robsblubot

true and looks like he's lost some pace, which he relies on since he's not the most powerful guy. Only sign him if a good opportunity presents itself.

Yes the idea that paid professionals know more about the game and players than we do, is just strange indeed... if the world only made sense and more talented forballers made more money and were more in demand...

well, "in the making" is the problem here - he does like to make things and rather buy them ready to go (expensive manager)

While I agree he's unlikely to reproduce this next season, I don't think he has to. Besides, contrary to CR9, his game is a lot more than the goals. He dribbles vertically, and is pretty quick to pass which makes him difficult to defend against (plays one-touch often). In other words, his linkup play has been phenomenal as well. This has been my criticism of hazard on hazard's thread. That he needs to mix up his game when the conditions aren't right for his regular style of possession and dribbling. Salah's game is just more complete, which allows him to contribute to his team more consistently esp in tough matches..

yeah sure thing, their defense is much improved. They would still be struggling in games with the lack of goals and assists though. They have good players in their squad, just not great, so they'd be struggling big time against these teams in the CL at this level without a game winner - don't care how hard and disciplined they may be, it takes quality to win at this level. Another great business they did is betting on the right "horse." They identified Salah as a potential key player (potential being the keyword). So, they spent big, but not key-player big, and ended up with "the" key player of the moment. There is always some luck involved, but you gotta help yourself with good scouts and manager... one thing it is time for us to learn is to look for technique first! other attributes, like pace and power are nice to have, but this is still about playing football (hint is in the name).

Interesting point... Was never a fan of Coutinho myself - there is my brazilian bias again... Coutinho is a 1-2 fantastic-plays-a-game player. Seen them before and they can win games, but can also lose them. On and off kinda player. They are not at mo Salah's level. I know people don't want to hear it, but it's as clear as day that we missed out on a top top player here. On the bright side, Liverpool is proving to us, time and time again, that there is life after you sell your key player. Well, as long as you know what you have to do to have a shot at (acquiring) another. No, I don't think we do... our signings speak for themselves.

you guys need to interpret "club talk" Translation, "we want to sell both, otherwise we wouldn't be talking about them. However, we don't want to sell at a discount price, so if you want them, and can pay full ask, we'd definitely sell either to you." Bakayoko cannot play for chelsea. If he does, in such an important position, we cannot compete against the other top clubs. He's just not good enough skill wise to play at this level. It's sad and we've spent a lot on him, but it's not going to change. If he doesn't start and sits on the bench for another season, his value will only decrease, which doesn't make sense either. So, while I agree that it all depends on the new manager, the club better try to move him either way. Honestly, RLC should be way ahead of Bakayoko on skill alone. BTW, Morata and Bakayoko aren't comparable IMO (for obvious reasons).

Liverpool is salah Take him off and it turns into a very beatable team. All you have to do is see where all the assists, and goals come from... hint: not lovren.

Have to disagree. Bakayoko had a pretty bad game as usual... his first touch shows too much of the football. He’s always chasing the ball never in control. His passing is always slightly off too. that’s why talking about mistakes does not quite work. It takes quality from the opposition to exploit the mistakes. And this time around, the opposition did not look very sharp. Some of it was our doing, but despite their very good season, burnley still got a very limited set of players who play a fairly slow and laborious game.

Haha b2b would prob be the least fitting position for Alonso given his lack of pace. left midfielder or left DLP however would be almost indistinguishable from lwb. Many players in the past made the switch from wing to middle as they lost pace.

Perhaps because Giroud does very little aside from scoring. Some say that’s enough, but reckon it isn’t for a top club. Morata is a lot faster, agile, with better technique and can even beat players with runs. one is arsenal reject and the other a younger Real Madrid reject. I know which i’d pick. I don’t know if morata will ever deliver at Chelsea, but I hardly doubt Giroud is starter material either. in other words, morata not being good enough does not make Giroud good enough.

That's correlation not causality - but do you realize you are making my point stronger? That we depended on his form in our many wins with him. Yes, his form was indeed poor, but I have to disagree switching him with mikel *caused* us to improve from 16th to 10th position. You obviously dislike the player, but the fact remains he was an important player for us and now is an important player for united.

