The Official Chelsea Thread [Vol 3]

[Sparkyhd]

Agree, insane and I'd be bitterly disappointed.

But insanity has worked well for us during the last 15 years so we'll just get on with whatever unfolds.

[Lance Catamaran]

Hopefully just paper talk - they said he was on the verge of being sacked a few months into last season as well. I can see his frustration with the lack of transfer activity though. Surely the board must know we're desperately short on depth. The Oxlade-Chamberlin, Barkley and Drinkwater rumours aren't going away so there's likely some truth to them, but £40 million for Drinkwater hardly sounds like a statement of intent.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Athletico, Roma and Qarabag (of Azerbaijan). Man U have a p1ss easy group, and Spurs are out!

[smn159]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Spurs are out!

Have an English side ever lost all of their group games?

[Black can man]

Athletico

Wonder whom Diego will be cheering ?

[Lance Catamaran]

Nice professional performance for a potentially difficult fixture, especially going into the international break. Seems that crisis only lasted 45 minutes.

[dsmith1990]

Agreed, much more straightforward than I expected and should have got a couple more.

Gueye should have gone first half for that challenge but at least it hasn't ended up affecting the result.

[Sparkyhd]

Thought Everton were better than that but if you insist on playing in kit that looks like your mum's put it through too long a hot cycle you get what you deserve.

[Lance Catamaran]

Mail are reporting we've agreed a £35 million fee for Oxlade-Chamberlin

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-...

Although after yesterday I'm betting a lot of Arsenal fans would drive him to the Bridge themslves

[Sparkyhd]

Conte's methods and demands for effort will be a shock to his system having spent a few years under the Arsene regime of "don't worry about running back if you find it too exhausting."

[aeropilot]

Sparkyhd said:

Conte's methods and demands for effort will be a shock to his system having spent a few years under the Arsene regime of "don't worry about running back if you find it too exhausting."

Indeed.

But, hopefully the lad will flourish under Conte, and become the player that he'll never become under Wenger.

[jammy-git]

I'd say Ox is one of the only players in the Arsenal team that does put in a shift and bothers to get back when required.

[968]

Sparkyhd said:

Conte's methods and demands for effort will be a shock to his system having spent a few years under the Arsene regime of "don't worry about running back if you find it too exhausting."

Don't rate him. He's another Sean Wright Phillips. Hopefully he will flourish under better and more professional management and will get fitter but it's an odd deal as hardly a priority. But then again, buy Rudiger and send Zouma on loan is bizarre as is loaning out Loftus Cheek

[monty999]

Maybe Conte has a specific role for him in his 'system'. I think everyone was amazed at the introduction of Moses and Alonso, both whose career's were going nowhere - after a loan period at Stoke just to get him off the wage bill I couldn't see Moses playing a major role in a title winning side but fortunately proved most wrong. Lets just see and trust in Antonio, he knows what he's doing (I hope !)

[ou sont les biscuits]

monty999 said:

Maybe Conte has a specific role for him in his 'system'. I think everyone was amazed at the introduction of Moses and Alonso, both whose career's were going nowhere - after a loan period at Stoke just to get him off the wage bill I couldn't see Moses playing a major role in a title winning side but fortunately proved most wrong. Lets just see and trust in Antonio, he knows what he's doing (I hope !)

Well, one of the roles that Oxocube can play - although he whinges about it - is right wing back. And we do need cover ( or someone better) in that role.

I'd be happy if the deal comes off.

[smn159]

ou sont les biscuits said:

Well, one of the roles that Oxocube can play - although he whinges about it - is right wing back. And we do need cover ( or someone better) in that role.

I'd be happy if the deal comes off.

Looks like he's turned down the move because he wants to play in central midfield

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41077833

[Sparkyhd]

Better we know before we sign him.

[Sparkyhd]

We're now bidding for Drinkwater and Barkley, both currently out injured.

We seem to have a penchant for signing injured players who never perform the same post recovery. Torres and Shevchenko as examples.

[m3sye]

Sparkyhd said:

We're now bidding for Drinkwater and Barkley, both currently out injured.

We seem to have a penchant for signing injured players who never perform the same post recovery. Torres and Shevchenko as examples.

Surely neither of those are wetting the champions appetite - both very much meh players ?
Drinkwater an upgrade on Matic? surely not

Barkley - very much a flash in the pan player.... loses the ball far to much, the odd 30 yard goals keeps his stock a little higher than it probably should be?

[trackdemon]

Yep; neither of those excite. Decent squad signings to keep the stars sharp for big games, but then I'm not sure that philosophy works anyway. We need to be after a couple of big names, but it seems the purse strings are tight....