CODE RED...OR SHOULD I SAY CODE BLUE
Bakayoko has fulfilled the prophecy, his hair is now blue!  

7 hours ago, TomCFC85 said:

CODE RED...OR SHOULD I SAY CODE BLUE
Bakayoko has fulfilled the prophecy, his hair is now blue!  

Well, if that isn't a good omen, I'm giving up on my belief in astrology, jinxing, and black cats!

3 hours ago, Valerie said:

Well, if that isn't a good omen, I'm giving up on my belief in astrology, jinxing, and black cats!

Don’t let your guard down, the black cat is real and it’s what he wants...

At least he waited to sign & score for the club before he did it, would be embarrassing otherwise. Just ask our mate Alvaro...

Needs to do better. Plays well 90% of the time but then gives the ball away in dangerous positions. Some of his fouls have led to goals conceded for us too and they were needless fouls. He's a young player though so that's not entirely surprising.

Early days but I hope I'm wrong. This was a signing that I was against actually, I never rated him at Monaco because I thought he looked very average on the ball. He has shown that he's a pretty capable footballer when he first came though. However, his performances lately have been bad, I think he has a low football IQ, he tends to never be considerate about the pace of the game or position he's in, which isn't good for a defensive midfielder. He makes a tackle in the box like he would outfield, he takes big touches in our own half which I've seen a few times, almost cost us today with those antics. Individual errors like that are a real kick in the teeth.

He does have quality there is no doubt about it, but I don't think this is a part of his game he can improve, I think he's way behind Kante personally. 

14 hours ago, Slojo said:

Early days but I hope I'm wrong. This was a signing that I was against actually, I never rated him at Monaco because I thought he looked very average on the ball. He has shown that he's a pretty capable footballer when he first came though. However, his performances lately have been bad, I think he has a low football IQ, he tends to never be considerate about the pace of the game or position he's in, which isn't good for a defensive midfielder. He makes a tackle in the box like he would outfield, he takes big touches in our own half which I've seen a few times, almost cost us today with those antics. Individual errors like that are a real kick in the teeth.

He does have quality there is no doubt about it, but I don't think this is a part of his game he can improve, I think he's way behind Kante personally. 

As is every other midfielder in the league. We're going to be very disappointed if we compare all our signings to Kante.

1 hour ago, RIP Mourinho said:

As is every other midfielder in the league. We're going to be very disappointed if we compare all our signings to Kante.

Disagree, I don't think Kante is a great footballer. Superb DM though, the best ball winner in the league. I don't think Baka reads the game as well has Kante though, and Baka was known for being a very solid unit for Monaco. He's a better defensive unit than Matic though, but I don't think he's as good on the ball, he also seems to be more error-prone than Matic was. 

At this rate I want to see Drinkwater start. 

2 hours ago, Slojo said:

Disagree, I don't think Kante is a great footballer. Superb DM though, the best ball winner in the league. I don't think Baka reads the game as well has Kante though, and Baka was known for being a very solid unit for Monaco. He's a better defensive unit than Matic though, but I don't think he's as good on the ball, he also seems to be more error-prone than Matic was. 

At this rate I want to see Drinkwater start. 

Baka's ability on the ball is one of the best things about him. Powerful runs through the middle of the pitch, which he has shown multiple times. He isn't as good defensively as Kante or even Matic but he is far better getting forward and much more comfortable on the ball. Helps us transition from defence to attack well, which is what we struggled with last year when Fab wasn't on the pitch. 

21 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Baka's ability on the ball is one of the best things about him. Powerful runs through the middle of the pitch, which he has shown multiple times. He isn't as good defensively as Kante or even Matic but he is far better getting forward and much more comfortable on the ball. Helps us transition from defence to attack well, which is what we struggled with last year when Fab wasn't on the pitch. 

I think he's better than Matic defensively, look how bad Matic was in his last two seasons defensively. Baka also has better tackling and covering rates, but worse pass percentage. I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that his best attribute is on the ball, I think off the ball is one of his biggest strengths, he has made some good runs going forward but he's usually pretty clueless on the ball and doesn't know what to do with it. 

I think Kante can be a bit too sloppy on the ball in big games but he usually knows what to do with it when he's on it, doesn't over-play it. 

But yesterday Baka was off even defensively, didn't seem aggressive enough, he stood off a lot and strolled around. We've seen a much better physical stature of Baka whenever he's played, he can be a bully in midfield. His best attributes are his defensive and physical ones, look at his interception/tackling stats, on the ball it's quite clear he isn't the tidiest. 

We’ll see the best of him when Kante is back and frees up his defensive duties a bit. 

Conte said he was disappointed to lose Matic because he wanted to fade Bakayoko in, rather than throw him in, which is what he's had to do.

 

He's a young player having to play two games a week and half of them are in the Prem, which is a very demanding league, far more demanding than the French league.

 

He's looked tired last two or three games but we've had no choice but to play him, and remember, he's playing alongside Fabregas, which means he has to do a lot more work, defensively.

Awful, sh*t player. Hopefully sold on in the Jan window.

