On 29/04/2019 at 00:30, just said:

Jack, you are trying super, super hard. I admire that. He has a lovely face. But when you add it all up, minus 2, and move the decimal point, what does Kovacic bring to the party? sh*t beer and crap music.

Excuse me, did you just neglect the part out that Kovacic is good looking? Like really good looking? If you're going to criticise him do it properly, don't just leave out the fact that he's devilishly handsome. 

9 hours ago, Argo said:

Bit extreme 

Possibly... but not excessively.
When a player who is blatantly not as good as the man he keeps out because the manager needs/wants to save face i find it hard to be super objective... Same applies indecently to the Higiaun/Giroud situation. 

I know it'd be a hard change at this point in his career... but I'd be curious to see him as a right back.  He's got plenty of pace to burn, great skills, and a great work ethic.  

FWIW: 

Name Speed
1. Nacho 34,62 km/h
2. Mateo Kovacic 34,59 km/h
3. Álvaro Morata 34,33 km/h
4. Gareth Bale 34,3 km/h
5. Dani Carvajal 34,1 km/h
6. Raphael Varane 34,04 km/h
7. Mariano 33,84 km/h
8. Danilo 33,69 km/h
9. Cristiano Ronaldo 33,6 km/h
10. Marcelo 33,38 km/h

2 hours ago, chelseablueboy said:

Possibly... but not excessively.
When a player who is blatantly not as good as the man he keeps out because the manager needs/wants to save face i find it hard to be super objective... Same applies indecently to the Higiaun/Giroud situation. 

So you think he's worse than say Bakayoko? Don't be silly. 

On 30/04/2019 at 21:08, Slojo said:

So you think he's worse than say Bakayoko? Don't be silly. 

Who said Bakayoko ??? If you are going to 'quote me' get it right !!
He keeps out RLC and Barkley, both of which offer more than he does in ALL departments.
Your loyalty to him is admirable but I (along with most) want him gone ASAP, he just isnt good enough, simples.

Kovacic as the driving force in the midfield = we are slow & sh*te...
RLC comes on..... Say no more !!

Edited May 5, 20197 yr by chelseablueboy
error

7 hours ago, chelseablueboy said:

Who said Bakayoko ??? If you are going to 'quote me' get it right !!
He keeps out RLC and Barkley, both of which offer more than he does in ALL departments.
Your loyalty to him is admirable but I (along with most) want him gone ASAP, he just isnt good enough, simples.

He's nowhere near one of the worst to ever play for us and you know it. 

2 hours ago, Slojo said:

He's nowhere near one of the worst to ever play for us and you know it. 

He’s not even one of our worst out of the past couple years of signings, let alone ever.  Not sure how this guy can think so.

Zappacosta, Drinkwater, and Bakayoko are all easily worse players for us, and that’s just off the top of my head.

Quite reasonable that you instantly brought up Bakayoko, if you ask me.

Whatever....... will be very disappointed if he is still here next season. He has had lots of pitch time since he arrived and I can't recall one single thing he has done which stands out. 

1 minute ago, just said:

Whatever....... will be very disappointed if he is still here next season. He has had lots of pitch time since he arrived and I can't recall one single thing he has done which stands out. 

You just know we are going to buy him for like 50m though right?  Barring the transfer ban.  I was a believer earlier in the season, but although we brought in worse players, we should pass on this one.

Danny Drinkwater is safely the worst transfer in the last 10 years. 

2 hours ago, mwblue10 said:

He’s not even one of our worst out of the past couple years of signings, let alone ever.  Not sure how this guy can think so.

Zappacosta, Drinkwater, and Bakayoko are all easily worse players for us, and that’s just off the top of my head.

Quite reasonable that you instantly brought up Bakayoko, if you ask me.

Exactly, Bakayoko is one of the worst players I've ever seen in a Chelsea shirt. 

But bear in mind that my earliest memories of watching Chelsea are 2002-2003 and I can vaguely remember having the likes of Kezman and Boulahrouz, and I most certainly can't remember Sutton or Bogarde fortunately for me. Bakayoko was the most standout, not only was he 40 million, he was absolutely atrocious, he looked like a League 2 player, I've not seen a player play so badly in the shirt consistently like he did, he looked severely out of his depth. 

There's being a flop, then looking like you don't even know how to play football. 

1 hour ago, Hazard STAY said:

Danny Drinkwater is safely the worst transfer in the last 10 years. 

Probably, but Drinkwater imo put in better performances than Bakayoko, Drinkwater just never plays, why I don't know because he wasn't THAT bad, even though he's definitely not Chelsea material. 

80 million for both of them was just ridiculous. I remember laughing at Liverpool for spending 75 million on Henderson, Carroll and Downing, at least they got 3 players and a player who still plays for them, we spent more on two mediocre players. 

12 hours ago, chelseablueboy said:

Who said Bakayoko ??? If you are going to 'quote me' get it right !!
He keeps out RLC and Barkley, both of which offer more than he does in ALL departments.
Your loyalty to him is admirable but I (along with most) want him gone ASAP, he just isnt good enough, simples.

I'll give you RLC... but Barkley...ugg, Barkley only does one thing better and that hit's all ball, his footwork is slow and his hips are tight.

