Chelsea Banter Archive January 19 2020

19 Jan 2020 20:02:52
Ok, not in in this transfer window, or probably the summer, just a bit of fun really, but here are four players I think would improve Chelsea. This is more about the type of players than the specific individuals.

Romagnoli (Milan - CB) Left sided CB and a leader - we desperately need a leader in the middle of defence.

Chilwell (Leicester - LB) Not the best defensively, has been caught out, but by players (Mahrez) who can catch anyone out on their day. What he offers is great service from the left. Him and James offering width would give teams problems.

Martinez (Ajax - CB/ CM) Very good holding midfielder who can slot into a defensive role when our FB's are up the pitch. We need James to be as forward as possible, Martinez is the type of player who will help with that.

Martinez (Inter - FW) Let's be honest, when you see Batshuayi coming on you're thinking it'll be a pleasent suprise if he scores - there's very little in the way of expectations. We need someone whose a threat to play in place of or alongside Abraham. Martinez is the type of player that will give us more threat up top.

19 Jan 2020 20:41:55
J, I’ve got this feeling we will be talking about transfers in the next few days!

19 Jan 2020 20:57:29
There is a reason Romagnoli is still at Milan he is going downhill after showing potential early on. As for Chilwell I seen enough against city and Liverpool to show he’s no upgrade on Emerson or Alonso. I agree on Lisandro Martinez he’s an animal and would be perfect at CDM he’s great on the ball too.

If this board had brains they would have signed Telles or Grimaldo this month because they’re possible, cheaper than Chilwell and better all round players. We need more warriors that’s why I’d like to see us go for Gimenez from Atletico for CB as he’s at that age now after learning from Godín he’s got a lot of experience and leadership under his belt. I rate Tammy but he’s got no creativity behind him.

So mine would be:

José Giménez - Atletico (CB)

Telles or Grimaldo (LB)

Lisandro Martinez or Ampadu (CDM) - we need some steel not a Jorginho.

Sancho - Dortmund (LW) - The big signing. Capable of 20+ goals and assists a season and he’ll help Tammy, CHO and Pulisic as well. I’m sick of Willian slowing the play down.

19 Jan 2020 23:35:32
Mark haven't seen you post a lot, but once you said, if this board had brains. You have lost me, there is a reason people are getting high wages doing their job.

20 Jan 2020 03:34:09
I pay good money to follow my club home and away all season I have a good right to voice my opinions about whether the hierarchy are doing a good enough job or not.

20 Jan 2020 10:00:43
Spot on MarkSteinIsMean.

19 Jan 2020 17:11:18
N'Golo kante to be sold. If we sell then we don't have ambition and are a selling club. We sold hazard and there's talk of selling the only world class player in our squad, he needs the right man beside him, we should build around him, what other top teams sell there best players, we ain't arsenal!

19 Jan 2020 17:23:18
Can’t see him being sold Matt.

19 Jan 2020 17:35:55
Tbf Liverpool sold Coutinho, one of their best players at the time and they aren't doing half bad.

The thing is with us is if we sell players we have to replace them with a few big signings. We still need to replace Hazard, and if Kante were to leave he'd need replacing too, we can't just expect the kids to cover these world class players.

I know we've had a transfer ban, but during our ban you'd have hoped our club were still putting things in place behind the scenes to replace Hazard in particular. But our transfer business always seems so messy, like this month you'd expect the club to know what they want and already put things in place before the window opened.

I know transfer business isn't as simple as that and I don't know all the technicalities, but we never seem very organised in our business.

19 Jan 2020 17:39:18
It depends what formation Lampard wants to implement in the future. He fits a two man to a T. I don’t think he fits a 3 man midfield.

19 Jan 2020 17:45:59
We shouldn’t even be thinking about it, see stuff on Twitter and fans opinions about cashing in on him, i was shocked,

19 Jan 2020 17:51:34
I did see the same thing about a week or so Matt.

I don’t think he has been at his best all season and suspect he isn’t 100% fit.

