That’s very true mate but confidence is a funny thing and it effects everyone differently, I know some people think he was average at Monaco but he was a good player, and it took him a season to get to that level there so there’s no reason why he can’t up his game here with a bit of confidence and learning from a top quality manager and coaching staff

Agreed. For sure he's got room to grow and he definitely can drive the ball forward well and his movement at times has been quite good. But right now he is just too far behind what the club (targeting the title) needs.

 

It should be said though, that the role Conte wanted for him was the right one - a squad player behind Kante+Matic(or Radja etc). And Conte told the press that for a reason - he wants the fans to know who to blame.

On 06/01/2018 at 23:39, OverAndOut said:

Blah blah blah blah 

 Hopefully he can stamp on someone and get banned for a hefty amount of time or get a season-ending injury in training where we can flog him off to the likes of Stoke for pennies. I'd pay any club just to take him off us. 

You are a joke of a a fan, and the type that shouldn't even be allowed to voice an opinion if it's going to be that idiotic

18 hours ago, Strider6003 said:

I think Baka needs another season before we look to move him on, he looked good when at Monaco and our midfield has been so interchangeable before Christmas due to injuries I think to would take a while for him to settle in.

What Baka needs is to sit on the bench for once and stop playing every bloody game.

I'll be furious if I see him starting against Arsenal again. 

1 hour ago, Slojo said:

What Baka needs is to sit on the bench for once and stop playing every bloody game.

I'll be furious if I see him starting against Arsenal again. 

I get the feeling we have played him so much as Drinkwater following his injures may not have been match fit.

 

Crazy to think that after spending £75m on midfielders in the summer we're likely to be looking to invest again come the end of the season. 

Crazy to think that after spending £75m on midfielders in the summer we're likely to be looking to invest again come the end of the season. 

You should probably subtract the 45 million (I think) we received for midfielders too. So 30 million spent but without any apparent upgrade in quality.

3 minutes ago, bluedave said:

You should probably subtract the 45 million (I think) we received for midfielders too. So 30 million spent but without any apparent upgrade in quality.

 

What concerns me is that every position we spent money on in the summer, we're probably looking to do the same again come the end of the season. 

£40m on Bakayoko, £35m on Drinkwater, £60m on Morata and £21m on Zappacosta. 

Over £150m spent but have any of them actually improved the first team? Personally, I don't think so. Poor window on reflection really.

Morata was essential after losing Costa. Is he as good? Only time will tell. He's got 12 goals and looks likely to hit 20 or thereabouts so I would say a very good investment. Costa wasn't staying so no point in comparing. Zappacosta has been above estimation in my opinion, considering that he was probably brought in as a squad player, as was Drinkwater most likely. We haven't seen enough of the latter to make a judgement. I admit that Bakayoko has had a difficult start but Costa keeps playing him, possibly to help him develop, which we all (?) hope he does. He got himself into good positions against Arsenal and Cech made one excellent save from his effort. I really don't know why all Chelsea players have to have Roy of the Rovers capabilities all the time for some fans!

49 minutes ago, EmeraldBlue said:

Morata was essential after losing Costa. Is he as good? Only time will tell. He's got 12 goals and looks likely to hit 20 or thereabouts so I would say a very good investment. Costa wasn't staying so no point in comparing. Zappacosta has been above estimation in my opinion, considering that he was probably brought in as a squad player, as was Drinkwater most likely. We haven't seen enough of the latter to make a judgement. I admit that Bakayoko has had a difficult start but Costa keeps playing him, possibly to help him develop, which we all (?) hope he does. He got himself into good positions against Arsenal and Cech made one excellent save from his effort. I really don't know why all Chelsea players have to have Roy of the Rovers capabilities all the time for some fans!

I'm not expecting every player we sign to be world class superstars but I think it's a worthwhile discussion that £150m worth of players bought do not appear to have improved any part of the team. 

Zappacosta and Moses are about as good as each other but seeing as we Conte wanted Kyle Walker I think it's safe to say he wanted an upgrade on Moses not just a squad player. 

