56 minutes ago, Nevamind said:

No look again. It was a cut back pass and he was not beaten by pace. Also there was only Kane in the Box and 4-5 of our own. Someone from midfield or one of the three cb's should have picked him up. 

I agree, thought kante shouldve covered that space tbh. 

4 hours ago, Nevamind said:

No look again. It was a cut back pass and he was not beaten by pace. Also there was only Kane in the Box and 4-5 of our own. Someone from midfield or one of the three cb's should have picked him up. 

I'll go back and take another look. But I felt like he was beaten for pace by Moura on the outside which left him in no man's land unable to stop the cross or cutback.

On 22/12/2019 at 18:41, Slojo said:

Tbh that performance Alonso just gave is better than any performance I've seen from Emerson this season. Even though Alonso is a liability in a back 4 and defensively, he at least offers soemthing going forward, even without pace. 

Back 5 is completely different from a back 4, if Lamps carries on with that I agree Alonso can play a role as I’ve said on this thread numerous times. Back 4 he should never play. 

On 22/12/2019 at 19:19, just said:

Fantastic day for Willian and a very good day for Alonso = a very bad day for Mourinho and RIP Mourinho.

Why would Chelsea winning be a bad day for me? I’m a Chelsea fan. 

In the Conte system he fits right in. But in another he can look like the weak link.

This last game was a tactical victory, but in other games Emerson had an important role, same as Jorginho.

Unfortunately Lamps is figuring himself out as a manager and what his best formation is and January is upon us, Alonso is a class LWB and it would be a massive loss if we learn that our best formation is with wingbacks and he's left us.

4 hours ago, Gol15 said:

In the Conte system he fits right in. But in another he can look like the weak link.

This last game was a tactical victory, but in other games Emerson had an important role, same as Jorginho.

Conte did not invent that system. He just uses it very well. Jose made that comment as a back handed compliment to Lamps.

14 hours ago, rtwelch said:

Basically we need a left back who is tall, quick , can defend in a 4 and whip a ball in. Should be no problem right?

I sense the irony rt. A Paolo Maldini MKII then. Yep, lots of them out there..!

In the Conte system he fits right in. But in another he can look like the weak link.
This last game was a tactical victory, but in other games Emerson had an important role, same as Jorginho.

It's not Conte system 3 at the back was a thing before Conte and the system we played is far more attacking than Conte

11 minutes ago, Brutos said:

It's not Conte system 3 at the back was a thing before Conte and the system we played is far more attacking than Conte

I meant his tactic that influenced the whole league, didn't mean to imply that he came up with it, just that he adapted that system. In the recent, lets say 10 years he was the one that brought back that system to the highest level, first to the Italian national team and later to the Premier league. In that formation and tactic Alonso is the best, but in a 4-3-3 Emerson looks more stable, same with Jorginho for example.

I meant his tactic that influenced the whole league, didn't mean to imply that he came up with it, just that he adapted that system. In the recent, lets say 10 years he was the one that brought back that system to the highest level, first to the Italian national team and later to the Premier league. In that formation and tactic Alonso is the best, but in a 4-3-3 Emerson looks more stable, same with Jorginho for example.

Fair point [emoji1474]

2 hours ago, Brutos said:

It's not Conte system 3 at the back was a thing before Conte and the system we played is far more attacking than Conte

When he had 2 midfielders, Conte's 5-2-3 was a good attacking side.

When he didn't have two midfielders and tried to accommodate Cesc to make up for Bakayoko, his 5-3-2 turned into an 8-1-1

I would have liked to have seen this Kovacic as a replacement for Matic, the second season under Conte would have looked very different.

27 minutes ago, Skinnedy said:

When he had 2 midfielders, Conte's 5-2-3 was a good attacking side.

When he didn't have two midfielders and tried to accommodate Cesc to make up for Bakayoko, his 5-3-2 turned into an 8-1-1

I would have liked to have seen this Kovacic as a replacement for Matic, the second season under Conte would have looked very different.

