kellzfresh

I'll actually want Rudiger to play the LCB role which he's very comfortable with and move Cahill to the right. I think a major reason why Cahill looks so uncomfortable with the ball is because he is on the left side and he's very right footed. Him returning to the right side could make Cahill comfortable in bringing the ball out instead of hoofing it back to the opponent because he can't use his weaker foot to pass like Matic. (in fact thinking about it that whole left side MATIC-ALONSO-CAHILL are so one footed, slow and easy to put under pressure because of that limitation ) No wonder Conte wants to improve that side so bad ( Bakayoko-Sandro-Rudiger)

My gut feeling is that Moses is going out of the starting line-up and Azpilicueta is moving to RWB. I'll be surprised if Conte entered the Champions League with an obvious aerial weakness for ronaldo and co to exploit by leaving Azpi in centerback. Rudiger actually is a good Passer for a centerback. Now I've seen him in a full match, only Luiz in our defense is a better passer. He has this Bailly no nonsense defending style and is good at one on one defending. He'll be a starter for sure.

Seconded. He's fast, works hard, energetic, makes runs ALL THE TIME, creates chances for teammates and scores goals. 23 goals in 34 games for Leipzig and top scorer in this tournament too. And he's still young

I'll give it till next week Friday before the complains start coming. Transfer action doesn't happen a lot during weekends. But us agreeing a deal for Rudiger just shows that we still have a phobia in going above £34 million pounds for any player since torres. Last season we went from Koulibaly to Luiz because of Price, this season we've gone from Bonnuci to Van djik to Rudiger. So I'm beginning to think that breaking our transfer record for Sandro isn't happening. We'll find a player under the £34 million pounds mark.

Apparently said he likes to play LCB role.

Liked for noting a positive advantage of Rudiger. I think he's a Conte signing. But it looks like the board can't spend above the £35 million cut off mark for any position that isn't a striker (unless they think they can pull off a striker for that kind of Price) Hopefully it pays off at least to Alonso/Luiz level. It can just be frustrating to go from Bonnuci to Vandjik to Manolas then Rudiger.... But I think Rudiger has some traits of a Conte player. He's powerful, fast, can play in a back 3, back 4 and even right-back and is comfortable on the ball because of his driving runs.

Suddenly we could be looking at having 3 solid dribblers on our left flank (Hazard, Bakayoko and Sandro) That glaring weakness against big teams pressing will be solved when they can just dribble past markers.

At least now we know who has been causing the commotion in Chelsea is the immature costa and not Conte like Henrique and Co want us to believe

I'll be very happy with that. Remember when we were all complaining about the slow trio of MATIC-ALONSO-CAHILL on one side? Seems like Conte noticed it too and is trying to improve all 3 players there. Hazard will have better players on his side after years if we pull all these transfers off.

Exactly. We should be getting physical players who are good on the ball, energetic(stamina), quick and can dribble. It is annoying when we buy players who don't possess these five qualities in the past. I used to wonder what the heck our scouts do all day, are these types of players so rare to get for a team of our level? But it looks like Conte is fixing that now. After all, someone who spotted vidal, Pogba, Bonucci, Cheilini and wanted Sanchez, Morata while in Juventus knows exactly the type of players who elevates a teams quality.

Conte has to change the formation. 3 in the middle against big teams has to be the way to go 3-5-2. But if he wants the kante-Bakayoko midfield, then we have to play 4-4-2 /4-2-4 like Juventus to become deadly on the counter. Conte has to make us ready to play 3 formations if necessary to keep the opponent guessing. Having only 3-4-3 as the only option last season, made other teams start working solutions against us.

Here's me thinking for a moment that a transfer with an Italian club will go quickly. Not!

Whoops! I always thought it was the Italian leftback lol

best free image uploading site Is it happening?

What I really like is that we are linked with players who are good 1 on 1 dribblers. So many times against the big teams, only Hazard can make something happen. If we have players like that in many positions on the pitch it is a huge plus. Madrid have marcelo, carvajal, modric, Isco, Bale, Ronaldo and even benzema who are all dribblers in the starting line-up. We have hazard, Moses (I'm pushing it here) and Willian when he comes from the bench. We need more of these types of players who make things happen on their own in tough matches were we have been marked out of creating chances.

