Sounds like a villain in Futurama.
Chelsea 2017/18 thread - FA Cup Champs, League chumps
- Thread starter duffer
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
Water fine mess
Zappacosta is a similar sort of player to Alonso-not the quickest, but boatloads of stamina, tall, strong, and quite dangerous going forward. Potentially vulnerable in 1v1 situations defensively but he'll be an upgrade over Moses on the right flank, and on top of that will help on defensive set plays and on crosses into the right channel (the sort that Spurs used last year to beat Azpilicueta/Moses).
Sounds like a solid cog for Conte's system. Not sure how much he'll really improve your squad, but you won the title on 93 points last season so even having more depth and options is worth quite a bit. Still feel you're a bit short of being able to retain the title and make a CL push deeper into the KO stage as things stand.
Fully agree with that assessment. I'm gutted we couldn't get the Alex Sandro deal over the line; he's the sort of player we needed to push on.
A 10-euros rwb on the last day of the window is a proper assault to Antonio's pride to be fair
A 10-euros rwb on the last day of the window is a proper assault to Antonio's pride to be fair
Get out of here and stop rubbing your competently run and settled club in our faces!
In all seriousness though, I think Zappacosta is a good fit. There's also this nice little stat:
Considering the fact that Moses can't cross to save his life (seriously, I was looking at the numbers when it looked like we were getting Ox and Moses is far worse at crossing than he is), this is a pretty big upgrade when Morata's ability in the air is taken into account.
He will be fine, he is the most athletic and pacy Italian wing back you can get these days, think of a Marcos Alonso with more stamina and a bit less ability. Interesting signing, to be fair.
Yeah that's a very good comparison. Watched quite a bit of Torino last season and always thought he looked a decent player. He's vulnerable defensively in 1v1 situations but with Azpilicueta and Kante covering him I think that weakness can be largely mitigated.
Think it's certainly a better value signing than Ox personally.
All the youth players at Chelsea are sat in front of the tv praying for no more signings.
They are youth players but they're not that naive
The only one left who actually wants to join Chelsea.
Another target missed.. What is going on there?
I'm in a bar in gran canaria and theres a guy behind me who's a Conte doppelganger. Maybe he's finally given up.....
Looking like Zappacosta and Drinkwater today. Not the sexiest names but then again, this time last year we signed Luiz and Alonso and they were both great for us.
I must admit I did want Llorente.
I must admit I did want Llorente.
You know when somebody beats you to a 32 year old Llorente things aren't peachy.
Probably don't want the competition for the loaned clubs.
Luiz and Alonso were top draw players when you signed them, though.
Drinkwater, though reasonably well establised, lacks the quality required to play for the current champions of England in my opinion, and I'm still struggling to process the name Zappacosta, sounds like a gimic for a new brand of coffee to me, but if you say he's a real person I'll take your word for it.
Alonso was in no way more of a "top drawer" player than Drinkwater. He's not only a title winning midfielder, he won it in a partnership with Kante. I'm not saying Drinkwater is some amazing signing but he's a bigger deal than Alonso was.
As for Zappacosta, I'm happy just for the name, let alone him being an Italy international (picked by Conte in fact).
The two "big" transfer for us were Morata and Bakayoko. If we get Drinkwater and/or Zappa, that's just filling out the squad.
No offense but there's a bit of revisionist history here, no? There was abundant mockery about the Luiz signing and most were equally befuddled about Alonso, though I'll grant you that Luiz has more pedigree than Zappacosta or Drinkwater.
Take your point on Drinkwater - had quite forgotten his successful partnership with Kante at Leicester - but trying to compare his pedigree to the likes of Alonso is a bit of a stretch. The latter is/was a far superior player before he signed for Chelsea - I remember rumours of United's interest before he signed for Chelsea among others.
How much did you get Drinkwater for in the end?
We've not signed him yet. The reports are about £35 mil.
Why are these players all rejecting Chelsea?
Because they are a horrible little club..
What a shambles. Just needs the Drinkwater deal to fall through to complete the set.
Drinkwater most likely signed and Ross Barkley running for the exit during his medical.
Underwhelming much.
Underwhelming much.
This was from me a few days ago. I'm pleased he's rejected the move, the dopey bellend.
Too late, I'm offended.
Presumably this "mockery" of Luiz came from oppo fans, which is perfectly natural and is in no way a direct representation of a players ability or lack of. We all knew Luiz to be a top player and were more hoping he'd fail on his return. Quite the opposite occured though.
Don't understand this Alonso stuff, he was seen to be quite the talent if I recall correctly. Have never heard of Zappacosta to be fair, that he is an Italian international shows you how much interest I have in the international arena
No doubt many of their fans have been spoiled after the first years with Mourinho. I have been frequenting opposition forums quite a bit through the years, especially Chelsea since they were our biggest threat a lot of the time. Forums like theshedend and cfcnet.
I remember after Mourinho left the first time, it seemed like no manager would be good enough in many fans eyes. If one of them did well, he didn't get much credit. But Mourinho got credit for what he taught and instilled in the players instead. Grant for example who took them to the CL final, hardly got any credit whatsoever for it. I remember even Ancelotti being criticised by some despite winning two PL titles. Some argued he still couldn't be compared to Mourinho because the latter finished with more points in the league.
Even through all this turmoil with constantly changing managers, Chelsea managed to do really well partly because of the very strong group of players they had. I used to be baffled at how much criticism the players were getting from their own fans and how much scapegoating there was going on. These were the same players I always feared having to face, and who continued to be picked by the managers. Now I'm talking about Chelsea before the decline here.
Matic to me is another example of this. Even though he's had ups and downs, he has still been an important cog in their winning teams. Usually when it's obvious someone isn't good enough they are moved on to smaller teams, while Matic came to a club aspiring to win the title instead, and he instantly bacame a vital part of this team.
Having said all of this, it's obviously normal to get spoiled after that much success. It's also always true for a portion of fans of any successful club.
When it comes to Chelsea, it feels like many fans have adopted the impatient mentality of Abramovich.
It's not been their strongest window has it?
So let me get this straight. Chelsea replace Matic with Drinkwater.
Drinkwater to Chelsea?
Morata & Bakayoko will be great signings. Rudiger i'm not so sure of. God only knows about Zappa and Drinkwater will be solid.
Certainly not the terrible window some seem to be making out. Not ideal though for sure.
Conte must be so happy 
Who is this Zappa fellow?
I think I was complimenting Chelsea in there somewhere. By your usual standards this hasn't been a great window, but yeah it could have been worse.
The weirdest one is Llorente. I dont think he would play or win more at Spurs than Chelsea
For the same price