DaRick

He's not the worst player we've had, but he is one of the most frustrating. Never have I seen so much technique married to so little substance. At Inter/Real Madrid he showed genuine playmaking ability, but very little of that was on display this season.

Both spent on quality and quantity over several seasons, not just one. From what I saw above, you were suggesting that we do it in the one window. Also Man City was on paper still the best team in 2016/17 IMO - it was just that Conte caught the rest of the league flat-footed with the 3-man formation. Agree that signing Higuain/Kovacic for an extended period of time would be a mistake. Jorginho has shown signs of improvement in recent weeks. Luiz was presumably given an extension in case the ban was upheld by the CAS. Giving Alonso an extension of that size was a mistake, but who was responsible - Sarri or the board? RE Willian, have we really rejected bids for him? I know there were rumours but to my knowledge there was never any concrete evidence that a bid was tabulated. Plus replacing him would have been a pain given the truncated transfer window and lack of proper pre-season given the managerial situation.

Inter and Juventus are massive rivals. I'll believe it when I see it.

Are you referring to Pep, Zidane and Tuchel? The former two went straight from the B team to the A team and Tuchel went from managing Augsburg's reserves to managing Mainz. Neither situation is analogous to the situation that Frank would be facing. Frank is not managing Chelsea's reserves (and so lacks the same insight into the club's current workings, legend or otherwise) and Mainz have never even made the CL, much less be expected to make it the way that Chelsea is. Sure. I never said otherwise, especially if both decline (as teams inevitably do). The problem with going 'all out' in the way that some fans seem to want is that you risk becoming like Liverpool 2014/15 or Tottenham 2013/14 - with a squad full of new players who are not used to placing alongside each other and thus lacking cohesion. That's a good recipe for finishing in the EL places. We were already non-challengers when Sarri was appointed. Sarri neither created nor fixed that situation. Though I agree that if possible the likes of Willian and Pedro need to be phased out. Pedro in particular is not getting any younger. I don't disagree, but when your best player leaves you are better off spending on quality rather than quantity.

Surely you understand the difficulty with expecting a manager who finished 6th in the Championship to come in and achieve 4th place or better in an extremely competitive PL right off the bat, right? In fact, I don't think it's even been done in recent history. Also, Sarri really needs a left-back who stays outside and crosses, ala Ghoulam. Part of the problem with Alonso is that 1) his crosses aren't that great and 2) he cuts inside to attack the goal. Neither Chilwell or Tierney are great at crossing (nor is Emerson for that matter). I think someone like Alex Telles would be close to ideal given how frequently and accurately he crosses, with Leipzig's Halstenberg or Fiorentina's Biraghi being other options. The rest of your post has been critiqued by others, so I won't write anything they haven't already written. EDIT: I accept that he's nearing 30 and has been below his usual standards this season, but surely Wan-Bissaka (who we likely won't purchase anyway) would start off as being Azpi's understudy? Also, Sarri isn't dropping Jorginho for any length of time.

Hassenhuttl is a counter-attacking manager first and foremost. He's much more Klopp than Guardiola IOW. Not right for where the club wants to be - a bit like Jardim. RE Marco Rose, RB Salzburg is the most talented team in its league by a distance. At least let him manage in the German Bundesliga before passing judgement. I've listed Favre as a possible replacement previously. The problem is that his Dortmund side has fallen off a cliff RE form and while he has overachieved more than once (like Sarri), his trophy cabinet is not much fuller than Sarri's. IMO at best a like-for-like replacement in terms of ability than a definitive improvement.

Allegri is really more of a coach who adds the finishing touches to a side (Milan 10/11, Juventus) rather than being adept at rebuilding a side. His attempt to rebuild Milan was a failure, for example. He wouldn't be right for Chelsea ATM.

Then by all means suggest one. It is all well and good to suggest a managerial change but I don't recall you recommending a particular replacement - at least, not in this thread. I myself have outlined a few potential ones but they all carry their own risks and some were IMO unsuitable.

Two English double-headers in Europe. When was the last time that happened? I expect us to play better against Arsenal than we did tonight (heaven help us if we don't), but I'm still not all that confident about winning this. Emery has an outstanding record in the EL and Arsenal have more riding on this game than we do.

Tottenham and Liverpool. As a Chelsea fan, which team do you favour to win the final? Or do you just forgo seeing the game and instead hang yourself?

Wasn't Garth Crooks the same guy who once selected Troy Deeney as a bloody defensive midfielder in one TOTW? Says it all, I think.

I am worried about Abraham, particularly as a first choice. He scores goals but from what I've seen his ball control is Lukaku-standard, and I'm not sure that his movement/finishing/aerial ability is good enough to compensate. Moreover, coming straight from the Championship into a Top 4 PL side is a huge ask. Vardy is the closest example I've seen to a Championship striker firing his side to a PL title, and even then he took a season to get going.

