If true, this demonstrates again why we need legends like Drogba involved in some capacity at the club.

Bakayoko not play in long time. He not play very good. He have good quality but have weakness of technique.

Wasn't it Drogba who got Hazard to Chelsea also

On 8/21/2017 at 18:29, startedwithglenn said:

Woooooowwww slow down, Yaya Toure is one of the best midfielders ever seen in the PL.

This was an encouraging debut.

Ok lets do it, based on the above all center mids our covered

 

Patrick Viera, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes, Makalele, Bryan Robson, Xabi Alonso... yap so I would probably stick him in at this point, maybe along side an Essien, I would personanly also stick Gary Macalister in there as an outside call. Gaza unfortunately  long passed his best when he'd come back to the prem

 

 

Edited August 22, 20178 yr by barak81
Seen it's already been posted

3 minutes ago, Brutos said:

Wasn't it Drogba who got Hazard to Chelsea also

I thought that was Joe Cole that worked on Eden to get him to CFC - plus that amazing run in the UCL helped

It was Mikel impersonating drogba on both occasions.....

As cool as that story is, it's just not possible that a coach would be taken a back by a player offering to do what their profession is.  Why would Conte risk a a £35M investment if he were injured or unfit.. it just goes against the grains of modern sports science.

2 hours ago, Van Butsen said:

As cool as that story is, it's just not possible that a coach would be taken a back by a player offering to do what their profession is.  Why would Conte risk a a £35M investment if he were injured or unfit.. it just goes against the grains of modern sports science.

Sure it is. The man loves players willing to sacrifice their bodies in the name of the team. Eden is probably cleared to play this weekend but I doubt he'll play 90 minutes in the name of caution. I think telling Conte he was ready to go despite not having played a competitive minute off the back of an injury will earn him some trust 

On 8/21/2017 at 19:50, startedwithglenn said:

I agree with the first 6, Essien close... Alonso and fabregas no.

PL is 25 years old, I think being an almost unarguable top 10 midfielder in those 25 years qualifies as "one of the best".

I really need to read back, the list is pretty close to mine but I will say that of the 25 years it seems to ignore the first 10  of  them. 

Was very impressed with him today. Made some poor choices but overall very strong, seems to be always at the right place to intercept and move it forward. He can only get better as he learns more from Conte.

3 minutes ago, Drogbaholic said:

Was very impressed with him today. Made some poor choices but overall very strong, seems to be always at the right place to intercept and move it forward. He can only get better as he learns more from Conte.

He absolutely destroyed Ndidi today. 

We saw a glimpse today of some of the drive's we can expect from him he's going to be an absolute beast

2 minutes ago, Brutos said:

We saw a glimpse today of some of the drive's we can expect from him he's going to be an absolute beast

It's a shame some refs can't see the fouls on him. How many times does his shirt need to be tugged for a ref to give the fouls

I thought overall he played pretty well today. He bursts forward with pace and intent. The only real criticism was that break near the end where we were 3 or 2 and he made the wrong choice, but overall I like the way he's managed to slot into this team, he's a huge improvement on Matic IMO and will only get better under Conte.

he was excellent, it seemed if leicester somehow got past kante, then bakayoko was there to cover! 

He won a fair few balls that let us break aswell, although we rarely chose the right option today. 

Good start to his chelsea career. 

Didn't watch him too closely but it's obvious he has a much more powerful engine than Matic, got to see his highlights when someone makes one.

Give him time he's gonna be a beast.

Really excited to see how Bakayoko develops, his potential is huge. We've lacked drive from midfield for years which he brings along with much more. Bakayoko is a much better fit in a 2 man midfield than Matic, and he looks to be superior in all facets, technical and physical. He and Kante should complement each other very well.

One other thing I've noticed about Bakayoko already is that he plays very intelligently and tactically without the ball; He seems to be in the right position a lot of the time to intercept. Also he doesn't just automatically pass it sideways like many average CM's that you see in the PL. 

Early days of course but so long as we keep him fit I can see Bakayoko becoming a very good player for us. 

 

 

"Don't forget, Baka is 23 years old. He's younger than N'Golo. Last season he played in France and now he's adapting himself to this type of football. I think he has great quality and now he's very strong without the ball -- but with work he can improve with the ball in the same way as N'Golo." -AC

Edited September 11, 20178 yr by Charles Ryder

He is a beast! Massive upgrade on Matic.

It's a shame some refs can't see the fouls on him. How many times does his shirt need to be tugged for a ref to give the fouls

This annoyed me all match it was infuriating

Saturday showed me for the first time why we invested in him. Physically imposing and should develop tactically under Conte. Clearly the games against Juve last year which left a lot of us(me included) underwhelmed at the prospect of signing him didn't project his best assets.

 

From what I've seen of him for Monaco, he's strong, fast and offers more going forward than Matic. He also has a better weak foot.

His main flaws are inconsistency and lapses in concentration, but I expect those issues to resolve themselves with more experience and maturity. Also IMO his passing is not yet as good as Matic's when Matic is at his best.