DaRick

Morata is quality in the air granted, but I honestly think that Giroud is even better. He's taller, he can jump higher and his headers are even more accurate.

Could swap Emerson with Alonso if the opposing RB/RWB isn't particularly pacy/potent, and/or we really need Giroud's aerial ability against a deep-defending backline.

Likewise, I've posted nothing in Chelsea Match Chat since the Bournemouth/Watford double-disaster to my knowledge, as pretty much every league result from then until now was a disappointment, culminating in that home loss to Tottenham for the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union. However, it seems that Conte's switch to a back-four paid dividends, albeit he could have done so earlier (but then even at his best he was never really one for an early tactical change). The first goal is a pinpoint Alonso cross finding Giroud's head. Giroud is both stronger and more aerially adept than Morata, allowing him to bully defensive lines and get his headers on target more consistently than Morata. The second and third goals were more down to sloppy defending in the box than any particularly good play by our guys. No surprise that Willian initiated both though. He's definitely been more dynamic in recent months. Crossing in from the left with his weaker foot was never something Willian was known to do (instead plugging away along the right or maybe the centre), so maybe he's added a few strings to his bow. If Conte is serious about salvaging this season, he will continue with a back four formation. Unfortunately, I'm sure he expects to be gone at the end of the season regardless and so I'm not sure that he is. On another note, I could still see a place for Morata with Giroud in a 2-man formation. Morata is deceptively quick on the counterattack and might be able to latch on to any loose balls Giroud wins. Problem is that he's an inconsistent finisher. Could that be worked on with practice?

This is sad. I haven't followed Fiorentina seriously for a little while but Astori was an OK defender at his best. He's younger than my brother, which goes to show you how fragile life can be and to try and appreciate it. RIP.

Your posts are pure poetry in motion, @Dorset. I think the rest of us well and truly envy your analytical, fluid yet somehow hopeful and optimistic analyses of Chelsea's situation.

Might be a controversial opinion after this horror show of a performance, but I still think Bakayoko has potential - for Monaco he proved that he was strong and somewhat energetic - but the difference is that at Chelsea he appears to have lost his ability to recycle possession under pressure, whereas at Monaco he could actually do this. Monaco's fans also warned us that he could be inconsistent and have lapses in concentration (plus his first touch was just OK at best) and unfortunately those warnings have been borne out by some awful recent performances (after what I thought was actually an OK start to his season). ATM too unreliable and unpolished to start for a club like Chelsea.

Feels like 15/16 all over again...just a general trainwreck where nobody is performing to their potential.

This result rivals 0-3 Sunderland in terms of awfulness. Glad I missed it.

Can definitely accelerate faster than Alonso can, while being pretty energetic and consistent. He definitely wasn't phenomenal for Roma but he did enough to avoid much criticism. Apparently he's more conservative going forward than Alonso - his dribbling is probably better than Alonso's but he lacks the vision to perform extravagant crosses like Alonso can and he also doesn't really shoot on goal much from what I've seen. Instead he goes for relatively safe passes. Glad to have reasonably capable cover at LWB, plus he probably has higher upside than Alonso does.

Surely not? I understand that the guy is something of a Plan B in that he can hold up the ball much more effectively than Morata when needed, but his injury record counts against him for mine.

You might have a point...posting on there ATM seems like piling on. I'll wait until the end of tomorrow and then maybe write an extended post about the series.

Interesting to see what role he can perform at Chelsea. IMO he lacks the defensive prowess to play in a 3-4-3 formation. He dribbles well enough to unsettle defences but Willian is even better at that when he actually gets going (increasingly rare) and Pedro IMO is no worse. His passing/movement is good but not outstanding. I would suggest that he's an option as two behind Morata, in a false nine or with Cesc/Kante/Drinkwater in a 3-5-2.

@coco I made a donation, as per this thread: However, a Donor status is not showing on my profile. Is it because I paid in AUD rather than GBP? Or is it some other technical issue? It's not a big deal; it just seems odd.

I reckon it's too late to put meaningful pressure on City, even with their injuries. Still, for all the problems we've had this season, we're 2nd and on track for over 80 points. Nothing outstanding of course but not terrible.

I'm actually impressed that Palace managed to stop City winning. It puts our loss against them, while still terrible, into perspective. I still expect City's record to stand for a very long time though. RE Jesus and De Bruyne, I heard they were both injured? They've both won City several games by themselves so their loss might allow other teams to close the gap some. Not enough to actually beat them to the PL title of course.