OneMoSalah

100 million. Haha fuck off. Your having a laugh arent you Koeman?

I'm currently in South Korea and have been told by some locals that Korean women dating anybody who isn't Asian is reportedly frowned upon by older members of the community/family members (which is a load of bullshit I feel) and that some Asian men won't go near them if they have been with anybody who isn't Asian (again I reckon that is bullshit and maybe a little bit of confusion in the language barrier we are having to try and overcome with some of the Koreans but anyway how would you know for sure?). If thats what they reckon then its totally different to anything I've ever seen and one of the most ignorant things I have ever heard. Anyway on to the politics, there is an intense feeling here regarding the North and USA and missiles, some of the guys here I work with are from the States and they very much support Trump but I'm not so sure that going toe to toe with North Korea is a good idea for anybody. But again they shouldn't be able to have the potential to strong arm countries with the possibility that they will fire missiles and nobody wont retaliate. I think if they decide to go toe for toe then its gonna escalate like fuck. An interesting quote from Albert Einstein "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

Football is a squad game. 23-25 players or whatever but how often do you ever need to use more than 18 players a season regularly unless you have massive injuries or constantly get suspensions/injuries. It was obviously an easier and cheaper option than going into the market to sign somebody in January, which is notoriously difficult to buy in. Maybe he will be part of the squad again next year and this last few months he has been learning tactical aspects because he didn't have a pre-season with Chelsea? Its almost more difficult for players who don't get a pre-season at any club. But who knows?

Great lets sell Costa and replace him with either Morata or Lukaku... again... Lukaku is in a hot run of form, but so was Costa at the start of the season. Sometimes I think people forget things. I know who I'd rather have and its not the Belgian.

Hes making up the numbers obviously!! Ivanovic left so we needed another CB/WB player... so we recalled one. If it was a player to be used in the first team regularly do you really think they would of recalled Ake ahead of Christensen?

Are you for real? I've seen JT help players get up before. As well as lots of other footballers helping other opposition players get up.

But also a potential option for depth. I doubt Conte expects anyone to get major injuries but its better to have someone as a back up or to rotate with Alonso/Cahill incase they do. Maybe he overestimated the players level too? I don't know, maybe I'm underestimating his level as well its just a matter of opinion but its clear Ake is thought of highly at club but until I see him doing well in a Chelsea shirt the verdict is still out. Also we sold Ivanovic in January so it was a like for like replacement maybe, both can be a CB or wing back option.

He wasnt the same guy he was in the previous matches against United in the league. He seemed timid on the touchline, not as many outbursts of punching/shouting/jumping about constantly. It looked to me as if he seemed intimidated almost, what the hell was up? I honestly feel he has been the driving force behind our performances this season because hes channeling all his passion and aggression and everything into the team, almost yelling every instruction at them, constantly keeping everyone in line and making sure that they are following his game plan along with his tactical switch up. Sure Hazard, Costa, Kante, Luiz, Azpi have all been great/inspirational at times this season but the one thing is Conte has been there every step of the way, shouting at them telling them what to do, when to do it, I'm not saying he is controlling these guys like Mourinho claimed about Luke Shaw and the whole my mind his body thing but its like he was playing every pass for them, initiating when to press, when to stay back, when to switch the play. Is nerves getting to him? He said Tottenham are best team in the league after the game and we only had a 50% chance of winning the title now etc... maybe this is new to him because at Juventus they were always on top and far far away from other teams, no doubt Conte is a winner but it was odd watching him at the dugout during that game. I also think the players have to take blame, theres been talk of we have to do this to win the title for a while now, I think they are overthinking it, just go out and win games, don't think about the title just yet. When its mathematically impossible for anyone to catch you, then think about it but until then, they should think game by game, 3 points by 3 points.

I think he'd be an absolute monster as an out and out wing back. Hes a very good player, maybe the Barcelona system isolates him at times, it isolates all their defenders in all honesty and has done for many years but if he was available we should go for him. We have no chance signing Alaba. He would only move from Bayern to Barca/Madrid I reckon but holy shit what a footballer, brilliant as a LB, CB and CM.

Great lets go sign an overhyped and I'd suspect over priced English CB who is nowhere near the level of Kurt Zouma and will likely cost 2-3 times what he did. Zouma has the potential to grow into an extraordinary CB if he can build up the understanding and technical side of his game, eventually I see him becoming that central defender in the back 3 or the one on the right he just needs to become more competent with his positioning at times and with the ball at his feet (ironically I'm going to use a = rather dodgy - comparison to young Micah Richards, he was a monster physically and used his physical attributes (pace and strength) to bail him out if he made a positional error/mistake, Zouma needs to build the other side of his game, which I feel he will to become a complete central defender), he will learn that, hes just recovering from a huge injury too with a new coach and new system. Next season he will be better. A lot better than Michael Keane anyway.

