Blue-in-me-Veins

Everybody remain calm...

Unless he's being brought in to be a starter, cba.

This will happen 1,000% if we sign Lukaku. But like with the Torres Saga, that price tag will keep Lukaku in the Starting XI. I know I've been very vocal Batshuayi fan, but I really really believe he'll be amazing for us if given the chance. His Expected Goals/Assists per 90mins were on ridiculous levels last season for Marsielle.

Got to be honest, not that big a fan of Ricardo Rodriguez, yes he has fantastic offensive qualities, but his defense leaves a lot to be desired. Not sure he'd fit the PL. Jusy my opinion of the few matches I've seen from him.

You may say I'm a Dreamer,.....but I'm not the only One!

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Yes that's true, he was a machine (at least defensively) playing at LB. IIRC there was a stat that showed something like of the first 15/20 goals we conceded, only 1 or 2 came down Azpi's side. But Azpi, much like everybody else in the team went through a horrible spell too. And with Azpi at LB, Hazard has no help when he plays as LW. I mean, I know Baba Rahman didn't light the world on fire, but it was such a breath of fresh air, to see Hazard play with a genuine full-back who created extra space for him to operate, and a fullback who put in pinpoint crosses when asked to. It's just that Rahman was such a liability in defense. Seeing what Marcelo did to us yesterday highlights all that is wrong with our fullback options at the moment.

Was just coming in here to say the exact same thing... my days, RLC has been invisible as ST. There's been No service, he hardly gets on the ball, and was generally just lost. You win some you lose some, but Conte has gotten this one horribly wrong so far.

Would just like to issue some calm to the praise being given towards Cuadrado. Yes he played well under Allegri in Italy, but let us not forget how lost he was when he he played for us, looking like "Bambi on Ice" as one @The Mak would regularly state. I hope Cuadrado proves to be a better more offensively lethal option than Willian, and more consistent than Pedro, but lighting it up against Real Madrid's B/C side is not enough to get me out of my seat.

Badmon Batsman!

The commentators here were saying that Costa and Conte had some beef because Costa wanted to play vs Liverpool and Conte said no because he hadn't trained all week. Hopefully it's nothing serious, and Lord help us if we seriously think Lukaku should be Costa's replacement. Batsman would replace Lukaku by season's end, no doubt.

Yeah I remember Joe Gibbs' infamous Pre-Seasons.. We'll find out soon enough the real way Conte wants us playing, but we all know this squad has crazy holes.

Gonna be a looooooong I'd say 3 years before this spine is properly disposed of. Likes of Cahill/Ivan/JT/Mikel/Oscar/Matic/Pedro/Willian/Cuadrado/Cesc just don't inspire confidence, when you look at the skills that are needed to reach Europe's Elite level. Yes, you could probably survive with 2 of those players being regular starters, because there's no such thing as a perfect team. But we have been/will be relying on every damn name in that list bar One. RIP.

Has to be said.. Oscar/Matic/Cesc are just so damn slow. And All three simply dont have the athleticism/dynamism to deal with high intensity pressing, and compete at the highest of levels. Edit: This has been a very poor performance. 3-0. Again down the Left hand side.

Even our preseason matches are incredibly hard to watch.. Has one player completed a pass in the final third?

I just hope IF we buy a fullback it's a LEFT BACK. So Azpi can go back on the right.

Crazy how far both Zidane and Conte have come.

@The Chels Reaction:

Still waiting on a CB and FullBack... Scenes if not at least ONE top Defender is signed. Not panicing yet, but already having nightmares of another Terry/Cahill/Ivanovic back-line. Simply cannot happen again.

The sheer amount of ignorance displayed in this statement...Wow.

Really Hope this bid is accepted.Don't think can survive another john stones transfer saga. CB is too important of a position for this team.

Roman da GOAT

Yeah just seen those reports on Twitter too. Looks like we got some mixed opinions in here on De Vrij aswell. Amybody else watch him?

I think we all are in agreement with the major sentiments being expressed recently, that Hazard simply needs another World Class Winger on the opposite side of him. I don't know who that should/could realistically be, but like many have stated before; Willian/Pedro/Moses/Cuadrado/Oscar need to be consolidated into 2 Top Proper players.