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difficult to say, but perhaps the fact that he's homegrown played a big part when the club needed to find cover for certain positions Ake is familiar with. Or as far as we know this IS his chance at chelsea! perhaps the club really did think to give him a shot after the many good performances he's had. So, this could be his big break and he might not be impressing the manager enough to get minutes. Or they might be preparing him, letting him bake for next season as suggested above. It's tough on the player, sure, but it's not easy for a big club to give minutes to aspiring players when every point counts. Doesn't even the FA discourage clubs from heavily rotating in cup matches?

that's the fans logic: players C and D would've done so much better than player A, because player A did not play well. Of course, the entire other part of the equation is missing in that "logic." The very unlikely possibility: that player C and D, who never tie the boots of player A in practice, would have indeed done better. Personally I wished Conte had the same starting XI as usual with Alonso and Tibo (not possible today). Perhaps, as a personal pref Fab or WIllian instead of Pedro, but that's about it. Bad time to be missing important players and thought Hazard, Pedro, and Costa had pretty poor showings tbh.

technically he's very good, but I just don't like his attitude. There is no excuse for a player to be playing the way he's been lately: not talking about whether he scores or not, but rather his dedication on the pitch. Ozil has always been a (too) cold player on the pitch; always lacked work rate which is needed to become a great, but Alexis is different and it is easy to see he's lacking dedication and drive. reckon signing him could be detrimental to the locker room.

Agree 100% with you on Cahill. suggest that we spell out the name of the player in discussion esp when off-topic (to avoid confusion). anyone can carry the football without being contested esp professional players, but real technique is needed when in tight spaces. alonso has excellent technique and ball control. Most diff attribute to improve. The rest he can improve on, esp composure. However, as a tall player and due to his build, he will never be pacey.

heh football is funny sometimes. Thought Pedro was painful to watch against City. A lot of running, poor control, and no end product. To be fair, he did play the second half a a RWB and I don't think he's very good in that position: moses is better.

They are probably similar at dribbling alone: like you said hazard is more explosive, but Messi has tighter ball control which helps in tight spaces, which in turn helps more in the CL. Messi is way ahead concerning vision and also ahead concerning goals and tight control of the football, hence his advantage in the CL stage. IMO Ronaldo does not come close to messi in terms of tight control and working in tight spaces as he needs some space to work (hazard does too to a lesser degree). Ronaldo has power though, which makes him an aerial thread in certain conditions; in tight games he's more of an aerial threat than anything else. Personally, I'd not exchange Hazard for Ronaldo.

Alonso is young and will improve. This is his first season with us. We do need more options though.the crucial attribute he posses which is technique. He just needs more composure and that will come with time. as one who actually likes matic, with mikel gone we should def try to improve on him. He's less effective in this system than he was with jose's. the team is good, but has no business in the champions league - huge improvement is needed to compete there.

Gattuso relied on power while kante relies on restlessnes, an incredibly high work rate. Kante is on the short side while gattuso was pretty decent in the air. great players to have and awful to play against.

not sure today (WH) was about costa. The team overall performance was average only saved by a moment of brilliance by hazard. This was a good win, and good enough to win the PL esp with the great point lead, but I can't think of going far in Europe next year unless we improve our overall play.

I don't disagree with your assessment of Diego's limitations although I think his first touch and control have been pretty good lately, but I do disagree with the comparison, and especially the idea that Diego has an advantage for being surrounded by better players. Similar logic comes often on hazard thread when he has a quiet game and it does not work for me there either. Being a big player in a smaller club *can* make you look a lot better than you actually are: there are so many examples that it would take a whole thread (Carrol, Bony, most liverpool players ) While being in a small club can indeed hamper his progress, that's for him to figure out. For us, it is very difficult to know whether Lukaku would've been as effective in the current system, but the evidence is that probably not. What we do know is that Diego works really well in this system, and what we don't know is how lukaku would have. I know imagination is fun and all, but playing at the level Diego has been and as consistently is not easy. I for one cannot make that assumption. It's also very *different* to have the entire team playing to your strengths versus just being a team member. Would Lukaku do as well with far less counter attacking for example? Would he contribute when we have to play against 11 players behind the ball? Not saying he can't, just that we don't yet know.

