hutchslongthrow

Played together at Man City, so knew each other already.

It's enough for me. Don't get it - how easy do you think goalscoring is and do you think Maresca is just out to try and lose his job? Jeez.

Strikers are judged on how many goals they score though. Don't think there is a team in the whole division that is currently happy with their no. 9 even Citeh! Hardest thing to do in football is score a goal but this gets taken for granted. They don't just roll Jackson out on a Saturday and hope for the best - he's scoring goals and the teams scoring goals and he's not going to get any better by not playing. So is being given the opportunity to improve and if this doesn't happens, then he will be replaced. Simples. Firmly behind him myself at the moment at least!

Guess it would still be green early in the season - by Xmas a colour tv would have been wasted on you!

It is obviously not something he is doing on a whim and will have already given it considerable thought. Always loved Marcos even when there were many who didn't want him near the team. Also a lesson for Lampard in his future management career in that you can't just ostracise players because of personal differences. Both he and Rudiger could have left but are now linchpins of TTs team.

Sarri was just trying to justify his own tactics. How about getting Kovacic and Kante to switch positions even for a few minutes if we are not holding the ball, or even just doing something different? The guy should be thinking on his feet not just setting up the team at the start and saying that we were 'struggling' for a full half hour. We were playing Malmo not Barcelona or Man City. Their players put in a good shift in the first half but were always going to either run out of energy or get caught out because they were playing against better players.

Shearer's clips are on the whole quite meaningless imho. Takes a couple of seconds here or there from the whole 90 minutes and then discusses them out of context of the actual game. I tend to only watch MOTD from a recording so that I can skip their pointless analysis! Not a Jorginho fan either btw as yet to understand exactly what he brings to the table, what makes him so undroppable or why Sarri cannot change the plan mid-game when he becomes so obviously shut down by opposing teams.

Watching on BT Sport myself - but Google is your friend - always comes up with a (watchable) stream.

Next game is actually THREE days later v Spurs.

We won't be able to get our possession stats up cos it's Citeh. Otherwise could go for the record of say 85% (with Jorginho making 300 passes) whilst still getting tonked within an inch of our lives.

Plan B????? You're really having a laugh now

Nah. Didn't want him at first but did a decent enough job and warmed to him in the end. Is streets ahead of the Sarri tactically speaking...but then so is my Nan and she's dead.

Point is he already said he wouldn't. If plan A don't work you get better at Plan A so he says.. United had a plan for the first half and a different one for the second.

Answer is on the internet https://www.11v11.com/teams/chelsea/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Tottenham Hotspur/ Looks like '61 but then there will some blank years when we weren't in the same division.

Sarri should at least use the the hand that he has been dealt properly. He knew what the squad was before he arrived and has already brought in a couple of his own players, one of who is struggling big time. It's the one-dimensional tactics that I don't get. Same 4-3-3 set up every single game with just the odd change in personnel and no obvious changes to formation or roles when we are getting royally stuffed. Seems every other team is blaming the board and wanting to sign more/better players e.g. Arse, Manure, I'm not even sure where such players are to be recruited from and half the time it's an expensive gamble - think Bakayoko, Batshuayi, Morata. Also always wonder why we even bother with any sort of youth setup when hardly any are given more than just a bit part in the first team!

Less games in Conte's first season as we weren't in Europe, plus Diego was a beast. Is documented that players started to find the training a bit hard and also looked like he was falling out with certain individuals - David Luiz, Willian (and Diego before them) as well as not being happy with the backing he was getting from the club.

I still think the players are good enough for the most part. But they need to play in a system that suits their ability. It's the rigid same formation every game and for the whole of each game that I am finding hard to stomach. We're obviously not good enough to just turn up and play our own game regardless of who the opponent is and that seems to be the only tactic at present.. And maybe Jorginho doesn't have to be guaranteed a start every week, is pulled off or has his role adjusted when he gets targeted as has happened with alarming frequency. And it's upsetting seeing Kante looking like a lost little boy when we all know where his talents lie. Do expect to lose the odd game especially when you players are adapting to a new system but it's also about lessons learnt. Doesn't appear that locking the players in the dressing room for 40 mins has achieved much.

Yes but you'd be more patient with someone when their CV suggests that they are a winner which is the point I am making. So can't compare Sarri and Pep (and Klopp hasn't actually won anything yet).

Doesn't mean they have given up - would just mean he is not the right man for the job. Pep has a track record, Sarri doesn't

Even if the ultimate aim is 80% possession and eye catching football - it was never going happen in the first season against Pep's Man City. So how about some sort of Plan B then eh? Whoever does come in after Sarri is going look like a genius just by moving Kante to play where he is supposed to!

Says is subject to Athletico selling one of their strikers...Diego - you know you want to lol!

we'll have to agree to disagree on that one. The last time we won the league he also made premiership team of the year which means he was voted as one of the best 2 CBs in the league for consistency over one whole season. Obviously his performance in the last outing fell way short of that (didn't understand that challenge on Son) but to my mind, someone who as you put it 'always gifts the opposition a few chances' would probably be playing park football...

If that were really the case, then he wouldn't be anywhere near the starting 11. Obviously it isn't so, though like every player does have the odd off game.