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United lost. Arsenal dropped points at home. That point not too bad in the end when you see the table. We were never going to realistically compete with City and top 4 is our main target so I am content now.

Frustrating performance. Rudiger was the only player who impressed me. Thought he was outstanding. The rest was just poor/average. Would of preferred Barkley to come on for Kante tbh. We have Spurs now after international break. This was a game we needed to win but it happens...

Just popped to my head... what the hell is going on with him? He is still under contract at us but does not play for any of our teams. Is not out on loan and on a good wage too from when he signed that deal with us. Anyone??...

She makes some very good points, but the long essays of transfer targets and who the board should buy is just a bit too much sometimes man and is mind-boggling at times. The targets suggested is almost like we like in a Football Manager/ Fifa mode when it is not that realistic but apart from that decent poster but yeah the constant transfer suggestions is really annoying sometimes.

Luiz made that little error for the goal but was excellent otherwise. Him and Rudiger are really important to the team. We are 2nd place and like I said few days ago, Luiz has been very solid for the season. He has just made the odd error. Rudiger, is very consistent and his pace is such a bonus. Thought Alonso was excellent today, defensively and offensively too. Morata is creeping up with the goals despite all the criticism. Just needs that confidence and support and look what you get. It is so exciting the brand of football we are playing and the goals being scored all over the pitch. Despite all the concerns about striker, centre backs etc, we find ourselves in touching distance of City, above Liverpool and still unbeaten. Can't ask for much more than that

Totally agree and this is why I don't buy when people say it is a change in system and role and he is just doing what is asked, etc. When people describe him as a world class player, I expect to see more from him in the game and have more input in the game.

I see what you are saying. My worry is that if teams put in offers for him in the summer with 1 year left remaining on his contract and he refuses to sign on, we will probably be forced to sell him so he does not run out his contract here and then we may not get the opportunity to show that he will get enough chances. So if he does not sign a contract it becomes a big issue because if he wants to leabe come summer and does not sign a contract, we will sell him imo like City done with Sancho, which is why I am surprised about the limited chances he has got this season so far.

Just reflects how ridiculously harsh people are on him.

Man, he has looked so average this season. I was surprised to see him starting tonight but was hoping to see him put in a top performance. Thought he was quite average and looks lost in the system once again. He basically is doing box to box but not having no real control on the game. He is always given the excuse that he does all the hard work but he needs to offer more. More quality with the ball and being a total destroyer. I don't think he is doing either. He gets caught lacking on the ball and is not actually winning a shed load of tackles. He will keep his place, but Sarri needs to get more out of him in the system because he just looks average imo for several games I have watched this season.

And that sums it up. He is the scapegoat for many Chelsea fans. Puts in a top performance against Burnley and your the first person to write something positive on his thread. Glad to see MOTD2 give him the rave review he deserves. But, like I said on here few weeks ago, people are very knee-jerk. He is inconsistent but he is a very valuable squad player that majority of teams would love to have.

TBH, Luiz has been solid for most of the season but no one gives him the credit he deserves when he plays well. But one mistake and everyone is clawing down his neck. I know he is culpable of making errors but he has been a big bonus under Sarri and definitely more positives than negatives.

See. I was spot on. Too many pessimistic fans on here and fans who seems to revel in seeing some of our players put in poor performances. Anyway, fantastic win. Shows we are not a one man team. Goal and 2 assists for Barkley. Always had faith in him and glad he is starting to show what he is capable of. That is 3 goals in a row in the league for him. Relieved for Morata too. Also made my day seeing Palace stop Arsenal's winning run. Finally. We go 2 points ahead of them now. Clean sheet, 4 goals and two of our English players scoring and what a week for RLC. Who would of thought our most convincing victory this season would be without Hazard? Funny old game football. KTBFFH

I think people have underestimated how we have performed without Hazard. We were comfortable against Huddersfield and were 2-0 up before Hazard entered the fray. Pedro and both Willian started that game. We played Arsenal the week after with Hazard a sub and we played some of the best football you are going to see. We went 2-0 up and our attacking play was excellent. We obviously had luxury of bring Hazard from bench, but we were hammering them without him. Our defence lost concentration which got them back in the game. Can see why people aren't confident but we can win without Hazard.

Yes, Hudson-Odoi is on!!!!! Finally.

Delighted for RLC. Fantastic. To round of my day, just bring on Hudson-Odoi please. He deserves it.

