OneMoSalah

"Chelsea board losing patience for finally being criticised - if you want to call it that - by a manager" perhaps a better and more truthful headline.

He would likely only leave if PSG were to sign Alex Sandro. He'd be forced out more than anything because I would imagine he'd rather stay at Paris anyway but who knows. He won't be cheap if we do go for him.

Is he really a "little off" from those two? Honestly I'd think Neymar is the closest to them and Neymar for me is better than Hazard. Guys like Suarez and Lewandowski (ok they are CFs) are world class attacking players too. He may be one of the best in the world in your eyes but it has to be said there is much more chance of that being in the top 6 -10 as opposed to the top 3 or 4. The consistency is there at times but also it isn't but it is his goal output really let hims down I think. If he was 20-25 a season minimum in the PL people would say yes hes as good as Ronaldo or as good as Neymar.

Based on what? He hasn't played as a right back for about 3 years now, its so obvious hes a DM now so how can you say that? Even then has he ever actually played as a wing back ever? Sure hes a good player but signing a DM to play RWB is just a stupid idea for me.

Think Ronaldo since moving to Madrid, dribbles less and shoots more yeah but his game intelligence is so vastly superior to what it was in the PL I think. He ghosts into spaces, runs less, can still play 1v1 if he needs to etc. Authentically pleasing side of his game gone or not you cannot say he isn't better for it. Figo was excellent player as well I don't disagree. Hazard doesn't need to shoot every time he has the ball but there are so many obvious times where he should and he doesn't, until he gets this ruthless streak or nasty streak whatever you want to call it into his game and starts hitting 20, 25 a season minimum then will he be considered a potential Ballon D'Or winner once the likes of Ronaldo and Messi fade off but I can see Messi being a contender for another few years yet because he is just an irresistible football, he is phenomenal.

Anybody else think losing Azpilicueta would be worse than losing Hazard or Courtouis? Like mentioned above, he has a genuine emotional link with the club and fans, how many others in our squad have the same sort of link? Not many, if any at all. Then throw in his ability on top of that as well as the fact he is a top top top professional.

Hes meant to be quick right? Looks as if hes treading water whenever he gets going. Not good.

Yes maybe but the likes of Messi and Ronaldo have shown that people can put in great performances consistently and also score lots and lots of goals. That is why people regard Ronaldo and Messi the best of all time (disagree about Ronaldo but Messi is definitely the best of all time) That is probably now a days what people expect from the worlds best. Hazards goal output will continue to hold him back in these things.

I wouldn't say hes not world class but I get what you mean, he doesn't have those goals and assists to put him up there with world class attacking players and quite frankly I don't think he ever will even hit over 20 a season in a league season. Which is why I think as a second striker he can do better. He is just too laid back, sure he will play excellent in some games and look at a level above everybody in the PL but the guys like Messi, Neymar, Ronaldo, Dybala... they are constantly striving to beat somebodies goal tallies or to beat their previous tallies. Ronaldo and Messi are superhuman in comparison to everyone else (well Messi is a different level to Ronaldo entirely for me but), I think somebody like Neymar or Dybala has more chance of winning the Ballon D'Or than Hazard, because they are driven to be the number 1 player in the world, Neymar left for PSG so he wasn't in Messi's shadow.. that says it all. Dybala is probably going to leave Juventus in the summer or next for a huge club and become a top 3 or top 5 player in the world. Defenders are also extremely underappreciated when it comes to these sort of things but different story for a different day. Its frustrating because we all know how good Eden is and he clearly knows but he seems very comfortable to stay at the level hes on. Not that hes lazy or that etc but its just a minor flaw I think, hes confident but he isn't looking to surpass what hes done in football, sure it may sound like he should be more selfish yeah and it might hurt the team but Ronaldo and Messi have won these awards churning out these amazing numbers and consistency for years when their teams win massive titles or not. Like mentioned in other threads, on this forum and other social media platforms as well as the fanbase at games, there is a percentage who seem to believe than Eden cannot get any better because hes at Chelsea as opposed to what I think, that hes not as driven or ambitious as a Neymar, Messi, Ronaldo etc. He could become a top 3-5 attacking player in the world here, only he can do it though. Which is why I laugh every time I see "he needs to leave to play with players of a similar quality" but for me, the great players can make those around them look good.

Why loan him? Palmieri hasn't signed but its obvious he will make the move even if Dzeko doesn't. Its odd we haven't tried to get Schalke to buy him, every time we loan him for 6 months we lose 6 months value off whats remaining on his contract - may sound stupid but why not sell him for 10-15m euros and be done with it?