We let Matic go to a direct rival and Bakayoko, right now, looks a step backwards. Will he come good in time? We all hope so but allowing a player as experienced as Matic to leave and replacing him with Bakayoko currently looks a questionable decision. 

Don't know what the long game is with Drinkwater, I think he was supposed to add better depth which is why we sold Chalobah and he's (in my mind) pushing Bakayoko for starting place... But again not sure he's better than Matic was. 

Yes Costa was leaving but we opted for a player that's never been first choice at the age of 24. It was a gamble and at the moment evidence suggests he's struggling with the burden of being tasked with leading the line week in, week out. Can he overcome that? Again, we all hope so but it's a signing to raise an eyebrow to given that Conte clearly doesn't trust Michy so it's Morata or nothing right now. 

I thought Drinkwater was the Matic replacement not Bakayoko. 

I think Drinkwater was a solid buy, he has yet to put a foot wrong when he's played and has a good deal more attacking ability than Nemanja, Morata is good, probably not quite Costa level, but given the age difference and experience gap I think that's to be expected, if he hits 25 or 30 goals in all competitions i think we can call him a success an expect a further improvement next season. Zappacosta does what he was meant to, rotates with Moses, adds a bit more of an attacking option in the RWB position, not a bad buy. Only Bakayoko is looking really questionable, but I'm tending to give him the benefit of the doubt to settle here and improve. He certainly has traits that suggest he could be a great player, and has time on his side, right now it looks like he's a bit out of his depth and the pressure is getting to him. The pass from fabregas against arsenal is a good example. If Bakayoko was higher on confidence I reckon he'd have buried the chance, but he looks nervy and simple things are going wrong for him. Needs a break from the starting lineup I think and a chance to work on his defensive acumen.

Secretly, I'm hoping that a midfield of Kante, Cesc and Barkley is going to provide us with enough balance (although I suspect it wont) which'll limit Baka's playing time. I understand that you have to play in order to improve, but that can only be taken so far. It seems like he needs time out to get his head straight, or to realise what is needed from him to warrant playing.

I thought Baka would provide that strength when we come up against Spurs with Wanyama and Dembele and other physical sides.

He still might and I notice when he is in a three with Fabregas we do not get overrun so much, now that might be the opposition just wary of leaving our players unmarked and so reduces the numbers they can attack with. 

Just now, Strider6003 said:

I thought Baka would provide that strength when we come up against Spurs with Wanyama and Dembele and other physical sides.

He still might and I notice when he is in a three with Fabregas we do not get overrun so much, now that might be the opposition just wary of leaving our players unmarked and so reduces the numbers they can attack with. 

That’s only because he gives the ball away so much, the opposition aren’t sure whether he’s playing for them or not.

I fully expect to see Crappyoko start on Wednesday and subsequently not contribute anything to the side except pain and anguish. Eden deserves so much better than to be lumbered with this useless lump in midfield. Sell him if we can, sack him if we can’t. He isn’t fulfilling his contract. I’m sure it says on there somewhere that you’re expected to play football at some point. 

Crappayoko

3 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

What concerns me is that every position we spent money on in the summer, we're probably looking to do the same again come the end of the season. 

£40m on Bakayoko, £35m on Drinkwater, £60m on Morata and £21m on Zappacosta. 

Over £150m spent but have any of them actually improved the first team? Personally, I don't think so. Poor window on reflection really.

It was a poor window, but I think we made it too hard on ourselves trying to do so much. 

I don't see zappacosta or drinkwater making a big impact here long term. 

Rudiger looks useful, and I think morata will come good. 

Bakayoko could go either way, right now it isn't looking great, but he is young, and I think he's better than what he has shown so far. 

We have a deep enough squad now, we have enough homegrown players, we should now be looking to sign players that improve the 1st 11, I'm just not sure whether the club has the appetite to spend what is required for the better players these days. 

 

 

1 hour ago, Chelsbear said:

Crappayoko

I know..... He's the biggest troll we currently have around here.

