Barbara

I came to post about the same lines. But I do think it makes him a better player. He's at that stage of changing where one goes all the way through the other side. Once he develops his killer instinct and becomes more selfish (in a good way and something many of us have urged him to do since he's here), he will have both skills under his belt and he will balance them more. I think he's adding that final thing his game missed and once he's fully comfortable in this role and mentality, I think he will mix up better both the creator and the finisher approaches and we will end up being a complete player. In Eden's case the saying is absolutely accurate: the best is yet to come. This is what has set him apart from Messi, Ronaldo and more recently Neymar in the Balon D'Or contest. All the other three have always been goal oriented and that's something Eden has been lacking. He's probably more talented than the others (hard call with Messi, but I'll let my bias and my dislike for the Argentinean to move the scale towards Hazard and I'm shameless about it), but they are more deadly, threatening and decisive than Eden has been - even at this best season for us (many of his goals still used to come from penalties). At the end of the day what brings a player to the level of those other three is their ability to win matches for their teams when it's tough and Eden has been instrumental for our early leads. We are yet to take long to score and see how our tactical plan will work in such circumstances - especially if the opponent does what Everton did and give us the ball, but the reason why we haven't been in that position yet is mostly because Hazard put us ahead in the scoreline directly or indirectly in most of those matches (if not all, my memory may be failing me, so I won't set this on stone yet). This takes him to the next level. He's playing in a different position, occupying a different portion of the pitch and moving and acting in a different way. It only makes him a better player imo (although maybe not as entertaining as his plastic plays and dribbles may be less present now, the jury is still out about that). I can honestly say I have NEVER wished, claimed and asked for him to be sold, quite the opposite, always said he was going through a bad patch, but being the player he is we should keep him. Well, now we should add more years to his contract because I bet at the end of this season teams like Real are really going to come big for him and I hope we can have the means to keep him.

I must give it to Pedro, he was amazing today. I didn't expect that at all. Man has earned his praise imo Hazard is already back to who he was two seasons ago, with a capital change: he now thinks, breathes and see goal. It's unreal how much his mentality and positioning changed. He's still the guy that will have a quick sprint and pass the ball to the goalscorer, but he's taking responsibility, he's positioning himself where he can score and not only dribble and pass. That's fantastic. The last two matches (not today's) I wanted to vote for Azpili as the man of the match (what that guy is doing in defense is unbelievable, I must repeat myself, he found his call in life), but Eden has been so out of this mind, that I just have to surrender to him. He's a player with a new vision and if we provide him with the talent he deserves around him, combined with this new mentality, he will be become a Balon D'Or contender for real. Conte has been a blessing to Eden. I'm also very pleased he brought Oscar, Barbshuayi and even Terry to the match because he's thinking about keeping those guys motivated, having minutes (which is always different from only practicing) and having them more in tune in case they are needed to start a match. At this pace Diego's next yellow card won't happen this year. This is so good for the team that he might even lose that well cemented stigma about him that many times led players to rile him up and make him lose his mind and get booked. Or even the bias some referees showed booking him when he wasn't that bad. When was the last time we've seen Diego involved in even a small spat? Another thing that I can only credit to Conte as a couple of managers weren't able to do that to him. And he didn't lose any of his passion and fight because of it. If only he was better technically, but hey, I'm not complaining. David Luiz is someone who's also shining. I watched the analysis by Carragher posted on Conte's thread and I completely agree. That was a genius move by Conte. What has always kept Luiz from being first class isn't his quality because he's an extremely talented defender, but his lack of focus. Now he won't get distracted with the freedom to go forward as he's a ball-playing kind of defender. Despite being above the average with the ball, instead of capitalizing on that and giving him the small distraction he needs to make poor decisions, Conte did the opposite (something I've never thought about and that I honestly never read anyone saying either), and told him to stay put and let the other two - who are nowhere as good on the ball as David is - to have more freedom. That's a genius view of things and decision. I'm very pleased and like everyone else, it's been a long, long time since I've had so much pleasure watching Chelsea. There were the first few months of our last EPL title, but that was more about our attacking players shining than us looking so good from back to end (I remember posting a few times that we didn't look too solid defensively - the 3-6 Everton game is just a proof of that - but we were compensating that with the attacking players having conditions to shine). Now not only our front players have the conditions to shine, but we look more solid defensively than we did in YEARS because despite allowing opponents to have the ball, we are rarely really threatened. This is the Chelsea I want to watch every time and like many others, I wonder what this team would look like with upgrades in some positions like Alonso's (who is not as bad as some make him look) and Pedro's. I won't even imagine too long because seeing those players overachieving is far more pleasurable. We are ahead of City and United's stardom teams, not only in the table, but in the pitch too. It makes it all more special I must admit (though I still want a couple of upgrades)

