robsblubot

Yes Jose brought a lot of it on his own no doubt. That's the manager he's been though Diego Costa manager version.On the other points I'd call personal preferences and yes I do disagree as I believe merit is very subjective. Especially because we don't hear the instructions/aka requirements. My point isn't that we are not supposed to disagree with him, but calling him crazy, quack, or stupid is ... Crazy and I never liked him as a manager . We also do t know the restrictions he's been under. Perhaps he's not the one pushing for a smaller squad for ex.

I am yet to see people do the "right" thing and leave (a lot of) money on the table. Would you do it? Would I do it? Especially when the point is to make more money? These guys are professionals and they don't do this for charity. We don't know whether he has humiliated these players for no reason or he is responding for the fact they haven't been running for him. Difficult for us to know, but insiders might. Like I said, tough decision for Roman.

There is what the fans think is right ^^, how they define merit, and there is what every manager does. At some point we ought to ask ourselves "do they know something we don't?" Which might explain why they get paid (a lot of money) to do all these "wrong" things. Without going into the myriad of details, they do watch these players, on and off the pitch in a daily basis, as opposed to any given Sunday. If I had a dollar for every time a've head " can't possibly do any worse than [starter]..." He has been tweaking and nothing has worked. Because the subs are worse than the starters, or at least at the same level (when in poor form). Some of these subs are playing at their limit whereas we know the starters can do better - as they've done before. So, naturally, the manager is trying to recover the form of the sure bets as opposed to bet on an unknown. I don't necessarily agree with everything Jose does, but I also don't find it as crazy or as prone to critique as most around here do. Yes, the players are not running for him and he has indeed lost the locker room - Roman has a tough decision to make.

right but imo that's the wrong point. Jose doesn't play Iva because he likes him personally, but because he likes him as a player. He believes Ivanovic is the best RB in the roster and I happen to agree. We could do better than Iva at the moment, but that's irrelevant as we did not (transfer window) and Baba looks shaky still. It's even worse with Fabregas. TPTB and I were one of the few who weren't crazy about Fabregas' signing - thought a bit too soft for that role. Yet, watching Mikel and Ramires "passing" the football, if you can call it that, is something I wouldn't wish to anyone.

right because we've seen how much better we play without them in the starting XI.

Like @didierforever I thought it was a valid bet - that Falcao could've regained his form, but perhaps that ship has sailed now? Why does he keep getting minutes?!

Today yes, Lucas is better, but normally Matic has a more attacking side to his game that I think is more important in the modern game. heh you did not see Lucas at 22 - he played for Gremio and Ironically was a B2B of the highest caliber - used to score often too. A Pogba with less technique, but more movement and intensity. That's why it's so difficult to predict development of players. Perhaps Pogba is playing at his best right now and then change completely or not at all.

fair enough - we just value different things in a DM/CM - though again Lucas is very similar in terms of characteristics. Disagree on the positioning, I did see that Aspi was wide, but Mikel was marking nobody in a situation position marking wasn't necessary. Doesn't matter because Ramires challenge was very poor which allowed a free shot from Coutinho - ramires marked the ball and not the player. BTW, reckon Matic had indeed poor games, but also good games too. He was the only good player against City for me for example. So, I wouldn't say he's been as bad as it's been said.

well *that* is mourinho's and the club's fault. The depth of the squad is laughable... people have been saying that the CM position need more for at least a cpouple of years, but we keep buying and selling AMs and wingers instead. Although I agree that Fabregas is too soft for that role, we cannot start a game with both Ramires and Mikel in midfield... they lack technique... they are good/decent players depending who you ask, but no one would praise them for their technique. BTW, for me Liverpool dominated the entire game. We had a good 15 min or so start, but that was it.

never seen anything remarkable about his game - even considering he's young, but some folks here do. I will trust that he is better than what I've seen of him. However, Stones is already in a different category - he'd be our best defender - yes better than Zouma immediately if signed. Regardless of age.

I hear you but what's the difference?! Cahill had a terrible game and we almost conceded twice because of him losing possession in the back. We play with the worse CM pairing in all top clubs in the wide, wide world... heck we can even include the likes of Liverpool, Everton and Soton and they have better CMs. So, perhaps the defenders are just exposed and that also makes them nervous - more prone to err.

don't really know what you see that Mikel did that was so good. Yes, a few interceptions and tackles, but really that's the bare minimum DMs do... His positioning in the first goal was suspect as he was positioned as a defender instead of challenging in front of the box. Of course Ramires defending was nothing short of ridiculous though. Best DM on the pitch today was Lucas. He is a lot better than mikel IMO with a much wider range of passing and more dynamic even though also on the slow side. BTW, I also dislike Lucas and wouldn't want him at Chelsea, but he is better than Mikel and plays in a very similar role. But I digress. My point really is that with Matic (esp instead of Mikel) we'd be more likely to score a goal. A second goal might have killed the game, or should I say Mourinho might have been able to kill it - perhaps with Mikel coming on.

