Bakayoko would be a project in the short term. I'd rather us sign a stop gap such as Naingollan for a couple of years until RLC is ready to take the position and make it his own. Get someone that is ready to do a job for a few years like Ballack did with us. 

One poor game.  It happens! 

He's been consistent and excellent against your Dortmund's, Man City's of the world.
 

i would rather we brought back baker tbh especially if we want that midfield goat threat. neither matic or this guy would give us much of a goal threat at all. just shows the lack of quality midfielders out there at the moment. i would take mendy and lemar from monaco, but those about the only two. the one small glimmer of hope for bakayoko is he is still young, but on the flipside so is chalobah, baker, ake, loftus cheek, so i don't see the rush to go out and buy the guy. the frustrating thing is we look everywhere else bar at home.

Edited May 4, 20179 yr by enigma

55 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Bakayoko would be a project in the short term. I'd rather us sign a stop gap such as Naingollan for a couple of years until RLC is ready to take the position and make it his own. Get someone that is ready to do a job for a few years like Ballack did with us. 

If anything, then ballack should be a cautionary tale. 

Currently, we have Costa (28), matic (28), Willian (28), Pedro (29), luiz (30), cahill (31), cesc (30).

Thats our best striker, 2 of the 3 top wingers, 2 of the 3 top midfielders, 2 of the 3 top CBs that are close to 30 or over 30. We should seriously be looking at getting a "new guard" in least we find ourselves in a 2010-11 doldrms.

1 hour ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Bakayoko would be a project in the short term. I'd rather us sign a stop gap such as Naingollan for a couple of years until RLC is ready to take the position and make it his own. Get someone that is ready to do a job for a few years like Ballack did with us. 

Agree. Marchisio or Radja for me, Radja is my preference but Marchisio is an absolute baller, been a top box to box midfielder for years and with the way the Italians age still should have another 3 good years in him. Nainggolan is the same, has a few more screamers from outside the box in his locker as well. 

Bakayoko, from what i've seen, is just a big midfield mule, which we already have in Matic. we need an upgrade not a sideways move if we want to compete next year. Signing a midfielder who's already at their peak shouldn't impact RLC or Chalobah too much, plenty of games next year for all to play in. 

1 hour ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Bakayoko would be a project in the short term. I'd rather us sign a stop gap such as Naingollan for a couple of years until RLC is ready to take the position and make it his own. Get someone that is ready to do a job for a few years like Ballack did with us. 

Conte hasn't even played RLC there since preseason. I'm afraid you're dreaming of something that's never going to happen.

31 minutes ago, didierforever said:

If anything, then ballack should be a cautionary tale. 

Currently, we have Costa (28), matic (28), Willian (28), Pedro (29), luiz (30), cahill (31), cesc (30).

Thats our best striker, 2 of the 3 top wingers, 2 of the 3 top midfielders, 2 of the 3 top CBs that are close to 30 or over 30. We should seriously be looking at getting a "new guard" in least we find ourselves in a 2010-11 doldrms.

Fully agree with this. We should be looking for a 22-25 year old.

30 minutes ago, Barrettinator said:

Conte hasn't even played RLC there since preseason. I'm afraid you're dreaming of something that's never going to happen.

That's what worries me. RLC's best games for Chelsea were playing in a 2 man pivot. Especially against Liverpool and Maccabi, he was a huge danger going forward and solid defensively. Bizarre that Conte hasn't looked at using him there.

3 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

That's what worries me. RLC's best games for Chelsea were playing in a 2 man pivot. Especially against Liverpool and Maccabi, he was a huge danger going forward and solid defensively. Bizarre that Conte hasn't looked at using him there.

Not bizarre really. Conte sees him in training. He's probably not as good in that position as Chalobah is.

9 minutes ago, Barrettinator said:

Not bizarre really. Conte sees him in training. He's probably not as good in that position as Chalobah is.

Surely it should be more down to how a player performs in games than in training as that's where the points are won. Watch the game against Liverpool and Maccabi and tell me he looked out of place, if anything he looked the most comfortable and controlled on the pitch. That was 2 years ago, one would imagine he is even better now he has physically progressed. 

Instead of Bakayoko if we can't sign Tolisso, Marchisio, Naingollan (or another CM yet to be mentioned) would prefer we sign De Rossi (on a free, he's out of contract this summer) and recall Baker. Loftus-Cheek isn't the answer for me, I think he could do a job at AM but he needs a season on loan playing week in week out.

Edited May 4, 20179 yr by the special one

8 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Surely it should be more down to how a player performs in games than in training as that's where the points are won. Watch the game against Liverpool and Maccabi and tell me he looked out of place, if anything he looked the most comfortable and controlled on the pitch. That was 2 years ago, one would imagine he is even better now he has physically progressed. 

