6 minutes ago, Dorset said:

 

The plain and simple truth is it’s rollin’ on over - the Chelsea deadwood stage that is - and if the game against Arsenal is anything to go by we are already in a dangerous land and there’s no time to delay. So Antonio, by all means whip-crack away, whip-crack away, whip-crack away! Apologies for that rather self-indulgent trip down Calamity Jane musical memory lane, but nothing seemed to sum up our plight better, nor pinpoint the overriding factor that has led to our reaching such a parlous state, namely a club cartel made up of sluggish, rapidly ageing players and the need for Conte to either whip them into shape or relieve them of their first team duties. For some, Cahill and Ivanovic and to a lesser extent Matic, being rested may well come as a blessed relief, but for others such as Willian and Oscar it would be nothing short of a shock, albeit a short, sharp one. In truth, those five sorely need to take five and if everything else had been equal on both the injury and squad strength fronts we can only hope their respective respite packages would have been put in place a lot earlier than the Hull game.

But, of course, everything else is never going to be equal - transfer targets still remain as such, JT gets crocked, crises of confidence abound and Conte is (probably as a direct result of all three) still nowhere near knowing his best line-up or formation. Trusting his experienced players hasn’t helped either, as it has been misplaced in the main and probably led the Italian to drift aimlessly into that oh-just-one-more-time mode selection-wise on Saturday evening. It proved to be one time too many and for my money was Conte’s first mistake of real note. More of the same-old after that humbling against Liverpool should have been avoided at all costs, even if it meant bringing Victor Moses into a five-man midfield and taking the gamble of going 3-5-2 for the first time this season. In the end, backing away from that switch until as late as the third goal going in smacked more of desperation than inspiration.

So, deadwood stage we are definitely at, but if by some chance Conte should actually take all this bull by those Carabao horns and decide to make wholesale changes for the Hull game will it really be an indication that he’s addressing the problem at source, or merely be the machinations of a man seeking a short term solution? After all, unless it was all part of some self-harm master plan, he can’t have been working towards this situation, but now that it exists and urgent action is required why not grasp the opportunity with both hands, then place them around the necks of certain individuals and wring the changes for effect, if nothing else? C’mon Antonio, play Nate, bet Victor, SOS RLC, hey Michy [let’s see if you really can] blow my mind, Ola Aina!… fit them all in somehow, because it would do wonders for your reputation as a hard taskmaster whilst at the same time rattling the cages of a few old birds who have begun to sit all too comfortably on their first team perches. Go on, be our guest, whip-crack away.
 

Totally agree Dorset.

IMO, the defeats to Liverpool & Arsenal have reaffirmed my fears that our squad was lacking and that we needed Conte to address it earlier than the Euro's and subsequent break allowed. This squad didn't just need a little tweaking, it needed a major re-assessment and changes and in an ideal world, Conte would have been here in May making those changes. Now, when things don't go according to plan, we are seeing the same old changes - try Pedro, or Oscar, bring Matic back, leave Fbregas out / bring him back, drop Willian / play Willian................

We will get a win here and a win there but it will just paper over the cracks until we play any half decent sides. Some of the solutions have unfortunately been sold and possible answers are out on long-term loan. But I think it is time to give the fresh guys you've mentioned a chance and see what they can do. And every starting player in the Arsenal game (with the exception of Costa) deserve a massive kick up the Arse!

  

 

The failure to bring Nainggolan or Brozovic really hurt us IMO. Conte wanted a replacement for Matic or Oscar but the club in all its wisdom could not reach a decision.

34 minutes ago, Nibs said:

Totally agree Dorset.

IMO, the defeats to Liverpool & Arsenal have reaffirmed my fears that our squad was lacking and that we needed Conte to address it earlier than the Euro's and subsequent break allowed. This squad didn't just need a little tweaking, it needed a major re-assessment and changes and in an ideal world, Conte would have been here in May making those changes. Now, when things don't go according to plan, we are seeing the same old changes - try Pedro, or Oscar, bring Matic back, leave Fbregas out / bring him back, drop Willian / play Willian................

