He may have dropped his levels, but his ability to do it at the very very top are unquestionable, just enjoy his assists, his little flicks and backheels even had, Mr Gale salivating....

Personally I think Fab is much better than Ozil, problem with assists is they counted if you pass someone else and they smash one in from 20 yards. Some of the through balls from Fab last year was top draw.

Personally I would give him a go in a midfield 3 with RLC and Matic.

Why does Tony Gale get every Chelsea game?

I though Gullit was harsh on him in MOTD. I think he has shown plenty of quality in the big games too. The problem against City was defensively. More important than anything. He is playing/talking like a guy who knows that Chelsea likely is last really big club and chance to lift trophies. I think he is a keeper; he is taking responsibility, and showing a really good thought process of what went wrong. He is a smart player I think. 

 

Whether Conte will use him; well ... who knows, but he is the kind of playmaker that you can build around. 

Personally I think Fab is much better than Ozil, problem with assists is they counted if you pass someone else and they smash one in from 20 yards. Some of the through balls from Fab last year was top draw.

Personally I would give him a go in a midfield 3 with RLC and Matic.

Why does Tony Gale get every Chelsea game?

 

I don't mind keeping these 3 players for next season, but for me the balance is off when you play them at the same time. Id like to see a couple of hard-tackling, versatile and dynamic box to box midfielders next to Fabregas or RLC. Juventus had Vidal and Marchisio to cover either Pogba or Pirlo as an example. So next season we need to buy a couple of these dynamic box to box midfielders, if we sell Mikel, then we would have 5 good options for 3 positions, wich I think is a good number. 

I don't mind keeping these 3 players for next season, but for me the balance is off when you play them at the same time. Id like to see a couple of hard-tackling, versatile and dynamic box to box midfielders next to Fabregas or RLC. Juventus had Vidal and Marchisio to cover either Pogba or Pirlo as an example. So next season we need to buy a couple of these dynamic box to box midfielders, if we sell Mikel, then we would have 5 good options for 3 positions, wich I think is a good number.

You are right, I ment to mix it up till the end of the season. As long as if Mikel don't play I am happy, but his number one on the team sheet under Hiddink.

I don't think Fab can play in a midfield 2 which is another reason to mix it up. The only player who could be good at number 10 is Hazard, Willian has no creativity, Oscar is inconsistent. Gutting thing is Mata is perfect for that role.

Conte will make him his main man. Maybe even push him for captain.

He had Pirlo as his creator and now Cesc.

Conte will make him his main man.

 

If Conte implements that as his plan A, I don't think he will last long in the job.

 

It's too basic, we got away with it when he first arrived, for half a season, but then the teams got wise and started shutting him out. 

 

The last few games he has started to turn it around. But mainly because half the league is now on holiday.

 

Let's just wait and see how he plays against the best two teams in England this season, and then take it from there.

I think Cesc can be protected in that sense. He needs some space and time. That is all.

I think Cesc can be protected in that sense. He needs some space and time. That is all.

 

By Who?

 

(I hope you have an alternative to the obvious answers of Matic & Mikel).

By Who?

(I hope you have an alternative to the obvious answers of Matic & Mikel).

This is where conte comes in. Vidal did it in Juve..?

Let's just wait and see how he plays against the best two teams in England this season, and then take it from there.

 

I wouldn't judge him too much on those games. At the moment teams could quite easily stick a man on him and stifle him - think what Oscar did on Pirlo in 2012.

 

What Juve did in the return game was use different players to start attacks, primarily Bonucci. That is the problem for us at the moment because if teams sit on Cesc then there's not been anyone else to make plays. Nainggolan could do that for us next year because he has that in his locker, but this season we're hamstrung by Oscar and Matic underperforming and Mikel being Mikel. It's why I'd like to see us go with Loftus-Cheek against Spurs.

Three assists in a game is good by any criteria, ok it was Bournemouth but he really was in control from the start. If he by any chance could rediscover his form from his debut Chelsea season when Conte is in charge, we will probably ease to the top four again.

I wouldn't judge him too much on those games. At the moment teams could quite easily stick a man on him and stifle him - think what Oscar did on Pirlo in 2012.

 

What Juve did in the return game was use different players to start attacks, primarily Bonucci. That is the problem for us at the moment because if teams sit on Cesc then there's not been anyone else to make plays. Nainggolan could do that for us next year because he has that in his locker, but this season we're hamstrung by Oscar and Matic underperforming and Mikel being Mikel. It's why I'd like to see us go with Loftus-Cheek against Spurs.

 

I can obviously see why everyone keeps bringing up the name Pirlo, but I see a big difference between them.

 

Pirlo was a magician who could buy time out of thin air, Oscar didn't exactly close him out of the game, he was just busy around him, but Pirlo was capable of handling it.

 

Thing is with Cesc, when the opponents close him out of the game, he is easily flustered and loses the ball in some horrific positions.

 

No way will Spuds give him any time on the ball, that's why you won't judge him, Leicester could sit back if they are already champs, and he could have a good game in that one.

