carefreeluke

There was of course controversy with Mourinho before he went to manage Madrid but Spain was for me where he really started to lose it with his antics and so on.

I'm one of Luiz's biggest defenders but he's been mostly poor (perhaps inconsistent is a better word) this season although I have seen him in the past play well in a back four for a significant period. We get a lot of rhythm from our centre backs which I can imagine is one of the reasons why Sarri likes him, everyone plays their part in setting the tempo but Jorginho and the central defenders play a more significant role when in possession. Reminds me of the West Ham game when our centre backs were poor in this area and the difference it made on the team: Luiz and Rudiger were sublime at this against Palace last weekend. Rudiger I have to say has gone onto another level this season with his performances, not the best defender in the league but he's definitely sitting at the table with the best centre backs this league has to offer. Seems to also have got rid of that erratic and over aggressive side that was apparent in his game earlier in his Chelsea career as well.

Azpi has been poor defensively for me this season especially in the first few months, he has improved in this department recently though. He is also limited in attack whereas Zappacosta offers more here. I'm not Zappacosta's biggest advocate but he's impressed me in the little he's played this season and at least he commits players and looks to make things happen. Azpi has that cross from deep and that's about it. I'm not asking for him to be replaced but just to see Zappacosta get more of a chance to see what he can do which I think his performances deserve this season.

Have to admit I would like to see Zappacosta get more of a chance in the team. I think Azpi has been below his usual standards for the most part this season and I quite like Zappacosta's directness and let's have a go attitude. Not saying he should replace Azpi but Zappacosta at least deserves more of a chance given that he's done well in the games he's played. Sarri likes to keep continuity with the back line though and part of the reason we saw Luiz and Azpi come on against Derby was the team's positioning, compactness and distances (something Zola alluded to after the game) were all over the place and the back four act as a foundation for these things. Hence it's one of the reasons I imagine Sarri likes to keep a lot of continuity with the back four that plays. The reason we can struggle at times defensively is simply that our pressing and distances aren't correct and this all comes under tactical play. That chance Nugent gets towards the end of the Derby game is a prime example of things going wrong in this regard, the defensive line is far too deep in relation to the rest of the team which gives Derby a lot of space. Control the game from a tactical point of view and we're fine.

It was a very good performance against the one dimensional Burnley. One of those performances where it wasn't necessarily because the opposition were poor but the fact that our performance was of a very high level.

This is true mate but doesn't mean Cesc can't be used.

Coming off the bench though when we're chasing the game is a different context and would allow us to extract a lot from him still.

Cesc was poor last night which was even more noteworthy because he normally shines in those type of games where the pace is different and where he gets a lot of time on the ball. It's getting quite comical to see him chasing after opposition players. However, he needs to be used more from the bench domestically and I feel he could still have an important role to play for us, be it in games where he can come on, get on the ball and create something in games where we need a goal. Not sure why Sarri isn't making more use of him in this context.

R.I.P my man.

Yeah, I naturally thought the same as well.

@Dan @Stan What do you think of this Kanté position stuff?

