mwblue10

I know nothing about this guy, but I just read that an Italian journalist describes him as a ball winner and box to box midfielder. Sounds more likely a replacement for Kovacic?

We are 4th in the league in goals scored (only 1 less than Liverpool and 2 less than Arsenal), and we’ve done it with only 6 goals from our strikers (5 from Morata and 1 from Giroud). I’d say we are doing just fine in that regard, so Kovacic’s lack of goals does not bother me. His work rate and tidiness is very valuable. If we keep Kovacic and buy a proper number 9, I think you’ll see us only trailing City in terms of goals scored.

Agreed, I think James is the one we should bring into the team, over Aina. I have read reports, as well, that he is having a great season. Something like 3 or 4 straight player of the month awards for Wigan.

I saw Milan rumored as a potential destination for him by Simon Phillips, who was quoting Italian media.

A lot of money to pay for a backup RB. Can’t see him overtaking Azpi anytime soon, but I guess Azpi is 29 now, so it strengthens the spot for the years after, and by all accounts, he is a favorite of Sarri.

I think we should keep them all, and rotate Kovacic into the RCM spot from time to time to give Kante a rest. There’s enough games for all of them to play quite a bit. I think Kovacic would do quite well in that role. We would just need a backup for Jorginho if Cesc moves on. As far as the goals/assists, apparently Kante will be taking care of that for us

Good performance yesterday, he is ideal for playing against a press.

I actually laughed out loud when that happened. Walker trying to be tough - he wound up and threw his whole body, and Rüdiger hardly flinched. Most would struggle to stay on their feet.

You’re both welcome to your opinion but I disagree. Does he hold the ball too long sometimes? Sure. And yes, those flick ons drive me crazy too. But the only games he isn’t starting are cup ties and Europa games that are against second rate opponents. The PL games he hasn’t started, he has come on and had a direct impact on the result (home against Arsenal) or a fine contribution (away to Huddersfield). I’m much more comfortable keeping Hazard and adding some good players so that he doesn’t need to hold the ball too long as often. You can’t sell your best players and expect to win the league or in Europe.

You’re probably right, maybe I should have said most talented and most unplayable on his day. Curious as to what your arguments are as far as the team playing better without Hazard?

Because he’s the best player we have ever had and fans want him to stay

I thought he actually held the ball up quite well. The first half he was jumping for balls being bombed at his head.

I think it’s entirely possible we stick with the false 9 moving forward. This second half performance is what it should look like, first half was reminiscent of Conte’s false 9 setup.

Come on now, we definitely need to show more ambition than that

There will always be people who have a go at individuals players when things aren’t going well for the team and it’s certainly easier to do that after a loss. But Alonso has been bad, like dreadfully bad, recently, so I wouldn’t call it bullying. His offensive productivity used to offset his defensive deficiencies but that hasn’t been happening recently. It’ll take one good performance and a lot of people will forget. Still, it would be nice to see Emerson at least every few league games.