BlueLyon

Yes he scores more. He also fucks up half of the attacks when he tries to dribble and hold on the ball too much. Hazard almost never loses the ball in the build up, football is a team sport and thats why I value him more. Give Eden world class striker, quality midfielder, fullback, and another attacker who is on similar level and he will elevate the team. He connects the dots and the better players he has around the better outcome team will make. Neymar dwells on the ball too long. Then there is a matter of fair play. Eden usualy holds his ground, Neymar falls for every tiny touch. Some dont value that, some value that more than actualy quality of the player. Both are world class, but Neymar now plays in the league that Eden outgrown at age 21.

With the way some players are underperforming and we didnt get all the targets, we definately cant blame Conte and point out he could do better. For what he has avaliable, he did well. Get him quality players and then we will see if he cant get results from top team, he should be sacked, but right now no way. You can only play to a certain level with current lot. Some games might not be watchable at all, but results wise we cant complain. Last season title and this season when we are apparently "shit" we will probably end second. It would be absolutely idiotic to ditch Conte for not achieving and maximizing the outcome of this squad because I think he did realy well considering what we have. The players seem to get on with him so far and he is real gentleman in public, that definately counts big time. Secondly lets say board does sack Conte, who do we bring? IMO only Sarri would be on my list, others have flaws on either side, Tuchel cant defend, Simeone cant attack. I rather stick with Conte then even if we are not the very best. Next summer, Conte should get two top top players and then we shall see. We have found some stability finaly, hopefuly we dont break everything in the summer.

Not bad eh?

Next up, sign Lemar/Fekir, LB and extend Tibo and Eden. That would cement us in being competitive for next few seasons at the least.

Tbh there were quality CBs on the ball before Pep. Think Terry or Puyol. But the thing is, those two (and some others) were quality on the ball which was extra trait. They were still primarily a fantastic defenders, old school who didnt take any shit and could actualy defend. Sure the days of hooligan CBs who cant make a pass are gone, but Pep type of CB is so uncharacteristic, I have no idea how its getting so much praise. Ball playing CBs of today who want to look good with their feet also poses trait of being absolute average defenders. The fact they are "good" is hidden by the attacking displays. Thats why Pique survived in barca, Ramos in Real. When those two get in 1v1 duel they get raped 9/10 times against any better attacker. Im all for having more ball playing CBs but they should be quality defenders first and foremost. If they can play with their feet, thats just bonus, not priority. The football turning into shit slowly but steadily with this new generation of fancy players. You can hardly get someone talented enough yet with strong character. I understand some wingers were always cocky, but not defenders or even midfielders who should be imposing and respectable figures. Im glad we have Christensen who is actualy good defender, but also fine footballer with his feet. Honestly I dont mind if spanish league plays the way they play. But Pep being hailed for making Stones and Otamendi quality defenders 😂 yes they look strong due to city immense power, but take note, those two will have fails in CL against quality teams. Yes football is evolving and PL has to change, evolve. But not by praising these false top CBs because whole generation of CBs will know how to pass but no clue how to defend. Im sure Pep effect is already in motion, teams picking lesser defenders due to their skill rather picking actualy promising tacklers and readers of the game. Again I dont mind having ball playing CB who can defend, but get away with these false defenders ala Ramos or Pique. So much praise and then you see them barbequed week in week out by any better attacker. Pepe at 34 was twice the defender in Real for example and they got rid of him 😂 And finaly best possible example of all what is wrong with football today is Juve BBC. Every fucking person from coaches to media to fans jerking on Bonucci while Chiellini and Barzagli were 5 times the defenders. But hey Bonucci could make those hollywood passes. Yeah he is real quality in Milan now 😂 Milan is a mess but you know any world class and experienced CB that Bonucci is hailed to be would make that defence miles better. Pepe is doing exactly that in Besiktas team, althrough thats just one simple example. But Bonucci in Milan looks completely lost.

