Chelsea 2016/17 - Very Content

simonhch said:
Whether done subconsciously or not, it disturbs me that you've only listed black players. I'm not calling you racist, not even jokingly, but I think it's an unfortunate stereotype that athletically gifted black players are often deemed as "lacking brains", or skill, without any real evidence for it.

Cultural conditioning.
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To be honest their colour wasnt even in my consideration until you brought it up just now. Still not valid as I think Sturridge is one of the most intelligent strikers you could find in the PL in the last ten years. Shame injury curtailed the evidence on a gander scale.

Though your point is interesting on sub conscious conditioned racism, eg no British born sub-Indian continent players, etc. But that's another topic already done to death.
 
Kentonio said:
Of course I'm not comparing him to one of the most successful strikers in the world, I just found it funny that you found that an apt point to call him on. Basically none of us know yet whether Michy will be a success in the PL, but his record and stats show him to be a hugely promising young lad, and the negativity people are showing towards him is pretty weird.
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Stats do not tell you everything and the negativity isn't weird. Just as Chelsea fans being hopeful isn't weird either. Both sides have valid claims.
 
BlueCelery said:
Ibrahimovic, Aubameyang, Martial, Dembele for starters. I could go on and on.
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That's great, yes good players have played in the league. I still don't get why succeeding in that league is harder than other leagues or why is it tough to score or perform in. That's what I disagree massively with. Those mentioned are exceptions too, plenty of average strikers banged them in in France.
 
12 straight wins, getting ever closer to Arsenal's record of 14 straight wins and another clean sheet.
 
Becoming increasingly difficult to seeing anyone beating them barring a bit of a collapse. The only way I really see any of the three sides below them catching up (we're out of it and I don't think Spurs will win it at all), is if they find a consistent run of wins like Chelsea have, but I feel like Liverpool and City both concede too many goals to avoid silly slip-ups in games they should ideally be winning.

Key to Chelsea's improvement has been their defensive solidity: they're mostly matching their rivals in attack but are becoming increasingly difficult to score past. Good defensive records inevitably lead to greater consistency unless you're poor in front of goal.
 
I'm weirdly finding this Chelsea side quite likeable.
 
Title winning winning streak for sure, in the last 5/6 games they've really not been impressive but are able to grind out wins.

Saying that they have a tricky month or so coming up after Stoke at home.

Spurs away
Leicester away
Hull home
Liverpool away
Arsenal home

There's four games there they could easily drop points.
 
Mark_Barca said:
Title winning winning streak for sure, in the last 5/6 games they've really not been impressive but are able to grind out wins.

Saying that they have a tricky month or so coming up after Stoke at home.

Spurs away
Leicester away
Hull home
Liverpool away
Arsenal home

There's four games there they could easily drop points.
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It's written in the starts: we go to Stamford Bridge only 4/5 points behind them, we can close the gap to just 1/2 points, but they thrash us :D
 
Chelsea will likely win the league, and it'll be deserved if they do, looking at how they've turned last years sloppy season back into champion form.

Chelsea fans must be happy with their team. :)
 
They're nailed on champions this time out, remind me of our teams under Fergie where after a point it didn't matter who the opponent was, was just drove like a machine, which is what Chelsea have been this season.

Yesterday they showed that even with missing a couple of key players in Costa and Kanté, they didn't suffer much and got the result.

Conte would deserve the manager of the season award, a lot of it is down to him, he's been spot on with the tactics and getting the team back up from the position they were in.

Having no European obligation has been a great help as well, though. I think beyond the CL spots the entry into competitions like Europa should be optional and the clubs should have an option to decline. Honestly clubs like United couldn't care less about adding that trophy to our cabinet and it ends up causing needless disruption in our premier goals. Not having to travel or bother with these fixtures and concentrating solely on the league makes a massive difference as we've seen many times before.
 
Mark_Barca said:
Title winning winning streak for sure, in the last 5/6 games they've really not been impressive but are able to grind out wins.

Saying that they have a tricky month or so coming up after Stoke at home.

Spurs away
Leicester away
Hull home
Liverpool away
Arsenal home

There's four games there they could easily drop points.
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I'd take 9 points from those games if you offered it to me now (especially if the 6 dropped points were against Leicester and Hull!).
 
Conte has done couple of excellent things at chelsea which is praise worthy -
  • Chelsea team always had talent and match winners in their team like Hazard, Costa, Pedro but to get them to perform at such a high level week in week out is a tremendous achievement by Conte. They way he has motivated the players like Costa and instilled self confidence in him is truly praise worthy. Costa looks like a different beast to what he was last season in EPL or in the summer tournament.
  • He has adapted a formation that best suits his summer signings. I never thought a team with Luiz at the CB will keep so many clean sheets in EPL. He has chosen the formation that gets the best out of the new recruitment. Luiz and Alonso look like world beaters in their respective positions now where as they would have been failures in traditional 4 man defence. To change the formation at a big club in your 1st season is very difficult and to implement it successfully is brilliant work.
 