Edited January 8, 20188 yr by Valerie

3 minutes ago, Valerie said:

I know..... He's the biggest troll we currently have around here.

(Obvious Troll is obvious)

Disliking Bakajoko = troll. 

I can see how you made that connection. Very intelligent reasoning and deduction. 

Appears to be a Conte signing which is why he is getting more game time than Drinkwater. De Bruyne made an interesting comment when he left us about how if he had been bought for a large sum of money, he might have been given more opportunities. This seems to be the case here.

If he shows no considerable improvement by the end of the season, do we persist with him? What happens to Loftus-Cheek who has looked better in a worse team, do we sell him or send him back on loan to give our expensive buy more game time? Can he even be loaned out? I find it absurd that you pay £30m+ for any player and then send them out on loan because he isn’t ready. Or do we cut our losses and sell him?

5 minutes ago, ducavis said:

Appears to be a Conte signing which is why he is getting more game time than Drinkwater. De Bruyne made an interesting comment when he left us about how if he had been bought for a large sum of money, he might have been given more opportunities. This seems to be the case here.

If he shows no considerable improvement by the end of the season, do we persist with him? What happens to Loftus-Cheek who has looked better in a worse team, do we sell him or send him back on loan to give our expensive buy more game time? Can he even be loaned out? I find it absurd that you pay £30m+ for any player and then send them out on loan because he isn’t ready. Or do we cut our losses and sell him?

If Bakayoko improves and stays I don't see why RLC cannot play in the same team. RLC wide and Baka centrally.

It all depends on how it shapes up, if Conte stays and if not, what the new guy thinks.

Edited January 8, 20188 yr by strider6004

10 hours ago, EmeraldBlue said:

Morata was essential after losing Costa. Is he as good? Only time will tell. He's got 12 goals and looks likely to hit 20 or thereabouts so I would say a very good investment. Costa wasn't staying so no point in comparing. Zappacosta has been above estimation in my opinion, considering that he was probably brought in as a squad player, as was Drinkwater most likely. We haven't seen enough of the latter to make a judgement. I admit that Bakayoko has had a difficult start but Costa keeps playing him, possibly to help him develop, which we all (?) hope he does. He got himself into good positions against Arsenal and Cech made one excellent save from his effort. I really don't know why all Chelsea players have to have Roy of the Rovers capabilities all the time for some fans!

1

And what about all the times he wasn't in his position at all and Ozil was free unmarked? What about when he gave the ball away from a very sloppy pass and that lead to the Wilshere goal? 

We need to stop praising him for the most simple things and look at the bigger picture. Yes, we've seen his runs forward they've been quite impressive, against United we saw it, but then he was also very very sloppy and did nothing with them. Also, I saw better from Ramires going forward in his first season, at least Ramires was also a good defensive engine. Like are we really hyping up quality that we already gave away to China because it wasn't needed? It's quite clear we didn't just need a replacement for Matic, we needed an upgrade. Instead, we haven't got either, it's clear as day where the Achilles heel is on this team. 

 

This was Ramires's goal in his first season, he was about the same age as Bakayoko and we didn't really know where to play him. But we all liked his runs forward, yet I think Ramires was far superior in that aspect. But what's troubling me is that I don't think Bakayoko is even an upgrade on Ramires, a guy who was considered dead wood for this team. 

15 hours ago, OverAndOut said:

Disliking Bakajoko = troll. 

I can see how you made that connection. Very intelligent reasoning and deduction. 

Disliking?  No.  Making up infantile names like a 12 year-old, Yes. 

Prick!

I'd ban him purely for wishing a season ending injury on a player. Disgusting person.

On 06/01/2018 at 23:39, OverAndOut said:

Hopefully he can stamp on someone and get banned for a hefty amount of time or get a season-ending injury in training where we can flog him off to the likes of Stoke for pennies. I'd pay any club just to take him off us. 

What an absolute joke of a bloke you are.... wishing injuries on any player, let alone one of ours is just disgraceful. You sir, are what is known as... a c**k womble!