Sure, new wife better than old wife.
When was the last time Arsenal did well at Stamford Bridge? I would call it a big result for Arsenal that they even put up a decent fight.
Chelsea 2018/19 - 3rd and European Champions. Sarri, not sorry
- Thread starter duffer
- Start date
They beat arse. I wouldn’t call it cream puff. Beating what they can while a complete change in style is underway. What will bite them is their terrible strikers upfront.
That I agree.
Agreed.
You may recall that we started terribly under Conte and it took a radical new system before we kicked on. Surely you can admit that it's encouraging that we've hit the ground running with Sarri? That we look miles better with the ball? That unlike under Conte & Mourinho, we play like a big team that likes to assert dominance rather than setting up to counter attack and park the bus against other top teams?
I mean, it's really not hard to understand why Chelsea fans are excited. None of us are deluded enough to think we're winning or even challenging for the title. No one is going over the top here.
Which big team did you play? Arsenal away to Chelsea hasn't been a big fixture for ages. I remember going to Stamford Bridge with Jose in his first season against Conte and getting our asses absolutely handed to us.
Jorginho’s lack of awareness after going up was very disturbing. He wasn’t finding any space for himself and refused to turn into space when he could. Constantly putting himself and his teammates under pressure. He’s supposed to be the one running the show.
You keep putting down Arsenal but they're still a tough outting for anyone in this league.
It was Azpilicueta's 200th game for us today. We've spunked a ton of dosh, sometimes on absolute shit but what a bargain at £7 million.
If you offered me Chelsea winning the title over City and Liverpool, I'd be very tempted to take the deal. I have mixed feelings watching them because on the one hand it's not a club I like and they're still a sugar daddy bankrolled club, on the other hand I cannot stand another year of Pep arse licking or heaven forbid it's actually the Scousers' year.
Problem is a resurgent Chelsea puts our place in the top 4 in danger.
Problem is a resurgent Chelsea puts our place in the top 4 in danger.
This Chelsea team is still a work in progress, Sarri said that it would take up to 3 months for the team to play the way he wants them to. Still impressive seeing the team dominate games and win 3 out of 3 matches in this process, would be interesting to see how much this team can improve under Sarri in the coming months.
Kante is playing some sort of weird right mid/ winger role at times for them. Seems a bit odd. They're playing well though.
He's a true box to box player now who will fill in that advanced right sided place when Pedro cuts inside. Thought he was very good today and will really grow into the new role. He's extremely underrated on the ball. Many assume he's a pure DM who just tackles but he can play with the ball at his feet very comfortably.
What's funny is that just a month ago he was sitting literally just in front of the CB's for France and he has now seamlessly changed positions entirely for Chelsea.
I genuinely think Chelsea will win the title this season. I've said it earlier. No team has retained the title since SAF era and I expect that to continue. City might seem all conquering but I expect them to hit a slump at some point, Wolves has shown that if you take the game to them, they can be vulnerable. Liverpool won't win the title as they have no experience and will somehow choke it. Chelsea is an experienced team who's been there, done that. They always bounce back strongly after a poor season and interestingly, always win it under a new coach who always happens to be Italian. 3 games, 3 wins. Last 2 games were against Arsenal and Newcastle away, these are good teams. Newcastle being their bogey team which they always seem to struggle away. How fitting they won via an own goal when it was Newcastle who ended their top 4 hopes last season. The only thing that could hold them back is a lack of a top striker, Morata needs to step up massively. They should have bought Higuain.
I think staying at Chelsea to play under Sarri might actually be better for his top level than going to Madrid and having to live up to a "Galactico" reputation. I've always liked the team player Hazard better than the soloist (the distinction being one of balance in his game), and I think there's more potential to it for his remaining peak years.
Chelsea can challenge for the title this year and while it normally takes a bit of time for any coach to put his blueprint on the team, you can already see how Chelsea under Sarri will look once they get more comfortable.
Absolutely dominant in posession.
It took both Guardiola and Klopp about a year to transform their teams, its only fair to give Sarri a bit of time, too. I think by winter that Chelsea team will be unplayable. They just need some end product and watch out.
I can easily see them winning the league.
Absolutely dominant in posession.
It took both Guardiola and Klopp about a year to transform their teams, its only fair to give Sarri a bit of time, too. I think by winter that Chelsea team will be unplayable. They just need some end product and watch out.
I can easily see them winning the league.
I’ve always thought he’d be a terrible match for Real. He’s a player who cares about being happy, he’s never been that Ronaldo type who is driven to achieve above everything. I think once he inevitably hit a poor patch and started getting booed by the Real fans, it would bother him a lot. Could be wrong of course, but that’s the way he’s always come across. I have high hopes for him under Sarri.
Easily one of the best defenders in this league.
Conte won the league in his first season, so Sarri could surely do it too. But it depends what kind of teams he'll put out in the Europa League. Once that starts we may see Chelsea's league form drop.
