On 10/02/2019 at 08:55, Munkworth said:

Really? I thought he was terrible against Huddersfield. There were lots of moans and groans, including people shouting ‘get him off’, around the stadium. 

He played for like 15 minutes? A bit harsh to say he was terrible. Yeah he gave the ball away a few times but he was trying to play it forward and go direct. For a young player he does have the right attitude. 

1 hour ago, Slojo said:

He played for like 15 minutes? A bit harsh to say he was terrible. Yeah he gave the ball away a few times but he was trying to play it forward and go direct. For a young player he does have the right attitude. 

He is referring to Willian.

1 hour ago, Slojo said:

He played for like 15 minutes? A bit harsh to say he was terrible. Yeah he gave the ball away a few times but he was trying to play it forward and go direct. For a young player he does have the right attitude. 

@STATS is correct, I meant Willian. 

17 minutes ago, Munkworth said:

@STATS is correct, I meant Willian. 

The first 10 minutes of that game encapsulated all that is wrong with Willian at Wing. He was dreadful. 

 

11 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

 

Been sent on a temporary vacation to contemplate his actions......to Coventry

If the boy isn't going to be given a start or even just decent minutes against a team that's not played a competitive match in two months then he never will. 

He'll get a token 5 or 10 minutes in the closing stages of random matches but right now I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't start a game between now and the end of the season. 

No doubt Bayern will be back in for him in the summer and he's probably going to still want out because we've done little to convince him he's likely to feature heavily for us. 

If Bayern are offering him the chance to replace Robben or Ribery why, as a young winger with bags of potential, wouldn't you want to take your chances? They're not going to drop £35m on him and give him 6 minute cameos they're going to throw him in at the deep end and ask him to compete for a starting spot. 

CHO has 2 starts in 7 games in the Europa league and that was after we qualified, 1 start out of 5 games in the league cup, 2 out of 2 in the FA Cup. Does anyone honestly think that's good enough? Maybe it is true Sarri doesn't use many players but I see it as a great opportunity missed to give a talented youngster plenty of game time, surely that's the reason he stayed rather than go out on loan? His gone now unless the manager is gone first.

I'm trying to kid myself that Sarri didn't give him too many minutes last night 'cos he's going to start the Man Utd game on Monday.

Chances are that won't happen and to be honest I'm already resigned to us losing him in the Summer. I know no club can be held to ransom by an 18 year old but there has to be a bit of give & take and right now we are handling this exactly as we have handled promising youngsters in the past - terribly.

 

Taken from The Guardian in their preview of the FA Cup fixtures:

"Since ending a transfer window in which Callum Hudson-Odoi’s pursuit by Bayern Munich was one of the longest-running and most intriguing stories by insisting the player is “the future of our club … the future of English football”, Maurizio Sarri has been almost comically reluctant to let him actually play. He was not in the squad to face Bournemouth because “one winger had to be in the stands”, played 13 minutes against Huddersfield and was back out of the squad for the visit to Manchester City, before getting another six minutes of action at Malmö. But he has played every minute of Chelsea’s FA Cup run, claiming two assists against Nottingham Forest and a goal against Sheffield Wednesday. The last thing Sarri needs, having guided his team to an aggregate scoreline of 0-13 in their last four domestic away games, is to invite further criticism by wilfully and unnecessarily ignoring a popular youth-team product. But Manchester United are a very different prospect to Chelsea’s last two Cup opponents, so it will be interesting to see whether Hudson-Odoi starts again and if not, how Sarri explains it." 

37 minutes ago, Nibs said:

we are handling this exactly as we have handled promising youngsters in the past - terribly.

 

Yup... I don't want to read a single word about "loyalty" when he turns in his transfer request this summer. 

As much I would like to see him play, I don't believe he's gonna be a game changer for us. Right now that's what we need. That and also being more clinical and decisive when we get chances.

There's other youngsters I would like to see too, but the club's track record with youth is atrocious considering the success of our academy. There is no surprise other coaches have been reluctant to play youth.

The coaches know at this club it's always short term focused. Until the club change their strategy for youth, we can expect much of the same from the following coaches. 

I was surprised he didn't start last night, If you can't get a start agains't bloody Malmo it doesn't look great. In the final third, apart from Hazard we are so stale and predictable. We need some energy and something different right now, something that's going to get the fans energised and behind the team too. I like Sarri but his substitutions and the lack of use of Ampadu and Odoi hasn't been great so far.

Edited February 15, 20197 yr by jack_super_class

He starts against manUnited, surely? 

50 minutes ago, enigma said:

As much I would like to see him play, I don't believe he's gonna be a game changer for us. Right now that's what we need. That and also being more clinical and decisive when we get chances.

There's other youngsters I would like to see too, but the club's track record with youth is atrocious considering the success of our academy. There is no surprise other coaches have been reluctant to play youth.

The coaches know at this club it's always short term focused. Until the club change their strategy for youth, we can expect much of the same from the following coaches. 

We are all on the same side in regards the youth to be integrated. I have also mentioned exactly what you are pointing out. Coaches/managers at Chelsea will not take the risk on youth when they know after 6 months that fans, media and the board will be llooking to sack them if they do not get the results.

