BlueLyon

Certainly both games against Spurs, it will give nice overall of how he played against good, well known opposition that we play in league, therefore some simple conclusions can be made. Then in ligue 1, against better teams, see home games vs Psg and Marseille (but marseille was crap that game tho)

I think he meant CL too. Mandzukic was pivotal there, despite Gomez being better finisher.

In CL he had quite restricted role more or less, limiting him. He was ordered to sit back and protect the line, make simple passes. He was realy good in both spurs games, but I was not even close to impressed against City and Juve, he could be alot better, however again, his role was to protect the back. Fabinho is definately more attacking generaly, more allround, but in ligue 1, they exchange who goes forward and who stays back, because both have advantages. Fabinho is better passer, Bakayoko is better dribbler. Generaly speaking, Bakayoko was brilliant in ligue 1, very powerful player. Simply said, he is better version of Matic, more mobile, better dribbler and quicker. Great at getting the ball back. His weakness is however first touch and passing, specificaly against better teams like in CL. I cant say he is much better than Matic. He can be very frustrating in this part of game. But again, against spurs he was great both legs. That said, he can improve alot, in his best version he is very similar to Yaya and if he gets more consistent, we will have hell of a player. Tolisso is alot more techical and still quite strong, making him ideal player, but that would mean Kante always playing DM with Tolisso going up. Bakayoko offers alot more versatility and gives Kante freedom to be B2B.

I dont realy see the point of this signing. The fee is giant, he is in 30s (which is not a problem, but maybe we should look for someone younger with Cahill and Luiz both in 30s already), nevermind we have Luiz AND Christensen for his position already. Bonucci would be wasted as LCB or RCB, nevermind the real reliableb defenders in juve are Barzagli and Chiellini.

Im realy happy with this signing, he was brilliant for Monaco. I did warm up for Tolisso tho, he is more techical, but Bakayoko is still powerful midfielder with good runs, spurs and others wont bully our midfield anymore.

FFS...

You are so black and white. All you see is how I defend Costa and blaming others, when its not the case at all. Read my posts carefuly. I literaly said Costa is unprofessional. I point out Costa AND Conte and you always only see how I turn all the fault away from Costa which is not true at all. I mentioned many times Costa should be sold. I said he acts unprofessionaly. But events since january are not black and white. I also said Conte should know better how to deal with Costa mate, again you missed that somehow. Not sure how more clearer I can be, I dont blame Conte ffs. But he didnt exactly do himself a favour texting Costa he is fired. Its clear as day Costa is Costa and has his character and there is big chance he will go public about it. Come with actual evidence Costa wanted to leave for China, and intentionaly played bad, prove he doesnt give a shit; because thats why there is so much hate. The recent events are only bigger fuckup where Costa indeed talked shit after that message, but the hate for him existed long before based on false rumours. Let me ask you something else then; why dont you hate Conte after all inter rumours that he will leave? Because media is always right, right? (hopefuly you wont turn this example against me and suspect I have some agenda against Conte lol) Think out of the box for once, because even now you still fail to see my point. I dont defend Costa per se, I question you guys for hating him based on shit sources, I would like some black on white evidence that is supported by either Diego's actions or interviews (and I dont mean about recent text, it happend two days ago, the hate for Diego is happening for months now) He deserves some shit, but far from all of it. His bust up with Conte was in that one game yes, it got heated but no hard feelings after it. So are you going to point Ivanovic bust up with Cech years ago? Should we hate them? Or should they be sold? It was a heated moment, not something to desperately hate Diego 4 months after. I suppose you dont need videos how happy Diego and Conte looked after in some games, never mind how he dragged Conte from press conference in good vibes. And even then I agreed he should be sold because he is not reliable character. What else is there to do? Im not sure why the guy pisses you off so much lol. Lampard moved to City, I dont hate him. Cech moved to Arsenal. I dont hate him. And yes I could definately expect some more loyalty after all those years at SB. But no, I will remember them by the great things they did here. Little rumour about Costa to China, little bust up with Conte, he wants to go back to Atletico etc etc. Dont be so sentimental he isnt the perfect striker. He played his part, Chelsea did fine over past three years, we won two titles and now Diego will be sold. Many people here will be happy and carousel will move onto whoever we sign next. Captivity of negativity, fuck that, remember the good things about players, not the bad, its pointless. This is my point regarding whole thing. Why hate on player who did much good stuff for this club. And its not just Costa. If it was any other player I would defend hin.Last year it was Eden and Cesc with whole "rat" bullshit and everyone knows on football terms Im not biggest fan of Cesc. Yet I cant stand that media bs talk he was the rat and all the crap they said. One year later, anyone still hates on Eden and wants him out before he "completely loses his value"? Those people looked proper fools few months later. Take a look at some posts in their threads. Its same happening on this thread. Im just saying there is no need to hate on our player like that. Be it Eden. Be it Costa. Or anyone else. Unless its Bogarde. I never liked that dude. In the end they all play a part in our history and should be celebrated. Diego will be sold as situation got to this point, but we had amazing season. No one fucked up, no one needs to be blamed, yet here its always someone.

