OneMoSalah

Honestly I think Kante-Jorginho-Kovacic is our best MF 3 still. Has a nice blend of everything, except for physical size, which isn't necessarily important but useful in some games. Kantes role is still vital, gives the team balance in MF. If you remove Kante the midfield is too offensive minded, too unbalanced. I am not saying Kante is Busquets but that great Barca teams MF needed Busquets because he offered balance without the ball, Kante is similar in a different way, he is the only out of the three that positionally understands the defensive roles of a midfielder, Kovacic gets stuck in and has come leaps and bounds since his Inter days but can still be caught out positionally, which is something which attributed towards not being trusted at Madrid in big games if they had MF injuries. I mean still Kante averages 2 tackles and 1.8 interceptions a game. Fair enough it's not the stats he usually gets but in a possession based team recovering the ball is still important and there's not any better than Kante in the world at it. Kovacic averages 1.4 tackles per game and 0.4 a game, Ruben averages 0.8 tackles and 0.2 interceptions a game, Cesc averages 0.5 tackles a game and 0.3 interceptions, Jorginho averages 1.6 tackles and 1 interception per game and Ross averages 0.5 tackles and 0.3 interceptions per game. Kantes role is exactly the same as Allan's was for Sarri at Napoli. The best way to fit him in is in a 3 man MF or Sarri wouldn't do it if he didnt believe he suited the role... unless you know more than Sarri.. It seems balance is still the most underrated concept in football. Even City and Liverpool have got good balance now. You can have 70% of the ball but if your not able to have some balance of some sort in your team you'll concede goals left right and centre.

After Ramos' comments as well as Perez' influence on transfers its not a surprise Conte isn't going there. Probably a smart move in all fairness. Think he will end up back at Juve eventually, Allegri is still a wanted man (Real, United and Bayern all been linked and mentioned in the past a lot) and if he manages CL success with that Juve team it would be ideal time for him to go I think.

Tbf playing Kante as a DM is going to affect our play. Kante is decent with the ball but Jorginho and Cesc offer so much more from that position, which is key to helping beat a press or get through the lines faster. Just look at when Conte played Kante as a 6 in 433/4141 against West Ham, Liverpool, Arsensl etc, he did a good job defensively but looking back on it we struggled to get through the lines and had to work the ball round another way to get into the final third. With Jorginho or Cesc we can go straight into more dangerous positions as a result of this, getting to the front players quicker as well as retaining possession better because these guys constantly want the ball every time the CBs, FBs or GK have it and know when to pick the correct pass through the lines or when to keep it simple. Id imagine on average the deepest lying midfield player (Jorginho/Cesc) completes the more passes and has more touches than anybody else in this team, so giving Kante that role and that responsibility could affect things massively. Plus i like seeing him in this new role think he has got so much to offer, similarly to Allan who played it for Napoli. Kantes biggest strength is winning the ball back and intercepting it for me, which in a team who want to have 60% of the ball or more, always be on the front foot, that skills much more useful higher up when we lose it. Having him in that playmaker role is a waste and would disrupt how we play.

Tbf looking on how the game went, the pair of Kovacic and Kante had to play, they give us plenty of energy in MF. Maybe he could have dropped one of them and used Ruben more centrally or used Ross but had Pedro not been brought off the other week then he'd probably have started and we might have seen that. Again, he's not hugely known for rotatiom and you can see why perhaps. The back 4 was all over the place because they've hardly played together, the spaces between the defence and MF was quite alarming (been an issue with our first 11 at times never mind a second string team).

Kovacic has to be first choice. Ramsey is a good player but if we have to choose one or the other it's an easy choice. Fact Arsenal are willing to let him go for free says a lot too... also Liverpool 😂 he's never gonna get a game, is he stupid? Keita is the more advanced player in that MF, Lallana can play there too.. then they have Oxlade Chamberlain too...

Surprised Barca willing to get rid of him he started the season on fire for them, arguably their key player for first 5 or 6 games.

Honestly Christensen was just as poor I felt. Didn't matter who he took off if the defence didn't play as bad he'd of been able to make positive changes. Pedro needed minutes, thought Ruben plays well but was a sensible sub to make.

