Lots of rumors that Roman will be going mad in the next couple of transfer windows, too. Wants to make sure Conte has all he needs if we're still in good position come January.
Chelsea 2016/17 - Very Content
- 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.
had a mediocre start to the season but it's looking like everything is starting to click for them and they've looked real solid for some time.
with us and city faltering, arsenal being arsenal, and liverpool... I can't quite put a finger on it but they look a bit inconsistent, I'd put chelsea as favorites right now.
with us and city faltering, arsenal being arsenal, and liverpool... I can't quite put a finger on it but they look a bit inconsistent, I'd put chelsea as favorites right now.
Same reason why a lot of people change jobs and breakup relationships despite some great times. You just get bored after a while and lose motivation and interest to continue, even if there's nothing inherently wrong with the person or company. Mourinho's methods aren't exactly everyone's cup of tea either.
Very good point and you're right.
They say 'you should never go back to anything' (romantic interest, city you lived in, place you used to work at etc). I guess it happened super quickly for Mourinho during Chelsea part 2 because he reached spooling point quicker because there was less mystique and newness about the experience.
And yes, its yet one more remarkable aspect of SAF's reign unprecedented at Old Trafford.
The same applies in corporate business: many of the worlds top MNC's rotate people from their jobs every 18-24 months at mid management and 28-40 months at board level. Ive been in that line of work for 20 years and never done the same job or been in the same team for more than 3 years .... in fact the thought of it scared the life out of me!
No need to apologise. If everyone had the same opinion, this forum would be pointless.
I agree, City were on top for awhile. But if you cannot finish your chances, you need better strikers. United have been suffering from profligacy like this all season. That's down to poor finishing, not bad luck.
This is from 2009:
He is referring to Abrohimovich's imposition of Shevchenko and Ballack onto Mourinho in the summer 2006. Nothing Mourinho could do about that.
Makelele sounds very naive and narcissistic here. He has never managed and so do not truly understand the influence of the leader in a team.
The team is the result of a leader's imagination, vision and strategy. It is the leader who finds the people, trains and motivates them and ensures consistency. Part of that process is to make the team feel that without them its impossible ... but in reality that untrue: Cantona, Beckham, Keane, Lampard, Drogba and the rest may leave and will be mourned but as long as the leader still has strong vision, they are quickly replaced and the world carries on ... the most shockingly crude example of the importance of the manager was of course Moyes diabolical mismanagement of SAFs 2013 champions.
Mourinho deserves the lion share of the credit ... their team would simply not have won without him. I agree with SAF, the manager must be the most important man in the club and be paid the highest wage.
In the Makelele case above, I think the players thought they were more important than they actually were and the success went to there heads. And that resulted in the infamous player power culture at Chelsea that has seen them fire more managers than any other team in the PL despite being one of the most successful clubs in the modern era.
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Give him money and get him who he wants and you'll be frightening.
Talk of Nainggolan and Ricardo Rodriguez
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I did not think Chelsea would make top 4 this season
I'd absolutely love Nainggolan. What an array of midfield options we'd have! Not so sure RR is what we need after already signing Alonso. Similar in that they're both great going forward but are a bit slow and shaky defensively. Not terrible, but iffy.
Why not? No Europe, a fresh and firing Costa & Hazard, and Kante added to the midfield. I never thought we'd be this good so soon but have been confident of a top 4 finish from the start.
Hell, I would've taken a 4th place finish and be happy with it. Figured we'd squeak in there behind City, United, and Arsenal.
I'm not convincced they're that good but then I'm not convinced anyone is.
Their defending is horrible though. A few of their players have a habit of charging out of position after balls they have no chance of reaching. They would have lost comfortably today due to this if it wasn't for City doing everything in their power not to score a goal.
They have really good forward players and are on a good run. It could be enough to win them the league but I still think that says more about the league than anything. Every team is flawed.
It also shows you that if you have players who can punish other team's errors rather than feck around, it goes a long way. Hazard and Costa are superb at catching teams out if they're caught sleeping or are set up badly. They'll do the same damage with a few touches of the ball that other teams need about 50 attacks to do.
Their defending is horrible though. A few of their players have a habit of charging out of position after balls they have no chance of reaching. They would have lost comfortably today due to this if it wasn't for City doing everything in their power not to score a goal.
They have really good forward players and are on a good run. It could be enough to win them the league but I still think that says more about the league than anything. Every team is flawed.
It also shows you that if you have players who can punish other team's errors rather than feck around, it goes a long way. Hazard and Costa are superb at catching teams out if they're caught sleeping or are set up badly. They'll do the same damage with a few touches of the ball that other teams need about 50 attacks to do.
Chelsea look like a well-balanced side as it is. They will need to strengthen in the summer to create depth for the CL, but as for this season I'd be concerned about upsetting the balance of the side.
Maybe one change I'd make is an upgrade on Cahill @ cb. He often looks like a liability.
Who would Chelsea fans have?
Maybe one change I'd make is an upgrade on Cahill @ cb. He often looks like a liability.
Who would Chelsea fans have?
They have Zouma who is back in a few weeks and is an absolute beast. Once he comes back they might look better defensively. Then there is talk of them buying Sule. If they've a defence consisting of Luiz, Sule and Zouma, then they'll need Luiz to step up and organise the defence.
Our defending isn't horrible. We played probably the best all around attack in the league at their place. Anyone would've looked uncomfortable there. We've conceded 2 goals in 8 matches and looked comfortable in all but 2 halves against City and Spurs.
