True Blue23

He's a better defender than Luiz, but his distribution is pretty bad. Easily the worst out of our options.

I think they will. Luis Enrique didn't even call up Alba, despite him being fit. The two left backs in the squad are Alonso and Gaya. So for now I guess he'll be given the starting spot.

I agree that Kovacic should be given a bit more time to get used to a more attacking role than the one he had at Madrid. But I think right now against these smaller teams we have better options. Barkley hasn't lit the world on fire so far, and defensively and technically he's definitely a step down from Kovacic, but attacking wise he's way more direct makes more runs and takes more risks than Kovacic. Also as he's shown at Everton he's got a decent shot on him which can come in handy when the opposition are camped around the box. Loftus-cheek again offers far less defensively than Kovacic and he doesn't score many goals, but he too is more attack minded and goes on runs and tries to get into goal scoring positions or play the final ball more than Kovacic. He's got lots of potential but is unproven and I understand that Sarri plays the croatian instead of him, I just think his profile fits these kind of matches more than Kovacic's. Cesc I think would be the best option against this kind of opponent. Great vision, great passing ability, willing to take risks, great link up play. Sure, he is painfully slow and not great defensively, but with two midfielders behind/beside him, his positives clearly outweigh his negatives in games where we have 70% possession or more. So nothing against Kovacic, he's doing well considering he plays a new role in a new league with no pre season, but I just don't think we need 3 players who have all played the majority of their games as the deepest midfielder in their last few seasons against teams who have 9 players in and around their penalty box.

I didn't like him too much either. He was good defensively, I'll give him that, but I think we need an attacking threat next to Kante and Jorginho and he just isn't that. He doesn't take enough risks, doesn't get into good attacking positions. I'm fine with playing him against the top teams, but when we have to break down teams like yesterday or last week, then I think either of Cesc, RLC or Barkley are a better option.

For me it depends on the situation. When you've got a busy schedule, the game is won and you have another game where you need him in 3 days, then please take him off. But if we're only playing once a week or the midweek game is some unimportant EL game, then let him stay on. I honestly think though that Conte didn't necessarily take him off to save his legs but to get the more hardworking, defensively better Willian or Pedro on the pitch, which is even worse.

If you read my post again you'll see that I never said that he's better at distributing the ball than Luiz. I disagree however that he's always passing it sideways and looks scared whenever he gets on the ball. It's not a coincidence that he was also played in midfield at youth level, and that Pep and Barcelona were keen on him. His Denmark manager even said this about him: "He is really designed more like a midfielder than as a central defender. “He moves well with the ball, has an overview and is strong mentally. "He has a huge talent, and that's what Chelsea understood. But they use him as the central defender. “I hope he can get up in the midfield in one way or another. “He has a greater development potential than when he is in the back of the defence." And yes I'm aware of Zouma also having a spell in midfield for us, but that was just Mourinho wanting to have some extra muscle in midfield against the big sides, and very few managers would do that at a top team. Lastly the posting of the video is just such a lazy response. Every player has some lose passes that lead to chances for the opponents. Christensen had the bad luck that it was in a big game and lead to a goal. That doesn't make him bad on the ball. I can remember Cesc having at least 5 of those last season, where he wasn't aware of the opponents and playing risky passes in our final third that lead to good opportunities for them. Jorginho in his short time with us has already had 2 or 3 of those if you count the Pre Season. And lastly Luiz himself is the best example of somebody trying risky stuff that doesn't come of. Rewatch the 7:1 against Germany for example. Luiz was atrocious on and of the ball in that game, yet you wouldn't call him poor on the ball and on one level with Cahill would you?

Where is this myth coming from that Christensen is not good with the ball at his feet? When it comes to first touch and keeping the ball under pressure I would trust him over Luiz, when it comes to passing for me he's number 3 out of our centre backs, ranking closely behind Rüdiger. Number one in this regard is obviously David Luiz.

It usually balances itself out during the course of the season though. Every player gets those two yard passes that count as created chances. Chances created basically means that you passed the ball to somebody who then takes a shot. And odds are that the more often a player shoots after your passes, the more often your passes get players in good positions to shoot. It's not perfect by any means and doesn't tell you anything about the quality of chances created, but it gives you an indication. So I don't think it should be discarded completely

But we don't have a reliable striker or a really prolific goalscoring winger though, so we'd really need one. Also if you look at our rivals, City have Silva and KDB, Utd have Pogba and Lingard (as number 10), Arsenal have Ramsey, so there's plenty of teams with more goal threat from midfield than us.

