5 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

Nice post Sheva. Two guys called Fekir and Ndombele playing for Lyon against us midweek  who could help with our issues. 

 

http://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2018/chelsea-are-accelerating-for-nabil-fekir/

Maybe.....

2 hours ago, Ilya said:

I have a feeling that people are projecting their own ideas of what good football is onto this mysterious "Sarriball".

I for, instance, think that the crucial part of Sarriball is having a big striker who can head the crosses in. 

judging by pre-season so far; it's quick, one/two touch short passing football in deeper areas to invite the oppo on to you, and fast breakaways when they over-commit. it's just a "hype" name for his tactics though. there isn't really a "definition". i'm sure he's more flexible than having one thing he demands and everything else is banned. most successful managers are pragmatic and play to the strengths of the players at their disposal (to greater and lesser degrees). 

On 06/08/2018 at 10:12, Sheva said:

I am generally happy with the squad we have now. Of course wanting more signings is understandable and I really don't think the board have helped Sarri that much apart from Jorginho. We should of employed him earlier and not messed around with that whole situation with Conte. My worry is that he won't be given time and the board will expect instant success with him. Top 4 will be the toughest it's ever been this season and the EL is not an easy feat, If the board are not patient with him after failing to back him in the transfer window then the board need to look at themselves a little.

As much as Willian frustrates me sometimes, I don't think we can let him leave. There's not a lot of replacements out there that are attainable for us with so little time left in the window.

This is my predicted line up if Courtois leaves which I think is looking likely.

Kasper

Azpi/Moses   Rudiger   Christensen/Luiz   Emerson/Alonso

Jorginho/Drinkwater

Kante/Bakayoko              Fab/RLC/Barkley

Willian/Pedro/Moses        Batshuayi/Morata/Giroud     Hazard/Odoi

 

That's a pretty decent squad on paper and our first 11 could rival anyone but as soon as injuries creep in then we are looking quite vulnerable. Kante worries me, yesterday we didn't have any energy in that midfield. He's such a big difference to have in any team and he's a bigger miss for us than Hazard. Once again though, if one of the best GKs in the world leaves us. Are we weaker or strong than last season?

In terms of signings over the next couple of days I am not expecting much apart from a Goalkeeper. Kasper seems the obvious choice as Leicester have a replacement already brought in. Anyone else would be a bonus, but they would have to be of certain quality. There's not point stockpiling players like Zappacosta and Drinkwater. That's nearly 60m on 2 players that won't feature that much this season.  Martial would be a big signing but we would need him to play through the middle and that would mean one of Michy/Giroud would leave. So who knows what will happen over the next couple of days.

 

-

What a difference a day makes.

So after the news I guess it will be something more like this.

Kepa

Azpi/Moses   Rudiger/Cahill   Christensen/Luiz   Emerson/Alonso

Jorginho/Drinkwater

Kante/Kovacic            Fab/RLC/Barkley

Willian/Pedro/Moses        Batshuayi/Morata/Giroud     Hazard/Odoi

 

I am sure there will be outgoings and I guess Bakayoko will be the first on his way. I don't expect us to sign anymore players unless Willian leaves but I think that ship has sailed. We look stronger in midfield with Kovacic and hopefully he will have a point to prove. Hopefully patience is shown with Kepa, De Gea wasen't seen the same way as he is now when he first arrived in England.

My only worry is goals and i'm sure the same thought is shared amongst others. I'd like to show faith in Morata but I fear he's going to show much of the same as last season, Giroud is a useful player but he's not going to be that out and out goal scorer we need. Then there's Michy, I think he has to be given a chance. He got given it at Dortmund and he produced the goods. If he gets sent on loan then we must bring in someone because I don't think Morata or Tammy will be up to the task. Then again, is there anyone who can we can bring in? That guy may of just signed for Milan.

Edited August 8, 20187 yr by Sheva

Midfield is now great with Kovacic coming in. 
Still lacking lots in defence and as far as i'm concerned we have one attacker that's good enough in Hazard. Which is also a big problem obviously.

Really, really hope we can get Fekir in. We don't have a single player in the squad you could trust getting 15 league goals even and that is a huge problem.

As it stands...

Kepa

Azpilicueta Rudiger Luiz Alonso

Kante Jorginho Kovacic

Willian Morata Hazard

Not too bad. Fekir would make the attack look much more dangerous.

I'm pretty happy with how things stand with the addition of Kepa and Kovacic. 

There's still time in for more drama though, so maybe their is still a twist regarding fekir and/or martial. 

                                Kepa

Azpiliucueta Rudiger Christiensen Emerson

                  Kante Jorginho Kovacic

             Fekir         Martial         Hazard

That would be a team I think could challenge for title. 

OUT: Courtois, Zouma (loan Everton), Bakayoko (loan AC Milan). 

IN: Kepa, Kovacic (on loan), Jorginho. 

"New players": Luiz, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Loftus-Cheek.

Not bad. 

8 minutes ago, evissy said:

OUT: Courtois, Zouma (loan Everton), Bakayoko (loan AC Milan). 