19 Jan 2020 18:41:18
Coutinho was never and has never been Liverpool’s best player, he scored some rockets but when you shoot 20 times a game the odd few go in, Liverpool haven’t looked back since selling him, Barcelona want him gone and Bayern may not buy him so that’s all you need to know about coutinho. Kante needs a partner who can cover for him when needed and work hard, ie . Fabian Ruiz, and the formation should be to get the best out of kante, his one of the best in the world, play 4231, left footed beside him. And some end product in attack with a creative 10 who will have kante + another behind to press win it and play it with being able to get back and defend, only way I’d be ok with kante going is if casermiro came in,

19 Jan 2020 19:27:46
Stunned that fans are even discussing it. Of all the big problems within our team he is hardly one of them. There are atleast 5 or 6 players that need to be moved on before we even consider selling Kante. If he wants to move then that's different. No doubt we'd be able to get a lot of money for him which would help the rebuild but i wouldn't want to see him go without seeing other players moved on first.

19 Jan 2020 19:44:50
Tbf Matt what you're say about Coutinho, you could say the same about Hazard at Madrid. I know he's injured now, but he's not exactly been pulling up tree's since he left us. The grass isn't always greener as Coutinho and to an extent Hazard have found out.

19 Jan 2020 19:57:58
Our best performance this year was the Supercup where Kante played as the holding midfielder. Lampard needs to stop Sarri's silly experiment and go back to playing him in that position like France and Conte did.

19 Jan 2020 19:58:41
His played a hand fall of games, started off overweight and not fit then got injured,

19 Jan 2020 16:48:27
Liverpool with one cross and a goal, a reminder of our 23 wasted crosses and how poor we are at corners,

19 Jan 2020 19:59:35
Yesterday, the quality of crosses (from open play) was there, especially from James; it was the lack of end product.
As for corners, I pray one day we'll work out how to beat the first man!

19 Jan 2020 14:44:47
What would people do regarding Kepa? Do we sign another solid goalie to challenge him? Get a new coach to help him? Or just try and sell and go for someone like Oblak?

Odisseas of Benfica looks a good keeper. Then there are other options a bit cheaper maybe Schmeichel from Leicester who's experienced who could suit us for a couple of years.

19 Jan 2020 15:14:10
Keep him and worship him as he becomes with experience and more coaching one of the best goalkeepers in the world.

19 Jan 2020 15:28:36
Should of gone for Nubel, went to Bayern on a free as heir to Nuer.

19 Jan 2020 15:35:01
We should never have let Bulka leave, always liked the look of him.

19 Jan 2020 16:18:58
He was a good prospect Bobby but if I remember correctly we didn’t want him to go, he wanted playing assurances.

19 Jan 2020 16:26:44
Worship him is a bit far you’d swear he already had a quality season for us. Even last season he was average. Selling Bulka was a big mistake.

19 Jan 2020 16:39:42
Only time will tell if Kepa becomes the goalkeeper I think he can be. I also acknowledge his performances this season are not what I expected.

I repeat what I’ve already said about Bulka. I didn’t think the club wanted to sell him and he is hardly pulling up trees at PSG.

19 Jan 2020 17:40:23
Can’t pull up trees without a chainsaw. He played one had one clean sheet then dropped.

19 Jan 2020 17:53:15
Sounds familiar. Will be interesting to see if he hangs about at PSG.

19 Jan 2020 14:00:38
Starting with Arsenal next week, we've then got Leicester, United, Spurs and the 1st leg against Bayern all to come in the next month.

The next month imo will ultimately decide whether we can get that top 4 spot or not, there's no denying just how difficult the next month is going to be. Dropping points at Newcastle yesterday could be vital, hopefully Liverpool will beat United today to keep that 5 point gap between us.

Hopefully we can see a signing or two before the month is out, I know this is unrealistic and won't happen. But as United are stumbling with the Bruno Fernandes deal. I feel we should move for him as he'd be perfect for us in a #10 role. He's got everything we're crying out for, he's someone who can score goals and is a specialist in scoring from distance, something we don't have in the team which makes us so predictable currently.

I know Bruno Fernandes won't happen, but hopefully we can just see someone arrive with a bit of creativity/ goals in them before February. The kids have done great and I'm not slating them one bit, but it's a long hard slog of a season and we just need that bit of quality and experience to see us through games.

