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!

Based on the fact that if he had more than one year left there would be an additional premium to pay. i.e if he had 2/3 years he'll probably be worth around £15m more (Usually one year left on a contract tends to mean you get them a little cheaper given the club they're at doesn't want to lose them on a free). Previous deals for players with only a year left suggests that you tend to get said player for around half price or just over. Obviously I'm speculating as to how much he would go for if he had more years on his contract. But it's a pretty reasonable guess to say he'd be worth circa £15m more.

Absolutely not worth it at £35m with a year left on his contract, if we pay that we're effectively valuing him upwards of £50m (which is a ludicrous price). I get that he is English and young, but seriously?

For me it's a number of things. 1) British Media absolutely hate anyone doing well or being successful and in turn will do anything to disable it. 2) Social Media demands are so high for "News now" that they simply make up stories just to ensure they've got "news" out there. This also leads to non professional "news outlets" also having a "mouth" which they can spurt any nonsensical dribble they like. 3) There's hardly any Ex-Chelsea players working continuously for major media outlets (They tend to be guest's more often than not), meaning that we're an easy target for ex players who fear "slagging off" or "talking down" their old clubs. I get bored with much of the "reporting" on us, it's the same every season.

This would be amazing! PES peaked at PES4. I absolutely loved PES3, 4 and 5 and choose it over FIFA as the game play was incredible. Problem was FIFA had all the licensing and better sound tracks etc!

Played most CM's up until FM came out. 97/98 was the first I REALLY got into. The best (for me) was 00/01, just such an amazing game. I'm currently playing FM15, which is good but I miss the simplicity of the old CM's, having to deal with press and agent demands etc in modern games kills it for me a little.

Your "Morata looked like Jelly" hit the nail on the head for me. At times he had the gait of Torres (Very wobbly, side on to the player, lacking in decisiveness and ultimately not doing much with the ball) However I think his whole performance was based on the missed header. He was saying before the game that he wanted to "erase" the penalty miss on the community shield, which he wouldn't with a miss like that. To me he looks like a confidence player, and after that opportunity had gone he lost confidence, and mixed with the fact he probably isn't 100% fit. I would still say a 3 is a little harsh, maybe a 4/5 would be more reasonable.

Hi All, Being a Chelsea Member (Youth Membership) during the 90's I kept all the "newspapers" that were posted monthly (?). I was wondering if anyone fancied seeing them if I posted a few pictures. Nothing overly exciting I know but could be a trip down memory lane for someone else but myself!

Going with much of the comments above I agree about his pace, and with his positioning defensively lacking on the odd occasion the lack of pace doesn't help (That's why Cole was so good, if he got caught out positionally he'd have the pace to make up the ground to recover). However in the air, going forward and dead ball situations you absolutely cannot fault him. You also have to applaud his overall strength, he fairly rarely gets knocked off the ball or loses 50/50's. Considering he/we were lambasted when we signed him due to him playing for Bolton and Sunderland previously you have to give Conte props for the signing.

Ah I didn't know Spurs had an offer rejected (I just thought they were interested) and yeah you're right he absolutely not worth £25m (yet), but Rose isn't worth £50m and Sandro £60m+. And I have to agree that I don't see him leaving this year, but he'll 100% leave if Fulham don't get promoted.

Have to agree, Babayoko had the one run in the first half where he picked the ball up just inside our half and then lost possession on the edge of their box, considering he isn't fully fit it was a powerful run and given a little more time he could have done more with the ball before losing it. I like Dembele, but his temperament raises questions for me, silly little niggling fouls and always has something to say to ref. He also gets away with a lot when it comes to off the ball contact.