Good on paper

Courtios
Ivanovic - Cahill - Luiz -Azpi
Matic - Kante - Fabregas
Willian - Costa - Hazard

Now to me this team looks half decent on paper, but lets be honest this team is dog s*** on the pitch.

Its a team which completely lacks any identity, which has been thrown together by a collection of managers.

The back four clearly is where a lot of our problems lie. I hope the game today was enough proof for Conte to see that Ivanovic and Azpi can no longer be our starting fullbacks. Azpi linked up quite nicely at times with Hazard today, only for Dave to realise he isn't left footed, and to cut inside and cross with his right, resulting in the wasted run made by Costa. When Cesar was first brought in for Cole, I'm sure most people thought it would be temporary. Its been three years! Cole, Bertrand, Luis, Rahman have all came and left in that time, and all of them sure are more natural and comfortable playing on the left than Azpi. Thats not to say Cesar is our worst player, but he just clearly belongs on the right hand side.

I will be honest, I never rated Ivanovic too highly. As a CB he was dodgy, and as a fullback he was clumsy on the ball. I thought he was good when he stayed back, and Cole got forward, but over the years Ivanovic has been given more and more responsibility going forward. What are we doing in giving this opportunity to him? Its been clear for years it doesn't work. He should only be defensive cover at best.

Cahill and Luiz are obviously not a good pairing, but I think a lot has been said about it. Kante and Matic are pairing made in hell too. Both got easily dragged around, both offered nothing in the second half. Only one of them can be played at once. As neither of them are comfortable enough in possession. We need a midfielder who is confident doing both in my opinion, but who isn't Oscar.

Hazard and Willian don't suit the system either. Hazard is not a winger in my opinion. He only really slows the pace of the game down on the wing, gets isolated and is caught defectively. I only see him playing well when he drifts into the middle and plays off the striker. In fact before he came to us he performed best for Lille as the second striker. In Willian's case, I just don't see what he offers at the moment. He isn't trying to contribute defectively, and really lacks ideas going forward. Both of these players right now are failing to give us any width or defensive cover.

The only player I will give credit is Costa. I'm not his biggest fan, I do recognise his limitations, but he is certainly is the only player in the squad who is performing to level expected of them.

The rest of them look good on paper, but don't fit together. In many ways I am envious of the Arsenal team, despite its short comings in recent years, its always been able to perform consistently. Their players also have never shown the attitude of what our players are currently giving us.