Haha. Not like Zidane is picking players to sign at Real, hes obviously a yes man. He'd probably fit here alright in that regard. But we need somebody willing to demand a shake up of the club from top to bottom if Conte goes in the summer (ideally he would be the man to do it and has probably tried to get more power in that regard). Only way to make progress is to implement changes at the top, not get rid of Roman before somebody thinks that what I mean but he gets rid of the deadwood like Maria, unless she does an Emenalo.

Haha. Dont be saying that, its Hazard FC not Chelsea FC remember?!?!?!

He had played 0 minutes this season bar like an hour in a closed door friendly last week? I mean honestly for fuck sakes give the man a chance. Hes going to need time to build his match fitness, like others had said in previous threads from the game last night, he wasn't ready to play that length of time and I agree but the Willian injury was unfortunate. Didn't think Barkley was completely invisible but in terms of being willing to take the ball on the half turn and drive forward he did alright. That is a big part of his game. I don't see the likes of Baka or Kante taking it on the spin and doing the same. He gives us a different option. People were willing to give Baka time to build his match fitness at start of the season because he didn't get a pre-season with the club due to injury/duration his transfer took as well as Eden who was injured so I think its only fair that somebody who last played last season is given the same chance to build match fitness. Suppose you won't be the only person to think he was invisible but take that into account. Nobody compared him to Lampard, Lampard basically was a box to box midfielder who scored goals, Ross Barkley is a number 10, maybe eventually he will be somebody who can play as the most advanced midfielder or a deeper role but for now I see him as an attacking midfielder. He has the potential to be moulded into a more disciplined/box to box player yes but give it time.

No more defensive midfielders please. We have more urgent issues like wing backs, back up striker and a more creative midfield player (nothing wrong with Cesc but we need somebody who can alternate with him, see Barkley more as a attacking midfielder than a deeper one, plus his skill set is more suited to playing further up).

Right mould of player but don't think he has shown anything at Inter to prove he was worth the money they paid, which is why West Ham will probably be his next destination as opposed to us or Arsenal or whoever else have been previously linked. If he picks up at West Ham and is there on loan only then yeah food for thought but I've seen him at Inter and hes not always played a lot but even the previous season he was very meh.

Tbf I seen in unread content, an article titled something about fans turning on Rudiger because after an "embarrassing performance" or something. But was he really that bad? No. He was severely unlucky. If people are turning on him because of two unlucky incidents they need to have a long look at themselves. Also in the same article, believe its one on this site it says "the German international has looked shaky at times this term, despite keeping seven clean sheets in a row prior to tonight’s game. There was very little he could have done about the Gunners’ first goal, with the ball cannoning off his head and finding the back of the net, nor the assist he provided for the second. However, he was continually being caught out of position and ultimately it provided with Arsenal several opportunities to have a go at goal. Chelsea fans didn’t take well to the performance, either." Shaky? Really? I think hes been quite good, actually, hes gone under the radar. Like BlueLion has said above, one ill fated performance doesn't take anything away from him as a player and what hes shown he is capable of. No disrespect to the article writer but I think shaky this term and continually being caught out of position in last nights game (he wasn't really, didn't do much wrong bar those incidents prior to goal, which again he couldnt really do anything about them) is extremely unfair for a guy who has been solid since coming in and bar two dodgy deflections, which 9 times out of 10 probably wouldn't go directly in the path of a opposition player hasn't really made any huge mistakes. Also Twitter is very annoying for me now too because people just tweet utter shite without thinking, guys who criticise good players and crucify them for mistakes, as well as continually critiquing managers and not the likes of Emenalo, Maria, Roman etc. Sure Roman has been a huge influence and vital to Chelsea becoming a European super club as we'd be considered now, or particularly when talking about finances etc. but hes also gave too much power to clueless advisers (Emenalo/Maria) in his time and that decisions will continuously hurt us until they are replaced by "football people" as you could put it or give the manager more control.

Maybe and yes blame can be evenly distributed (Costa situation in particular) but still, its a constant revolving door here with that sort of mentality. In a season or twos time it will be "Sack manager X" "Hire manager Y" and for me, that is just an endless cycle of pointless bullshit. Get behind the manager. 'And at the end of the day, Conte hasn't found a way to maximise results with these players' Have you watched most of the games this year? Considering the lack of investment, more games (not best excuse sure but true in comparison to last season) and whatever else, hes done a pretty sound job this season on top of last seasons miracle. It was obvious the Manc clubs were going to be top 2 because they spent heavily, they didn't lose anybody. We didn't, in fact I'd say we weakened ourselves more than anything. Conte may be out of ideas tactically but lets no forget you put 2 better wing backs in our team (Walker/Sandro - like what was wanted in summer) we'd be a totally different outfit. He talks about work but sometimes talent or ability has to be there, you can only make Marcos Alonso or Victor Moses a certain level of player through hard work and determination or tactical systems, these guys are normally reliable but aren't elite level players. Chelsea may be attractive still yes but at the rate we are going with this revolving door because I have no doubt there will be a parting of ways come the summer, it will stop being attractive soon enough. There is only so many excellent coaches out there and in my eyes we have one of the best but are making him operate with his hands behind his back. Also we've had the likes of Ranieri, Benitez, Ancelotti, Mourinho (twice), Hiddink (twice), Conte in the last 15+ years, there has been success yes but there will be the same patterns and no success (PL titles, FA cups, CL. Carabo Cup whatever else) over a period too and if the club doesn't evaluate these problems, patterns and look at the system of working up stairs it might never be anywhere near as successful ie Liverpool or Arsenal. Its obvious Conte hasn't helped himself along the way but again the guy won the PL with a team that finished 9th or 10th. If he leaves he'll find another job.

