Danny Drinkwater

[Iggy Doonican 4,186]

33 minutes ago, Fernando said:

This must be a joke surely 

It isn't and don't call me Shirley (sorry couldn't resist.)

[Jype 6,398]

Am I the only one who thinks he's not that bad?

Could well do a job in midfield as 4th choice CM and fills the HG quota too. At the moment the club have just 3 HG and 14 non-HG players so room for just three non-homegrown players left, which is why I think we're seeing the club being linked with the likes of Ox, Barkley and now Drinkwater too.

In the 3-4-3 this 4th midfielder won't play a role too essential so I think the club could do a lot worse than Drinkwater. For those saying he's not better than Matic, that maybe true but Nemanja wasn't willing to stick around after Bakayoko nicked his place in the first choice starting XI so it's not like Conte could keep him against his will. Selling Matic to Man Utd was of course slightly questionable but let's not hold that against Drinkwater.

Also for a while I've been thinking the transfer targets for this season are leaning the team towards a Juventus style 3-5-2 formation. Morata-Hazard up front with Bakayoko-Cesc-Kante in midfield and two strong attacking wing-backs (the likes of Alex Sandro and Candreva been linked) providing support from the wings. For such formation obviously the new wing-backs are a top priority but also two new CM signings would be needed for squad depth too. Baker could cover for Fabregas but Bakayoko and Kante have no backups, so maybe if two new players are signed Drinkwater could fill one of those needs and someone like Renato Sanches the other one (if he's still available).

For the right price I say why not. Having signed a new contract last summer I don't see Leicester letting him go on the cheap though, so that's a problem. 

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

While i understand people being unimpressed with this keep in mind that we're looking for a fourth choice CM. It's difficult finding a top midfielder who'd be willing to sit on the bench for the majority of the season. 

Like some people have said, he'd be Chalobah's replacement not Matic's.

 

[El P. 1,354]

This is exactly why I questioned Matić's departure. Not glad that I was probably right.

Maybe we will not eventually get this guy, but our targets are clear - no one from them is better than Matić.

[Tomo 21,733]

1 minute ago, El P. said:

This is exactly why I questioned Matić's departure. Not glad that I was probably right.

Maybe we will not eventually get this guy, but our targets are clear - no one from our them is better than Matić.

As stated above, he will be replacing Nate, Matic has already been replaced.

[El P. 1,354]

Just now, Tomo said:

As stated above, he will be replacing Nate, Matic has already been replaced.

Well, I don't agree with this. It's not like Baka MUST be his replacement. Baka and Matić could rotate too, even Kante. I think we could've pulled this: Bakayoko, Kante, Cesc, Matić. 4 competitions, Cesc can play upfront sometimes. But it is what it is now...

[Stats 7,059]

18 minutes ago, Tomo said:

Tbf, there's a lot worse squad players around, a lot worse. Whether he is an upgrade on Matic is highly questionable but my word he is a huge, huge upgrade on Chalobah.

Right now, he prob is better than Drinkwater however in future, Chalobah will easily surpass him imo. I rate Chalobah highly and believe once he plays in the PL regularly he will get into that England team sooner than later.

[Jype 6,398]

What people don't seem to understand is that neither Matic nor Chalobah were willing to stick around playing 4th choice and that's why they were sold.

Nate was already on his contract's last year and Matic too had only two years left and wasn't going to renew it so let's say the club kept him somewhat against his will for another season, next summer he'd have been aged 30 with contract running out in a years time so literally no value anymore and there's really no guarantees what kind of performances we'd have gotten from an unmotivated Matic who had asked for a move in the summer but got told to stay put. I understand perfectly why both of those were sold and why the club are now looking elsewhere.

Ideally I'd have kept Chalobah too and I think with CL football coming back this season there would've been enough games for him to be happy and develop but if the lad didn't want to sign the extension and wished to go, there's hardly much the club could do to prevent him.

 

[Sideshow Luiz 2,310]

Conte was able to keep Vidal + Marchisio + Pogba + Pirlo happy.

