OneMoSalah

Tbf making forward runs isn't really part of his game. Cesc should be doing that more than DD out of the two of them, getting into the box because he is a greater goal threat. It was interesting watching them both interchange and take turn about at it but it was so obvious DD isn't effective in those more advanced positions where as Cesc is more useful. Its a pity Cesc's legs aren't what they used to be either, crying out for Barkley or Bakayoko, guys with pace who can arrive from deeper and break the lines. Other than that everything else DD does is good, interceptions, wins tackles, distribution is good: doesn't try to force it which is good and bad, can go long and short. Hes a good foil to have next to Cesc and Kante for me in some games because hes not exactly a like for like for either but hes got a bit of both their attributes in him, decent distribution long or short (Cesc) and defensive side (Kante) but in games we have a lot of the ball and need support for the forward players a Barkley, Bakayoko or Willian in a front 3 is better suited yes. I think now after watching him get a bit more game time in the last few months, he is a good squad player or to come in and solidify the middle of the park. Pity hes not a few years younger as he could really go to another level but hes at that age where hes meant to be in his peak now. Still overpaid for him but he will still be very useful for sure with rotation etc, now we have 5 senior central midfield options with Barkleys arrival: Kante, Drinkwater, Fabregas, Bakayoko, Barkley (a 10 but think he will occupy that role Baka plays and can defos do it). Still unsure what would happen if we lost Kante though he is so key to everything, its hard to get a player exactly like him but do we need a 6th CM if we play go back to playing 343? Even then finding a regista (Does anybody still use that word now a days of just creepy old Italian journalists?) or somebody to take Cesc's place in the long term should be what the club look for as well.

I would say hes shown great leadership and understanding, you see him constantly pointing to Rudiger or Azpi to tell them to watch for players/go a bit wider for the ball and hes always talking in games, you can see that when we don't have the ball he talks to those two guys outside him. I think he will go down the same route as JT as well.

He will be a Chelsea captain one day, surely? Like its so obvious to see his maturity, leadership skills for a young man, ability and the fact hes been here since he was 15, not even we can fuck that up surely?

Schalke want to sign him permanently but we only want to loan him out apparently? Just sell him, its obvious he would only be back up even if he did stay because I can't see him displacing Alonso but hes had a long lay off from an injury, he will want to play and in all honestly he didn't really look anything particularly special when he played the previous season in Germany. I know Conte has said we lack numbers and Baba fits the left wing back role, as well as the fact hes mentioned he wants to give him a chance but if he does get a chance and doesn't impress or Baba himself decides he wants to go, only we would loan him out when Schalke will more than likely give us 70-75% of what we paid for him...

Christensen and Hazard should have scored. No sure wtf Hazard was thinking, was far too casual

Think Real is an odd move for him. Hes a very good striker but just the fact they have somebody in that mould like Benzema (fair enough hes been shite for a while now in terms of goals) who combines well with the wide forwards. Not saying he cant but I thought they'd prefer somebody like Dybala who can play maybe more like a withdrawn striker at times as well as a typical 9. Although Im sure he will score a shed load of goals at Real if he goes.

No disrespect to him but he is not ever going to progress here why not just sell him and put in a buy back? Regardless of if its a business decision to continuously loan him out or not still stupid to keep someone on the books who probably has a 9/10 chance of not making it.

Least we don’t have to worry about Barcelona signing Hazard now. 145m that is ludicrous, Coutinho is a very good player yes but what does that make Hazard, De Bruyne, Sanchez, Ozil all worth?

Honestly hes so poor would he get a game for the u23s if he didnt cost 30M+?

Glorious. Regardless we miss him big time I feel. Shows fight which Michy and Morata lack severely at times, Michy almost every time hes on the park.

Well dont know what to say. Shocking. Emenalo fucked us over didn't he? Says yeah this lad Bakayoko, will be a good signing throw as much money at Monaco as possible, fucks off to Monaco about 4 months later knowing hes shite and the club have got a fee they wouldnt get off any other club. Or at least thats my theory.

Didn’t seen Barcelona try to sign him in the summer? What a load of shite. They fume yet go and spunk 142m on Coutinho!!! After spending what 135m on Dembele in the summer... also Ross Barkley slammed by Guillem Balague for moving to Chelsea for one controversial reason Guillem Ballbag has to be the most irritating journalist out there. “Why not move to Spurs”, look we all know you wrote a book about Pochettino Guillem but take your head out of your arse. How many ties did Barkley mention winning trophies in his interviews? Is that more likely to happen at Spurs that here? Not a chance.

