Chelsea Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2017

kev1.3s

GavRedKing wrote: »

Contes showing serious faith in Chalobah that he brings him on first in a very tough and still open game away from home.

Chalobah must be really making some great impression in training and Id say the loan in Italy really helped him understand the tactical side od the game better.

No way Jose makes that kind of sub.

We really deserved the win but we made hard work of it, I did say though that Boro are blunt but dont get trounced so a win is huge after the international break, we also played some excellent football at times that meant Boro didnt touch the ball in about 2 or 3 mins at a time.

Also love Contes passion at the end, the embrace with Luiz, who was a rock and IMO our MOTM today but again, it could have been 4 or 5 players.

I agree on luis, seemed to get his head to every ball that came his way and the pass that led to pedro hitting the bar was superb.
I was surprised at chalobah coming on too because at that point we were a little under seige and could have conceded, all I was thinking when the ball came to him in his first couple of touches was just find a blue shirt and to be fair I can't recall a pass going astray from him.
Will do his confidence a world of good that we ground that out. A little concerned to see pedro iced up at the final whistle but he's not our most difficult player to replace.

GavRedKing

McDave wrote: »

Roll on the January transfer window. If only to see who wants to come on board the Conte Revolution. Solid, sexy football.

Itll be interesting to see who goes out.

Ivan, mikel and JT are likely gone in the summer.

This window, id nearly get in a LB to cover alonso, its the only position we dont have any senior cover in the squad at all.

GavRedKing

6 clean sheets in a row and this was the most hard fought too.

Negredo had one chance and it was a good effort, Tbo was tuned in.

I wonder will we get anyone in for January, maybe Oscar will be sold from the seniors, cesc too is in danger of oing.

Id loan RLC, hes well behind Chalobah at this stage, whos been solid when playing which is very encouraging for the youths that the manager will play them and not just name check them in a press conference.

McDave

GavRedKing wrote: »

Itll be interesting to see who goes out.

Ivan, mikel and JT are likely gone in the summer.

This window, id nearly get in a LB to cover alonso, its the only position we dont have any senior cover in the squad at all.

I think we're likeliest to see exits in January. Conte'll probably only bite if someone he really wants comes on to the radar.

GavRedKing

McDave wrote: »

I think we're likeliest to see exits in January. Conte'll probably only bite if someone he really wants comes on to the radar.

Summer signings is where the big players will join.

I want but dont expect Griezmann and or Verratti.

Either of those would be immense.

kev1.3s

On a positive note we don't have to worry about any potential signings being cup tied in Europe.

McDave

GavRedKing wrote: »

Summer signings is where the big players will join.

I want but dont expect Griezmann and or Verratti.

Either of those would be immense.

Italian graft and flair is what Conte wants, not Brazilian snowflakes and Dutch sunshine boys! :pac:

kev1.3s

McDave wrote: »

Italian graft and flair is what Conte wants, not Brazilian snowflakes and Dutch sunshine boys! :pac:

Probably but he's worked wonders with possibility the biggest snowflake of them all in luiz.
Always loved luiz and his passion so could forgive his regular fûck ups but now it seems we don't have too.

McDave

kev1.3s wrote: »

Probably but he's worked wonders with possibility the biggest snowflake of them all in luiz.
Always loved luiz and his passion so could forgive his regular fûck ups but now it seems we don't have too.

I'd never call Luiz a snowflake. Not even to his face!

GavRedKing

Ya, Luiz won some serious amlunts of headers today.

He'd go through a brick wall for the team and now , like Costa, hes only playing football and not fu*king about with it or getting involved in stupid little fights.

Contes got the mentality spot on and the XI, bar injuries, that will come at some stage, thus side is nailed on to play every league game.

GavRedKing

McDave wrote: »

Italian graft and flair is what Conte wants, not Brazilian snowflakes and Dutch sunshine boys! :pac:

Id take Verratti tomorrow if I had a blank cheque, the guy would be like anothwr Kante in CM.

Griezmann would be a serious option on the wide right next to Costa, Pedros done brilliant but we can still upgrade him I think.

Still, Ill take the 3 pts, 6th win and 6th clean sheet on the bounce.

