Davey Baby

Just have a look at this little bit of skill .. https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2019/11/2/20945376/watch-jorginho-kovacic-showcase-chelseas-midfield-class-against-watford?fbclid=IwAR0ehX7cLGRIxhSH51bIUESP5s8BWRhiSsTl_LBjixQqsi86i-Azsh79RwQ

No he isn't. He was very good today but classing him as 'f**king unbelievable' is like bigging up Gazza for being a piss artist when Oliver Reed was an option. He has become a good squad player but he isn't, and will never be, a key player in any team pushing for major trophies. That isn't necessarily a criticism as teams pushing for the big trophies need good squad players but they also need real top class midfielders and Kovacic isn't that. He isn't a Lampard, Makalele, Kante, Silva, Iniesta, Xavi... I could add 50 more. He is good, he isn't great and he certainly isn't unbelievable. Liverpool, Ajax and Watford, he's been unbelievable in my view. He's getting into his stride and we're seeing what a player he can be. If Jordan Henderson can be a key player in a side pushing for trophies, I reckon Mateo Kovacic can, easily.

In all seriousness Nibs, I just love watching this boy play. It's just the way he goes about things. He's a cultured cultured cultured player. He's also a grafter, and he has a brain. He's a top notch player mate.

Are you sure he's your son Nibs? He sounds quite intelligent.

Just, sit back and enjoy Kovacic, because he's a f**king unbelievable player. Today he was on a different level.

He's a world class player. Easily our stand-out performer today, and he's just oozing confidence. No ifs, no buts, no maybes. We've got a player on our hands folks. One day @Nibs and @just will come round. That day is looming fast.

He has posters of Nicolas Anelka on his walls. It's not a good look Nibs, I agree. Too cool for school, as the old saying goes.

CHO was infinitely better than Pulisic. CHO was involved. He gave them something to think about, even if the quality was missing, he got on the ball. Pulisic? Non-existent. I didn't even realise he was playing.

He's an awful footballer. Really f**king bad. Will get you a goal though, no doubt about that. Sadly for him, goals aren't enough, especially in the modern game, you've got to do so much more when you're playing up top on your own. Giroud is an infinitely better player. Everything about Batshuayi is erratic. If you need a goal he's a great guy to bring off the bench but that's about it. If he wants starts he needs to join a club with lower aspirations.

We were flat, other than a spell in the second half until we scored. Pulisic anonymous, Alonso atrocious. We just weren't good enough. Lampard's lost twice this season to Solskjaer and that's not a good look. Horrible way to lose our winning streak, without really putting them under concerted pressure and having a real go. If we want to be a top team we need to scare the living daylights out of teams when we go behind. That didn't happen tonight.

Beyond awful tonight. Slept walk through the whole game. I cannot believe he got 90 minutes. Responsible for both goals through bad passes, and giving away a penalty in that way was absolutely criminal. I would fine him a week's wages. Atrocious.

Thank you goose. You've gone straight on the Christmas card list.

The Kante one is weird. Even today, we hear "expert" pundits continually describing Kante as a holding midfielder. He's never been a holding midfielder in his life. He was never a Makelele, who was the best around at shielding the back four. Previous to last season, Kante had always played in a 2, and he covered every blade of grass. That was his game. Obviously if he was alongside someone like Pogba or Fabregas, he would be covering up for their defensive frailty, but that didn't make him a holding player, or an anchorman, he was never simply stationed in front of the back four. That just never happened. With Sarri we played with a 3, every single game. Kante was never going to be the anchorman. He's a runner. The real debate should have been, not whether he should have been playing in Jorginho's position, but whether RLC should have been playing, either at the expense of Kante or Kovacic. That was the real debate, in my mind. RLC was eventually introduced and we improved, although Kante obviously kept his place in the team when fit, because of all the qualities he brings. As others have said, when Kante becomes available, Lampard has a real selection headache on his hands. Right now, which one of our team would you drop?

