Chelsea Banter Archive February 07 2019

07 Feb 2019 13:17:58
Ed002, any updates on our stadium rebuild?

{Ed002's Note - Nope, not at this time.}

07 Feb 2019 11:58:51
Hello chaps - I'm back! Been laid-up with man-flu since last weekend but am now fighting fit and able to reflect on the Huddersfield game. I bet you've all been waiting on tenterhooks, go on, admit it.

Anyhoo, I found it interesting that the players that seemed most motivated were the same players that Sarri had reportedly gone head to head with after Bournemouth (Hazard, Luiz, Azpi, Barkley) . The positive stance on this would be that those players have responded to the kick up the backside and are now Sarri converts (I'm not sure that Sarriball would have Hazard picking up the ball in our right-back position! ) . Our recent history tells it differently though. Were those players doing it for the manager or for themselves? The next month (City twice, Malmo twice, Man U twice, Spurs) will tell us everything we need to know.

Positives: Barkley - by far his best game in a Chelsea shirt - he seemed to be using his own initiative and attacking flair rather than simply recycling the ball sideways as he has been doing.
Higuain - I never thought that I would witness as good movement from a Chelsea forward again after Vialli, but Higuain might be as good. How I would have loved to have seen Vialli and Higuain in a Chelsea shirt in their respective primes.
Hazard - when he's on this form, he's unstoppable. Why he doesn't do it every game will probably remain a mystery.
Kovacic - I think Kovacic is going to cause Sarri a big problem because I think Kovacic is better at the Jorginho role than Jorginho. Is Sarri man-enough to admit this and drop his teacher's pet?

Negatives. Is Sarri-ball so circumscribed that it has to be the left-sided midfielder who is the most attack-minded? Wouldn't it be more sensible to play Kante on the left to shore-up our left-side defensive weakness and play Barkley on the right?

We were very fortunate to be 2 up at half-time; Huddersfield missed a sitter at 0-0 and our penalty was a) questionably a foul; b) outside the box. At 2-0 down, Huddersfield, who had looked dangerous on the break, simply laid down and rolled over in the 2nd half.

If you're not going to start CHO at home to bloody Huddersfield, when are you ever going to start him?