I can obviously see why everyone keeps bringing up the name Pirlo, but I see a big difference between them.

 

Pirlo was a magician who could buy time out of thin air, Oscar didn't exactly close him out of the game, he was just busy around him, but Pirlo was capable of handling it.

 

Thing is with Cesc, when the opponents close him out of the game, he is easily flustered and loses the ball in some horrific positions.

 

No way will Spuds give him any time on the ball, that's why you won't judge him, Leicester could sit back if they are already champs, and he could have a good game in that one.

 

Oscar did a number on him until he went off after about an hour from what I remember. Pirlo is a fantastic player, but so is Fabregas and they can both find time but they both need to have a system built around them.

 

The reason I won't judge him too much is because, as I said, he's our main playmaker and when you mark him out of the game there's no alternatives. We don't have a defender like Bonucci who can bring it out (as he did against us in 2012), nor do we have someone like Vidal alongside him to pose a threat.

 

I imagine Spurs will stick someone on him and then we have to hope that Hazard or Costa can provide that spark, but going into next season I think we have to build to our strengths and Cesc is one of them.

By Who?

 

(I hope you have an alternative to the obvious answers of Matic & Mikel).

Kevin Costner.  Did brilliant for the late Whitney Houston.

I can obviously see why everyone keeps bringing up the name Pirlo, but I see a big difference between them.

 

whilst I don't agree with you that cesc fabregas, (100 caps for spain, world cup and european championship winner etc etc) needs to prove he can perform in big games, I definitely agree with this.

 

I think it is a bit of a superficial comparison. pirlo has been playing as the deepest midfield player since he was about 22. his career has been built in that position. he's actually a worse tackler, slower and a far poorer tracker of runners than fabregas, but I don't think cesc has the same range of passing or ability to step away from players closing him down that pirlo has. obviously he's more similar to pirlo than vidal or marchisio, but I don't think it  is a guarantee that conte would use him there or that he would be a perfect fit for the role.

whilst I don't agree with you that cesc fabregas, (100 caps for spain, world cup and european championship winner etc etc) needs to prove he can perform in big games, I definitely agree with this.

I think it is a bit of a superficial comparison. pirlo has been playing as the deepest midfield player since he was about 22. his career has been built in that position. he's actually a worse tackler, slower and a far poorer tracker of runners than fabregas, but I don't think cesc has the same range of passing or ability to step away from players closing him down that pirlo has. obviously he's more similar to pirlo than vidal or marchisio, but I don't think it is a guarantee that conte would use him there or that he would be a perfect fit for the role.

I agree there are some differences between the 2, but if conte uses a 3 man midfield, I don't see fabregas being dynamic enough to play any other role other than where pirlo played. Obviously I think fabregas would play the role slightly differently to pirlo, but I do think he could be fantastic as a midfield anchor.

teams tried to keep Pirlo out of the game, yet Conte was able to came up with a plan B

if he decided to use Cesc the way he did with Pirlo, no doubt he will come up with a plan

though I agree, if we want to replicate what he did with Juve, we are short of tenacious midfielder a la Vidal and a ball playing defender a la Bonucci
but, don't forget we are close to acquire Nainggolan, and also we were linked with Marquinhos and Hummels, hopefully we can secure one of them

i think we are on the right path

Singing Blue is the Colour on social media (Snapchat), good lad.

Singing Blue is the Colour on social media (Snapchat), good lad.

 

No, don't go to that direction.. we know how it works..

I really don't like the way the players and in particular Cesc' try and influence referees to get a player sent off.

The stepping on the hand incident was hard to watch, whining to both referees repeatedly whist showing them his hand.  Not the first time he has done it either.

I might be more critical of Chelsea than other teams, but I've seen it a number of times when some of the senior players try and do this.  I don't like it one bit and even if we are behind, I hate games that are influenced by red cards.

 

I really don't like the way the players and in particular Cesc' try and influence referees to get a player sent off.

I hear people say this and think back to Drogba.

Were they as critical with him or is it just because it's Cesc.

With that said the guy stamped on his hand, he had the marks to prove it. If it happened to me I'd be pretty pissed off with it too and I'd be letting the officials know.

What did you want him to do?

I really don't like the way the players and in particular Cesc' try and influence referees to get a player sent off.

The stepping on the hand incident was hard to watch, whining to both referees repeatedly whist showing them his hand. Not the first time he has done it either.

What reaction would you expect from him exactly?

Very strange thing to criticise him for.

Anyway. Happy birthday Cesc.

Well personally I'd get on with the game and not worry about what the referee is doing.. that is the least of your priorities as a player and it infuriates me in general how much interaction they have with him in general, but more so what seems like referee influencing from our boys.

It's highly possible that your hand gets stepped on accidentally so showing him the stud marks isn't going to help, but it shouldn't be up to the player to help anyway.

I'm criticising Cesc because he does it a lot and it affects the image of the club, I sat there watching him carry on Monday night and hated every second of it.

Drogba was 10 times worse for it than Cesc, did he damage the image of the club?

It's because it is Cesc really isn't it?