17 goals scored and t really could have been many more. Weve also got a win after the international break away to a tough Boro side.

Great weekend for us.

McDave

GavRedKing wrote: »

Id take Verratti tomorrow if I had a blank cheque, the guy would be like anothwr Kante in CM.

Griezmann would be a serious option on the wide right next to Costa, Pedros done brilliant but we can still upgrade him I think.

Still, Ill take the 3 pts, 6th win and 6th clean sheet on the bounce.

17 goals scored and t really could have been many more. Weve also got a win after the international break away to a tough Boro side.

Great weekend for us.

What was most gratifying was seizing the opportunity to go top, not fluffing it, especially with a late concession for a 1:1.

Looking forward to Spurs. A real opportunity to start putting real distance from other contenders. At this stage, I think the toughest team to shake will be the favourites, City. The farther they go in the UCL without winning it, the better!

Barr

Great to be top , no reason we cant stay there till the end of the season :pac:

We look to have the perfect balance at the moment , so solid defensively I can hardly believe the transformation so quickley.

TimRiggins

They were still a few dodgy moments today but thats to be expected coming back from the International break. The next 2 games are massive for us.

We should be beating Spurs but they'll be up for it after last season. Anything at City away is a bonus, i'd snap your hand off for 4 points right now.

GavRedKing

TimRiggins wrote: »

They were still a few dodgy moments today but thats to be expected coming back from the International break. The next 2 games are massive for us.

We should be beating Spurs but they'll be up for it after last season. Anything at City away is a bonus, i'd snap your hand off for 4 points right now.

Agreed but city are there to be got at, they've been very unconvincing so far this year in the league for me.

They're still right up there but I expected better TBH.

GavRedKing

Barr wrote: »

Great to be top , no reason we cant stay there till the end of the season :pac:

We look to have the perfect balance at the moment , so solid defensively I can hardly believe the transformation so quickley.

Especially as Utd and City are still struggling for any real cohesion.

Just take every game as it comes. The current top 4 is more than likely going to be the final top 4 but the order is impossible to pick.

TimRiggins

GavRedKing wrote: »

Agreed but city are there to be got at, they've been very unconvincing so far this year in the league for me.

They're still right up there but I expected better TBH.

Agreed, they lack the penetration that Pep had with Bayern and Barca. Should be a great game to see just where our team is at. Really looking forward to the next two, The Spurs game is big, would be great to hand them their first loss of the season.

GavRedKing

TimRiggins wrote: »

Agreed, they lack the penetration that Pep had with Bayern and Barca. Should be a great game to see just where our team is at. Really looking forward to the next two, The Spurs game is big, would be great to hand them their first loss of the season.

Beat spurs and we'll have serious confidence going into the city game. Itll be interesting to see what happems when we eventually go 1 goal down in the league though.

Hope we dont crumble.

grumpymunster

As for January signings it is an awful shame Kenedy was loaned out to rot on Watfords bench he would be a great back up to Alonso - I wonder if we can get him back.

Saturday will be interesting, Spurs have not really put it together yet but are unbeaten and right in the mix sign of a decent side that (much as it pains me to say it). I hope they lose the head again but surely they won't ..... will they. On current form there is no side we need fear and in Costa we have a striker bang in form which could be the difference as there may not be many chances in this game. Having a full week to prepare is no harm neither (but yes would much prefer we had a CL game).

Jan_de_Bakker

Great to be top again, who would have thought after losing 2-1 and 3-0 to Liverpool and Arsenal we would bounce back 6 wins in a row and zero goals conceded ... fantastic stuff.

btw I am the poster formerly known as cowboyBuilder formerly known as the_monkey ... :P

hots

Great game yesterday, hard fought to the end.

On the Jan signings I'm actually not sure where I'd want to strengthen? I actually think Baba would fit the LWB role really nicely and would be good competition for Alonso...

grumpymunster

He could but would think his comments when he left effectively ends his Chelsea career.

