4 hours ago, PedroMendez said:

I see this transfer as a future replacement to Matic rather than one for right now, with Matic to be sold in a year or 2 if he is signed. 

I disagree with you and I hope that isn't the case, we spent a lot on Michy and he's now frustrated. If we put Bakayoko on the bench for one to two years, the same will happen and he'll want to leave, thiugh I don't think it would take long for Matic to find himself on the bench and we'd have to hope he doesn't upset the dressing room. I think £35 million for a squad player is too much, we may as well promote the youth, I just can't see Matic staying, time will tell.

1 hour ago, DonAntonio said:

If that was the case he would have better interception stats,  he doesn't, I think your right hard to compare different league different systems but he has been key in a Monaco team that has done very well, for me he is better that magic defensively, better at making runs through the middle and with the ball at his feet, for me I'm excited about this signing, I'd still keep matic though. 

There is a difference between blocking passing lanes and being in a position to make an interception, you sort of have to leave a passing lane open and then close in on it in the last second to pick up the interception. Interceptions obviously help you out more as you win the ball back so the fact that bakayoko may be better in this regard is a positive.

Edited June 11, 20179 yr by PedroMendez

Just now, PedroMendez said:

There is a difference between blocking passing lanes and being in a position to make an interception, you sort of have to leave a passing lane open and then close in on it in the last second to pick up the interception. Interceptions obviously help you out more as you win the ball back so the fact that bakayoko may be better in this regard is a positive.

Exactly, your first move as a defensive player should always be to not give the opposition a passing option, block those lanes rather than intercept it. And as a defensive midfielder that is all about positional discipline and intelligence.

If anything, I hope Bakayoko is twice the player Matic is in the air. Matic is terrible for a tall guy.

16 minutes ago, Deino said:

If anything, I hope Bakayoko is twice the player Matic is in the air. Matic is terrible for a tall guy.

Still better than Mikel. Now he's a freak of nature, jumping somehow makes him shorter.

2 hours ago, PedroMendez said:

There is a difference between blocking passing lanes and being in a position to make an interception, you sort of have to leave a passing lane open and then close in on it in the last second to pick up the interception. Interceptions obviously help you out more as you win the ball back so the fact that bakayoko may be better in this regard is a positive.

Very good point 

I know next to nothing about the man but midfield is the place where we can get stronger. Matic is a terrible header of the ball as mentioned above.

We need a midfielder who can play the ball as well. I have no idea if Bakayoko can.

I know he hasn't even kicked a ball for us yet but this signing doesn't interest me in the slightest.

16 hours ago, jack_super_class said:

I know he hasn't even kicked a ball for us yet but this signing doesn't interest me in the slightest.

Only reason Im looking forward to seeing him for us is the fact that Conte seems to really want him

Matic had a great season and I don't really see the need for an upgrade. The key i think is if Kante gets injured and we have to go back to the lack of pace of Matic and Cesc.

I haven't seen enough of him to judge properly but there are always risks with these transfers. Big physical players out of France who have done well at early ages because of their relative power and speed. Seems to me that for every Pogba/Essien there are an equal if not greater number of Imbula/M'Villa/Kondogbia type players who are a bit rubbish. 

I would personally prefer we kept faith with our young lads Chalobah/Baker and RLC for now. 

17 minutes ago, Spiller86 said:

Matic had a great season and I don't really see the need for an upgrade.

You are probably the only person on the planet who feels this way

Edited June 18, 20179 yr by Xfaxtor

Remember what people said when we signed Alonso? Nobody gave him any chance to succeed, most believe he'd be out by January.

36 minutes ago, Spiller86 said:

Matic had a great season

He had a good season not great. The best season he had for us was 14/15 since then his form fluctuated between good and bad with worse in between

Matic have good games, not good season. He is so slow in contribution the ball to the players in front, that when pull his head up, and the defenders are already back.

He is slowing our attacks and give a little to none in offensive part of the game, while it`s not great in the denfece as well. He was the man who bring the competiton back in the game with his idiotic back heel against Burnley, they won a free kick and equalize.

