BlueLyon

IMO we monitor him in case Hazard leaves...

Should have 15 by now if he scored all breakaways.

How dare you say something like this about wee baldy man. As admin you should ban yourself for a day and think about what you just said.

In Atletico he played 6 games this season and 4 of those as CB. Hernandez is equaly good as Cb and Lb right now. But he is more suited for CB. Besides he is a leftie and would suit left CB side perfectly next to right footed Rudiger.

Ramos, Bonucci and Pique are only good defenders. But they are great football players. Its big difference here. Terry had his fart moments (and not to be biased, so did Ferdinand, Vidic, Caragher etc) but they were still reliable and great defenders. They knew a thing or two about marking and tactical awarness. Have you seen Ramos defend? He is always caught in 1v1 situations because of poor marking and makes faul to save his ass. And real fans will tell you the same. But he is great leader, motivator and scored some crucial goals. That makes him big game player, but certainly not because of his defending. Varane and Pepe prior were much more reliable defenders when paired with Ramos in recent years (after Pepe settled down). Ramos defending is straight comical. You didnt see that with Terry ever. And Bonucci? Again he was always the worst defender in BBC. Chielini but moreso Barzagli in his prime were miles ahead. But again Bonucci being fancy passer, he got alot of fame. Once he got in Milan team that accomodated him perfectly, he wasnt just poor but worst cb in that team. It was crap team, but Romagnoli was better still, so you cant say it was because of a shit team. One would expect his experience to bring something calm to the team, but he made it worse actualy. In CL finals, he was always allover the place and Chiellini and Barzagli were again the ones to actualy mark the opponents because Bonucci was in wrong places again and again. Pique and Ramos were fantastic for spain yes but that team had possesion all the time and they are great at that. As pure defenders they didnt have such crazy work. Varane and Umitit had bigger role in recent world cup. Speaking of Ramos-Pique duo, they came into world cup as CL winner (Ramos) and Laliga winner (Pique). Both in fantastic form, Ramos played at his best in last few months of season and Pique was realy good alongside Umtiti who almost went unbeaten in laliga. However Pique and Ramos were terrible for Spain. These are all fancy players and they always need a reliable and calm partner alongside to work. Put them alone or in along another fancy CB and you are in for a disaster unless your team doesnt have greatest midfield in history of football (xavi, iniesta, busquets). In the end they arent bad at all, dont get me wrong, but they are extremely overrated. Best defenders in barca were Puyol, Umtiti, not Pique; in Real it was Pepe and Varane, not Ramos, in Juve Chiellini and Barzagli, not Bonucci. But they play fancy football and media just loves them. But best defenders my ass. Alves is getting same recognition for last two seasons but he did jack shit. Media just loves to jump on such players and praise them.

Probably only striker you still arent comfortable with even after he scores 2. I mean sure its nice to have those two goals, but its 1v1 like in the end that show if he is real quality, has composure and finishing ability. And Morata just fucks up everytime in those situations. What if it was 3:3 or something? You need reliable striker, not someone who misses sitters all the time and scores couple of flukes even he doesnt know how it happened. Seriously is there a stat of all 1v1s of Morata and how many he scored/missed?

Rudiger is alright, but we need longterm replacement for Luiz; either Skriniar or Hernandez would be nice. I would wait a bit for Christensen too, maybe he can develop but right now he is just piss. He is too nice for a CB and makes horrible decisions.

We should probably start Kovacic for some more balance and organisation in our attacks and then bring Barkley in second half for a more direct approach if we still needed a goal. So far Barkley and Kante offer very little in our offensive organisation.

Im surprised Sarri didnt try Pedro in central forward role with Hazard and Willian on wings yet. It cant be worse than Morata and Sarri did wonders with Mertens in Napoli.

Crazy that despite the great start, we are still only 3rd and a bunch of teams just behind us, breathing on the neck. Another must win to keep in top 4. I dont want to jynx it, but with our change of play style, I think we will have different boogey teams. We always had hard fixtures vs Nufc, but it was quite easy this year. Maybe it will be the same with Palace.