Adding to what Cicero said. There has been a lot of fans saying this about Kanté after the West Ham game. For me when I watch Kanté for France as a defensive midfielder, he does a good job in that position but for me it sort of limits his athleticism which is one of his best assets. His athleticism is useful for the counter but more importantly in the pressing stage. When we're talking about him playing the traditional role of a defensive midfielder, imagine a scenario where the team is relatively deeper and he's tasked with the job of nicking the ball from the opposition in front of the defence and picking up runs etc. I actually think his positional play and concentration when performing this role at times can come into question, not to say he's bad at it, he still does it well but it's not his best asset. In fact, I can actually think of many occasions where he's been at fault in this area. Whilst this area was more Makélélé's bread and butter and it's how they differ as players. Kanté's best work for me comes when he's given more licence to press and most of his best tackles and interceptions come normally as a by-product of his superior level of athleticism. In my opinion there's no way you can have Kanté moved to Jorginho's position. We simply need someone with Jorginho's ability on the ball there for Sarri's style to function at full speed and power. Jorginho seemed to get a lot of stick for his performance against West Ham but for me he was easily our best player. For me in football there's a lot more than what meets the eye when it comes to a player's performance. Jorginho's passing firstly created some of our best chances that day but it was more the mentality at which he played at. He was always playing at the right speed and always looking to do the right things on the ball, personally a lot of the time I can forgive a player's performance if I see them conducting themselves with the right mindset and that's what he did for me on Sunday. His passing and overall game at times was not vintage Jorginho in terms of accuracy etc but it's impossible to expect perfection every game. The most important thing was his mentality and anyway as well a lot of his passing created some of our best chances that day and it also allowed the other players to find space in between the lines. If the other players were playing at Jorginho's tempo maybe we would have had a better result. There are two reasons why I think Chelsea fans are demanding this change with Kanté. The first is Kanté’s limitations in attack in a more advanced role. I personally don’t think he’s that bad in an attacking sense, he’s isn’t great but I personally think come the end of the season he’ll have a fair share of goals to his name. There’ll perhaps be certain times during a game where we may need to switch him with someone who has a more attacking threat but for the most part I think he’s OK. But more importantly, I think some of Kante’s burden here needs to lay more on Kovacic’s shoulders, the most attacking player of the midfield three. I think that some of the Chelsea fans’ concerns in this area with regards to Kanté need to be directed a little more towards Kovacic. One of the reservations I had about Kovacic was his numbers, he needs a bit more output, in terms of purely goals, key passes etc. Kovacic has demonstrated that he’s very good technically on the ball, has some nice combination and link up play with some of the players around him and is doing a lot of good work for others in the team. However, I would like to see him be more decisive in the attacking third. At Real Madrid he played in every midfield role possible but now he’s arguably playing in his best position, if this isn’t, it’s the one position Kanté is taking up at the moment. At Real Madrid there was always this doubt of where was his best position? And for me when I previously used to watch him, I always thought who is Kovavic as a player? Yes, we know some of the things he’s good at but what’s he true footballing identity? For me we’ve still yet to truly discover that and for that reason it’s going to be very interesting to see how he develops this season. The second reason why Chelsea fans are wanting Kanté to change back to a defensive midfield role is that we’re finding ourselves at times a lot more open compared to last season. Firstly, this is in part down to a well-documented change in playing style and a natural consequence of that is that we’re going to find ourselves at times having some more problems defensively. Nevertheless, more notably these defensive problems are normally down to something else going wrong elsewhere. I like to view formations and playing styles like a fully functional working machine. What we’re seeing as Chelsea supporters under Sarri in certain moments is the team being quite open, stretched and the team with a lack of compactness lacking adequate protection for its back four. We find ourselves in this position at times when the opposition counters or in other scenarios when our pressing and positional play isn’t up to scratch. For me the majority of it is not down to not playing Kanté in his natural position, it’s down to something going wrong earlier on in the functioning of the machine. Why do Pep’s teams at their best never get countered that much? It’s because they stop it at source. Pep’s essentials are counter pressing and positional play and this is what stops his teams for the most part looking too vulnerable defensively. This is exactly Sarri’s aims as well. And we’re finding these problems because something has gone wrong in our pressing, concentration and positional play earlier on. People are just seeing our back four coming under pressure and the team looking open. But what happened in the moments before this? How did we get ourselves in these situations? It doesn’t just happen. Pep wants complete control of a football match and Sarri is very much the same. For me with Kanté playing in this different position we’re just using his strengths defensively in a different area of the pitch. His athleticism and positioning are vital to the counter pressing and scenarios above which allow us to regain possession quickly. Finally, you’ve also got to ask yourself, does the role of a traditional defensive midfielder (which a lot of the time Kanté gets solely associated with) exist in a Sarri system? The answer is not really.

One of their best:

I like it as well. Even more so, I have a big thing for the training kit as well which I know divides opinion.

I've just recently finished teaching a Spanish family in London who were in London for three weeks on holiday but wanted to learn English while they were there. The parents spent three hours with me every morning while their kids were at a camp. I say it was teaching but it was basically them talking to me for three hours while I explained some things here and there, very easy and pleasant work. Anyway to get to the point I was going to make, they also said a positive about their holiday had been how friendly Londoners had been to them (for the most part) and this was a family that did a lot of mixing with locals as well. The Dad of this family had also lived in Ireland as well. I would say southerners are perhaps more closed or reserved than northerners and perhaps this reservation can be misinterpreted at times. The same divide exists in Spain as well but I would just say the people in southern Spain are again just a bit more open and less reserved. Having lived in both The North and The South. I also at times have a set of negative beliefs about French people, having studied French and lived there but one of the nicest people I have ever met was a French person. There's cunts everywhere at the end of the day.

The Festival 6.5/10 Just recycled old characters, plot lines and jokes from the old Inbetweeners films / series and other school / young culture type films of the past. Overall mostly poor but a few funny moments and I guess a pleasant enough watch.

Games like Sunday are exactly why you keep Cesc around.

Yeah, some sort of tactical arrangement happening there.

Alonso is creating a lot of space for others as he joins to make numbers in the box which also allows Hazard more space to roam while on the other side Pedro stays wider. No wonder Alonso is one of the highest scoring defenders in Europe with the roles he's played since joining us.

I get this impression from him as well for some reason on and off the pitch. This is my standpoint more or less. I also think Kovacic's arrival doesn't do him any favours either but we'll see.

Light and day the difference between Kovacic and Barkley yesterday. I know Kovacic came on with fresh legs but he did more in 30 minutes than Barkley has done in his Chelsea career in my opinion. The difference was that Kovacic looked to impose himself on the game, he played with purpose, confidence, intelligence and personality. I watch Barkley and I just think he lacks that personality to impose himself on a game but also the level of football intelligence as well. Barkley has the ability but it just shows how much football is about the mind as well. Watching Barkley I just get the impression he looks a bit clueless. Kovacic yesterday I swear every 2nd pass went to him, he always wanted the ball which is a sign in itself. Also looked like Kovavic played a different type of role which suited the game at that point as well, stayed closer to the other central midfielders which helped us control the ball and consequently the game. 62% possession we had yesterday.