Some weeks ago I called this man an average manager because honestly I never thought of him as something special tactically. I stand corrected by him BIG BIG TIME. He could become the next Mourinho or Pep. He's been nothing short of brilliant. Not only did he change the way we play and approach the matches, but he's cleansed the mentality that has been cemented in our players' minds FOR YEARS (even pre Mourinho's second come). Despite the defensive solidness we have now we are in no way an ultra defensive team. We give opponents the ball (although today we didn't and it seems like that was Koeman plan... to give us the ball and see what we would do with it as we played with less possession the last games), but we are still in control somehow, we don't feel threatened, everybody knows well where they should be and what they should do. Still our attacking players have been playing better than they ever did thanks to a system and a mentality that allows them to flourish. That's hard to grasp and explain, but he found a formula that looks wonderful. We are so deadly in attack and our players have so much freedom to do their thing, the fluidity in our play is there for everyone to see and talk about. He's surprised me, corrected me and I hope it stays like this. I take back most things I said (some I don't, like his late changes at the very beginning, the approach against Arsenal, but hey, everybody can make mistakes and he was still figuring things out, so everything has been forgiven and forgotten). And he's a breath of fresh air - this I've always thought - and I can't get tired of repeating how much we needed it. Our players needed, the supporters needed, I think even Roman needed. He's proved he's always been the right man for the job. Great Antonio Conte, just great.

Man, how I love those long passes by Luiz from the first to the final third. He can surely produce some gems with those

seriously though, 5 matches, 16 goals scored, 0 goals conceded. We are a machine.

dude, even *I* have a boner right now

GOAL OF THE SEASON EDEN FUCKING HAZARD IS UNSTOPPABLE AGAIN

The only good thing about the nightmare season he had last year is that now there are basically no limelights on him. Everybody is talking and looking about someone else and as a team, we are also under the radar, despite being 4th and only 1 point behind the leaders, this quietness just suits Eden perfectly. It's not like he can't manage the attention and the limelight, of course he can, but he seems to be so much more carefree and doing his things in a way that just seems to come natural. He's getting back to his best form, but somehow it hasn't been picking the headlines as it used in the past and I think it only benefits him.

lol, Conte looks so small that up close to him. I think people are normally very unfair to him. He isn't the most plastic, talented, technical player, but he's probably one of the top 3 players in the world - all positions considered - to show heart, clutch and never give=up attitude in the pitch. And that's the thing with Diego, he plays with his heart, he give his all, his best, he never stops, he never gives up. He just fights, fights and fights. His silly moments have been diminishing more and more and while he's still handful for defenders and no angel, he's more than ever more in control of his emotions and how far he can go. He's still a pain for those marking him and he's still as physical as they get and sometimes there's maybe a little bit excessive touching from his part when being marked, but you can't fault his commitment, his desire and his will. Those things can definitely make up for some technical ability and I believe he's just the right man for the job. He sometimes carries the ball beyond his abilities to hold it and he believes his dribbling skills are way better than they really are, but he normally gets the job done. Could have scored that chance at the end of the first half, but his goal definitely made up for it. This man represents everything a Chelsea player can show in the pitch for me. Mourinho once said he wanted to have 11 Azpilicuetas - and I agree because if 11 players were as consistent and Dave, we'd be unstoppable, but I might prefer 11 Diego Costas with his passion, fight and disposition (I can use without the breakdowns though).

