mactheknife

I'd love a link to those posts if you could find them. I too have written about the path he took to get here and compared it to Sammer's arrival at Bayern so it would be interesting to see if our accounts line up at all.
 
I agree that he didn't appoint himself and that was my primary point. I've been critical of the board and Roman in particular and the appointment of Emenalo to this position when he had absolutely no track record that would suggest he would be a competent candidate is one of the points I've raised a few times.
 
Regardless I'm happy to judge him on what he's done and his time and where this club has gone.
 
 
This is a very flawed premise because I've said that Jose was at fault for a number of issues this season, but I think the squad was weakened over the summer and that really doesn't fall at his feet. 
 
 
That's a good point. People like Ballack and Drogba were older but I didn't just say leadership, I said character. I think this is a wider issue on the type of players we recruited after the 2012 season but in my opinion we've lost a certain type of player at this club. You may say leadership is hard to define in a quantifiable sense, but anyone who has played sports or worked for a reasonable amount of time knows what that indefinable quality is. Some might call it bottle but it's gone and when you look at the fact that we let people like Drogba and Cech go last summer, there's a case that they are exactly the types of players we failed to bring in.
 
 
I agree with people like Sir Alex Ferguson who say that when you win the league you need to improve your squad with 2-3 top class signings and I think we'll both agree that we didn't do that. Going back to my previous point of the types of players we lost and the dealings in general, we weakened the squad and that sent out the wrong message in my opinion. There was a distinct lack of ambition to our signings and that really seemed to set the mood at the club. There were also questionable decisions made over pre-season and some players simply started the season overweight and unfit (Costa has said as much).
 
That to me was where the season was lost, and the thing is anyone who watched us from mid-January onwards knew we needed to improve. The PSG games exemplified that but we didn't improve, in fact we regressed in my opinion and you simply can't do that in such a competitive league. 
 
 
This is just you doubling down on your error of bringing up the hiring of a well-respected man who had a track record of excellence in his field in comparison to Michael Emenalo. It's not even about my opinion of him (although I share it) or me having met the guy and seen a Powerpoint presentation of his (I actually have!), but the widely held view that he is one of the leading people in his field who had experience before being hired by us.
 
The reason no-one criticised him is exactly because of that and as I said, it's the perfect example of how we should be behaving as a club rather than hiring Roman's mate's proteges (a very similar argument about Emenalo could be levelled at Avram although he at least at experience as a coach, if not the requisite qualifications).
 
 
Another faulty premise because I don't think that. What I believe is that you need the best people possible working together in concert towards a shared aim, and I don't think we have that at this moment in time.I especially don't think we had that when Jose returned as manager and the one person who seemed to realise was rather surprisingly Emenalo, who tendered his resignation. 
 
Now I'm not using him as a scapegoat because I think the problems actually go beyond him. Roman needs to take a step-back but he probably won't, so the best you can hope for is a stronger presence in the Technical Director role. What we have now is a guy who was appointed not because of what he had done, but because of whom he knew and I don't agree with that in any walk of life to be honest. If we want to return to the top of the European game then I think we need to change the way we behave, and that starts with a review of everyone in the club.
 
Conte can't do much if the machine itself doesn't change because it becomes just another short-term fix for long-term fundamental problems. But if you disagree then that's fine. There's nothing to say that either one of us is right or wrong.

I've never particularly rated him. A good, honest player but never a top player, and not good enough for the level we aspire to. He won't be starting for Chelsea next season.

Back to terry the footballer... Wow, just wow... JT has never ever got the credit he deserves... Im the 2003-2010 period the fashionable thing to do was to a credit JT defensive partner for Chelsea brilliant defensive displays, we saw Marcel, gallas, Ricky, Alex and now GC come and mostly go. But it was down to the variable... That argument kind of lost steam a few years ago and now people scrape the barrel with finding better alternatives.. The new popular one is kompany is better and Rik was better... Let's ignore the fact the other two make far more mistakes the JT.. I heard the same about pique once..
I've always loved defending, think it's a massively underappriciated part of the game probably thanks to tika taka. But for me watching a devastatingly imposing center back is just as good as watching Messi slamlem his way through half the pitch.. Mattius sammer, Marcel Desailly, fabio canevaro.. That's the company I put JT in for defenders over the last two decades..
If I have one critasisem of the game yesterday it's that on a couple of occasions I saw GC on the wrong side of the striker and having to make recovery blocks.. Also swung aimlessly at a cross at one point.. This is stuff you never see of JT, focus, leadership, ability... Basically, when he hangs up his boots we are funked... He's a once in a generation player

Spot on Mactheknife.
Just because you criticise a player or are aware of a time when they were in the wrong, it doesn't mean you cannot appreciate them and still laud their greatness on the pitch and lessons learned off it.
We badly need JT fit for the whole season if we want any success.

