Total-Football

I agree. The football last season was mind numbing (Which was strange because the year before we actually attacked with a lot of intent) and I'm just excited with where we are going. On the bolded parts: I said nothing there about Guardiola talking to Messi, so that was made up. I also gave two examples of Hazards in posts in this thread so now that's two things you have made up to look smarter. For Sarri, I go off of how he set up his Napoli team (In a 4-3-3) where his players roles were pretty much the same throughout his tenure. I'm assuming he wants Hazard to have a similar role on the left. Guardiola and Cruyff have come out in interviews and explained what their roles were and how they (In Guardiolas case) wanted Messi to play; and what do you know, that was how Messi played under Guardiola. It doesn't take knowing inside information to understand that Messi had a role in the team and followed the instructions of his role. On the paragraph below the quote: I read about football because I like to talk about football and I think the more I know about the game the better my conversations can be. There is no black and whiteness otherwise I wouldn't be having a two page debate with another poster. Just because I don't post "I changed my mind yorkleyblue, please show me your approval" doesn't mean I haven't at times. The irony of you calling anything pretentious when you post around here passing your judgement on how to be a Chelsea fan like you're the sword of Damocles is absolutely hilarious. And then when people don't tow the line of your little boys club image of fandom you follow their posts in threads and mock them until they are bullied off the site. Put me on ignore, then I won't have to read the pointless, incorrect bully tactics from you. There are plenty of Chelsea fans on here who don't have the arrogant sense of self importance whilst contributing very little to any conversation this site, that I would much rather talk to.

Nobody said this, anywhere. Stop making things up to try and look smarter with your insincere, sarcastic routine. But I suppose you get a few likes out of it from people you barely know so it's all good, hey? Meanwhile you haven't contributed any conversation to the topic once again because you are too busy judging other fans for having a differing opinion to you. I agree that Hazard should have a level of freedom that our lesser players don't get due to his ability on the ball. The problem is if you just allow him free roam he has a massive tendency to do exactly as you said you don't want him to do, which is hang around useless areas that don't help the team. That's why he needs guidance from Sarri in how he should position himself best because without that instruction and guidance he becomes a lot less effective.

Messi under Guardiola? Not true. He stuck to his role and executed it to the highest degree; that role had a high degree of freedom but he still followed the instructions of his role. I agree that Sarri allows his forwards a lot of freedom (Although their movements are likely instructed by him rather then their own volition) I just reject the idea that Hazard should have no instruction and be allowed to go where ever he wants as he is to much of an attacking threat. It's dumb and bad for the team. Is it not better for Hazard to move with purpose rather then amble around looking for the ball all the time?

It applied to Messi and Cruyff so it definitely applies to Hazard. Unless you think Hazard is somehow above those two in ability. I don't know why you think it will stifle his game. If anything it will improve it as it will put him where he can do the most damage.

Yes I have, so has Jamie Redknapp and his opinion is worth sh*t, our manager hasn't at a level beyond mine so I don't know what your point is? Yes I have and he had his best seasons when he was under stricter positional instructions, I have also seen Hazard outperformed by inferior players because they don't mindlessly chase the ball the way Hazard does (Salah etc.). Yes, he could, I don't know what Messi has to do with Hazard? Messi was/is ten times the player Hazard is. I can give multiple instances within a 15 minute appearance where he ruined the teams structure within the game. Sure, today he was a threat because he was at his best, the problem is when he doesn't pull off the dribbles past 3/4 players and he is still consistently ruining the teams structure with his lack of spatial awareness and positional sense. He becomes a liability unless he can dribble past 3/4 players which he can't do every game. He actually created the goal by occupying a position in the left half space and drifting centrally with the ball, exactly how Sarri would have him operating consistently. It was also the only real chance he created despite all his flash dribbling, mainly because he was occupying areas of the pitch that were not dangerous to the opposing team. Tell me how many chances did he create when he went to the right hand side, completely vacating the left (Which was full of space for him to and track if we switched the ball to that side) and getting in the way of the players on the right? He did this too many times to count and often times came central without purpose just because the ball was close to him rather then because there was space to attack and exploit. His on the ball work gets an 8/9 out of 10, his off the ball work a 4/5.

No we don't. We want a manager that will teach our best player the correct way to position themselves within the team so that they can optimise their ability and optimise the whole teams structure without ruining the balance of the side. Giving Hazard free reign to follow the ball around not only screws the teams attack up but it blunts his own output as he is often in areas away from where he can cause most damage. The best players have this awareness of space and positioning that Hazard lacks and it's why he isn't as productive as these players and much more inconsistent. When the best players aren't playing well, they are still a danger due to their positioning; Hazards poor positional play means if things don't come off for him he is relatively ineffective. It's no coincidence that he got his assist operating in an area that Sarri would want him to operate in. I'll give an example of Hazard negatively affecting the team within this game due to mindlessly following the ball. Within 3 minutes of coming on, Hazard dropped right back into midfield as he hadn't touched the ball in a while, and he ended up essentially in Jorginho's position trying to dictate play. This caused the teams play to come to a stand still as he had removed himself as a forward option (making it easier for Huddersfield to mark forward passes) and also had forced the midfielders structures wider and removed their ability to build out from the back. This is awful for the team and is something Sarri will drill out of him as it is unacceptable for any player to do. Attacking football does not mean allow Hazard to do what he wants. We did that last season against Barcelona and got trounced 3-0.

I didn't. His positionalsense was all over the place. Just mindlessly followed the ball whenever he could. This is where Sarri will be drilling him this season as it's the main reason why he doesn't score as much as he should. His on the ball work was fabulous as usual.

Castles is one of Mourinho's Drooges so no doubt this was an attempt to rock the apple cart like a little bitch.

We were never challenging for the league anyway.

No teams have goalscorers from midfield. It's warped view we have as fans because we had Lampard for most seasons. You don't usually expect many goals from your midfielders.

It's all too slow. If we move quicker with the ball we would be creating more. As it is the players are still uncomfortable with the movements Sarri has taught them and that half second of hesitation will lead to the chance being closed by the defenders. Very promising signs that second half and it's clear that our pressing schemes are coming along nicely. Defenders pushed up much higher this game.

Playing inferior players will ruin us long term. We need to compete to retain our best players. We can compete with guys like Kovacic, not RLC and Barkley.

Fekir is much more of a forward. Would take Willian/Pedro spot which I don't mind as Fekir is much better then them and offers a lot more goals. He is like Hazard but is a better goalscorer and a worse dribbler.

Very versatile player. Could play a Hazard style role on the right, as a second striker, an attacking midfielder or in a midfield three. It gives us options and he is better then Willian.

That's fine if we get Fekir.