It should be decided in person, at club quarters, not over phone on holidays or international duty. Sure Costa should react professionaly, but seriously everyone should know Costa would do exactly what he did in such case. You dont hand over a gun to a killer and expect he wont shoot you.

If he suddenly played shit and didnt give a damn after january failed sale to wherever, why didnt he play shit since summer when he wanted to return to Atletico and we didnt let him go? Why did he put BEST six months at Chelsea? All you guys are throwing is china left china right, he doesnt give a shit about chelsea blah blah blah...where is any evidence? Dont start with Atletico talk because man also said he still loves Chelsea, is it impossible to like two clubs at same time? He isnt commited longterm? So what? Chelsea sells him if he wants and thats it. Doesnt mean he didnt try his best here. Or is it just easier to make excuse why he played poor by saying we didnt sell him and now he is pissed? It doesnt change the fact he played bad, but it changes the perspective, the perspective why some hate him this much. Did he look like he dislikes chelsea when we celebrated the title? Or when we were losing in Fa final? Or when he scored the last few goals? Yes he wanted to leave, yes the recent behaviour is not acceptable, but you just throw everything in one basket, like some others. Indeed its for the best he leaves, moreso after recent events, but you making him look like biggest twat is bollocks. Before january, none (except for 1 or 2) of you guys said anything bad about him. Best striker this best striker that. He catches poor second half form, like every fucking other season he played, the media throws some bullshit china rumours (they did bid, but Costa himself said he never wanted there), yet some smart people suddenly thought he wanted to leave, now he is playing crap intentionaly. Just brilliant. Because he said he would like to return to atletico, doesnt mean he would love to fuck off to china in order to leave chelsea ffs or tried to ruin season by playing bad intentionaly. Conte is probably looking to sell him because he isnt commited to Chelsea and since he is a lose cannon, like he always was and thats it. No theories, no bullshit. But media, you guys and now Costa and Chelsea club is making this whole thing much bigger than it is. I would get it if he went into fight with coach or players (the incident with staff was quickly over, apologised), but he is in great relationship with teammates. Or if he went to our rival. Nah, media said he wanted to go to china, so yeah he tried to fuck us because he doesnt give a shit. Media also said chelsea signed messi and pigs fly.

Im not the kind of guy that changes opinion (in this case football releated) on player instantly after reading some bs in media or seeing certain player perform poor for a while. Its a fact that Costa has brought plenty of good to Chelsea, the club I supported through most of my life. There are plenty of celebrations and joy surrounding my memories of Costa, something Im not willing to ditch just because media stirs the shit. That goes for every player I supported or shared positive/negative opinion. It has to convince me otherway to change it, or I will stick to it. Im certainly not the guy you can sell me something I already have opinion on Now, indeed I also never believed Costa could be such a dick that media makes him look like, but I may just be biased towards Costa in this case. I said many times Im fine though with selling Costa, for benefit of club as he is unstable, if we find equaly good or better striker. What got into me is the shit some people throw at Costa after all the good he did for this club. Obviously if he is actualy acting like a dick that media shows him, then so be it, Im wrong about him and needs to leave asap. We can point out on Conte for messaging?! Costa he doesnt count on him no longer too, but obviously Costa is making unnecessary circus around whole situation that is hurting club. I would say both sides have done mistake. However Im still waiting for an answer, a proof that Costa indeed wanted to go to China after he recently said that was not an option because he wants to play in WC, yet everyone ignoring that and keeps saying he started playing bad in january because we didnt allow him to leave to china and on top he apparently hates Chelsea, despite clearly showing on pitch he cares for the club. The only thing proven was his desire to return to Atletico which was interviewed. He also said he likes Chelsea alot, but not London. Is that something so hard to understand? Every footballer is a human too, just because he gets millions, doesnt mean he must act all professional when his personal life in London doesnt suit him at all. If thats the case sell him and be done with. On current matter, he is showing once again he is a loose cannon and we need to sell him, but honestly you dont text someone after 3 years that you dont need him. If it was me, I wouldnt take it calmly either. The situation was badly dealt by both Costa and Conte (or the board).

