Chelsea Banter Archive September 30 2017

30 Sep 2017 20:53:59
Conte needs to take the blame tonight he's let us down against City as well as Arsenal now and we had a great result midweek too.

I'll say this now and I don't care what anyone says. Willian is an average footballer and Musonda Jr is already better than him. Azpilicueta is not a wing back, Antonio you do not move you're best players from there best positions just to accommodate Cahill in the back three he should of kept Azpi there and played Zappacosta if he wanted to give Moses a rest. On a plus point Christensen is fantastic isn't he? Azpi, Luiz and Christensen should be our regular back three from now on. Our midfield three looked tired to be fair and Cesc and Bakayoko will now get a two week rest as they haven't been selected. But I've said it time and time again Cesc is way too slow now when he plays and when he's not having a good game with the ball it's like having ten men. If there is a quality ball playing midfielder available who is younger and more energetic we should target him because Cesc is too slow nowadays. I know it's harsh but I'm not keen on Batshuayi and I don't think Conte is either he just doesn't work hard and press enough for me. My problem is if Conte isn't keen wbu didn't we just sell him. Vardy would be a perfect back up for us. Fast, hungry, goalscorer and an absolute nuisance for defenders. To have him as rotation would be golden. Pedro would make a great squad player for rotation off the bench as he's got a good end product but Willian on the other hand just isn't good enough anymore.

01 Oct 2017 01:10:37
Good post mate. Agree with most of your points.

I am not sure what Conte was thinking today, maybe it was the lack of preparation due to the limited time afforded from the AM game. However, if there is one manager out there that could sort this out then it is Conte.

I am still confident that we will be there fighting for the title until the end. I take positives from last year when we had the exact same points as now.

01 Oct 2017 08:37:08
Loco: Good post and agree with all. Fabregas will always find Morata but as we have said before he needs 'time and space' and he was going to get little against City so that was a mistake playing him. We agree on Bats but many do not and at 24 he is developing too slowly. Clearly Willian and Pedro are impact players although the former seems to be deteriorating by the week. Bayakoko looks like a man that needs a year in the premiership to adjust; enthusiasm and energy in abundance but runs around sometimes like a headless chicken. The issue is without doubt a squad that is not strong enough and I would like to see a Lampard or dare I say it a De Bruyne attacking midfielder to compliment Morata and Hazard.

30 Sep 2017 20:24:11
Not often I feel the need to have a moan but Don Conte made a mistake Today playing 5 at the back. Against Madrid we changed to 3-5-2 and it worked a treat. Today was very much 5 at the back and we missed Moses as an attacking threat. Also a mistake not to bring on Batsy when Morata went off. We set up for a draw with the hope of nicking it on the counter. A huge wake up call for Conte but he is intelligent and will learn. Fair play to City and Pep, they are on a different level to the rest at the moment but that can change. It is now almost impossible to challenge for both the league title and Champions League and I have a feeling we are targeting the trophy with the big ears. On the plus side young Christenson has stood in for Luiz and is quite a talent. In fact, almost all on here have said just how good he is over the last year or so which is a first! Shows we all spot talent when we see it. Lol. Anyway, time for Don Conte to reflect and we go again.

30 Sep 2017 19:32:30
Let's be honest we were completely outplayed today. City will be tough to stop this season and after today's performance I'm very impressed with them. We have to keep picking up points as it's still early and anything can happen. Last season we lost to Liverpool and Arsenal in September yet we still won the league. On today's evidence I'd settle for 2nd/ 3rd place league finish and a good run in the Champions League and picking up one of the cups.

Some of you may not agree with me but that's just my view after today.

30 Sep 2017 19:49:02
Antonio should take full responsibility of our loss today.

I don't understand setting up a team to nullify the opponent and not attacking.

30 Sep 2017 20:04:30
We were never favourites last year either yes, but we have hardly improved the team over the summer were as United and City have massively. We need a change in the way we play at home cause it just isn't working, especially against the big teams, Cesc has been shocking recently and we play like an away team. At this moment I'd take that too but we have a great team capable of challenging, we just have to play with more purpose when attacking rather than focusing on defending soo much against teams.

30 Sep 2017 20:35:12
Yes, Conte made a mistake with mixing apples and oranges but realistically have weaker team than last season. Bakayoko was poor today.

30 Sep 2017 19:25:16
Completely outclassed, city look a serious side let alone when they have aguero and certainly title favourites. Christensen the only player that actually turned up today. Willian replacing Morata was criminal and we didn't look in the game from then onwards. going to be tough to challenge for the title now but the midweek performance shows we've got it in us. Need to bounce back immediately.

30 Sep 2017 19:19:10
I'll tell you what is really pi**ing me off, every time willian loses the ball ( pass or tackles ) he looks around at someone else, bloke offfers nothing. Mad how we haven't addressed RW in last 2/ 3 years.

30 Sep 2017 18:49:25
This just isn't nice to watch, it's almost as if morata went off and nobody came on for him. We're perrified off them,

30 Sep 2017 18:59:38
Well deserved from city we are chasing shadows bakayoko needs to come off fabregas hasn't been in the game how can a team be so different from wednesday night.

30 Sep 2017 19:00:40
On a brighter note christensen has looked class.

30 Sep 2017 19:31:55
Never been a Christensen fan BUT tonight I thought he might have come of age, he did really well but I thought Rudiger was all over the place. When Morata went off I thought it highlighted our vulnerability with injuries up front and I would have taken Fabregas off. Going forward with Morata as a target man suits him but without him against a team like City left us wanting and lofted balls to Hazard was never going to work. Willian looked like a man who knows his days are numbered; you could have almost subbed him he was so poor.

30 Sep 2017 18:16:50
Is it just me or is Rudiger off the pace of the game? Hazard has to step up now that Morata's gone and Willian has to take this chance to get his season off and running.

30 Sep 2017 18:23:58
Agree maybe a little but to be fair sane is quick and city move the ball really well i do like alonso but his lack of pace is a worry for me.

30 Sep 2017 18:24:07
Would have brought Pedro on for Willian personally.

30 Sep 2017 18:24:16
I think Rudiger is doing well.

Willian has been shocking since coming on. His given the ball away already 3 times and has been so poor on possession.

2nd half couldn't come any quicker for us. Conte needs to sort this out.