5 hours ago, Slojo said:

He's nowhere near one of the worst to ever play for us and you know it. 

Not ever but he is such a pointless player, every game he plays he literally does nothing. 

41 minutes ago, Slojo said:

Exactly, Bakayoko is one of the worst players I've ever seen in a Chelsea shirt

I'd still say Drinkwater has been a worse transfer. We should get full refunds on Morata and Bakayoko. 

Drinkwater was just basically flushing €30M down the toilet. 

Nothing against Danny, but he cost a ton, contributed nothing, and is going to be moved on for a fraction of what he cost. 

Just terrible business. 

 

 

32 minutes ago, Skinnedy said:

I'd still say Drinkwater has been a worse transfer. We should get full refunds on Morata and Bakayoko. 

Drinkwater was just basically flushing €30M down the toilet. 

Nothing against Danny, but he cost a ton, contributed nothing, and is going to be moved on for a fraction of what he cost. 

Just terrible business. 

 

 

Was mostly talking about ability, I think with DD, he was relied upon in the big games but strangely didn't play any others and he wasn't that bad quite honestly, he just never played, whereas Bakayoko was really really really bad. 

2 minutes ago, Slojo said:

Was mostly talking about ability

Yup. Player wise, Bakayoko was poor. 

When I talk about the transfer itself, I think about the cost involved, because when that is lost, there's no recouping it. Drinkwater was a much worse piece of business than Bakayoko and Morata, while all three were disappointments on the pitch. 

 

 

10 hours ago, Skinnedy said:

I'd still say Drinkwater has been a worse transfer. We should get full refunds on Morata and Bakayoko. 

Drinkwater was just basically flushing €30M down the toilet. 

Nothing against Danny, but he cost a ton, contributed nothing, and is going to be moved on for a fraction of what he cost. 

Just terrible business. 

 

 

You are missing the context a little bit though.

I remember at the time of signing we were mindful of keeping a quota of english players in the squad, and bringing Kante's partner here from his title winning team wasn't the worst idea.

Lack of opportunities, which may have been political with the last manager, whcih may well have then resulted in a loss of form and a downward spiral. It happens constantly.

It doesn't look good now, but he was a tidy player and at the time had more about him that Barkley for instance.

 

33 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

You are missing the context a little bit though.

I remember at the time of signing we were mindful of keeping a quota of english players in the squad, and bringing Kante's partner here from his title winning team wasn't the worst idea.

Lack of opportunities, which may have been political with the last manager, whcih may well have then resulted in a loss of form and a downward spiral. It happens constantly.

It doesn't look good now, but he was a tidy player and at the time had more about him that Barkley for instance.

 

TBF to Drinkwater, things might have turned out differently had he been used more against inferior opponents rather than Top 6 opponents, and if he hadn't been injured to start off with.

We definitely overpaid for him, but I agree that at the time there was a certain logic to his transfer. 

38 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

you are missing the context a little bit though.

Nah... I'm grading the result, not the intention.

The result made him arguably the worst transfer of the last few seasons. Little production, and lost equity in an asset. Those are two very bad things if I'm a Director of Football.

The intention though... overspent on a player who was going to be cover for Kante and Bakayoko.... meanwhile letting Chalobah go for peanuts, who also fit the English quota. He had one season left on his contract, but for £7M and one fit CM to start that season, that was one of the DUMBEST pieces of transfer business. 

So at the time, it didn't make sense to me to swap Chalobah and £30M for Drinkwater (not even talking wages here)

Time passing has only made it worse.

If he had the same price tag as Barkley, I wouldn't call Drinkwater the worst piece of transfer business. Barkley was young and cheap. 

Edited May 6, 20197 yr by Skinnedy

A game like yesterday, really bothered me why Kovacic started when with Jorginho and Kante. It's not like he's going to add anything in the attacking third, at best it gives Kante more freedom to go forward ( whom doesn't enjoy it anyway). The Kante injury was a blessing in disguise on the day, the usual sub is RLC for Kovacic after 60th minute, and it's too late. I still don't see how Kovacic fits in the team, at least not the starting 11.

3 hours ago, icecoolguy22 said:

A game like yesterday, really bothered me why Kovacic started when with Jorginho and Kante. It's not like he's going to add anything in the attacking third, at best it gives Kante more freedom to go forward ( whom doesn't enjoy it anyway). The Kante injury was a blessing in disguise on the day, the usual sub is RLC for Kovacic after 60th minute, and it's too late. I still don't see how Kovacic fits in the team, at least not the starting 11.

He should be a back up for Kante. Every other position he’s dreadful. 

40 minutes ago, Munkworth said:

He should be a back up for Kante. Every other position he’s dreadful. 

disagree - Mateo can play as a regista & he has slick movements when he carries the ball forward - IMHO his only problem is that he doesn't shoot when he has the opportunity

47 minutes ago, robdog said:

disagree - Mateo can play as a regista & he has slick movements when he carries the ball forward - IMHO his only problem is that he doesn't shoot when he has the opportunity

He doesn’t have the positional awareness to play there for me. The difference between him & Jorginho playing there are night and day.