robsblubot

Of course he does. Even if is a relative (who are typically the worst agents to deal with) they are still agents: talk to prospect clubs, praise their player for no reason, and especially negotiate deal on behalf of the player.

As much as I enjoy Sarri's style of play, I don't think players should really be relying on who is the current manager - however they may like or dislike named manager. Especially at Chelsea... I really doubt that the club hasn't tried to approach Eden's agent already (to sign a new deal). The player simply doesn't want to stay at the club, otherwise he have pushed hard for very high wages (or his agent would) and signed already. He's now "suffering" under his current deal, while lesser players make far more money than he does. Drinkwarer is just one raise away...

Like Sats above pointed out, you can't sell him. His value is negative because of the wages you posted. All we can do is move him while still paying for his high wages, which does not make a whole lot of sense either. Welcome to the club - wanted mikel sold for years and nothing. Heard it all: plays a role, does a job, dependable, etc... You will hear all that before DD is gone one way or another. No, considering Barkley and RLF, signing DD, and especially Bakayoko, did not make much sense to me either, but it did to some folks who happen to call the shots at chelsea FC.

Heh That is the cost of a bench warmer who will never complain (high wages)... mikel was similar wages and of similar overall quality imo. At least DW is homegrown. against the very poor Southampton side, where we had an overall good team game, Willian was once again the exception by misplacing a lot of easy passes. He gave the ball away in dangerous position and also produced very little in attack.

Perhaps a bit more Kante? diff to imagine he will have a futeture here if he does not start impressing in training.

Yeah not expecting a goal scoring run from him. Not the type... more like a decent number of goals plus better linkup play. point being that giroud does not seem any better and looks pretty well past his prime. On Emerson, 99.9% of all LBs on earth have quite a lot of pace (more than alonso). The vast majority of them will never, and should never play for a top club, despite them being very pacey. e.g. Bertrand. A minority of these pacey ones do play for a top club, and again, the majority of them aren't better than Alonso. Really can't understand this obsession with pace... The most important thing in football is knowing how to play football... sounds obvious when I write it, but some folks seem to forget.

A striker’s goal. Hopefully his confidence is improved bc giroud does not seem more likely to score when he plays.

He did have an impressive game. At the same time a taller gk, like tibo, migh have stopped the equalizer. Well he’s our gk now with strengths and weaknesses.

That could go for a number of Brazilians: Alex Teixeira, Hulk, Oscar to name a few. Teixeira and Hulk are good players who chose money over a bit more exposure, but don't think either would be playing for a top club. Oscar is a diff case because his ceiling was higher, and was considered a huge potential at some point. While he had good moments, he certainly did not fulfill his potential, but could have easily found a top club elsewhere, esp in Italy. He too chose money, but then again, it was a lot of money: Oscar was the 5th highest paid footballer a few months ago (right below Pogba). Prob still is.

but but if you have to take his goals away for him to become average like you say, wouldn’t it make him distinctly not average with the goals? Regardless I certainly see a hell lot more than “just” important goals from him. I bet Spain sees that too...

Killer instinct is part of it, but I think it's more about him lacking a restlessness that the big game players need to have; heh perhaps we speak of the same thing, or at least, very similar things. I've always felt that Eden does not drive the team and it's actually the other way around. When Chelsea plays well, it enables him to be at his best, but when spaces are scarce in tougher games and you need someone to change things up, yeah I do think he lacks that. I don't think it's really about him being indulgent though. This is personality trait and it's not going to change.

Suspect we understand the word "average" a bit differently. You say in your post that we have so few goal scorers in the team, which by definition makes Alonso, a goal scorer, not average. In a broader sense, a player who is linked with RM and plays for Spain is not average. Once again, just pointing out that there is personal preference in the mix here, which is absolutely fine of course. On the other hand, in a game where (the key player) Hazard was invisible, I'm surprised to find this thread (of the left back) so active... are we not expecting a bit too much from our left back? "Just" defending seems to be enough for the other one...

^^ this! So make a list of the sure thing strikers, the ones we know would do better than morata right off the box... now consider that if, and it is already a big if, they are available, we still need to convince them to join us. Say he plays for another top team. Does well, hence why we are after him, why would he want to leave and chase what he has already accomplished? Answer has to be prestige and/ or, of course, (a lot) more money. So, even though I wouldn’t rate our scouts anywhere near top10, after all they thought bakayoko was a footballer, they have probably been trying very hard to get a proper replacement for the solid #9 we had (and quit). personally I don’t think our scouts know a whole lot in South America, esp Brazil and Argentina. Even though the current crop of strikers is a bit weak, the next big one is always around the corner. The only ever good prospect from SA was Oscar and that did not quite work (got the invest money back tho).