Have to say signings for the winter window seemed easier a few matches back - with Aina and Zouma do we have sufficient defensive cover? Have to say not convinced I know we are 6 games without conceding but I still think we have brittle defenders - the lot of a Chelsea fan permanently paranoid. Upside of hitting a bit of form though is Zouma can recover properly as he will no doubt be needed over the Christmas / New Year

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

As for January signings it is an awful shame Kenedy was loaned out to rot on Watfords bench he would be a great back up to Alonso - I wonder if we can get him back.

Saturday will be interesting, Spurs have not really put it together yet but are unbeaten and right in the mix sign of a decent side that (much as it pains me to say it). I hope they lose the head again but surely they won't ..... will they. On current form there is no side we need fear and in Costa we have a striker bang in form which could be the difference as there may not be many chances in this game. Having a full week to prepare is no harm neither (but yes would much prefer we had a CL game).

Kenedy cant be recalled as its a EPL to EPL loan and they have to run their course, barring a long term injury.

Spurs also have a do or die game away to Monaco on Tuesday, if they lose, and Leverkusen beat CSKA, they'll be 5 points behind Leverkusen with 2 games to play.

Spurs have had serious problems scoring in open play this year but Kane is coming back and looks a bit sharper after the injury so hes always going to be a threat, hes by far Englands best CF too and one of the better ones in the EPL too. Keep him quiet and Spurs become a very ordinary side.

Rose is also suspended for the game which is a plus, while not a great player he provides an offensive threat thet they'll struggle to replace.

I'm confident we'll beat Spurs anyway but yet again, its another test of the system and Spurs will be the hardest pressing side we've played against in the new system.

peteeeed

not so bad after all

https://twitter.com/TheFootballRep/status/800324078380814336

GavRedKing

I think Costa has gone about 7 games without a booking at this stage which most be a record for him.

Defenders are still trying to wind him up with little bites at him but hes focused on scoring and winning games now more than ever with us so we're getting less theatrics and we're all reaping the awards of it.

Hes still on the tight rope of 1 yellow means hes missing a game but if he picked up a card in the City game I wouldnt be too worried.

grumpymunster

So far Costa is one of ToL greatest achievements at the Bridge, getting him to stay focused on playing football and scoring rather than fighting with all and sundry.

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

So far Costa is one of ToL greatest achievements at the Bridge, getting him to stay focused on playing football and scoring rather than fighting with all and sundry.

If Costa continues his scoring form, 42 goals in 66 games, hes going to smash through Drogbas record with us.

I dont think Costa will have a Drogba season where he gets nearly 30 league goals but Drogba took free kicks that year too.

I'd still love for Diego to get passed 20 league goals this year, hes half way there after 12 games.

Last year Diego managed only 12 league goals.

grumpymunster

So 12 games in "and Leicester" are 14th and some 16 points behind the leaders already - are they going to take our record?

No disrespect Foxes fans but I do hope so.

hots

grumpymunster wrote: »

So far Costa is one of ToL greatest achievements at the Bridge, getting him to stay focused on playing football and scoring rather than fighting with all and sundry.

100%, the discipline he's shown since getting the 4th booking has been great and his form has only got better for it.

peteeeed

hots wrote: »

100%, the discipline he's shown since getting the 4th booking has been great and his form has only got better for it.

well most of those were because of the new dissent rules , he knows he cant tell the ref to go fvck himself

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

So 12 games in "and Leicester" are 14th and some 16 points behind the leaders already - are they going to take our record?

No disrespect Foxes fans but I do hope so.

Leicester are only 2 points above relegation, after the same amount of games last year, we were 3 points above the relegation zone. :pac:

peteeeed

the dev team to play southampton this afternoon , very interesting

https://twitter.com/chelseayouth/status/800687678173933568

hots

peteeeed wrote: »

the dev team to play southampton this afternoon , very interesting

https://twitter.com/chelseayouth/status/800687678173933568

Jesus take it handy Tony!

I'd say that's just a byproduct of having such a consistent 11, the subs need football to stay sharp. Hopefully Zouma looks better!

GavRedKing

peteeeed wrote: »

the dev team to play southampton this afternoon , very interesting

https://twitter.com/chelseayouth/status/800687678173933568

That team is a bit strong no? :pac:

Jaysus.

