12 minutes ago, Slojo said:

Tbf we've got plenty of players to offload to help balance the books I think.

I think that would be a complete waste of his abillities to be honest, he actually showed last game some glimpses of what we saw from him last season towards the end. He's excellent going forward. 

I dont doubt we have plenty of players we can sell, i'm more dubious if clubs have got the money or be willing to spend right now.

13 minutes ago, dkw said:

It would be a complete waste of RLC`s talent to play him there, and even though he sort of played that at youth he was much more of a box to box type player who didnt really play as a DM, or at least not the usual holding sitting deep type.

That maybe true, although you could use the same argument about kante who is naturally more of a box to box player than a sitting dm. 

I just wouldnt be suprised if it is at least tried at some point. 

4 minutes ago, big blue said:

That maybe true, although you could use the same argument about kante who is naturally more of a box to box player than a sitting dm. 

I just wouldnt be suprised if it is at least tried at some point. 

Yes we have had matches with Kante giving the ball away (twice) and Gilmour giving the ball away and Willian's last ball going astray most of the time.

We just don't have world class players these days though some may reach those levels.

World class players will still make mistakes, we seem to have this fascination that we are the only team that has it happen but it is because we put our own team under the magnifying glass more. 

Ross is guilty of making making the wrong decision in moments of play, but then he has gone on to provide the assist or score to correct that.

If Super Frank allows Barkley to wear #8 & starts him, then I will assume Super Frank likes Barkley. That is good enough for me. I believe Super Frank can get the best out of Barkley

Edited July 6, 20206 yr by robdog

Seems foolish to not upgrade on Barkley just because of a decent run of form. Within a year or 2 we almost certainly would be kicking ourselves for not signing Havertz.

Harvetz is a must.

Never Seen Someone Move So Slow, He's Basically Meant To Be A Box To Box Midfielder With How Our 3 Are Set Up, Yet He Can't Seem To Track Back Quickly

a completely unintelligent player, very frustrating and slow. When he gets fouled near the opponents area that's usually a relief 

At this point I'd rather see Conor Gallagher in the squad next season.

Edited August 8, 20205 yr by the special one

It's so painful to watch him at times.  He reminds me of a schoolboy on a playground - head down and runs forward, and when he eventually stops and looks around it takes so long to determine his options and pick one, which is normally the wrong one.  I'd rather Mount and RLC move back into his midfield spot next season and Ross be moved on to fund better players.

Edited August 9, 20205 yr by PhilH930

On 06/07/2020 at 16:29, robdog said:

If Super Frank allows Barkley to wear #8 & starts him, then I will assume Super Frank likes Barkley. That is good enough for me. I believe Super Frank can get the best out of Barkley

He's just not that good. It might be OK in a side like Everton to only put in a handful of good showings a season but here it won't be nearly good enough. 

A squad player at the very best, he shouldn't be starting games. 

I thought he played okay tonight. He still makes dumb calls but I'd say post restart he was probably our most improved player. Happy to keep him around the squad next season.

If it were a straight choice I would definitely keep Barkley over Jorginho. Offers so much more.

29 minutes ago, just said:

If it were a straight choice I would definitely keep Barkley over Jorginho. Offers so much more.

What do you mean by 'offers so much more', they are two different types of midfielders? IMO Barkley simply isn't good enough for Chelsea and he never was, not even in his prime.

Edited August 9, 20205 yr by wizardous

7 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

I thought he played okay tonight. He still makes dumb calls but I'd say post restart he was probably our most improved player. Happy to keep him around the squad next season.

Improved? In what sense? I've seen no improvement at all.

7 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

I thought he played okay tonight. He still makes dumb calls but I'd say post restart he was probably our most improved player. Happy to keep him around the squad next season.

Constantly underhit passes, pressed half heartedly.. almost gifted a goal to the opposition in the second half getting caught on the ball..

1 hour ago, just said:

If it were a straight choice I would definitely keep Barkley over Jorginho. Offers so much more.

Could it ever be a straight choice between 2 players so different positinally? 

