Vagabond

Agreed, BM will just get him as backup if he doesnt explode right away, which is why I don't understand him wanting to leave. Doesn't change the fact that they desperately want a winger.

Bayern desperately needs another winger since Sane and Dembele both said no to them and Ribery/Robben are gone for good now. They are trying to lower the fee because CHO is injured, but they need another attacking player a lot more than we do. The difference is that Chelsea has invested much time and is prepared to invest more, while Munich will scrutinize and discard him if he doesn't perform.

That's not was I was trying to say. Obviously I want Lampard to get the best out of any player, but imo Kovacics weaknesses coincide with Franks strengths as a player. That's the reason why I think his learning curve might be steeper, which is of course speculation. With Ross I have trust issues simply because I haven't seen him perform in the CL yet while I've seen Kovacic play well against Munich, Paris, Barcelona already and I thought he held his own against City and Liverpool last season too. I see it like this; I prefer Barkley for mid tier PL competition -especially against thugs like Burnley- but I got the feeling that against the bigger clubs he sometimes gets lost in midfield and plays it safe when it gets too quick because he's technically limited while Kovacics plays it safe because he is too timid. Maybe I'm completely wrong though and both of them just played it safe because Sarri forced them to and they were scared of losing their spot. Kovacic as a loan player and Barkley as someone Sarri obviously just wanted to use for rotation. We will see what happens this season and wether we they can actually provide some attacking threat with a different system.

I'm surprised so many people think we can survive the CL groupstage and the PL with only Barkley and Mount until RLC is fit again. Even then, has Ruben ever played more than 6 games in a row without getting some kind of injury? What Kovacic needs is a lot of confidence in himself. His spell at Real Madrid was really bad for him personally because after Benitez was gone Zidane had his lineup set in stone. It was exactly the same as Ancelotti's when Zidane was still Co-Trainer at Madrid. Kovacic only featured when one of the midfield 3 was injured or suspended and would go back to the bench afterwards even though he performed well when called upon. Of course, the results proved Zidane right and it's really no shame to be left out of a midfield with Modric, Kroos and Casemiro, but the lack of playing time led to a severe drop in confidence and him losing his national team starting spot. Last season was his first time playing regularly in 4 years. In a new club, a new league with much less space and a new system that boxed opponents inside their defensive third and left even less space for his signature attacking runs and combinations. He has weaknesses too of course, the most obvious being his shot. But if anybody can teach him something about pure willpower as well as shooting it's Frank.

With Ampadu over Kovacic we are back to Europa League at the end of next season, maybe not even that.

So you want to go into the new season with... ?

Watch the game Madrid vs PSG two seasons ago. He frustrated Verratti to the point Verratti earned himself a red card. It's not easy to play against PSG these dasys. I'm not saying I would start him every game, but wanting Drinkwater over him in the squad is criminal.

A football team is more than just the starting 11. Zidane had chosen his midfield in Madrid and if they were fit Modric, Kroos and Casemiro were going to play, no matter how many good performances their subs put in. The point is that there are tons of players of Kovacics caliber that will bring a bad attitude into a dressing room if they are not playing. You are correct though; this was his first season as a regular starter in years (incidentally his first PL season as well) and despite people spitting on Kovacic the whole season the results at the end of the season paint a picture of success. His main problem is that he is lacking balls, but this will only get better in time.

Say what you will, but this is the fourth european title for Kovacic in a row. 3CLs with Madrid, now the Europa League and his team made it to the world cup finals as well. Leads me to believe that his impact on a squad is a lot more subtle than many people realize, since he didn't contribute goals to either of those teams.

Neither is CHO, but we'll have to make due with what we have.

Kruger Dunning in full effect. I guess Sarri is a clown as well for *not* taking off Willian instead of CHO?

Since you wrote a post back that it's hard to take me seriously, why exactly are you even responding to me? How about you sod off and just put me on your ignore list so you don't get triggered by my opinion and I don't get dumbfounded by yours? *edit* You're also the guy that thought CHO should've stayed on the pitch and Willian taken off, no?

Since you seem to love stats that much, here are a few pointers. CHO didn't score even once in his 350 PL minutes and got a single assist in that time. Except for against Brighton every single one of his scorers came at a point where the opposition was at least 2:0 down already and all of them were in the EL against the likes of PAOK Saloniki, Malmö or Kiev that had stellar aggregate records of 5:1 or 8:0 against us. There is a difference between the round of 16 in the EL and a mid table PL team.

He is and that's why I said (and why I hope) maybe 2 or 3 years down the line he will be better. But he is not on their level at the moment, which is the reason I feel both Willian are Pedro are getting massively disrespected when some of you are claiming he offers more than they do even now. He doesn't. And that's the bottom line, no matter how mad all of you may get over it. You are the kind of guys that will gang up on Willian for the tiniest mistake only to live in denial when CHO does a lot worse. I just won't stand for that, sorry.

No, he isn't. If he is up against a fullback that can keep up with him he is out of ideas immediatly and completely ineffective, while both Pedro and Willian are a lot more flexible. Watch him more closely in the next games he plays, you will see. Of course that's partly due to his lack of experience as well, but it's a fact nonetheless.