2 minutes ago, doctorblue said:

Quite happy to let him stay where he is...

Me too. The champions of England, looking to get a foothold in Europe again should not resort to buying Danny fecking Drinkwater.

But it's probably a sign we are running out of ideas of who to get and also that there are no actual class players available anymore. If we fail to get Drinkwater i am fairly sure we'll go down another level and find a player and not up as we should.

I have nothing against Drinkwater, he is a hard worker and won't be a bad option as a backup, but what is annoying me that we just have sold/loaned youngsters that on this position and could do the job.

Chalobah and Loftus-Cheek could easily take that role!

9 minutes ago, IliyaKrostin said:

I have nothing against Drinkwater, he is a hard worker and won't be a bad option as a backup, but what is annoying me that we just have sold/loaned youngsters that on this position and could do the job.

Chalobah and Loftus-Cheek could easily take that role!

It's going to be a big week for the board...looks like Pasalic is off to Real Betis too so we are really down to the bare bones of a squad...

Edited August 1, 20178 yr by doctorblue

I'd take Drinkwater. A grafter who can pass, nothing fancy but then he'll have others around him to do that.

Wish people would stop throwing Chalobah into it. He wouldn't sign a new deal.

10 minutes ago, IliyaKrostin said:

I have nothing against Drinkwater, he is a hard worker and won't be a bad option as a backup, but what is annoying me that we just have sold/loaned youngsters that on this position and could do the job.

Chalobah and Loftus-Cheek could easily take that role!

Nat wanted to play and backed himself to do so by moving down a level. RLC needs to play or a promising career will never get off the ground. Drinkwater could do a job for us and a wage increase at this stage in his career might be enough to entice him with less playing time. He isn't ideal as he won't be cheap option but it would buy us time till one of the promising youth players does develop and bare fruit.

Drinkwater has been a shadow of himself since November. I can't believe we're entertaining such an idea FFS.

 

 

 

We have no idea how Bakayoko would perform with Kanté, and an injury / fatigue to him with Drinkwater replacing him is awful. There's a sh*tload of midfielders available in the Bundesliga with an aptitude in creative ability / work rate whereas Drinkwater only possesses a modicum of the latter 

Edited August 1, 20178 yr by MANoWAR

2 hours ago, PedroMendez said:

 

There are still no quality replacements at wing backs.  Taking Aina out for Tomori who is not even a wing-back and believing that he is a proper replacement is dicing with danger.

Central midfield also needs a better option.

If what you said that the squad is deeper (which I vehemently disagree), then Conte wouldn't be repeating himself through the press about wanting squad depth and quality.

2 hours ago, PedroMendez said:

 

Begovic - Cabellero (downgrade but not really an issue)
Terry - Christensen (upgrade as a player, massive downgrade as a character for the squad)
Zouma - Rudiger (upgrade)
Ake - JCS (downgrade but 6 top class CBs is too many)
Aina - Tomori (no real difference, Hence the issue. We have CL where we cant play Aina like in a league cup or first few rounds of FA cup)
Matic - Bakayoko (downgrade, potential upgrade)
Chalobah - Pasalic (upgrade, Pasalic is apparently out on loan)
RLC - Baker/Boga (upgrade)
Costa - Morata (downgrade, potential upgrade)
Solanke - Remy (Upgrade, Not sure if he is going to be in the squad by  the end of the season)

Add to it

Kenedy - Kenedy (Another position where we have needed an upgrade/back up since the end of the last season but our board has not done anything).

I dont think the point of the majority on here is "Our squad depth is lesser/better than last season". Its more like "Our squad depth is poor for a Club playing in 4 major competitions with the expectations of winning all of them". We lack any depth for RWB, LWB, CM (Cesc is barely able to play as a CM) and ST. For CM, we can play Luiz there, for RWB we have Azpi and Rudi but in most cases its square pegs in round holes. 

