Chelsea Rumours Archive January 31 2019

31 Jan 2019 20:37:25
I wouldn't mind seeing Luiz next to Kante in a two. Give us more protection and physicality.

31 Jan 2019 22:07:29
Agree but most others don't like the idea. He passes really well, physical but not as dangerous in the middle as he is in defence with his red mist, great shot and good in the air.

01 Feb 2019 00:06:12
That means you want to completely stamp out our free flowing football?

01 Feb 2019 08:36:48
If our current style is free flowing effective football then yes, a change is definitely needed. 13 goals in 13 games is not free flowing effective football.

01 Feb 2019 10:04:32
obinna 123, I usually agree and appreciate what you post but 'our free flowing football'?! What you been smoking, guv!

01 Feb 2019 11:25:45
Mrs Costa, it's not the free flowing football that is the problem it's because Sarri isn't balancing his free flowing football.
THINK ABOUT THIS: Imagine Sarri's philosophy involves playing a deep lying playmaker (that is Jorginho) instead of a proper defensive midfielder in front of his defense- common sense should tell him that Jorginho has no combative or ball winning ability and cos of this feature, his defense will be relatively be under a bit of pressure (or weak) ; so that should make Sarri to fortify his defense line heavily so as to counteract the effect of the absence of a proper defensive midfielder- which would mean that a player like D. Luiz that's full of mistakes shouldn't be starting (so Sarri should go get a solid centre half with good pace) .
Another thing he can do to counteract the imbalance created by Jorginho (sitting in front of the defense) is: fortify his attack heavily with pace and creativity (don't take chances with players) ; this means that even if the team is somewhat weak in defending well from midfield- his attack should be able to score more than opponents.

Mrs Costa, if you look at the team as it is at the moment, our attack isn't pressing, creative and isn't scoring goals; and our defense can't defend well; tell me what do you think would be our faith? Sarri can also balance the squad a bit by playing 4231 formation (with Kante next to Jorginho) as his two central midfielders but I guess Sarri only knows how to play 433 formation. Truly it's rubbish that a top flight manager only knows how to play one formation (that he hasn't even being successful with, yet) .

I think Sarri is getting it wrong, he has no idea the league he's playing in and he still doesn't know the ability of the players he's got at Chelsea (a lot of them are passed their good years) . If Sarri is not careful, these players will let him down. Looking at what's happening at Chelsea at the moment, it's glaring that Antonio Conte is a very good coach, he tried to solve the problem with a change in formation- which was working beautifully, up until Diego Costa and Matic left the club and appropriate replacements weren't brought in.

If Sarri's football is balanced, he can be the best.

01 Feb 2019 11:46:38
WITH THE LEVEL OF FREE FLOWING FOOTBALL THAT WE ARE PLAYING AT THE MOMENT, IF SARRI CAN:

* Get a no 10 like Ericksen or one with Ericksen's qualities- that will bring creativity, assists and goals (in some cases) to take up that position where Barkley and Kovacic play in the team;
* Get D. Luiz out and bring in a proper centre half to pair with Rudiger at the heart of the central defense;
* Forttify our fullback positions;
* Sell Willian and bring in a young winger that has the energy levels to press high and track back with to the full backs.

If we get these things done (though it might not be possible in transfer window), even if we have Higuain and Batsuayi as our attackers, I can bet that we can challenge properly for the league or even win it.

01 Feb 2019 14:23:06
Free flowing football 🤣🤣🙈🙈🙈 I’ve heard it all now.

01 Feb 2019 14:25:10
If we signed ERIKSEN! (Which e never will) it might be best if you learn how to spell his name quick time.

01 Feb 2019 14:30:28
Another thing that Sarri can do is play Kovacic (whom has proven himself not be a good no 10- cos he doesn't have the requisite assists and eye for goal in his game) - in front of his defense; Kovacic can play well as a deep lying playmaker and has that desired combative and ball winning ability that's absent in Jorginho. If Kovacic plays in Jorginho's position, we might begin to see some balance; and I think that might consequently reduce the number of goals that we concede.

Please Sarri, don't be AN ARSENE WENGER- that played very good free flowing football but never cared about his defensive midfield position (after Gilberto Silva and Patrick Viera left the club) .

02 Feb 2019 08:31:27
You are funny guy ChelseaRanger, even if we can't get Eriksen, maybe someone with Eriksen's attributes for that no 10 role can do it. Some people talk about RLC for that role but I am not very confident that he can do that no 10 role very well- he prefers to always want to run with the ball (don't get wrong- RLC can improve to become a good no 10 but at the moment he isn't, he does have the eye for the goal on rare occasions but the creativity nah! ) . Few English players made good no 10 over the years.
Maybe an Isco, Zielinski won't be bad for it.

03 Feb 2019 20:51:19
It’s not going to happen. Sarri is stubborn, and will stick to his tactics until they’re perfected. This will be his downfall, and has been for our previous managers.

10 Feb 2019 19:52:20
obinna 123. Why talk about Kovacic as a defensive mid when we've already got possibly Europe's best stuck out on the right of an attacking midfield?

{Ed025's Note - fair point mate..

