Chelsea Banter Archive February 20 2019

20 Feb 2019 20:58:03
Kante and ndombele in same midfield would instantly bring us up to a whole new level,

21 Feb 2019 07:08:31
I’d like to see Kante and Aouar there with Loftus-Cheek as the ten. That would have everything. Aouar has a cracking work rate think he’ll be the next Modric. A midfield two would bring the best out of Kante as well.

20 Feb 2019 07:51:49
hi lads,
i don't think the club is at a crossroads at all its a a deadend
we have backed ourselves into a corner. we have sacked every manager and looks like another is on the way. can you tell me other than joses 2nd stint we came 10th have all the rest been that bad, really all of them.

the club has now found itself in a situation were it has to sack a manager for what being 6th, in a final going well in Europe and still in with a chance of getting champions league with a bunch of players that everyone on here says are no where near good enough for Chelsea.

if i was a manager i would love to go to chelsea not for football reasons no one has suceeded there win lose or draw your out, the payout millions guaranteed that's the only reason any one would come to us now
we have been a very successful team last 12 years but i feel the time has come that we cannot sustain our get rid and start again every year policy
it has left the club souless the players don't seem to care AT ALL
the manager is powerless in the transfer market, if they don't trust there judgement why employ them then powerless manager
that knows he has no time to implement anything so he's gone or woe betide he criticises a player then he's gone.

players that don't care and some are clearly not good enough (boards fault again) and fitted other systems not this one. boardroom that controls to much leave the actual football stuff to the experts like a director of football and the manager.

and people on here saying get ancelloti back, how arrogant to think a decent man would come back to chelsea after the way he was treated
jose, please, thanks for the past but he is the optimimum of what is wrong with our club.

zidane, no thanks might as well use henry he wasn't as lucky with his squad
every top manager has turned us down before pep, klopp, simeone and others why because there not stupid and believe in achieving something over time and get the fans behind them and its all in it together mentality not us.

let's stick with a guy and see what he can do? yes last night the zappacosta sub was weird, but in the first 20 mins i thought we played some lovely football. if the club trusted this guy and got some players that suited his system it could be great.

alonso, azpi, kovacic, barkley do not fit this system at all that's both wings exposed going forward and defending but who can he replace them with who?

yes you can all say he should adapt but if your full backs and your centre mids aren't up to it it is a very difficult task, but yet we are still in a final going well in Europe and a chance of 4th spot with all that on his back
WELL DONE sarri mate good achievement in my eyes good luck to you sir.

20 Feb 2019 13:17:07
Gola your post is brill mate.

Yes a lot of people are frustrated WITH A FEW ISSUES but is sacking the answer? Have we backed him yet? It's clear the players are struggling to adapt after years of defensive football.

Would Klopp have been sacked if he was in our shoes with liverpool? POCH? EMERY at arsenal? None of them will be sacked if they were in our position. Their board and fans alike provide support always.

20 Feb 2019 13:53:40
There are a lot of players not suited to the style of play Sarri wants e. g. Azpi, Alonso, Barkley, Willian, Pedro, Kante etc. Yes he could play the youngsters in Emerson, CHO, AC and RLC etc but obviously he chooses not to and that's his stubborness, maybe these players wouldn't throw him under the bus or maybe because he knows they haven't adapted to his style in training. Like for like subs and no plan B, well when we appointed him we knew what he was bringing to the table. Azpi is a terrific defender for defensive manager but for us in this style of football he isn't suited at all. Same with Alonso who is wingback in a 5 and not a left back. Full backs are a major asset in our style of football. Obviously ours failed to adapt.

Anyway, it took him 18 months to sort out Napoli. It didn't happen overnight. Credit to Napoli who persisted with him which explains why their chairman so badly wanted him to sign a new contract before he left for us. Credit to liverpool for persisting with Klopp when he finsihed 8th. Credit to Spurs who gave Poch added time when he was struggling. Emery's Arsenal have been shambles for most of the season. no talk of the manager getting sacked or fans booing him. Credit Man City for sticking with Pep when he was struggling.

Obviously as fans we want success every season because we are used to it. Accept it won't happen for a while maybe. Zidane, Blanc or Lampard ain't the answer either = fact. I'd rather watch paint dry than this defensive drab again.

