First of all, I'm sure my fellow Chelsea fans will all share my relief that we are back in the Champions League. There were many times since December where it looked as if we would continue throwing away our chances.
The league season has been strange. We started off really well. Barkley and Kovacic seemed to add something to our midfield on the early stages and Jorginho spraying passes around and people talking about us challenging Liverpool and City. But that had all gone to pot by December once we were found out. Sarri decided not to make any tactical changes and insisted we play the same system and there were, frankly, some embarrassing results.
The 3-1 defeat at Spurs when Luiz and co were awful; the 0-1 loss to Leicester at the Bridge, an insipid 0-0 with Southampton, an unforgivable 0-4 loss to Bournemouth and far too many 3 point games reduced to just a point. However, we have finished the season having qualified top 4, runners up in the League Cup and on the point of a Europa League final.
So has the season been so awful? Well, yes - in a way. Some of our football has been painful to watch.
Is that all Sarri's fault? All? No. Our squad is not good enough. We lack a decent centre-back and cover at right-back. We need at least two top midfielders and a top class striker. Sarri's hands have been tied by a lack of depth in the squad and the sheer number of games we've played.
But Sarri must also learn from his mistakes. Let Kante play some games in his favoured position, especially against combative teams. The top teams will let us play but we've dropped points against teams who have basically marked Jorginho out of the game. Kovacic is an ineffective player, how did he get into the teams before Loftus-Cheek and Barkley? Hudson-Odoi should have had more game time. It would be nice to mix it up and go direct sometimes - just to surprise the opposition. For all of our possession, we have often created far too few opportunities.
I hope Sarri stays. I hope we blood players like Mason Mount, continue to develop Barkley and actually do not waste the talent that Loftus-Cheek has got. Tammy Abraham would have given us as many goals as the strikers we have so maybe he should be given a chance as back-up. We must make the most of our resources and start rebuilding our squad with quality. At the moment we are like that IKEA desk - we are rickety and unstable and whilst we serve a purpose, there are three pieces of wood left over and two screws missing.
League Season and Squad Review
posted on 6/5/19
comment by The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning (U16342)
posted 4 hours, 44 minutes ago
comment by Eric_Draven (U20260)
posted 2 hours, 18 minutes ago
The Black Hawk War
You may be right but my take is ..
a) RLC has a reoccurring back problem; makes complete sense to rotate regularly.
b) Barkley is not any better than Kovacic, and has struggled in general for consistency.
RLC spent much of the early season out of the side. And although Barkley may be a similar level to Kovacic, Barkley is a Chelsea player and should be developed if you have to make a choice between the two.
Kante's best position is more central and deeper than the position he has occupied. I think against teams who bully players like Jorginho, we'd be much better off putting in the faster, stronger and more combative Kante there.
And you may be right about Sarri and youth - but we have a player who Europe's top teams want. We are probably losing Hazard and we can't afford to lose him too. I would prefer seeing Willian leave than CHO.
But as you say, these are just personal points of view.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I understand your point regarding Barkley, but in regards to RLC - you are forgetting he arrived late into preseason, so yeah it makes complete sense why he was eased into the team.
Kante's best position might be a little deeper, but it is not the same position Jorginho occupies. For Leicester, Chelsea and France, Kante played in a two man midfield, and would often break forward. Kante has never been a player who sits in front of the defence as the holding midfielder; it simply does not even play to his strengths.
For me there is not much benefit to shifting Kante to Jorginho's position - moving him there we loose Kante's dynamism both going forward and pressing the opposition. Kante's main attribute after all is his work rate and running, so why put him in a static position of the pitch?
The Jorginho position also requires a lot of ability in both organising team members, and passing out of the press. Is Kante really the kind of player to dictate to others where they should be positioned? Also, in memory one of the biggest issues under Conte was escaping the press; teams often targeted us when we tried to build from the back. Kante, Matic and Bakayoko just didn't really have the ability to do what Jorginho does - our improvement in this area this season has been drastic imo.
Furthermore, from my memory of Kante playing as a holding midfielder, he was never really too impressive. Conte played a 433 early on with Kante as the holding midfielder - we struggled badly through this period defensively. I remember Ozil in particular roasted Kante in our 3-0 loss to Arsenal. As whilst Kante has great at tackling and intercepting, he is often over eager to win the ball back; leaving spaces in behind him.
Personally, I think Kante has been excellent this season, and has actually improved much to his game. I honestly cant wait to see what he might be like next year, and would prefer to be kept in his new role than to be reverted back.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I agree with everything you said Black Hawk. It frustrates me that people cannot see the limitations that Kante has as a ball-playing central midfield player. It's almost heresy to criticize Kante - but his best attributes are his ball-winning and incredible running. He continues to win the ball back in his new position - just higher up the pitch. And now we are playing a possession-based game, and not just booting it upfield and playing on the counter attack, we need someone with great technical skills to be the fulcrum in the deepest central midfield position. I recognize that Juninho has his faults (the greatest being his lack of speed), but certainly Kante could not do that job of dictating the passing and tempo and directing the team. He just does not have the technical ability or the temperament to be that team leader.