We will get a win here and a win there but it will just paper over the cracks until we play any half decent sides. Some of the solutions have unfortunately been sold and possible answers are out on long-term loan. But I think it is time to give the fresh guys you've mentioned a chance and see what they can do. And every starting player in the Arsenal game (with the exception of Costa) deserve a massive kick up the Arse!

  

 

Totally agree.........Come on Conte, start cracking the whip and be brave and make those changes by dropping the old ones and bring in the younger guys.  

Let's face it, surely any team we put out, must beat Hull ! ? ......if we loose against Hull, then some one is gonna get fired ! 

46 minutes ago, JoseBlues said:

The failure to bring Nainggolan or Brozovic really hurt us IMO. Conte wanted a replacement for Matic or Oscar but the club in all its wisdom could not reach a decision.

In theory we could play Chalobah there. Couldnt be any worse than playing Matic or Oscar out of position.

A midfield 3 of Chalobah - Kante - Fabregas should have enough energy to cover the defense while still having enough creativity in attack.

What have we got to lose, with Matic or Oscar playing as box2box we are sitting ducks anyway.

Chelsea have players of high quality...Terry,Courtois,Kante,Matic,Hazard.Fabregas,Willian,Diego Costa are player of quality

 

The problem is that they don't play as a team...play as individual element...

 

Against the Arsenal I saw that a lot of Chelsea players were out of position in the phase of no possession...

 

Conte didn't say "We aren't a great team" He said "We are a great team only on the paper.." is different..because in this way, he focus the real problem of the chelsea..

Those players you've mentioned have all been quality at some point but for varying reasons are not currently.

 

JT - Without doubt in twilight of his career and this is probably his final season

Courtois - Major disappointment and not the keeper we all watched performing heroics at Athletico

Kante - Last couple of games he doesn't look like the player who starred for Leicester last season and soon we'll have folk wanting Mikel back in the side (yes he's been THAT bad!)

Matic - As I said elsewhere, I think the Matic we have seen for the past 18 months is the norm - forget what went before

Willian - A lot of energy and running about will only get you so far - Major Disappointment

 

Hazard, Costa and Faregas. Yes, all proven quality and Costa has been the pick this season. Fabregas always seems to go through form dips and Hazard, I love the guy, but we've been seeing too much of a pattern forming. A few great games and then he goes missing. No good being Billy Big Bollox against Burnley and then the invisible man against Liverpool and the Gooners.

So in summary it's no good saying on paper we have a great side of quality players, when our eyes tell us something different - esepcially when you add the likes of Ivan, Cahill, Oscar and Pedro into the mix who all look like their best days are behind them. Conte has a massive job on his hands to get us in to a top 4 place and judging by his post match interviews he is well aware of that. Just hope he starts ringing the changes and is given time to sort it out.

 

 

 

Edited September 26, 20169 yr by Nibs

this is probably somewhat controversial to have as an opinion on here, but i'll try.

to start off, neither cahill nor ivanovic should play at any top club. their pace and technique severely hinders our ability to play further up the pitch and our ball retention capabilities. a) we cannot press high up the pitch like every top european team does and should do and b) we cannot trust our defenders to play out from the back. this means a low line, winning the ball far away from the oppositions goal and endless hoofing of balls up the pitch (or losing the ball to opposing players in dangerous areas).

in midfield a problem is that our best passer can't run and doesn't know how to defend for toffee (because he's never done it). i mean can't literally run, he's the worst athlete on a football pitch i've seen in my life. there's a reason why pirlo and xavi, both twice as good as fabregas in that deep lying role, got shafted from juve and barca, they just couldn't keep up anymore. fab has played professional football for 13 years already, he's for me finished as a top player for a top winning side like rooney is for united. the legs are simply gone for the demands of professional sport in 2016. 

