48 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Ivanovic was. 

Yeah i was more on about the competition for the CM positions, we also had a formation change which was the biggest reason behind our run.

To make things clear, i am not saying we went on that run because we dropped Cesc, i am just countering the argument that we don't need Matic or a two man DM firewall for our defence.

22 minutes ago, coco said:

To make things clear, i am not saying we went on that run because we dropped Cesc, i am just countering the argument that we don't need Matic or a two man DM firewall for our defence.

I personally object to Kante and Matic partnership being referred to as playing two defensive midfielders. It's too reductive for what they both bring to the team. 

Both Matic and Alonso have been under appreciated for their contributions this season in my opinion.  

It seemed to me to be much easier for Conte to implement his formation with 2 more defensive minded central midfielder than one with a recognised weakness being his defense and mobility. This formation and ethos is still developing and changing so he may feel he can sacrifice midfield solidity/work rate a bit now for a more offensive style, and maybe he has faith in kante (a player he will have known very little about) to defend and clean up behind fabregas, with the often spare centre back supplementing.

On 2/28/2017 at 21:58, Batshuayi said:

Can't see Cesc going to AC. Elite players like him need Champions League football, which we can offer him next season. If he went to Italy it'd be Juve only, maybe Roma if they sold Radja (hopefully to us). 

United won't happen as he said it himself he loves London and as long as he's in England I can only see him living and playing in London.

 

Great point! I also think, Mourinho won't go after older players. He wants those who are already at the peak of their careers.

20 hours ago, Tibbers said:

Great point! I also think, Mourinho won't go after older players. He wants those who are already at the peak of their careers.

I would say 29 years old in Cesc's role of the deep lying midfield player probably is still the peak of his career. It's less of an athletic role, and the experience he has built up has lead to his fantastic performances of late. 28-30 for a player of his position is probably peak performance levels.

There's no way we would sell Cesc to United, and I don't think he would enjoy Jose's management style again.

If he stays on for another 4-5 seasons, there's every chance he will get pass the assist record Giggs set.

 

On 3/2/2017 at 21:47, Batshuayi said:

I would say 29 years old in Cesc's role of the deep lying midfield player probably is still the peak of his career. It's less of an athletic role, and the experience he has built up has lead to his fantastic performances of late. 28-30 for a player of his position is probably peak performance levels.

 

I've always thought peak level of a footballer is 27-31. 

4 hours ago, Tibbers said:

I've always thought peak level of a footballer is 27-31. 

I agree. But these days i think it can stretch a bit longer. I think they can be at their best until they are 34 now.

Not with it tonight, gave the ball away a fair few times, including for their goal at the end, he needs to show up better than that to hold on to the position.

Cesc is a perfect example of not moaning getting his head down and winning his place back

7 hours ago, coco said:

Not with it tonight, gave the ball away a fair few times, including for their goal at the end, he needs to show up better than that to hold on to the position.

Their goal at the end was down to a sloppy pass from Dave, don't really see how Cesc could have avoided that.

He had a 6.5 -7 kind of game in my opinion. Conte would have taken him off if he was a liability on the field. Matic had a number of quiet games throughout our winning streak, so Cesc's position is not in danger. For tactical and rotation, Matic will likely to start against United, but I expect Cesc to be back for our next league game.

Conte's use of Cesc has argubly been his best piece of management yet for the club. Cesc has major strengths but also major weaknesses, Antonio is playing the Spaniard (and bringing him off the bench) in games and moments where what he offers outweighs his weaknesses and leaves him firmly on the bench when he would be more of a hindrance than help.

Bet fabregas is thinking 'thank fcuk I didn't go back to Arsenal in 2014' even more tonight...

one of my favorite fabregas moment as a chelsea player is when he ran a cross the pitch to celebrate his goal with the fans , thats when he wasnt playing at all and i really thought after that he would stay with us 

 

 

Edited March 8, 20179 yr by DidierDrogbalala

John Collins said on BBC Five live that Wenger didn't re-sign Fabregas in 2014 because Fabregas legs had gone. Wtf? He didn't re-sign him because he felt he didn't need him,

31 minutes ago, Bobbywoodhogan said:

John Collins said on BBC Five live that Wenger didn't re-sign Fabregas in 2014 because Fabregas legs had gone. Wtf? He didn't re-sign him because he felt he didn't need him,

He never had 'legs' in the first place. That's never been Cesc's game.

He never signed him because he is a stubborn old fool.

He's never had legs but i must admit that under Conte he's been much more energetic, chasing down loose balls and closing people down much quicker. He knows what the boss wants and he gives it to him.

23 hours ago, Bobbywoodhogan said:

John Collins said on BBC Five live that Wenger didn't re-sign Fabregas in 2014 because Fabregas legs had gone. 

Clearly why Wenger has persisted with the midfield workhorse that is Ozil. 

Did he play yesterday having had a kid on Tuesday night and played quite well too? Great professional and many congrats to him! (from twitter, but don't know how to post tweets)
 

Quote

 

cesc4official Tuesday night we welcomed our gorgeous boy, Leonardo Fàbregas Semaan to the world. Thank You @firstLadyD4 my love, for everything  pic.twitter.com/xbqD1t1LTA 06/04/2017, 12:03

 

 

 

 

9 minutes ago, RMH said:

Did he play yesterday having had a kid on Tuesday night and played quite well too? Great professional and many congrats to him! (from twitter, but don't know how to post tweets)
 

 

Yeah he did.  But to be fair, there isn't really much effort involved for the bloke!  

 

Cesc Fàbregas Soler‏Verified account @cesc4official  1h1 hour ago

Tuesday night we welcomed our gorgeous boy, Leonardo Fàbregas Semaan to the world. Thank You @firstLadyD4 my love, for everything

 

9 minutes ago, Beerqueen said:

Yeah he did.  But to be fair, there isn't really much effort involved for the bloke!  

 

Cesc Fàbregas Soler‏Verified account @cesc4official  1h1 hour ago

Tuesday night we welcomed our gorgeous boy, Leonardo Fàbregas Semaan to the world. Thank You @firstLadyD4 my love, for everything

 

He could have still be tired from the effort 9 months earlier  (apologies to the ladies, of course all the pain and effort is yours, but you know I mean that he would have his mind in his baby born and his loved wife )

Hopefully, he would be available to play against Bournemouth. And congratulations for the kid of course.

15 minutes ago, RMH said:

He could have still be tired from the effort 9 months earlier  (apologies to the ladies, of course all the pain and effort is yours, but you know I mean that he would have his mind in his baby born and his loved wife )

Yeah of course I knew what you meant.  But I think it'd be ok to concentrate with a happy, buoyant feeling than with bad news for instance.   

On 3/23/2017 at 06:28, ForeverCarefree said:

Clearly why Wenger has persisted with the midfield workhorse that is Ozil. 

Corrected.