Sideshow Luiz

I can understand why he wants to go (if the China stories are true). It's A LOT of money. It's the kind of money that takes care of generations of his family. If offered 3x your wages, I think most people would get their resignation in ASAP. It's unfortunate for us as a club, the timing is terrible. But, we're on the other side of the fence all the time. Napoli didn't want to sell Koulibaly to us, they didn't. We tried, but it didn't work. The player wanted to come. I'm sure OM wanted to keep Bats, but they money was right, so they sold. Loyalty in football these days is a one-way street (for the most part). Loyalty = If you're a really good player, we (fans) want you to stay at the club. If they aren't up to scratch, we can't wait to see the back of them. I'd love for him to stay at the club, because he's an important player. But, I don't blame him for taking care of himself and his family. But, I will say, the club should hold out for more money. If they want to pay him 500K a week, and Oscar is worth 60. Diego should be sold for 100-120M.

There's no way this happens

Is Lookman even able to drive? He looks like he's 12. Makes Sterling look like Minala

That's been a theme, hasn't it? Everton tried it, didn't even last 45 min.

Nothing's wrong with it. I didn't say it was a bad decision. I said that he probably doesn't love it. From important first XI to not being on the bench.

Ake probably doesn't love this either. Hopefully, we can put this away and Bats can get some playing time, not just the last 5 seconds like when Diego was suspended. I don't blame Conte though. Massive 3 points up for grabs. Have to get back to winning ways.

When the news of his recall came around, my immediate reaction was to assume he was going to play as LCB. We'll see.

I'd like to see us try out a 352 from the start.

Kessie + Kante + Cesc. I'd love to see us play 352 with that midfield. Verratti in the summer, Cesc and Matic for rotation/cover next season. I'm getting ahead of myself, that's FIFA talk.

Um....so, that would be Oscar for Verratti? How quickly can we get this done?

This is what I wrote after the City match. Spurs did basically the same thing to pierce our back line. Instead of DeBruyne in the right half space, it was Erikson. 2 crosses from exactly the same position. Almost set Kane up as well from the exact same space. Have an energetic runner to stay wide to occupy Alonso, then try to get your player with the best delivery to find a soft space between Matic (or Fabs in the City match) and Cahill. That's the soft space in our formation (they all have one). The difference between this match and City's was that City pushed men forward and got exposed on the counter. Spurs' midfield was really good today, I have to say. Alli was playing the "Hazard" position and he was back winning the ball in midfield. Dembele and Wanyama were too much for Matic and Kante, too quick, too strong. City didn't have that. They were playing Gundogan and Fernandinho. One of our goals came when Gundogan got too far forward and lost the ball. Alderweireld was really good as well, neutralized Costa. IMO. Oh well, had to lose some time. On to the next. It's a sign of how much Conte has raised expectations. Before the season, I would have bitten your hand off for top 4. Now, we're talking about titles and breaking records. Hopefully, it's a reminder to the board that we're no where close to the finished article.

I think today's performance (or yesterday) is a sign of how much depth we're going to need in our midfield next season when we have mid-week fixtures. I don't think it's a co-incidence that Kante's play has suffered during these congested fixtures. I know he looks like he's battery powered all the time, but everyone has their limits. Conte used to be able to pick from Marchisio, Vidal, Pogba, Pirlo for his starting XI, then I'm assuming a youth or back-up in there for cover. We're rolling with Matic, Kante, Fabregas, Chalobah. Kante pretty much has to play all day, every day.

More than twice. He almost set up Kane as well.

Outplayed today, and, I hate to say it, Potch got the better of Conte today. Pep and City showed everyone where the soft spot in this system is: Get width on the right to occupy Alonso, get your best crosser in to the right half space where neither the CM or the CB know who to pick up. De Bruyne did it back then, Erikson today. I'm surprised that no one else has done that since, but I guess not everyone has the quality of a De Bruyne or Erikson to send in balls like that.

Defoe, you beauty! Massive 3 points up for grabs on Wednesday.

I thought Kenedy was supposed to be back training with the team, and has had his loan cut short

You're right, and that's why players like this for teams like us are expensive. Not many alternatives at a certain quality level. When you can name, off the top of your head, the players that would fit what you want, they are going to cost a lot.

Verratti. Maybe Koke or Saul Not that any of those 3 would be easy to get.

No dis-respect to what Jose accomplished at the club. His first spell actually laid the ground work for a lot of the success that came after he left, I really believe that. But, conte is just putting his name all over this club in such a short period of time. All the way from the pitch to the families of the back-room staff. Very impressive stuff. He wasn't my first choice before he was hired, truth be told. But, I couldn't be happier to have him here. thank Christ that the board don't listen to a word I say. Best move the club has made in years.

He's so good, it feels routine.

I wish Bats had come on at about 70 (if not start). Conte was trying to get Courtois to boot the ball out of touch to get Bats on at about 90 (when Aina came on). But, it didn't make it and the next stoppage was after the 3rd goal. Bats was the first player that Conte seemed to speak to on the pitch and had a word in his ear. So, he tried, but even 90 was about 20-90 minutes too late.

The comments on weaintgotnohistory are like a 180 of the opinions on this forum http://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/chelsea-fc-transfer-rumours-news/2016/12/23/14068722/oscar-bids-farewell-to-special-fans-at-a-special-club-like-chelsea#comments

Don't forget his regular Mikel substitution. Attacking player off, Mikel on = shut up shop.

Yeah. I think it's the only way to settle this. Roman's going to have to sign him up. Need some evidence to bring closure.

We've been starting 343, but changing mid-match a few times. We even had a 4231 show up for a bit. I think it's all about personnel. Conte said that he wanted 424 because we had the wingers. So, 343 seems logical. I like the 352, and I thought it was necessary to switch to against Crystal Palace. We've usually switched when we haven't been able to get a stranglehold on the midfield. t allows us to keep possession and move the ball from side to side better against the deeper lying teams.