Or has anybody just considered hes just not good enough to play ahead of Cahill or Pedro? Because I assure you if he was good enough he'd of played in Alonso's place or would have taken Cahill's role as LCB. Harsh realities here, we cant assume every player we have out on loan is going to be a good player for us. Sure we have had exceptions, Christensen will also be in that mold I would imagine but the harsh realities are that playing CB for Bournemouth and Chelsea is two hugely different things. 1) Is he even ready to play for Chelsea? 2) What is his best position, he is able to play CB, LB and DM, that to me is a good advantage for some teams but also a disadvantage because whats his best position? Where do you play him continuously? I'm sure Benitez thought he would be a good option at CDM and Conte probably thinks CB or LWB? 3) He is a home grown player, that is probably the only reason hes back in the squad.

If we are going to go after anybody from Spain, who plays center back. Please make it Laporte... left footed, very good for his age and also has a lot of room to grow. Not that I'm saying Jorge Mere isn't a decent prospect because he is, but I think Laporte would be an excellent signing for the left center back role. Or Romagnoli.

Hes not going to leave Chelsea for China. Seriously. Hes having a poor run but don't forget the performances he had put in when he was 100% fit and focused at start of his career here and this season. I still think he has fitness issues. Not severe ones but he always seemed to be in about niggling little injuries at Atletico and even here so dont be surprised. If not a loss of form is normal for any player. Hes still doing stuff, winning free kicks etc, hes not exactly a burden like Torres.

I'd like to say I have been living in South Korea for 4 months now almost but still havent found anywhere that sells gats in Geoje/Okpo? Anybody know where I could find them, would make a really ridiculous present for my girlfriend. Also hope everybody is alright. Been a long time since I've posted in here.

Romagnoli is ten times the player Nathan Ake is. He really is a superb young CB, assured on the ball, tactically good, maybe playing in Italy for AC Milan restricts him because the team they are now in comparison to what they were but him along with Suso (formerly of Liverpool), Locatelli and Donnarumma are hugely talented players who could play here I feel, maybe some sooner than others. Italian football is at a low standard I think, some of the players in the national team though are exceptional despite the lack of match winners/star names they still produce the best central defenders I feel. Verratti, Belotti, Donnarumma, Romagnoli, Rugani etc all a very strong spine for them in the future.

Tielemans to Monaco, would be an excellent move for him. Lets be honest he'd be sitting on the bench here more than likely. Glad hes got his head screwed on if he does go and make the move to Monaco

I am glad Guus didn't go absolutely radical and change everything up because who knows what could of happened if he did, we could of got relegated for all we know we were that poor last season. Theres no way Kenedy and Ruben would have changed anything. Kenedy played under Mourinho and did virtually nothing bar one goal against Norwich, ironically he played against PSG under Guus and looked better. The experience in those senior players (although they were terrible under Mourinho and even Guus) helped us stabilize a bit and probably made sure we didn't fall any further down the table. We talk about identities and national/homegrown players with other clubs but Ruben Loftus-Cheek? Cmon hes an extremely overrated, overpaid average footballer who will go on to have an average career, Dom Solanke is probably the same... these guys Nacho, Asensio, Kimmich, Morata whoever are a totally different level to these guys, all have senior caps for some of the best international teams in Europe (Nacho is pretty average but hes made some sort of career out of being a 3rd/4th/5th choice player who can play RB/CB/LB). If Ruben Loftus-Cheek ever makes a name for himself here and becomes a senior international I think we'd all be shocked. Batshuayi will be better next season because he has suffered this year. Suffering because of the lack of playing time, while having to adapt to a new league isn't easy, hes gone from playing 90 minutes every week for a year solid at Marseille to literally playing like a combined total of 300-400 minutes for Chelsea (mostly in cup games). I don't think its fair to write him off, hes not been the player I hoped we would be getting but hes still scored goals in limited minutes and I dont think its as easy for us to just sell him and sign Morata like some people would think lol. Isco, Morata, Costa, Muller, Boateng whoever else is on the bench for those teams I promise you, will not be happy. Isco has been on the bench ever since he went to Real and its known hes not happy to the point hes been repeatedly talked about leaving even now as a part of a deal to take Hazard to Madrid. Douglas Costa is the same, struggled to displace Ribery and Robben this season, unhappy with playing time wants more money as well. Morata probably isn't even who Zidane wanted at Real but he was signed regardless and despite scoring 11 goals for Madrid this season has struggled to get minutes. No football player is happy to sit on the bench, that is some sort of myth. We need improvements in some areas but its not easy to just sign 4 players to replace Cesc/Matic, Cahill, Pedro and Moses/Alonso and except those guys to be content with being rotated... Those teams, Bayern, Barca, Real, Juventus all have one advantage over us, they have a group of players who have played the same system with the same spine for 4-5 years at least. Conte needs to build his team in his own way, but keep Courtois, Azpilicueta, Kante, Eden, Diego in that team at all costs, bend his system/tactics to incorporate those guys.