as for our offense, i strongly suggest that conte start looking towards playing two up front. costa doesn't have the patience or discipline to lead the line alone for my liking. if he gets a goal early then he's on, but if not he'll start drifting to the wings, not being a focal point for the team. having him play off of someone, whether this is hazard as a supporting striker or playing batshuayi as a battering ram would do costa and our team a world of good in my opinion.

looking at the pure attacking options of every other top team, it's way beyond what we have. maybe not in pure ability, i rate costa, hazard and willian highly in terms of pure talent, but they seem to lack cohesion, discipline and intelligence from what i've seen. i have covered costa in the paragraph above, but hazard and willian are equally frustrating for me. they just don't run, or at least make smart runs, off the ball. you never see them make intelligent runs behind the lines, they are always looking for the ball in their feet. to cover the best team in england atm, sterling, kdb, silva and sane/nolito all make great runs in behind. this stretches our the oppositions teams, making more room to play that decisive pass we seem to lack.

there are a lot of problems but at least this is my point of view on things. the transitional period we should have had a long time ago must finally be done, but i think that we have one of the best men for the job (but hey, only time will tell).

Edited September 26, 20169 yr by opinionsarelike

 

LOL. Have Christensen in the wings, just bought Luiz and Alonso with the likes of Aina, Da Silva, Ake in the youth set up, but we are "looking for new defensive talents". If I was given this much money, I would be a world class manager. 

Show balls Conte. So far its been all talk, and no action. 

By god, Costa has literally kept his job safe with those 2 late goals. Remove those last minute winners and we have a worse season than the last season, who would have thought that was possible. 

aina is good yeah, but not sold on ake and da silva. i dunno how good ake is at left back. 

Just now, enigma said:

aina is good yeah, but not sold on ake and da silva. i dunno how good ake is at left back. 

Ake is Better than IVA at RB without a shred of doubt. Have not been following his current season but honestly thought that he could have been our no.1 LB after his season at watford.

Da silva has the potential to be something special, absolutely special.

8 minutes ago, didierforever said:

Ake is Better than IVA at RB without a shred of doubt. Have not been following his current season but honestly thought that he could have been our no.1 LB after his season at watford.

Da silva has the potential to be something special, absolutely special.

if we dont play them we will never find out. As far as i'm concerned we have nothing to lose with playing them right now. They will be motivated and even if they would make mistakes they can learn and develop. They cant do any worse then the experienced defenders we play now anyway. I would say give Aina Terry Tomori Dasilva a try 

1 hour ago, enigma said:

 

 

Been there done that. Ended up with Michael Hector.

36 minutes ago, didierforever said:

Ake is Better than IVA at RB without a shred of doubt. Have not been following his current season but honestly thought that he could have been our no.1 LB after his season at watford.

Da silva has the potential to be something special, absolutely special.

Ake does not see himself as a long term LB. That much is pretty clear. He wants that DM role.

We should just throw in Aina and Da Silva in the deep end and see if they pull through.

3 hours ago, enigma said:

 

 

Not signed in

They are really on their way out.

David Luiz probably right now.

 

If 2 defeats resulted in No Cahill and Ivanovic this year , I'd take that deal. Bench 1 of the previously untouchable may just be the kick in the backside everyone else needs

We've been trying to sign defender for 18 months now since we f**ked up the Stones bid last summer. This is not news. We know what we need but so far our transfer department has failed spectacularly.

I used to laugh at United's inability to buy a decent goalkeeper after the Schmeichel years. year on year it was obvious they needed a reliable keeper and they kept getting duds (bosnich, barthez, van der gouw, carroll). Now it seems we are going through the same process. Everybody in world football knows what we need, but despite being a huge club in a good location with great wages on offer... we haven't been able to lure 1 world class defender since we signed Ashley Cole. What does that say?

