Leo Atrox

His methodology and style of play are translating very nicely to Chelsea and to the EPL...I love the way he has the team playing.

Thank you for taking the time to explain this in an accessible manner. I think I get it now, lol. What I like about it is that as you stated, there are definitely some compelling matches to be played by the strongest European powers. Being Portuguese, I'll obviously be pulling for my national team firstly, and for England secondly, as well (except when they play Portugal ).
With that being said, I do prefer club football, and I don't like the national team interruptions and all the injuries they irritatingly create.

You nailed it. Teamwork to cover his weaknesses is a necessary "sacrifice", because what Alonso brings to the game from an offensive perspective more than makes up for his weaknesses. His runs and shooting are a major asset. 
Good Alonso refresher:
 

I don't think it is as simple as 'Alonso doesn't have what it takes to come back and defend'. For me this is a team effort. If Alonso bombs down the flank I think a midfielder like Kovacic needs to see this and cover if needed. When a team comes fluid these things happen without hesitation through repetition. 
Alonso isn't the pacy like Walker or Marcelo but he wins 90% of headers, he makes intelligent runs inside the box and he can pass pretty well. On top of that he is probably one of our best shooters of the ball. 
Everyone can see his limitations as a defender which can be helped through teamwork. 

I can't wait to watch some of the UEFA Nations League at the pub, considering that for literally every single Champions' League/Europa League knockout game I have to explain a concept as simple as the away goals rule to at least one person...

Sorry for the very long reply, but I hope this will help understand how all of this nonsense works. In very brief, the winner of the Nations League only wins a trophy but no guaranteed spot for the Euro though. For that, the winner will have to qualify for it through the qualifiers. In the event the winner fails to do so in the qualifiers, it will have to play a playoff semi and final to qualify for the Euro.

here is how it works. League A is composed of the 12 so called best teams in UEFA. They're divided into 4 groups of 3 teams. All the 4 bottom teams of each group of League A are relegated to League B. Each group winners (4) at the end of November will qualify for the final competition in June 2019. There, each group winners will face each other in two semi finals (one leg each played in the same country/location as determined by the UEFA board). The two winners will play in the final in order to win the UEFA Nations League trophy. the two losers of the semis will play in a 3rd place final. So the winner wins the UEFA Nations League trophy. 
As for League B, C and D (Both Ireland, nothern and southern are in League B with Wales and Scotland are in League C), this pretty much works like football league (except there's no playoffs here). For League B : 4 groups of 3 teams. All 4 group winners are promoted to League A. All 4 group bottom are relegated to League C.
In League C, same system : all 4 group winners are promoted to League B. All 4 bottom teams are relegated to League D. The only tricky thing in League C is that there's one group composed of 3 teams and the three other groups are composed of 4 teams. Although this does not impact on the promotion system, it impacts the relegation system. In short, All the teams that finished bottom in the three 4 team groups are relegated to League D with the worst 3rd team in League C.
For League D, no relegation since this is the bottom league. All 4 group winners are promoted to League C.
Now, how this nonsense works with the Euro qualifiers?
The Nations League will span from september 2018 to november 2018 for group stages and will hold in June 2019 the final competition between the four best teams of League A (group winners) facing each other to win the UEFA Nations League trophy. Meanwhile, the Euro qualifiers will start on March 2019 and will finish on October/November 2019. The Euro qualifiers will be composed of 10 groups : five groups of 5 teams and five groups of 6 teams. The group winner and runner-up qualify for the Euro. Therefore, a total of 20 teams (10 group winners + 10 group runner-ups) will qualify for the Euro.
Since the Euro will be composed of 24 teams (nonsensical imo but whatever ...), and since only 20 teams would have qualified for the competition by the euro qualifiers, how do the 4 remaining teams qualify for that ? Well, this is where things start to get interesting, as @Scott Harris pointed that out...
Basically, the four remaining spots will be filled through the Nations League system. In each League (A, B, C and D), if there is 4 or more teams that did not qualify for the Euro through the Euro qualifiers route, the four best teams within each league (i.e, group winners, runner-ups etc ) that did not qualify already for the Euro through the qualifiers will be given a chance to qualify through semi final playoffs in March 2020.
The semi final will be played over a single leg at the stadium of the highest ranked team / better team. Then, the two winners will face each other in a playoff final in a location determined by a coin toss/draw (either at finalist A stadium or at finalist B stadium). The winner of that playoff will qualify for the Euro 2020. Since there's 4 Leagues, and therefore 4 playoff winners, we will have our 24 teams competing for the Euro => 10 Euro qualifiers group winners + 10 Euro qualifiers group runner-ups + 4 Nations League playoff winners (1 from each League, i.e, 1 from League A, 1 from League B, 1 from League C and 1 from League D) = 24 teams at the Euro.
Now, as @Scott Harris said, how come League A teams would not qualify for the Euro through qualifiers? According to the UEFA, if there's less than 4 teams in a League that did not qualify for the Euro (for instance in League A, out of the 12 teams, only 2 or 3 did not qualify for the Euro in the qualifiers), the highest ranked teams in the inferior division that did not qualify for the Euro through the qualifiers will face the teams in the superior division in order to have a 4 team playoff.
Theorically, this is how it would work :
League A four teams in the playoff => A1 vs A4 / A2 vs A3 => Winner of A1/A4 vs Winner of A2/A3 = Playoff Winner = qualified for the Euro.
League B four teams in the playoff => B1 vs B4 / B2 vs B3 => Winner of B1/B4 vs Winner of B2/B3   = Playoff Winner =  qualified for the Euro. 
League C four teams in the playoff => C1 vs C4 / C2 vs C3 => Winner of C1/C4 vs Winner of C2/C3 = Playoff Winner = qualified for the Euro.
League D four teams in the playoff => D1 vs D4 /D2 vs D3 => Winner of D1/D4 vs Winner of D2/D3 = Playoff Winner = qualified for the Euro. 
This would mean that the maximum teams in a League (realistically speaking League A) that have qualified for the Euro in the qualifiers would be 8 at best. Since there could/will be more than 8 League A teams to qualify for the Euro in the qualifiers, here is how this would work with less than 4 teams remaining in League A that did not qualify for the Euro.
With 3 teams in League A :
A10 vs B1 / A11 vs A12
B2 vs B5 / B3 vs B4
C1 vs C4 / C2 vs C3
D1 vs D4 / D2 vs D3
With 2 teams in League A :
A11 vs B2 / A12 vs B1
B3 vs B6 / B4 vs B5
C1 vs C4 / C2 vs C3
D1 vs D4 / D2 vs D3
With 1 team in League A :
A12 vs B3 / B1 vs B2
B4 vs B7 / B5 vs B6
C1 vs C4 / C2 vs C3
D1 vs D4 / D2 vs D3
If all teams in League A have qualified through the qualifiers (12 teams), therefore, this how it would work: there would automatically be at least 4 teams in League B to fight for that playoff spot (since there's 20 spots to take for the Euro and if League A take 12 of them, there's a maximum of 8 spots to take for the remaining Leagues in the qualifiers). Therefore, the same system as described above would have to be replicated.

