Jorginho in front of the defence
Chelsea 2018/19 - 3rd and European Champions. Sarri, not sorry
- Thread starter duffer
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3 man midfield, Jorginho in the middle, just in front the two central defenders. Kante and Fabregas or Barkley as the other two.
This. Really looking forward to seeing Kante pressing the opposition and winning possession higher up the pitch rather than sitting deeper and initiating counter attacks like in seasons past.
Just saw we play Arsenal on Wednesday. They're already clicking as a team, might not be the best time to play them while we're still working on getting back in to fitness but I just hope the guys take it seriously -- at least for bragging rights.
Anyone bragging about a friendly result is a bit of a dick.
Unless we smash them, them I will unleash hell on my Gooner friends.
Any thoughts on the possible links to Pulisic? Still not 100% convinced he's an ideal fit for the RW in Sarri-ball as he's often a bit deeper for Dortmund and not necessarily running in behind at every opportunity, but to be fair he does play in a more advanced position for the US and many of these same concerns apply to Willian.
That said, the transfer muppet in me is going berserk and I'd swap Willian for him in an absolute heartbeat.
That said, the transfer muppet in me is going berserk and I'd swap Willian for him in an absolute heartbeat.
Willian has all but just said hes staying at chelsea. Would be very suprised to see us get a RW in now. CB is looking like the only position.
A goal scoring winger would be nice. Willian is far too comfortable in his position given that Pedro is basically his only threat to his starting role. He's only scored 19 goals in the last 3 seasons in the league.
I agree with you but i think realistically now Willian has said hes happy in London and wants to stay, we wont be signing another winger.
Hazard,Willian,Pedro,Hudson Odoi most likely.
Wouldn't surprise me if Pedro ends up ahead of him again. The Spaniard grew up playing the type of footy Sarri is trying to implement.
Why is Chelsea after Vecino? Is Kante off or something?
I reckon Drinkwater will leave and Bakayoko's future is still up in the air.
Kante won't leave for sure.
Sarri probably wants players who already know his system and tactical instructions. Maybe as cover too. I guess we'll be stacked in midfield, or Sarri will have to rotate a lot in the cups etc so all the players get game time.
Wasn't that impressed by Vecino in the world cup but admittedly I have seen little of him, is he any good?
Let's see if i'm up to speed:
Courtois/Caballero, Azpi/Moses, Christensen/Rudiger/David Luiz/Cahill, Alonso/Emerson, Jorginho/Cesc, Kante/Bakayoko, Barkley/RLC, Hazard/?Hudson-Odoi?, Morata/Giroud/Batshuay, Pedro/Willian. With Drinkwater the odd one out?
Heh. Can see why Sarri would want a CB comfortable on the ball and an attacking CM with goals in him...
Still. That's not a bad team
Courtois/Caballero, Azpi/Moses, Christensen/Rudiger/David Luiz/Cahill, Alonso/Emerson, Jorginho/Cesc, Kante/Bakayoko, Barkley/RLC, Hazard/?Hudson-Odoi?, Morata/Giroud/Batshuay, Pedro/Willian. With Drinkwater the odd one out?
Heh. Can see why Sarri would want a CB comfortable on the ball and an attacking CM with goals in him...
Still. That's not a bad team
Big squad for sure, don't want to see us playing Caballero much, his confidence looks totally shot, even Green could be a better bet if Courtois (or his replacement?) is out. Presumably Sarri will be hoping we go far in all 3 cup competitions in which case we'll play 60+ games this season and most of the squad should get a reasonable amount of minutes.
Hard to say exactly who would be in our first 11 except Courtois, Kante, Jorgino and Hazard. All other positions up for grabs with the new system. Hopefully will bring the best out of the players.
I think Luiz is going to have a big part to play this year. He’s our best ball playing defender by a comfortable margin.
He's also a rubbish defender with huge concentration issues. Don't think he'll play much at all
This is a myth. He’s an extremely good defender who is prone to losing his composure and making bad mistakes as a result. The thing is, those bad mistakes are a lot rarer than people assume, because every time they happen they are shown everywhere so he becomes one of those players people assume is always going to mess up. Even Chelsea fans tend to think of him as more gaffe prone than he actually is in reality, because the big ones stick in the mind. If you doubt this, try looking at his stats and see how many times he actually is at fault for a goal.
There’s a reason his transfer fees have been so high. The real question now is whether Sarri will consider his qualities (he’s a very, VERY good defender and distributer of the ball, and a massive positive character on and off field for us) are enough to justify the occasional clanger.
Well said on Luiz.
Hopefully we can manage to get Kante and Hazard on new deals for when the season starts as that will be a massive boost.
Think I still expect 1 maybe 2 more signings but we will see, never trust anything with our board.
Our XI is strong though as strong as arguably anyones in the league bar city, will just depend on our youth players and squad players contributing and adapting to the new system.
Tibo
Azpi ------- Rudiger ----- Christansen ------ Emerson
Jorghinho
Kante - Fabregas/RLC/Barkley
Willian/Pedro Morata Hazard
That will most likely be our strongest XI with a few positions up for debate.
Well said on Luiz but you don't put him in your strongest 11? Odd. Surely he's better than Christensen?