Not worth debating this on here fella. JT is innocent on both the Fredinand and Bridge sagas here and they are all part of the general anti JT/anti Chelsea conspiracy in the media. That's pretty much the consensus on here.I think some people don't get that you can believe that JT used racist language and had an affair, though still love Chelsea and JT. In fact, he is my favourite ever Chelsea player.
Being a Chelsea fan, I know all the good JT has done on and off the pitch and he always comes across as somebody who would give you the time of day if you were to meet him. When your family member or best friends muck up, do you turn their back on them? No, you stick by them just like we and I'm sure some players did with JT and he definitely appreciates that.
But to deny he did anything is almost koo-koo and entering the rocky scouse road.
I know it's water under the bridge, and it's way in the past. So happy he scored again yesterday. To think 2 years ago, Rafa Benitez was trying to force him out of the league.
P.S. If anybody brings up the 'he was found innocent in court' argument. Fine, but he had an excellent legal team who formed a great case. There's no denying he used certain words, which he even admitted. In spite of the content the FA have to act on it.

some of the arguments put across here have less balance than steven gerrard.
 
I like willian. keeps the ball well, defends well, presses extremely well. 
 
obviously it would be better if he had the instinct for goals (and positioning) that schurrle does, but even without it he's the superior player in my view. though schurrle is also a very handy player in his own right.
 
there are, I think, limitations to the 'goals and assists' representation of footballers. I think above all it ignores the context of the side within which one is judged.
 
it is a fact (if we're to use blue daze's factually incorrect usage of the word) that a team will attack through its best attacking player(s). in our case that means fabregas and hazard. with and without the ball every other player has to adapt to that reality in terms of movement and positioning on the pitch. I think in most cases this makes willian a) hugely important and b) it understandable that he won't win you many points in fantasy football.  how therefore one could unfavourably compare him to the likes of coutinho (a player so lightweight that it appears his boots are made of helium) I'll never know.

It's nowhere near the stage of boycott. The World Cup will be held in a variety of locations, it's only right in my opinion. Us in Western Europe and the Americas don't hold a special privilege to the game. That for me is the starting point and any boycott would look like we are against the notion on the World Cup being in new locations.
I'm not best pleased that the potential of changing the date was never declared and more importantly that people are dying building the infrastructure for the World Cup. These for me are the main issues.
Would Qatar host a good World Cup? Probably. There was so much scepticism about Brazil and South Africa, but off the pitch both tournaments were pretty successful.
The Middle East should have its time, the issue is just how they got their time.

What Gary Neville said on MNF a couple of weeks ago pretty much hit the nail on the head (as usual).
Essential points:
-It is right that World Cup goes to different regions of the world.
-The Middle East is one of those regions, so they should have a World Cup.
-Climate means it is impossible to have a World Cup in the summer in the Middle East so a Middle Eastern World Cup aswell as potential world cups 40 degree North of the equator will have to be in winter.
-Football leagues who play between Sept-May (only half of the football world) will have to accommodate and rearrange their schedule according. This is something the other half of the football world has to plan to do every 4 years.
-The problem lies with how to process has been done. Clear corruption and not declaring the bid was a winter World Cup. I honestly think if a middle eastern country had presented a winter World Cup it still would have won and that probably would have been the right thing. The voters are of representatives across the world and it makes sense for voters in Caribbean countries, North African countries, Central Asia, Oceania (although not here as Australia had a bid) and Third-World countries to vote for a World Cup in a new region as Qatar will back their cause in return.
A lot of the post Qatar fallout is to be blamed on the western media. The issue has been tackled in the wrong way. Too much of the focus has been on how can a small 'non-footballing' country such as Qatar win the World Cup. Whilst it has been focused upon significantly, the sole purpose of protest should be on moving the World Cup from summer to winter without this ever being stated or implied in the bidding process.