We shouldve bought fabinho instead of Bakayoko. Loads of us said it at the time aswell. Fabinho and Kante wouldve been a phenomenal combo in the conte setup. 

Marcos was one of the first names on everyone's to sell list a few months back. Considering how Emerson blew his chance the past few games, do we hold on to him for his versatility at LWB? 

1 minute ago, Jamieblue said:

Marcos was one of the first names on everyone's to sell list a few months back. Considering how Emerson blew his chance the past few games, do we hold on to him for his versatility at LWB? 

As far as I can tell,neither of them are leaving,and I've read we are not looking to buy a left back.

Marcos was one of the first names on everyone's to sell list a few months back. Considering how Emerson blew his chance the past few games, do we hold on to him for his versatility at LWB? 

To an extent that depends on what he wants. As a wing back he has something to offer as proven already in his time with us. As a left back in a back four, also as proven on his time with us, he has as much to offer as Prince Andrew to a correction facility for wayward teenage girls.

If he is content to be an occasional player who backs up the squad then we should keep him. We have limited left sided options and he isn't the worst plan B imaginable. We are 'richer' on the right hand side with youth options. If he wants regular first team football then we can't offer him that and we may need to look for two rather than one player. Maybe one in January and one in the summer.

For me Alonso does a lot more than Emerson, in the back 4 I would always go Emerson don't get me wrong. But in a back 3 Alonso actually offers quite a lot going forward, he's always been underrated in that aspect, particularly by Chelsea fans. 

The stats say something, we win more games with Alonso, and Alonso just has superior stats in almost every aspect. I know they don't tell the full story, in the back 4 Emerson is obviously better, but Emerson is not wow'ing me, Alonso at least has really good games. There's a reason Spurs were booing him, they remember what he did two years ago at Wembley when he scored both the goals in the 2-1 win there. 

Edited December 31, 20196 yr by Slojo

I'd keep Alonso and sell Emerson who is a passenger in most games, get a new left back and then bring on a youngster to fight for the place in a year or so when Alonso is moved on too.

I don't buy that Emerson offers more, even in a four. I've felt this for quite a while but was told to wait until he got significant (league) minutes, so I agreed to keep an open mind until then. However since March he's been first choice and he's done absolutely nothing to make me reassess my opinion for the better, infact been even worse than what I was expecting.

Apart from his cross to Giroud in Baku and a decent half in a match we lost 4-0 I can't think of anything standout he's done in two years.

Edited December 31, 20196 yr by Argo

3 hours ago, chelseablueboy said:

I'd keep Alonso and sell Emerson who is a passenger in most games

Would've been interesting to see the reaction on here had you posted that after he got hooked at half time against Ajax.

Crazy how quickly opinions change in football isn't it?

2 hours ago, Argo said:

Apart from his cross to Giroud in Baku and a decent half in a match we lost 4-0 I can't think of anything standout he's done in two years.

Equalising goal against Liverpool in the league cup last season. Scored around the 80th minute and we won 2-1. So now you have 3 things 

4 minutes ago, Munkworth said:

Equalising goal against Liverpool in the league cup last season. Scored around the 80th minute and we won 2-1. So now you have 3 things 

My bad forgot that was him, a mix of the stream freezing while the goal was scored alongside Hazard's blockbuster goal minutes later.

14 hours ago, Amputechture said:

Would've been interesting to see the reaction on here had you posted that after he got hooked at half time against Ajax.

Crazy how quickly opinions change in football isn't it?

If anything I think it goes to show how bad our left backs are. 

Can't believe i'm gonna say it but it might be time to bring him back into the starting 11, only if Tomori is behind him though.

He's probably the last 1 or 2 options we have right now. With Kante , Chritensen out, it makes some sense to play Azpi as a CD, Alonso and James has more opportunities to get forward as wing backs. Alonso has his many weak points, but a good left foot and eye for a goal arent