GavRedKing

You're allowed name 3 over age players, our 3 just happen to have exactly 189 international caps between them.

GavRedKing

Will be interesting to see how Zouma and JT do in this 3 at the back, especially together.

Zouma doesnt have the ball playing ability as our current 3 starters but is stronger and quicker than them all and better in the air, JT is very good on the ball but lacks serious pace but has the best head for defending of any of our CBs.

I cant remember was it on here I read an articel or was it Twitter that basically said the key to our offensive style of play was Luiz, if a manager wants to stop Chelsea at the source, all pressure should be applied to Luiz who is in effect, a spare CB and our deep lying playmaker.

If you can force Luiz into mistakes or to give the ball away, you'll stop Chelsea playing out from their own final 3rd, I do agree with that to a certain degree but Cahill and Azp are decent on the ball and I reckon it sKante is the key, Matic doesnt show as often for the short, under pressure from a CF or CM type ball that Kante can pop off first time, our CBs usually look for Kante to turn and get us going, if the supply to Kante is shut down, like Makelele before him, Chelsea will slow down.

Its interesting to watch Courtois too, in open play hes looking for short to medium balls to the CBs, Kante or the WBs, gone are teh days off aimless punts up to Costa, again, a good sign and shows more confidence from the side.

peteeeed

BATMAN scores

https://twitter.com/ChelseaFC/status/800704693118717952

GavRedKing

U23s are 2-1 down I think I seen on Twitter.

GavRedKing

http://www.squawka.com/comparison-matrix#premier_league/2016/2017/eden_hazard/641/641/454/0/p|premier_league/2016/2017/juan_mata/641/641/313/38/p|premier_league/2016/2017/philippe_coutinho/641/641/2673/0/p|premier_league/2016/2017/alexis_sánchez/641/641/1581/0/p|premier_league/2016/2017/kevin_de_bruyne/641/641/2431/37/p#goals_scored/assists/chances_created/successful_passes/successful_take_ons/fouls_suffered#total

Bit of a look at Hazards main rivals from City, Pool, Arsenal and Utd and how he compares so far.

GavRedKing

Saints GK has made some fine saves for the U23's.

Zouma had an effort cleared off the line too.

By all accounts, the big man is still rusty as fook and was booked for a rash challenge in the opening few mins.

peteeeed

3-2 win batman with 2 and 1 for MVG

GavRedKing

3 goals of good quality too.

Another day the scoreline is much higher, Saints GK played well even if he left in 3 long range efforts they were all good finishes.

Batman missed an open goal apparently.

Lukker-

We should be beating Spurs next week. They are playing Monaco tomorrow in the CL and it's a must win for them. It's a short journey so travel shouldn't wear them out too much but Monaco are in good form and should give them a tough game. I don't think they'll bring their A game to Stamford Bridge, considering they rely so much on fitness and pressure over technique. So anything less than 3 points and I'll be a bit disappointed!

I'd be happy with 4 points from our next 2 games

justshane

GavRedKing wrote: »

Will be interesting to see how Zouma and JT do in this 3 at the back, especially together.

Zouma doesnt have the ball playing ability as our current 3 starters but is stronger and quicker than them all and better in the air, JT is very good on the ball but lacks serious pace but has the best head for defending of any of our CBs.

I cant remember was it on here I read an articel or was it Twitter that basically said the key to our offensive style of play was Luiz, if a manager wants to stop Chelsea at the source, all pressure should be applied to Luiz who is in effect, a spare CB and our deep lying playmaker.

If you can force Luiz into mistakes or to give the ball away, you'll stop Chelsea playing out from their own final 3rd, I do agree with that to a certain degree but Cahill and Azp are decent on the ball and I reckon it sKante is the key, Matic doesnt show as often for the short, under pressure from a CF or CM type ball that Kante can pop off first time, our CBs usually look for Kante to turn and get us going, if the supply to Kante is shut down, like Makelele before him, Chelsea will slow down.

Its interesting to watch Courtois too, in open play hes looking for short to medium balls to the CBs, Kante or the WBs, gone are teh days off aimless punts up to Costa, again, a good sign and shows more confidence from the side.

