Have to agree with Ernie Blue, I don't understand why we need to worry about playing 3 midfielders whose primary responsibility is to run around and make tackles (Oscar/Matic/Kante) when there are teams outperforming us playing with just 1 (Liverpool started at the Bridge with a midfield of Henderson/Coutinho/Wijnaldum??).

8 hours ago, big blue said:

 I think there has to be a place for him in the team, even if he wasnt great last night, i thought he played okay tbh, considering he has only played about half an hour for ys so far this season. 

 

He scored 2 and put one on a plate for pedro in the 1st half aswell, thats more end product than any other centre midfielder has produced for us so far this year. 

I also think having the threat of fabregas and now luiz for that direct ball over the top, it stops teams playing as high as they would normally, for fear of leaving soace in behind, which should hopefully give hazard more room to operate. 

 

Important point that, other than teh direct threat it stops teams playing a high like which not only allows harazd some space but dulls down the threat of a high pressing attacking team, cesc has to play I have always been a big willian fan but him and more so oscar are very replaceable, plus cesc can play as a pair in CM or higher up, he slots in to different formations, I dont even think we are that more solid without him, for me its crazy leaving out such a creative player. 

Most Premier League assists since 2000:

C. Fàbregas (86)
W. Rooney (79)
J. Milner (64)
A. Young (62)
D. Silva (58)

Not expecting him to start tomorrow. 

5 hours ago, IliyaKrostin said:

Most Premier League assists since 2000:

C. Fàbregas (86)
W. Rooney (79)
J. Milner (64)
A. Young (62)
D. Silva (58)

I'm not sure where you got your sources from mate but it's incorrect. I think the top 5 since 2000 is Giggs, Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, Fabregas.

I'm shocked that Milner and Young have so many assists, it just shows how misleading stats can be. The pair of them have never been top players. 

2 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I'm not sure where you got your sources from mate but it's incorrect. I think the top 5 since 2000 is Giggs, Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, Fabregas.

I'm shocked that Milner and Young have so many assists, it just shows how misleading stats can be. The pair of them have never been top players. 

really? even so, the 1st 4 in your list feels like already playing like an eternity, 99% starter and 99% full 90 minutes.. Comnpared to cesc, with the time he's away during the timespan, i think it's safe to say that the assist by playing minute ratio, he's on top, perhaps that's illiyakrostin's source was coming from??

 

5 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I'm not sure where you got your sources from mate but it's incorrect. I think the top 5 since 2000 is Giggs, Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, Fabregas.

I'm shocked that Milner and Young have so many assists, it just shows how misleading stats can be. The pair of them have never been top players. 

 

Oh, it's my bad, just my friend sent me this. The number of assists might be correct.

http://www.kicktv.com/all-time-assists-leaders/

Fabregas can be way up there by the time he retires.

5 hours ago, IliyaKrostin said:

Oh, it's my bad, just my friend sent me this. The number of assists might be correct.

I think i know where your friend got his stats from. It's from the Premier League website, the stats of those players on that website match the ones you wrote down, but they only go back to 2006, not 2000.

With both Matic and Kante in there, looking forward to seeing him play with a bit of security. The way Costa and Hazard have been looking recently, this could be very exciting.

I finally see Conte's reservations about playing Cesc in the midfield. Today was a bad game for him and it might have suited Oscar better. Cesc was not given enough space to operate. The defense and pressing of Oscar might have helped make life a tad bit frustrating for Arsenal but Cesc was the wrong player for this game. Conte tried to move him upfield in the second half but that too did not work and had to be subbed. I think Cesc needs to start only against teams that give Chelsea space to play (Hull, CP etc).

9 hours ago, Kante Conte said:

With both Matic and Kante in there, looking forward to seeing him play with a bit of security. The way Costa and Hazard have been looking recently, this could be very exciting.

How wrong did you want to be ?

3 hours ago, brownindian said:

I finally see Conte's reservations about playing Cesc in the midfield. Today was a bad game for him and it might have suited Oscar better. Cesc was not given enough space to operate. The defense and pressing of Oscar might have helped make life a tad bit frustrating for Arsenal but Cesc was the wrong player for this game. Conte tried to move him upfield in the second half but that too did not work and had to be subbed. I think Cesc needs to start only against teams that give Chelsea space to play (Hull, CP etc).

Yes - this has been rather obvious to some of us for a long time. Plaudits to you for not only recognizing this but having the honesty to post about it. I wonder if others who were so enthusiastic on here about having Fabregas start this game will match your honesty.

1 hour ago, coco said:

How wrong did you want to be ?

Tell me about it, mate. Sickening. 

Like I said in an earlier post, a midfield 3 of matic/kante and fabregas would be a disaster, 3 players cramping the middle of the pitch was never going to work.

