Magic Lamps

I like that backline too and I also like the idea of Dave as a wing back. He is an excellent crosser, rapid and would completely shut out any danger once it passes the halfway line. But Andreas is 6'2" and still growing. In England that is kinda tall. 10 lbs more muscle however and he would still be a skinny bastard :D, so that picture made me chuckle a bit. H Great to hear that we will have Kurt in contes plans. Really missed him.

Didn't Conte himself state that bats will not go on loan? As for Llorente he used to be a great player like 5 years ago. Not sure he still got it

Nope. The cracks have been there all the time with people on this forum pointing them out continuously. Just visit the Alonso, Cahill, Matic and match threads. Off this is criticising on a high level but it is still allowed. Also 1) 433 is hardly a new system. But we might ponder changing the formation to add some tactical flexibility. No one suggested we have to adapt to something completely different. 2) no idea who said that. Sure he will fail at some point. Might be this season or in 5 years. But who knows... 3) Azpi is no CB and people here insisted that since the very beginning of 343. He also is no lb and no wing back. But he is too good to leave him out. 4) I thought that was irony by whoever posted that.clearly we have shown progress esp in games against minor opposition. Though I expected more from us today and I guess I am not the only one. Finally ofc we should be top 4. We got the 3rd best squad in the league, 4 absolute world class players and loads of decent ones. We got the 3rd highest budget and world class facilities, a huge brand etc. We should be top 4 consistently without doing an Arsenal and celebrating top four like a trophy. That is the bare minimum you should expect from us no matter what kind of toxic atmosphere killed us last season.

The thing is his passing has always been shit. When he is able to get the ball forward by dribbling that doesn't matter but when he gets pressed by a stronger player before he can accelerate he will get dispossed every time. Spurs, arsenal, city and lpool all did that. His energy and tenacity will still be helpful. Of course he needs a long term replacement. In 3_4 years he will be done because he relies heavily on his physical attributes. For the league he is fine but can you imagine a team winning the CL with a midfielder that limited? I can only remember one team to do so and that required shitloads of luck...

IMO it is pretty clear that we can not continue with this formation and/or personnel. This is no overreaction, the cracks have been showing since the first spurs game and ee have not found a solution for that in the big games. We do not need that many major changes right now but a bit of tweaking would help. Moses and Alonso are clearly defensively overwhelmed in the big games, azpi is too short and matic tends to become a passenger in big games even though he made some vital interceptions today. Maybe we should try something like this in the big games mid term Zouma. David Luiz. Cahill/new CB Azpi. Kante. New Cm. Pedro/Moses/new lwb Willian/Moses/new Rw. Hazard Diego Costa However it would require fewer signings if we just change formation back to 4 3 3, add fabregas and simply buy a better left back finally. Esp at Liverpool I fear getting outnumbered in midfield as soon as their full backs push forward

He always has been a horrible passer but yesterday he could not complete the most basic ones. Dembele and wanyama completely outmuscled him and matic. I know we all love him here but short term he needs a rest and long term a replacement with better technique ( same for matic)

Bring on batshuayi Willian and fabregas. Thank fuck it's transfer window . Kante Alonso and Moses have beenn punching well above their weight for months now. Nee some serious reinforcements for these positions to keep playing the system

Getting beaten by a top side is fair, can happen. But this spuds side is bang on average, they have just been using their scarce chances because of our sleeping backline.

Holy crap his can we allow the Sam combination twice? Just attack Eriksen ffs

Fun fact: ac features on the top speed ranking of the buli of the 20 players with highest recorded sprint speed. https://www.google.de/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.spox.com/de/sport/diashows/1701/fussball/bundesliga/topfacts-hinrunde/schnellste-spieler/bellarabi-heller-aubameyang.html&ved=0ahUKEwiR-OXK9qfRAhUDXRQKHQdvCzUQFggaMAA&usg=AFQjCNE6MJoP3X2NkygGI87aIpVUWhcmjQ&sig2=Rzf1-FlbhLr2kgEjm-ANYA

13 years ago I was at whl for this very fixture. It was my first ever time to visit a football match and the day I became a Chelsea fan. Since then I have seldom been so anxious for us to win a game as I am today.

