Selling Fabregas will hopefully come back to haunt them.
Chelsea 2018/19 - 3rd and European Champions. Sarri, not sorry
- Thread starter duffer
- Start date
4 point difference, hardly a huge gulf. Hazard is also the only attacker that gets in the Spurs side from Chelsea so I'd say the positions are about right.
Bad day for them, first they sign Pulisic and then a home draw against Southampton.
Honestly thought it was more, my bad.
Can see Spurs stretching that 4 points to more comfortable lead by May (similar to last season) given they've got many home games to play yet and Chelsea have many tough away games to negotiate.
Can see Spurs stretching that 4 points to more comfortable lead by May (similar to last season) given they've got many home games to play yet and Chelsea have many tough away games to negotiate.
@duffer will Chelsea keep faith with Sarri if they don’t get champions league?
It did take him time at Napoli.
It did take him time at Napoli.
Yeah it feels like any time I see Chelsea in a big game it's at Stamford Bridge! Their second half of the season must be pretty brutal, the tough away games are always a pain in the arse to get points from at the best of times.
Spurs have more talent than Chelsea. They haven't performed better than Chelsea, it's just that they have more game winners
Stick to handball. There i said itJorginho is better than Kante
There I said it
Kovacic can play that role.
No, not in that role, not for the way they're trying to play. Kovacic is yet another player whose best quality is carrying the ball forward.
In all honesty, Sarri should just drop Jorginho, fill the midfield with Kovacic, Kante and Barkley, and play more vertical.
Anyone still think that Chelsea have a better squad than Utd? Their attacking options are shit, and they barely have a goal threat from midfield. Why do people still think that Willian is even close to a top player? or that Pedro is not a shell of what he was?
They go as far as Hazard takes them, and while he is magnificent he is not a Messi/Ronaldo with that hunger for goals.
Pulisic was a must for them.
They go as far as Hazard takes them, and while he is magnificent he is not a Messi/Ronaldo with that hunger for goals.
Pulisic was a must for them.
Stick to handball. There i said it
Never liked handball. There is always lots of hype here when there is a big tournament, but I'm not even watching. There are much better sports to watch like Tennis, Football, even Ice Hockey is better ffsI find Pedro a decent player tbh, not World class but direct and chips in with goals. Willian was good but really a shadow of his former self this season.
They were good with the 3-5-2. Problem is losing Costa and not replacing him properly and a very lax transfer campaign in summer 2017 that basically got Conte doing a Mourinho impression all last season.
They've lost so much momentum as a club from two seasons ago.
They were good with the 3-5-2. Problem is losing Costa and not replacing him properly and a very lax transfer campaign in summer 2017 that basically got Conte doing a Mourinho impression all last season.
They've lost so much momentum as a club from two seasons ago.
As a Madrid fan you should know better. Kovacic was used quite a bit as the deepest midfielder and Casemiro's replacement in that role, especially a couple of seasons ago he did well there. Granted, it's not like for like, but Kovacic certainly has the passing to fill that role properly.
Who even thought that they had a better squad in the first place?
It's been very obvious that they downgraded a lot since their last title win. They tried replacing Matic and Costa with Drinkwater/Bakoyoko and Morata. They are playing the best ball winning midfielder in the world as an attacking midfielder. They also lost one of the best keepers in the world.
You can't just flick a switch and play positional football (despite what the caftards said earlier in the season). You need time and the right players.
They were never that good a squad in the first place. 16/17 was a perfect storm, everything went their way. And their moves since then made them weaker. Go figure. They really haven't been well managed in terms of squad building in years
Feel like they should see what West Ham would want for Arnoutovic. He'd be a better option than the other 2 and would still be a great squad player next season. Hazard can't do it all on his own up front.
No, he doesn't. Casemiro's role on our team is completely different from Jorginho's. Kovacic doesn't have the grasp on space and tempo nor the passing quality to play that role like Jorginho. Doesn't mean he can't do it, just that they'd have to tweak the way they play
This is Sarri style thought. The continuous aimless passing is his own strategy as it wasn't there under Conte who preferred a more defensive approach, so yeah he needs to be blamed for. They are still boring, just in a different way than under Conte and Mourinho, LVG esque type ot boring. A new striker will help them secure points but the style of play Sarri wants is what they are trying to do now.
Sarri didn’t know anything about signing Pulisic according to him. He was asked what he thought of him a month ago and that’s it .
.I don't think they need a striker. Sarri's Napoli sure as hell didn't miss a traditional nine. Players like Hazard and now Pulisic fit perfectly to his style.
The problem is, Chelsea's squad is really thin. Sarri probably needs two to three additional players like Pulisic if his Napoli teams are anything to go by. With Mertens, Insigne and Callejon he played three fast, agile and technically strong players as attackers at once. At Chelsea he has Hazard, Willian and Pedro as similar playing types but the latter two have already degressed a fair bit. Morata and Giroud are definitely not the players suited to his style of play. Thus Pulisic is a very good signing for them but they need more than that for being able to compete with Liverpool and City.