 

We have to sign a few English players don't we? Or we won't meet the HG requirement. Drinkwater does strike me as a kind of Sidwell panic buy though, and I can see us struggling to get rid of him over the next few years when we realise he's not up to standard.

EXPRESS Chelsea boss Antonio Conte plans to make Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain a star wing-back http://ift.tt/2udfZ0W 

Chelsea poised with a £25m offer... 

Edited August 1, 20178 yr by doctorblue

Although I think we must be able to do better, I've been assuming for a while that we'll end up with Oxlade. To be fair, he's not too bad, I watched some Arsenal Seville highlights and he is fast and a decentish crosser, but I had hoped for a proper upgrade. If we were drawn against a Bayern or Real or Barcelona, I wouldn't trust either Moses or Oxlade to keep them at bay.

14 minutes ago, doctorblue said:

EXPRESS Chelsea boss Antonio Conte plans to make Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain a star wing-back http://ift.tt/2udfZ0W 

Chelsea poised with a £25m offer... 

Not a chance in hell that Wegner will sell to us, a title rival..another headline story that will blow away in the wind unless Chamberlain forces a move

Not so sure, following Czech going there, JM departing and that the Ox is a squad player rather than a star, I think a deal might be done.

 

36 minutes ago, CFCCAN said:

Not a chance in hell that Wegner will sell to us, a title rival..another headline story that will blow away in the wind unless Chamberlain forces a move

At this stage neither of us are title rivals...

Demarai Gray any one? 

24 minutes ago, Michael said:

At this stage neither of us are title rivals...

f**k it must have been a dream, but I could have sworn we won the league last year

46 minutes ago, Michael said:

At this stage neither of us are title rivals...

A team thats won 2 out of the last 3 is no not a title rival? bullsh*t.

Danny Drinkwater  

No surprise that as soon as Kante left Leicester their midfield went to sh*t. Gets a lot of credit for running around and passing sideways a lot. Can not be signing players with the mentality that "it's ok because they're our 4th choice" because playing over 50 games a year rotation is key, plus injuries are always likely. Our substitute players have to be good enough to win a league and be of Champions League quality if they are playing for Chelsea.

Edited August 1, 20178 yr by KentPaul

12 minutes ago, dkw said:

A team thats won 2 out of the last 3 is no not a title rival? bullsh*t.

33 minutes ago, RMCM said:

f**k it must have been a dream, but I could have sworn we won the league last year

 

Note that I said "At this stage".  You guys think we're legit title contenders with our current squad and depth?

1 minute ago, Michael said:

 

Note that I said "At this stage".  You guys think we're legit title contenders with our current squad and depth?

Yes.

Well at this stage Hazard and Bakayoko are injured, so I love your optimism.

1 minute ago, Michael said:

Well at this stage Hazard and Bakayoko are injured, so I love your optimism.

Right. So two players missing a couple of weeks means we aren't title contenders for the season? We either are or aren't contenders going into the season, there's no 'at this stage'

2 minutes ago, Michael said:

Well at this stage Hazard and Bakayoko are injured, so I love your optimism.

Is he actually injured or is he just being carefully managed? I've seen some reports that he could be ready for Sunday so he'll probably be fit enough come the start of the season, although with no preseason.

1 minute ago, RMCM said:

Right. So two players missing a couple of weeks means we aren't title contenders for the season? We either are or aren't contenders going into the season, there's no 'at this stage'

Of course there's an "at this stage" because this is literally where we are at.  If we make a few more signings before the start of the season then for sure we are title contenders, but right now we are not as other teams have strengthened their squads and we have just been treading water by bringing in replacements for outgoing players.

2 minutes ago, KentPaul said:

Is he actually injured or is he just being carefully managed? I've seen some reports that he could be ready for Sunday so he'll probably be fit enough come the start of the season, although with no preseason.

Either way he's not 100% fit. 

I'd prefer Conte just give Baker a chance instead of spending 30-40m on Drinkwater.