenal more than one guy who is on 10+ goals this season. We used to have that with Drogba, Anelka, Lampard, Malouda, Kalou etc all those years ago. If we had 3 players with 10 plus goals this season so far we'd probably be in the top 4 comfortably. Defence has also conceded some shocking goals this year fair enough but Napoli under Sarri scored a lot of goals. We don't have enough goalscorers in the squad. Pedro and Hazard are comfortably well ahead of everyone else in that regard.

Honestly if he goes to Real, I wont be overly worried. He isn't going to propel Real to the same level Cristiano did, which is what a lot of people are probably expecting and when he doesn't the Spanish media and Real fans will probably do what they've done to Bale, who when he moved to Madrid was probably in a much better position in terms of performances and deciding games on a weekly basis. The harsh reality is he hasn't even propelled us or himself (after a very promising start following the world cup) to the heights you would expect of a player of his quality this season for various reasons, I know it isn't all on him but as we've seen when we go through a bad spell he isn't exactly carrying the team to the extent many would like to make out but I still think this season he could easily of had 20 goals by now, he scored 8 goals and had 5 assists in like the first 10 games. For me, £100m or more for a guy with 12 months on his deal is a no brainer because he has probably decided he wants the move, even more so now Zizou is back in Madrid. It all depends on what happens with Callum and how Pulisic adapts. I dont doubt Eden is 10 times the player the pair of them are combined but we all seen what Sarri did with lesser players at Napoli, the likes of Mertens and Callejon (yes different league and different players but theres no doubt their improvements although being lesser talented played was hugely down to Sarri and how Napoli played - similarly to how much Pedro has improved in comparison to last season in terms of his goal output and some of his general performances). The transfer ban is a kick in the teeth because youd expect us to spend that 100m we get on players but in my eyes right now Kante is the most important player in our squad. If keeping him means losing Eden, then so be it. Goals is what the Real Madrid team are severely lacking and Eden isn't going to make up for the lack of 40-50 goals a season Ronaldo would provide on a yearly basis. I honestly think when he moves and when we look back on Edens time here, there was still things he could have achieved on a personal level, such as hitting higher goals each season because for his talent, which is huge, is something he should have been doing after that second season under Mourinho where he really started to play like one of the top 5-10 players in the world. I know there are arguments about his quality of team mates, how the systems we played and whatever but a world class player can deliver in any system, with many players of different levels.

So back to the Romans gonna sell the club party again is it. Good god.

Hes been good recently but the whole Kante situation was never going to do him any favors. Media have jumped on thay bandwagon. Honestly what does Alan Shearer know about playing as a deep lying midfielder in a 3 man MF? Does he actually watch all 90 minutes Jorginho has played recently? I doubt it. That guy along with many pundits on MOTD and also BT have shown very little knowledge regarding Jorginhos actual role in that team. Hes struggled yes but if somebody who played at a high level cannot see what Jorginho brings to Chelsea then he should really give up with punditry. Being a good footballer or football team is more than just running, being determined and showing desire as these MOTD pundits seem to say every week about one average player or team without fail. Application helps but theres so much more to it.

He was always likely leave in the summer. Even more inevitable now.

Seriously? Im guessing sarcasm but if not I dont know. On Higuain, everytime the ball goes into him, it sticks which helps us when we are building and playing in the final third. His movement is very impressive, for me probably better than Costa's. We need to find him, similarly to the issues Morata had at times, the service did lack. Theres no doubt about it trying to play it to him more often would result in more chances and goals for him. His career speaks for itself, if you give him chances, he will score. 100%. His fitness isn't amazing, Sarri said before Fulham he would need another 2 or 3 weeks or so to get up to full speed so lets give him that chance. Even for not being fully fit you can see in his movement he offers more than Morata, Giroud or Eden as a false 9. Yes he lacks that yard or two of speed but hes never been hugely fast in his career but is fast enough and more importantly enough, clinical enough.

True but physicality isnt something Kante lacks either. For a small guy he is a very combative physical player. Again Ruben for me is still a mystery, due to playing various positions I dont think hes shown a huge amount at CM. Injured or not, still doesnt make it any easier to figure out what he would actually offer other than that physicality and height because is he a better dribbler than Kovacic? No. Is he a better at winning the ball back than Kante? No. Is he better at passing than Jorginho? No. He doesn't even have a huge amount of goals to say hes offering that. Hes not even matched any of Barkleys performances from earlier this season, although neither has Barkley. Like I said one little turn and pass vs City and one assist v Kiev doesn't make me overly confident regarding him playing that role in the long run and if we hadnt been banned for 2 windows LCM would be a position personally I would expect us to stregthen.

Hes had it coached out of him at Inter I feel. They started playing him deeper when he went and not further up where he played in Croatia and for the NT. I dont think hes elevated his game since going to Madrid or being here either which is a shame because he has huge talent which should clearly be noticable in his performances. I accepted he wasnt going to score goals when we signed him but thought his technical attributes and footballing intelligence would more than make up for that. He is good at carrying the ball but that needs to be turned into something productive such as, can he get key passes and assists after that? Or even better, can he score after that?

Honestly I hope we would of gone into the market for another LCM in January. Ruben if he gets fit gives himself a chance but I still dont feel hes the player to nail that position down. One little flick and pass vs Man City in a cup final and one assist v Dynamo Kiev doesnt make up for what has been a rather ordinary season for him.

Thank god somebody said it. This may be his best year of his career at Chelsea statistically but for our best player his inconsistency in performances are scary. We were 1-0 down, against a side who has already beaten us and taken many points off top 6 clubs. 1 point isnt the worst outcome, we lacked in attack again, couldnt break down a hugely disciplined side. Needs improved. Also Emerson and Alonso arent great options at LB. For all the slagging Alonso gets even when plays okay Emerson gets some sort of special treatment especially when his attacking threat is meant to separate him from Marcos. Where was it today?

Decent calibre of player for both Celtic and Rangers. Never gonna be good enough for top 8 or 10 in the PL but I think he has shown hes capable of playing for higher championship/lower PL teams. I dont think he would look out of place at the likes of Fulham (not difficult), Cardiff (not hard either), Huddersfield (not hard either), probably get a game at Southampton considering Yoshida gets a game and Brighton too. If he were to go to Scotland, Celtic would be the better move, although Rangers are getting better slowly but Celtic stand to lose Dedryck Boyata this summer (apparently he will join Rodgers at Leicester) so will want an experienced player to replace him and Kalas fits the bill. Also still has potential resale value.