He will turn out to be a great player I reckon.

It’s his first season In the league. He didn’t even get to have a pre-season with us, 

him and Kante together seem to be the best pairing.

13 hours ago, Slojo said:

I think he's better than Matic defensively, look how bad Matic was in his last two seasons defensively. Baka also has better tackling and covering rates, but worse pass percentage. I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that his best attribute is on the ball, I think off the ball is one of his biggest strengths, he has made some good runs going forward but he's usually pretty clueless on the ball and doesn't know what to do with it. 

I think Kante can be a bit too sloppy on the ball in big games but he usually knows what to do with it when he's on it, doesn't over-play it. 

But yesterday Baka was off even defensively, didn't seem aggressive enough, he stood off a lot and strolled around. We've seen a much better physical stature of Baka whenever he's played, he can be a bully in midfield. His best attributes are his defensive and physical ones, look at his interception/tackling stats, on the ball it's quite clear he isn't the tidiest. 

Given how poor our midfield has looked, and the way we have been leaking goals at times this season, I would say Matic was not at all "bad" defensively, specially last season.

If anything, Matic's positioning complimented Kante's headless chicken style of play. He cut out the passing lines and severely went under the radar. Yes, on the ball, he could be sloppy as hell, but given how good we were defensively at times last season and compare it to this season, I would say matic has got redemption. 

11 hours ago, OverAndOut said:

Awful, sh*t player. Hopefully sold on in the Jan window.

Hopefully that is tongue in cheek. 

6 hours ago, didierforever said:

...................................Kante's headless chicken style of play. ..................................

Is that what your Sky Sports subscription tells you about last year's Player of the Year?

37 minutes ago, yorkleyblue said:

Is that what your Sky Sports subscription tells you about last year's Player of the Year?

Did I say he was poor and/or average. Yes, he was the player of the year, but I would still call his pressing (specially) as a headless chicken-ish. His excellent stamina, speed and moreover ball winning ability make up for it. No doubt about it. But we have been found out at times this season with him and Cesc as a pairing because at times, Kante does do his excessive running bit.

But not to worry mate, you can selectively take a quote and blow out of proportions in that condescending tone of yours.

"headless chicken style of play" - What does that say about your opinion of his play?  I think you will be in a fairly small minority of people both in here and in football generally, who would think that.

So, not to worry, "mate", it was neither selective quoting, nor condescending.  If anything, it was patronising.  You do know the difference, right? 

It was a reference to the only part of your comment that mentioned Kante, and it was a specific comment on my part that implied that you are a tit if you actually believe that.  Perhaps I should have been a bit clearer in my original comment, but anyone who thinks that Kante runs about like a headless chicken has very little understanding of what he does, of why he was bought in the first place and what the true defensive mid-fielder role involves.

And don't get me started on the abuse that you regularly pour on Fabregas, which is probably the most virulent hate posted in here about one of our top players.

Not playing anywhere near the level he produced at Monaco.

16 minutes ago, yorkleyblue said:

"headless chicken style of play" - What does that say about your opinion of his play?  I think you will be in a fairly small minority of people both in here and in football generally, who would think that.

So, not to worry, "mate", it was neither selective quoting, nor condescending.  If anything, it was patronising.  You do know the difference, right? 

It was a reference to the only part of your comment that mentioned Kante, and it was a specific comment on my part that implied that you are a tit if you actually believe that.  Perhaps I should have been a bit clearer in my original comment, but anyone who thinks that Kante runs about like a headless chicken has very little understanding of what he does, of why he was bought in the first place and what the true defensive mid-fielder role involves.

And don't get me started on the abuse that you regularly pour on Fabregas, which is probably the most virulent hate posted in here about one of our top players.

To be fair, I didn't read "headless chicken style" that as a criticism... I thought it described his style quite well (and humourously). He is probably the only player in the world who can pull that off and the only headless chicken with any method to its madness.

I'm sure everyone here loves Kante.

1 minute ago, ashwin said:

To be fair, I didn't read "headless chicken style" that as a criticism... I thought it described his style quite well (and humourously). He is probably the only player in the world who can pull that off and the only headless chicken with any method to its madness.

I'm sure everyone here loves Kante.

Anyone here with a semblance of sanity/common sense would have understood that. 

3 minutes ago, didierforever said:

Anyone here with a semblance of sanity/common sense would have understood that. 

Would this comment not be considered condescending ?. Yet you accuse @yorkleyblue of being condescending. I see how it is now.

2 minutes ago, Osgood is Good said:

Would this comment not be considered condescending ?. Yet you accuse @yorkleyblue of being condescending. I see how it is now.

Well, I did not start calling him a tit or question his footballing knowledge by insinuating that he just knows stuff depending on what sky sports tells him, did I?

5 minutes ago, didierforever said:

Well, I did not start calling him a tit or question his footballing knowledge by insinuating that he just knows stuff depending on what sky sports tells him, did I?

Maybe you didn't, but from what I have observed, you have no problem with being disrespectful/condescending to other posters, but then cries wolf when it happens to you.

I see how it is. End of discussion.