OneMoSalah

I think the board must be largely blamed for where we could find ourselves very soon. If Sarri is on the brink or if those comments are to be lead to another downturn of form and his sacking, surely they must go cmon guys weve had 4 managers (Mou, Hiddink, Conte, Sarri) in the last 4 or 5 years. Everytime weve won we have stopped and stood still, never taken the initiative to improve. Mou wanted a CB, a LB and another winger the season he got sacked and got dross players in that regard. Conte wanted Bonucci, Alex Sandro and Candreva but instead he got Luiz, Alonso, Emerson and Zappacosta over 2 years. Poor squad building has put us back a bit.

This is why I kept the username. Love it when it rubs people up the wrong way. Had it changed the year we signed Salah from Basel beating Liverpool to getting him when Mourinho was here 😂 Ive probably never said much about Salah at Liverpool in comparison to Eden so your comment or dig there is pretty much bullshit but anyway, nice to see you made such an assumption like Im a bigger Salah fan off a silly username but like I said up there, thats the reason.... Nothing about hating him. I gave my two cents, I don't feel hes really improved a great deal and I get the feeling his mind is made up too regarding his future. I said several times hes world class in that post and many others but getting consistency at that level has always been a huge issue for him. Im not saying play like thay 38 games a year no but 10 or so at a time, I cant remember the last time hes ever done that. The first 6 games this seasom he was playing excellent, arguably the best hes ever played here but since then hes levelled out again and been hit and miss. Fair enough there is always gonna be the Hazard FC club here as there has been for a while, hes done a lot to deserve respect and I do acknowledge hes playing out of position but a player of that much ability can do much better regardless if its a different position. Also regarding other players at other teams as top players doesnt mean people hate their own teams players. Football is about appreciation, if you cant appreciate or admire good players at teams other than your own whats the point. And yes Belgium NT is hardly the Spain 2010 or 2008 team, it has de Bruyne and Eden who are world class players but wouldn't say that player for player their starting 11 is amazing.

Tbf I dont think for Chelsea, Eden has really improved a huge deal in the last 2 seasons. He seems to have hit a wall here, a level which he's clearly content to be at, although when hes onform hes one of the best in Europe but that consistency to deliver at that level has never been there, even in title winning seasons, he still yoyos his performances a lot. Good for 2 or 3 games then average for 2 or 3. In those poor seasons under Mourinho and Conte, he was very much below average 75% of the time, which for a world class player is not acceptable. You cant always blame who he to play with, he openly admitted last season he hadn't been playing well for 3 months in the winter time. How many world class players go on a 3 month bad spell? I really really dont think hed be any better at a Real or Barca if he was playing at his highest level like when he does here. Weird though He always seems to go up a gear for Belgium and their team is hardly that much better than ours. No doubts about David Silva for me, he is one of the best PL players at the moment, still gutted we never got him back when City leapfrogged us to get him all those years ago. I think he'll always be quite an underrated player for non City fans but I would argue hes been one of the best PL players for a lot of years now. Hes everything Mata would of been if he could retain the ball very well under pressure. Football intelligence, great final pass, scores goals, good dribbler... under Pep hes gotten even better playing in that team as an 8 really.

If he thinks its tough to motivate the players then maybe he should advise the club to sell some them and change the dynamic. Some of the guys have been here for a long time with mixed levels of success. Sir Alex Ferguson was always unbelievable at breaking up a successful squad or team when the point was right. Maybe its time to consider letting a few guys go, guys whos heads are perhaps not fully in it, because we cant keep having this swapping managers but players still not being motivated. Coaches have to motivate yes but if players can only be motivated for a short spell what's the point? Their obviously not hungry or have the desire to compete year in year out. Or to push to a higher level.

I agree 100% People thought Pep was daft trying to play his style of football with Bravo, Otamendi, Zabaleta and Kolorov. A year later they steamrolled the league because they upgraded their weakenesses. I didnt expect an easy ride this year under Sarri because it was so clear that Conte maximized almost everything he could out of what we had when we won the league. It didnt work the following season because we weren't good enough and sold 2 key players in Costa and Matic, both who were very good and have never been replaced properly. We finished 5th last season, weve hardly massively improved any position on the pitch bar the addition of Jorginho but that also comes at the loss of what Cesc could offer. Glaring issues are still there, left back, right wing and upfront. Throw in the lack of movement or productivity from our front 3 and midfield... even more glaring issues. I think if Sarri gets next season it will be a lot better yes, but that also depends on improving the squad and first 11. Which very much lies with the board more than Sarri due to his reluctance to be involved with the market.

Yeah I think hes world class but when he wants to be. Playing out on the left is his best position, fair enough he can do a lot more in that false 9 role at times but its square pegs in round holes. 100% agree the front of the team wont work without a proper focal point in there, seen how much more effectice we are with Hasselbaink, Drogba, Costa etc in the past, players with a good physical presence to go with their ability. I know Giroud isnt amazing but I am shocked Sarri is persisting with the false 9 instead of using Giroud which would give us another option of playing a bit more direct. Regarding behind the scenes, I have concerns regarding that for transfers as Sarri says hed rather focus on what happens on the pitch than the market. Conte was stubborn in that regard and it ultimately led to fractures throughout which probably led to costing him his job along with a few big player fallings out and results. Now I fear Sarri saying yes to every player the club will target as opposed to himself could end up doing something similar, its obvious we need surgery on this team but if the club are going to do what they do usually and sign poorly then yeah big questions will be asked. Sarri should look to rotate more, a lot of guys are out of form and fatigued, this busy period is killing them.