Kante won the ball so frequently for the past 2 seasons and at Leicester specifically because we rarely had the ball. Now we are a possession-based team of course he has less opportunity to win the ball back - because we already have the ball. He still needs to improve his shooting and goal-scoring, but all these people complaining that we are not using him correctly simply don't understand what changes we are trying make at the club.
For all his faults, I FAR prefer the football we are trying to play under Sarri. Yes, Mourinho and Conte both won cups and titles for the club, and I loved that of course. But is there anyone here who can honestly say they enjoyed watching us have 25% possession when we played decent teams. It was embarrassing at times. Let's give Sarri some time - at least a complete season with a pre-season too. Even if he's not allowed to sign any players this year, I am convinced we will be much improved.
posted on 6/5/19
comment by BlueJ2 (U4630)
posted 2 hours, 41 minutes ago
comment by The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning (U16342)
posted 4 hours, 44 minutes ago
comment by Eric_Draven (U20260)
posted 2 hours, 18 minutes ago
The Black Hawk War
You may be right but my take is ..
a) RLC has a reoccurring back problem; makes complete sense to rotate regularly.
b) Barkley is not any better than Kovacic, and has struggled in general for consistency.
RLC spent much of the early season out of the side. And although Barkley may be a similar level to Kovacic, Barkley is a Chelsea player and should be developed if you have to make a choice between the two.
Kante's best position is more central and deeper than the position he has occupied. I think against teams who bully players like Jorginho, we'd be much better off putting in the faster, stronger and more combative Kante there.
And you may be right about Sarri and youth - but we have a player who Europe's top teams want. We are probably losing Hazard and we can't afford to lose him too. I would prefer seeing Willian leave than CHO.
But as you say, these are just personal points of view.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I understand your point regarding Barkley, but in regards to RLC - you are forgetting he arrived late into preseason, so yeah it makes complete sense why he was eased into the team.
Kante's best position might be a little deeper, but it is not the same position Jorginho occupies. For Leicester, Chelsea and France, Kante played in a two man midfield, and would often break forward. Kante has never been a player who sits in front of the defence as the holding midfielder; it simply does not even play to his strengths.
For me there is not much benefit to shifting Kante to Jorginho's position - moving him there we loose Kante's dynamism both going forward and pressing the opposition. Kante's main attribute after all is his work rate and running, so why put him in a static position of the pitch?
The Jorginho position also requires a lot of ability in both organising team members, and passing out of the press. Is Kante really the kind of player to dictate to others where they should be positioned? Also, in memory one of the biggest issues under Conte was escaping the press; teams often targeted us when we tried to build from the back. Kante, Matic and Bakayoko just didn't really have the ability to do what Jorginho does - our improvement in this area this season has been drastic imo.
Furthermore, from my memory of Kante playing as a holding midfielder, he was never really too impressive. Conte played a 433 early on with Kante as the holding midfielder - we struggled badly through this period defensively. I remember Ozil in particular roasted Kante in our 3-0 loss to Arsenal. As whilst Kante has great at tackling and intercepting, he is often over eager to win the ball back; leaving spaces in behind him.
Personally, I think Kante has been excellent this season, and has actually improved much to his game. I honestly cant wait to see what he might be like next year, and would prefer to be kept in his new role than to be reverted back.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I agree with everything you said Black Hawk. It frustrates me that people cannot see the limitations that Kante has as a ball-playing central midfield player. It's almost heresy to criticize Kante - but his best attributes are his ball-winning and incredible running. He continues to win the ball back in his new position - just higher up the pitch. And now we are playing a possession-based game, and not just booting it upfield and playing on the counter attack, we need someone with great technical skills to be the fulcrum in the deepest central midfield position. I recognize that Juninho has his faults (the greatest being his lack of speed), but certainly Kante could not do that job of dictating the passing and tempo and directing the team. He just does not have the technical ability or the temperament to be that team leader.
Kante won the ball so frequently for the past 2 seasons and at Leicester specifically because we rarely had the ball. Now we are a possession-based team of course he has less opportunity to win the ball back - because we already have the ball. He still needs to improve his shooting and goal-scoring, but all these people complaining that we are not using him correctly simply don't understand what changes we are trying make at the club.
For all his faults, I FAR prefer the football we are trying to play under Sarri. Yes, Mourinho and Conte both won cups and titles for the club, and I loved that of course. But is there anyone here who can honestly say they enjoyed watching us have 25% possession when we played decent teams. It was embarrassing at times. Let's give Sarri some time - at least a complete season with a pre-season too. Even if he's not allowed to sign any players this year, I am convinced we will be much improved.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Very good post
Specifically the bit about possession based football is interesting - as I agree the biggest change hasn't been his positioning, but our change of style to possession.
posted on 7/5/19
I agree with both of you. I just think that we miss Kante's tenacity in situations where we are being overrun. Jorginho is just physically not strong enough to cope alone. It's not his fault, in Italy and Spain these deep lying playmakers have time and space but in the premier league they are bullied and harried a lot.
posted on 7/5/19
comment by The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Ent... (U16342)
posted 20 hours, 59 minutes ago
comment by Eric_Draven (U20260)
posted 2 hours, 18 minutes ago
The Black Hawk War
You may be right but my take is ..
a) RLC has a reoccurring back problem; makes complete sense to rotate regularly.
b) Barkley is not any better than Kovacic, and has struggled in general for consistency.
