Leif

An issue is, how many players too do want to leave but don't voice it? More than we know. For sure Hazard in my opinion. Tis the result of (still) boring football. Unimaginative management. The stands not rocking enough. All these things come together and make a player feel depressed essentially, especially compared to past pastures. I mean honestly, the thrill of going far in European competition with Benfica, with their atmosphere, with their pre-match rituals & their constant attack-minded football, that far outweighs this feeling we create for our players of expectancy, 'You must go out and win all these things, and even then we won't show much gratitude.' There's always a sombre mood at this club, like the lid is on us and we're not letting the fireworks pop. Players want those fireworks. It's why so many leave Ligue 1 and why so many people don't watch it - because all the teams play like Chelsea, and 90% of the crowds sound like ours. (There's definitely enough technical quality in that league to enjoy, so it must be other factors we don't measure which push people away from it, like the ones I've suggested. These same things are pushing Matic away from us, imo.) Or maybe it just looks like we won't win another title until Matic is 30 and that's why. I'm being harsh probably, but it is too often that i think 'How on earth is *this player* still here?' 'Why on earth would Ashley Cole want to come back as a scout?' My point is, we, or the management, created this situation and will continue to. Players lose their smiles when they come here, they just do. Not for the first month or 2, but the energy they had for whomever they played for before us certainly fades. Look at any player we have right now and compare their personality now to before joining us. Oscar, Hazard, Costa, Matic, perhaps even Azpilicueta. I'd put money on those guys being less happy here than they were before joining. That's too much of our XI. These players used to be ecstatic people. Courtois was obviously happier at Atletico Madrid too. Why? It wasn't like they were winning more titles. It must've been... all that shit i just said. It makes sense that the only people still content with our situation are Terry, blue through and through, Cahill, an idiot, Ivanovic, an idiot, Kante - a new signing, Fabregas a passive idiot, and then who knows about Willian. I doubt our youth are happy here too. So we probably have 10 happy players if we're pushing it.

Our new Solanke, you gotta get excited about that.

Nice move

i felt like scum, now i feel fine again

Well we know how our board sees things. Conte had a great team defensively at Juventus, so that should automatically mean he can turn whatever players we give him into similar.

If he'd never scored a few long shots for the Vines that circulate on Twitter....things would be different. The entire future landscape of football and the cash involved would at least change more slowly, instead of the stupid fees we're about to get used to for 2-3 years until something happens like a transfer fee cap. Take away his 1.5 to maybe 3 long shot goals per season and what you've got is an Essien or Ballack but who can't defend nor go KABLOW and shoot from 35 yards and consistently have it go in. So then what is it he offers? It's never properly answered. Is it physical strength,/presence? In Serie A I can understand that being an asset, but over here it's expected of most players. So essentially it seems he's made out of... the ability to not be pushed off the ball, + the standard central midfielder qualities found in an abundance of players. His former asset will no longer be an asset here. So. He's a standard central midfielder with qualities found in an abundance of players. Can we agree?

I think he's our new Kalou. Unshaken in confidence with the composure and instinct of a poacher. But at the same time not all that, for other reasons seemingly unquantifable at this time. To our new super-sub.

Training with Napoli and training with Conte are worlds apart

scenes when we sign him on the last day + he takes 2 months of training before being fit enough to slide into the XI

In the case of Willian I believe in my gut we haven't seen the best of him, simply because of the players around him. I think if he was at Barcelona or Man City he'd be a top 10 player.

I might be wrong but as slow as he is, I don't think Terry has less pace than Barzagli, who is a really elite defender still these days, thanks to Conte.

Azpi doesn't have the confidence to tell Conte "I was actually a right back before. I played left back during the mad man's experimentation." To Conte's knowledge Azpilicueta is a left back. He'll have watched us last season and every game I'm sure Azpi was on the left. Communication is important off the field as well as on it, and i've noticed our players aren't exactly vocal about much.

I'd rather finish 4th with Terry than 1st without

Stringing 3 weak inaccurate passes around their box is as exciting as we're getting so far.

You only take shots and score them from 30+ yards if it's evident the goalkeeper & defence aren't up to par.

If he was Armenian or Polish and bought from another club we would slander him to death after every match. We'd be so confused how an elite club expects to move forward with such a player. Our board evidently fell for the fantasy that we had England's future XI among our youth.

This commentary duo have had more talk of United's new striker than Chelsea's. Nice.

Our players lack composure after going a goal or 2 down. Oscar, Azpi and others have lost their heads already. This is why we need more proven winners who actually have medals already in their cabinet, not more kids or experiments unless it's a happy accident.

When you instill in your players over many years that the aim of the game is to score, that's what you get. Our players have had years of instructions to *not* be the more attacking team on the pitch. I hope we change that.

I'm so hard over Loftus-Cheek being used as a striker. Azpilicueta as our new centre back next please.

these quotes give me the feeling somebody's told Conte that certain players would slip right back into our XI last season after injuries despite not even training and proving they were the best option.

& 4 legs

athletes like actors & the people who influence them, lie about their height all the time whether they're short or tall. If you're 5'11, Hollywood makes you 6ft+ for marketing purposes (Vin Diesel is a good example. He even wears built-up shoes.) Same happens in music, Kendrick Lamar is 5'4 but tries to push himself as 5'5 (Lil Wayne is 5'3 and tries to claim 5'5.) I know it seems like it shouldn't happen in sports too but it does. Official sites usually have different specs to Wikipedia too, with the latter usually adding an inch. Wiki puts Kante at 5 ft 6 1/2. So I'd confidently put him 1 inch shorter. To put things in perspective, Messi looks a true 5'7 (which Kanye West is, but he claims 5'8). He'd have 2+ inches on Kante, you can see that if you compare them.

Lacazette's worst seasons mirror Lukaku's best seasons. + Lacazette's best season, he was like Suarez. Lukaku's best season, he was like an in-form Grant Holt.

I'm confused though (but it may just come down to their height differences) - why Aina and not Jay Dasilva? I don't have an above average understanding of football, but when I saw him play I was watching the best left-back I'd seen since Ashley Cole in his prime, youth or not. An article followed a few weeks or months later, tossing with the idea that he's a future Premier League great, which i totally agreed with - http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2539708-chelseas-jay-dasilva-has-potential-to-be-1-of-premier-leagues-great-left-backs So he obviously made an impression on some people. Nobody has ever been speaking of Aina after youth games.