Interesting that Monaco president said Lemar could leave this january. Means the rumours about our interest are true (or Pool).

What is with all this praise for Drinkwater all of suddden? He is good backup mid, thats all. I dont like Cesc too much, but he still has more quality over Drinks. Yes Drinks is more mobile, but absolute average in everything else. Decent player who can be used sometimes, but not even close to top standards. The fact that he is among candidates for starters says more about lack of quality among our midfielders than quality of Drinkwater. I swear its like bandwagon reaction over Drinkwater. People imagine his good season in leicester, his wonder goal last week and fact that he can run more than Cesc and suddenly there is ilusion he is actualy chelsea 1st quality. I like Drinkwater and he is valuable player, but if he is nowhere near quality of chelsea 1st 11 midfielder. Bakayoko as poor he is, he had good games against United and Atletico away. He still has potential to be good. Drinks on other hand isnt as bad, but just because he is slightly above average every game doesnt mean he will make our team much better.

IMO if we are going to continue with 3:5:2, we desperately need top central midfielder then. That should be priority. Im not talking about good one, but realy realy good one. In 3:5:2 we "lose" one winger, meaning less dynamic upfront, and that gives more workload on wingbacks who have to provide width and support for Eden and Morata, but more importantly, core of our play goes from trio Eden Morata Pedro to Eden and MIDFIELD. And our midfielders bar Kante (and even he isnt realy good in possesion) are average. I never liked 3:5:2 and I was hoping Conte wont play any system with 3 at the back. But 3:4:3, I realy loved last season. Going to 3:5:2 this year, I dont like it at all. As I said we dont have Pedro/Willian in this formation and all the workload in attack goes to only Eden. Because despite we have in 3:5:2 extra midfielder, we dont have any quality midfielders to actualy make that difference. Therefore midfielder should be absolute priority. Im talking about Modric, Vidal class of midfielders. Juve had Pirlo, Pogba and Vidal plus Marchisio for that midfield trio and even then I didnt like their system because it had many flaws. But that midfielde was quality, not to mention they had top defence and quality striker in Tevez. And yet they were still poor outside italy in that system. Back in chelsea 2004-2010 people say Drogba, Terry, Lamps,...I dont agree that was the reason for success. We had Lamps, Ballack, Makelele, Essien in midfield. Good midfield is the core fundation for any quality side. Now we have Kante who is comparable to those above, but also Cesc who is shit under pressure, Bakayoko who cant control the ball all of sudden and Barkley who had yet to prove himself. In the end, I hope we dont plan on continuing 3:5:2 and its just temporary. I would love to see us go back to 4:3:3 eventualy. As for Marcos, he is valuable with his goals and that should not be underestimated, but we still need a good wingback. Marcos is good footballer, but wingback has to be quick, good defender and good attacker. Marcos is just the later.

MUCH better option. He would make very good backup striker. But there is no way. He would cost alot and Porto wont sell him in january. There is a reason they kept Aboubakar, Telles and Pereira. They want to win title and I dont think they are selling anyone in january. Btw Soares was realy good for porto last year and turned complete turd this season, so I would be careful when buying one season striker from there. Marega should be avoided at any cost. Aboubakar on other hand has quite a record.

He was awful in CL. I think Portugal is his level.

Haha😂😂 this guy makes Bakayoko look like prime Messi

If that was the case no top team would ever produce young players into stars. Yeah its risk, but it pays off later. I agree you cant throw youth every weekend, but there are games that you do. Chelsea is worst example here. Liverpool, United, City, Arsenal they all give more chance to them (United under Mou not so much though). We keep saying they are not ready until they are too old. If Real could utilise Lucas Vazquez when they had strongest team in europe, I dont see why we couldnt use Musonda for example. Its BS to say he isnt ready. Kdb wasnt "ready" either I guess... We always have a choice to play them. Bigger risk yes. But we go for safer option. Board doesnt have trust in Musonda and if you throw him in first 11, other 10 players who are seniors will be unable to cover up for ONE! youth player. Why? Because we have average players in first team, who too often play shit like against norwich. Also this "pressure" was created by the club itself. I can imagine its the most demanding to be manager at chelsea and to be young player at chelsea. Thats why managers are afraid to field youth and youth is often underperforming in those rare chances. We just dont have safe surroundings and environment for youth. And thats on board because they run youth like factory. Nothing more. And the worst is because we pretend we are investing in youth, we dont spend that much anymore because we want to develop youth but that is one big BS. Our youth might be overhyped, to say Musonda is next Ronaldo or Odoi next Hazard etc...but they won everything on youth levels ahead of others. So they are definately ready for those first team chances.