I still don´t understand how they are in 1st place. Got played off the pitch by Liverpool and Arsenal. Go down a goal to Spurs and City, somehow turn those around. Score late goals. Like that is not enough they´ll probably (assuming Liverpool don´t lose tomorrow) be ahead of three times with just one loss, because they have an Italian coach, who doesn´t draw matches. Very weird.
Looks like they were lucky to win today as City should have been 2 or 3 up at half time but missed some glaring easy chances.
they are a work in progress but also way ahead of us.
Who knows how good they can get with 2 more world class players and another 12 months under Conte.
they are a work in progress but also way ahead of us.
Who knows how good they can get with 2 more world class players and another 12 months under Conte.
There is hope for us in this very competitive league. If we won the next 8 on the bounce, we'd also be right up there in the mix.
We are not that far off: get 3 wins in a row and I think we'd be off on a run.
It's easy to back Chelsea now but I still think City will win the title.
Liverpool and Arsenal were before the tactical switch. Ivanovic was in the team both matches and was dreadful.
Locker had already turned on him by that point. I think some cracks had already formed the previous season, then the whole eva carneiro fiasco precipitated everything. Players feeling their manager didn't respect them/give them enough credit. I son't know, but if i'm the team's star player, i just won you the league, and i get hurt badly during the first game of the season, doctor comes in to treat me and you go nuclear on her for doing her job, in the first game of the season, i'd be pretty pissed at my manager...
Yep, that didn't help either.
Conceded one goal in seven PL games going into the game. If their defending is horrible then everyone else's must be pretty damn bad too.
Haha, good one.
They're getting result like a real champ. Performance is a bonus but not a must as latter year SAF showed. Discounting Tottenham, City games, they won games like vs WestHam and Watford which they didn't perform well while we lost point despite dominating the WestHam game for huge period as well as what happened with Watford, or City dominating teams but kept drawing games at time.
Credit where it's due, Conte pretty turned Chelsea around and be proper contender for the title.
But i Guess fabreags will also be banned with fernandinho. He slapped him first according to new footage.
They're playing like last year's Leicester but obviously with much more talented players.
Their formation and approach is very pragmatic, defensive and more pro-active without the ball than on it. The game changing moments are in their 2nd ball challenges, and counter attacking through the space by inviting pressure; it's less through possession and winning the midfield battle.
Last year for about 6-7 months straight, I was like 'they'll get found out and opponents will adapt to their game plan' on Leicester. I'm not gonna do that again about Chelsea..
Their formation and approach is very pragmatic, defensive and more pro-active without the ball than on it. The game changing moments are in their 2nd ball challenges, and counter attacking through the space by inviting pressure; it's less through possession and winning the midfield battle.
Last year for about 6-7 months straight, I was like 'they'll get found out and opponents will adapt to their game plan' on Leicester. I'm not gonna do that again about Chelsea..
Completely disagree with this. Scoreline suggests a different story to what actually happened. City were by far the more dominant team till Chelsea scored their second.
If David Luiz gets sent off early in the game it's all over but they get lucky. City finishing kinda reminded me of us. Any other day Aguero would've atleast got a brace.
However having said that, Chelsea played some amazing counterattack and really took advantage of their luck
This. Sadly I'm going to have to agree with this one. However Aguero axed for a few games will be critical. They also got lucky in that their other striker Iheanacho got off with only a yellow
They're really impressing me. While I don't think they were clearly the better team yesterday - in fact I think City could (and should) have had the game almost wrapped up - they have a pretty strong mentality and resolve.
Why would Luiz have been sent off? Surely not for Aguero's dive - which was pretty obvious from the replay that gave us the referee's view. Chelsea defended very well against a team who attack really well. They were lucky with De Bruyne's miss but the rest was good defense. Overall it was a great display by both teams - made El Classico look like two teams of old ladies.
People tend to forget that Conte didn't get any of the players he targeted in the summer, so for all intents and purposes, this is not the team he had in mind when he accepted the CFC job. When he strengthens the squad, and some newcomers may arrive even in January, then this Chelsea side could be judged properly.
Anyone else think they're not getting their due respect for how entertaining they've been this season? Every media outlet has been jizzing over Guardiola's continental tiki taka or Poch's high octane press, but IMO Chelsea in this run of form has been the most entertaining side this year.
I don't think Chelsea has looked as imperious as the league table suggests. They were very fortunate yesterday, and City really should have killed the game before thy could mount a comeback.
Also, i feel that their squad gets underestimated due to last years anomaly. Costa, Hazard, Fabregas etc are top drawer players that would walk into every other PL side.
Conte has done very well, no one could deny that, but i don't think Chelsea are that good either
To be honest, me neither. That is why I was hoping for a top 4 finish.
If its not us(likely), I'd much rather they won it than City/Pool/Arsenal/Spurs etc.
They are champions elect. And people who think city will win it. lol not with Stones at the back sorry.
Me neither.
They looked very good yesterday in fairness.
I agree to a degree about the psychology of management. It's a really valid point.
My rebuttal is that Klopp was at Dortmund and Mainz for 7+ seasons and left both clubs on great terms.
How many times have Conte/Klopp/Poch/Pep been relieved of there roles? It's a bit different with Mourinho.
It says a lot about Conte that he had the balls to change it.... bring in players Jose wouldn't give light of day to and turn them into title favourites.
I genuinely think once he gets "his" team in, theyll be solid
I genuinely think once he gets "his" team in, theyll be solid