Id sell both. Barkley is decent, but just isnt at the level required, and we have alot of promising players coming through in his position, so i dont even think he is needed as squad depth, might as well sell him to generate some funds. 

Jorginho is useful in some games, but as a squad we are very weak physically. I think we have to sacrifice some small technical players, for some that can compete physically, in order to get a better balance, and replacing Jorginho, with a big strong defensive midfielder seems like an easy solution, with players like Rice, Zakaria, and Partey available, and Jorginho will still bring in a decent fee. 

23 minutes ago, big blue said:

Could it ever be a straight choice between 2 players so different positinally? 

Id sell both. Barkley is decent, but just isnt at the level required, and we have alot of promising players coming through in his position, so i dont even think he is needed as squad depth, might as well sell him to generate some funds. 

Jorginho is useful in some games, but as a squad we are very weak physically. I think we have to sacrifice some small technical players, for some that can compete physically, in order to get a better balance, and replacing Jorginho, with a big strong defensive midfielder seems like an easy solution, with players like Rice, Zakaria, and Partey available, and Jorginho will still bring in a decent fee. 

I was just thinking to myself, if we don't have someone out on loan or coming up in the youth team that's as good or close to Barkley then that's very worrying. 

I was also thinking we should sell Barkley too but I don't see many takers or us getting much at all. In that sense it's probably better to just keep him in case we get desperate. 

Edited August 9, 20205 yr by Remodez

2 hours ago, Jangz said:

Constantly underhit passes, pressed half heartedly.. almost gifted a goal to the opposition in the second half getting caught on the ball..

 

2 hours ago, Remodez said:

Improved? In what sense? I've seen no improvement at all.

I see not everyone agrees! No one was good tonight so I'm not blaming him for too much.

For the few games we played 4-3-3 with Mount and Kante his movement was great, he contributed to goals and pressed well. He can also hold the ball back to goal which no one in the midfield can now Willian is leaving. I'm happy for him to stay Havertz or no Havertz.

Wondering why he took that free-kick and not Mount.

I mean Mount scored a beauty against Wolves. Surely he's in better form than Barkley at the moment. 

He drove forward with the ball well a few times yesterday but then messed up every final decision. I’m not sure if we will keep him or not but I’d lean towards selling him. If we get Havertz across the line, then he slots into the number 8 spot ahead of Barkley. And I think Barkley is blocking Anjorin.

6 hours ago, just said:

If it were a straight choice I would definitely keep Barkley over Jorginho. Offers so much more.

That's like saying I would keep Rudiger over Emerson, two completely different players. This is just a dig at Jorginho, I know he divides opinion on this forum, but Jorginho is a completely different player. Barkley can't play in that holding role or central role, he wants to take far too many touches whenever he plays from deep and loses the ball in dangerous territory. 

Barkley is at his best going forward with the ball and playing in an attacking position. If we get Havertz, Barkley should be the first one out the door, far too inconsistent. Mount, RLC (although injury prone) do a better job than him going forward, and Havertz definitey would. 

2 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

 

I see not everyone agrees! No one was good tonight so I'm not blaming him for too much.

For the few games we played 4-3-3 with Mount and Kante his movement was great, he contributed to goals and pressed well. He can also hold the ball back to goal which no one in the midfield can now Willian is leaving. I'm happy for him to stay Havertz or no Havertz.

Yeah but tbf, you wanted to bring Bakayoko back... 

And I don't recall these games you mentioned, he did score the goal against Leicester but he was also very wasteful that game and awful in the 2nd half. His best game of the season was against Everton. 

3 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

 

I see not everyone agrees! No one was good tonight so I'm not blaming him for too much.

For the few games we played 4-3-3 with Mount and Kante his movement was great, he contributed to goals and pressed well. He can also hold the ball back to goal which no one in the midfield can now Willian is leaving. I'm happy for him to stay Havertz or no Havertz.

That's not improvement. He's always had those strengths. The problem is he can't play well for more than a few weeks in a whole season. 

I agree at his best he's a very good squad player but until he can perform more consistently (at least do a Fabregas and perform well for the first 6 months of the season and tail off towards the end) I just see him as a waste of squad space.