Often these are total bollocks, but makes me wonder why some players go and like half of the team they are linked with every now and then. However if we sell Costa AND loan Bats (both very likely) we will definately go for two quality forwards. If we actualy end up with both Morata and Lukaku, it would be brilliant. Not biggest fan of Lukaku, but these two would compliment each other quite good I think. One pure finisher and other being technical second striker. Btw, checked out he liked those accounts in mid May, this Edvin guy is just stiring shit now

Well if thats the case, then I dont know why we are even discussing this. I thought you believe we shouldnt pay over the odds for any player where the selling club would want ridiculous money. Going by that, we both agree we should not bend to selling clubs for ridiculous fees, however when players are of exceptional quality, we should pay the price, like I mentioned in the begining

I know he improved alot, but even then he didnt convince me entirely. Obviously there are not many strikers out there, but my pick would still be Belotti, then Morata and then Lukaku. I have no idea how we are not interested in Lacazette though? Auba is not my cup of tea either. There is no need for such videos tho, I have seen enough of everton games And if I have to go to ytube, I prefer videos Player VS specific team, that shows his all touches in the game, gives alot more reasonable conclusion if I cant watch full games.

I like Luiz alot, he is a leader and character and he had brilliant season, but we had to switch formation and who knows how is he going to play next year. He had awesome season as sweeper and made few mistakes, but he will need another top season to be considered reliable CB IMO. But I dont consider him as perfect signing, with him, we cant play 4 at the back and if you look at whole situation, we have aging and sometimes unreliable Cahill, Luiz, and Christensen, Ake, Zouma; three youngsters. Neither screams reliable top CB to me, take from that what you will, but dont let PL title hide that our defense is far from perfect and to me it makes sense why Conte wants to add another CB. And he cost 30m, thats hardly a good example when he was still quite expensive and back then known as unreliable. Same with Alonso; very very good season, better than expected, but yet again we are still looking for improvements. Both Luiz and Alonso are short gap solutions because we didnt pay the price for top players who could be starters for many years to come. Now nobody expected Luiz will be this good, and nobody knows how would Koulibaly or Laporte or whoever else we were linked with, but its clear as day we will need some improvement in this are still. Koulibaly I dont know, maybe he will come good or not, he had poor season, but indeed with Stones we avoided alot of trouble by not paying that fee. However I said then he is not worth that and in fact he never was, while for example Sandro is a proven player, well worth his fee even if its a high one and if we want top LB, we pay the price, simple as that. Now dont get me wrong, I think Luiz and Alonso could do it for another season at Chelsea, uccess would be that we dont bow to Juve demands for Sandro, instead sign someone twice cheaper and he turns to be brilliant player. However Alonso is not that. He is good player, and just maybe he can make it as starter once we complete our team, but honestly he is miles away from players like Sandro or Alaba. We paid less but for lesser player and if media knows anything for the same reason we plan on getting another top LB. I dont want spending like City or United does on single player costing shitload of cash, because good players alone dont generate good results, it takes chemistry. But if we are interested in particular player, then we get him. If Juve wants 50 for Sandro, thats alright, he is proven player and we need good LB for several years. For example, we bought Ivanovic for smaller fee and he turned into world class player here. But we also bought Carvalho for big fee back then because we wanted the man. Would it be better to refuse Porto and chase cheaper alternatives? Who knows, he became best possible CB we could have at that time. If we were buying him this year, we would probably low ball and settle for someone else. About Baba, then I must be misinformed, I always thought he cost in region of 25m euros, which was alot again for someone unproven. The club easily pays alot for talented unproven players, but always hardballing with established ones, perhaps it has to do with resale value? I completely agree with you sometimes we shouldnt bow to teams if the fees go crazy, but when player is top level and we need to strenghten that area, I have nothing against spending.