Holy crap after 4 games without a defensive mistake, we make one every time they enter the box. At least Willian is on fire

He looks like a handy young player. Snap him up, loan out and sell for profit I'd say

Those suckers rested some of their best players when they rolled over at Anfield. Couldn't believe dinosaurs like crouch and Walters still play football, let alone start over Bojan and bony. Hope we thrash them so no other team tries those little tricks and rests players before facing us.

Looks like spurs are hitting some form just before our match up - who could have known... But u know what? I don't care. We are the best in the league and we can beat anyone anytime anywhere. If we are as clinical as last time i am confident we will thrash them.

I think you are overestimating Kun's ball-playing/passing ability.I even think he is more limited/selfish in this regard despite being better technically. Costa on the other side has contributed multiple more assists this season and been working the channels, initiating counter attacks in a way Agüero would never even think of.

Fuck. But remember we are still 6 points clear so no worries. Best them at anfield next year and be done with it

Hazard. The one goal we need can come from anyone. The game vs Bournemouth is the chance to show that we are not dependant on Diego

Sublime performance. EVeryone with half a brain could predict that he'd get into Kroos territory in terms of touches in this kind of match. 68 at half time already. Makes such a difference when he has space and does not have to run at full speed (his top speed was just under 30km/h yesterday which is about the speed sporty 17 y.o. girls will run at a 100m sprint on average). That made me wonder how, in his late 20ies where a man should only be marginally past his physical peak he has becme such a shadow of the player he once was. I remeber when he used to be the emperor of flat track bullys at Arsenal scoring that outragoes solo goal vs Tottenham where he sprinted 40 metres in like 5 seconds. At that time Cesc gave anintrview to a minor German sports paper where he claimed his idol was Lampard who he had not reached yet but ho to do so in the near future. I remember that passage because I actually feared that might eventually hapen. How wrong we both were. Fabregas never came even close to reaching the level Lamps had in his early 30ies. Shows how too much playing time at a young age can wear a player out early.

Seeing how happy the boy seems to be right at deaths door really breaks my heart. He is 5 yo ffs. Can't show enough support for him but a really nice touch how all the people in the stadium showed their compassion. I am not really religious but I really hope that wherever he goes it's a better place.

One final thought on our recent series of narrow gritty wins. One of the most significant statistics in modern football is that about 97% of goals are scored within 15secs of winning the ball. I am pretty sure Conte knows this. We have never been a side patiently rolling around the ball trying to carve out the opponent's defense with intricate passing. More of a direct, counter attacking side. Conte has epitomised these strengths. Whe are pressing the opponent, rushing forward when winning the ball. That is how we scored the majority of our goals. Off this is gonna be harder vs stubborn organised sides but they will always make mistakes for us to pounce on. As long as we are stable at the back and shuffle things up at the front we will get our points. The thing is I trust conte more than any other manager we ve had so far doing this because other than mourinho or pep he is both a pragmatist and visionary.

Cahill had a good match but Cesar was absolutely vital in the early stages of the match when spurs bombed down our right side. He cut out so many 1on 1s and intercepted so many passes when we really were not playing well. He performs when others don't which is a very important characteristic IMO. His size IS a problem for a back three sometimes. Esp since despite being lightning quick he does not really have any kind of leap. But he would be wasted as wingback because he does not really have the attacking nous to make an impact. So I guess CB is ok for now. Pep usually also has a technically astute fullback in a 3man defense to open up the play so it is not an uncommon move tactically.

surely this is one position we can improve on. But he is a very competent player. He could be a bit more mobile and play the game at a higher temp but he is at an age where he can still develop. btw Ashley Cole used to be a similarly frustrating finisher at times. Also we have Kenedy and Baba who will surely excel at this position too so I am not too fussed about the Lwb spot

haha did just enough to see them off. I knew they would not be able to keep up that enomrous pressures. AFter 30mins they collapsed. Still we have to improve our performance for City who will play outof their skins against us as well

Scored a Hattrick vs Christensen s gladbach tonight. His first goals since losing his dad and aunt in august. Rip and well done Sala. Still enjoying his lanky awkwardness and rollercoaster between clinical finishing and horrible misses. might even still be better than pedro and willian