to be fair, those stats are pretty dumb. Through balls themselves don't mean anything (not to mention the fact i've seen a couple of throughballs from bakayoko) but it means cesc has played a lot of through balls that either weren't decent or lost the ball (seeing as he created 9). Likewise, bakayoko is abysmal on the ball which everyone knows so why would you compare his weakest skill to fabregas strongest skill. Right now, both don't deserve a place in the team. We should be playing Willian there but since all managers are blind to this we should go with either Luiz, Drinkwater or Barkley. As for an uncreative centre mind, that is exactly what we had last season in Matic and Kante so nobody says we need a creative centre mid (fabregas did make a massive difference last year though).
Interesting call for Willian to play alongside Kante. I'd be 100% behind that move if Willian was 40cms taller and 30kgs heavier!! Even so, against the right opposition, definately worth a try. Fabregas was and still is really good if we play Kante + a defensive mid + Fabregas. Trouble is that stuffs up our best formation. Dilemma for 3 seasons now. Pogba or Yaya (5 years ago) is what we need.
You don't need tall strong CMS all the time. It's a nice to have but Xavi and iniesta ruled the roost because they were quick and intercepted it. Hell even Kante isn't a powerhouse but he's so quick and has so much energy. Willian has that same quickness and has the legs that fab doesnt. Willian can also turn and go past people that kante (first touch and awareness of space) and fab can't (speed or strength) Just look at that current city mid. Fernandino who's top class is their best DM and he's not a beast physically but has that aggression and awareness. It does mean we need to keep the ball better though but that's the kind of football we should be progressing to
Giving the ball away cheaply has been our problem all year. I often wonder why we **** about with the ball near our own box which usually results in someone giving it away or the keeper ****ing it up.
Willian has energy and dynamism but releases the ball too late and inaccurately. Great player though. Does that disqualify him from CM
Agree 100% about releasing it too late. As for inaccurately it is hit and miss but a lot of it is running at speed and through balls so I will forgive that. For me Pedro needs to play in that front 3 and willian is better than any of the CMS we have bar kante
I could see that! We had Oscar playing in that role for a while and he was, what, 5 foot 9? and wasnt a powerhouse either. I think it could work.
Yeah what I like about Pedro is that unlike the others he actually makes runs off the ball and in behind the defence which none of the others do properly. Whilst he loses the ball a lot on occasions and sometimes lacks in consistency, he's a trier and he moves the ball quickly with give and gos whilst the likes of hazard and willian like to hog it and rarely plays stuff through first time (unless it's his standard fancy flick into zero danger)
Seems like we all agree with you about Willian in mid field one way or another. Pity it's not early season so we could give it a proper go, but at the extremely sharp end now, it would take a miracle for Conte to take a chance like that. Makes the Spurs game more and more interesting. Looks as if Luiz might well be fit to play ,but will Conte do it, and where would he play him? Midfield for me would be sensible, it might give Christensen a little more breathing space than Fabregas in midfield would.This is shaping up to be a really decisive game for Conte, the Club and the future of several players.
Or you kidding me CP???? Tony had Will available early season but Tony just followed Judas by playing Cescy. Beyond me how anyone can even think Tony has any future with CFC. Tony's position is untenable and sooner he goes better for all.
Stan, You have a toxic view on how things actually work at a Football Club. Nothing is simple, yet you constantly throw out ,"drop Cesc, 3 points" etc which is absolute garbage. Nothing is black or white either, everything is grey. Conte is , in my opinion, the best manager we have had since Roman. Better than Jose, definately. Jose only wins with a ready made team or an expensively bought one. But, nothing with Conte is easy, he comes with loads of baggage, he's demanding, petulant, vindictive and childish. But when he wants to, he can get mediocre players to play better and create a team spirit and effort we have not seen before. RA is a "Star ****er", he loves big names and being associated with big names. Just like he loves big boats, big houses, and constantly changes his girlfriends/wives. It makes him feel important. His football modus operandi, spend and fire, has now passed its use by date and doesn't work anymore. The absolute best thing for a successful future is for RA and Conte to talk, plan and agree and stick to the sensible plan , sell all the mediocre dross we bought, bring in who we need, and accept it will be 3 years until we are strong, resilient, and ready to fight anyone for the titles we all want. "Tony out" is the single worst thing we could do, and will put us back another 2 years. There IS NO EASY OR SIMPLE ANSWER. It requires effort, compromise , intelligent decision making and no knee jerk decisions.
Alonso played in a Spanish side that beat argies 6-1 friendly or not glad he's ours . Q Stan telling me he's **** anyway can't wait till Sunday and get semi final ticket Tuesday Stan will renew TV subscription soon ( apologies to all genuine fans who live abroad or can't go any more not having a dig at you ) just some people haven't got a ****ing clue about us
You can add to that list John Lever, Mike Atherton, Marcus Trescothick, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, from England, Sachin Tendulkar, Wakar Younnis, Raul Dravid and Akhtar from the sub continent and Faf du Plessis and Vernon Philander from South Africa. That gives you a full team.
Maybe RA and Conte have been talking. When Conte hugged Messi, after Messi dumped us out of the Champions League, I was wondering if Messi will be at Stamford Bridge next season with Conte as his manager. I don’t want to see Conte leave, he’s a young talented manager that’s played and managed at the highest level. Pep Guardiola won nothing at Man City last season, he kept his job and look where Man City are now.
Predo for today. 2-1 to Tony against Spuds and Cescy will not be seen anywhere near the pitch. Tony will be out to prove a point that Poch without buying players is not good enough. Where as Tony will happily ship FA Cup & some to Judas to prove the flipside. Tony out.
