DaRick

Good movement, anticipation and a nicely placed goal to set the tone for our win.

Moses, leading us out of danger and into the promised land...LOL. He's really made that WB spot his own.

I expected this to either be a draw or a tight win (having had to go to bed early), so I was amazed when I woke up this morning to find that the score was 4-0! I would say this was our best overall performance since shellacking Arsenal 6-0 in early 2014 and it sends a massive warning to the rest of the PL. Man U were unexpectedly poor, especially defensively, but we simply played with much more desire and aggression. Conte has far exceeded my expectations. I did not think that he would make this Chelsea side so threatening so quickly, especially not with a 3-4-3 formation - and certainly not with Victor Moses at wingback! Jose has been one of the most outstanding managers of the past 15 years, but although it is premature I suspect that his best may have passed him by. Forget about the Chelsea of last season, this Man U side have been erratic, inconsistent and unconvincing even with the substantial star power in their side (Pogba, Zlatan). I do not think we will better this performance this season, but I look forwards with considerable optimism. A few upgrades here and there and I think we'll be the best side in the PL.

Hey, I wasn't entirely happy with Jose either, and I did enjoy this rant, but nonetheless I feel it was just a little extreme... As for Moses, I expected that Conte would simply be content to use him as a super-sub because of his pace and direct running. Now he's being used as the all-action wingback that Cuadrado should have been. I have to salute Moses for grabbing his opportunity with both hands. Hull and Leicester are not (any longer) top-tier opponents but he's looked consistently dangerous against them. Will be interesting to see how he goes against Man U next week...

I missed this game unfortunately but from the highlights it seemed that the 3-4-3 is working a treat. I'm surprised Conte has gotten it working so well, though I'm not sure how JT would fit into it. Who would have thought that Moses of all people would provide the all-action, dynamite threat down the right flank that Cuadrado was supposed to provide?

One would hope this rumour can be put out to pasture now that we've just won 3-0...

Which Hazard are you referring to? At his 2014/15 peak, he undeniably would be the main man in those sides (even above Aguero). He was clearly the best player in the best side. Not sure where he is this season though.

My thoughts haven't changed. He's a consistently solid player who is versatile and hard-working enough to put in a shift across the attacking third, but never world class.

I agree that RDM has not generally distinguished himself as a manager, but he deserved his chance in lieu of better options and was harshly dealt with given the lack of depth in the squad he was bequeathed. Grant is in a similar category. Harshly dealt with, but has not generally covered himself in glory since. At the time, AVB was seen as a talented up-and-comer, so his appointment was reasonable, but he fully deserved to be sacked. Scolari I agree with. As for Conte, I'm not certain he can lead us to a Top 4 finish. He's a fine manager and has shown a capacity to adapt and learn from his mistakes, but this squad lacks depth even without CL obligations.

Well, he's 'finally' been benched. Hopefully Conte finds a way to use him semi-effectively from the bench before we can finally offload him. He's been a great servant for this club, but ATM his legacy is being tarnished.

Ivanovic was so bad last season I would have still gambled on Baba TBH.

At his peak, Cahill was a very good, but not world class, defender who did well with a strong defensive leader next to him (Terry). He's obviously not at his peak. He's slowed down, does not have the same self-confidence he did back in 2013/14 and appears uncomfortable being the defensive leader. At this point, I would be tempted to sell him soon if not for his HG status. If not for that, we could probably secure better squad options.

I was impressed with Conte's willingness to gamble with a 3-man formation after trying (and failing) to use Cahill, Luiz and Ivanovic in a 4-man defensive line several weeks in a row. It's a refreshing contrast with Mou, who simply kept on playing much the same defensive line no matter how atrocious Ivanovic was. This Chelsea side is certainly not IMO good enough to win the PL. In my view, the squad somewhat lacks depth, even without CL obligations. However, Conte's willingness to adapt and learn from his mistakes is encouraging, even though I do think he is a bit conservative with his subs.

Conte has had a reputation of making unduly late subs. But hopefully he's suddenly gotten a very clear idea of what his first XI might be (not Ivanovic/Cahill) and why. Honestly can't wait until JT returns.

Pullback; let's grab another.

Ivanovic is by now a backup CB. He should never have started as an RB against Mane and the likes.

To be honest, Mike Phelan. He has utilised Hull's limited resources extremely well. I doubt he will do a Ranieri because his squad is clearly inferior to Leicester's 2015-16 squad, but he deserves the award nonetheless.

See that's the thing, for Fiorentina he was an excellent dribber and had fairly good ball control. I wonder how many of problems came from nerves and an apparent inability to adapt to the PL?

What a disappointment of a signing this turned out to be. He was too lightweight for the PL, but the bigger problem turned out to be his apparent unwillingness to adapt. There's no point in a player having every trick in the book if he just isn't interested. Contrast Moses - clearly a less talented player, but willing to do a job off the bench when called upon.

He had like 3 good games at Newcastle last season and has a questionable attitude. No thanks.

Problem is that he has many of David Luiz's drawbacks without his pedigree or technical attributes. Abdennour does have a decent technique, but he doesn't have Luiz's range of passing or penchant for brilliant long-range strikes. Even at Monaco, he had a habit of making poorly thought out, high-risk decisions in defence more than he should have - much like Luiz. At Valencia, he's just been thoroughly brainless and dreadful, albeit in a very unstable side. I would just take Luiz if I had to pick between the two, albeit Abdennour would probably be substantially cheaper.

Many footballers serve as a cautionary tale that sudden fame, publicity and money can be very bad things. The fact that by definition footballers have a limited window for earning money doesn't help, nor does the fact that the vast majority of them would not be experienced in handling large amounts of money (if you give originally poor people large amounts of money, they don't tend to use it well). Unfortunately, it's King Kerry's turn to serve as a cautionary tale.

I did like Remy, but he was unlucky with injuries and had trouble really making his mark. He did score some crucial goals off the bench in 2014-15 though.

Is it pounds or euros? I've seen conflicting sources. I'm not all that enthusiastic about this signing, but let's see how this goes.

LOL. You know as well as I do this was far from being the most extremist post at that time. Wrong /= extremist.