Does United count? Sorry not really interested in convincing you that Matic is a good player - think there is plenty of evidence of that regardless of your personal preference. My disagreement was around the (imo crazy) idea that the club does no miss Matic... that just defies all logic esp considering the replacement does not know how to play football. We can go into crazy what-ifs into different players with diff characteristics as replacements and we wouldn't know whether they were avail at that moment. The fact remains a proper replacement wasn't brought in, which makes us miss Matic. You see, Matic, regardless of your personal opinion and preference, was a nail-in started for all managers in all our wins of late. The only time he did not start (he was indeed in terrible form as many others) we finished 10th. So, for us NOT to miss him, the replacement would have to be - at the very least - a nail-in starter. That's really the only disagreement I have, since we all have our own preferences, which may also involve the style in which the team plays.

However one might rate Matic (irrelevant), he had several MotM performances for us - some of them in very big games too! His replacement, has already had several "Worst Man of the Match" performances for us - some of them in very big games too!

yes we know better than to value goals and assists. How silly of them! We know what's really important in the game.

I actually disagree with the notion that he doesn't give 100% on the pitch (talking to the press and contract aside). That "he only plays when he bothers to show up", etc. That implies he's a messi-like player and the only reason he does not light the world on fire is because he can't always be bothered. I think a more realistic reason is that he has limitations (in technique and mentality both) as most players do. He merely has specific weaknesses that sometimes prevent him from influencing the game in a way fans would want him to - e.g. when the conditions on the pitch don't play to his strengths. This happens more often in CL matches, which are typically very physical and tight.

How were Hazard's comments after the City game not similar & warrant the same action? Did not hear them, but the same applies. Caveat that the star player is usually managed a bit differently - even his contract can be different than the other players’ (hence why we should be more critical of him not less).

Comments like that are an invitation to stay home... it’s not only disrespectful to the manager, but also to his teammates. It implies hes so much better than the the other cbs in the squad, so if he’s fit he should automatically play. manager is right in dropping him. Talk it over, but the comments are Not OK.

Hold on a sec... so we hand them our starters no problem, but they won’t sell us rotation/fringe players?! Something wrong there...

Sure then go for rashford and marcial because with Richarlison there they will never play...

Should definitely target United young strikers who rarely play. Jose is vulnerable in that regard as we know too well. lukaku always plays which limits playing time for others. Both rashford and Marcial have much higher ceiling than lukaku. btw completely agree regarding the CM area. Both the Most important position and our weakness.

everybody wants that - even if I don't think Eden is as good as you say, I'd rather add quality players and keep him. But what if the club, for one reason or another, cannot do that? Would you then say Hazard should be sold? Perhaps that's the problem? Perhaps this club does not have the luxury to have a player like Hazard at the moment, so it might be more beneficial to have 2-3 good players instead of one star. I know that for Hazard FC fans this is crazy talk, but for Chelsea FC fans it should be something to consider.

heh there is nothing average about salah these days (further proof to be coming in the summer): he makes everyone around him better. And FIrmino is an excellent striker - bulked up nicely which allied to his good technique makes him a handful. Good players with good technique who can move and be physical makes them a good side. I still think it's a one-player team. If Salah is suspended or injured, they will be in big trouble. Out of the 5 goals they scored against City, he scored 2 and assisted another... and the most important ones at that. Roma showed that you can only win a game if you play to win. Give yourself a fucking chance to be in a special day....

That's one (valid IMO) criticism Guardiola gets: his teams only play one way and there is no plan 'B'. Thankfully for him, it does work most times, esp in long championships where these slumps only cost a few points. The issue for City however, is that despite all the money they spent, and having some great players (some quite young too), they also have a few duds. Fernandinho for me is a 'no'. I'm brazilian (originally) and dislike his game very much so. Otamendi is not good enough on the ball at this level, and like Cahill, it hurts him at times. Sometimes it's not about the number of mistakes one makes, but rather the skill level to handle difficult situations. Walker, so far, has been a complete flop at this level - looks completely out of his depth.

While I don’t completely disagree on Matic, just the way he was replaced - not really talking bout the name but rather how uneventful it was. I’m not a betting man, but could go all out on salah.. salah will score until he retires... but if you only see the scoring, then well my point exactly. Have you ever seen hazard give so much in a game, run so much, and chase so much being the key player? I have not.