Evoann62

You're right, but tiki-taka football is all good as long as you don't become Arsenal and try to pass the ball into the net! Which appears to be our game plan in the last two games at least.

This is so incredibly spot on, it's not just the "dross" that's the issue, it's same/repeated dross we keep buying. I haven't posted in here for awhile, but the last time I did I brought up the fact that Morata was too similar to Torres in the way he plays. Torres never worked and neither will Morata unfortunately. I think it's fairly obvious that an "off the shoulder", "Get in behind" type of striker doesn't really suit us and a "hold the ball up" or "powerhouse" striker does! You only need to look at our most successful periods (of recent times) with Drogba and Costa up front to see that! Which makes you think why can't the powers that be see that? I know it may be difficult with what is available in today's market, but 2 season's ago £70m could have bought us a much better suited striker than Morata.

Not for me, offers very little. And my biggest indictment of him is that he somehow manages to look average when lining up alongside Jordan Henderson who is just a terrible, terrible player.

I wouldn't expect him to be match fit yet. If anything the two internationals he's been involved him would have helped him be fitter for us. I heard a good point on the radio they other day "These two game against Gibraltar and Greece are affectively friendly type games (in means of the quality), so Chelsea should be happy that he is getting game time" I think he'll pay some part in the Leicester game but won't start.

I very much doubt Barton know's anything about the deal. He sensationalises everything about himself and now add the fact he works for TalkSport I would say that's almost doubled! I can't see Conte turning his phone off when we're trying to sign a player considering how much he has stated he want's more players!

Oh don't get me wrong, absolutely no negativity intended. As stupidly romantic as it sound's I would just like to see an academy player establish themselves in the first team. However I know as soon as Cahill is back Christensen will be back on the bench.

I think this will be a tough one. As people have eluded to Everton have weird mix of strength, experience and youth which makes them a little unpredictable. However, given our two different performance against Burnley (Almost gutsy comeback despite only having 9 men) and Spuds (Tactical masterclass) we could also be deemed a little unpredictable to Everton. I reckon we'll sneak it 1-0, 2-1 or something along those lines. Have to agree with your line up dan_cfc. Fabregas will 100% come back in to ensure we get the most out of Morata and hopefully get him in behind the defence (I'm not sold on giving him the ball and in turn him running at the defence Costa'esk). The only contentious position is Christensen's and I think Rudiger will start unfortunately. I personally would love to Christensen to start given how well he played against Spuds.

Could be debatable. But I'm still not sold on Tibo! I'm not sure he's enough of a top quality shot stopper, and for me and his distribution can be woeful at times! I could be wrong, perhaps it's because we were spoilt having Cech for so long!

Behold......the glorious return of Robert Huth!!

Haha, I was listening to 5Live when Sutton said this, the in studio commentator (his name escapes me), was like "TWO WEEKS?" with complete and utter amazement at the ludicrousness of Sutton's drivel! Sutton tried to back up his statement, to which the response was "Two weeks? Erm..I'm not so sure, so we'll agree to disagree" which was the most professional way I ever heard someone call someones opinion moronic

Incredibly hard, and pathetic really. After the Burnley Game "Conte has lost the dressing room, hence the shambolic display" (Absolutely no mention of our captain being sent off after 14 mins, which would disable any team) After the Tottenham Game "Conte is at loggerheads with the board, and will be sacked" (Absolutely no mention of our win over Spuds, and even when mentioned it's more to do with Wembley) Without sounding all "tin foil hatty", it's abundantly clear that the media have it in for us!

Spot on. Luiz's tackle was absolutely vital as Spud's had 4 or so men over. This would have left us in some serious trouble defensively. To Luiz's credit he has been immense for us since coming back from PSG. Yes he has his moments (As can any defender) But overall he's stuck to the task that Conte has obviously given him, and hasn't gone on those "walk-a-bouts" that he was renowned for during his first stint with us. Really it goes to show how certain players can change depending on who's coaching them.

Agree with every point! We had a game plan to prevent us losing to Spuds in the same fashion we did at WHL last season. Conte pinpointed their threats and nullified them (You can't stop every threat hence why they got through on the odd occasion). Our whole tactical ethos is based on counter attacking. If this means on the odd occasion against certain teams that counter attacking mentality is a little more defensive or not as regular as it would be against lesser teams then so be it. We're not going to go out and dominate every team, that has to be accepted. However calling us "lucky" for soaking up pressure and scoring late is ludicrous! (I'm not saying you did Barak81, I'm pointing to other posts that have suggested we were). And even if it were "lucky", then surely every win requires a certain element of luck? i.e opposition players not taking their chances, Refs be slightly more lenient etc. So on occasion being lucky in a game certainly shouldn't be frowned upon!

. This is laughable!

YES! I had it on the Playstation! Absolutely amazing game! Only downside was it was pretty easy to obtain cheat codes for it (A hotline was even listed in the manual for it) which made it very tempting to cheat!