Jase

With the exception of this season, Azpi has always been a solid and consistent performer for us. It's genuinely crazy how some have become so suddenly dismissive of him. There are bigger issues to worry about than Azpi at the moment.

Many more better players like who? Matt Law made it sound as if Conte would have gotten rid of half the squad and brought in quality players all around when that wouldn't have been the case.

Sure but let's not pretend Conte didn't ask for some really average (to put it kindly) players as well - e.g. Llorente, Candreva. We would just be replacing crap players with crap players.

No offence but it's hard to take Matt Law seriously when he recently suggested we're a better team with Barkley in the XI.

Is there a convincing argument as to why Sarri should stay based on what he's doing THIS season? Most, if not all, of the arguments I have seen are basically backing the manager for the sake of it.

Well, that was predictable... @milan.cech

What could derail Sarri’s Chelsea? A piece written back in October.

That's Sarri's first shot at the board, TBF. You wonder if he's just asking for the sack at this point...

Funny thing is, Sarri has mentioned about playing the 4-2-3-1 but he seems hell-bent on playing 4-3-3. You wonder why he doesn't just try out the former at this point and see how it goes.

Think that might be because Sarri hasn't been taking shots at the board like Conte last season. The latter was moaning at poor transfers, the board and even the players!

The point there wasn't about where Napoli are right now or Ancelotti's poor league record (though I agree with this one), it's simply about how Ancelotti is managing the squad. Sarri's lack of rotation was arguably one of the key reasons why Napoli fell away towards the end of the last season when going for the title - they say top after 26 games but then won only 6 of the last 12 games to end up finishing 2nd. Plus, it's not like Sarri's management style is working wonders right now...

BROWNIE POINTS FOR YOUR OPTIMISM!!!

Lost 6-0 to City and we still gotta play them in two weeks' time.

5 hours later and I'm still wondering what got into Alonso's dead brain to defend so narrowly for this free kick!

But you could argue that Sarri's lack of Plan B, reluctant to change aren't helping us. We're so predictable with everything on the pitch - the 4-3-3, like-for-like subs! You see with Guardiola, who plays a very similar style but constantly rotates, changes formation to keep teams guessing and the players on their toes and fresh. With us? You could practically play bingo with what we're gonna do!

He has the right style but just like the AVB, he is going about the wrong way of implementing it and seems hell-bent on sticking with his methods, even if it means dragging us through 4-0 and 6-0 losses! Have read comments that Ancelotti is managing Napoli a lot better this season - notably rotating the squad and making them more tactically flexible. That says quite a bit about Sarri's management.

Oh. And you've given up on Sarri already?

Worth noting that Malmo are in pre-season. IF we somehow lose to this lot...

Do we seriously want to give him until then? If we're not careful, our season could be over by the end of February! (pray god we don't fuck up against Malmo!) If he stays on, expect a defeat against United. Even Mourinho almost beat us back in October!

Lost? Maybe he never quite got them to begin with anyway.

Okay, Jorginho doesn't look quite suited to play in the defensive midfielder/regista role in a 4-3-3 but he's getting hung out to dry by Sarri really. It's clear that Jorginho requires someone to work alongside him or at least some sort of tactical tweak to leave him less exposed but Sarri continuously play him in a system that leaves him - and others - get exploited and refuse to make any changes.

Bring the whole crew from Derby!

Malmo 1-2 Chelsea PRE/POST-MATCH DISCUSSION, LIVE CHAT AND ANALYSIS 2018/19 Europa League Round of 32 1st Leg 14th February, Thursday, 2019 Swedbank Stadion 20:00 Kick Off (UK time)