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Funny how everybody's opinions fluctuate as the season goes. 2 months ago, we have a world class striker and now we are talking about wanting to sign a replacement. I did not expect him to score 20 goals (around 15 was my thought), but he has a great chance at hitting that mark. Couple that with his link up play and ability to create for his teammates, is say he is having a mighty fine first season in England. I think Morata has been good overall and outstanding at times. I am as frustrated as anyone with his 1v1 finishing lately, but I think he has proven capable of doing it. His first goal of the hat trick against Stoke jumps to mind and the winner against Bournemouth in the cup game, as well. I fully expect him to bounce back and start banging them in regularly, and we can all look back on this "dry spell" and laugh about it.

You are a joke of a a fan, and the type that shouldn't even be allowed to voice an opinion if it's going to be that idiotic

Dislike a player as much as you like, but wishing injury on one of our own is disgraceful.

f**king unbelievable by professional players.

Morata was essential after losing Costa. Is he as good? Only time will tell. He's got 12 goals and looks likely to hit 20 or thereabouts so I would say a very good investment. Costa wasn't staying so no point in comparing. Zappacosta has been above estimation in my opinion, considering that he was probably brought in as a squad player, as was Drinkwater most likely. We haven't seen enough of the latter to make a judgement. I admit that Bakayoko has had a difficult start but Costa keeps playing him, possibly to help him develop, which we all (?) hope he does. He got himself into good positions against Arsenal and Cech made one excellent save from his effort. I really don't know why all Chelsea players have to have Roy of the Rovers capabilities all the time for some fans!

Silverware is silverware and when we have won this before it’s been great. I think we should be naming a full strength team against Arsenal. Also if anyone can beat city then it’s us, and a day out at Wembley for a cup final is a great occasion whether you win or lose you want to be in cup finals competing for every trophy, so to disregard this just because it’s the “league cup” is a joke. Theres youth competitions to develop youth players.

If Virgil Van Dilk costs £75m and we can get Sandro for £60m, why are we even stalling? Apparently we're willing to pay £50m...okay, why not just sell Van Ginkel, Piazon or any of the other thousand players we have on loan that will never play a part in the squad. This is beyond penny-pinching now, if Marina can justify spending £35m on Drinkwater, why not an extra £10m for Alex Sandro?

Very attacking and I see Kante being left to do everything defensively in the middle so I can't see it working too well. Then again who knows

I think Drinkwater was a solid buy, he has yet to put a foot wrong when he's played and has a good deal more attacking ability than Nemanja, Morata is good, probably not quite Costa level, but given the age difference and experience gap I think that's to be expected, if he hits 25 or 30 goals in all competitions i think we can call him a success an expect a further improvement next season. Zappacosta does what he was meant to, rotates with Moses, adds a bit more of an attacking option in the RWB position, not a bad buy. Only Bakayoko is looking really questionable, but I'm tending to give him the benefit of the doubt to settle here and improve. He certainly has traits that suggest he could be a great player, and has time on his side, right now it looks like he's a bit out of his depth and the pressure is getting to him. The pass from fabregas against arsenal is a good example. If Bakayoko was higher on confidence I reckon he'd have buried the chance, but he looks nervy and simple things are going wrong for him. Needs a break from the starting lineup I think and a chance to work on his defensive acumen.

I take the point at being frustrated after spending your hard earned money, that's fair enough. Especially an away game. What I don't like is the signalling out of individuals and giving them a hard time (fair enough for opposition players!). It's self-defeating. Looking back at SWP, Kalou etc. I can't help but think that they would have played better for the team had they had support from the terraces. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Bakayoko frustrates me too but he has potential and I hope that potential is fulfilled while he's here. And btw, his beard doesn't bother me!

What concerns me is that every position we spent money on in the summer, we're probably looking to do the same again come the end of the season. £40m on Bakayoko, £35m on Drinkwater, £60m on Morata and £21m on Zappacosta. Over £150m spent but have any of them actually improved the first team? Personally, I don't think so. Poor window on reflection really.

Yeah, sorry for being a bit snide, I just get pissed off with some of these muppets who keep slagging of the club for selling players who did nothing at the time to warrant being kept or replacing top internationals in the first team, but now, when these players have got older and more experienced and one (or possibly two) have turned out to be quite good, they are all wise after the event and abusing the club. I looked back at the KdB threads at the time in here, and I can't find anyone at the time pleading his case and saying that he most definitely should be kept because he was a world-beater in the making. Now all we have is a few people saying "waaa waaa waaa, it's not fair, he wasn't given a chance". Usually the same people who are whining on about how bad Bakayoko is and should be got rid of, or how Batshuayi doesn't get a fair chance, even though he's piss-poor whenever he does. So, sorry for an attitude towards you. Fans support the team, no matter what. Tourists think they can do what they like, regardless. Where do you fit in?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5244615/amp/A-shot-time-Defences-scared-Hughie-Gallacher.html?__twitter_impression=true

1. He'd be an improvement. 2. He's available 3. He knows the premium well. 4. He'd strengthen rivals if not 5. It's one you think is within the club's budget.

Aye, I know. Guilty as charged. A 1983/84 Chelsea Old Git and proud of it!

