Chelsea 2-3 Real Madrid

[Pizy 18,918]

16 minutes ago, Unionjack said:

So we dont need a FB too then?

Id swap Maticv and Oscar for him

We do, but we aren't even being loosely linked with any. We'll be seeing a lot of Ivanovic there sadly.

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

Very impressed with Chalobah, Batshuayi, Cuadrado and Hazard as a shadow striker (Griezmann role).

Defence needs to be looked at if we want to be challenging for the title this season. A ball playing centre back is a must IMO. Real Madrid made the difference in the 1st half by playing Varane and Nacho way over the half line and Carvajal and Marcelo as wingers basically, whereas Chelsea's defence stood clueless around our 16 yard box.

This is how I see our ideal line-up once Zouma is back:

 

                                             Willian Diego Costa/Batshuayi Hazard Cuadrado

                                                           Kante Cesc/Matic/Chalobah

                                             New LB New ball playing CB Zouma Azpilicueta

                                                                       Courtois

 

* Courtois, Azpilicueta, Zouma, Kante, Willian, Hazard, Cuadrado definite starters.

 

As much as admiration I have for Terry, Ivanovic and Cahill, there is no way any manager in this world would make a team play a high line and a high intensity game with them on the pitch. 

[Ryan Fong 2,776]

I thought we were bad until I saw Bayern is absolutely slaughtering Inter.

[Essien19 1,415]

What's up with Miazga? Bought him but is never given a fair chance, don't know why...

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[Chelsea Buzz 487]

7 minutes ago, Essien19 said:

What's up with Miazga? Bought him but is never given a fair chance, don't know why...

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He seemed over matched the few times he played last year. Probably needs more work to be a serious threat to play.

[Pizy 18,918]

6 minutes ago, Essien19 said:

What's up with Miazga? Bought him but is never given a fair chance, don't know why...

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Yet another pointless buy. Just like Hector, just like Djilobodji, just like Pato, just like Falcao, just like Pedro. Awful abysmal signings.

Cant imagine we'll ever see Miazga in a first team shirt again if we sign a new CB.

[Chelsea Buzz 487]

4 minutes ago, Pizy said:

Yet another pointless buy. Just like Hector, just like Djilobodji, just like Pato, just like Falcao, just like Pedro. Awful abysmal signings.

Cant imagine we'll ever see Miazga in a first team shirt again if we sign a new CB.

Falcao was a "free" loan I think. You are correct on the others. I keep holding out hope Pedro will put together consistently but am losing hope.

 

[Essien19 1,415]

Yet another pointless buy. Just like Hector, just like Djilobodji, just like Pato, just like Falcao, just like Pedro. Awful abysmal signings.

Cant imagine we'll ever see Miazga in a first team shirt again if we sign a new CB.

And?@Chelsea Buzz

He's still young, has a nice body and looked promising in a few matches in the MLS. I think there's more to gain from him than from Cahill...

Papy played decent for Bremen in the Bundesliga which isn't a joke league. For about 5 mil. not that bad, imo.

I like that Conte is playing the likes of Loftus-Cheek, Aina and Chalobah. There must be something wrong with Miazga, don't know what, maybe you both have a point, still, i would like to see him in action...

[KevinAshburner 1,270]

just when I am starting to enjoy watching my team again this bad negative Chelsea returns to make me cry again.

I am disappointed with Conte.

I can see that Managers who manage us are cursed or something making the same mistakes over and over again.

[The Mak 4,459]

Get rid of Oscar ASAP (I would love for someone to argue why he deserves another season here) and throw more money at Niangolann. We need more dynamism in midfield. That or give time to Chalobah. Fabregas has always been a half season player and we need others who can make up for Matic's slowness and one-footed play. 

Defence is a travesty in all honesty. It's been like that now for a long time. I don't even know where to start.

[nono 791]

 

32 minutes ago, Pizy said:

Yet another pointless buy. Just like Hector, just like Djilobodji, just like Pato, just like Falcao, just like Pedro. Awful abysmal signings.

Cant imagine we'll ever see Miazga in a first team shirt again if we sign a new CB.

 

Don't forget Baba Rahman. As soon as a manager gets a look at him, they want to send him to some far away land where he's never seen again. And he wasn't cheap either.

[Jase 43,479]

1 hour ago, nono said:

CB should have been top priority this season but we've signed a new striker and a midfielder before doing anything for CB. At this point I hope we just pay Roma/Valencia/Napoli whatever they want. Losing a couple million pounds is way better than how much we'll suffer if we go into the season without a new defender. Terry and Cahill are both way past it.

