Chelsea Banter Archive August 16 2016

16 Aug 2016 20:21:00
Hello eds hope you are well.
I know there is a lack of willingness from Ed02 to give us information which is fine considering all the stick he gets but do any of the other eds know (I'm not asking for specifics) if chelsea have made any progress in the last few days regarding signings as it has seemed to have all gone a bit quite.
Thanks in advance And a quick side note to anyone else who was at the game last night I hope we can keep up that atmosphere the whole season! COYB💙.

16 Aug 2016 22:52:44
Rumours are we're trying a final bid of 48£ for KK with the hopes of forcing Napoli's hand and also possibly putting in a bid for Germany's starting LB from the Euros Hector.

16 Aug 2016 23:23:58
Cheers bluelab. If we ended up with those 2 and a striker I'd be over the moon!

16 Aug 2016 14:46:18
On holidays, so I'm just reading other teams pages, and it has to be said I'm quite glad the way everyone of them is underestimating our chances this season. A whole lot don't think we'll make top four, talk less of mounting a title challenge.

For me with the pressure of our back and no European football this year I think we could really surprise a lot of people including ourselves. I'll be honest, I'm hoping for a top four finish but if we continue how we played against westham and have no major injuries I think we'll be the talk of the season in a whole new light.

Time will tell though, I for one, I'm staying optimistic with good reason, what do you guys think. You too Ed018, haven't seen your views for the season.

Ps. How good was Kante? How long we've yearned for a player like him.

16 Aug 2016 17:52:32
I think we will definitely be up there but we do need to catch up on a few things and relearn some old ones. We need that spark back to kill games off like we had with Drogba and Anelka. Last night was a good showing no doubt but as I have always worried about and probably will always worry about is that last half an hour we seem to shut up shop and always conceed. We need that arrogance we had like when we played a few years ago. If we get that back then i would be over the moon!

16 Aug 2016 18:59:31
Still 2 problems with the squad for me. And they have to be fixed, otherwise we will have a fight on our hands for top 4. Defense was solid yesterday, but we still desperately need a new CB, and perhaps also a fullback. Koulibaly would be a monumental signing. We only have 5 fit defenders right now (not counting Miazga, because why would I :-P), so we need 1 or 2 additions there.

Second problem for me will be scoring. Only Hazard and Costa look capable of scoring regularly (Batshuayi as well probably but I suspect he'll mostly come off the bench for a while backing up Costa) . Oscar brings a little scoring threat, but other than that we don't have that scoring threat. With our midfield being solid again, we lose a bit of creativity in that central area. Our attackers should make up for that loss.
Willian should be replaced in the starting lineup by someone who can offer that. I really would've liked to see Traore or Kenedy there, but they don't seem to be in the plans for this season. Pedro is bang average in my opinion, and I'd prefer to see him sold. Willian doesn't add much offensively, so he shouldn't start either. Moses is good depth, but we need a better starter. Maybe the club are looking for another attacking player, and one that could play on the right and add some scoring would be a very valuable addition.

16 Aug 2016 21:38:19
Griezmann or Mahrez would be perfect but very unlikely.

16 Aug 2016 13:58:41
Good morning boys and girls.

The lads on the United page are discussing what a beast Essien was when he first joined Chelsea and it got me to thinking who do you guys as Chelsea fans think has been the best signing during the Abramovich reign?

16 Aug 2016 14:29:49
I'm inclined to say either Essien or Drogba. Essien is my favourite player ever. As you say, a genuine, straight up BEAST of a player. He could destroy whole midfields by himself and had that cracker of a shot. Essien is in my opinion the biggest reason that Barcelona always had such a tough time with us in those days. They simply couldn't cope with the physicality he brought. I'd damn near do anything to have prime Essien back. Right now I don't know if there's a better midfielder on the planet than prime Essien. It's a shame the knee issues slowed him down that much. Love the Bison!

Drogba was obviously a monumental buy as well. One of the best strikers I've seen in the PL, and a real class act of the pitch as well. To this day, he's a great ambassador of the club, and I hope he'll be back at Chelsea in the near future (as a coach or something, not a player) .

Yeah, Essien is the best buy for me :-)

Other mentions include Ballack (who came on a free, so great value), Makelele and Hazard.

16 Aug 2016 14:33:22
Well only 2 Chelsea players have won the pfa player of the year, John terry and Eden hazard, so on paper you would have to say hazard is the best player we have signed, we've had a lot of world class players, drogba, essien, a. cole, ballack, ect ., so for me it would be hazard, same as when people say who is the best ever in the premiership history, and only 1 player in prem history has won the ballon dore, Ronaldo, so for me he has to be, that's the. Logic I'm going for, but my faviorte player was drogba.

16 Aug 2016 14:41:48
Simple. Drogba.

16 Aug 2016 14:10:20
Drogba.

16 Aug 2016 15:06:39
Can't be anyone other than Drogba. Essien was great but never won the Champions league.

16 Aug 2016 15:29:21
Drogba, Ashley Cole, Cech or Hazard for me. First three were three of the most important players in Chelsea's history and probably our best players in our 2012 CL win and they also made up part of our spine for our most successful period ever. Should probably mention that I can't remember if Cech was a RA signing or whether it was just before before you all shoot me down haha! And as for Eden I think he is on his way to becoming our best ever player although I expect he'll end up at Madrid sooner or later where he will win Ballon D'or after Ballon D'or. He is truly special.