Agree, Conte is somewhat a middle man between Mou and Pep. Pragmatic, but still trying to implement fluid football. Afterall he still played with Tevez and later bought Morata, both good techical players in juve to fit his style. Llorente was there too, but his career in Juve was not what it was expected. Maybe I was not as clear as I thought, but not for a second I think Morata is already very good striker. His link up is good, but he will need to be alot better in finishing and leading the line. However I am certain from what I saw, he has ability and potential to be realy realy good and thats why I hope we sign him instead. So to speak, Lukaku weakness is techical, and Moratas is finishing, leading the line. I think Lukaku will never be world class in techical department, while Morata can improve finishing and leading the line greatly with regular gametime and experience. It true however that I hope Chelsea tries to control games bit more. We are realy poor at keeping possesion and under pressure. Better midfielder and wingbacks are crucial here, but so is techical striker. Obviously if goal for Conte is to recreate the counter attacking power team like old guard Chelsea, then Lukaku definately fits more. However that team advantage was experience and efficiency even in biggest games, something this team has yet to show. We are not even as close as imposing as in 2004-2010.

But in that case we will just fall of the cliff. Either the club we are buying from will hold us for ransom or they will sell to someone who will pay. They wont drop the price just because we said we wont pay. Neither will any other club sell to us for less money, because regardless of how we buy, our public picture is already clear that we have plenty of money. If you think we can get someone like Lukaku or Morata or Sandro or Mendy cheaper than other clubs just because unlike them we are not willing to pay, you are wrong. They will sell to highest bidder. Unless like I said its about one of those 10% of players that is not just about money and we can pursue with good project, coach etc. Sadly the market has gone crazy. In the past, when good, maybe not their wanted offer came to smaller club, they accepted it. Today, they wont because they know they will sooner or later get better offer, offer they demanded for their player. Smaller clubs have become bit cocky about their best players and kudos to them. I agree when we talk about players in general, we shouldnt just pay the cash. Lets say we miss on option A, we shouldnt pay twice over for the option B just because we need someone. But when we realy want option A, when its the perfect choice, then I say pay the damn fee and be done with it. If Monaco wants 50m for Bakayoko and we see Tollisso available for 35m brilliant. But if we target Sandro and dont want to pay 50, when we paid 30m! for Baba few years ago, I dont see what is the board thinking. In past years we bought Luis, Baba and Alonso, and while it can be considered all right alternative, alot of money went into these players (Luis fee was returned, but Baba and Alonso cost 50m combined). And we are still on market for top LB. Because we didnt want to pay alot for that one top LB when we could. Same is with RW. Pedro and Willian are alright, but Salah and Cuadrado were flops. Wouldnt be better if we just paid the fee for whoever quality player we were linked with? Yes we saved money and we actualy managed to win two titles in past 3 years which is not bad. But its clear as day we still need improvement in both areas and we are likely need to pay alot of money one day to improve. Sure Azpi, Eden, Kante, Tibo were absolutely brilliant deals. But we were in total rebuild back then. Now we have decently established team with 2-4 top players missing, I think we should invest bit more to complete it and not haggle on every deal and get alternatives in the end.

I agree, if anyone needs to be blamed is Chelsea buying policy as whole. We did some great deals for relatively small money and Im happy we dont throw cash around, but literaly every big club has money and is willing to spend as much as necessary to get those players. Psg reported summer budget of 220m today, which is crazy. If we wont pay then someone else will. I think there is about 10% of players we can convince to join us for less money and that will be a problem if we want quality players. But I am dissapointed we are willing to throw 40m for Bats, 30m for Baba,...and at same time not some more for players of actual high quality.

Haha so true. But I think we can forget about selling Costa for big money.