[Stats 7,059]

3 minutes ago, Sideshow Luiz said:

Conte was able to keep Vidal + Marchisio + Pogba + Pirlo happy.

TBF, Juve played 3-5-2. So always had 3 CM playing.

[Tomo 21,733]

21 minutes ago, Stats said:

Right now, he prob is better than Drinkwater however in future, Chalobah will easily surpass him imo. I rate Chalobah highly and believe once he plays in the PL regularly he will get into that England team sooner than later.

Im not convinced, i haven't seen anything in Nate that scream's top flight player, he's  had 3 top flight team's and barely got a look in anytime.

in my opinion he found his level back at Watford the first time (upper Championship player, maybe lower prem at a push). Guess we will find out.

[lucashm 340]

2 minutes ago, Tomo said:

Im not convinced, i haven't seen anything in Nate that scream's top flight player, he's  had 3 top flight team's and barely got a look in anytime.

in my opinion he found his level back at Watford the first time (upper Championship player, maybe lower prem at a push). Guess we will find out.

I agree with you. I find this Chalobah mania between other Chelsea fans very weird, if he wasn't part of our youth setup no one would rate him IMO

[Sideshow Luiz 2,310]

4 minutes ago, Stats said:

TBF, Juve played 3-5-2. So always had 3 CM playing.

I thought that Conte used this formation a few times last season (the regular Pedro for Fabs switch).  We get linked with a lot of versatile players, it looked to me like Conte wanted some flexibility.  There were a lot of matches where we didn't control the midfield very well and in the CL, that would be magnified.  Even in his 352, the combination of players would often be suited to the match at hand.

We'll see what happens.  I have to assume that there was a plan before selling Nate and Matic. 

[DDA 9,691]

I actually laughed out loud when I read that we are linked with this guy. He was pretty decent when Leicester won thr league but he isn't going to improve our squad one bit. 

[Tomo 21,733]

3 minutes ago, lucashm said:

I agree with you. I find this Chalobah mania between other Chelsea fans very weird, if he wasn't part of our youth setup no one would rate him IMO

Imagine if he was owned by Burnley, dropped due to poor display's then sold to Napoli still barely played yet we signed him? The reaction to the Papy deal would have been pretty meek in comparison

[Jype 6,398]

49 minutes ago, DDA said:

I actually laughed out loud when I read that we are linked with this guy. He was pretty decent when Leicester won thr league but he isn't going to improve our squad one bit. 

So you think having Kante, Bakayoko, Cesc is just as good as having Kante, Bakayoko, Cesc, Drinkwater?

He may not improve the first choice Starting XI one bit but he'd definitely improve the squad. Right now the squad is thinner than it has ever been and reinforcements are sorely needed. Aside from maybe wing-backs there's no real weaknesses in the first choice starting lineup but getting more squad depth will make the difference between a success and a 'Mourinho season' so if Drinkwater's available for a decent price it'd be a decent signing.

Just look at how hard United had to look to sign a player of Matic's quality to play a starting role for them so do people really expect us to replace him with an even better player who also doesn't mind being 4th choice CM? A reality check is in order for some lads here.

[robsblubot 3,531]

finally someone who can effectively replace Mikel...

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

1 hour ago, Tomo said:

As stated above, he will be replacing Nate, Matic has already been replaced.

That doesn't disregard the fact Chelsea need another CM in the mould of Fabregas or Tolisso. 

Drinkwater, Kante, Bakayoko.. that's 3 defensive CMs. What kind of squad building is this?   

You could sell me on this idea if the wingbacks were World Class, but they're not. We're clearly not getting Sandro and we're linked to fucking Antonio Candreva as RWB.  

Wow. 

IfTop wingbacks and a Top (RW or CM) are not attained. This will be a very difficult and poor season for the Blues. 

Fabregas, Hazard, Pedro, Willian cannot be our only attacking options behind the Striker.

They simply can't be.