Cahill, Christensen and Emerson all were shocking defensively. Christensen wants more game time then he has to improve ten times over, even with the ball offers nowhere near what Luiz or Rudi can, can't break the lines and always seems to be more concerned with going backwards or sideways when he can look forward. Cahill is finished here, shocking on the ball, pass to Cesc before that Derby goal was shocking, gave Cesc no chance. Emerson looked decent going forward but struggled coming back.

A lot more creative than Pedro as well I would say. Brilliant player when it comes to receiving the ball on the half turn, always forward thinking, not very very quick but good in 1v1s, decisive in the final third, still room to improve. His form at Milan the past 2 years has been impressive considering their struggles for consistency.

I think if Hazard resigns then signing Kovacic should be the next logical step along with recruiting a top striker and another CB in January or the summer. He really is a key part of the team, he may not always play with Ruben/Ross also available but he can play Kantes position as well as that more advanced role. Also his current age and the fact hes still got a lot of growing to do is even more attractive in terms of signing him. Having 5 or 6 top MF options is excellent and we've lacked this for a while, Jorginho, Cesc, Kante, Ross, Ruben and Kova is the competitive MF options we need to keep everybody on their toes. No need to keep the likes of Bakayoko and Drinkwater either if we get this deal done. Hope Sarri and him push to get this move done for the summer.

Hendrichs struggled at Leverkusen last season, he has talent but it wouldn't necessarily be an instant improvement this is the real world not FIFA or PES. Also Azpi will still be the undoubted starter still. Also again Pellegri May be extremely talented and maybe a special player one day but that won't happen here, he'd be farmed out on loan 4 or 5 times lets not kid ourselves. Reece James is a right back. 1000%. Jay Dasilva is a left back. Perhaps who your thinking of. Guys like Lazaro, Hakimi etc need to prove themselves still, not even half a season in yet. Benjamin Pavard for me will be a top RB though, absolutely top class defensively solid and able to go forward. Been keeping an eye on him for a few seasons now and world cup he was excellent.

Personally thought he was pretty good today. The dive wasn't great but the guy doesn't get enough credit when he does play wel, always gets criticized.

Starting to improve on a weekly basis the last few months. Cost 15m, was shrewd move, offers plenty if starting or off the bench. Still prefer him to Ruben in all honesty but Ruben also continuing to grow.

Perhaps but again I don't think it was a clear opportunity for him to go for the ball. Was a poor goal to concede though, which is why I'm not sure if zonal marking is the long term solution, teams with runners from set pieces attacking the ball will always have the advantage on standing players.

Id be more concerned about using zonal marking to be fair. Never been a fan.

Tierney will eventually outgrow and be fwr too good for Celtic and in terms of British players at his age, he is one of the best out there and also very experienced considering he's played over 150 games for Celtic and Scotland combined, winning trophies left right and centre as well as being an influential figure in the dressing room (already captained Celtic multiple times and also Scotland at a young age). Only because he's Scottish and playing for Celtic is he seriously overlooked. If he was playing PL club's he'd have as much hype as Luke Shaw had at Southampton who was considered one of the best u23 LBs in europe if not the best at that time. Easily. Celtic if they ever sell Tierney will get 30m or 35m minimum I reckon bevause he's the real deal. The whole the Scottish Prem is a joke thing is a bit of a arrogant statement, particularly for somebody who I assume doesnt watch it or makes quick based assumptions, the standards maybe not as competitive but its at least at about championship level and even then with the money difference the gaps not as massive as people think, I watch both leagues quite often and wouldn't say playing championship is that much better. SPL clubs play young guys, sure the academies aren't as good as PL or other European leagues but there's always young players breaking through, club's like Huddersfield dont even have an academy and won't be the first or last PL team to do this in the future because they can throw money at young players. I think playing at a Celtic or Rangers every week infront of 50,000+ fans in a competitive environment is perfect for developing youngsters, managers like Rodgers, McInnes, Lennon and Gerrard having huge influences on young players. Just look at guys such as Fraser Forster, Virgil van Dijk, Victor Wanyama and Moussa Dembele have all moved from the Celtic in the last 10 years to club's and have very good careers (could argue if they were playing in Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal they'd cost double as much at least of what they did from Celtic). Its not all due to the SPL but Id argue Van Dijk and Wanyama could have played for a top 6 team before they all moved from Southampton to Spurs/Pool no problem at all. Moussa Dembele will be a regular French NT player soon and move on from Lyon eventually although he'd easily be able to play for a slightly smaller PL club then get a big move not long after. Also for instance, Charly Musonda failed in Scotland because he wasn't good enough when he did play in this so called "joke league" 6 months after people thought he should be playing in our first team under Conte. Even in the academies big teams are signing lots of hugely talented Scottish players with out fail every season, many who go on to never play and waste their careers. So the Scottish standard can't be that bad. The money is the only thing that holds it back, if the SPL was getting how ever many millions the PL get it would be the same lots of smaller club's spending big money. It's always the same though, European players are considered more appealing options to club's because they can buy ready made players instead of using youth. For me, the Bundesliga is the best league in the world in that regard because its the only one where every team has an incentive to grow their own players and also be competitive hence why Germany were so successful. British football has had the arse torn out of it with money. Million pound academies and nobody in the top 4 is bringing young players through regularly.