No. He will help improve us as a team and Eden as team mate because he is better footballer! He is more sound techicaly and makes him easier to connect with team mates. Lukaku is better poacher, but I want our striker to be more versatile. Obviously we need other areas to improve, now your just mixing apples and oranges. But having Morata in a team will give us more fluid football rather having Lukaku. If you dont see that, then we can stop discussing. Lukaku finish is better, but Morata is a more complete player. Tbh, we could argue that Morata is actualy better header than Lukaku too... What exactly does Lukaku have rather style based on outmuscling opponents? He is quick and decently strong, making him perfect to hold on ball and push through defensive line. If there is space, he is quick enough to run past them. He also has decent touch and dribbling, which comes helpful in certain cases. But against better defenders, he becomes very limited, because he is not that good dribbler or passer. He can run into space rather well, but intelligent defenders mark him out of game. We should just stop discusing this, we both have opinion and its harder discusing on forum than in person, making it difficult to get to any conclusion. I get it Lukaku had brilliant scoring season, his goalrecord is amazing, and his physical atributes make him good striker, but I prefer Morata who is more techical. Neither will change the opinion, so lets see who we end up with and hopefuly they make a good striker for at least next 5 years.

Its very important for striker to be good in tight space man. Just look at Suarez, Lewa, Aguero, heck even Benzema for that matter. It makes their teams alot more dangerous because striker there is not just some figure waiting for ball, but actively involved in whole attack. I didnt say striker has to be as good as midfielder obviously, but I was pointing out that stats mean very little and that quality on ball is more important, despite stats dont show it. Hence why Modric is much better than Cesc, despite racking like 10times less assists per season. I saw those stats of Lukaku against big teams. And? I evaluate Lukaku based on number of games I saw. And he performed rather poor in most of games against top teams. Even if there was an odd goal, he was not involved in whole play. That is thanks to how poor Everton was as whole, but still. I dont think he can have as good game overall as Morata had against Bayern for example, due to his limitations on the ball, regardless of how improved. Im not making Morata sound like Bergkamp, because I stated many times he has the flaws. But he has ability to become very good ball playing striker, cant say the same for Lukaku. If Im making Morata sound so great, you make Lukaku look like next Henry. Its all about the style. Lukaku is more robust and Morata is more elegant on the ball, I would like us to try different approach, if we are selling Diego, actualy get a striker that has better control than Diego. What has totalvoetbal to do with this? Yes Im not a giant fan of CBs dribbling through midfield, keeping possesion for 90min and pass pass pass. Doesnt mean I dont like balanced attacking football which requires skilled players. When Chelsea plays against teams, they close down and park the bus or press us very high. It means there wont be much space, and collective game will be very important. Lukaku thrives on space and counters, but not so much against packed defence. If we will play every big game defending and waiting on counter for next 5 years, then maybe Lukaku will turn into brilliant buy. But I would love slightly more attacking fluid football and here Morata fits the bill better. Do you even understand Im not blowing Morata out of water thinking he is next Messi? No, but he is IMO the best option among strikers we seriously were linked with that being Lukaku and him. If I could I would get Lewa or Belotti, both are better choices, but its not happening. Therefore my pick would be Morata, a personal preference of his style of play.

Milan reached agreements with Keita and Biglia. They sure mean business this summer.

Higuain is brilliant scorer too and I wouldnt have him here in a million years. Why? Because he is a potato in big games. I hope for the sake of fluid football and better link up between our attackers, we get Morata. Very best players can play in tight spaces, thats why Modric is miles ahead of Cesc ever will be, regardless of all the stats you can throw. Morata can play in tight spaces and certainly has potential to improve his finishing (nevermind he already scored 20 in limited time, ending second best scorer at Real for current season). Lukaku's touch and control have improved alot since 3 years ago, but that doesnt say much, he was a donkey back then. Even today he is not as great under pressure. If we want to dominate opponents and if we ever want to play nice football on regular basis and push Eden to next level, we need skilled striker too. Outmuscling opponents is not working against top sides anymore.

Yes he did, but we should keep it on the low because its easier to negotiate.

Not too happy about getting him, but will do as alternative, since we are quite short there. Pedro has been much better than him, so I would stick to him for next season if he keeps the level.