Every few days one of us old gits, mentions that season and that great team on this forum, and everytime it brings a smile to my face

Those fans with ironic cheers (and booing their own players) should know that they are likely to have their prejudices realised but they should really think what benefit it brings the team. Support your players!

It's just sad at this point. It's not about the money, it's about the statement the club is inadvertently sending out.

I was assuming CM, but it's possible he might play where Willian/Pedro do in a 3-4-3.

I think the game against Norwich highlighted how important Hazard and Fabregas are to our team, without the 2 we do not have any creativity within the squad hence we struggled to open up even a championship level outfit. Mahrez may not be world class but he certainly offers us something from an attacking perspective which we lack in the last 1/3rd especially without Hazard and Fabregas. I am surprised to hear absolutely nothing linking us with him, seems a bit of a no brainer but maybe the management team have something else in mind.

What Baka needs is to sit on the bench for once and stop playing every bloody game. I'll be furious if I see him starting against Arsenal again.

@Carshalton Blue Great article about Hughie Gallacher. Thanks for posting. Gallacher was one of the famous Scotland team known as the Wembley Wizards which beat England 5-1 at Wembley in 1928. Gallacher didn't score but Scotland's left-back in the game was Chelsea's Tommy Law.

Here you go http://www.bounder.friardale.co.uk/

Happy Days. 1983/84. We were back!

If the scousers arent happy with this deal i like it even more, Welcome Ross!

Innocent until proven guilty. Let's not throw him under the bus.

Jake Clarke-Salter out on loan to Sunderland till the end of the season. Great move for the kid, and he gets to work with Chris Coleman who is a gem. Great man-manager.

Prices have almost doubled in the last 2 years though. You have to look at what the player would have cost 2-3 years ago to get a real sense of how good they are. I mean, Kyle Walker cost £50m, but really that price should be about £20-25m. Zappacosta is not a £22m pound player, more like £10m. So £58m for Morata (plus add-ons) is really about £35m I'd say, which is about what we paid for Costa I think. That gives it a bit more perspective. These transfer fees are giving skewed perspectives on player ability. Same goes for Bakayoko, he's not a £40m player, he could have been about £20-22m realistically. I'd say as a rule, take the fee paid this year and multiply it by 0.6 for a rough estimate of what they are actually worth: Rudiger - 29m -> 17.4m Bakayoko - 40m -> 24m Morata - 58m -> 34.8m Zappacosta - 23m -> 13.8m Drinkwater - 35m -> 21m (English so costs more)

First game in 2 months.

Honestly did not know that. Muted the game because I couldn't stand the commentary. That's poor from some of the fans

Hehehehe... You said Metro And reliable Within two words of each other. Ps. Moussa Marega. Porto striker. Never heard of him before. Has Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink found a way to reverse time? https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5244819/amp/Man-United-Chelsea-make-contact-Moussa-Marega.html

Goals since August 2015: Mahrez: 30 Coutinho: 28 Hazard: 26 Assists since August 2015: Mahrez: 21 Coutinho: 18 Hazard: 10

I still think he’ll come good for us in the end. There’s a lot of competition in the team and I think it’s playing on his mind and knocking his confidence...when he strings together a few good games I think we’ll see him start kicking on from there

Fans pay for travel and tickets, they can do what they like.

Its completely up to Conte what he does and if he decides to get in a war of words, its nothing to do with Mourinho and him dragging Conte down.

Luis Suarez does not lose any of his nefarious connotations no matter how good natured and innocent that smiley looks.

Disappointing today. Rustiness is one thing but being sucked in again just like in the Roma game despite being the most experienced player in the team, just can't see him displace any of Azpi or Christensen.

The Final is Early?!!!

Yeah, stupid immature behaviour is clearly only for women

Jose doesn't have a line that he won't cross - he really is gutter level these days. Such a bitter figure and losing any last ounce of respect CFC fans had for him by the day. Glad we have a man who oozes class. Sure he will bite back, but he still does so with a bit of class!

Jose, such a classy guy.

People want to offload either Pedro or Willian because they want the team to improve, Barkley adds numbers but does he really improve on the quality? Someone like Mahrez improves on the players already at the club, adds something different and i would certainly like to offload Willian and put the money towards Mahrez, Willian has had his time at Chelsea now.

My favourite Tweet I saw went something like this: "Live scenes at the Nou Camp, Drinkwater wins back possession, flicks it to Barkley who crosses it into the box...CARROLL! Andy Carroll with an impressive header, the visitors have got a goal back in Spain, making it 5-1."

Football is a fickle business. Whilst I agree his performance against Liverpool was poor, it's not as if he didn't put in an impressive display against United just a few weeks ago (finishing aside). He has also impressed me against Spurs & Madrid away. His performances for Monaco at Champions League level last season are the reason we bought him, so I think the potential is clearly there, but he needs to step on his game week in/week out if he wants to cement a place in the starting 11. When he is on his game, his physical presence reminds me of a Essien/Toure type of midfield enforcer, and I love that type of player. I think we have never really had that type of player since Essien, so I do get excited at the thought of having someone who can command a midfield like that again. The medias obsession with comparing him to Matic is tedious. They are both players who are going to have their good days and their bad days, neither of them are currently world beaters. The one game which was the perfect platfrorm to compare them, was when they played each other, and in that game Bakayoko came out on top. Comfortably. Funnily enough I don't recall the media doing too many comparisons after that game.