16 Aug 2016 15:38:09
Didi by a mile, if hazard fires us to a domestic treble and scores 30+ goals I'll change my mind but until then.

16 Aug 2016 16:06:24
@Cat - your logic is flawed, it could well be that the second best player in one year is streets ahead of a winner in another year! my pick would be cech or Ashley cole for best signing as I feel they are the 2 most shrewd and match defining signings we have made.

16 Aug 2016 16:13:41
Drogba.

16 Aug 2016 16:40:59
Can't believe no one has put lampard.

16 Aug 2016 16:46:43
The drog.

Cech was Ranieri.

16 Aug 2016 16:59:53
Has got to be Asier Del Horno or Khalid Boulahrouz :)

16 Aug 2016 17:03:37
Lampard wasn't signed by Abramovich Danny83.

16 Aug 2016 17:05:45
Danny83 lampard was bought before abramovic. I personally feel it would have to be drogba or essien.

16 Aug 2016 17:13:12
Drogba
Cech
Ashley Cole

In that order, as good as essien was his injuries meant we never got a 3 season spell when he was consistently outstanding. On his day he was the key to the game but overall he can't be out ahead of those 3 I've listed.

16 Aug 2016 17:14:40
Ohh crap didn't read the question properly haha essien then.

16 Aug 2016 17:16:27
Drogba 100%. essien could have been but injuries stopped tht.

16 Aug 2016 21:10:51
Have to agree with the drogba vote but a little mention for Ricky carvalho who made a solid partnership with JT. The worse has to be Torres.

17 Aug 2016 04:12:10
This might be an alternative answer but I think bringing in Jose the first time was the most significant signing of the Abromavich era. He introduced the culture that still remains within the club. As far as players go I would have to say didier, although the bison was one of my favorite players of all time.

17 Aug 2016 07:57:17
Cech was late Ranieri, as was RA. Not sure who was first though.

17 Aug 2016 14:05:12
Drogba for me for obvious reasons which people have already stated but my second choice would be Damian Duff! He was quality out on the left for us and was my favourite player in the world at that time being as I'm a Republic of Ireland supporter.

16 Aug 2016 12:15:38
Very happy with yesterdays performance. The game always felt like it needed a second goal from Chelsea and it's the sort of a game where if we were a little sharper and our match fitness was up there we'd have won it comfortably, but that will come. I thought the three in midfield - Matic, Kante and Oscar were excellent as was Hazard, whilst Diego was back to his aggressive best (even if he should have been sent off) . Lovely little knock down from Batshuayi for the winning goal too - I'd love to see a left back, centre back and striker brought in before the window slams shut but overall plenty to be positive about from that performance.

16 Aug 2016 14:34:43
I think ivanovic looked fit. Oscar chased everything very good game from him. Hazard looking razor sharp, Costa showing that passion we love from him. Kante and Matic brilliant. Azpilicueta stable as always. Terry positioned well. For me Cahill gives away few too many free kicks, maybe due to carrol being a tough cookie. Willian for me disappoints me in most aspects of his game. Jibbing tackles, poor movement, terrible corners. His body language like a little boy because it's not going his way. I really can't stand him, and I'm not the only one on here or wagnh. Think we would benefit so much more with someone like reus or griezman.
Other than that great football. Still think fabregas creates allot more for the attackers. But I believe in what conte does. I also believe when zouma is fit, and new centre back comes in, he will play his famous 3-5-2. And when that happens fabregas will fit the system. Until then I think we're gunna see pretty much as we did last night. Hoping for a bit more pressing though. All in all happy :) and so glad premier league is back!

16 Aug 2016 14:12:24
Who cares about sending offs when we should of had two more penalties, and the so called azpilicueta high foot which lead to their goal. Justice was made.

16 Aug 2016 16:17:35
I do think Cahill is the weak link in that team, yet to see Ivanovic tested by pace but he looked in decent shape yesterday.

16 Aug 2016 10:23:30
Some interesting stuff RE: James on the Everton page.

16 Aug 2016 11:04:38
Nothing relating to chelsea on that.

16 Aug 2016 11:12:31
Main thing was that Ed002 said that a bid had gone in from someone for James.

16 Aug 2016 11:31:18
Just been on for a wind up, they really think they're going to sign someone big 😂 my bet is it's Emile Heskey or Crouch, the only big player they're signing is one big in stature 👊.

{Ed018's Note - be careful stirring it up on other pages}

16 Aug 2016 11:41:29
I just had to Ed018, they've been giving us stick over Stones and Lukaku most recently, had to go have a sly dig in.

16 Aug 2016 14:12:27
£28 million for Bolassie! They deserve winding up!

16 Aug 2016 07:39:16
Papers saying Conte wants a few more players can we have an update in in and outs please Eds? Thanks.