19 Jan 2020 14:32:40
Agree I’d take him or Grealish we need a creative midfielder. Mount and Barkley are good players just not good enough to start for Chelsea.

19 Jan 2020 15:17:32
Mount isn’t playing well but he is a kid with a lot to learn. Barkley has disappointed me in so many ways but he has played a good game and then not been picked for the next game. He deserved to start yesterday and played well when he came on.

19 Jan 2020 12:44:29
Few thoughts from the game yesterday on a positive note I think since his return and Frank has questioned him Christensen has been fantastic. He's always had the ability he just needs to be aggressive. Rudiger I have never known what people see in him he is proper our worst CB. A dominant more aggressive CB is definitely needed. Azpi at LB is way to predictable him and Willian just slow everything down. I'm in love with Reece James I just hope he's not injured.

As for midfield people say it's our best area when in reality it isn't all that. Mount is young and will be inconsistent but why on earth will Frank not drop his boy? He has been awful for god knows how long! Barkley was brilliant against Burnley he deserved another start. If we're playing 4-3-3 Kante should not be starting it should be Kova he has been our best player this season and he hasn't even started last two games. Kante doesn't suit a 3 man midfield if we're going to carry on this formation we're better off cashing in. Kanté is only best in a two man midfield I. e with Matic and with Drinkwater in the past.

I struggle to see what Jorginho offers. He doesn't assist for a playmaker and he can't defend. We're crying out for a general infront of our centre backs I don't know why we don't just bring Ampadu back from his loan he'd be what we need in a 3 man midfield. I wouldn't mind seeing a Kovacic, Ampadu, Barkley midfield till RLC returns. At least it has some steel and we wouldn't be pushed over like with Jorginho and Mount.

We won't get top four if we don't bring in a couple of players this window. Surely we should be pushing for the likes of Alex Telles we're crying out for a good left back and we should bring Ampadu back. Trying not to be negative but I don't think we'll get top four. I'm backing Frank all the way but he needs to drop Mason apart from the odd goal and pressing he doesn't offer much. He's got very little vision or creativity for a CAM. He could be on his way to being the next Lingard if things don't change I'd prefer to see Barkley play.

Willian should definitely not be offered a new contract either him and Pedro should be first out we have no attacker capable of consistent goals apart from Tammy. Reece James is our most creative player and he's a right back that says it all.

19 Jan 2020 13:54:02
I think Willian should definitely be offered a contract extension. So far this season he has been one of our more consistent performers. Mind you that doesn’t say a lot.

19 Jan 2020 16:22:25
The original poster thinks sell kante then your not a true fan.

19 Jan 2020 17:19:46
Why’s that pal? Do you watch football? I’m a season ticket holder I’ll have you know! If we carry on playing 4-3-3 Kante isn't at his best so why keep him when we could get a good few to put towards something we need. Believe it or not I think Kante is declining.

19 Jan 2020 11:50:39
Not too many positives from yesterdays game, however I thought Christensen was superb. Won almost every duel with Joelinton and didn't put a foot wrong. Hope his form continues for the rest of the season.

19 Jan 2020 12:01:08
jury still out but he hasn't got a run yet under lamps and its interesting to see how hel get on if he gets a run. reece james was exceptional.

19 Jan 2020 12:01:39
I completely agree was really aggressive with attacking the ball which he needs to be I like rudi but he’s not the one to play next to Christensen for me thought he was at fault for the goal and his passing wasn’t great either lucky for us most of the surrounding teams didn’t make up too much ground.

19 Jan 2020 13:57:55
I know it shouldn’t matter with professionals but we haven’t found anyone to play comfortably as a left sided centre back since JT left.

19 Jan 2020 11:26:34
At the start of every season I always believe we will win the league. My guess most supporters also have that dream unless your a Spurs supporter and then it's called a fantasy.

Having been through many nightmares as a supporter of so many years, I look upon the RA era as a dream.