We have a slow LB, however he is very intelligent and making forward runs. A huge bonus for any attacking manager, He gets opportunities virtually every match. Also Sarri already said few weeks ago that he believes Alonso is "maybe the best LB in Europe". He also said that if he improves the defensive aspect he could be the best LB in the world. That is obviously the words of a manager who rates him really highly. His attacking qualities are fine. He is slow as stated but is a constant menace for opposition teams when he goes forward. It is such a huge bonus if your FB is a threat going forward which Alonso is. TBH, I did not actually know his contract expired in 2021 before signing the new one but yeah, I just find it odd, the way fans have suddenly started slating him again, when for majority of this season, he has a solid season.

Couple weeks ago... all comments would have been that it is truly deserved. On the back of a bad game: "he is stealing a living". Yes, he has his flaws but highly deserved and regardless of what people say, he has been a huge success here and Sarri rates him very highly. Keep up the good work Alonso!

Wigan fans have been so impressed by him this season and say he has been fantastic. Has been winning rave reviews. Really pleasing to hear.

The way fans turn on players is actually scary. WOW.

We are in real danger of losing him imo. Look at likes of Sancho who is playing for Dortmund. He is no better than CHO and they are both very talented. CHO would be playing if he goes abroad. He has not made an appearance this season bar that Community Shield game and with some of the games we have had, it is bizarre that we have not played him and we have really shot ourselves in the foot, especially knowing his contract runs out soon. Don't know what Sarri is playing at but CHO needs to get games and he deserves it too. It is almost as if we are giving him all the signals to leave.

Read it wrong, sorry but my point remains the same. I also think right now a lot of it is mentality issue with Morata.

You quoted him from a month back so maybe his perceptions have changed but tbh then he did have a point. Not necessarily with Aubameyang but with Lacazette. He struggled very much last season and did not score much more than Morata or maybe Morata scored more, not too sure. He also took a lot of penalties back at Lyon and looked lost at several moments last season. This season now, he has done exactly what Morata should have done. Improved on from last season and take your game to another level. Lacazette looks like he has done that but like I said he was struggling last season but has improved.

RLC was injured against Liverpool. He was not in the squad. He played, however in our last Europa game. Really, we should be taking advantage of fact we are in Europa. We have two wins out of two and should win this even with a very much rotated team. The Burnley game is a lot more important. I hope CHO is fit but judging by Sarri's comments, may miss out but we need to try and rest as much players for Thursday who will be playing Sunday. When we get to latter stages of competition is when we will need our more important players.

The thing is that, yes he is a hard worker that breaks play but he just looks a little lost in this system. In the recent matches I have seen him, I just don't think he is doing anything special. It is like you could put any other B2B and they can do what he is doing. He has been sloppy in possession too. People also agree that he is not at his best in the advanced role and that is something we need to address because he is having no way near the same impact as he did with us when he first arrived. And while he is a destructor, I am concerned regarding his overall game. There were times last season, where I was saying his technical ability has very much improved but this seems to be an area of concern again. I just feel that his reputation since Leicester and his first season at us, makes him exempt of a lot of criticism because this season bar the Huddersfield game, I am yet to see a game where I have thought, "wow, Kante has been exceptional". Sometimes I am seeing a player run around who makes the occasion tackle but not actually contributing anything special. I may sound controversial but I just don't think he has been impressive this season. Another concern is that he is not always wining his 50/50 duels too and I know he has a small frame but this never used to a problem for him. Now it seems it is. For instance when we played Liverpool, I thought Wijnaldum showed a complete DM/CM performance. Dominated the midfield and was a like a Kante type performance. That is what I have failed to see from Kante this season and the reason why it concerns me with Kante more is because majority of fans would say our 2 best players are Hazard and Kante. When a player is described as your best player or up there, I expect a little more than people just saying his job is to break up play. He is playing for a top team so there should be a better level of technical ability. He made one brilliant interception from Pogba in the game but other than that thought he was a passer by and Pogba constantly was controlling our midfield. Compare that to last season and the season before when we beat United 4-0 and 1-0, Kante was simply brilliant and controlled the game on a technical basis and was everywhere.

Pogba glided past out midfield with ease a few times. We couldn't handle him sometimes and we looked very feeble and weak. However with circumstances of game, delighted with a point, as I thought we had lost that. Was not impressed with a lot of our players today. Can't really say who impressed me. Maybe Rudiger and Barkley came on and made that difference. The rest of the team were just not good enough. Spurs are on same points as us now, albeit less GD. Arsenal will prob join us and Spurs on level points on Monday night too. That game against Burnley is so important now. We need to rotate in the week now as the top 4 race is already hot and we cannot afford to drop any points before that Spurs game.