robsblubot

Newspapers have been reporting that LVG has lost the dressing room but regardless of results I see his players running for him. Now, has Jose lost the dressing room? Was the Eva episode or the players, in a completely unprofessional fashion, all came back from vacation in terrible form.

No I think Mikel is a lousy player despite his back passing... Speaking of Jose he obviously did not like lukaku right? For the reasons you have just stated above. Concerning the personal comments - let's not go go there as you don't know me and I don't know you.

Please check your facts:David played in midfield against top teams - very successfully - BOTH before and after Matic was signed in January. He played alongside Matic often in big games. We had an amazing record when both played in midfield esp that win against city.

wow you can't be serious... You know he did not actually play for us right? At least not in any meaningful way. Are you trying to assess technique by cherry picking this random stat?

Before we get to see what Papy can do (... ) they will see what he can do in practice! They do hold practice sessions regularly where players are scrutinized by professionals... I'm sure everyone here is aware of that. Whoever mentioned traore: maybe he stunk in training and Jose thinks he's more of a bet than Kennedy at this time? Who knows?! There is a lot of intuition, esp conserning ounger players, but Jose gets a lot of help on that from top professionals Chelsea employs.

Falcao is much older than Kane - it is expected of kane to be inconsistent at this stage of his career. He is still a good player even when not scoring. Strikers need confidence, which is indeed true. However, they also need technique and legs... especially at this level. Without both they will not find the space and won't have time/competence to apply the finish. And won't build confidence. Torres had technique, but no legs. There was no way for him to build confidence as his streaks of good form were short-lived. The question mark concerning Falcao is his fitness. Another serious injury or a sequence of minor muscle injuries could be the end of his career at this level. Knees are never the same after serious injuries - from a players perspective it's usually worse than breaking a bone. At hist best, Falcao is better than Costa, so it does make sense for the club to hope for the best here.

Disclaimer: I'm not a fan of either. While Costa is the far better player now, Lukaku could reach that level, but not much further because of his poor technique. apples and oranges here... The only thing they have in common is their technique, or the lack thereof. One plays for a top team as as a striker is under constant pressure - never alone and has no time on the ball. The same cannot be said of Lukaku who often enjoys some nice counter attacking as his team is attacked far more often. That was only the most obvious point; intricate passing done at Chelsea (compared to everton) makes Costa even less likely to think and pick the right pass. Just an extreme example to illustrate my point: it'd be akin to say that Mikel is a better passer than [any attacking player here] based on his passing accuracy, even though Mikel is often under no pressure roaming in uncontested areas of the pitch.

Some are missing the point here in that perhaps Moses is the one who won't accept lower wages for more playing time - same case of Mikel. I'm sure these two players could've been playing regularly if they wanted to, but not for Chelsea.

eleven play - there is no one player costing us games. There is also no guarantees that the likes of Mikel or lesser players would actually improve upon the ones who have been starting and playing poorly. The bench warmers look especially good when the side is losing, but usually once you put them on the result is about the same if not worse. If Ivanovic (and Cesc) were the only problem, we'd be winning not losing games. they would be star players for both CP and Swansea.

Concerning RLC, I did not like his performance against Crystal palace, but liked what I saw from him. Goes back to potential vs current ability. How to use him, a fallible young player is Jose's problem, obviously. As poor as Mikel is, RLC is going to make more mistakes at this time. However, I liked the fact he came on as opposed to Mikel even though that might have costed us a point.

nah - Napoli may want him, but that's about it.

Even his manager criticized his form... Is he the best player in the league or isn't he? Because if he is, then we can and should criticize him. Hazard looks out of shape and is playing like shit just like a few others. He regularly comes back from vacation a bit chubby and slow and for a short guy like him who relies on dribbling and pace, this is pretty bad. I for one am very disappointed with his attitude - Messi and Ronaldo look unattainable ats to be honest.

however according to many here if jose drops Ivanovic we will stop conceding goals... That's the problem with hyperboles... No, I'm not saying he's in playing well, but there are other players, like the beloved Hazard who are also playing like shit. So, picking on Ivanovic because he gets ripped by 2 on ones makes no sense to me. Concerning him being a slow RB - originally a CB - that's not news is it? He's always been a slow RB and Jose seems to like it. Jose should and prob will drop him because of his dreadful form, but others also deserve a drop but won't. @The Chels... he's got the OK to attack from the manager - watch his positioning and movement. Something is always gotta give and his defensive side does. Again, nothing new here.

Don't have any problem with the realization we've got underperforming players, but the not acting on the right ones... Terry was fine before getting subbed and we did not improve after that. Now he subbed Matic and aspire... And that did not work. We have a lot of underperforming players but Jose is making things harder with his messages aka weird subs.

Hazard and Ivanovic could def lose a few of pounds

Looks chubby... better let him play often to lose the extra weight...

Forget about fitness level... some of the players look fat! lack of professionalism seems to be the main reason for this terrible start.

We have all watched how "well" the team has been playing... So, is Remy scoring 3 goals every practice against our completely off form defenders?

That's how managers lose the locker room...(had he done it) by publicly criticizing their players. Why is ok for hazard to be off form but not ivanivic ? There are a number of players in very poor form.

There are some who believe that the fact Mikel takes time on the ball and chooses the safe pass must be seen as a style or virtue; at the very least something to be cherished and used sporadically in certain games. Others, like me, think that he is just laborious on the ball and he needs time in possession because he has no choice: that's what his tiny footballing brain and technique allow him to do. He's a bad player... it's just that simple. I'm just very glad he doesn't play often - specially under Jose.

And of course it's completely OK for them to go "poach" a player in Argentina.... hypocrisy at its best...

He did give em a transfer request because his agent - rightfully so - instructed him to. That's the job of the agent: getting the best deal for his client. We are all thinking about Chelsea, after all that's the whole point, but Stones must feel awful right now. He knows this form may be temporary - in which case this would've ended up being a bad deal for us - that this is his ceiling as a player, or he can pick up a long time injury... who knows?! I'm sure all these scenarios are going through his head. From the perspective of the player and his career, this was a rotten move by Everton.

Great fictional piece - well done!

you are comparing a 28-year-old bench warmer to youngsters without any experience. Obviously I am not saying sell Mikel and use one of those kids instead. Zouma would have done the same prob better as he tackles better. So, once we get one or two defenders Mikel will get even less playing time (he does not play much under Jose). Aside from that, a number of cheap DMs out there could provide the same cover - some with a bit more intensity and technique. Once again, our opponents have better players (than Mikel) sitting on their bench IMO.

While I agree in terms of numbers replacing a player like mikel - who hardly ever plays anyway - isn't very difficult.