I finally see Conte's reservations about playing Cesc in the midfield. Today was a bad game for him and it might have suited Oscar better. Cesc was not given enough space to operate. The defense and pressing of Oscar might have helped make life a tad bit frustrating for Arsenal but Cesc was the wrong player for this game. Conte tried to move him upfield in the second half but that too did not work and had to be subbed. I think Cesc needs to start only against teams that give Chelsea space to play (Hull, CP etc).

If there is one thing I have learn throughout last season, it's the fact that Fabregas always struggle when playing as a number 10 or behind the striker. If you play him there then he is playing out of position and he won't perform even if he is playing against Bristol Rovers.

Fabregas thrives when played deep in the midfield beside a defensive midfielder that is willing to stay back and protect the back four. From that deep position when Fabregas gets the ball his first instinct is to look up and around the pitch to see the best positioned player in the front to pick out with a pass. And Costa understands that very well that's why Costa always runs into the box whenever he sees Fabregas with the ball midfield and we all know how it always end. But the biggest problem is Matic is occupying Fabregas spot and Conte isn't willing to change that soon.

Fabregas wasnt great yesterday, and maybe it was the wrong midfield for arsenal away, although i dont think oscar would have changed the result yesterday, as when does oscar ever have that big of an influence in any game, let alone a big game. 

What i will say in defence of fabregas, and also oscar and any other midfielder or attacker in the team. When defenders are gifting goals away, it puts a hell of a lot of pressure on the attack to rectify it. 

That back 4 or 3/5 needs to be fixed asap and maybe we will see better performances from midfielders and attackers, that arent playing in fear of the game being thrown away in defence. 

Just got to look at Arsenal, they play Carzola and Coquelin as a midfield 2. To me that looks exactly the same as playing Kante and Fabregas. Kante is actually better than Coquelin, Fabregas and Carzola are very similar. Wenger and Arsenal make it work so why not Conte?

8 hours ago, youlots said:

Yes - this has been rather obvious to some of us for a long time. Plaudits to you for not only recognizing this but having the honesty to post about it. I wonder if others who were so enthusiastic on here about having Fabregas start this game will match your honesty.

One start this season which could be as a team performance anything as bad as last year. Yeah Fabregas is terrible, we can see that after 60mins. Oscar has been s*** for how long? Hazard has gone back to last seasons form.

All abit over the top.

Whether he's played in a 2 man midfield, 3 man midfield... for me it's irrelevant. Against top opposition like Arsenal there'll always be periods of the game when we need to defend collectively, in that situation Cesc just isn't up for it. He doesn't have the physique to impose himself and lacks natural aggression to 'get stuck in' without committing needless technical fouls. Fair play to Conte for giving him his chance but we may as well have played with ten men yesterday. In hindsight we missed Oscar's workrate, or perhaps Chalobah should have played as an extra DM.

Edited September 25, 20169 yr by the special one

13 minutes ago, the special one said:

Whether he's played in a 2 man midfield, 3 man midfield... for me it's irrelevant. Against top opposition like Arsenal there'll always be periods of the game when we need to defend collectively, in that situation Cesc just isn't up for it. He doesn't have the physique to impose himself and lacks natural aggression to 'get stuck in' without committing needless technical fouls. Fair play to Conte for giving him his chance but we may as well have played with ten men yesterday. In hindsight we missed Oscar's workrate, or perhaps Chalobah should have played as an extra DM.

So Chalobah, Matic and Kante in the same team? I don't want to support a relegation team thanks.

I'd still give like to see him play in that position again. He was sh*t yesterday, but i don't for a second think that Oscar would have been any better. 

Mourinho has our fans thinking that the only way to win is to defend. Arsenal's midfield consisted of Coquelin and Cazorla. Cazorla is similar to Fabregas in the fact that's poor defensively. If Cazorla can survive in games against big teams then so can Fabregas.

5 minutes ago, JMaher94 said:

Mourinho has our fans thinking that the only way to win is to defend. Arsenal's midfield consisted of Coquelin and Cazorla. Cazorla is similar to Fabregas in the fact that's poor defensively. If Cazorla can survive in games against big teams then so can Fabregas.

Very well said. Been saying this for weeks but no one ever seems to know the answer how every other big team can play with one DM but not Chelsea.

Just now, Ernie_blue said:

Very well said. Been saying this for weeks but no one ever seems to know the answer how every other big team can play with one DM but not Chelsea.

It's because of Mourinho.

He used to make such a big deal about being solid defensively. Selling KDB/Mata to accommodate a more defensive minded midfielder.

Kante played alongside Danny bloody Drinkwater last season in a two in midfield. Do we honestly believe that Drinkwater is that much better than Fabregas defensively? He is, but not by much. We are misusing Kante by playing him with Oscar and Matic and not players like Cesc.

What makes it worse is that Willian is also defensive minded. No wonder we struggle scoring goals when Hazard and Costa are our only attacking threats whereas you look at United, City, Liverpool and Arsenal who all have at least 3/4/5 on the pitch at one time whereas we have 2.

Football has evolved. Unless you're Diego Simeone who in my opinion is the best manager in the world for his style then I don't think it should be played.