10 Feb 2019 20:03:40
Thanks, Ed.

31 Jan 2019 12:21:13
Guy I saw today at work that told me mikel was returning to Chelsea ( he’s claimed he told me returning to England and I misheard him) has now said Oscar will be moving on deadline day or next summer if he can’t leave this window. Summer more likely but said a few teams interested including Chelsea.

31 Jan 2019 13:06:30
Couldn't be any worse than Jorginho and cheaper than 50 million.

31 Jan 2019 13:10:00
uhe wasnt good enough 1st time around why would it be any different after playing 3 seasons in china.

31 Jan 2019 16:01:00
If changes need to be made then let it start with our club's community.

Mikel was a diligent servant of Chelsea Football Club. We were so lucky to have him in our dressing room, and his move to, and participation at Chelsea catalysed a broad Nigerian/ African fanbase. He should be respected for that alone.

31 Jan 2019 16:17:36
K don't climax too hard son.

31 Jan 2019 16:55:57
I thought Mikel had just signed for Middlesbro?

31 Jan 2019 17:24:18
Thank goodness a lot of us are now appreciating Mikel.

31 Jan 2019 23:11:03
Did you say gola or zola.

31 Jan 2019 09:00:04
How can soo many of our fans not see that the players are the biggest problem within the club?. The same players who stopped playing for Mourinho and Conte when things didn't go their way which led to their sackings. You don't go from winning the league to having the seasons we had after without having clear issues within the players.

When you add that with the fact soo many of these players aren't good enough and are ageing it's no surprise to see us struggle with consistency. Changing tactics won't do anything. This team needs a massive overhaul, not a new manager. The only issue i have with Sarri are his team ions, CHO needs to be ahead of Pedro and Willian for that RW spot and Ruben needs to be in that midfield. Whether fans on here rate him or not Ruben offers this team a goalscoring threat from midfield and makes runs into the box, we need him against the small teams.

I really hope the board go in a different direction and stick with Sarri even if things get worse. Get rid of all these weak minded players and bring in proven quality. Not squad fillers like we have been for the last 3 years.

31 Jan 2019 10:26:39
Well said. Agree entirely. There's something incredibly wrong with the mentality of our players. Even Hazard. If PSG are coming in for Willian, I'd let him go. And in the summer, we should look at offloading Pedro and Luiz.

The likes of Christensen, Ampadu, Zouma, RLC, CHO, and even players like Aina, need to be trusted. They've come through our academy. They'll have a passion for the club.

I know that Zouma and Ampadu were bought young, and not academy players, but they have more fight and passion than most of our players now - only Rudiger seems to have any welly.

31 Jan 2019 10:44:04
Agree players are problem. But Sarri should change approach suit players we currently have, as much as he can of course.

31 Jan 2019 13:42:08
His 'change in approach' should be simple: drop the players with poor-attitude and consistency and give some others a go. for example, give CHO a chance ahead of Willian and/ or Pedro; Christensen instead of Luiz; Emerson instead of Alonso (he needs more than just the ones start against Bournemouth) ; and RLC instead of Kovacic/ Barkley.

30 Jan 2019 23:29:41
Enough is enough, Chelsea need to stop hiring managers with no premier league experience.

31 Jan 2019 00:12:22
Like Conte or Jose?

31 Jan 2019 00:24:07
TruBlu, you may have put your finger on an essential truth. Italian football is so much slower than the Prem - it is very rare to see a high pressing game in the Italian League - this is why Sarri's Napoli were successful (except they didn't win anything! ) . Sarri's slow possession game just cannot work in English football. But Sarri should be able to see that and adapt - he is paid £millions every year to do just that. But, just like Conte, Sarri seems to only have one system and if that fails it all falls apart.

31 Jan 2019 00:37:11
Did I dream about Conte winning the Premiership?

I enjoyed Conte’s first seasons football. Nothing slow about it.

31 Jan 2019 01:34:12
MRs costa you do realise sarri wants us to play faster but the players aren’t doing it right?

31 Jan 2019 07:19:08
Ancelotti was a shocking manager.

31 Jan 2019 08:48:32
Yeah, was really evident at times last night that Hazard got the ball and everyone else was 25 yards behind him. Nobody breaking fast.

31 Jan 2019 09:02:07
get the wolves manager.

31 Jan 2019 10:26:11
TomB, Conte's 3-5-2 system was successful until the rest of the league sussed it out and adapted - hence the 2nd season. Sarri's system was initially successful until the rest of the league sussed it out - hence our downward spiral. And neither Conte nor Sarri had / have a clue what to do about it. No plan B.

31 Jan 2019 10:28:53
Standard, surely the sign of a good manager is being able to get your message across - if Sarri 'wants us to play faster' then he is failing very badly to get his message across and is, therefore, a poor manager.

04 Feb 2019 11:23:45
Mrs Costa, the players haven’t worked out how to play plan A yet and you want them to start playing a plan B?

Think about it.

30 Jan 2019 23:34:34
Missed the game once again but did we really just lose the game 4-0 to Bournemouth . I don’t want to see Jorginho or Willian/ Pedro in the team for a while.

31 Jan 2019 00:25:59
Or Hazard, I'm afraid to say.