Yeah he is really amazing with the ball at his feet, I love watching him play as he is entertaining, but that is nothing to say he is great defender. Obviously he is very good, has speed, strength and some good tactical understanding, but still away from being great CB. Against best opposition, still many mistakes. I remember Napoli playing some good sides in CL and Albiol was actualy the better CB in most matches if you consider defensive actions only.

Varane has been dogshit this season, mistake after mistake. Its probably good for madrid that he picked up an injury. But otherwise I agree he was great last season and during WC. On whole level, I do think Umtiti is better, because he is more consistent.

And the hype dies in 3...2...1...

How is his dribbling run relevant to being best defender in the world? It has literaly nothing to do with being CB. The standards these days... Apparently best CBs of past few years like Pique, Bonucci, Ramos get destroyed every time they dont play in absolutely world class team when they have possesion all the time and midfield/attack who scores alot to save their ass. Take a look at Bonucci in Milan, Ramos this year in shit Madrid team. So called best CBs and their defending is on level of football league two. They are great distributors, but give me a break being best CBs. Only worthy are Godin and Chiellini. I miss days of Terry, Puyol, Nesta...you know the days when CBs were actualy good defenders AND distributors. Nowdays any semi professional runs around these "ball playing" CBs in 1v1 situations. Bunch of glorified David Luizes. Obviously Luiz has some great qualities but everyone knows defending isnt one of them except once in 10 games. Same goes to Ramos, Pique, Bonucci etc. Because of these reasons I have doubt about Christensen. Massive potential, but so weak body and completely wrong mindset when on the ball, always complicating things. At least Ramos or Luiz are someone you dont mess with. Christensen needs to bulk up and become more agressive if he wants to play part here.

Apparently Mancini wage wasnt paid by City but some company outside England. Cool we were bought by Roman years before FFP. We probably did same things back then, but they were not illegal in football world. Now with FFP they are and hopefuly City and Psg get bans. But obviously nothing will happen because money talks. City, Psg and uefa will just pay off the journos to keep quiet and everything will fade off.

IMO it doesnt mean much. Lukaku went to United too despite Mou being there. If anything, Conte will want Hazard even more than Lopetegui.

Yeah, I have been thinking about Sancho alot too. Quality talent and has that end product like Mbappe had. Bvb is reportedly interested in Clarke-Salter and we could do some sort of deal for Sancho (and also give them CHO with buy back clause if he doesnt get playtime here) I would prefer Cho to develop here, but if he doesnt get the chances, its pointless to keep him here. After all, he is only our biggest talent in long time, what is there to lose.

One good buy last season and he cost 15m. Dont let that distract you we forked 80m on fucking Drinkwater and Bakayoko.

Great to see Tomori and Mason get chance to play. I expect Cfc win, but it will be tough.

Very nice win, but even nicer to see two english players do well in Chelsea.

Now bring Odoi on and this will be perfect

Rubeeeeeen

Icardi is ideal because our current strikers are so crap. If we had okayish striker, spending 100m on Icardi would be nuts. Better to wait for more complete striker. But yeah since we have shit strikers, almost anyone would be welcome. And Icardi wont be coming here ever. He is either going to stay in inter or move to spain.

Its worrying that only up and coming strikers that scream world class in the near future are Mbappe and Kane, both unavailable. Icardi, Lukaku, nevermind Morata will never be great strikers. while Dybala, Griezmann arent real strikers. Lewa, Suarez Cavani, Aguero, Costa, Higuain...are on the old side too. In all these years I am watching football, I dont remember such shit amount of striker options out there. And to think awhile ago you had prime Henry, Villa, Drogba, Etoo, Trezeguet, Ibra, Torres, Nistelrooy, Rooney play at same time, nevermind the upcoming goalscorers in Ronaldo and Messi. If Icardi is so called the best striking option out there, its just sad. He has crazy instinct for goal, but lacks nearly everything else for allrounded striker. Doesnt have the strength, speed, high work rate, ball control or vision of top striker. Basically a poacher. Then there is donkey Lukaku and even bigger donkey Morata. I pray someone explodes on stage in next two seasons or we are screwed.

Our attack aside from Hazard is dire. Realy cant score or create anything. But you are right, options are bad. Bunch of unproven strikers, we would have to hit a lottery to get one that creates difference. But perhaps a RW like Bailey or Inaki Williams who can score would ease the situation.