Well the transfer window wasn't just about Odoi, as some of these pundits or Kinsella would suggest.

The situation is obvious, Hazard went from a winger to a false nine, back to a winger with Higuain.  When he was a false 9 and RLC was hurt, Odoi was the #3 winger. Right now he's 4 or 5 depending where you see RLC getting minutes.   I personally would rather see CHO as #2... but that's a hard argument to make for a team fighting for top 4.  It's  hard for the fans to have it both ways to, show no patience towards building yet insist on Odoi in the lineup.

1 hour ago, Nevamind said:

He starts against manUnited, surely? 

It will be Willan or Pedro. My bet is on Willian because he didn't perform quite as sh*t as Pedro did last night. 

This is how it goes now, Willian plays poor, Pedro comes in, Pedro plays poor, Willian comes in. 

3 hours ago, Nibs said:

I'm trying to kid myself that Sarri didn't give him too many minutes last night 'cos he's going to start the Man Utd game on Monday.

Chances are that won't happen and to be honest I'm already resigned to us losing him in the Summer. I know no club can be held to ransom by an 18 year old but there has to be a bit of give & take and right now we are handling this exactly as we have handled promising youngsters in the past - terribly.

 

Oh I was naive enough to think he was rested against Bournemouth so he could start against Huddersfield......oh my..... I feel like I'm Charlie Brown, Sarri is Lucy, and CHO starting a game is the football......

 

 

I honestly despair when I see Willian AND Pedro starting in the same team.

Really hope we see the back of them next season but with CHO and Eden's future uncertain, I doubt we'll be getting rid of both.

Edited February 15, 20197 yr by JMaher94
Spelling mistake

1 hour ago, Scott Harris said:

It will be Willan or Pedro. My bet is on Willian because he didn't perform quite as sh*t as Pedro did last night. 

This is how it goes now, Willian plays poor, Pedro comes in, Pedro plays poor, Willian comes in. 

Sssshhhhh don’t knock willian,as crap as he is he has his fanboys on here. 

4 hours ago, enigma said:

As much I would like to see him play, I don't believe he's gonna be a game changer for us. Right now that's what we need. That and also being more clinical and decisive when we get chances.

There's other youngsters I would like to see too, but the club's track record with youth is atrocious considering the success of our academy. There is no surprise other coaches have been reluctant to play youth.

The coaches know at this club it's always short term focused. Until the club change their strategy for youth, we can expect much of the same from the following coaches. 

And who's a game changer? Willian and Pedro? They've been nothing but unreliable this season and just not good enough. 

Like I've said time and time again, there's not even a risk factor with playing CHO at the moment, because even if he's playing very averagely he'll be doing just as much as they are. However, at least we get the benefit of giving a young player some experience and seeing how he can develop, what do we get by playing two 30 odd year old wingers who consistently underperform? 

Edited February 15, 20197 yr by Slojo

58 minutes ago, Kev56 said:

Sssshhhhh don’t knock willian,as crap as he is he has his fanboys on here. 

like a lot of brazilians...........,nothing down the sides, a little in the middle...

sorry... get my coat......

2 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

It will be Willan or Pedro. My bet is on Willian because he didn't perform quite as sh*t as Pedro did last night. 

This is how it goes now, Willian plays poor, Pedro comes in, Pedro plays poor, Willian comes in. 

Yep and Willian got subbed earlier than Pedro so its looking more likely Willian will start.

Edited February 15, 20197 yr by jack_super_class

57 minutes ago, Slojo said:

And who's a game changer? Willian and Pedro? They've been nothing but unreliable this season and just not good enough. 

Like I've said time and time again, there's not even a risk factor with playing CHO at the moment, because even if he's playing very averagely he'll be doing just as much as they are. However, at least we get the benefit of giving a young player some experience and seeing how he can develop, what do we get by playing two 30 odd year old wingers who consistently underperform? 

The club shouldn't be handing these older players long term contracts, that's the problem. What sign does that send to young players? When Alonso is handed a 5 year contract until 2023, it doesn't make sense. Azpilicueta, as much as he's been a good player for us, was given a new contract until 2022 despite being 29. Pedro was handed a new one year extenstion until 2020 despite being 31. The club now is facing the prospect of a transfer ban due to violations for signing players who are underage, even though the irony is we never even use young players lol. I just don't understand the club at times.

The decisions that get made make me shake my head in disbelief at times. At the moment there are other clubs who are much better run. Everything starts from the top, but we don't have proper football people at the top and that's the problem. The first step in a positive direction would be to hire a DOF asap and then having a long term plan which isn't a hire and fire strategy. 

On ‎15‎/‎02‎/‎2019 at 12:08, RIP Mourinho said:

 

This is  the exact reason he won't sign a contract. I pointed it out before. If he signs a contract, it will be back to square one and sometimes not even getting in the squad. It is really surprising. I am not expecting him to come in the team and perform miracles but he offers something different. Sarri cannot state he sees him on same level as Willian and Pedro but not start him against bloody Malmo. It is has got to a point now that even though from Monday, we will have 3 games within the space of 6 days, he prob will not start one. Sarri will see it is a risk to start him against Malmo because of that late goal they got.