Personally i feel Willian is a better dribbler and runner with the ball.
 
 
How often do you see willian pick up the ball deep, change direction suddenly and go on a diagonal run to lose his man.  This is something he does better than Oscar, and as i said after Hazard he is the main trigger to unbalance the opposition.
 
I don't deny he needs to be more involved at the sharp end but i find that in England especially there is an over emphasis on stats.
 
Frank Lampard of two, three years ago had better stats than iniesta but you'd be hard pressed to convince anyone he was better at that stage.
 
N.B  i'm not comparing Oscar or Willian's quality, i'm just saying that their roles are slightly different and that stats sometimes don't equate to performance

Ok main points:
Jose didn't give us a bollocking- he told us to stay calm as we've never all played as a team, some played on Monday, others hadn't played much.
Gave respect to Shrewsbury in a non patronising way, just seemed very genuine.
He said he didn't need an armband to remind him that one of his main duties was to be a leader.
When asked if it is hard to still play at his age, he said not with these amazing fans always supporting me.
Then gave a nice clap to the Shrewsbury fans.
What makes me so proud when I see Drogba is that we watched him grow up as a man. Terry, Lampard & Cech were always good at staying emotionally neutral.
Drogba always seemed to lay his feelings bare out in front of us. It made him an easy target when he had his bad days, which there were a lot. But with everything that has happened it has made people more affectionate towards him.
We're very lucky that such a transcendent player is one of our own.

Ok main points:
Jose didn't give us a bollocking- he told us to stay calm as we've never all played as a team, some played on Monday, others hadn't played much.
Gave respect to Shrewsbury in a non patronising way, just seemed very genuine.
He said he didn't need an armband to remind him that one of his main duties was to be a leader.
When asked if it is hard to still play at his age, he said not with these amazing fans always supporting me.
Then gave a nice clap to the Shrewsbury fans.
What makes me so proud when I see Drogba is that we watched him grow up as a man. Terry, Lampard & Cech were always good at staying emotionally neutral.
Drogba always seemed to lay his feelings bare out in front of us. It made him an easy target when he had his bad days, which there were a lot. But with everything that has happened it has made people more affectionate towards him.
We're very lucky that such a transcendent player is one of our own.

Ok main points:
Jose didn't give us a bollocking- he told us to stay calm as we've never all played as a team, some played on Monday, others hadn't played much.
Gave respect to Shrewsbury in a non patronising way, just seemed very genuine.
He said he didn't need an armband to remind him that one of his main duties was to be a leader.
When asked if it is hard to still play at his age, he said not with these amazing fans always supporting me.
Then gave a nice clap to the Shrewsbury fans.
What makes me so proud when I see Drogba is that we watched him grow up as a man. Terry, Lampard & Cech were always good at staying emotionally neutral.
Drogba always seemed to lay his feelings bare out in front of us. It made him an easy target when he had his bad days, which there were a lot. But with everything that has happened it has made people more affectionate towards him.
We're very lucky that such a transcendent player is one of our own.

Ok main points:
Jose didn't give us a bollocking- he told us to stay calm as we've never all played as a team, some played on Monday, others hadn't played much.
Gave respect to Shrewsbury in a non patronising way, just seemed very genuine.
He said he didn't need an armband to remind him that one of his main duties was to be a leader.
When asked if it is hard to still play at his age, he said not with these amazing fans always supporting me.
Then gave a nice clap to the Shrewsbury fans.
What makes me so proud when I see Drogba is that we watched him grow up as a man. Terry, Lampard & Cech were always good at staying emotionally neutral.
Drogba always seemed to lay his feelings bare out in front of us. It made him an easy target when he had his bad days, which there were a lot. But with everything that has happened it has made people more affectionate towards him.
We're very lucky that such a transcendent player is one of our own.

Ok main points:
Jose didn't give us a bollocking- he told us to stay calm as we've never all played as a team, some played on Monday, others hadn't played much.
Gave respect to Shrewsbury in a non patronising way, just seemed very genuine.
He said he didn't need an armband to remind him that one of his main duties was to be a leader.
When asked if it is hard to still play at his age, he said not with these amazing fans always supporting me.
Then gave a nice clap to the Shrewsbury fans.
What makes me so proud when I see Drogba is that we watched him grow up as a man. Terry, Lampard & Cech were always good at staying emotionally neutral.
Drogba always seemed to lay his feelings bare out in front of us. It made him an easy target when he had his bad days, which there were a lot. But with everything that has happened it has made people more affectionate towards him.
We're very lucky that such a transcendent player is one of our own.

