Chelsea Legend 11

I don't know exactly what some of you are talking about, we're not going to sign a player for the starting XI in the winter. If we do sign Calhanoglu its to strengthen the squad, he'd be Hazard's understudy with a chance to fit in on the right if he hits the ground running. The time for big signings for the XI is in the summer.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH FINALLY!!! http://www.101greatgoals.com/news/chelseas-eden-hazard-wins-premier-league-player-month-october-pictures/

You win the midfield battle you will win the game 9 times out of 10. Who can argue that a midfield of Matic, Kante and Verratti wouldn't be close to the best in the world? I think this signing is more important than any other we've been linked with.

Well that's part of maturing and most defenders don't hit their prime till 28 and beyond. You don't have to this is a game called using your imagination. this isn't about right or wrong these are opinions. In my opinion David Luiz has been our best defender since returning to the club. Without him, I find it hard to believe that 3 at the back would work for us.

Apparently Utd had a bid of €50m turned down in 2015! He's been playing wingback for Lazio in the 3-5-2 formation. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3828975/Chelsea-ready-make-Lazio-winger-Felipe-Anderson.html He's also getting somewhere close to 4 tackles a game! https://www.whoscored.com/Players/93026

The perfect foil to Moses as a RWB. He is more of an attacker but does put in a shift at the defensive end too! He would def push for minutes at rwb and RAM

You can draw the same sort of errors with pretty much every defender in the world. I'm not saying David ranks as the best defender out there but his "mistakes" are blown out of proportion because he didn't fit with the make up of our team identity. We were pragmatic and boring, he is flamboyant and a risk taker, the contrast was stark. If you put Luiz in that Arsenal team of 2011 he'd be considered a footballing God! You put him into that Barcelona team of the same time and he's a fucking legendary footballer of Beckenbauer proportions. We are conditioned to Jose style of football, we need to break that mould to start appreciating freer football. I think Conte is the perfect coach at the perfect time for David, he will give him structure but not so much as to keep him from expressing himself. Its a beautiful thing....

he is probably the best pure defender we have on the squad. I agree that Luiz is our best defender in a 3 back setting but Azpi has been no slouch! his ability to close down and press make him very hard to replace in that back three. Not to mention his distribution has been close to flawless. One might even go as far as to say Moses' ascendancy at right wingback is correlated to Azpi being implemented at RCB.

I really don't get this talk of "it will stop so and so from developing" If the player is good enough he will play. I like this Belotti fella looks like a passionate striker who has an eye for goal... looks very determined

Zola and Ballack are world class, even when their skills deteriorate they can provide a lot to the team. Nainggolan is nothing close to world class and will slip a lot faster, it comes down to fee for me.

His technique is definitely improving as is his decision making.

I'm really trying to avoid hammering home the same points many have made here but it is extremely hard since so many have made the same observations about our display under Conte's 3-4-3. I am struggling to think of another time this club has looked so perfectly balanced defensively and offensively. Antonio has done a masterful job of masking our weaknesses and exalting our strengths, in this recent run of form I'd go as far as saying he's turned weaknesses into strengths and made what we considered to be our strength stronger! This has got to be the most complete side in the Prem and we still have room to grow! I don't think we've seen the best from Hazard yet and I also think Moses has more to offer in the final third. By all accounts we just look better prepared and more energized. Where last season we waited for teams to come onto us and often got torn to bits, this season we are so aggressive and are winning the ball back HIGH up the pitch. I'm not sure what the defensive assignment is when we don't have the ball but it has been mesmerizing watching teams trying and failing miserably to break the high press. The three CB's look more like midfielders when we're out of possession, what can be said about David Luiz that hasn't already been? He's been nothing short of incredible! His deployment is perfect too, his attributes are tailor made for the sweeper role. He has great anticipation, quickness and an eye for a pass. I can't remember a game he didn't have the main striker in his back pocket. Offensively is where this team really shines though! We tend to commit a lot of bodies forward and never look exposed, it truly is remarkable how Conte has tactically got this team understanding their role so well. I mean at Juve they were starved for true attacking prowess and he managed to get them playing as a unit, Antonio must be jizzing himself to have the likes of Costa, Hazard, Pedro and Willian to call upon. Multiple times at the weekend we had 4 or 5 bodies in the box, it was a joy to see! It creates so much confusion and A LOT of 1 v 1's to exploit. For years we have struggled to identify our style, in a few short weeks under Conte we are looking a lot like a squad that has the ability to find solutions. And finally, the most noticeable difference I've seen is we are forcing teams to adapt to how we play! We are dictating the play and forcing teams out of their comfort zones to cope with what it is we are doing. THAT is proactive football and this is the first time I've seen it with Chelsea.... The 2nd best defense in the league changed their system to try and nullify ours. UNBELIEVABLE.

