Cesc was a lot better today from a positioning standpoint than he has been at any point in his chelsea career but he doesn't have the stamina, work rate or defensive ability to play in a 2 man midfield. I don't think he can consistently play in this formation. Luckily for us city decided to take the same approach of completely abandoning the midfield and unlike us they didn't finish their chances. Hopefully matic will be ready by next week and we can go back to our normal first XI.
Plz thread title change. Also my last Jersey purchase was Fabregas so I'm looking for another to buy without cursing them forever. Costa and Hazard too obvious. Thinking I might just go safer and get a Drogba or Ballack
Also unbelievable professionalism from Cesc to not knock the fuck out of Fernandinho during that. 99% of players probably at least push him back if not wreck him in the face.
Cesc baited him. He got exactly the response he wanted. Different response if it wasn't what he was going for. That doesn't excuse Dinho and he deserves whatever ban he gets as does Aguero, that tackle was disgusting. Just saying let's not act like Cesc was just innocently standing there taking it
LMAO. Dude, he fucking choked him and you're saying he baited him. Get real. If Fabregas was trying to "bait" him he would have flopped and acted like a faggot. It's as simple as this: Fernandinho is a raging faggot and Cesc kept his cool when almost any other player probably would not have.
Dude he fucking slapped him then stood back and took it. He was smart and even though he did bait him it still takes composure to not retaliate when Dinho was cunting it up
Cesc def baited him and also spit when Fern was jawing at him. He wouldn't look him in the eye at all either. I feel pretty confident about it because I've done the same thing.
I always loved him, but he admittedly was a liability during his first stint here. If he can play like this all the time he is one of the most valuable players on the team.
reading Mourinho's post match comments and man I'm actually glad we don't have to deal with that shit anymore.
What is everyone's opinion on cesc now that we have seen the good (title winning season), the bad (arsenal early this year) the ugly (last year), and the cesc that we could have in a 3-4-3 (man city). My opinion on him really hasn't changed. I think he is a fantastic player who might have the best touch and technique on passes I have seen besides Andrea pirlo. I also think he needs to have the side built around him to make up for his weaknesses which are as obvious as his strengths. In a 3 man midfield with players like matic and kante around him he could be successful. In a team that dominates possession like Barcelona or man city he can be successful. In a team that thrives on ruthless counter attacks or employs a 2 man midfield I just don't think he fits. That doesn't mean he doesn't have a part to play. I just think it will be as cover or off the bench in a game we are chasing. I thought man city did a poor job of taking advantage of him through the middle because they weren't expecting him to play. Their strategy, similar to Tottenham was to exploit the space behind the wingbacks. I think teams will drive through the middle if cesc plays next time. I have seen some stories of a January loan or move and I think that would be a bad idea. Unless someone makes a large bid (same with Oscar) keep the group together and allow conte to figure it all out next summer. I still think juventus is the best fit for cesc but I could see Valencia and their new big money owner looking at cesc and thinking that he is the brand name they need and overpaying us and him to make it happen
Not one of Luiz's best games but great job grinding out a win. Costa has been so good this season and has kept the nonsense to a minimum.
Man you got pretty salty at the first sign of some good natured ribbing, must have hit a little too close to home with the front runner comment.
I planned on waking up for the game at 4.am this morning, but when faced with that reality I found I lacked a certain mental fortitude. What a fucking run and finish from Costa, out of nothing really.
Had my company Christmas party last night. Just waking up to a win. Thanks for the concern bud. Nice to have a ten point gap on 5th nearing Boxing Day.
Ace Boogie talking shit and then getting butt hurt when anyone responds back is one of my favorite TMB things.
Should be able to get 2-3 contributors for that kinda money, yet another one it looks like Mourinho got wrong
I am surprised he went for the money at this point. I expected him to go to inter in January or the summer. Seems like this is a done deal and not a rumor. Chelsea have done a great job of identifying the crazy money coming from China and getting connected to the right people over there. It's not a coincidence that we got overpaid for Ramires and Oscar. He really doesn't have a role so I'm not sure he would need to be replaced. I wonder if we just pocket that money until the summer and use that plus champions league/new kit deal/training kit deal/new tv deal to back conte big in the summer and go after Griezmann and 1-2 other top guys. Maybe a LB, CB or CM. Imagine Griezmann playing in Pedro's role? Would be amazing.
One of the more maddening players I've ever seen at Chelsea. Showed flashes at times but could never really put it all together for an extended period of time. Still a little sad we sold Juan Mata and kept him.
so Oscar himself said it was 90% done? great deal from our side. Do we expect a winter signing or are we saving for summer? The Nainggolan rumors seem to keep popping up
Nainggolan was promised a new contract with a solid raise in the summer so he wouldn't angle for a move to Chelsea. He agreed yet they still haven't given him the contract so it wouldn't shock me if we made a move for him. Seems like more of a summer signing but if we can get a guy that we actually want and not a panic January buy I am all for it.
def. feels like more of a summer signing, I guess reasonable expectation would be a depth buy at the back anybody have news on Zouma? Wonder when we can expect him to get some minutes, probably has a steep learning curve of the new system after having not been able to train
Personally I don't want any depth buys. Zouma is close to a return so we have JT and zouma at CB. Azpi can shift to RWB. I want another body at LWB but to me Alonso is the backup. I want us to sign someone to replace him in the summer. If we sign a depth guy we will have too many bodies to improve the position this summer.
I read he's got a knock from the West Brom game; he's just getting a rest. I mean, he's not elite tier, but he's acquitted himself really well so far. I would agree that he's probably not the kind of physical specimen you need at LWB, he got exposed a bit during Man City. Gonna be interesting to see if we make a depth signing or get someone to take over; there aren't too many fullbacks around who are pacey and can read the game as well as Alonso.
He hasn't gotten his new contract(along with like Strootman, Manolas, Rudiger, etc ) because Roma doesnt have a permanent Sporting Director after Sabatini left. Roma and Nainggolan neither seem to concerned about it at the moment. I'm more worried about losing Manolas in the summer.
He was supposed to get a pretty solid raise as well because Chelsea were offering to double his wages. Even if you guys offer a new deal is he not going to be pissed that the promised wage bump won't happen for 9-12 months after it was promised? Obviously other players we could go for but nainggolan seems to be the guy conte wants to partner with kante in a midfield 2. Matic has bounced back to 2014-15 form this season but I don't think he has the stamina or work rate that conte wants in the 2 central midfielders. If the contract shit isn't a big deal right now though I suspect that we hold off on a CM until the summer. We use two and have cesc and chalobah as backups.
Also in regards to depth at LWB I believe Kenedy is back at the club. I would assume that conte will take the next 3 weeks and assess his ability to fill in for Alonso. If he can't I think we weigh up making a move for someone but I would prefer to overpay a loan fee to grab a guy just in case than invest big money in a guy who can't push Alonso for the starting job. I also really wonder if conte lets Rahman leave on loan if he thought he would play 3 at the back a majority of the season. Our formation now would allow him to use his incredible offensive abilities. I assume that conte just didn't like his work rate and didn't think he could do all of the running he asks of his fullbacks or wingbacks because he dismissed him quite quickly