No, you have to impress in training to get a chance to play in an actual game where there are points at stake. That's why it's called training. And if he can't carry out the duties the way Conte wants him to in that particular position then why should be given actual games? I'm talking about in that double pivot btw. I really couldn't tell you what RLC's best position is but if he has never been played in the midfield 2 by Conte then there's a good chance he's not that good there, at least in a 3-4-3/3-5-2.

Just now, Barrettinator said:

No, you have to impress in training to get a chance to play in an actual game where there are points at stake. That's why it's called training. And if he can't carry out the duties the way Conte wants him to in that particular position then why should be given actual games? I'm talking about in that double pivot btw. I really couldn't tell you what RLC's best position is but if he has never been played in the midfield 2 by Conte then there's a good chance he's not that good there, at least in a 3-4-3/3-5-2.

a 3-5-2 would be perfect for him if we swap it up. He can play a similar role to Pogba at Juve with more freedom and less defensive discipline. 

Just now, RIP Mourinho said:

a 3-5-2 would be perfect for him if we swap it up. He can play a similar role to Pogba at Juve with more freedom and less defensive discipline. 

Well, he's not Pogba. And neither of us are Conte. I'm sure Conte will do the right thing.

13 minutes ago, Barrettinator said:

Well, he's not Pogba. And neither of us are Conte. I'm sure Conte will do the right thing.

Cesc is our Pogba, for me there's only room for one luxury player.

45 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Surely it should be more down to how a player performs in games than in training as that's where the points are won. Watch the game against Liverpool and Maccabi and tell me he looked out of place, if anything he looked the most comfortable and controlled on the pitch. That was 2 years ago, one would imagine he is even better now he has physically progressed. 

Training is 5 days a week match day is 1 you are asking the coach to select him based on 2 games one against a Sunday league side vs 100 training session? Not going to happen training is what gets players selected the coach sees a great great deal in training, then they have to prove it in the pitch to keep their place. 

You earn your place in training, you keep your place in matches.

He earned his place and after those matches should have kept it.

2 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

He earned his place and after those matches should have kept it.

Agreed. Jose questioned his attitude/desire. Is that RLC's real issue do you think ? 

Tbf I think Chalobah has greater potential than him, so I'd rather we develop him properly and use him instead of splashing out 

11 minutes ago, Osgood is Good said:

Agreed. Jose questioned his attitude/desire. Is that RLC's real issue do you think ? 

Possibly so however his desire seems to be on point this season by coming on and working his arse off. I think Mourinho made many mistakes in his second stint, not giving RLC more game time after his great performances was one of them.

3 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

He earned his place and after those matches should have kept it.

He earned that under Jose. Everyone had to start afresh and earn their places again under Conte. Some of the senior players like Ivanovic, JT, Willian, Oscar and co lost their places. So it's not just RLC.

7 hours ago, Barrettinator said:

Can't be working on him while trying to win the CL next season. Look at Real Madrid, Juventus, Bayern and even Barca. They hardly start any "prospects". You need the finished product in your XI or at least something close to it. What you're saying would make RLC a "project" that probably wouldn't bear fruit for 2-3 seasons. Not that I'm against it. Just pointing that out.

Reason I'd prefer Marchisio to be honest, rotate the pair so that in 2 years RLC is the completed article. If that's a no goer Naingollan or Vidal (if attainable) would suit that purpose.

RLC defense is cr** from what I've seen of him, even chalobah defense is a bit flimsy. If RLC did defend well he'd be in the team more often.

 

Back to the subject of this thread Bakayoko is not as good as Matic in my view. He's as slow as a wet week and less energy than matic.

 

 

We do need to bring some younger guys into the team but we need better than him. I think Ake will be a starter next season but noone else from the young guns is an obvious starter

 

Naigolan has been good this season, not just the goals but also he's covered a lot of ground for Roma, I've seen them quite often. Still I agree he is too old to build the team around.

 

We need another player of hazards quality, maybe 2, not hazards themselves, so to speak, but of equal stature. One in midfield and one wide player. The search goes on.

 

16 hours ago, ozboy said:

RLC defense is cr** from what I've seen of him, even chalobah defense is a bit flimsy. If RLC did defend well he'd be in the team more often.

 

Back to the subject of this thread Bakayoko is not as good as Matic in my view. He's as slow as a wet week and less energy than matic.

 

 

We do need to bring some younger guys into the team but we need better than him. I think Ake will be a starter next season but noone else from the young guns is an obvious starter

 

Naigolan has been good this season, not just the goals but also he's covered a lot of ground for Roma, I've seen them quite often. Still I agree he is too old to build the team around.

 

We need another player of hazards quality, maybe 2, not hazards themselves, so to speak, but of equal stature. One in midfield and one wide player. The search goes on.

 

And Matic isn't slow? f**k me, he turns slower than a truck ffs.

Bakayoko had a bad game against Juventus. As do many players, including a lot of the world class players in the Barca team.

He's 22 and still growing as a player. Already better than Matic still. Under Conte's tuitelage, he could really become something special.

 

This is a better picture of what he can do on an average day (and what he's been doing for most of the season)

Vs PSG