Good player for us. Real snip at 7m. Deserved to captain us as well I think being our longest serving player. Hopefully does well at Fulham to get him a contract there if they stay up, can imagine Ranieri will appreciate someone of his experience.

False 9 has to go. 100% never again. Hazard is a world class player but you can tell he hates playing that position. Again, all this Sarri out bullshit is daft... and anyway we've kinda rolled the dice for managers. Who next then? Eddie Howe? Sean Dyche? David Wagner? 😂 half of yous couldnt wait to see the back of Conte and now it would seem the same with Sarri. Doesn't really matter whos in charge, the team needs work, regardless of the manager. So suck it up and get behind what we have the now.

Restricted football (which I would hardly agree with, Barca are just a lot more solid and perhaps more patient with the ball than they were under Enrique, who liked to have quick transitions at any chance as well as possession but not as obsessive as Pep was about it) or not he has still struggled to assert any sort of authority for Barca or even for Brazil (despite Tite's insistence on using him there) in that CM position. He was only ever really really good at Liverpool playing off the front as a 10 or from the left hand side.

Coutinho has been terrible for Barca in CM. He was bought to play in that more attacking CM role but his best football at Barca has been on the wings....

Great LB but hes looked defensively susprct almost everytime hes been involved here this season? If Alonso played as badly as Emerson did v Derby I would of hated to see the thread on here. Emerson was awful.

Precisely but folk are under the illusion that hes better than Alonso because they dont like Alonso, who as average as he can be is well ahead of Emerson. Same with every RW in history being better than Willian because they dont like Willian.

Better tactically, defensively, technically, aerielly.... Emerson is faster than Alonso and better at taking people on in 1v1s thats about it. Everything else he is inferior. If Alonso wasnt Alonso people would complain about how poor our back up LB is and thats a fact.

Fair to say hes arguably beem one of the top 5 GKs in PL history. Seen people saying De Gea is now a PL great, think they are hugely overstepping the mark a bit because as good as he currently is hes not been as successful, only won 7 trophies where as Cech has won 18. Schmeichel has 15... Surely being successful and a great player has to make the decision regarding these things. Anyway back onto Cech, fantastic career. Absolutely top pro. Hopefully he goes into coaching, a very smart man who has plenty to offer, maybe here in some capacity?

Hiding Nutellas jesus has the sun got nothing more exciting regarding tbe transfer? Glad im not a pro footballer my eating habits would be fairly exposed 😂

Yeah hes still a bit of an enigma for me. Was always going to be difficult for him, he got like 3 goals and 4 assists or something in a full season at Palace as a wide player. Hes improved a bit but hardly overwhelmingly. Hes not a CM for me, maybe a 10 maybe a winger. Conte tried him as a striker.... Mourinho as a DM... Hodgson as a winger... Southgate as a 8.... and his current manager has used him as a 8 and a RW with mixed results so yeah, difficult to see what way his career will pan out in the long run because at 22 or 23 you need a settled position.

Kepa Azpi Rudiger Luiz Alonso Kante Jorginho Barkley Pedro Hazard CHO Something like that. Be a false 9 again. Kova and Willian maybe play instead of Ross and CHO but think Ross' presence and stature could be useful in there.

Think Pedro has to start at RW rest of the season if hes fit. Unless he plays poorly. His off the ball movement would be sorely missed. Also Luiz always seems to find him tucked in running behind teams or holding his position out wide with long passes. Hes the only willing runner in that front 3, even if he doesnt get it hes not scared to make a run in behind. Everyone else comes short more or less every time.

15m? Would be a bargain.

We have Ross and Kova for those more advanced roles. We need a back up to Jorginho and maybe one for Kante (unless Kova is used there but think Sarri sees him more advanced on the left?)

Yeah its something along that lines. I think CHO seen this coming regarding not playing regularly anyway. In 2018, he only signed a 2 year pro deal which is believed to only have been that long due to Chelseas record with bringing players through. Hes obviously a smart kid, who has been well advised (if it was at another club we'd all agree), how often do you see youngsters sign 5 year deals and not play a lot for 2 or 3 years of it before being sold off? If he will actually play regularly at Bayern is another story but https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-6584995/Callum-Hudson-Odoi-wants-allowed-join-Bayern-Munich-35m-deal.html

Is it any surprise anyway he's trying to cross to statues like Hazard, Willian.... half the time who arent in the box (particularly Eden when playing as a 9)...comparing crossing rates in a team who constantly try and play through the middle of the pitch is probably pointless anyway. Hence why he has 3 assists this season and Azpi has 2. No target man most weeks. No desire to play through the wings. Everything comes central. Predictable. Easy to defend. No variation. I mean even Morata scored 2 goals when CHO decided to cross the ball in from wide areas....

No option to buy. Great.....

Wont happen. 100%. Would be a dream but doubt we are dropping at least 100m and like 7-10m a year wages for Icardi.

Dont get this hes overweight thing, hes always been stocky when in Italy with Napoli and Juve. Even the last year at Madrid he was more filled out. I think the one year he was too big was when Sarri got him to change his routine and he had the best season in his career. Hes not at that size now. For me Higuain is a win-win for us, good player and shows the clubs willing to back Sarri.