RLC spent much of the early season out of the side. And although Barkley may be a similar level to Kovacic, Barkley is a Chelsea player and should be developed if you have to make a choice between the two.
Kante's best position is more central and deeper than the position he has occupied. I think against teams who bully players like Jorginho, we'd be much better off putting in the faster, stronger and more combative Kante there.
And you may be right about Sarri and youth - but we have a player who Europe's top teams want. We are probably losing Hazard and we can't afford to lose him too. I would prefer seeing Willian leave than CHO.
But as you say, these are just personal points of view.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I understand your point regarding Barkley, but in regards to RLC - you are forgetting he arrived late into preseason, so yeah it makes complete sense why he was eased into the team.
Kante's best position might be a little deeper, but it is not the same position Jorginho occupies. For Leicester, Chelsea and France, Kante played in a two man midfield, and would often break forward. Kante has never been a player who sits in front of the defence as the holding midfielder; it simply does not even play to his strengths.
For me there is not much benefit to shifting Kante to Jorginho's position - moving him there we loose Kante's dynamism both going forward and pressing the opposition. Kante's main attribute after all is his work rate and running, so why put him in a static position of the pitch?
The Jorginho position also requires a lot of ability in both organising team members, and passing out of the press. Is Kante really the kind of player to dictate to others where they should be positioned? Also, in memory one of the biggest issues under Conte was escaping the press; teams often targeted us when we tried to build from the back. Kante, Matic and Bakayoko just didn't really have the ability to do what Jorginho does - our improvement in this area this season has been drastic imo.
Furthermore, from my memory of Kante playing as a holding midfielder, he was never really too impressive. Conte played a 433 early on with Kante as the holding midfielder - we struggled badly through this period defensively. I remember Ozil in particular roasted Kante in our 3-0 loss to Arsenal. As whilst Kante has great at tackling and intercepting, he is often over eager to win the ball back; leaving spaces in behind him.
Personally, I think Kante has been excellent this season, and has actually improved much to his game. I honestly cant wait to see what he might be like next year, and would prefer to be kept in his new role than to be reverted back.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
This
Kante cannot play Jorginho role
posted on 7/5/19
comment by Eric_Draven (U20260)
posted 1 hour, 50 minutes ago
I agree with both of you. I just think that we miss Kante's tenacity in situations where we are being overrun. Jorginho is just physically not strong enough to cope alone. It's not his fault, in Italy and Spain these deep lying playmakers have time and space but in the premier league they are bullied and harried a lot.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Then we need to go 4 2 3 1 to let Kante help out Jorginho.
To be fair, he did this in the City games at home and Wembley even if we still played 4 33
posted on 7/5/19
comment by CFC: FFP Champions (U20729)
posted 7 hours, 25 minutes ago
comment by Eric_Draven (U20260)
posted 1 hour, 50 minutes ago
I agree with both of you. I just think that we miss Kante's tenacity in situations where we are being overrun. Jorginho is just physically not strong enough to cope alone. It's not his fault, in Italy and Spain these deep lying playmakers have time and space but in the premier league they are bullied and harried a lot.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Then we need to go 4 2 3 1 to let Kante help out Jorginho.
To be fair, he did this in the City games at home and Wembley even if we still played 4 33
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The 4231 I agree would be the solution for the big games.
Would love to see it used more though, with RLC as the number 10
posted on 7/5/19
Get shot of Sarri
Get Conte back in
Get a top notch back three & wing backs, a goal scoring midfielder & a class striker
posted on 7/5/19
comment by Sheriff JW Pepper (U1007)
posted 5 minutes ago
Get shot of Sarri
Get Conte back in
Get a top notch back three & wing backs, a goal scoring midfielder & a class striker
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yep, maybe he can upset even more players. I still can't believe what he did to Costa. He cost us a fabulous striker and a lot of money. Not to mention the team spirit that suddenly evaporated.
posted on 7/5/19
comment by Eric_Draven (U20260)
posted 12 minutes ago
comment by Sheriff JW Pepper (U1007)
posted 5 minutes ago
Get shot of Sarri
Get Conte back in
Get a top notch back three & wing backs, a goal scoring midfielder & a class striker
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yep, maybe he can upset even more players. I still can't believe what he did to Costa. He cost us a fabulous striker and a lot of money. Not to mention the team spirit that suddenly evaporated.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The same Costa that's been fairly shat at Athletico this term...he's had more & than he's scored goals...& an 8 match ban
ok
posted on 7/5/19
Bloke's an absolute Liability