Great points, although I don't trust Cahill on the ball at all. He always looks as if he's over confident without the skills to match. I think teams can try catch Luiz out on the ball but they won't succeed. He's amazing with it at his feet, his mistakes over the years have usually been lapses in a positional sense rather than someone dispossesing him.

GavRedKing

justshane wrote: »

Great points, although I don't trust Cahill on the ball at all. He always looks as if he's over confident without the skills to match. I think teams can try catch Luiz out on the ball but they won't succeed. He's amazing with it at his feet, his mistakes over the years have usually been lapses in a positional sense rather than someone dispossesing him.

JT is much better than Cahill on the ball but we all know, for some time now, hes been very slow and putting him as a wider CB would be a recipe for disaster, it would need Alonso to cover him much deeper.

BBC had a map of the average Chelsea position the other night and Alonso was in effect, a LB, moses was right winger, playing higher than Pedro and Hazard was nearly as high as Costa and tucked in.

Its a very deceiving 3-4-3 in parts, but its working.

GavRedKing

Lukker- wrote: »

We should be beating Spurs next week. They are playing Monaco tomorrow in the CL and it's a must win for them. It's a short journey so travel shouldn't wear them out too much but Monaco are in good form and should give them a tough game. I don't think they'll bring their A game to Stamford Bridge, considering they rely so much on fitness and pressure over technique. So anything less than 3 points and I'll be a bit disappointed!

I'd be happy with 4 points from our next 2 games

I'd be delighted with 4 points but given how hit and miss City are at the moment theres no reason we cant go there and beat them.

First things first though, get Spurs out of the way and we're on fire.

I certainly dont fear Spurs given their recent fortunes but I do respect that in Kane theyve a serious threat and he has to be stopped.

TimRiggins

GavRedKing wrote: »

Will be interesting to see how Zouma and JT do in this 3 at the back, especially together.

Zouma doesnt have the ball playing ability as our current 3 starters but is stronger and quicker than them all and better in the air, JT is very good on the ball but lacks serious pace but has the best head for defending of any of our CBs.

I cant remember was it on here I read an articel or was it Twitter that basically said the key to our offensive style of play was Luiz, if a manager wants to stop Chelsea at the source, all pressure should be applied to Luiz who is in effect, a spare CB and our deep lying playmaker.

If you can force Luiz into mistakes or to give the ball away, you'll stop Chelsea playing out from their own final 3rd, I do agree with that to a certain degree but Cahill and Azp are decent on the ball and I reckon it sKante is the key, Matic doesnt show as often for the short, under pressure from a CF or CM type ball that Kante can pop off first time, our CBs usually look for Kante to turn and get us going, if the supply to Kante is shut down, like Makelele before him, Chelsea will slow down.

Its interesting to watch Courtois too, in open play hes looking for short to medium balls to the CBs, Kante or the WBs, gone are teh days off aimless punts up to Costa, again, a good sign and shows more confidence from the side.

Very good post. In reference to the Makelele point I feel that this formation is different to that case as if, as you pointed out, someone sticks beside Luiz and pressures him, we have another outlet with Alonso and Moses. If they push right up Kante will come and get the ball. The formation gives us so many options and flexibility. I think if someone does man mark Kante we can go wide, and if Moses picks up the ball and is under pressure we seem to be able to pass the ball well enough under pressure to get out of it.

For the games against Spurs and City I expect them to keep a keen eye on Moses in particular. Its also good to know that if we do get under siege for a few minutes we can go to a back 5 without any hassle.

The two games coming up will tell us alot about this system but its been flawless so far.

TimRiggins

https://twitter.com/HotspurRelated/status/800831427902402560

https://twitter.com/HotspurRelated/status/800831673046802432

Beautiful

peteeeed

TimRiggins wrote: »

https://twitter.com/HotspurRelated/status/800831427902402560

https://twitter.com/HotspurRelated/status/800831673046802432

Beautiful

that would be a video i could watch

grumpymunster

TimRiggins wrote: »

https://twitter.com/HotspurRelated/status/800831427902402560

https://twitter.com/HotspurRelated/status/800831673046802432

Beautiful

Well that cheers you up on a cold and damp Tuesday morning