It took me a while to understand it too. I prefer it over pointless friendlies that's for sure. The only thing I don't like is that it means the European teams will pretty much only be playing European teams from now on. I don't see any space for games to be played against South American or African teams now.

It's a good headache to have for a club when you're debating whether to start either Barkley or Kovacic, lol. Sure, give Barkley the start, he's definitely a threat going forward.
I think that Bournemouth will/should present problems, but we'll counter what they do. If they park the bus, we'll just have to relentlessly break them down like how we did at Newcastle, if they come at us, we'll absorb and hit right back. Regardless, should be a good game.

I concur with the previous posters, it’s early days and Sarri-Ball takes a “little” getting used to...it’s vastly different from the type of scheme that Conte employed when he was in charge. The fullbacks and every other player are literally changing the process and way of playing that they’ve been used to. I read a great article about this (will try to find the link)...Jorginho has been doing double duty at training, basically helping the rest of the team adapt to Sarri’s style of play. Give it some time, if there are fullback problems down the road, they’ll be addressed. 

It's a good headache to have for a club when you're debating whether to start either Barkley or Kovacic, lol. Sure, give Barkley the start, he's definitely a threat going forward.
I think that Bournemouth will/should present problems, but we'll counter what they do. If they park the bus, we'll just have to relentlessly break them down like how we did at Newcastle, if they come at us, we'll absorb and hit right back. Regardless, should be a good game.

I would keep the same team but maybe put Barkley in for Kovacic. Not because Kovacic was bad or anything, but I think it was harsh for Barkley to be dropped and I don't think Kovacic did much better in his start. Also think Barkley gives us more of a goal threat so would rather him start this game.

For me you play your strongest team, we all know though we are getting results yet we still need to improve and for the players to be comfortable with Sarris' methods. I wouldn't start Barkley though wouldn't be opposed to starting with Willian with Hazard to come off the bench.

Alonso is getting the results...and he’s very versatile, he does indeed play at times as if he’s an attacking midfielder, and he’s full of attacking talent, and because of this, I agree with leaving him where he is, but making sure the back is covered when he makes a forward push. Happy he’s on the team, don’t want him going anywhere. 

The "We have passionate fans" self-delusion keeps the myths of grandeur alive for a lot of currently negligible clubs with long-suffering fanbases. 

Just checked Twitter and there's a ton of chatter about Laurent Blanc replacing Mourinho, lots of chatter. Also saw names like Zidane, Andre Villas Boas and Roberto Martinez being mentioned...they're in full melt down mode....

at this rate, he will be gone by November - isn't Laurent Blanc available? I can see him stepping into manure's gaffer role

Always good to see the Old Trafford faithful in a state of despair...it's just feels so satisfying, although, from a points perspective, I would've preferred a draw. Mourinho either finds a miraculous way to right the ship, or he won't last much longer at the helm up there. 

Here you go sir
 

I am ready for that great dvd of this moment to be produced & sold to spuds fans

They're not happy on Redcafe

That is beyond epic, lol.

For sure my friend........if all that sh*t with Terry doesnt convince you that Chels are hated then nothing will. Clear agenda. People today are so so quick to judge, it all has to be PC otherwise you either a racist, sexist etc......you cant say sh*t today before flies swarm you.

Defending is not as important when you actually hold onto the ball, check Barca/City.
Getting the goals with so much possession is another thing, especially if you are persisting with an unproven striker at the top.
So i think it's fairer to worry about our strikers than our full backs.