He was great last night, was constantly moving looking to find space to always receive the ball, I would assume he was one of the players who had the most touches last night. 

Showed his class last night. Between him and Courtois for MOTM for me. Well taken finish and didn't really put a foot wrong.

If he keeps working he will get back into this side, he's been a constant professional and it's so good to see. So many of these 'modern day' footballers would skip training and demand a big money January move but Cesc is doing the opposite.

Have said for a while, captain material in my opinion...

Sublime yesterday, definitly proved he's got something to say for himself even with just one central midfielder beside him. Lovely attitude from Cesc aswell this season, no complaining over being benched for long periods of time and always does the job when he is playing. Might start against Crystal Palace aswell for me.

A model pro who has kept his head down and now is getting his chance. Many top players would have kicked up about being bench material for 4/5 months but he's just stuck at it and worked hard.

His passing last night was great and he kept things ticking in the middle of the park which is what we needed. It's great to have an option like that when we need to change things up.

I love watching cesc, and you can guarentee if he goes, we will be on here saying how we need to sign a playmaker in a years time. 

Between him, kante and matic, it is all about picking horses for courses. I think he is going to become more and more vital as teams are starting to fear us and put 11 men behind the ball. We move the ball much better with him in the side.

 

1 minute ago, big blue said:

I love watching cesc, and you can guarentee if he goes, we will be on here saying how we need to sign a playmaker in a years time. 

Between him, kante and matic, it is all about picking horses for courses. I think he is going to become more and more vital as teams are starting to fear us and put 11 men behind the ball. We move the ball much better with him in the side.

 

Thats the reason we should be looking at Verratti as a priority signing. Best of both worlds: Matic and Cesc. Would be an absolute Beast in our mid alongside Kante.

5 minutes ago, didierforever said:

Thats the reason we should be looking at Verratti as a priority signing. Best of both worlds: Matic and Cesc. Would be an absolute Beast in our mid alongside Kante.

I like verratti aswell. Although he isnt as good as cesc at hurting the opposition in the final 3rd. Verratti is a good playmaker, hes tenacious and i think we could go toe to toe with the very best with him in the side, but i dont see him opening up packed defences as efficiently as cesc does.

59 minutes ago, big blue said:

I like verratti aswell. Although he isnt as good as cesc at hurting the opposition in the final 3rd. Verratti is a good playmaker, hes tenacious and i think we could go toe to toe with the very best with him in the side, but i dont see him opening up packed defences as efficiently as cesc does.

Playing Cesc is a double edged sword. Yes, he is brilliant in attack. But lets not Sunderland blind us, that he is a massive liability defensively. I know we are playing 5 defenders and a Kante, but a CM should have the basic know-how of defense. Sunderland is simply pathetic in quality. Only team as poor would probably be Middlesborough.

I personally wont be comfortable playing Cesc in the middle of the park against palace knowing that they are quite good in attack and would simply bully cesc. So while Verratti wont be as good as cesc in opening up packed defences, he would as you said, help us go toe to toe with the very best.

I love watching cesc, and you can guarentee if he goes, we will be on here saying how we need to sign a playmaker in a years time. 
Between him, kante and matic, it is all about picking horses for courses. I think he is going to become more and more vital as teams are starting to fear us and put 11 men behind the ball. We move the ball much better with him in the side.
 

Absolutely agree with this. After this season, if Cesc leaves, those people who always claim he doesn't fit the system will be the same people clamoring for us to sign a creative midfielder when it becomes obvious pairing Matic and Kante together won't work for a long time.
Matic is so predictable. In the champions league next season, teams will study us and know all they have to do is stop our front 3 of Hazard, Costa and Willian and then we are no longer special.
But with Fabregas their, we are always unpredictable with his ability to open any defense with his pass.
Guys, it's working in our favour now with Matic so let's continue to drink beer and deceive ourselves that Fabregas can't play in a 3-4-3 formation. 'YOU NEVER VALUE WHAT YOU HAVE UNTIL YOU LOSE IT'.

I love Cesc, something I never thought I'd say back in his Arsenal days. The guy has been a hell of a professional in what's been a difficult period for him and he hasn't complained once. The past 3 games he's been involved goals in each and yesterday I thought he was the standout player on the pitch.

2 hours ago, didierforever said:

Playing Cesc is a double edged sword. Yes, he is brilliant in attack. But lets not Sunderland blind us, that he is a massive liability defensively. I know we are playing 5 defenders and a Kante, but a CM should have the basic know-how of defense. Sunderland is simply pathetic in quality. Only team as poor would probably be Middlesborough.

I personally wont be comfortable playing Cesc in the middle of the park against palace knowing that they are quite good in attack and would simply bully cesc. So while Verratti wont be as good as cesc in opening up packed defences, he would as you said, help us go toe to toe with the very best.

He didn't let Man City run over him either though and that was his first full game in a while.

2 minutes ago, Lampsy said:

He didn't let Man City run over him either though and that was his first full game in a while.

He also performed well against Palace in the past two in a 2 midfield.

Thing is it's different now with our change in formation and how Kante plays beside the other midfielder.

Cesc obviously lacks in the engine room and tracking back isn't in his game but we knew that. He offers something no other midfielder at the club offers and his link up play with Costa has been the difference so many times for us it's something that we need to use in certain games.

If he plays against Palace, I don't see him being bullied or anything of the sort. If he plays it's because he earned it.

1 hour ago, Lampsy said:

He didn't let Man City run over him either though and that was his first full game in a while.

I disagree with that. City sliced us open when and how they like. With a bit better finishing they could have been 4/5-0 up as well as a man up. And a Lot of that was down to how poor our midfield was and how easily city bypassed our midfield 2 time and again.