Would love it if Conte went there and benched him. Would be ironic. He wasn't even wanted by Lopetegui....

Remember when we thought there's no way Hazard would ever want to work with Jose again? He said about 2 weeks ago he would want to work with him again... I very much doubt Conte going to Real is going to massively swing his decision to abandon a childhood dream playing in Spain for Real who he recently called the "best team in the world" especially if Florentino Perez decides he wants to sign Hazard like he did Ronaldo, Kaka, Bale, Benzema, Alonso etc not caring for his managers thoughts. For all we know Hazard will probably end up with a similar quote regarding Conte some day.

A lack of rotation and lack of intergrating youngsters isn't just a Sarri problem (although he's known for not rotating his players a lot). These things were problems under Conte and Mourinho too. I agree Luiz, Willian, Pedro, Alonso aren't the best players but they are tried and trusted or have won the managers trust. For a new manager in a high pressure environment where we've sacked people for finishing second like Ancelotti, who was introducting youngsters into the squad at the time, it's easy to see why he's doing this and it's stupid to automatically assume other wise. Even Guardiola would do the same here (he's never brought through any young players from the academy since his days at Barca who've gone on to become regulars). Plan B is Giroud I think but considering Morata has been poor, it's difficult. Regarding CHO, do you change a unbeaten team? Who other than Morata look more than decent enough? Regarding CHO and his potential I would like to see him play but realistically people have to understand he has a lot to do to get ahead of Pedro and Willian in the pecking order. There will be pressure on Sarri to be competitive this season and win something if he can. This is Chelsea Football Club and that pressure always exists here. Talking about the rot wirh the board and transfers, we've got a manager who says he doesn't care about the market as much, so don't expect any huge changes. Its the same people except we dont have Mourinho or Conte in charge who wanted more of a say. Also players and motivation levels one year after winning the title under Jose and Conte too was a big part of our downfall. The last two paragraphs, your obviously well educated but it's not always that complicated. Also things regarding finances, projections, Romans political situation you cannot predict that and it would be daft to do so or even claim to consider it in the long run, this is the first time I've ever seen someone mention SWOT when discussing football.... some of those things really are completely irrelevant to what goes on on the pitch. Maybe some could have effects but I think your seriously overcomplicating things. Regarding a lot from the last few pages, Sarri said we were behind City and Liverpool, I mean we all knew that so its a bit early to start panicking or questioning things like a lack of Rotation/youth players playing 4 or 5 months into a coaches career when we are unbeaten in the league too and changing our style massively. Fans can be fickle, we won trophies under Conte and Mourinho but people wanted them out for various reasons. Sarri has done a good job so far. We've conceded a lot of big chances which concerns me but so far so good.

