Chelsea Banter Archive October 15 2017

15 Oct 2017 20:07:20
Last week I declared how nervous I was about the Palace game.
I had no idea what team we would put out but given our injuries I did think Luiz would
play in midfield. Plus the form of Christensen meant, for me, he deserved to retain his place.
I also couldn't see Willian starting. His firm in general this season has been truly awful.
As much as I love Conte, this defeat in large part has to go down to him!
If Willian starts on Wednesday or next Saturday I think the majority of fans will be horrified!

15 Oct 2017 21:01:50
For me the problems are obvious.

Christensen should always be a starter in the back three Kante playing covers the cracks in our defence. Rudiger and Azpilicueta should partner him. Luiz should now be used as a backup centre half in the back three or in midfield. We still need another class centre back as we should just offload Cahill as he’s declining rapidly. Van Dijk would be the obvious option.

Fabregas should never play in a midfield two away from home or at home against a top side he’s too slow and no matter how good he is on the ball it’s like defending with ten men. Apparently Loftus-Cheek wouldn’t be good enough as he has no work rate for a midfield two, well in telling you now I’d feel a lot safer with him there than Cesc as he’s quicker and defensively very good. Bakayoko, Kante and Loftus-Cheek should be our main midfielders next season sorry Cesc fan boys but he doesn’t have the legs any more I think Italian football would be a better option for him.

Wing backs are the biggest problem in this system as both Moses and Alonso are decent and very good back up options but none of them are world class. And where is our back up to Alonso? Kenedy? Hardly the rotational player we need as he’s not good enough. We need to be targeting class players who would take us to the next level. A player like Florenzi from Roma would be perfect as RWB. And even if Alex Sandro is hard to sign why not try for Ghoulam from Napoli he’s a cracking player or even Danny Rose if available although I think Levy would rather kill himself than sell to us. Florenzi, Alex Sandro, Rose and Ghoulam should be the type of players we need to sign.

A world class RW has been a problem for years why not just spend 100 million plus on someone like Dybala who would be a mainstay for ten years instead of signing loads of average players for 30 million. We desperately need that player like Dybala or Griezmann to take the pressure off Hazard because apart from him and Morata we have no consistent goal threat. Pedro and Musonda would be solid squad players for rotation but neither should start. Personally I think I’d be starting Musonda now alongside Morata and Hazard as he might blossom and I’m sick to death of seeing Willian play poor and still get selected. Conte’s the man to lead us but if he carries on making the wrong team selections I. e Willian and Cahill when there’s better players on the bench it will be his downfall.

Lastly the striker position. I’m sorry but I hate seeing lazy strikers. Batshuayi although a good finisher offers nothing else. Tammy Abraham is already a better player than him. We need someone who can score and press the opposition defenders. We have no one that scares opposition off the bench. We need two class strikers for both competitions. I got slated for saying Vardy a few weeks ago but at least he would push defenders back and give the likes of Hazard and Pedro more space.

15 Oct 2017 21:13:28
Are you saying get rid of Conte then? Not sure that is a good idea!

15 Oct 2017 23:14:47
G8. I’m certainly NOT suggesting we should sack Conte. That would be totally ridiculous.
What I am saying is, he picked Willian and he didn’t play Christensen. In my opinion both decisions deserve criticism.

17 Oct 2017 11:34:27
Why will a Chelsea fan or supporter wanna thumb someone down that wants another striker like Belotti (or Tammy Abraham if we can't bring anyone in) with the glaring situation at the club?

I think for now we need another striker (with Batshuayi gone), an attacking midfielder like Draxler if it's possible. Our attack isn't bitting enough.

17 Oct 2017 11:44:34
A more attacking LWB is needed too. I think Moses and Zappacosta has got the RWB position covered.

I trust Moses is doing a good job. Is it a coincidence that we have lost all the games we played without Moses (including the game against Crystal palace- he became injured)? I think he's a key player.

17 Oct 2017 12:31:59
Good point obinna but that stat doesn’t continue!

17 Oct 2017 19:04:00
A big Amen to that.

15 Oct 2017 11:32:07
So I don't want this to come across in the wrong way, but if Conte were to walk away at the end of the season. Who would you prefer to replace him?

I honestly hope Conte stays for a few years to come, because I don't see anyone better than him. Guardiola now has City firing, but he has been given the players he wanted. Give Conte a few more transfer windows and buy the players he specifically wants and I honestly believe we would be unstoppable. But will the board give Conte precisely what he wants? Unfortunately I doubt it.

Had we got Alex Sandro, another top class midfielder and an extra striker in the summer we would be looking much stronger right now with our injuries.

Last season we were blessed with very few injuries but this month alone has derailed us slightly with no world class back ups to come into the starting XI.

Also players are not performing to their levels from last season, Luiz looks like the player from his first spell at the club and not the imperious form of last season. Hazard although still finding his feet, besides the Atletico game he hasn't looked great so far. Courtois also hasn't looked great in goal, although don't get me wrong he's made some great saves already this season to win us points. And Willian? right now he brings nothing to the team. Pedro, also looks inconsistent so far.

I just feel if the players can find their form and our injuries abate, this could still be a very good season. The league will be tough but I wouldn't bet against a good Champions League run.

15 Oct 2017 14:23:38
Hey Bobby,

I would love to think that Conte is fully committed to Chelsea and that Roman and Co were going to spend big like City and United to compete with the Manc Clubs domestically and the likes of Barca, Bayern, Madrid and PSG in Europe but the reality is clearly different.

We don't generate the income of Barca, Madrid and United and We don't have the private wealth of City's and PSG's Owners.

We have spent big money since Conte has been at Chelsea but have brought in huge money to snd whilst We have signed some good players We have let good players move on to, so the squad is at best as good as it was but certainly no better.

This isn't a complaint, just an observation but I think We as fans have to temper Our expectations.

We Won the Prem last Season and clearly deserved it but We had no European Football which clearly helped with recovery and preperation, aswell as having just 1 competition to focus on and I felt Our rivals also underachieved massively with the exception of Spurs.

I would say realisticaly We are a Top 4 side with outside ambitions of challenging for the Prem but We are not at the same level as City and United.

I want to Win every game as all Fans do, I'm disappointed when We don't as all Fans are but I have come to accept that the days of spending huge without selling big first are long gone and Roman is no longer the biggest fish in the pool. Therefore I don't expect the same success as before.

KTBFFH!

15 Oct 2017 04:16:22
{Ed's Note - we have posted a new article entitled, Premier League Match Previews Sunday 15th October 2017