Found his call in life. While very good and consistent as a FB, he still had some limitations, especially playing in the opposite side of his natural position. I've never thought he was that good, even in the RB position, supporting the attack. He can link up decently with Hazard, but he was never a master in the attacking aspect (average cross, average link up, average movement). As a CB in a two-men system, I would be a little bit concerned. While the defensive aspect of his game has always been his best feature, he's somewhat small, but a three-man defense works perfectly for him. Among all positions I've seen him playing for us so far, a primary defender in this 3-4-3 has been by far the one that he shone the most in my opinion, despite the short time he's been playing like this. He's shown enough not only in those latest matches, but in the years he's been here, that consistency and solidness are his middle and last names. he's the right man for the job and kudos for Conte once again favoring yet another player with this formation. I think we are about to see the best Cesar Azpilicueta that has played for us yet.

Had to go to the second page to find this thread... which just shows how his mistakes make him much more popular here and for pundits than his solid performances. I used to be a fan, then I had some problems with some of his actions during the WC and thought him to be a fraud, misleading fans on acing his market skills and wasn't happy with his return, despite agreeing he definitely was an upgrade to what we had at the time. Conte drilled this team and this system in a way that it covers for Luiz's shortcomings and allows his strengths to come forward.I've always believed - at least playing for us - that he was a big match kind of player, matches where he was absolutely focused and rarely made mistakes. It was the smaller games that showed his sloppiness time after time. It looked like he couldn't focus on less competitive matches as in he ones against stronger teams, but the system, as well as his positioning and actions in the pitch in the last four matches - the four clean sheets - have showed that Conte might have just figured out how to take the best out of Luiz. On his day, he can be as solid as they come, but the opposite is also true. What I've been seeing in those matches is Luiz taking big strides towards solidness and confidence. With each new match he's been more and more reliable and the partnership with Azpilicueta (who's been performing on his newly found role down to a T) and Cahill have been beneficial to the three of them. Azpili is the seriousness and solidness that Luiz needs by his side while both of them can give Cahill some confidence. The more Cahill shares responsibility instead of taking it on his own hands, the less his weaknesses appear and that seems to be the case now. Anyway, despite still not liking him in a personal level, I think as a defender, he's been steadily growing for us with the new system and let's hope it will continue for many days to come.

What a sweet Italian lemonade. What our personnel is far from ideal and we are way behind other teams concerning squad quality and depth, what Conte has done with the players in this system is nothing short of fantastic. He worked the team in such a way that not only Matic is playing his level again, but had Luiz mastering a center defender position - this is nearly a miracle. Even Gary-back away- Cahill has been performing above his league. Moses has been showing to be a player I've never seen him before. He's always shown glimpses of something good and went through long - and painful - streaks of nothing but ordinary. It's the perfect case of adapting your system to the material you have available. Some players are overachieving already and some were allowed to perform at their best because of the system. I've made myself clear about Pedro, but indeed Willian has shown nothing promising either, which imo makes this situation simple to solve: our main and biggest target in the winter window must be someone to play upfront with Hazard and Costa - who btw fit in the category of playing that have a system allowing them to shine as they can. Big game coming next week with Everton in quite form. We have had some crazy matches against them, have dominated, have been dominated, had that crazy 3-6 two years ago. It's a sort of an unpredictable match, one that will test this formation the farthest so far, but I'm confident we will deliver. Very happy with and for the lads, and especially Conte.

to each their own, I think he doesn't add up with his wasted plays. What's the point of offering directness when he normally (like 95%) just fucks them off? That's teasing and not delivering, sorry. Jsut like now, did FUCKING NOTHING WITH THE BALL and couldn't even complete a pass for the playing coming. FUCKING USELESS

DIEGO!!!!! off form they said

didn't watch the match during the week, but one has to suck really hard to be worse than the Pedro EPL games I've watched. I disagree completely about your assessment on Pedro. He's been weak - as usually - easily dispossessed, not really effective defensively and with a couple of lucky plays he had a goal and assist. As I said, I haven't seen Willian, but I don't see form or merit on Pedro's performances...

which is why in the first half we didn't have a problem giving him the ball and let them whatever they can. We are giving them the ball, but not much space or options to do something relevant with it.