I mean, to be fair, Conte didn't have the competition in the league like Sarri does this season. Liverpool and City are better now two seasons on. Sarri has probably come in at the most unfortunate time, when City and Liverpool are both arguably at their best. I really don't expect us to challenge this season. Top four was always the aim for us, but if we end up challenging it would be a very pleasant surprise.
Unplayable seems like a bit much to me. Who are the great goalscorers in this team? Apart from all their fancy play, City have Aguero to give the cutting edge.
Although its tough on Sarri, I think he's come in at exactly the right time*. We have a chance to compete with the new City and Liverpool now.
*Well really last season would have been the perfect time, but hey..
Dont see us challenging for the title this year but I can see us finishing 3rd.
Its been a great transition so far and I was concerned about where the goals would come from.
8 goals in 3 games is pretty decent. Hopefully we push on from here.
Its been a great transition so far and I was concerned about where the goals would come from.
8 goals in 3 games is pretty decent. Hopefully we push on from here.
There was a beautiful passing exchange with Willian yesterday that impressed me.
Luiz is such an abomination of a player. Can’t believe he’s still there.
Sarri must clearly think his ability on the ball outweighs his defensive lapses. In this system where we have the ball so much he does start a lot of our attacks from the back. Something Cahill or Christensen don't/can't and they are the two alternatives.
I think opposition fans think Luiz is much worse than he actually is. People act like he makes 5 terrible mistakes every match. The few mistakes he does make are amplified and scrutinized more because of who he is.
Agreed. He gets criticized a lot on here because he's not your typical no-nonsense CB but he still has his use and strenghts, although I don't rank him anywhere the top CBs in the league and that's saying something in this day and age.
I wouldn't mind if he still starts when we play you guys in a few weeks time.
Thought he was very good yesterday apart from that one error which could have cost us the game. I think your post is a bit harsh.
Yeah, that's the sort of match where I'd much rather start with Rüdiger and Christensen. In games when we boss possession Luiz is a great weapon to have at the back. Against sides like yourselves and City who have loads of pace it could be disastrous to have both Luiz and Alonso.
As far as ranking him amongst the top CB's in the league, idk. VVD, Vertonghen, and Toby A are top class. Maguire has more to prove for me. I personally think Rüdiger is up there. After that I don't think anyone else is clearly better than Luiz. You look at someone like Stones who the English media cream themselves but he makes silly mistakes from time to time trying to play with the ball just like Luiz.
People on this forum and elsewhere around the net act like Luiz is the worst CB in the league. There's a reason why some of the world's best managers have fancied him. He's got a unique skill set for the position.
I know it's a cliche but that game could be literally anything.
You will ruthlessly exploit the space we leave in behind and i can't see you guys even with VVD keeping a clean sheet against Sarriball. Hopefully Rudiger switches to LCB as he is one of the few (if only) players that seems to have Salah's number.
How come other coaches are able to get their teams to play how they want so quickly?
Seems such a foreign concept at United.
Seems such a foreign concept at United.
Some really nice football played so far, it will be interesting to see if there will be defensive reinforcements during the January market as it is their most suspect area (much like ours over the past decade).
9/9 points is a good start.
Not so much United - rather the managers. Moyes and Mourinho have no plan so we just constantly look(ed) like a mess. Under van Gaal, he got us playing the way he wanted relatively quick with the possession football. It's just his philosophy was completely rubbish with the lack of movement and fluidity he wanted.
If we had got in Sarri, Klopp, Pep, Poch, etc, I'm sure we'd see some sort of plan as to how we'd like to play under them relatively soon, too.
We are still supposedly in transition
. It's been 5 years now since Fergie left and we are still clueless!David Luiz is a very good player. He has concentration lapses now and then but in no way is he a bad centre back. That is just totally false. Yesterday he played well but that one mistake will get magnified because it's David Luiz.
He is a very skilled player who did a good job for us in a defensive midfield role and I think he is suited to it more than CB, and i still say apart from VVD and 1 or 2 others there aren't many better passers of the ball in our league out from the back.
He is a very skilled player who did a good job for us in a defensive midfield role and I think he is suited to it more than CB, and i still say apart from VVD and 1 or 2 others there aren't many better passers of the ball in our league out from the back.
I also think a lot of people have written us off far too soon. You'd think it'd have sunk in by now that when people say we are in crisis or falling behind, we tend to come back and win the league. Not saying that will happen now but it is not impossible. It's only been 3 games but once we can get the back 4 a little more solid, we will be hard to beat.
He's won and been a key part of teams winning leagues in 3 different countries. Been a key player reaching finals and winning multiple domestic cups, the Champions League, The Europa League and won a confederations cup with Brazil + over 50 caps.
Key member of our dressing room imo too.
Can't believe how over rated players are in England who've won absolutely nothing and only ever tried playing in one country.
Yet Luiz and others endlessly criticized..
How has Sarri completely implemented his ‘philosophy’ in 3 games?
It's such a big difference from our previous few years style that it's very noticeable. Having a player at the heart of the side (Jorginho) who knows the system has made a huge difference. If he'd gone to Man City, we would have been fecked.
We're nowhere near the finished article but "play with the ball" is easy to spot compared to "let them have the ball".