Ok main points:
Jose didn't give us a bollocking- he told us to stay calm as we've never all played as a team, some played on Monday, others hadn't played much.
Gave respect to Shrewsbury in a non patronising way, just seemed very genuine.
He said he didn't need an armband to remind him that one of his main duties was to be a leader.
When asked if it is hard to still play at his age, he said not with these amazing fans always supporting me.
Then gave a nice clap to the Shrewsbury fans.
What makes me so proud when I see Drogba is that we watched him grow up as a man. Terry, Lampard & Cech were always good at staying emotionally neutral.
Drogba always seemed to lay his feelings bare out in front of us. It made him an easy target when he had his bad days, which there were a lot. But with everything that has happened it has made people more affectionate towards him.
We're very lucky that such a transcendent player is one of our own.

Thank you. He's an absolute legend.

Ok main points:
Jose didn't give us a bollocking- he told us to stay calm as we've never all played as a team, some played on Monday, others hadn't played much.
Gave respect to Shrewsbury in a non patronising way, just seemed very genuine.
He said he didn't need an armband to remind him that one of his main duties was to be a leader.
When asked if it is hard to still play at his age, he said not with these amazing fans always supporting me.
Then gave a nice clap to the Shrewsbury fans.
What makes me so proud when I see Drogba is that we watched him grow up as a man. Terry, Lampard & Cech were always good at staying emotionally neutral.
Drogba always seemed to lay his feelings bare out in front of us. It made him an easy target when he had his bad days, which there were a lot. But with everything that has happened it has made people more affectionate towards him.
We're very lucky that such a transcendent player is one of our own.

Ok main points:
Jose didn't give us a bollocking- he told us to stay calm as we've never all played as a team, some played on Monday, others hadn't played much.
Gave respect to Shrewsbury in a non patronising way, just seemed very genuine.
He said he didn't need an armband to remind him that one of his main duties was to be a leader.
When asked if it is hard to still play at his age, he said not with these amazing fans always supporting me.
Then gave a nice clap to the Shrewsbury fans.
What makes me so proud when I see Drogba is that we watched him grow up as a man. Terry, Lampard & Cech were always good at staying emotionally neutral.
Drogba always seemed to lay his feelings bare out in front of us. It made him an easy target when he had his bad days, which there were a lot. But with everything that has happened it has made people more affectionate towards him.
We're very lucky that such a transcendent player is one of our own.

He does a great deal, often quietly, for charity, has his own charitable foundation. He is a decent human being and football needs more like him, he does Chelsea proud on and off the pitch.

His post match interview was class. Didier just seems like a genuinely nice guy.
Definitely will part of our furniture for years and years to come.

I said when he joined that he'd get at least one important goal for us this year, but I didn't expect that to be as a starting striker at Old Trafford.
 
Despite that I don't think he's right for us as a starting striker. Costa and Remy stretch the play, give the midfielders a target to hit which is vital for someone like Fabregas. Without that we become very compact. Drogba is a great option in the box when we're pushing forward and dominating play, but in most games he simply doesn't suit the rest of the team.
 
Still a legend though and a clinical finisher in the box.

Some chelsea fans don't realise how lucky they are to have a willing squad player in the side who is capable back up to what we have got. Sure, replace him with someone 'better' like Khedira/Vidal/pogba. Watch the ego's throw toys out the pram when 4 doesn't go into 2 (CDM role).
Put it this way, he is an average but reliable player who has never grumbled once about lack of opportunities and I for one consider him an ambassador for the club he plays for. Remember this chap played for chelsea whilst his dad was being held hostage in Nigeria. You can never be too grateful for the lack of an ego in today's football.

Do you know what Mikel is actually really good at? Having the ball in tight spaces at DM goading in one or two players, then releasing the ball to the players in space that he's created

Do you know what Mikel is actually really good at? Having the ball in tight spaces at DM goading in one or two players, then releasing the ball to the players in space that he's created