Yeah, I’m happy with that. Maybe Luiz for Christiansen just while the young lad settles in a bit more, but overall I think it’s a really positive lineup. I think the doom-laden atmosphere of last season made people forget just how strong our squad actually is.
Azpilicueta gets to play RB for the first time in 4 years I believe. That XI is screaming for a better RW. If Sarri would only move Willian to the left of Jorginho...
I really rate Christensen very highly, he made some very big mistakes last year and his rep took a hit.
I think he is quality and composed on the ball and will be a really good fit for Sarri.
Multiple prem winners still in the squad.
In areas where we have older important players Luiz, we have younger talented players (Christensen and rudiger), same with Fabregas (RLC/Barkley).
Kante will sign a new deal and hopefully we can convince Hazard.
The only problem I see personally is Tibo going which is fine, hopefully he stays this season and leaves and we replace him next summer.
We also have a lot of players in our team that will be suited and more happy in this style of player, E.g bashuayi, morata,hazard, willian, pedro & fabregas.
We have got a top coach in and I am very optimistic about the season, don't expect us to win the title as I think that is City's but definitely feel we should be able to compete with the other teams.
That’s basically exactly my take on it all too. The Christensen thing actually pissed me off quite a bit. The lad had an overall great season, but he’s young and inevitably made a few mistakes. Yet some of the same people endlessly calling for youth to be played immediately started slating him. Ridiculous really.
Yeah I really rate him, we need to look at RLC, Hudson Odoi, Barkley as essentially new signings this summer as all have had limited gametime but can make a big impact on the squad.
Refreshing to have a manager who will encourage them to express themselves when playing.
Given how Zappacosta is looking so much better/more suited to Sarri than Emerson or Alonso is so far, could see him back on the left, atleast initially.
Pretty much, and he can tend to lose his head a bit if he has a rough start to the game (Brazil 1-7 Germany).
But overall he is a quality defender who, with the exception of Jose's first season back and the first half of last season, we have overall looked more solid with him in than not.
There's a grand total of 2 players I'd really want at United from that (Kante and Hazard), I'm not seeing an XI there that on paper matches ours, Spurs' or Liverpool's
Unless we're expecting Morata to get 20+ in the league and for Willian and Pedro to suddenly morph into reliable goal scorers, I still just fail to see where enough goals will come from.
I feel like entering the season without signing a single attacking player is crazy.
I feel like entering the season without signing a single attacking player is crazy.
Azpi, Rüdiger, Kante, Hazard, and Willian all walk into your team. Azpi is probably the best overall defender in the league but you wouldn't have him?
If Hazard goes I think Chelsea look very weak going forward.
Rudiger won't. Rest will.
He said he wouldn't Willian here, he'd instantly improve our XI, but ofcourse due to age and price, majority of United fans don't want him.
Personally I'd have
De Gea
Valencia - Bailly - Azpi - Young
Kante - Matic - Pogba
Alexis - Lukaku - Hazard
Valencia - Bailly - Azpi - Young
Kante - Matic - Pogba
Alexis - Lukaku - Hazard
Rüdiger was great last season for us. Come on, he's easily better than Jones, Smalling, and Rojo. Don't think you'll find anyone outside of some United fans who would take any of those over Rüdiger.
Hmm. I don't know. Much as I think Alonso and Moses are not so great, I'd certainly not have aging and also average Valencia & Young over either of them. Didn't Bailly barely play last season? Don't know how you can say he's better than Rüdiger who had a very good season.
Whether you have players who would fill voids in our side isn't the point in question though because if that were then yes Willian would but Hazard wouldn't. The point that was made was that Chelsea have as strong an XI as everyone bar City, my retort was you only have 2 players I'd really want, the rest of the side looks bang average (judgement reserved on Jorginho though)
Fair enough if that's what you see. As a Chelsea fan looking at your side, I likewise only see 2-3 players I'd have at Chelsea with the rest looking average. I'd have Lukaku, Pogba, and DDG.
That's fair enough though its safe to say you missed Matic last season
for me:
De Gea
Azpilicueta - Bailly - Rudiger - Young
Kante - Jorginho - Pogba
Alexis - Lukaku - Hazard
Azpilicueta - Bailly - Rudiger - Young
Kante - Jorginho - Pogba
Alexis - Lukaku - Hazard
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Understandable and fair point of view, as united for a direct example.
I would quite obviously rather Azpi than Valencia/Dalot as that's a no brainer really.
Christensen and Rudiger to me are in no way inferior to Jones & Smalling.
Emerson is probably quite unknown for most non Chelsea fans but I think he is great going forward when he plays and will cement his position this year.
Pogba is your only CM I would like seeing as we sold you one the other one and Fred is an unknown, Jorghino/ for me walks in there but we will wait and see how he performs in the prem. Kante, no need to say anything on.
RW your options are better obviously except none of your players want to play there and Sanchez is a hard one to compare, the Arsenal Sanchez I would take in a heartbeat but the United Sanchez so far obviously not.
Ultimately its only Pogba, Lukaku & De Gea that I would want to take from United so I guess its all POV.
Last season, no doubt. Don't think there'd be a place for Matic in this coming season's XI, though.That's fair enough though its safe to say you missed Matic last season