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BlueCelery said:
Ibrahimovic, Aubameyang, Martial, Dembele for starters. I could go on and on.
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In the last 10 years the top scorers have been Pauleta, Benzema, Gignac, Niang, Sow, Giroud, Nenê, Lacazette and Ibrahimovic. It's not exactly a collection of the goalscoring elite.

In this decade you've had the following players score 15+ league goals in Ligue Un, and failing to come anywhere close to the same in the Premier League:
  • Ideye (4 in 24 for West Brom)
  • Maiga (4 in 34 for West Ham)
  • Aliadière (1 in 9 for Arsenal, 0 in 7 for West Ham, 2 in 14 for Wolves)
  • Modeste (0 in 9 for Blackburn)
  • Gomis (14 in 64 for Swansea)
  • Kalou (36 in 156 for Chelsea)
  • Cabella (1 in 32 for Newcastle)
  • Gouffran (15 in 108 for Newcastle)
And in the years before that you had the likes of John Utaka, who managed less goals in 90 league games at Portsmouth than he did in each of his previous two seasons at Rennes. It was a similar story for Chamakh at Arsenal - 15+ goals in his previous two seasons at Bordeaux, only 14 goals in 70 games over the next three seasons.

I can't imagine there's a particularly long list of strikers that have excelled in the French league in the last 10 years and went on to come close to replicating that in the Premier League. Giroud, Remy, Ibrahimovic? In La Liga you're essentially only talking about Benzema and Gameiro.
 
simonhch said:
Whether done subconsciously or not, it disturbs me that you've only listed black players. I'm not calling you racist, not even jokingly, but I think it's an unfortunate stereotype that athletically gifted black players are often deemed as "lacking brains", or skill, without any real evidence for it.

Cultural conditioning.
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Your actual sentiment is a good one, but all the Belgian strikers are black so it's quite clearly not some culturally conditioned post :lol:
 
Brwned said:
In the last 10 years the top scorers have been Pauleta, Benzema, Gignac, Niang, Sow, Giroud, Nenê, Lacazette and Ibrahimovic. It's not exactly a collection of the goalscoring elite.

In this decade you've had the following players score 15+ league goals in Ligue Un, and failing to come anywhere close to the same in the Premier League:
  • Ideye (4 in 24 for West Brom)
  • Maiga (4 in 34 for West Ham)
  • Aliadière (1 in 9 for Arsenal, 0 in 7 for West Ham, 2 in 14 for Wolves)
  • Modeste (0 in 9 for Blackburn)
  • Gomis (14 in 64 for Swansea)
  • Kalou (36 in 156 for Chelsea)
  • Cabella (1 in 32 for Newcastle)
  • Gouffran (15 in 108 for Newcastle)
And in the years before that you had the likes of John Utaka, who managed less goals in 90 league games at Portsmouth than he did in each of his previous two seasons at Rennes. It was a similar story for Chamakh at Arsenal - 15+ goals in his previous two seasons at Bordeaux, only 14 goals in 70 games over the next three seasons.

I can't imagine there's a particularly long list of strikers that have excelled in the French league in the last 10 years and went on to come close to replicating that in the Premier League. Giroud, Remy, Ibrahimovic? In La Liga you're essentially only talking about Benzema and Gameiro.
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There isn't a particularly long list of strikers who've excelled anywhere, let alone excelled in two or more top leagues. I don't think Ligue 1 is of as high quality as the Premier League but the difference isn't night and day.
I remember some Arsenal fans being dismissive of links to Aubemeyang because he was 'only' performing in Ligue 1. Then he went right on performing in Germany and now they'd give body parts to sign him. Payet, though not a striker, has if anything performed better in England than in France.
 
I follow the Chelsea snapchat account and I've noticed Conte likes to have training sessions at Stamford Bridge a few times a week for whatever reason. Is this a psychological thing? Does he think the players will get comfortable?
 
duffer said:
I'd take 9 points from those games if you offered it to me now (especially if the 6 dropped points were against Leicester and Hull!).
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Considering you have your rivals playing against each other in the same period and some other potential tricky matches, 9 points would very likely keep you with at least a 3/4 point cushion at the top especially if you don't lose at home to Arsenal, who've got an extremely healthy looking fixture list coming up before the game at the bridge. Saying that wouldn't surprise me if they dropped points at Bournemouth.

Pool vs Man City, Everton vs Man City, Man United vs Liverpool, Man City vs Spurs, WHU vs City and Utd. Leicester vs United.
 
madRedDevil07 said:
never thought a team with Luiz at the CB will keep so many clean sheets in EPL. He has chosen the formation that gets the best out of the new recruitment. Luiz and Alonso look like world beaters in their respective positions now where as they would have been failures in traditional 4 man defence. To change
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I don't think they would have necessarily been failures but yes the formation does put everyone in perfectly suited positions. Luiz is superb on the ball and dictates play from deep. Azpilicueta is on his preferred side. Moses is a bits 'n pieces player, with great energy - perfect for wingback. Kante and Matic can dominate most they come across and then the front three have the freedom to do what they want. With Costa running the channels all day.
 