It's not just about spending though. I didn't do the maths but I'm sure during that period we've generated a lot more mone than City through selling players ourselves. Our net spend's probably way below theirs. We've sold Oscar, Matic and Costa for big money during that period.

I agree with you, that he should be used as a midfielder and not as an attacker, but you chose a pretty bad example, because in the second half he actually played as a LW in place of CHO.

Jorginho and Cesc looked great together in the first half. The level of passing was incredible. You could also clearly see that Pedro comes from la Masia. That quick short passing football is right up his ally. He did really well. In the second half Cesc was clearly tiring and without Jorginho the passing wasn't half as good. Jorginho didn't only impress with his passing. I also really liked his defensive positioning. Hudson-Odoi did pretty well too. Showed his great talent, but clearly isn't as good at movement and game intelligence as Pedro yet. Which is only normal considering he's only 17. I'd like him to stay as backup to Hazard, but people here need to slow their horses. He's a great prospect, but far from the finished article. Barkley was pretty lively. Had some good chances and really should have got a goal. Some untidy moments, but improved as the game went on and really came into his own in the second half. Luiz did very well apart from that yellow card. Loved his build up play. Ampadu looked like a seasoned pro. Rock solid defensively and tidy in possession. Alonso was decent but could have been better. Zappacosta looked really good, especially in attack. Morata was pretty poor. Pasalic did reasonably well. Combative player, very two footed, but not that great technically. Bakayoko did well in the beginning, but became his sloppy self as the game went on. Emerson was very energetic on that left flank. Love his pace and technical quality. Not that great defensively though. Abraham was an improvement on Morata. Much more of a physical presence. Kalas was decent, Piazon, Musonda and Aina didn't really do too much.

I might be in the minority here, but I hope this doesn't happen. I think Golovin is a good young player, but I just don't see anything special in him. He's very dynamic, a good dribbler, a hard worker and scores the odd spectacular goal, but he is neither a major goal threat, a physical presence or special at passing the ball. With Jorginho and Kante we are well set as far as hard work, good positioning and build up play from deep go. What we lack is a player who can score goals from midfield, a physical presence or is good at providing the final ball (Jorginho won't be able to do that consistently due to his deep position). Our current options for that position are Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Cesc, Barkley and RLC. The first two are not really a good fit, because they are not good enough offensively for that position. I would keep one of them (preferrably Bakayoko, but maybe Drinkwater if we get problems with our HG quota) as backup for Kante and sell/loan out the other. Out of the other three Cesc gives us great link up play, the ability to consistently play the final ball. He also shouldn't have any problems with Sarri's high tempo football as he is one of our most technical players and his defensive deficiency's and lack of dynamism will not expose us too much with Kante and Jorginho behind him. And he might even start scoring more goals again playing further forward, because at Barca and Arsenal he always used to score quite a lot. Only thing he lacks is the physicality. Barkley isn't bad physically, very direct and has proven to be a goal threat as well as being capable of creating a good number of chances in the past. He's not the greatest defensively, but he will do his share of hard work, and again, with Kante and Jorginho as his partners, that wouldn't be his main job. I'm not sure about his overall quality, but imo he deserves a shot. Maybe he'll come good. RLC is strong physically, good at protecting the ball and driving through midfield, has good link up play and is a decent passer of the ball. Not sure about his work rate and his intensity, but the talent is there for all to see and maybe Sarri can unlock it. Also as with the other two I think that with Kante and Jorginho partnering him, he might just get away with having a little less stamina than your average midfielder. So in conclusion, I think Golovin is not as good a goalscorer as Cesc and Barkley, not as much of a physical presence as RLC and Barkley, and not as good a passer as Cesc, and not as good a dribbler as RLC. He's a pretty good allrounder, but the only thing that Golovin is really better at than our options for this third midfield spot, is his tremendous energy and workrate. And given the fact that our options are not only free, but also HG, and also taking into consideration, that in Mason Mount, we have another young english prospect returning from loan next year, I'd much rather save the money and stick with what we've got. I'd only sign another midfielder if he really is the real deal, like for example Milinkovic-Savic, but that's not likely to happen, and I have to say that I'm pretty happy with our current options.

What are your opinions on Higuain in his current state and Rugani?

Thank you! Your posts have been very insightful. I'm alson interested in your opinion on Jorginho. His passing seems to be top notch, but what about his other attributes? How good is he at keeping the ball, tackling, intercepting, shooting and positional play? How dynamic is he? And since he isn't the most physical player, how do you think he will handle the physicality in England?