That's in his favor yes, but fabregas and pogba play deeper than the others in the list. The others have to deal with more contested areas and tighter marking from the opposition. Don't think he was good enough to be a regular for Barca. We need better all rounders in the middle if we want to compete outside the pl.

good result in a tough away match. It would've taken a special game from hazard, costa, or another for us to take all the 3 points, and they were only decent. Luiz and Kante were the best players with Kante edging despide Luiz' fantastic strike - don't think the gk would've caught it either way. I disagree with the majority here and reckon tactics were spot on. Both Matic and Alonso had decent games, as did Costa and Hazard. William and Moses were well below average for me. Moses was a bit better with intent, but too many mistakes. Fabregas had a really good few minutes - should have payed a bigger part for me. Sometimes I think the attack is a bit too lightweight relying on pace alone (except costa). Fabregas helped by adding control and a bit physicality, which was a pleasant surprise to me. That is, by the way, one of the reasons Matic plays... not really a mystery. One might prefer a more technical player, but the manager believes he provides necessary balance and considering the height of the squad, I have to understand his position.

agreed. alonso is a good technical player - nice find by the board

heh ^^ disagree on Pedro... still have to show his face in away matches and/or tough matches. dropping our best player, Costa, at this time can only be because he's being sold or is sold already. When you drop a player because of bad attitude, or other disciplinary reasons, only the club suffers. Get the player in different ways: schedule training at an earlier time (just for strikers) and if he's late, get him where it hurts... money. That's the best way to handle players.

Interesting comments on this thread: Fabregas in for better passing when Matic provided a wonderful assist to hazard all alone to botch it. Not a word about Hazard who has been a huge disappointment in the first half. I hope he wakes the fuck up and start taking on players. Both Matic and Kante played well enough - it's a tough game against competent midfielders in their domain. We just need to do better when in possession and put it back in the net - we won't get many opportunities to do so.

Reckon Bats has Not been impressing conte in training. That's the only explanation for this kind of treatment. He has also not been impressing anyone in the few minutes he's got, so he should be working hard in practice to get more minutes - perhaps he's been lazy? gotta assume the guys who watch him daily see something, that I, who barely seen him play, don't.

not for this amount of money. 60m and 3rd highest wages in the world for the terrible player people here claim he is - sounds like a done deal. Although I do think he is a good player, he has indeed stagnated and has not been developing the way I (and I assume the club) expected. So, if the numbers are correct, he needs to go... good for the club and excellent for him. Concerning replacements, we do not need a world class replacement, after all Oscar was a "terrible player," so anyone would do. Just don't go for big names, and grab a promising player at a fair price. Regardless of Oscar's failure to deliver, the idea - of investing in promising young players - is sound as there is really no other alternative. Once a player is considered world class, he immediately becomes extremely hard to sign, not to mention expensive.

could be taxes - higher taxes in frace.

playing at his normal... not doing anything special, given his ability and technique. That amazing goal (against city) showcased his overall superior technique and ball control; how long did it take for him to control the football at full sprint? how far was the football from him while he sprinted towards city goal? Did he show too much of the football at any time during that run?

I'm trying to think of a defender, now or before, as technical (or more) than Luiz is. I mean, not discussing other attributes, just his incredible technique which I find extremely odd for a CB.

heh think he's a pretty good player actually at about the same level of Moses. Alonso is very technical while moses relies more on his physicality (pace and power). Very good setup for a team if you have both...

Costa for me. They just couldn't handle costa runs at all pedro had ups and downs while hazard was mostly subdued. Liked both matic and kante who kept us together when our wingers went missing in first half.

Yes! Very different type of player... far more attacking minded than either William or Oscar. Though Oscar has changed and regressed so much that I am not even sure about his characteristics any more: he needs to rediscover it possibly away from chelsea. Luan is an attacking player, the so called false 9 who likes and thrives roaming around the pitch. No he's not a top 5 player like Neymar is, but he's got some very interesting qualities that could make him become an important player for us: he's nimble, mobile and yet not that easy to take down; he's got a very nice first touch and tight control of the football along with pretty good dribbling skills, which makes him an excellent possession type of player; on top of that he scores plenty of goals esp for someone who has to roam around so much also performing defensive duties. It's all a matter of price, but he's a very interesting promising player and certainly worthy of a move. Not sure which one I'd go for though: gremio has another player, a very technical holding mid whom we spoke of during the olympics (Wallace). Get both! Even though I am a Gremio supporter, I've not been following the brasileiro much. Watched them at the olympics and libertadores though.

quite on the contrary: as a person I've heard really great things of him during the olympics... a class act. Still it has nothing to do with football, agents, or PR. There is nothing irrational about my dislike of him as a player: I have very clear in my mind the things he doesn't do and I wish he did (quite a few).

Perhaps but in my view I am the non-believer and others are the ones speculating - believing words at face value when a lot if at stake. Does he employ an agent? Isn't part of his agent's job help with what he say or not to the press? Is this speculation or I am basing my opinion on something I know agents are involved in? Does he run everything he says by the club also? I don't know but he might. Wouldn't surprise me. Have you ever refrained yourself from saying something about your employer or employer's customer, just because it wasn't proper even if true? Happens all the fucking time. @CHOULO19 are you kidding me?! his agent won't ever stop chatting with the press.