kellzfresh

I thought I was the only one who has this problem. I literally can't open the next page on any thread on talkchelsea unless I open on a new tab

Manutd are used to attacking football along with winning things for so long under Ferguson. We'll see how long they can take this especially when Mourinho doesn't win. And he had the guts to say he played the same football as Conte with us and his was not praised?? Lol Dreadful park the bus stuff for two consecutive games

You're right. A lot of people don't consider that when the striker constantly loses the ball, leads to counter attacks against his team, which in turn harms the team’s defence. And it hampers a team from mounting pressure on the opponent or taking advantage of counterattacks. Having a good technical striker is a more important factor of a team than a lot of people realize.

The things Morata instantly improves over Costa is the linkup play, holdup play, dribbling and aerial threat. Hazard will love him. Morata still runs the channels like costa, is energetic and presses from the front like Conte likes. The major problem is if he's as good a goalscoring striker as Costa or even lukaku. But his stats are good though. http://imgur.com/a/ACpjm[/img] http://imgur.com/a/ACpjm http://www.imgur.com/a/ACpjm http://www.imgur.com/a/ACpjm[/img]

Good post. Because we've dominated the league, suddenly everyone has forgotten how we got here. Everyone has forgotten that Moses couldn't get a start for Westham or Liverpool, Everyone has forgotten that Alonso was average in the league for Bolton/Sunderland, everyone has forgotten that Luiz was benched for marquinos in PSG and a defensive liability before in the league, everyone has forgotten how Cahill was costing us goals with back passes lapses in concentration. Ivanovic, Oscar and Terry were still starting and we were eight points behind first position by late September. Conte has given on a season of excitement. Top scorers in the league, Lots of fantastic, memorable matches (3-0 Burnley, 3-1 Mancity, 4-0 Manutd, 5-0 Everton, 4-2 Stoke, 3-1 Arsenal, 4-2 Spurs, etc) Yet jealous peeps like Mourinho criticize our style and even Wenger is saying we play like Leicester city last season without taking the initiative. Even without landing his first choice players, combine this with facing two managers (Mourinho & Pep) who spent 200mil and got their targets he has done magnificent. Just imagine what we can do if we get his technical and mobile targets. The future is looking good for us, hopefully he's backed massively.

Exactly. And we are going into the Champions League next season, so we need to prepare a team capable of competing. I look at Juventus and see a team we should aspire to be like. Dogged defensively, tactical adaptive to different formations at anytime in a match, two wingbacks who are fast, energetic, can dribble and have a good cross, a striker upfront who can hold up the ball incase of long balls. mandzukic Higuain Dybala Sandro Pjanic Khedira Alves Cheilini Bonucci Barzagli Buffon Vs Hazard (Striker) Pedro Mendy (CM) kante Azpi Ake Luiz Cahill With a few signings, we can put out a team on their level imo. The main areas where they blow us out of the water is their wingbacks and back 3 (especially wingbacks) (Sandro) Mendy to provide speedy, energetic runs and take our attacking on the left side with hazard to a whole new level. A striker who knows how to hold up the ball and win aerial balls, so that we have another outlet to escape pressing.(Morata, Bellotti) People on here underestimate this but it's a very big tactical advantage to have. A midfielder who can pass and dribble or is very comfortable under pressure, but is a good tackler (Nzonzi, Fabinho, Naby keita?) A few proper signings and we'll be dark horses for the CL easily

Some manutd fans are beginning to see through the excuses but many have already been thrown into delusion already.

Defensive as ever. I wonder how Mourinho will spin this though

The only reason I'm okay with him leaving is because, I have a feeling his head isn't with Chelsea anymore since China came in january. That's why he was world class in the first half of the season and now is playing like a mid-table striker. But it will be very difficult to find one who can replicate his first half of the season instantly. We might have to gamble on upcoming strikers.

I think he was just okay. Nothing like a great performance from what I was watching. A good performance is what wayanma did against arsenal today, not giving away easy passes and looking slow on the ball.

The only player who we need to play well is costa. Hazard has been on form and carrying our attack for months now but if Costa puts in a performance too,we'll score enough goals to win even if we concede.

Maybe I should have said we don't value technique when we get strikers... We place so much emphasis on physicality but we should target both energetic and very technical players. Which is what mbappe is. You said he's not technically great or his ballcontrol isn't all that, but you will find it hard to get a striker that always runs, energetic and still is as technical as mbappe. (Maybe lewandoski) Energetic strikers like costa are mostly clumsy on the ball but people still use them anyway because their energy and intensity is a nightmare for defenders. But mbappe is as energetic and still puts in crosses like a winger, still dribbles any defender one on one and has a cold blood finish under pressure. Maybe I'm exaggerating, but I'm going to make this prediction, mbappe is born to be a top 5 world player just like we saw Neymar and hazard at his age.