IN: Kepa, Kovacic (on loan), Jorginho. 

"New players": Luiz, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Loftus-Cheek.

Not bad. 

Barkley?

9 hours ago, Sheva said:

What a difference a day makes.

So after the news I guess it will be something more like this.

Kepa

Azpi/Moses   Rudiger/Cahill   Christensen/Luiz   Emerson/Alonso

Jorginho/Drinkwater

Kante/Kovacic            Fab/RLC/Barkley

Willian/Pedro/Moses        Batshuayi/Morata/Giroud     Hazard/Odoi

 

Methinks you have forgotten about young Ampadu ... :-)

I just watched this video - do you peeps think CFC's Midfield is all that & a bag of chips?

 

Our midfield alone on paper is 100% top 4 quality which is where we want to be.

The rest well...we'll see, a big key will be Sarri this season obviously, if he makes the team work well our holes in defense will maybe not be so exposed and our attacking might just be good enough for a top 4 finish even if on paper other than Hazard we don't have much consistency...
 

I really don't see Drinkwater staying, the case would be the same for Zappacosta but since he's Italian maybe Sarri keeps him.

This is somewhat our lineup if Sarri keeps the 4-3-3 

 

Maybe Sarri can also try a 4-2-3-1 formation where Kante and Jorginho are the defensive midfielders and Kovacic/Barkley being the offensive option in the middle.

There are talks DD, Bakayoko, Batshuayi and Zouma leaving. All probably on loan. 

 

Just a few thoughts ....

did we really turn down £55m for Willian? Not a bad fee for a player who always nearly there ...

Is Pedro really still with us? Per ... leaaase!

Why is Courtois only worth £35m? Is he half as good as Kepa?

Does no one want DD? No surprise there!

Some one actually wants Babayoko ... now that’s more of a surprise!

Isn’t there a really good Brazilian/Spanish goal scorer at Atletico? Seriously, we’re desperate for a goal scorer and will continue to suffer without one  Giroud is a decent player but he won’t get us goals, I’m afraid  

Here’s to a great season ....

 

 

 

Just now, OnePeterOsgood said:

Just a few thoughts ....

did we really turn down £55m for Willian? Not a bad fee for a player who always nearly there ...

Is Pedro really still with us? Per ... leaaase!

Why is Courtois only worth £35m? Is he half as good as Kepa? 

Does no one want DD? No surprise there!

Some one actually wants Babayoko ... now that’s more of a surprise!

Isn’t there a really good Brazilian/Spanish goal scorer at Atletico? Seriously, we’re desperate for a goal scorer and will continue to suffer without one  Giroud is a decent player but he won’t get us goals, I’m afraid  

Here’s to a great season ....

 

 

 

Keep seeing a lot of people, mainly rival fans, say we 'only got £35m' for Courtois. The bloke has 1 year left on his contract, were we really expecting anything more? Obviously someone with a contract until 2025 is going to cost more than someone who would be free to sign a contract in 6 months time for nothing.

4 minutes ago, OnePeterOsgood said:

 

did we really turn down £55m for Willian?

 

 

Did we really spend £120m on Baka and Morata ?

If Bakayoko is worth 60m, Willian with 3yrs left must be worth 80m minimum.

18 minutes ago, coco said:

Did we really spend £120m on Baka and Morata ?

If Bakayoko is worth 60m, Willian with 3yrs left must be worth 80m minimum.

He Isn't!!

Like the look of the squad think we look very strong over the majority of the pitch, it now looks very balanced and we have suitable backup in every position.

There are still question marks over the striker position but I was an advocate of giving Morata another chance so here's hoping he comes good and whilst Alonso is a brilliant technician and seems very astute mentally, however his lack of pace can sometimes be exposed and may be exposed more with a high line.

We currently have two very good teams which given Sarri's history might stay quite separate throughout the season. 

League team:
                    Kepa
Azpi - Rudiger - Luiz - Alonso
                 Jorginho
            Kante - Kovacic
    Pedro - Morata - Hazard


Cup team:
                          Willy
Zappa - Christensen - Ampadu - Emerson
                     Fabregas
          Loftus-Cheek - Barkley
      Willian - Abraham - Hudson-Odoi

Giroud as a plan B, Moses as a versatile backup, Azpi covers CB and LB, Ampadu/Luiz/Christensen cover midfield

It does mean there are probably a few players that need to move out of the door; Cahill, Drinkwater, Bats, Bakayoko, Zouma and countless others from the loan army but easily good enough for top 4 

Kepa

Azpi-Christensen-Rudiger-Alonso

Kante-Jorg-Kovacic

Willian-Morata-Hazard

 

Crazy to think that our attack is the weakest out of all the positions. We finally also have good cover for most the positions there. 

CB's - Cahill, Luiz, Zouma?

LB - Emerson

RB - Moses, Zappacosta

MF - Barkley, Drinkwater, Bakayoko, Cesc

 

If we can just bring in a quality striker/attacker like Fekir or Martial then we'll be a lot more dangerous

Alonso being part of a high-line four man defence is the worst idea in the world.
I am entirely convinced that just that will ruin us if that's the plan.