Tbf Barkley, having played next to 0 football this season (think he’s a good player but needs time to get used to us and vice versa) or Batshuayi, who is pretty useless (okay he was decent v Brighton but in 18 months how often can we go “yeah he played decent?”), isn't exactly a great choice to have. I am surprised Batshuayi didn’t start but again not surprised he didn’t throw him on when Willian got injured because last 20 mins Arsenal defenders are tired etc more chance of him doing something I feel. Plus it’s so obvious he doesn’t trust him. Not even worth loaning him out just sell him, talk about stunting your career.

Tibo is not irreplaceable? He’s one of the best GKs In the world alongside Neuer, Oblak and De Gea. Ludicrous to say otherwise.

😂 You’ve got to be joking right? What makes you think Luis Enrique is going to come here and do any better than Conte? What makes you think he’s going to come here ahead of Bayern or PSG where’s he been heavily linked for months? Who in the right mind would choose Chelsea over Bayern or PSG? Open cheque book at PSG, excellently run club and usually managers get full backing at Bayern while trying to also keep the tradition of youth coming through and German spine. Complete disarray at Chelsea in management and heirarchy. It’s a no brainier? Plus the managers are not the problem. The way the club is run is the problem. When will people start seeing this? Mourinho despite his flaws not backed fully, Conte not backed fully, manager X or Y will not be backed fully until people upstairs shift their “oh we won the league in year X or a year ago we will be ok” mentality and totally change the whole process/way of recruitment. It’s not as simple as ok sack him and give this guy the job and the sooner people realise this the better, does my fucking nut in.

First time I’ve looked at Kante and thought what is he doing, having an awful game. Bakayoko outplaying him. Not that Baka is playing badly, he’s really trying to pick his level up a bit by looks of last few games.

I would disagree in all fairness. The SPL (think its improving gradually) in terms of quality is probably less than the championship. Dembele is a good prospect but again overrated. 500K was a steal for Celtic because of the whole rule difference for signing u21 players in Scotland, then his age, he'll always improve, make a profit for them but honestly Tammy scored 20 odd goals in a worse Championship side, in his first season of senior football, than Dembele who only scored 14 or 15 for Fulham the season before his move to Celtic. He uses his body better I feel but Tammy has shown at Swansea he isn't necessarily a target man for instance, hes able to play with his back to goal but he likes running in behind teams more often than not, he has real pace for a big guy, hes like 6 ft 4 or something so looks awkward but he can shift. Again, mentioned it in another post in here, I think Dembele hasn't been in Celtic team regularly this year due to injuries, loss of form, consistency issues and that may have hindered his stats but even his performances when hes played haven't mirrored anything close to last season. I watched the Celtic-Motherwell cup final a while back and he was incredibly poor. He scored a penalty I think but his general performance was nothing like he had shown last year in the SPL or even in the CL in some games.

Think hes got potential to grow into a good player but right now his numbers are pretty poor in terms of goals and assists. Seen him play v Everton in Europa League and he really gave their backline a hard match, they struggled with him and his physicality and ability to hold the ball up for his team.

If Conte can get us through against Barca with this squad then he should be given every chance to stay on next season although regardless he should be given chance. Barca were widely expected to be ordinary this season but they are anything but, really solid defensively and lethal in front of goal. It would be an incredible result to go through I think considering the likes of Messi, Suarez, Iniesta all have come to the fore for them recently in last few weeks as well as the additions of Coutinho and Dembele being back to fitness. I think if we get this double deal over the line, beat Arsenal convincingly then the feel good factor will return. Barkley, Dzeko, Emerson.. not amazing signings but boost the squad and can bring a bit more in certain games, particularly Dzeko and Barkley. Very unsure of Emerson although if he was a player Conte identified then I imagine he'll be a good signing.

Laporte is perfect for us, he'd be excellent in that LCB role. What a player.