They can play 4:3:3, with Mane and Salah on wings, Firmino uptop and Lemar as LCM. They will also get Keita in summer who will probably play RCM. They indeed need DM and GK, then they would have fantastic squad. Lemar doesnt need to be winger tbh. He is excelent in connecting the midfield with attack, keeping the fluidity of play. And his work rate is impressive too. Would be great replacement for Coutinho IMO, thats why I hope they dont get him.

Very very few kids have it what it takes from the get go. Kane looked average for Spurs first couple games. Its not always superstar talent at 18. We have Pedro and Willian on wings who are downright shit (sorry but its true) and yet they play week in week out. Odoi is very promising, but Musonda is now at age when he definately deserves the chance. Same with wingbacks, we have few yet Sterling doesnt play at all. Then we play Kenedy who has brain of a potato. This mentaly ready is just bs excuse because then Kenedy wouldnt play single game. We dont have balls to throw 17 year old in cup game because we fear we would lose the game. Thats says plenty of how much we trust our youth and how (un)reliable first team players are if they cant win a cup game with one youth player instead of regular. What its evident that some older players dont give two shits about norwich in carabao, youth players would give all in such game to prove themselves. And we dont make any change. And same applies to the league. We are far behind City and yet we dont experiment. All I ask is one damn chance. 2nd or 3rd it doesnt matter in the end does it if we develop a kid into regular for several seasons to come. What is one place lower if that meant we get to see Musonda/Odoi/Sterling as regular from next season on for next 5-10 years? But the club is so short visioned. No wonder we are lacking consistency when the board tries to be smart in buying and "develop" players when in fact whole board from coach to back staff doesnt know a single thing on how to make youth player a regular. Balls. The board lacks them. The players lack them. Its one big "take the easier way" business nowdays.

This. We have some useles players in squad who deserve to be benched, yet no one has the balls to actualy play our talented youth like Sterling, Salter, Odoi, Ampadu or Musonda for couple games. I would get it if we are in title race or having squad filled with superstars but come on. Maybe we have overhyped kids who realy arent that promising at all, but fuck give them a damn start or two. Even Real, Barca, Psg plays their kids in cup games. Norwich would be perfect example yet we throw first team players who shown zero fucks. And its gonna be the same next time. Yeah Ampadu is getting some (very limited) minutes, others not at all. I can see Odoi or Sterling may not be "ready" yet, but Musonda? Nah we just play Willian and Pedro 😑 We are lacking wingbacks and wingers, we have three youth players that can play in those positions but the board does fuck all. Thats one and only thing I realy blame Conte. Scared to lose vs norwich so he throws regulars who perform like shit instead of giving chance to Sterling, Ampadu Musonda and Odoi in second half. Next game is played at home and I bet we wont see youth again bar maybe Ampadu. The way this club runs youth is plain awful.