You're wrong in my opinion. Jorginho may be playing in the same position but he's being asked to play differently, because the whole team is being asked to play differently, and I'm not just talking about formation, which seems to have moved generally from a 433 to a 4231. Sarri's method is to take spontaneity out of the game. He wants to be the star of the show rather then the players. It's all about the system. He isn't alone among Italian coaches. Training was meticulous, and repetitive, to the point where the players almost lost the will to live. Rudiger said last term the meetings were arduous and boring, where they talked about tactics. There's a set pattern of play for every position on the pitch, so you know exactly what to do with the ball wherever you receive it. It's drilled into the players in the hope that it becomes second nature. Personally, I prefer managers that let their players play and rely on their instincts a little bit, like Alex Ferguson did. You listen to Ferguson's old players and they all say he didn't give them too much instruction. He was more focused on the mental side of the game. Jorginho last season passed the ball a lot. He broke PL records, particularly at the start of the season. It was dull as ditch water, but I suppose the rest of the team were trying to adapt to Sarri's methods. Lampard gives his players much more freedom, which is why you see Kovacic in particular playing so much better. When a player gets the ball, they should be relying on their instinct or intuition rather than having to think, and too many times last season we saw players thinking every time they got the ball, trying to obey Sarri's instructions, trying to remember exactly what they'd been told. This is Sarri's method. He drills it into you, and after time it gets better as players have to think less because they become more accustomed. Let's not kid ourselves about last season. The football was sh*t, by and large, really f**king sh*t. Pass pass pass pass pass. We couldn't create a chance, against loads of sh*t sides. There was no excitement. Already this season the football's miles better, and I challenge anyone to defy that. I actually look forward to seeing us play. Imagine that. Right now my favourite player in this team is Kovacic. Amazing what can happen when you let somebody play. The improvement is vast. That's not to say however Lampard's a better coach than Sarri or that he'll prove more successful. He may well fail, but let's not kids ourselves that Lampard's just sending Jorginho out to play the same way. Remember also, Jorginho relies on the movement of his teammates, and they're not being sent out to play the same way either, so what you're seeing is vastly different. It's a different team with a different system and a different style of play. It's more free-flowing, less defensive, less boring. Jorginho isn't my favourite player. I get that he's a good influence behind the scenes, has leadership skills, and plays for the team. He's a good player but against Burnley there were loads of occasions where his defensive frailties and lack of pace were exposed. He just got away with it. I also find his forward passing gets way too much praise and is distinctly average. He's good at what he does, he's got a good brain, he's technically sound, he's good in tight situations and his short passing game is great. He's also committed. I like him, or rather, I've grown to like him, but I rate him a lot less than most, including the manager it seems, and thankfully for you lot it's his opinion that counts and not mine. He's important to this team because of the position he plays. To put it simply, he anchors while others have more licence, and he's the player most capable of doing that. Is he a great player? Not for me and I don't care a hoot what any stat says, but the manager's happy and I'm happy, because we're playing well, winning, and we have a good vibe, and I think Jorginho has played an important role in that, but is he half as good as people say? Not for me but it's all about opinions I guess.

It's not even in the top corner Nibs. All he has to do is take one step to his side and tip it over the bar. He doesn't have to dive. It's rank poor goalkeeping and it's not the first time this season. There are days he looks great. He's got quick reflexes, he's good with his feet, and he's good off his line, but he hasn't come out and claimed a cross in his life, and as you say, he's too easily beaten from long range, partly due to lack of height. His level has dropped this season and he needs to up his game, because Frank won't hesitate to get someone better if he thinks he can.

I was critical last season but he's a top player. I'm starting to like him a lot. He's a real team player as well. Just gets on with his job. No fuss. Totally committed. Up for the fight and prepared to get his hands dirty. He's growing in confidence and he's got real ability on the ball. I'd say he's undroppable, the way he's playing, but he was excellent against Liverpool and he was dropped straight after. Right now, he's possibly the first name on the team sheet for me. Today he was world class.

VAR is a total joke. Was that a clear and obvious error? No. The ref was presumably told he dived and gave a yellow. Absolute farce. Do away with the whole thing. It's mistake after mistake after mistake. Just let the referee and linesmen do their job.

On the subject of VAR, last night just highlighted once again how flawed it is. I felt their goal should have stood. I know others feel differently but I think there should be clear daylight. When you're dealing in millimetres surely you have to know when the ball leaves the foot, and that should be judged to the nearest millimetre too. If not, there has to be daylight IMO. The ball can be moving and still be on your boot. They can't possibly know and so there should be daylight. The benefit of the doubt should go to the attacker. That's my thinking but I'm glad we got away with it. Then there was a moment in the 77th minute where we had an attack from which we could have scored. Pulisic played a one-two with CHO. Replays showed CHO was offside and if we'd have scored it would have been ruled out. Fair enough, but because the linesman didn't flag we got a corner instead. If we'd have scored from the corner it's a goal, because the defence has had a chance to reset. Really? VAR is stopping linesmen putting their flags up because they don't want to wrongly disallow a potential goal, but their hesitancy can lead to a goal even if the player is offside. I think you have to allow referees and linesmen to do their job. They are becoming scared to make a decision. Yes they make bad decisions but by discouraging them to make decisions we are seeing just as many mistakes. Then there was a clear handball. Tagliafico. It looked clear to me. Tomori was screaming for it. Was it handball? Did VAR look at it? I felt certain we were going to be given a penalty. If I'm wrong, fair enough, but if it was handball, why hasn't it been given? Edit: VAR is fatally flawed for me. I hate it and it should go.

The quadruple is on.

I'm really happy for him. He turned the game.

Absolute f**king quality. Back four were magnificent, particularly Azpi. Big night for Tomori as well. Zouma growing on me. Midfield two were good, Kovacic particularly. Pulisic fantastic, important twenty or so minutes for him. He was brilliant. Shout out to the manager and the fans. Get in there.

Pulisic has been our best player.

You're wrong. Without the technology it's impossible to tell the precise moment the ball leaves the foot. That's why all you ever see is the line, because that technology exists. Glenn Hoddle explained it perfectly at half-time. It's impossible to tell with the existing technology.

Anyway can draw a line. The key point is at what point did the ball leave the foot.

We're better than them. They're good, some of their build-up play is class, but we're much more threatening, but we've wasted so many good attacking situations, it's criminal and it could cost us. Their goal should have stood. Nobody's telling me that's offside. VAR is a joke. There's no way of knowing the precise moment the ball leaves the foot, so in that situation there has to be daylight. The rule's an ass, and we got away with one. Clear mistake from Kepa in the build-up, coming too far off his line when the defender is in control, forcing him to kick it out of play. Kepa looks nervous. Mount the stand-out for me. Kovacic okay. Great saving block from Azpi. A win would be massive. Come on Chelsea.