UsualSuspect said:
I don't think they would have necessarily been failures but yes the formation does put everyone in perfectly suited positions. Luiz is superb on the ball and dictates play from deep. Azpilicueta is on his preferred side. Moses is a bits 'n pieces player, with great energy - perfect for wingback. Kante and Matic can dominate most they come across and then the front three have the freedom to do what they want. With Costa running the channels all day.
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I have seen Luiz in a two man defence for PSG and Brazil, he never looked like a defender he is right now. He struggled in big matches in UCL and WC playing in a two man defence. He was always a superb ball playing defender but having the cushion of two defenders along side him and a midfield of Kante - Matic in front of him is giving him the protection he needs. This tactical change and the personal ahead of him is making him a better defender.
 
Ødegaard said:
Chelsea will likely win the league, and it'll be deserved if they do, looking at how they've turned last years sloppy season back into champion form.

Chelsea fans must be happy with their team. :)
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The real test will be in the Champions League. Conte has struggled here with Juventus.
 
madRedDevil07 said:
I have seen Luiz in a two man defence for PSG and Brazil, he never looked like a defender he is right now. He struggled in big matches in UCL and WC playing in a two man defence. He was always a superb ball playing defender but having the cushion of two defenders along side him and a midfield of Kante - Matic in front of him is giving him the protection he needs. This tactical change and the personal ahead of him is making him a better defender.
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John Terry made a living from protection.
 
So I just got round to watching their match against Burnley, and their football was alarmingly good at times. Major injury problems look to be the only thing stopping them from winning the league right now.
 
Mr Smith said:
So I just got round to watching their match against Burnley, and their football was alarmingly good at times. Major injury problems look to be the only thing stopping them from winning the league right now.
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That game was in August! We're playing a totally different system now.
 
Mr Smith said:
So I just got round to watching their match against Burnley, and their football was alarmingly good at times. Major injury problems look to be the only thing stopping them from winning the league right now.
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Too many people giving it to Chelsea without due consideration I think. 9-10 points is not a lot when teams have a game in hand / and or yet to play at home to Chelsea (could well be a 6 pointer) and don't forget Liverpool have only played 7 games at home and 10 away (Chelsea 9-9).
They may well win it (I said they would before the season started) but it's far far too early to be dishing out the silverware. Even after 12 wins on the bounce it's possible by tonight they may still only be 6-7 points ahead of two teams or at best 7-9 points ahead of three.
 
Question for Chelsea fans: do you think Fabregas has earned his place back in the team now? There were rumours about him leaving in january sometimes ago.
 
Santi_Mesut_Alexis_87 said:
Question for Chelsea fans: do you think Fabregas has earned his place back in the team now? There were rumours about him leaving in january sometimes ago.
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He's a totally different option to Matic or Kante, personally I'd drop Matic against the poor sides at home that will just sit back and try and frustrate us. See no reason to play both against the likes of Burnley. I'd go for more defensive stability against the better sides at home and away.
 
They are hot favourites and have all the signs of Champions. They dont seem to concede goals do they and how many 1 - 0's do they churn out ?

It's still too early to call though .

How many teams have lost big leads from the spring onwards ?

It's still December. It's far from over.
 
Spiersey said:
He's a totally different option to Matic or Kante, personally I'd drop Matic against the poor sides at home that will just sit back and try and frustrate us. See no reason to play both against the likes of Burnley. I'd go for more defensive stability against the better sides at home and away.
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Yep, i do agree. What i was asking is that Conte are still planning to sell him.
 
Santi_Mesut_Alexis_87 said:
No because i was reading something about it in the italian newspaper. Apparently, Milan want him.
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Players (especially those not starting every week) are linked with transfers every day. I'd imagine 95% of the rumours are totally fabribcated, 4% are the players agents trying to get a new contract and 1% are actual legitimate journalism.
 
duffer said:
Buy yourself a Chelsea shirt and just admit you're one of us!
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I do have one actually, haha. One from the pre-Roman time with Lampard on the back. Arsenal was the enemy back then which made me have a soft spot for Chelsea given your rivalry for them. I remember celebrating THAT Wayne Bridge goal, I think you managed to beat Arsenal after a fair few tries in that game. Then the whole Roman, Jose, etc happened but didn't really change much for me and I continue to have a lot of respect for the great title challenges we have had over the years. Much prefer having a club like Chelsea as our rivals than the shower of shite that is playing their game today.

It was quite interesting while reading Bestie's autobio that even during his time he mentioned Chelsea as one of the toughest opponents, a team that usually gave us a great fight and our players had to work hard to overcome. He himself had a lot of respect for that, and that was precisely how I used to see you guys before you got the money - a really tough and tricky opponents with several class players like Zola, Hasselbaink, Petrescu, Desailly and the likes over the years.
 
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