Jesus I suppose some people will never be happy. Sarri needs time and the chance to build his team, anyone expecting a quick change and winning everything instantly are in for a big shock. We played United off the park first half.... KDB didn't come through academy, I get it he's some player now but shit happens and he couldn't displace Willian Oscar or Schurrle st the time who were competing for 2 positions and a space on the bench. CHO is 17 years old, he's got huge potential but Jody Morris was right when he said in sky he's not ready for first team football every week. Fully adapted? Don't be daft why do you think Sarri kept saying we need time and it could take a year to fully get used to his style.

If anybody doesn't think his new contract is deserved then I don't know what to say. Absolutely crucial in Conte's first season (the system won us the league and Marcos and Victor were huge components in making it work) and has chipped in with some big goals since coming here. Sure he's not really fast, defensively the best, offensively the best or whatever but in his seasons here he has been one of our better players and that is the truth. Also has had a really good goal and assists output as well as have been pretty consistent in performances can't remember him having a really bad game at all. The interest from Real Madrid/Barcelona must have been genuine and regular international call ups probably gave more incentive to the club, along with his performances to renew his deal.

Tbf we completely outplayed United in the first half with those "rubbish players on". Second half they were a lot better tactically and got to grips with our midfielders and started getting beyond Jorginho more and more, which I think will be a issue at times still as the team adapts (the gaps between the defence and midfield is still too big at time). Theres plenty of positive signs but there was a stat that we've conceded a lot of clear cut chances this season so far, think it's the most out of the top 6 teams. The defence is still an issue for me, David Luiz in particular, for everything he offers on the ball cannot defend in a 2 man pairing. Rudiger is really coming into his own I feel and will continue to thrive under Sarri, the guys got everything. This giving youth a chance thing is the same every year. Regardless of manager, always comes up, people complain about why they don't play young player x or y.... seriously every year, does anybody genuinely expect any different? Who was the last guy who actually gave several young players a lot of minutes? Ancelotti? Ffs that was almost 10 years ago. Hudson Odoi had a better chance of playing last season when Hazard Willian and Pedro were out of form at the start of 2018, now Hazard is in top form and Pedro was playing well when he was in the team so its not easy to justify playing him over those 2 or even Willian who's a senior player who's been tried and tested. The culture of the club and its history doesn't help the manager or the young players. We are still unbeaten and still adapting to Sarri's style. Plenty of positives and more to come yet.

No chance we land him in January. Inter would consider selling in the summer if he wanted to leave but can't see them sanctioning his sale mid season. Top striker though, wasn't sure if he'd ever be more than a goalscorer but hes brought so much more to his game the last few seasons, a complete striker.

Why sign a right back and a 18 year old striker, regardless how good he could be, who would in all likelihood never play? While getting rid of one of the best young CBs in Europe to resign a average one? This is not FIFA. It's not as easy as that. Ake, for me is still an average CB, he'd fill the homegrown quota and be an option but he's hardly an improvement on anything we have, he's not an improvement on Christensen so getting rid of him for a RB when we've got 2 already (as well as Ola Aina and Reece James out on loan), a 18 year old striker who'd never play (he's even been linked back with a loan move to Italy).. would be idiotic at best. Christensen should have a bit of patience and faith, he will be a regular soon enough.

Couldn't see why Juventus would ever want to resign Pogba , their MF was so balanced and played so well tonight, Pjanic controlling the game with Matuidi and Bentacur prowling either side of him and causing problems both ways for United in terms of recovering the ball and getting beyond them. Pogba is a very expensive player for a guy who only shows up for 25-30 minutes each week, don't know if it's exactly fair to just blame Jose Mourinho because its been 3 seasons now and I've yet to see a standout game where he's dominated it from start to finish. Not sure what sort of player he is trying to be either, a playmaker, a destroyer, box to box?? He does good things then totally stupid things like switching off or letting somebody run off him far too easily. Juve play like that in most big games and they'll make CL semis at least I think. Joao Cancelo looked class, great variation in his play offensively, comfortable coming inside or staying on the outside as well as being more than competent defensively which was something I wasn't sure after that loan at Inter where he looked naive defensively at times. 40M euros is a sound long term investment for Juve. Ronaldo gives them the x factor upfront with Dybala.