5 hours ago, Coxy15 said:

We've been trying to sign defender for 18 months now since we f**ked up the Stones bid last summer. This is not news. We know what we need but so far our transfer department has failed spectacularly.

I used to laugh at United's inability to buy a decent goalkeeper after the Schmeichel years. year on year it was obvious they needed a reliable keeper and they kept getting duds (bosnich, barthez, van der gouw, carroll). Now it seems we are going through the same process. Everybody in world football knows what we need, but despite being a huge club in a good location with great wages on offer... we haven't been able to lure 1 world class defender since we signed Ashley Cole. What does that say?

It says that football has changed from what you used to know and you need to snap out of it. Everyone has money now, we are no longer the big fish. The fact that Napoli can reject £40m for Koulibaly says it all. Furthrmore, none of us know how good he is. Could well be a dud like Mangala.

Whats more worrying is because Jose has sold off our goalscoring threats, we will face teams who will gain confidence when they see we cant kill a game off and our defence will be tested time and time again.

Our defence is bad but so too are our goalscoring threats. Lukaku KdB mata and schurlle could guarantee you over 50 goals combined.

2 hours ago, KonaKai Blue said:

It says that football has changed from what you used to know and you need to snap out of it. Everyone has money now, we are no longer the big fish. The fact that Napoli can reject £40m for Koulibaly says it all. Furthrmore, none of us know how good he is. Could well be a dud like Mangala.

Whats more worrying is because Jose has sold off our goalscoring threats, we will face teams who will gain confidence when they see we cant kill a game off and our defence will be tested time and time again.

Our defence is bad but so too are our goalscoring threats. Lukaku KdB mata and schurlle could guarantee you over 50 goals combined.

This is it fans think we can just go out and get who we want we are not even in the top 5 of clubs to choose from now thats how far we have fallen. We will be 5/6th when any top player decides to move. Clubs will not roll over again and just bend when we come calling it doesnt work like that anymore. 

And you are correct we lost those 4 goal threats who would have been banging in goals for us now

I hate to say it but if i was a young player i'd be looking at moving to Liverpool, City or Spurs long before Chelsea as they're likely to get serious game time in those teams.

 

If i were a big name player i'd be pushing for a move to Utd over us, they can offer the most money and look more likely to win something. 

 

The only big team we're more attractive to a player than is Arsenal i would say.

 

We as a club just aren't as attractive to players as we once were. We need to seriously start looking at our academy for the answers rather than wasting millions upon millions. 

Abramovich ‘sympathetic’ with Conte, unhappy with players

Date published: Tuesday 27th September 2016 10:16

Roman Abramovich is willing to give Antonio Conte time to improve Chelsea but could conduct a squad overhaul in January, according to reports.

Chelsea have picked up only one point in their last three Premier League matches, and were comprehensively outplayed in defeats against Liverpool and Arsenal.

Despite quickly losing patience with managers in the past, Abramovich is “sympathetic” with former Italy boss Conte, according to The Times.

The Blues owner is understood to have spent several hours at the club’s Cobham training base on Monday, holding informal talks with Conte – who was named among our losers this weekend – and made the point of watching an entire training session.

The Russian did not speak to any players and chose not to hold any form of crisis meeting, as he has done after poor results in the past.

Abramovich understands Conte’s frustrations at the club’s transfer business in the summer, with only N’Golo Kante arriving out of the manager’s initial targets.

After making 11 managerial changes in 13 years, there is now a sense at the club that the players should be held accountable for their poor performances since lifting the title under Jose Mourinho in 2014/15.

Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic have been singled out for criticism, although Conte believes the whole team need to take responsibility for the club’s poor defending, with Eden Hazard recently trying to shift the blame.

hallelujah he's seen the light

34 minutes ago, dc19 said:

hallelujah he's seen the light

No he hasnt I would take that with big pinch of salt

Come December, he will be calling Guss again.