I don’t think there’s much of a difference and that is without mentioning Mahrez plays a free role for Leicester a lot recently? You put Mahrez in our team he wouldn’t be half as effective as he is for Leicester. That’s why I don’t think he would be an improvement on Willian, who at times is poor yes but also can do something (think he’s better coming into games than starting). Also replacing an average player with another average player (although younger) is pointless. These guys need to be improved upon not replaced with the same/lesser level, I can’t be only person who sees that?!? Pedro is at an age where he is useful and more likely to accept a bench roll so why bother spending 42m on someone younger who is just as average, probably will play just as often, when the club can seriously go out buy somebody better if they look around as opposed to stumping for some overrated PL mid table player? Think the fact no top 4 PL club were only club seriously interested in Mahrez in the summer shows that he’s not exactly the player many think he is. Malcolm, Fekir, Pulisic, personally I think none of these are unattainable and probably available at a similar fee or a wee bit more, if not in January, then the summer. Maybe he’s on a good run but in the long run, he’s not exactly going to improve or squad by much if by any. I know wingers aren’t exactly at a premium but it’s not like he’s a bargain at 42m. He's four years younger than Pedro & an improvement over Willian in terms of end product. Not a signing that would set the world alight but can't see us doing much better in that department anytime soon. His age doesn’t really matter to me. He’s not really going to be an improvement on them and quite frankly would rather we played 352 than 343 with Mahrez in because he’s not an improvement on what we have in those wide forward areas plus it would be another severe overpayment if we got him for 42m, like Bakayoko for 40m, Batshuayi for 33m and Drinkwater for 35m. Overpaying for players that aren’t worth half although Drinkwater in cameos has looked closer to being a 40m player than Bakayoko.. the market is hugely inflated yes but PL is ridiculous. It’s not impossible to get good value, we just signed Barkley for 15m (HG, youngish, can improve, will make club money if success or not).. got Marcus Alonso for 24m (considering the skepticism when he came it’s looking like a good fee), Rudiger for 34m (Looks a steal in comparison to Van Dijk or Stones fees). Ironically every time we go to buy from the PL the price is inflated to fuck.

Typical Mourinho he would bring something up that Conte was cleared of 😂 Hopefully Conte doesn’t get involved anymore he doesn’t need to waste his energy on him, he’s jealous of Conte’s success last season and also the praise he gets.

42m for a player that isn’t an improvement on Willian or Pedro. No thanks

Not sure where he’d play in a back 3 (maybe rightside or middle) but he is an excellent defender in terms of winning tackles and heading although sometimes he can have concentration issues. Think he lost his place in the Atletico 11 last year with Savic performing well but Atlético weren’t worried one bit about letting Miranda leave a few years back because Gimenez had shown at a young age for a central defender he was a great player. He’s still only 22 and can play RB as well.

Luiz can’t play CDM. He starts being too erratic, gets overly excited and for all his energy and running about he is out of position more often than not. Just look at the game vs Roma where he was played there other than the goal and some passes he was all over the joint. Benitez and Mourinho both struggled to get him to be disciplined in that position. Him playing there is a big no no unless we have absolutely nobody else to play there. Even as a CB he takes risks, I think 3 at the back gave him a good bit more responsibility in the middle because he is the last line so to speak but he also averaged less touches on the ball and less defensive actions than the wide CBs a lot of the time which is why I think as well Cahill looked very solid in the middle of the back 3 in the previous few games he played too. I’m still not overly convinced Luiz is as solid as Azpilicueta, Rudiger or Christensen for instance because you always feel watching him he’s got the devil on one shoulder telling him to do something stupid, although he’s nowhere near the train wreck he was under Villas-Boas. I genuinely think his passing is overrated as well, I mean I get building from the back yes but people make out that Luiz is like the best CB in the world for this, the likes of Christensen, Stones, Pique, Ramos etc do this very well but they keep it simple and for me simplicity is better than those Hollywood passes that come off 1/10. Bonucci is by far the best example because he can make passes like the one for the Italy goal against Belgium at the Euros but he doesn’t actually make them every week or choose the difficult option as his first choice. Only if it’s highly likely to come off. We have enough problems with our CMs giving the ball away without encouraging a CB to try his best impression of Xavi Alonso. I get taking risks but Luiz is prone to just try force it and the nearest player would be miles a way.

Tbf he is a calculated gamble for me, he will be a good player, hardly outstanding but after seeing Lukaku and Stones performances for Everton and now for their respective clubs it is not a bad move seeing as he was just as important to Everton as they were when fit. Like I said, hardly outstanding but 15M for a English player? Hardly a major loss if he doesn’t do well plus 5 and a half year contract the clubs guaranteed to make more than what theyve paid.

Don’t believe this at all on second thoughts, more chance of the club buying a large broom to play upfront.

Who knows what’s will happen in the summer, although Ross Barkley signing doesn’t help his case necessarily.

Honestly if Man United were to appoint another manager in the same/similar mould as Mourinho I think there fans would be incredibly pissed off 😂 I don’t think Simeone is going to manage here any time soon regardless of club and personally don’t fancy Max Allegri either, don’t think Juventus have gone up another level since Conte departed despite more financial backing in recent years (2 CL finals is an improvement in Europe but is there side actually that much better?). Sarri is a wild card option, Napoli are an absolutely brilliant footballing team but again do you think he’d get the backing and support? Or the time if things don’t go well? In all honestly I’d rather keep Conte for another year, see if he can get a bit more quality in and get closer to City who will be the title favourites again next season.

God no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no

Always thought he was really overrated although he does have potential and for £15m if he can add a consistency and end product to his game then he will be a very decent signing in the long run. Hopefully he can stay fit, that is just as much an issue for me as his end product and inconsistency.

You’ve not realised yet that even if he was to score a hat trick every week people would still complain!! Doing good for a guy who’s played every match for us more or less since making his debut v Arsenal last season. Must be knackered. Think some healthy competition would be good for him too.

Ambitious but if we a LWB and a goal scoring MF player we are laughing. Striker needed too though.