I will always say this, give the manager time. Yes i am frustrated as hell with recent issues but more importantly sacking a manager every 6 months isn't healthy. Give Sarri the season.

20 Feb 2019 14:18:20
I must say that I disagree somewhat with the players that you say aren't suited for Sarri's play. I think both Willian and Pedro are players that should be able to play in the system, and I think players are quite similar to Callejon.
I also think Kante is actually very well suited for Sarri's style - at least he's become very suited. No doubt he'd be better in other systems, but nonetheless he is by far our most creative player right now, except from Hazard.
And speaking of Hazard, I actually think he's one of the players we've got who's perhaps the least suited to Sarri-ball. He's way too bad at pressing the opponent. However, no sane person wouldn't use Hazard, and surely he's perfectly suited for when we've got the ball.
All of this, of course, is just my opinion ;)

20 Feb 2019 14:32:28
The thing is Sarri needs to change something we can’t carry on playing like this each and every game. Ole got the game plan spot on against us, doubled up on hazard Lukaku went out wide to expose the gaps left by hazard and alonso etc etc Sarri just seemed to set our 433 out and that was it no game plan no nothing. I would of rather lost that game 6-0 again and actually gave it ago than that rubbish. I don’t like saying sack a manager but I don’t see us beating any of the top 5 home or away at the minute. I would just like to see a different approach from Sarri put Kante back to his position give Emerson and CHO a run of games change it up a little bit have a plan B.

20 Feb 2019 17:52:43
It's unbelievable that Sarri hasn't realised that the players in the squad don't fit what he is trying to do and, just to see this period out, change his system to suit what he has at his disposal. At best this is stubborn, at worst it's incompetent.
You need to have the ability to adapt to survive. Sarri has shown neither the ability nor even the inclination to adapt in any way, shape or form - therefor his career as Chelsea manager will not survive.

20 Feb 2019 18:02:28
I think Chelsea need to invest like Man City did. Surely the board didn't think that Sarri would turn some of our players into pep style players within a few months. Pep would need a decade to nurture Alonso and Azpi into his squad, they simply don't fit. Azpi can't make the Spanish team despite being probably being the better defender from the full backs but its his lack of what he does with the ball that is his downfall. Willian can press but with the ball his constantly cutting inside and spending too much time on the ball. Same with Hazard but atleast he can make things happen.


Pep overhauled his whole squad after his 1st season because they couldn't play his way of football and let's be honest they still had players in that squad more suited than what Sarri has now. I am not saying Sarri is god send. far from it but what im saying is for the first time in in Roman era a manager must be backed. With time and new players that are better suited we may see a different brand of football.

20 Feb 2019 18:44:37
If we sack Sarri then what is the point of the whole season? It would be an utter waste.

Why start a project and then halt it before it even started?

Halt the project and revert to Zidane, Blanc etc? What a waste of philosophy change. It will back to what we know best = defence.

20 Feb 2019 19:16:15
People go on about Pep sticking to his style and the Man City board backing him. But, even with all the money spent and changes he has made, it hasn't been all good for Pep at Man City. Pep has been given the means to build the perfect squad for his style. But even with everything at his disposal, and similarly to Sarri, I think that Pep's style, and his stubbornness to change it, can be found out against the top opposition, although it's only against the very top opposition that Man City are caught out (not 4-0 at Bournemouth) .

Let's not forget that he spent a lot of money and made a lot of changes at Bayern Munich too. Pep is also stubborn when it comes to his style of football and when you consider that he took over the European Champions, and was never able to regain that title, there's an argument that his stubbornness to his style cost Bayern.

20 Feb 2019 20:07:13
Its quite simple Sarri is a hapless and limited coach who is living off a couple of decent seasons.
He isn't the answer and never was and the sooner he's gone the better for the club.
The real stupidity is allowing him to stay after Citeh away.
By the time his replacement arrives it will be too late in the domestic cups and it will make Top 4 a major stretch.

20 Feb 2019 20:50:33
So J and Turvey who would you like as your replacements for Sarri?

I still am 'Sarri in' but i can understand opinions from other fans and won't disrespect it at all.

20 Feb 2019 23:52:33
It's going to be a tough gig for whoever gets it Shak, there is no doubting that. I think the club need someone that will get immediate respect from the dressing room, who knows the league and how to win games in it plus, maybe more importantly, knows the club and can install a long term vision.