Brilliant by Eden and we look solid, but I can't for the life of me understand why Pedro starts for us. He is no match to EPL physicality, and is easily written off by even the weakest English player. Waste of space, but I suppose Conte might have his reasons

that's because when Mourinho thought our support at the Bridge wasn't adequate, he talked shit about the supporters in the post-match conference. Now Conte instead of using the supporters to deflect bad football (which we haven't been showing, thankfully), chooses to set the example, to invite the supporters in a supportive way. Mourinho could never understand such thing, that's why it's so foreign to him and even considered humiliating what Conte did. It's just one of the million small things that show Jose's true colors. I supported him while he as here, and even in other teams (although he only ever managed teams I sympathize with in Spain and Italy), but he became a sore loser, a guy that won't admit defeat, that won't look to himself and look for ways to improve. He's a caricature nowadays and I feel sorry for him because he's laughing stock because of his arrogance to admit he - like everyone else - could use with some self-criticism and admit his short comings. watch the video below for context. He complained about how Conte asked for louder support when we were winning 4x0. According to him, that's humiliating his team, and should have been okay if the match was only 1x0

So many players recovering their best form or slowly getting there... I think the 3-4-3 is here to stay (even Pep tried it today) and we are gelling it up and I think we'll do even well from here. Important win in a big match - if this Manchester, two points less than Van Gaal's last season can be considered big, except for a big mess. We don't have Iva in the team anymore, players are happy, working hard, getting a better understanding. We can still look a bit shaky in defense sometimes, but David is getting better and Dave is helping him and Cahill to look better. There's a good environment in the pitch, in the dressing room, Antonio is passionate and today even acted as cheerleader asking the crowd to support the team louder. Players such as Courtois and Matic are finally getting better, Hazard has been a joy to watch, and I want to marry Kanté. KTBFFH

I WANT TO FUCKING MARRY KANTE WHAT A PLAYER!!!!!!

HAZARD FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!!

he brought in Mata... the irony of it all LOL

The 3-4-3 is finally clicking and I think we've been showing solid football in the last two matches, but why, oh why, does Pedro (despite of the goal) still starts matches for us. I'll love Antonio to the moon for removing Ivanovic from the team and I'm sure Cahill days are counted (even if he brings Zouma for Luiz instead, soon enough Cahill will show his true colors as he always does and will be rotting in the bench alongside Iva), but for God's sake, if Willian is fit - no matter how uninspired he can be sometimes (have been having ups and downs this season), he's years light ahead of Pedro. I lost count how many times our attack was ruined by his inept touch or how he lost the ball and set up potential counter-attacks. Other than that, I'm very happy with the team and I'm definitely very happy with Conte. Mourinho who?

a post just to honor this man and how damn good he is. That's it

Definitely our best performance. We dictated things for most time and while at the beginning of the second half we gave them the ball, we still looked well posted in defense and midfield and they didn't really threaten us. Kudos to Conte and the players, right attitude, good positioning and execution. We were sloppy in our finishing and we could certainly have won by 2-3 more if we were more efficient on that, but that's not a complaint, just an observation. I don't see either Oscar or Fabregas playing in this team right now because there isn't space for them in midfield (while not being fantastic as he was two seasons ago, Matic improved a lot as the season went on) and I hope they stay in the bench. I really wish we had a better player to play by Hazard and Costa side in the attack. I don't think Pedro is cut for it, and while Wililan and Moses have their qualities, they are far from what we could have there. Even Schurrle would be better suited for this role than the two of them, but let's see how they fare. Oscar came back from international break, but then the club released him back to Brazil because one of his close relatives is really sick... for those asking why he wasn't even in the bench.