PythonLu

Very happy for Conte to make it three in a row. Some might say it's an even bigger achievement considering he's the coach of Chelsea and not a club that wears red. He fully deserves this and at this point it would not be entirely inappropriate for us to give him our full trust and support in all issues, including disputes he has with individual players. Ultimately we will never know the full truth behind every story, so it's a matter of who will get the benefit of the doubt. For me personally it's Antonio Conte :)

Michy has done so incredibly well staying positive despite the tough reality that, despite his talent, he couldn't get near Costa-in-his-prime. His overall minutes in the PL amount to less than 90, which is particularly bad for a striker because they need to play regularly and score to keep that confidence up. Today he will hopefully get a shot at it (pun intendend). His conversion stats are impressive indeed. If he can score today to get us three very important points and if Costa really had the audacity to insult Conte, then I would not shy away from giving Michy another start against Hull. But that's of course just my opinion.

That's pretty much the opposite side of the pitch mate ;)

Well, look, 30m a year, if true, would make almost anyone think. Just because Costa is considering it, doesn't mean he is not in it for the game (btw, he would play football in China, too :) ). It's easy for us to talk, judge and criticise, but he is in a different world entirely. We really shouldn't jump to conclusions here as most of us neither know what happened nor what it feels like to be offered something so excessively lavish. It's just my opinion, but I believe we only have one truly irreplaceable player. If they're offering >=80m and Conte says Costa isn't committed anymore, then give it a serious thought.

I can see why people would be reluctant to sell the Costa of 2016/2017, but honestly it would not be the first time that he is unprofessional. This is not to say that I want to show him the door, but it's worth pointing out that 80m for a 28 yo striker, an opportunity for Michy to prove himself and a better outlook for Tammy Abraham (and other youth products) mean that this story, if true, is not the end of the world either. So don't lose your minds and have a nice Friday evening everyone.

Well, a bad attitude might affect his performance in such a way that replacing him will be easier than we think :)

Well, honestly, at £80m I would sell him. And I do understand why Costa would consider a £30m a year offer, too. Having said that, I hope the reports are utterly exaggerated, which I am sure they are, and they will manage the situation in a professional manner.

So true! I had to unfollow several footy sites on Facebook because I got tired of never ending Untied rumours. On the bright side, we've proven many times that we can convince players to join us instead if we really want to.

Thanks for the updates!

So true, last season even our dear Eden Hazard learned this the hard way.

I miss it already...

Same here, but that article in the Guardian gave me some hope :) I would prefer Twickenham, to be honest. The area seems to be nicer, and we could hopefully use the whole stadium. The fact that we'd have to leave half of Wembley empty is a major disadvantage, but that's just my opinion.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jan/10/chelsea-stamford-bridge-stadium-plan Would we be able to use the full capacity at Twickenham?

Such a lovely gesture, and they seem to do it without telling the whole world about it. Great club, great people.

We come into this game as a team that's won it all in the past 15 years, Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League, you name it, but last season we were horrible. For Leicester it was a perfectly anti-correlating thing. Except for last season they were nowhere near us in terms of achievement, but they did win the Premier League last season, which is a major honour. So does last season mean anything for this game now or can we consider it a game in which Chelsea would be the clear favourite?

I voted for Pedrito, but all attacking players were good. Gutted for John, by the way. The ref did not have to send him off. It was a tight situation, but not quite the foul-or-goal kind of thing. I hope he will get a few more meaningful starts before the season ends.

The worst part is not that Pedro hit the bar, but it's that he didn't pass the ball to RLC. That's the problem with those second-tier games. Too many players are out to impress individually.

Haha, Michy really wants to score, he could've tried to earn a penalty there, but he wants a proper goal. I like the man.

Maybe to show some respect to Ivanovic. Those decisions are not all technical, and I can see why. Ivanovic is a great person, and has some meaningful legacy at the club.

Ivanovic showing some room for improvement there. This game is also showing us why Moses made such a big difference.

What a pass by Fabregas to Michy... You know, the older Fabregas gets the more he becomes that kind of player who is exceptionally good at some things, and really bad at others.

I do hope we can get away with a win without a lot of hassle. A bit sad Musonda is nowhere to be seen, I used to think he's a huge prospect.

Well, now he is paying the price, I suppose. Ultimately no one knows why he went there, but Sanchez being set on Arsenal above anyone else certainly wasn't my first thought.

By the way, I liked Conte's response to Emenalo's compliment. This was probably feedback that the club wanted to give him on his first half of a season, and because it was so very positive they made it in a public way. He was very flattered because it was as positive as it gets at this stage, but he remained pragmatic. I think he is well aware of the difficult road that is ahead with Liverpool, Arsenal and all, and tries not to get distracted by the hype around himself. He is really the kind of guy you want to be in charge of things, because this is the attitude that has to permeate the locker room. It had a huge effect, in my opinion, because the players are all a lot more committed than last season. There we see how important attitude is. Right now, some might say Conte is as good a signing as any player we could've signed last summer!