There is no way Pep will keep Sane, Sterling, Bernard, Jesus, Aguero, Sanchez happy. Besides we are three signings away from having top team too. RW and most importantly LWB and quality CM (or not if Barkley impresses). Back up striker too but doesnt have to be realy expensive. That is doable in summer with all the money we have and potential departure of Luiz and Bats. Football is unpredictable and ball is round. Everyone expected last season to be battle between manchesters, we won it. Everyone expected Real to destroy everyone again this season but its exactly opposite. Personaly I think Aguero will leave soon, Sanchez isnt out and out world class player, neither is Sterling. Sane could be and Kdb is awesome too. Silva and Fernandinho are aging. Peps defences were never truly solid either. So there is chance for us. City looks to be complete package to win PL yes because they have enough quality and depth, but Im sure we can build solid team to beat majority of PL too. Never mind if other teams improve, us but also City will have harder job. And second season after you win the title is almost never as good as everyone expects, so I think City will drop this form at one point. As for CL, my prediction is City wont win it for a while. Pep just doesnt adopt when he has to (key games with Bayern and he got destroyed couple times because he was naive). And PL has no break meaning his players will likely suffer some fatigue. Lets be honest stamina of players like Scholes, Lamps, Gerrard were miles ahead of those that currently Man city has (and english teams in general). Thats why we suffer in europe. Maybe Im biased and this all is just false hope, but football is like that. No era or team goes forever. And IMO while Pep has lot of quality and he installed winning mentality into City, are there any players that actualy have heart there? That would "die" on the pitch? This is something you desperately need. But obviously we will need to buy quality players ourselves too. There is no other way. I just think the gap isnt that large and we can catch them.

He cost 15m. I dont know what are you still going on about. He is going to either develop well and we got english player for peanuts or, if he plays so shit as you believe, he will be benched/sold. Either way he would be good choice from bench, we are not Real or Barca, if we have someone like Barkley on bench thats decent. If we sell him, he will go for profit no doubt. We cant lose on this deal mate. You see it as lack of ambition, but this one is clear example of smart business where we profit either way. I would be fuming if we paid 35 or more for him too, like I have been with Drinkwater. But Barkley for 15m is no brainer. Absolute no brainer. The problem is not Barkley. The problem is Bakayoko, Drinkwater who cost us 80m and cant outplay Norwich.

Absolutely awful performance by some of our main players. Pedro, Willian, Bats, Luiz...they should be more than enough to win the game. How the fuck can you demand and contend for place in first 11 when you get a chance against norwich and not give a single shit? Its the kind of game where you try to impress manager. Do they think first 11 is just going to be given to them? I would play Musonda, Salter, Sterling and Ampadu in replay. They cant play worse than yesterday. But Conte obviously wont do that.

Injured too much. Would rather target Carlos Soler from Valencia.

I didnt know about his leg fracture and it was interesting to read to know who he is but honestly getting another "confidence" player was probably the last thing we needed. For the fee its smart business obviously, but I always thought Barkley is confident but inconsistent player. Now its clear he gets distracted realy quickly. And he now plays for club where players feel the most pressure in whole england. I hope it works out, but IMO it doesnt look particulary bright. Also these comparisons to Lamps are completely wrong too. Lamps had endless levels of energy and giant character. It was that what made him great player. I dont see Barkley having either yet. He has the skills but thats about it.

I was all in to get him, but now seeing they value him way above 50m, no thanks. I thought we could land him for 40m for some reason. He is a good player, but you can get much better abroad for that money.

Him unable to play CL and title as good as gone, its smart to pursue such targets in summer. Same with Lemar and others that cant play in CL. Only exceptions should be if someone quality can play in CL or there is already someone very interested in certain player we want (ie If United wanted sandro in jan, we would need to act quick)

I hope we extend with him soon hopefuly. Now with barca getting Coutinho and maybe even Griezmann in summer, Real will start throwing cash for players they might not even realy need. Not good for us.

I wonder how pursuing our board is with targets. Pool wanted Dijk and Keita, no one else. And they got them in the end. I hope we dont settle for second/third target after first bump. If we have doubts about paying millions in today market, we have very slim chances to get back on football throne.

Liverpool will make Lemar better than Coutinho probably. He fits them like a glove. Thats why I hope we get Lemar in summer. I would like Mahrez aswell, but if we are picking just one of the lot, Lemar by mile. He is younger and very good footballer.