This season reminds me so much of my first season supporting Chelsea. We were in the second division and seven points clear at the top the league and looking like certainties for promotion.
Tommy D was our manager and with one or two exceptions we had a team full of kids.
We got beat by a team that got relegated and our season stalled. We just scrambled over the promotion line with Tommy Harmer scoring the winner off his backside against our biggest rivals Sunderland.

For many seasons lots of us fans have been crying out for some of our youngsters to be given a chance. They are now being given a chance so we have to be patient, back them and the manager 100%.

We have the basis of a team that I truly believe will go on to achieve greatness.

COME on MY MIGHTY BLUES.

19 Jan 2020 12:00:24
i think we are lucky all the teams around us have been so poor tom as i feel if spurs in particular where the same team they were the last 5 years theyd be miles ahead of us in 4th but still we are in the top 4 and we could end up there at the end of the season. yes that would be a success but is it just painting over the cracks of a dissapointing season so far. wev done well an maybe over achieved at times. but wev been making the same mistakes game after game lampard still doesn't seem to no what to do or how to react when we play teams who park the bus. it should be normal to watch a game amd as soon as a team sits back against us your thinking 20 minutes in where going to get done here again today 1-0 maybe 2-0 on the break or a set piece. we need creativity and goals but aside that we need defensive reinforcements. a left full in particular and kepa once again at fault yesterday for the goal is worrying he's been really poor for me and doesn't command that defence in front of him nor does he fill them with any sort of confidence if the ball goes beyond them. thoughts from me as a humble fan and 1 who supports lampard 100 percent and the chance of these young men getting game time is. we need a left full a top class 1 we need a top class creative midfielder and we certainly need another goalscorer and timo werner would be top of my list as would jadon sancho. and for a full back that's open for now im not sure who would improve that area chilwell hasn't filled me with confidence the last few times iv seen him play to be honest. big window ahead still although i think wel stick to what we have and that's oks. the summer is the big 1 and lamps chance to build on his squad and try to imrprove them and take points off the average teams whov beaten us this season hope you fellow fans are all a bit happier after yesterdays horror show and we can look on to our next game.

19 Jan 2020 13:51:23
I repeat Rudiger was the main culprit for the goal yesterday but I admit Kepa’s chocolate wrists are a problem.

19 Jan 2020 14:38:53
rudiger can be very rash at times and switches off a lot in the backline i think ul agree.

19 Jan 2020 10:19:14
One other general weakness imho this season has been set pieces including corners. We had tons of these yesterday, especially corners, where delivery was poor and/ or we put little or no pressure on their defense. Shouldn't we also be expecting more from good positioning and bulldozing determination in the box from our centre backs as in John Terry mould (or Van Dijk for LFC nowadays) .

19 Jan 2020 10:51:47
I agree JBS, at both ends of the pitch it’s very poor.

19 Jan 2020 09:44:35
Whilst not believing we should be too critical of the squad or management, one thing I will say is that Kepa's stats are pretty damning.

Huge transfer fee and one of the highest earners at the club, he's young and I think they'll back him but he's currently ranked 127th out of 135 European goalkeepers.

Maybe a more vocal and commanding leader at CB would help him. At the moment Rudiger is seemingly our number 1 CB, that's becoming a bit concerning.

19 Jan 2020 10:22:59
He is still v young - so can only hope for improvement - but he is more of shot stopper than someone who as yet is able to command the box. Doesn't have physical size of some other goalies. But you are right that he would be enormously helped if he had a Virgil Van D or John Terry bossing the defense in front of him. Defensive back four is arguably where we have had too much rotation (is some of injury forced) . On other hand you could argue that this is the season that Frank needs to have a good look at all players while rebuilding a winning team.

19 Jan 2020 10:56:02
I’m a fan of Kepa but overall he has not performed to the standard I expected.

While I still think he will prove to be a world class keeper in years to come he has to learn to command his box.

Allowing crosses to come in so easily and the general performances of our centre backs hasn’t helped.

18 Jan 2020 22:54:58
Any guesses on the mystery attacker Lampard hinted at today?

19 Jan 2020 10:56:45
Dembele is my guess.

19 Jan 2020 07:39:01
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Top 10 Centre-Backs