Heh I thought we liked decent players around here - we have plenty of them in midfield and defense.Though it seem Liverpool decent players are better than ours. One of our midfielder tried to spread the ball wide to Willian on the right at min25 and it went to the stands. I Lol but then remembered he was wearing blue.

writing here, because it applies to Eden, as well as a number of players. So, for one reason or another (tired, sick of it, new father, partying too hard), a few players, who happen to make the core of the team, showed up for pre-season carrying a few extra pounds - even though only Diego admitted it. With the above in consideration, the err here is that it's not a "switch" that can be flipped depending on the mood of the player. The pre-season was soft (once again regardless of reason), perhaps the players did not apply the necessary intensity because they couldn't - see above. One thing is not wanting... another is not being capable of doing it. Many a times I've seen supporters believe the players were not giving 100% and it was just a case of bad teamwork and/or fitness. They appear disinterested, but they were just lost and therefore, frustrated. There are many coaches who say you cannot play with intensity unless you practice the same way. Perhaps our form is just reflecting the training done a few weeks back and only now we've been getting the intensity back in training. So, it's premature to reach conclusions esp about whether players are not giving 100% at this point. They've all been struggling and soon enough the team will stabilize and slowly, but surely, players will return to their norm. Yes, it's going to be too late for silverware, but at least we will give some minutes to some promising youngsters (Mikel for example - sorry couldn't resist).

Stoke is hardly quality opposition, so I wouldn't be so sure he's ready. Ups and downs are normal for younger players and Liverpool would be a more interesting test for him; they certainly have better players than freaking stoke. BTW, I fully understand why playing at stoke is difficult, but not in a sense that they have to too many player who can beat you one-on-one.

Heh fair enough Though I am actually satisfied that he hardly plays. My dumbfoundedness relates to why we have him in the roster - Mikel is a solution in search of a problem that Chelsea fc don't have. See if I buy into the burned out idea caused by little to no rotation, then I look at the roster and understand why we do not rotate. I recur because it is a recurring problem - not Mikel himself but him not being the type of player we need (to rotate).

@didier we shouldn't have to pick one though - top clubs have players with high work rate who can pick a pass. ^^ I wouldn't go that far as I think he can play well enough as a disruptive midfielder with a more defensive role - no B2B or wing. I do agree that he is too limited as a player - similar to what I think of Mikel. Watching Rambo and Mikel as CMs against WHU depressed me. These players belong in a smaller club where the team can play to their strengths, which aren't many.

Poor defending on Andys goal - he was marking the ball not the player and ended up leaving azpi on Andy ... An obvious mismatch Disappointing

Not at all - nothing personal. Just think he is a lousy footballer. And these days I even question whether a playyer such as mikel is even needed as all top clubs don't employ them any more.And to be honest it's not like I say 'mikel sucks!' But rather give very specific reasons why I believe he is insufficient - thought his 600 odd minutes in epl in our winning season was reason enough (that he isn't good enough to play). Also I did Not say he was the reason we lost today - no single player is. And ivanovic did not play against WHU.

Dreadful game against Arsenal. Poor on the ball and poor at finishing. A couple of decent crosses, but nowhere near good enough.

Against WHU, one of the better games (as a sub) I've seen of him lately and still far from good enough IMO. He had one good pass to Eden on the left and everything else was the same bureaucratic drivel I expect from him. We were a man down and he - rightfully so - moved up the pitch (prob instructed to do so), but then as always he was completely ineffective going forward. No I do not expect him to dribble past 2 players and score, but I do expect him to try to assist, try to shoot from outside the box, or make a run just to confuse the markers. He doesn't do any of that though; no shots attempted for a guy who had so much of the football and was under no pressure - opponents know about his attacking numbers. Mikel and Ramires as CMs is just sad... They just don't produce anything going forward and the attacking players suffer.

First, correlation does not imply causation... Second, esp when you are ignoring (literally) thousands of variables to make a one-to-one correlation. Hope it was just for fun and not making a serious point. What I saw in last game though was that we are just as open as the first games. A better opponent would have scored at least a pair.

Their wages are hardly their only income... The most prestigious and famous players make a lot of money off of their naming rights. Their contracts are nuanced. Esp nowadays with social media and advertisers paying for clicks. Professional players care about one thing: money Yes other factors may also influence their decision, but the key factor is making money and I happen to find that most football fans' passion makes them a bit naive. Used to be one of them, but now I know better. Look at this thread - people are looking for any reason but the one that matters... should go without saying in capitalism.

Prestige IS money! Look beyond wages... please.

People are so naive in football. Hazard wants to go play for Real like every player does - and the reason is money. Real is the highest paying football club in the world, which makes them very attractive to any professional player. however, whether he stays... goes... that involves other variables. Most likely related on how much Real wants him.