That’s really not what I’ve been asking of him. salah exploded IN the CL won many tough matches being the key player for his team. I ask the same of hazard. could not care less what salah did against pub players or what hazard does against the same level of opposition. They are both well beyond that. dont get me wrong, it’s great for him to get the numbers, confidence esp, which will drive him to do better against tougher opposition. still have to sign a new deal though, otherwise we will be in the market for a replacement soon.

That’s really not what I’ve been asking of him. salah exploded IN the CL won many tough matches being the key player for his team. I ask the same of hazard. could not care less what salah did against pub players or what hazard does against the same level of opposition. They are both well beyond that. dont get me wrong, it’s great for him to get the numbers, confidence esp, which will drive him to do better against tougher opposition. still have to sign a new deal though, otherwise we will be in the market for a replacement soon.

Lucio often hits the spot

Yeah while the rant may be irrelevant, there is always some truth in numbers. IMO ignoring stats and numbers would be as myopic as taking them at face value. Notice that the stats presented are mostly around UEFA, and I'd add tough matches. Yes, Eden has had an excellent start of the season. However, I'm most interested in Eden's performances in tough (esp away) games where we need our star player to make a difference. Hope the new system will help him do just that.

True on alonso, but that does not mean he cannot join in in attack if we are chasing a goal for ex. Different case for Luiz though. He played many many games as a CM under Jose, and very good ones at that. Played tough away matches in that position with great success. Not exactly attacking mid, but he certainly showed qualities for that role. Reckon he did not want to pursue it because of Brazil, which was a mistake IMO.

I’m sure he has a lot on his mind atm, and congrats to him, but as one who actually praises his play even when he does not score, there is very little to praise about his performance against Bournemouth... giroud came in and did his regular slow thing and it was a hell lot more than what morata did. needs to do a lot more to remain at this club.

Now when you say “his goal” do you mean better defending or moving him closer to our goal... deeper. pretty sure it’s the former, but just to point out it would be a bit wasteful to try to make him what he is not. I do agree with sarri that if alonso improves defensively he will become the best lb in the word. Not sure that’s possible due to his build, but don’t think it is necessary either because then he’d leave for greener pastures. that one-two between Eden and alonso is literally why I whatch football.

aha true. I stand corrected. The dutch de Boers', Frank and Ronald. The two were fantastic defenders though - could read the game and had the pace to follow through. They were always employed in a very high defense line.

Mostly agreed. Though I think David Luiz technique is not overrated and his passing is pretty impressive esp for a CB (range and precision). I mean I've seen mikel play for years and years and not hit a single one of DL long balls (and he did try ). The thing is that there isn't such a thing as an attacking CB is there? I mean if there were, DL would've been king. So, as good as he may be with the ball at this feet, it cannot possibly make up for his defending or lack thereof. For all his mistakes with us, I think Jose got this one right when he smartly moved Luiz into midfield and he did really well there (even scoring important goals) esp considering how short-lived the experiment was. If Luiz were smarter, he would have embraced it and become a solid mid. But reckon he still had Brazil CB position as a tangible goal. In the end whatever affects his decisions on the pitch is still there when he goes home.

It will happen once Sarri realizes how bad the AMR situation actually is. As soon as Pedro goes on a slump, picks up an injury, or is tired...

Nothing else to do really. He needs to develop in all aspects, esp physicality. Hope he will have the support to do that at Villa - and please do hit the gym and often!

While I'm glad he's thinking about defense, it does worry me. Not so much Alonso defensive frailties, which is to be expected IMO (as I mentioned above attacking FBs...), but David Luiz next to him is like having another player who needs covering and a system to help him. So, it might become too great a task for any system. Wonder how Sarri can address that. One option, which I've seen employed (a long time ago in a g...) by Scolari actually, before he got the ridiculous tag of being an attacking manager (he's always been a Mourinho type): he had a LB similar to Azpi (who's now a good manager in Brazil) and an attacking RB (also a manager in Paraguay). So, instead of moving the CM/DMs to cover the FB, the defense would shift right, turning into 3CB system when the attacking FB bombed forward. So, the defensive LD would become a CB and position himself like that temporarily. He also had two players in midfield who could defend well. Now, while that system worked wonders (very diff to break) he did not have a D. Luiz in defense...