Antonio Conte is proving to be a very difficult manager to figure out for the opposition. While I agree we have a wealth of luxury with the players we can call upon, finding the right system to put these players in the right conditions to win has been elusive until now. Conte's 3-4-3 is actually defensively a 5-2-2-1 but its incredibly hard to find any areas to exploit. Most managers will tell you to exploit a 3-4-3 you need to get the ball in wide areas and drag the defenders out of position, Conte's system is so well organized that even if you pull one of the defenders out of position, the midfielders or strikers know they have to drop in to take up the space. This is the 4th game in a row where this system has not once looked under threat. You would expect it from Hull at home but Leicester and Southampton away and Utd at home has cemented it in my mind, we are very tough to play against and the shape change, though not new to the league, is being deployed in a way teams haven't yet figured out. Conte is proving to be a very astute coach and in a very short amount of time(no really preseason training). If we continue to find him players for his system there is no telling what this team an achieve. Having said that I can't really think of an available player who can come into this current XI and make it significantly better. You can argue Bonucci but if everyone is being completely honest with themselves, David Luiz has been nothing short of incredible since arriving so its hard to see a need for Bonucci given Luiz's play. Nainggolan is not going to displace either Matic or Kante at this point so its hard to see where he fits in. The only place where I think we can do better is the right sided attacking mid. I like what Pedro has done and I love Willian's work rate but I can only think how dangerous we could be with someone like Griezmann on the right flank. The goals he brings could make us extremely formidable in all areas.

I have to salute Conte for ending an ugly spell by changing the shape of a very predictable team. Deploying Kante as a box to box midfielder was GENIUS! It allowed us to recover balls high up the pitch and keep them on their back heels. 3-4-3 is the way to go moving forward, I liked having two dedicated attack minded players on the flank in Moses and Willian, it looked so dangerous. The shape can easily be adapted to a 4-3-3 too so its very hard to predict how we will play.

Really need to stop referencing the preseason in relation to Chalobah... He averaged like 20mins against tired teams, its not exactly the same as starting in the premier league. I just think he deserves a chance because our other options(aside from Kante) have been well off the pace.

Period end of story.

Love Conte but he got it wrong today(the first time this season) the subs came way too late and to my amateur eyes both Oscar and Matic looked completely knackered after 65mins. Who could blame them too, we were chasing shadows the entire first half. And whats more is neither of them deserved to be apart of the team in the second half, Fabregas and either Moses or Michy should've been on long before. We had chances late but the squad needed changing long before they were made.

Said it prematch, we win if he shows up... That's back to back matches where he was invisible. Not good enough when he's supposed to be our best player. I just can't tolerate watching him play when he isn't dictating play, it's just awful to watch him look pedestrian. There are two types of players, one who represents a thermometer(someone who follows the climate of the game) and the other is the thermostat who dictates the temperature of the fixture. Hazard, in my eyes, is a thermometer and not a thermostat. He doesn't take over games he responds to the game; reactive not active.

Puts a lot of pressure on our fullbacks, Mane and Firmino would have acres of space to run into... I think this is a good plan b if things go pear shaped early.

Its called smart managing. You don't break a winning formula for new shiny toys... You should ask Jose Mourinho how that worked in the Derby. We are playing well and the names you are suggesting we drop are team leaders. Its not like we signed Marcelo and Thiago Silva, there is still competition for places and the new players are at a disadvantage because they have yet to fully acclimatize themselves with how the manager wants to play. Its a marathon not a sprint.

lol... what's hilarious your level 9 fanboy posts. What you will always get from me ALWAYS is the badge before anyone else and everything else. If a player, no matter how good he can be, comes to Chelsea and performs well below their level and looks disinterested in fighting for the club you will ALWAYS find me criticizing the commitment. I'm glad he looks more into it this year because if he is on his game Chelsea wins... That's all I care about.

Why don't you look up Hazard vs Porto away or the many times last season he was piss poor and ineffectual? You use clips from the 2nd last game of the season to make a point? LOL... And if you read what I said correctly you would see I said "On current form he wasn't worth more than 30M"

Comment on the Tottenham game? *rolls eyes* He was brilliant, the problem with that is we saw that sort of form far too few times last year. And when you highlight his one brilliant game last year you look like a fanboy.

No thanks... Looks more like a rugby player than a footballer. No athleticism, pace, jumping ability, technique. Looks like another Huth.

Which Hazard? Thorgan?