How the f*** we can be a contenders against top teams with Matic-Kante ? We can control the game with player like Matic and Kante. One of them should be gone, and the obvious one is Matic who regress since 2014-2015 season.

It`s fun just to imagine how bad we will look against Real Madrid. They have Toni Kroos, Modric, Casemiro, and we are going to stop them with Matic and Kante duo? And our attack will be fun to build ...

 

3 hours ago, Xfaxtor said:

You are probably the only person on the planet who feels this way

Magic was in large a hugely frustrating player to watch. I never spoke to anyone who thought otherwise bar a sporadic few on here 

He's so one footed its shocking for a player playing at this level and his distribution and ball retention is pretty poor too.

In certain games he looks a good player but those games are very rare these days 

3 minutes ago, Chelsbear said:

Magic was in large a hugely frustrating player to watch. I never spoke to anyone who thought otherwise bar a sporadic few on here 

He's so one footed its shocking for a player playing at this level and his distribution and ball retention is pretty poor too.

In certain games he looks a good player but those games are very rare these days 

I would say the opposite is true. In most games he looks a very good player sprinkled with games of mind numbing performances.

17 minutes ago, Chelsbear said:

Magic was in large a hugely frustrating player to watch. I never spoke to anyone who thought otherwise bar a sporadic few on here 

He's so one footed its shocking for a player playing at this level and his distribution and ball retention is pretty poor too.

In certain games he looks a good player but those games are very rare these days 

His one footed-ness is actually funny when you watch him. He can go a full 90 mins without even making a pass with his right foot, when you actually look out for it you realise why he looks so awkward in possesion. 

And its one of the reasons his performance dropped. Teams figured it out and started pressing him over ob the weaker foot and takkng out passing lanes with his left

Let's not mention maradonna here

People seem to be forgetting that Conte is a magician, any doubts you may have about Bakayoko, Im sure Conte will solve and turn him into a beast

Matic's season was 7/10 at best, he was steady at the best of times, but never dominated any games. For 35-40M, if we get a similar player who's younger, more athletic, got ,better passing game , it's good deal. We can not reply on Kante to do 2 players' work week in week out, especially with the demand of mid week games next season.

Eric Dier is priced at 50M, he's hardly  flashy, of course having a right passport helped his cause.

9 hours ago, JJP said:

People seem to be forgetting that Conte is a magician, any doubts you may have about Bakayoko, Im sure Conte will solve and turn him into a beast

I wouldn't call him a magician just yet. Conte, from what I saw with his previous and current teams, if anything specializes in putting round pegs in round holes a trait you'd think managers who're paid millions per year would be good at. He'd make any mediocre player look good eg. Eder, Giacherini as well as tailoring the team to suit its best players eg. Pirlo, Hazard

With 30 million being banded around, I'm astonished we haven't made Thomas Lemar a target as well. This is within Tottenham's price range and, apparently, they're the favourites to pick him up. Absolute bargain in today's transfer madness.

22 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

Matic had a great season and I don't really see the need for an upgrade. The key i think is if Kante gets injured and we have to go back to the lack of pace of Matic and Cesc.

I haven't seen enough of him to judge properly but there are always risks with these transfers. Big physical players out of France who have done well at early ages because of their relative power and speed. Seems to me that for every Pogba/Essien there are an equal if not greater number of Imbula/M'Villa/Kondogbia type players who are a bit rubbish. 

I would personally prefer we kept faith with our young lads Chalobah/Baker and RLC for now. 

Chalobah and Baker are squad players at best and Ruben is league 1 level. 

Bit harsh on Baker in particular who hasn't had a chance yet and has done everything right on loan. Nat and RLC could do a job for us now and will develop further. 

Not every member of the team can be a foreign star. Our youth are the best collectively in Europe and need to be given a chance to do a job. Vivesh makes that point well here in my view: http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11096/10912227/chelseas-talent-factory-inside-the-clubs-academy-success-story