IMO a sterling servant for Chelsea who deserves our best regards despite being at times divisive. At his best, he was a very good defender. Not world class though - technically he was adequate (but not great) in terms of passing, but he quite often struggled in a 4-man high-line, not just because he wasn't all that quick, but because his positioning/decision-making weren't top-class. Too often, he would back off and JT didn't have the pace to cover for him if he made an error. Conte addressed this by using a 3-man formation, wherein both Luiz/Azpi could try and cover for him if things went wrong. They were also both notably quicker than JT so they could do this more easily. However, in his prime he was impressive in a deep line, not only because his pace wasn't tested but because JT could cover for him properly, so he could bring his best traits (bravery/last-ditch tackles) into play more easily without the risk of conceding if he missed a tackle. He also fed off JT's iron will and leadership. He wasn't a bad leader himself, but he was a notably poorer performer when JT wasn't present (2016/17 excepted for reasons noted above). His best seasons were 2013/14 and 2016/17 IMO, for reasons outlined previously.

TBF to Drinkwater, things might have turned out differently had he been used more against inferior opponents rather than Top 6 opponents, and if he hadn't been injured to start off with. We definitely overpaid for him, but I agree that at the time there was a certain logic to his transfer.

Bakayoko's overall skill has improved a touch since his Chelsea days (IMO his passing and first touch are better), but really the main difference is the way he is being used (as a stopper rather than a B2B/DM) and that Serie A is a slower, more tactical and IMO weaker league than the PL. He is also still prone to the odd Watford-like game, along with concentration lapses. Maybe a case of a moderately talented system player who wasn't right for Chelsea under Sarri/Conte, or maybe even the PL full stop. The comparison with Mikel is IMO inappropriate because while Mikel was frustratingly conservative for Chelsea as compared to Nigeria, he was always a much better passer than Bakayoko and fundamentally he was better defensively in terms of positioning, marking and tackling.

Beg to differ RE Torres. He had his memorable moments but ultimately he was treated quite sympathetically given his output and inconsistent mentality. Tend to agree that Jose was sui generis. @Argo, a better example would have been AVB, who from memory was not treated as harshly as Sarri was by the fans despite his side performing worse overall (and declining).

I thought that he was finished in February (managers whose sides go down by big margins regularly rarely recover), but ultimately he's done the bare minimum - he's improved on our points tally from last season and achieved CL qualification. RE our style of play, our CB's still tend to lump it long or pass it to the sidebacks too often compared to his Napoli side, but there has been an overall improvement in playing out from the back compared to Conte's time. He has also developed RLC and to a lesser extent CHO, whereas Conte was less about developing players than playing them in correct positions. Our problems have been less about regressing in terms of playing style than unsuitable players, a lack of firepower and at times a stubborn approach to formations/team management. The transfer window ban is potentially a big problem, especially with Hazard likely leaving. Sarri could also easily turn into an LVG - fixating on possession to the point where his side completely fails to penetrate, as has happened at times this season - but like LVG he has just about done enough to give him the benefit of the doubt after his first season. A Director of Football will be important though - I'm not convinced that giving Sarri complete control of transfers will work out (assuming we can actually buy players). The problem with wanting Sarri out at this point is that you would need to replace him with someone suitable and willing. So who is your replacement? Certainly IMO not Howe or Mourinho. Likely not Laurent Blanc. Favre's Dortmund have fallen off markedly in recent months. Galtier at Lille has adopted a more counter-attacking style this season, and would be a big risk given his past record. I wouldn't have minded Jardim at the start of the season, but he plays with a more counter-attacking style and has recently struggled at Monaco. All that said, I'm open to suggestions. EDIT: RE people proposing Frank, going from a Championship side to a PL side is a massive ask. RDM came 2nd with West Brom in the Championship, but has a mixed record (to put it politely) in the PL. OGS had more PL experience than Frank when he became manager of Man U but nobody's citing his record as anything great. Frank has talent as a manager, but IMO he's not ready yet.

No, Pep finished with 78 points. 71-74 points is not great, but I agree with others that you'd be unlucky to miss out on Top 4 if you get that tally, at least historically. A-wha? We make the group stages regardless of where we finish and what Arsenal do. Emery does have an excellent EL record, so it wouldn't surprise me if Arsenal won the EL, but it's not particularly material RE our prospects of playing in the CL.

I was unconvinced about Pepe earlier in the season because while his movement was dangerous, it seemed to me that he missed a lot of chances and his first touch seemed sub-par for a side that faces a lot of deep-lying defences (like Chelsea). His finishing and first touch have both improved a lot though, plus he's provided quite a few assists, which suggests a reasonably unselfish nature, so I'd be much more enthusiastic about his signing. The only real area for improvements would be 1) his strength - he seems a bit lightweight for the PL and 2) defensive contribution, in which he can be a bit lazy. But those can be addressed.

Australians call it the 'Bradbury effect'.

Their ineptitude has inspired Chelsea fans the world over.

Well, who the hell needs to win games when your competition is Arsenal? ?

Me right now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F55olo6F94

True, Arsenal's away record is also as bad as ours, without checking closely. Even Tottenham aren't guaranteed a win against Everton - Everton have picked up some recent form whereas Tottenham's PL form has looked awful as of late.

I said that OGS was enjoying a 'new manager bump' some months earlier. Glad to see I got that right at least.