I might be the odd one out here but that's one of the main reasons, if not the main reason, why I wasn't too excited about Terry getting a new contract. Sure, his experience and leadership is invaluable to the team but apart from that, he can't really produce week in week out at the highest level anymore, not if/when we are looking to build a new approach in our playing style. But now that he's staying for another season, it looks like he'll continue playing in the first team and affect how we play particularly in defence etc.

[Jase 43,479]

37 minutes ago, Chelsea Buzz said:

He seemed over matched the few times he played last year. Probably needs more work to be a serious threat to play.

To be fair, it was only one game against Swansea. And it makes even less sense not to have seen him play more when you see the more experienced players got embarrassed week in week out last season (e.g. Ivanovic!).

23 minutes ago, Essien19 said:

And?@Chelsea Buzz

He's still young, has a nice body and looked promising in a few matches in the MLS. I think there's more to gain from him than from Cahill...

That sounded so wrong.

[Pizy 18,918]

4 minutes ago, Jason said:

I might be the odd one out here but that's one of the main reasons, if not the main reason, why I wasn't too excited about Terry getting a new contract. Sure, his experience and leadership is invaluable to the team but apart from that, he can't really produce week in week out at the highest level anymore, not if/when we are looking to build a new approach in our playing style. But now that he's staying for another season, it looks like he'll continue playing in the first team and affect how we play particularly in defence etc.

This is what everyone was expecting with JT. That he would be a rotational player. Seems as though he'll continue as the main man. Unless he has one hell of a partner back there it'll be suicidal.

Did you see Cahill get shit on by a 17 year old today? How many times in these 3 matches that a simple pass in between our CB's is disastrous? There's no recovery pace at all. 

[Jase 43,479]

Just now, Pizy said:

This is what everyone was expecting with JT. That he would be a rotational player. Seems as though he'll continue as the main man. Unless he has one hell of a partner back there it'll be suicidal.

Did you see Cahill get shit on by a 17 year old today? How many times in these 3 matches that a simple pass in between our CB's is disastrous? There's no recovery pace at all. 

I can't imagine Conte, being an Italian manager and all, would be impressed by our defending really. It's atrocious! If he has his way, he would probably replace the entire back 4 but sadly, our transfer strategy seems to be all over the place right now.

[Leif 6,006]

I might be wrong but as slow as he is, I don't think Terry has less pace than Barzagli, who is a really elite defender still these days, thanks to Conte.

[Pizy 18,918]

15 minutes ago, Jason said:

I can't imagine Conte, being an Italian manager and all, would be impressed by our defending really. It's atrocious! If he has his way, he would probably replace the entire back 4 but sadly, our transfer strategy seems to be all over the place right now.

True. I think Conte has probably given our negotiators a list of 3 or 4 top class CB targets and we've gone to their clubs and been quoted such high prices that we're refusing to pay thus far. 

What makes so little sense is how we've spent £33m on one striker and apparently bid £50m or more on two others (Morata & Lukaku) yet we won't just go to Napoli and pay up what they're asking for for Koulibaly. Or go to Juventus with £45m and make them say no for Bonucci. Or go to Roma and pay what it takes to get Manolas. 

So odd. Maybe if we get spanked and exposed again in the next couple of preseason games the club will panic and pay up. You would think a whole 38 game season last year would be enough to spark them into action, but apparently not.

[Chelsea Buzz 487]

1 hour ago, Jason said:

To be fair, it was only one game against Swansea. And it makes even less sense not to have seen him play more when you see the more experienced players got embarrassed week in week out last season (e.g. Ivanovic!).

That sounded so wrong.

 I remember two, pretty meh in 4-0 romp over Aston Villa and then shaky vs Swansea.

I am certain if he was better or even close, Conte would get him the game considering our crappy back line.

 

[robsblubot 3,595]

interesting match that showed the gulf that separates (most of) the youngsters from (most of) the senior members.

the match would've been a lot more entertaining had the clubs agreed to play the younger folks in the same half though. On the other hand, it was a good to pit them against their senior opponent to see what they could do... not very much.

Caveat about the second half is that the opposition was a lot weaker, so anything good should be taken with a grain of salt. Same goes for the disappointing performances in the first, the opposition was a lot stronger.

[Chelsea_firstlove 178]

Sell Oscar, Pedro

Keep Chalobah, Moses