1 hour ago, didierforever said:

I disagree with that. City sliced us open when and how they like. With a bit better finishing they could have been 4/5-0 up as well as a man up. And a Lot of that was down to how poor our midfield was and how easily city bypassed our midfield 2 time and again.

Give him time, in his post game interview he said people are going to judge him early and that the team has had time to get accustomed to this formation but he hasn't yet. Yeah, he's not as defensively gifted but with Kante and the back three, he doesn't have to be. His long ball will continue to open up the defense, he's going to be integral in a counter attack.

6 hours ago, big blue said:

I like verratti aswell. Although he isnt as good as cesc at hurting the opposition in the final 3rd. Verratti is a good playmaker, hes tenacious and i think we could go toe to toe with the very best with him in the side, but i dont see him opening up packed defences as efficiently as cesc does.

Agreed. Verratti controls the tempo of the game but he doesn't put strikers through on goal. 

7 hours ago, big blue said:

I like verratti aswell. Although he isnt as good as cesc at hurting the opposition in the final 3rd. Verratti is a good playmaker, hes tenacious and i think we could go toe to toe with the very best with him in the side, but i dont see him opening up packed defences as efficiently as cesc does.

Veratti would be better suited to play alongside Matic, if Kante is not playing (Injury, Suspension, Rest). Fabregas and Matic dosen't work, wich is why I would choose Veratti, if I was given a choice between the two.

I thought earlier in season that on occasion we might see a 3-5-2 for added protection around Cesc but I suppose 343 too effective for now and inside forwards have been doing well. With injuries and fatigue may be an option. Would accommodate Michy too (and maybe Chalobah to give one of Matic or Kante a rest?)

11 hours ago, Lampsy said:

Give him time, in his post game interview he said people are going to judge him early and that the team has had time to get accustomed to this formation but he hasn't yet. Yeah, he's not as defensively gifted but with Kante and the back three, he doesn't have to be. His long ball will continue to open up the defense, he's going to be integral in a counter attack.

First things first mate, There is no doubting his long ball and creative ability.

BUT...

and its a big but, a CM in a 2 man pivot needs to be better defensively than he is, despite having 3 CBs behind him because thats how you earn clean sheets. Its all about team balance, and I personally would be 10 times more confident knowing that we have Matic and Kante in our mid

Yes, I'm more confident in Kante and Matic starting against stronger opposition, but we don't need both Kante and Matic against the weaker opposition, the game against Sunderland proved that. 

I thought Fabregas should've started and he did, it's not surprising, how much were Sunderland going to create? Fabregas is a vital player, we will always need a technically gifted player like him to unlock doors, by passing or scoring. If we sell him, then we would need to get a replacement ASAP, so it would be completely pointless at the moment.

Edited December 16, 20169 yr by Floyd25

1 minute ago, Floyd25 said:

Yes, I'm more confident in Kante and Matic starting against stronger opposition, but we don't need both Kante and Matic against the weaker opposition, the game against Sunderland proved that. I thought Fabregas should've started and he did, it's not surprising, how much were Sunderland going to create? Fabregas is a vital player, we will always need a technically gifted player like him to unlock doors, by passing or scoring. If we sell him, then we would need to get a replacement ASAP, so it would be completely pointless at the moment.

On the last page itself. While I agree Matic/Kante pairing is redundant against Sunderland, how many PL teams can you honestly say is as poor in quality as Sunderland. 

Our Next match is palace, a team that is in a relegation battle currently and yet have scored 28 goals, I would be much more confident starting Matic against them. and Infact, against Any PL team except Middlesborough, Sunderland, Burnley and Hull. But thats pretty much it.

I want this man to start most of our away games from now on until the end of the season. We were losing control of todays match before he was subbed on with roughly 30 minutes left but Cesc saved us with a fantastic cameo for me. The 3-5-2 we ended with today is a great option for our tougher away games for me. Take Tottenham at WHL in a couple of weeks for example i think he definitly needs to play. He doesn't need to be fast or great defensivly when he can control a game and the tempo of it like no one else.

Example: https://streamable.com/zq58q

Controls the ball and without even taking a step he pings it too Hazard for a dangerous situation 50 meters ahead.

Edited December 17, 20169 yr by Sindre

He still can't play two man midfield vs teams with decent attacks, even today there was one time he stood still when he should have got stuck in the tackle. However given Willian has (understandably) been off colour since August and Pedro has been below par since Everton, maybe this is the time to bring 352 into play some games.

4 hours ago, Sindre said:

I want this man to start most of our away games from now on until the end of the season. We were losing control of todays match before he was subbed on with roughly 30 minutes left but Cesc saved us with a fantastic cameo for me. The 3-5-2 we ended with today is a great option for our tougher away games for me. Take Tottenham at WHL in a couple of weeks for example i think he definitly needs to play. He doesn't need to be fast or great defensivly when he can control a game and the tempo of it like no one else.

Example: https://streamable.com/zq58q

Controls the ball and without even taking a step he pings it too Hazard for a dangerous situation 50 meters ahead.

let me help you out here

 

I personally believe that his recent performances should get him back in the first 11. He's been excellent of late and is controlling our midfield like he did in his first season here. Matic has taken a little dip of late too so i don't think it would be a bad move to bring him in. The back line and Kante should be enough defensively really, we need a bit more going forward again. The chances aren't really flowing like they were in October and November. It's taking us between 15-25 minutes to register a proper shot on goal in the last few games.

He always wants the ball, metronomic passing, and boy can the 'Man with the hat' pass that dang ball, an absolute joy to watch, like having a Xavi in the side...