Whoever comes in be it Silva or Sanchez, they wont be playing exactly out on the wings, they will be playing more centrally perhaps as 10's so to speak but will have every opportunity to because the wing backs provide the width. Thats the beauty of our formation. Silva and Sanchez would both be good options but Sanchez is a much better player at present, plus his age doesn't necessarily mean anything, Conte signed Tevez when he was older than Sanchez at Juventus and he got the best out of him, also Pirlo although that's a different player all together but the point is the same, a players age doesn't necessarily mean anything, remember when we signed Anelka as well? Im certain he was 29 at the time.

Ballbag Tancredi reporting we had a 60M euros bid + bonus turned down. Torino want 100M euros as thats his release clause....

If they are performing like they are why not? For me the best teams have always been teams, not 11 world class individual players (has there ever been a team of 11 individuals?), although one of the big reasons why 3-4-3 has worked this season in my eyes is because of those two, along with Luiz's development and Kante's energy. You can talk about Hazard, Pedro, Willian, etc but without Victor and Marcos being out wide making the pitch as wide as possible in attacking phases those guys wouldn't have as much of the space or freedom they have to operate, I mean imagine if we didn't play 3-4-3 and Hazard was stuck out at left wing again being doubled up every game? Or Willian or Pedro had the same? These guys being out on the touchline gives these other guys the chance to play closer to the forward as opposed to the touch line. Their defensive contribution too also means Hazard and Willian/Pedro dont need to be as concerned about the opposition fullback going by them either. Sure they aren't maybe glamorous options or have world record fees but I'd have those two ahead of some of the other top 4 clubs full back/wing back pairings, without a doubt. Its the same with Kante, originally I was kind of in two minds but hes gone to have a huge effect on this team. I know we are linked with Luke Shaw and Ryan Bertrand but these guys aren't definitely going to come here and do any better than what Marcos has, although I wouldn't be against us pursuing another left wing back (Alex Sandro would be the one for me) he cannot play every game unopposed because thats when his standards will drop (like Costa).

Would take him in to compete with Alonso, although based on what I've seen from Shaw when hes played at United bar the few snippets of games before he broke his leg under van Gaal, he's been below average performance wise, in comparison Alonso has been a real revelation this year for us after being doubted (even I doubted his quality at first when we signed him).

I have to be honest, I think he might struggle as a wing back in England, I think its clear to see hes much more of an attacking midfielder than a wing back too. Moses has also done well at RWB and Azpilicueta can also fill that role if Moses was to struggle/get injured/be suspended so I don't think hes a necessity for the summer. Left wing back however... someone from Alex Sandro, Luke Shaw, Ryan Bertrand, Sergio Escudero or Jose Gaya would be nice... I think Ake is more of a center half or central defensive midfield player.

If Conte can get Pirlo in to replace Steve Holland in the summer that would be a huge coup for him I think. Hes also got to re-evaluate Michy Batshuayi, is he really the right guy to compete and push Diego Costa all the way for a place/take his place in the starting 11? I'd say Diego's current performances show that Batshuayi isn't. Also I've read Conte is interested in Bakayo (spelling probably wrong), van Dijk, Ryan Bertrand/Luke Shaw and Alexis Sanchez, if we got Sanchez and one of Bertrand/Shaw alone. that would be an excellent window for us I'd feel unless he has plans for Baba Rahman to come back and play left wing back or goes all out and signs Alex Sandro, would be an awesome move (imagine depth at left wing back finally...). I wouldn't be so sure about van Dijk for now, I think hes done well for Southampton but is he much better than anyone we have including Christensen? Not really sure and I'd imagine Andreas is coming back this summer. If Sanchez comes in as well, hopefully its not as a replacement for Hazard and not as an alternative center forward option, hes a wide player but imagine him playing a bit more closer to the center forward like Hazard this year though? Would be excellent, although I feel sorry for Pedro and Willian if he does come in because they are two good players worthy of playing most games and Pedro especially this season has upped his performances. All in all hes brought a very cool and positive vibe around the club unlike Jose who now you can even see at United, publicly criticizing players, officials etc. I think his job was always going to be tough after replacing Jose regardless but hes handled himself excellently and long may it continue. Pep Guardiola said hes maybe the best coach on the planet... if thats not high praise then what is?

That flick was pure class. Absolute genius.

Interesting hes back, I would hope he'd be back up LCB to Cahill, because still I think Cahill is a stronger player and also more dominant in the air as well as being taller. Azpi and Ake both as CBs would be a nightmare, Azpi isn't too tall and Im sure Ake isn't either.