robsblubot

Exactly my point. He’s not dedicated enough to turn it around. He should’ve been hitting the gym hard and getting stronger and stronger, and yet we see the very same player a year later. he doesn’t not seem to care.

I don’t deny they were poor touches. He was under pressure at all times, with a guy breathing down his neck. Lukaku imo has much inferior technique, but because he’s stronger, he manages to find spaces more easily (not lying on the ground as much either). In empty spaces it is easier to pick a pass or take shot. either way, it does not look like morata has the drive to turn it around. He looks the same as before and a bit disinterested at that.

If that happens we are fucked. We would still be strikerless, and lose the key player. Mostly disagree with many of the criticisms here. United is a very strong team, who seem to be starting to play better as a team. Getting “the other guy” here who’s virtue is merely not being “the one” we dislike isn’t going to cut it. We have nothing close to pogba in midfield. Our star player is not a big game winner. Willian is innefective and the striker is struggling: looks defeated accepting the situation, so he needs to go. luiz does the usual great play followed by a mistake, but I thought United midfield with matic and esp pogba were too much for us. Matic strted poorly, but grew into the game and was better than Jorginho.

I disagree. I think he has very good technique. It’s his physique that lets him down esp in tough games. I was expecting him to work hard and bulk up a bit. I mean he is young enough to do that, but it does not seem is very dedicated guy either. Does not look like he can turn it around here. He needs to move to a less physical league.

Morata should,d thank Willian today against United. Out of the two glaring subpar performances of the team, Willian managed to be the worst chelsea player on the pitch.

Morata could not link up with anyone today - very poor. They weren’t really in the same areas of the pitch most of the time, which was worrying to me. Still eden was also pretty poor on his own against united today. This is the type of game where he has to mix it up a bit. He can’t expect that his dribbling will be as effective against tight marking and quality opposition.

Think I'd still call it unprofessional, especially considering all clubs are rivals in nature. I cannot imagine employees lasting a day in their jobs if they start talking, or say tweeting, about joining a diff company - let alone a rival company. Being professional also involves respecting your current employer publicly, which I personally don't think Hazard does when he makes those frequent comments. Perhaps he's lacking professional support around him. An agent can make some noise, and they usually do that behind the scenes, not to the public. I would say that KDB is a more professional football player than Hazard (and Lukaku), just to keep it between the Belgians.

heh wanting to go somewhere is totally OK, but of course these players can't stop talking about it. It's not just unprofessional in football; it's also unprofessional in the corporate world. Was hoping Eden would take clues from KDB, not Courtois on how to deal with the media...

Heh Torres had no pace left when he joined us. Every time he started to show something of his former self, he'd pick up one of his niggling injuries and turn into a snail. Morata is all pace, good runs, link up play, and poor finishing. He's really good in the air - better than Torres ever was. The most important difference is that Morata can be sold. It's funny how perceptions go, I think aubameyang and Lacazette are essentially at the same level of Morata: good players, not great players.

Heh a lot other players handle those questions 100x better. Yes stay polite, but say you cannot comment on transfer talk. Let the agents talk. It really isn't his place to answer these question while he is well employed by Chelsea. Chelsea is being very nice here. About the contract, that's not how footballers think about their careers: they (and their agents) fully understand that their time to earn money (esp high wages) is limited, so they rarely refuse bumps the clubs offer. Contracts may even contain certain clauses such as minimum fee, a percentage of the fee, and so on. For me, the fact he has waited this long can only mean he does not want to sign. I have a hard time believing any other explanation -- it just does not make sense in my head. Like we've discussed here, the market may change and RM may not be so interested, but I think Eden has made abundantly clear - by actions as well as talk - what he wants.

Right but why should we “take away” his blatant and constant flirting with another club? That’s unprofessional to say the least. besides, his actions, by being unwilling to negotiate a new deal, perfectly match what he says, esp lately.

^^ That's how I feel when folks compare Eden with other players, who led their sides in CL and to trophies. I'm not saying Hazard is incapable of doing that, just that he hasn't done that. I personally consider his CL performances, in general, VERY subpar for the player he is. @Jason IMO Sarri is speaking TO Hazard, not about him. He's telling him what he needs to do to get to the next level. Lift his head up and play to the strength of the team. Football is a collective game, and there is really very little a single player can do if the team does not work. That side, the vision - seeing the game and the best way to influence it - is what I think KDB had an edge over Eden. On the contract situation, if Eden wanted to stay he'd have already signed a new deal long before and would be one of the highest paid players in the word. IMO the only reason he has not is because he does want to leave and go to RM. Yes, there is a chance they won't move for him, but I think they will esp because he won't be that expensive being in the last year of his contract. RM can get Neymar AND Eden, or Eden AND Mbappe... yes they are that rich and all players want to go there.

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).