The problem isn't the board bidding. The problem is can the Chelsea Fc board close a deal that is more than £35mil ?? The stones, Koulibaly and other sagas say otherwise.

This is exactly what I want. Azpi must start because of his captain like qualities and spirit. But I don't want him in the centre back position, mandzukic, ronaldo and many other players in champs lge will crucify him with aerial duels. Azpi is already a better crosser than Moses will ever be and has more assists than Moses from centerback and scored similar amount of goals anyway. So it's only Moses dribbling we'll miss but we won't be a defensive liability in the wingback positions anymore. Azpi and Sandro will be such an upgrade defensively and Sandro alone is a better attacker than Moses and Alonso combined. I just hope that the board fully support Conte and land his targets. I don't care if we have to spend €250 million to do it. Looking at players we're linked with, Conte is clearly trying to improve that Matic-Alonso-Cahill triangle which we complained about a lot this season. We could be looking at having instead Bakayoko-Sandro-Christensen all are better passers than what we currently have, all can dribble and all are better defensive. Instant improvement for Hazard. We're also looking to be tactically flexible and change between 3-4-3, 3-5-2 and 4-4-2 during the match like Juventus did in the champs lge. In 4-4-2 Bakayoko-Kante will cover the middle and Sandro with his energy will provide width in the wings. That's why their signings are crucial. We can't be flexible without their qualities.

It's not time to panic. It's a concern that so many reporters are saying Conte isn't happy but when panic mode will set in is a week or two after the Nike deal kicks in and we haven't announced anything. Until July 10th, I'll still give our board the benefit of a doubt.

Okay, this is beginning to concern me now. I thought it was just metro and dailyfail trying to cook things up.... Hope this isn't happening and we're just waiting for the Nike deal to kick in

I guess I wasn't the only one who has noticed this 32m£ cap ever since we signed torres. With incredible consistency we never go above that lol 😁

I thought we were waiting for the Nike deal to kick in before officially announcing any deals. So that adidas doesn't get any free advert when the new signings hold up the Chelsea shirt.

The best video I've seen of him. If you want to see how he does against pressing, watch from 40secs If you want to see his tackling, watch from minute 4.30 or so If you want to see his passing range, and accuracy watch from minute 8.40 If you want to see his aerial strength, towards the end of the video He's a better passer than I thought. He obviously doesn't have the vision of Fabregas or even Tolisso, but I thought he just used to give short passes here and there. But watching this he clearly attempts to make a lot of long range passing to the Monaco wingbacks easily and even his teammates try to make runs behind once he raises his head to pass (a sign of teammates confident that he can find them, like Pedro does when Luiz is on the ball) His weakness is obviously his passing after making a longdrive/dribble through the middle. He probably gets tired after taking on so many people, but he should improve that in time since he's just 22. He's better than Matic in passing, dribbling, winning aerial balls, strength, and he's not one footed (a huge advantage in a midfield) He could be better than Matic in tackling, because Matic hasn't been the same since Barnes injured him years ago. All in all, he's going to offer more than Matic, especially in the big games where hazard will be targeted. So having a driving force from midfield (Essien type) will be crucial.

I don't know whether city are still in for Mendy, it seems to have stalled but anyways that is still an easier deal compared with trying to get Sandro from Juventus. A CM would have been great but maybe with Kante and Bakayoko shielding the middle and fabregas could slot in easily without exposing us. Especially since Bakayoko is far better at winning duels than Matic so a 3-5-2 could be on the cards.

If we can pull off this transfer, it will justify getting Bakayoko (another defensive midfielder beside kante) instead of a creative CM. Conte plans to be solid in midfield, win tackles and then create through the wings with better quality wingbacks like Sandro. Especially with lukaku upfront to eat up crosses instead of Costa who hates jumping. My only problem is why we are not going for Mendy instead, who we can secure faster and cheaper.