I keep mentioning it on this forum that Mbappe is one of a kind. Not even Griezmann has the ball control of mbappe and I'm sure of it. Since Thierry Henry retired there hasn't been any similar talent till I saw mbappe. Speed, ballcontrol and absolute killer finishing at his young age. But unfortunately our board have little eye for world-class potential.

We have no one like him. Great Passer and vision. And I've noticed he's working much harder than before and isn't getting easily dribbled again

That's all I've been begging for. We have struggled to score goals since February because only Hazard in the attack has carried us. And when Hazard doesn't score, we don't win. If Costa can play just half as good as the beginning of the season Spurs have no chance of catching us

After watching realmadrid vs bayern, realmadrid vs Barcelona and Monaco in the Champions League, it is crucial for us to get a fast energetic, dribbling wing-back if we want to play attacking football as a team. Everyone praised ronaldo for scoring a hatrick against bayern, but did they see the number of times marcelo and carvajal dribbled past people on the wings and put in fantastic crosses to create all those chances? Everyone praised messi for the last minute winner, but did they see how Sergio Roberto ran from his defence into the attack that led to the messi last minute winner??? Modern attacking football cannot do without energetic wingbacks that can dribble past opponents and create chances. Monaco and Madrid prove this with two wingbacks and Chelsea cannot stay behind the times if we're serious about competing in Europe.

I think he's been far better defensively than he was a few years ago. But recently he's having far more defensive lapses since February. He's the only one among the back three and wingbacks who has significantly been lower in his performance level. Hopefully he picks up his concentration.

When Luiz was at his best, our defense was impenetrable. But since Luiz has lost form, we can't keep a clean sheet to save our lives. Carragher explained this extensively on Monday Night Football and it has been for a while now. I just hope Luiz isn't playing through pain or injury. With Luiz losing a little form at the back and Costa destroying our linkups and goalscoring upfront, it's no wonder we're struggling to win narrowly these days.

Most chances created in the Champions League knockout rounds: Thomas Lemar (14); Marcelo (14); Toni Kroos (12); Arjen Robben(12)

Our weakness is pressing. Chase our defenders, force them to go long into costa. Costa can't win any headers so that guarantees you the ball. Prevent any passes from getting to hazard and hope costa is playing on the same level as torres and we have no attacking threat. Like I said in another thread, we have the worst ball playing footballers in the top six so high intensity pressing is our weakness, and I fear that Spurs will show us this in our next match.

The only reason why they look so good or more entertaining than us, is because of Costa. If Costa was playing at the level he was before the China debacle, hazard wouldn't be the only one carrying our attacking threat. Their defense was always better than ours, especially their wingbacks, but we always had the edge in attack with hazard and Costa, but it clearly isn't the case anymore. Not while costa can't control a ball or can't shoot.

I think he's probably trying to say we defend as a team. But sometimes you can't help but get suspicious after he said a few negative things about us this season: Even Gary Neville and Carragher noticed it

Just like Jose has been trying to paint us like a defensive team, Mourinho has somehow managed to con everyone into thinking that manutd has the worst quality of players in the top six. I'm not buying this... Ibrahimovic scored 50 goals last season in all competitions Mkhitaryan was German league player of the year with the highest assists in Europe last season Pogba was in the shortlist for best players in Italy and everyone knows his qualities then Martial scored 17goals in all competitions last season under boring vangaal and almost won the best young player in Europe. Mata is quality and a lot of Chelsea fans will still have him over Willian right now. How can Mourinho have this attack and still complain of firepower is beyond me. Comparing this manutd players with tottenham last season: Could anyone say that Kane was better than ibrahimovic who scored 50goals for PSG last season? Could anyone say that Son is better than martial last season? Could anyone say last season that Alli was better than Mkhitaryan who was Germanys league best player ahead of lewandoski, robben etc Could anyone say Erickson was better than Mata when he was at Chelsea? Could anyone say that dembele was better than Pogba who was entering champions League final with Juve and Euro finals with France and was even in the world best eleven in Europe? I thought valencia was the best right back, did kyle walker suddenly become better overnight? Even Degea was in contention for Premier League best goalkeeper and now he suddenly is talked about like he's a mid-table goalkeeper. How did Mourinho convince everyone that his squad is so bad? From what I can see, he has reduced the quality of his players with terrible tactical coaching, they have even scored less goals than under vangaal. No wonder hazard looked like he was in shackles. Mourinho can fool all those gullible fans but he isn’t fooling me. Another quality manager will be second comfortably with his team.