robsblubot

Back to normal (beast mode) against poor spurs...

Agreed ^^ wasteful in possession but better in the second against spurs. looks like he's lost a bit of pace and will struggle a bit more to beat players.

He's better in midfield. All his technique anticipation minus the mistakes.

you know... Neymar hasn't unpacked yet ... 😁

yeah this is a strange one. Isn't Christensen as "proven" as VVD and isn't VVD incredibly injury prone esp considering the asking price?! Chelsea need to learn to speak with the press and dismiss unfounded rumors. This club is so weird during the transfer window...

if that's true, then the management at the club is more incompetent than I thought. Coaches an even managers are temporary, but the club *must* have a long-term plan.

well they did sign fellaini and Herrera before, both of witch will be sitting on the bench for Matic. I honestly think our issue here is the definition of "impact." They already had Pogba, so they already have a younger and better Fabregas to pull the strings in the middle. What they needed was a physical presence with enough quality to contribute to the team. That's Matic all right. The impressive thing about Matic's performance wasn't really about Matic himself... Pogba had one of the best games since joining United and that's NOT a good sign.

In a situation like this, and for a club like Chelsea, I'd say making a statement and controlling players is far more important than money (because it can also lead to more money down the road). I say let him rot, which will teach a lesson to other players in the squad (don't think Costa can actually learn anything).

Hyperboles aside, Matic is a very good player. An important player in not one, but 2 PL wins. Perhaps it's personal preferences in the way of reason because I cannot possible agree with the notion that Matic is an only decent, or bad player, for example. Especially when all evidence (pick any one) points otherwise. Which bears the question: are we too nice to other top PL clubs (our opponents)? We keep selling them our good players, but I don't see any of their good players coming our way.

Nothing unexpected as we know he has goals in him. We wanted a more technical striker and we got him. The strange thing remains the fact Lukaku had no shot, no opportunity at chelsea. In a "proper" corporation, there would be a commission to investigate what happened there. What caused the loss of funds, because from a monetary perspective, it costed the club big time.

I'm not a big Willian fan but football does not take place in a vacuum. Looked like one of the few pulling his own weight today. funny how options are... Mata is one player I do not miss at all and have not been impressed by him at united.

You might as well affirm that this is going to the starting XI (or very close to it). You know, considering the squad situation.

Looks like the aerial threat we've been missing for quite some time... looking good indeed!

Have to say I'm not surprised by his performance today. He's a bit overrated around here.

Ref needlessly ruining the game aside, I still think there have been pretty unacceptable individual performances in the first half. Bats, kante, fab, and esp Luiz come to mind. 2 goals conceded where luiz was ball watching and marking no one.

heh Leicester did not look like winners even when they were winning... Arsenal, defensive mistakes aside (that's just being arsenal), were far more dominating than the scoreline would suggest. Thought Leicester were really poor to be honest and panicky at moments just kicking the ball upfield.

Hah said nothing about 30 million

I happen to agree with the club that Drinkwater is twice the player than any of youngster who left or stayed. However, it is not a binary decision. We don't have to go with Drinkwater OR chalobah... there is a sea of choice between those two. in building the squad as well... for example: instead of one drinkwater, get 2-3 mids, and also keep the youngsters, etc. Perhaps folks are complaining, and perhaps rightly so, that the club is too slow in "building the squad" never mind signing players. And we end up in tough situation having to settle. I'd add the club is not creative enough in building the squad. If we want to compete with the likes of City something's gotta give: we either spend the same amount of money or we get creative. We do neither.

Not to mention it would look pretty bad for RLC. While reports say the club did offer Chalobah a squad player role, which he refused (only so much to do here), RLC was likely considered "not good enough" for it.

morata is not a target man... that would have been lukaku. morata is a player who will, hopefully, enable his attacking teammates to do more and score more. that lukaku cannot do. point being that the club made a choice on how to play rather than on merely picking one striker vs another.

ah perhaps I did not express myself well enough. My point was that he WILL get a chance, precisely because the conditions demand that he will. Like I wrote, the club has no choice.

If Andreas does not get at shot at this, then nobody will. This guy had a great season in loan, and his performances demand he is given a chance. Don't even think the club has a choice here because mishandling this situation could jeopardize the entire loan system.

while I can see the similarities, especially lack of agility and mobility, Drinkwater still makes runs, produces some long balls, so not quite a Mikel tbf. It is still depressing considering the caliber of our opponent's signings (PL and abroad).

sometimes the player just isn't that good and need to move to a smaller club. Whether he will improve and be OK (for a squad player) 2-3 years from now matters very little right now. If you think of it from the manager's POV, can he rely on the player to cover and compete against most other PL outfits? Likely his, and most likely other coaches, assessment was that Chalobah was just not good enough and would have limited exposure in the starting XI which was not enough for the player. Not much you can do in these situations. Player did what he thought was right, and so did the club.

On neymar saga, while the fee is indeed crazy high, bear in mind this was NOT a regular transfer where the clubs agree on a fee and negotiate. PSG and the player went against Barca's wish of keeping Neymar. Reckon they thought noone would pay the release clause anyway.