Has Sarri tried playing Kovacic in a attacking role? I understand that he is too much box to box style for a midfielder in his system but surely his dynamic, rather good technique and dribbling ability could help in those positions?
The problem is, Chelsea's squad is really thin. Sarri probably needs two to three additional players like Pulisic if his Napoli teams are anything to go by. With Mertens, Insigne and Callejon he played three fast, agile and technically strong players as attackers at once. At Chelsea he has Hazard, Willian and Pedro as similar playing types but the latter two have already degressed a fair bit. Morata and Giroud are definitely not the players suited to his style of play. Thus Pulisic is a very good signing for them but they need more than that for being able to compete with Liverpool and City.
Has Sarri tried playing Kovacic in a attacking role? I understand that he is too much box to box style for a midfielder in his system but surely his dynamic, rather good technique and dribbling ability could help in those positions?
Sarri will get the sack unless he finishes 4th, which remains to be seen.
I prefer our squad.
Hope Chelsea and Arsenal keep on dropping points here and there, top four is not out of reach just yet.
So wasn't sure exactly where to post this but thought this would be one of two relevant threads.
http://thechels.net/2018/12/how-does-a-hudson-odoi-become-an-mbappe/
Now, a disclaimer. This post is genuinely not meant as a targeted criticism at Chelsea (though they seem worse than most), it is an affliction of the English clubs in general.
But with the news that Pulisic is coming, though potentially to replace Hazard/Willian, and that Bayern are looking to sign CHO, we may be seeing the loss of another of our top talents abroad because they don't see a realistic route through to the first team.
I feel we need to change our attitude to youth players in general in this league.
http://thechels.net/2018/12/how-does-a-hudson-odoi-become-an-mbappe/
Now, a disclaimer. This post is genuinely not meant as a targeted criticism at Chelsea (though they seem worse than most), it is an affliction of the English clubs in general.
But with the news that Pulisic is coming, though potentially to replace Hazard/Willian, and that Bayern are looking to sign CHO, we may be seeing the loss of another of our top talents abroad because they don't see a realistic route through to the first team.
I feel we need to change our attitude to youth players in general in this league.
We're run as a business these days. Roman wants to break even minimum long term. I think we'll keep Sarri nearly regardless now. We're controlling games and look solid defensively. Obviously we need attackers / striker.
Not too concerned about the CL unless we've got the squad to win it. Make the same money out of a deep EL run. Want a trophy again this season. First order of business getting past Spurs in league cup.
Pulisic coming shouldn't be any bar at all to CHO's progression. Willian will be 31 going into the new season, Pedro will be 32. We could also lose Hazard realistically. For a team playing 50+ matches a year (and who also use a false 9 sometimes), that's a lot of opportunities for a player to break through, especially if he can put down a marker in the second half of this season when he gets his chances. His parents want him to stay at Chelsea apparently, and considering he's still only 18 and will be until November, it would be extremely premature to move to another big club expecting more game time than Chelsea will give him.
I love how they are playing Kante and Jorhingo in the same midfield.
Signing Jorginho for £50M when you already had Kante is an absolutely shocking decision.
Signing Jorginho for £50M when you already had Kante is an absolutely shocking decision.
Apart from them being completely different players you mean?
Do you think Pedro was at any point in time a world class player? I thought he was at Barcelona, but of course it could've been the system and that great Barca team that made him look that way.
Are you saying signing Joringho was a good or bad decision?
Did some of you even watch the game or just saw the result and made up your mind about how the game went? They played well enough and scored a perfectly good goal.
This.
Knives are out for us?
I was watching yesterday with the NBCSN commentary and they were totally partisan for Southampton, willing them to score every time they went forward. Very odd commentary, didn't watch the end of the game as it was annoying me a lot.
It's very weird that Chelsea,Arsenal and Man United(bigger 3 from top6 decade ago) have to fight for 4th place while the lesser 3 are top3 with Pool looking to actually win it.
How the tables have turned!!
How the tables have turned!!
It was an excellent decision. He's the focal point of our new style of play. The only player we had before that can play that regista role was Fabregas, and he's not nearly as good at it as Jorginho.
Tbf very few Chelsea fans think that, it's a media and opposition fan driven narrative which went into overdrive last summer when he appeared United bound so the ignorant "why did Chelsea let him go line?" could have been peddled everytime he had a mere acceptable game like what happened with Matic.
Just because you use fancy words like regista, does not change my opinion that Jorginho was a good signing.
You should have invested the £50m in a striker or centre back.
Willian has declined this season. I think mentally he's not been there. Miss controlling simple balls, some of his tracking back has been incredibly half hearted as well. Hopefully we'll start plaing CHO as one of the front 3 regularly now. Willian and Pedro as backups.
Main thing we need to do is swap Morata with another striker this window.
Main thing we need to do is swap Morata with another striker this window.
What d'ya make of the rumoured £50m offer for Cavani?