It's probably a case of heart ruling head and without a doubt a huge risk, for both the club and him, but if I were Chelsea I'd get Lampard back. It would involve the club backing him long term and not worrying about short term success but I think (we'll, probably more hope) it'd work. One of the main factors would be the good pairing of a director of football with him.

I'd much rather him than Zidane. Who I happen to think is the best footballer I've ever seen btw.

21 Feb 2019 07:54:59
Fair enough J, constructive points mate. The Problem at Chelsea is that managers are automatically under pressure. There is no other club in the premier league where the managers are under immense scrutiny should they lose a few games in a row. I don't think Lampard would want to this risk when his doing well Derby.

21 Feb 2019 10:13:50
Sorry but a lot of that is nonsense.

We have been Champions twice in the last 4 seasons and also won the FA and League cups in the last 4 seasons.

We played ok for the first 3 minutes against City and ok for 15 minutes against United but we caved as soon as a goal went in against us and have looked vulnerable all season.

And you don't answer the big Sarri questions: Alonso, Jorginho, Kante, CHO, RLC, Cahill, Willian, Pedro - and to cap it off, that ridiculous Zappacosta substitution.

I would just like you, GG, and other Sarri apologists on this site, to consider one thing: maybe Sarri is just not very good. Maybe Sarri is just not very good and that is why he has not got a trophy to his name in his whole professional career.

Just a thought. SON.

21 Feb 2019 10:21:43
There would definitely need to be some form of acceptance, and agreement, from all involved that this would be a long term solution. The days of quick fixes and papering over cracks are done.

21 Feb 2019 09:39:17
EmilSC, you make this point:

"I think both Willian and Pedro are players that should be able to play in the system, and I think players are quite similar to Callejon. "

So, does it not make sense then, that these two players are not taking on the new system. So, they're not respecting the coach. If this is the case, isn't it fair to say other players are ignoring the coach? So, there's players wanting to do their own thing. This has happened before too.

Isn't it fair to stick with a manager, be it Sarri or whoever, and go full pelt and back them, while moving on the players who don't take to the new regime. We did go 18 games unbeaten, playing lovely football too, so what changed in the background?

I'm sorry if this has been said in the thread, I just got caught by the initial statement.

21 Feb 2019 13:29:47
In response to Mrs Costa

There is no doubt Sarri is struggling at the moment but if you paid attention you will not that the same players are struggling to adapt to his philosophy. They are not pressing nor are they disturbing the ball at his pace. Clearly the players are struggling to adapt.

Afterall these players played under 2 defensive coaches consecutively for a prolonged period and therefore it shouldn't come across as a surprise that they are struggling to adapt to Sarri's approach. Sarri is not without fault, he is hellbent stubborn but has he been given a fair chance? He needs players that can play his style of football before he is judged.

In respect to his trophy record, his first top flight job was at Napoli and by the way he turned them into a title contender. It took him 18 months to get the ball rolling at Napoli and for his philosophy to work. It took PG 12 months or so at Man City and Klopp and Poch even longer. Nobody should have expected a quick fix and for our players to adapt within a month of style of football many ain't played before.

We have been Champions twice in the last 4 seasons and also won the FA and League cups in the last 4 seasons. Also add on to your list that we have finsihed 10th and 5th in the league in the last 4 seasons. Its a no brainer to come to the conclusion that the players are very inconsistent. Two former coaches have complained about the players So it doesn't come as a surprise that Sarri is struggling.

Bring on Zidane, Blanc or even Lampard. They all will struggle. Investment needed and a direction via a DOF.

21 Feb 2019 16:43:47
I really don't go in for nominating managers but a few criteria should be a winner in a major league a former significant international player would be a bonus .
Style isn't a concern substance is particularly as we are no longer able to compete financially with the Manc clubs.
If pushed and he was available I would choose Simeone who has out performed his budget for years.

21 Feb 2019 19:09:41
Simeone is another Jose Mourinho in terms of tactics. very defensive. We all know how many of you turned against Conte under his defensive stewardahip. We would rather not cross that bridge. Also just to claryfy I'm pretty sure he rejected us previously.

21 Feb 2019 21:00:20
I am really not concerned with Style as I say and Sarri has provided truly tedious football.
With regard to Conte I thought he was probably the best manager of the Roman era taking into account the players at his disposal.