Cesc is very good but he can also be a fly in Jose's ointment because you are not defensively as good when he plays but more potent attacking when he does.. againt most opponents. The cup game was a pretty good example, when Cesc went off we found it more difficult getting through them middle and won less balls in the middle, and when we lost possession there Chelsea channeled it out wide to the attackers. Jose is more defensively minded than attacking minded and against teams that are good going down the middle, like us atm and especially someone like Barca, Cesc might not always be the best option, we won a fair bit of possession from him when we played ye, he was a bit of a liability if I am totally honest, but against teams that try play it tight against Chelsea Cesc is great for unlocking the door against teams that sit back and teams that don't make the middle a physical battleground. I've always thought that Jose does not get the absolute maximum out of attacking players with his style (see R Madrid, the transition was dog slow which often wasted Ronaldo). Hazard has been brilliant for you but put him in that Real or barca side and his goals to games ratio would skyrocket I reckon. He has to provide a LOT for chelsea, probably more than he should be. Without him there would be a huge hole in the team in terms of creativity. In short I think Hazard has too much responsibility to be the attacking outlet and creator, he looked shattered against City after 30 minutes. A very quiet game by his standards. A lad his age should be able for 2 games in a week but not if he's absolutely flat out for 90 minutes in the first of the two games and he was flat out for 120 minutes on Tuesday last. You need to get shot of Rambo and get a marauder down the middle like Gerrard used to be(it was why Jose wanted him), or a Lamps, and Oscar is good, but.. I think you can do better than Oscar(technically very good, but could make better decisions). We'll take him off your hands tho
Some fair points. I think if we played someone like Barca he may push Fabregas to 10 and play another enforcer such as Ramires or Mikel alongside Matic. Very difficult to get a balanced starting 11 and then have cover for every player as well though especially with FFP considerations. There has been some talk about Pogba, who I think is too expensive but would give us options in the middle. Personally I like Cesc in a central midfield role but he does get caught out defensively on occasion.
Can agree, though... horses for courses, no starting 11 can deal with all eventualities. Nor can they play every game. As you say a two man solid midfield, against teams that like to break through the middle or draw players out wide, and just Matic against teams that are going to sit back and play it tight or run you down the wings with pace, that means Cesc will play 90+ of games anyways as most teams are not gonna come flying at you like us at Anfield for example. You won't find another Matic who is willing to sit out most of the games in a season and sitting out so many games makes them not as good when they come in though in fairness to partner Matic, how good do you have to be really, Willian can even do that plus he has the pace to break forward. he doesn't get enough credit for what he does off of the ball, mainly because he's an attacking player. Reinvent him maybe. He's athletic as ****. I am just not a fan of Ramirez. Can't quite say what it is just something about the way he plays that I think just doesn't sit right with an attacking Chelsea. Plus he's liable to get sent off with stupidity, with Costa do you really need that additional risk in a big game of the season a 26 year old Lampard is just what you need atm, anyone out there like that?