Shame we are not doing anything about our striker situation either. Or RW.

Still lacking lots unfortunatly for me. Was hoping for some late miracle in terms of getting Fekir or Martial in but it's not happening.

Edited August 9, 20187 yr by Sindre

Yeah, the attack is still looking fairly weak. Hazard being the only lethal attacker, Pedro and Willian should be squad players rather than starters. Fingers crossed we can get one more signing wrapped up!

On Morata, it looks like we are going to give him another season so a hybrid winger/striker would be perfect. Martial comes to mind, not sure if Fekir can play as a striker.

4 hours ago, coco said:

Did we really spend £120m on Baka and Morata ?

If Bakayoko is worth 60m, Willian with 3yrs left must be worth 80m minimum.

I didn't think you could get Lira anymore

Squad as it stands:

That's 28 players, not including Baka, which is way too big. A very bloated wage bill. But the homegrown details for squad registration as it stands are:

Club Home Grown for EL: 3 - Christensen, Loftus-Cheek, Abraham

Association Homegrown for EL: 6 - Green, Cahill, Fabregas, Barkley, Drinkwater, Moses.

U21/List B: Ampadu, Hudson Odoi.

Non-Homegrown (Max of 17): 17 - Kepa, Caballero, Dave, Zappacosta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso, Emerson, Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic, Willian, Hazard, Pedro, Morata, Batshuayi, Giroud. 

We have a lot of English players it turna out. Shame not many are that good. I couldn't see Drinkwater, Cahill or Moses playing much of a role in the new system. But none of those can now realistically leave on loan given their wages and that the British window is closed.

8 minutes ago, Spiller86 said:

Squad as it stands:

That's 28 players, not including Baka, which is way too big. A very bloated wage bill. But the homegrown details for squad registration as it stands are:

Club Home Grown for EL: 3 - Christensen, Loftus-Cheek, Abraham

Association Homegrown for EL: 6 - Green, Cahill, Fabregas, Barkley, Drinkwater, Moses.

U21/List B: Ampadu, Hudson Odoi.

Non-Homegrown (Max of 17): 17 - Kepa, Caballero, Dave, Zappacosta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso, Emerson, Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic, Willian, Hazard, Pedro, Morata, Batshuayi, Giroud. 

We have a lot of English players it turna out. Shame not many are that good. I couldn't see Drinkwater, Cahill or Moses playing much of a role in the new system. But none of those can now realistically leave on loan given their wages and that the British window is closed.

There is nothing wrong with having a large squad and having depth at every position. Obviously not everyone is seeing the pitch every game unless your name except Eden and N'Golo. Chelsea was spread so thin for several years and didn't have depth. Look at City in the Comm Shield. Squad depth and competition at every position only makes the squad stronger as a whole. Now they could afford to lose 1-2 players but not more than that, IMHO. 

Obviously I have some players in multiple spots since they can cover multiple spots. Hazard can obviously play all three up front positions but I didn't have the room to really get that in depth. Now, Bakayoko might be out of the team by the end of the window, and it doesn't include Drinkwater either, who could provide added midfield depth and is homegrown. No Tammy in there as well and that might change as Bats looks to be going out on loan (I disagree with). The first player listed would be my starter. 

Who will make the 25 man squad?

My guess is

Goalkeepers = Kepa, Caballero, Green = 1 home grown, 2 non home grown.

Defenders = Azpilicueta, Alonso, Emerson, Cahill, Christensen, Luiz, Rudiger, Moses, Zappacosta = 3 home grown, 6 non home grown.

Midfielders = Jorginho, Kante, Drinkwater, Fabregas, Loftus-Cheek, Kovacic, Barkley = 4 home grown, 3 non home grown.

Wingers = Hazard, Pedro, Willian = 3 non home grown.

Strikers = Morata, Giroud = 2 non home grown.

Abraham, Hudson Odoi and Ampadu are under 21, so they don't need to be registered.

 

I worry about Batshuayi, i think he will be sold or loaned out again. It worries me more because this squad seriously lacks goals, and he has a goalscoring touch in his game. If Abraham had left, he may have stayed, but i think Abraham will take the back up role behind Morata and Giroud.

I'm surprised Drinkwater is sticking around, i thought he would have been sold or loaned out to another Premier League team. Just like last season though, i can't see him getting many minutes on the field. I also think it's highly unlikely that any foreign club will be interested in him.

Bakayoko will be loaned out in the next few days, i am sure of it. Musonda and Aina will also be loaned out too.

 

My main concern is goals. It looks heavily reliant on the wingers and strikers, but Hazard is the only one i am confident about. It feels like a similar approach to what Liverpool have, let the midfielders play the passes, and the wingers and strikers score. The problem is that their wingers and strikers have a better eye for goal than ours do, so i'm not so confident that it will work out. Willian and Morata really have to step up and produce the goals this season, if they don't, then it's going to be a struggle for top 4.

Edited August 10, 20187 yr by Scott Harris