Chelsea Banter Archive May 03 2017

03 May 2017 21:15:27
Hi, all
If anyone watching monaco vs juve can enlighten me how on earth bakayoko meant to replace fabregas next season? I haven't seen much of him before but i certainely don't like what i see now. doesn't get much involved and when he does he makes mistakes. I know juve are class but if we are to challange in UCL next season we need players that are up for it and not collapsing due to lack of quality/ experience.

03 May 2017 23:22:30
I agree he didn't play well and I'm still not certain if I'd take him or tielemans/ tolisso at Chelsea (both young prospects) but he has helped Monaco challenge in Europe and against bvb and Man City he played very well. He's strong and can tackle but I don't see him taking fabs place, more like a young Matic with room for improvement.

03 May 2017 19:42:27
Traore doing well as Ajax. I don't see why we signed Michy when we have Traore. Think if Michy leaves Traore could do the job as a number 9. Always seems to be in the right place at the right time.

03 May 2017 22:41:33
Couldn't agree more Traore should never have been loaned out then that sort of money spent on michy. Although I must admit I did expect a lot lot more from Michy. Safe to say he's gone at then end of the season. On loan I would imagine then sold at a fraction of what we paid the following one.

03 May 2017 09:52:15
With Antonio Conte's family not wanting to move to England, does anyone think that is having an effect on Conte, and so the team? Does anyone think that it is contributing to Spurs being able to reduce the lead?

Secondly, does anyone think it will lead to him returning to Italy in the summer?

I am not giving an opinion or making a suggestion that he is or anything like that. I was just wondering what you thought on here, as I have heard a lot from Italians who think he will want to go back. However I am not convinced it is anything but their patriotism assuming he would want to be in Italy over anywhere else. Though there is money to spend at Inter and potentially AC Milan in the summer.}

03 May 2017 10:29:23
i hope not. : (

i love his passion!

03 May 2017 10:57:19
I'm fairly sure they are all moving over this summer, but I don't think you can attribute our topsy-turvy form to that. Put simply, Utd away was shambolic and Jose put on a masterclass in tactics. Palace at home was a world class performance from Henessey. Besides those two results, we've only drawn one game since mid-February and that was the away day at Turf Moor. Spurs have chased well, but ultimately most of the squad are experienced enough to know it is in their hands and I think we'll do it. I fancy Hull to provide a tough test for Spurs seeing as they really need the points and Spurs have struggled away from WHL all season. What a lot of the media are ignoring is how easy on paper our run in appears, considering we play WBA and Watford who are both on the beach and Sunderland (abysmal) and Middlesborough (struggle away from home) . I think we'll end up winning it by 6 points.
Back to Conte, being a Juventus man through and through, I can't see him wanting to go to Inter or AC Milan because the Juventus fanbase will turn on him. Every time the press over here ask him about it he flat out rebuffs it and has stated he feels he has done it all in Serie A. AC Milan blew it big time last summer when they didn't chase Lucian Favre or Sampaoli in my opinion. Inter are a really weird squad, several really good young players but far too many average members taking up wages- including your former love Gary Medel. The job there requires a lot of rebuilding and I can't see Conte wanting to do that. He knows 3-4 decent signings this year, keep our players and we can be a real force in both league, cup and Europe next year.
Sorry for the lengthy reply ED001, hope it helps.

{Ed001's Note - very interesting thanks. I actually agree that you will will win it and have been saying it for ages, even though results have slipped a little, it is more because the bar was set so high rather than you are going through poor form.

I am not sure about his family, Italians keep telling me his family are refusing to move over and that he left Juve because he felt they were unable to mount a realistic European challenge (ironic considering the year after they reached the final!). So they, and they are well connected in the game so it is difficult for me to argue, are saying that Inter have the money to build a Champions League winning side and are willing to back Conte.

As I look on it, Abramovich will also back Conte with the cash to build a Champions League winning side, so why would he move?}

03 May 2017 11:32:56
Ultimately the bar was set high because of that insane winning run (13 games in the league I think? ) during which we only conceded five times in total. Whenever you do that, expectations are going to skyrocket and you'll not match them unless you do it again.
I don't disagree they are willing to back Conte with the funds, but I doubt he'd really want to try and completely overhaul the squad. Judging on what I have read about the Inter Milan owners, they want immediate success nationally and internationally and due to the squad makeup, that really doesn't seem viable. The other caveat is that Inter have already suffered from FFP sanctions this year, surely they'll be under a tighter reign as a result? Or will a well-placed backhander resolve that?

{Ed001's Note - FFP rules have been relaxed already once, I am sure that they will be continually relaxed until they disappear soon.}

03 May 2017 12:08:47
I suspect he'll stay at least another 1 or 2 years (discounting him getting sacked beforehand because of poor results) . But if his family are still in Italy then, well I can't blame a man for wanting to be with his family.
We'll see what happens, but I've seen nothing from Conte to suggest his heart isn't fully in it anymore. I also hope Abramovic will back the club to spend this summer, as there are 3 or 4 very clearly upgradeable positions in our starting 11. If we want to compete in Europe we'll have to keep up in the transfer market as well. If Abramovic doesn't do that I suspect he might leave on his own accord after next season.

Weren't Inter going after Simeone, Ed001?

03 May 2017 12:08:47
I suspect he'll stay at least another 1 or 2 years (discounting him getting sacked beforehand because of poor results) . But if his family are still in Italy then, well I can't blame a man for wanting to be with his family.
We'll see what happens, but I've seen nothing from Conte to suggest his heart isn't fully in it anymore. I also hope Abramovic will back the club to spend this summer, as there are 3 or 4 very clearly upgradeable positions in our starting 11. If we want to compete in Europe we'll have to keep up in the transfer market as well. If Abramovic doesn't do that I suspect he might leave on his own accord after next season.

Weren't Inter going after Simeone, Ed001?

{Ed001's Note - they have been after a number of managers, I don't think Simeone was interested.}

03 May 2017 12:52:21
I think Inter will get Paulo Sousa and then immediately he'll look to sign Bernadeschi this summmer.

03 May 2017 18:01:49
His wife and daughter are moving to England this summer.

03 May 2017 19:04:29
You can play devils advocate using Jose at United. His family has and will stay in London for the foreseeable future and he hasn't had tremendous success. Ultimately I think it's more about what others have said with the early season success making a couple of awkward results seem worse than it is. I'm really hoping we finish the season out strongly as this has been one of the most dominant seasons since Jose's first year.