₦airaland Forum

Phuck this talk, you don't expect a manager to perform with a bunch of fagged out legs and couple of panic buys.

How do you expect tactics to bell you out when the system isn't right?

No matter how good you are as a manager, if the players at your disposal aren't just good enough, your tactics are there to beautify the bull crap you've been handed.

I asserted before the season started that we needed two CMs, two defs and a forward. How many ninjas did we end up with?

Conte even had to express his discontentment at some point, that was how bad it was. Let's not all act like we are in possession of short memories buds.

This man wanted Koulibaly but was given Luiz in return. This man wanted Candreva, Ricardo Rodriguez et al but got either uber-crap or nada in return.

Now how do you expect a mansion that was built on a fvcked up foundation to stand? Tell me how? My best guess is miracle, one factor we must heavily rely on this season.

Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois has the worst save ratio this Premier League season.

Dear @ChelseaFC, Don't do another KDB, activate Thorgan Hazard's buyback clause before it expires. Sincerely, Every Chelsea fan with a clue.

— All Things Chelsea (@RomansMafia) September 28, 2016

Thorgan Hazard has now been involved in eight goals (7 goals, 1 assist) in his last eight games for Borussia Monchengladbach. Buyback.

— OptaChelsea (@OptaChels) September 28, 2016

Thorgan Hazard would cost @ChelseaFC – €15m (£12.93m) #cfc

— Adam-Thibauted (@Chalobahed) September 28, 2016

Thorgan hazard has scored 8 goals this season, and Willian has scored 20 his whole Chelsea career..

— ㅤㅤㅤ (@Oscarholic) September 28, 2016

Thorgan Hazard this season:
10 games
550 minutes
7 goals
3 assists
Decisive every 55 mins. #cfc

— Kristof Terreur (@HLNinEngeland) September 28, 2016

Patrick Herrmann on Thorgan Hazard's goal:

"I've rarely experienced an atmosphere like that after a goal. It was like an earthquake!" pic.twitter.com/1gyGzoEcYL

— Squawka News (@SquawkaNews) September 28, 2016

Next season:

Tammy Abraham
Thorgan Hazard
Andreas Christensen
Lewis Baker
Charly Musonda

Cost: €15m

— Danté (@ConteWarMachine) September 28, 2016

Thorgan Hazard was @WhoScored's Man of the Match vs Barcelona. pic.twitter.com/9zZa47ZqRA

— Hazard Stuff (@HazardStuff) September 28, 2016

Thorgan Hazard keeps doing stuff. At a buyback price of just €15m it would be stupid for #CFC not to use it, even if just to spin a profit.

— Chelsea Youth (@chelseayouth) September 28, 2016

I guess the fans are at it again!

Don't I just love Nigerians?

Every season same issue yet niggas don't see the sign.

Aint got time for hackneyed talks.

25milla for Micheal Keane when we can easily recall Andreas who's much more better? Who is smoking what at SW6?

Must be his alter-ego checking in

Goals everywhere and Zlatan seems to have gone AWOL, not even an assist to his name? This kinda sh1t make me look like a genius. I stripped that ninja of his captain band in the last minute.

Captain Lukaku get on that starting eleven and find that damn Onion bag!

Nihilist:
The dream is over. I'm just happy I got to witness it in my own life time.

I guess that Jose is vulnerable right now and is choosing to fit round pegs in round holes now, instead of trying to do his usual overskill.

I'm just very annoyed that we are the ones that suffered the collateral damage of his hubris.

The very words of Paul Merson sums it all up:

''I think he's tip-toeing at the moment.''

"I mean that in a way where he doesn't know what his best team is. I feel he's trying to keep everyone happy at the moment. What happened at Chelsea has knocked his confidence a little bit.

"Instead of going bang, bang, bang and making big decisions it's been a bit more careful because of the situation of what happened at Chelsea. He needs to sort it out quickly and put out what he believes is his best team."

Cold-blooded truth.

Congratulations Ibime. I am happy for you man. Hopefully, Nihilist and Nateevs' lads would come lurking around your door in some years time

Bimffo:
E wan return go spain?

The guy is not just Loyal. He is not Near Loyal.

Ibime:
Make that boy pack him load go. I staunchly told niggas supporting his usurpation of Cech that only a foolish team throws away a 32 year old World Class keeper using the excuse of age. Keepers that play till 40 easily.

Nihilist:
LMAO.

Someone that was reportedly fluttering eyes at Madrid.

I personally would love it if he was playing for a move. At least he would be playing at the top of his game to try and attract a new club.

But the mugu is just playing nonsense and chatting nonsense.

It's quite pathetic. Just like a big pal would have it, great goalies are brick walls. The foundation of that wall the mind.

Courtois has officially revealed a mind far from laser-focused on stopping footballs; instead his focus is personal career development in which CFC is just a stepping stone.

Kick him out I say.

Impersonating incognito

Shouldn't we be talking about Courtois packing out of SW6? That kid's commitment is a major concern.

Una never hear the last one wey the boy release?

Nihilist:
I don't think we're limiting Kante defensively

Leicester never used to do a full press, and only used to press in their half anyway. They had an average ball possesion of 44% last season, which obviously means that Kante would have had to work harder there simply because his team spent more time off the ball than on it.

This season Kante is playing in a team that averages 56.9% ball possesion. It's no surprise his defensive numbers are down.

Offensively it's a much different story.

At Leicester, Kante would win the ball and quickly make a short pass to Drinkwater to punt to Vardy or Mahrez. His job was simply to tackle and destroy.

At Chelsea he plays a bit more like what Drinkwater was doing at Leicester. He drops between the centrebacks to collect the ball from deep and then starts our distribution. Consequently his pass rate has almost doubled from 39.2 passes per game at Leicester to over 60. Without the enforced urgency of Leicester's counter attacking ethos, he no longer needs to rush hurried passes, and his pass completion ratio has gone up from 81% at Leicester to 94.1% with us.

He also now has the freedom to pick a pass that he lacked at Leicester,which sees him now making 4.4 long balls a game as opposed to 1.7

Kante has become our playmaker on the low. Watch him well next time, and you will notice one of the reasons why Conte feels he can drop Fab. Kante makes more passes than any of our midfielders.

Conte seems to be playing a game where build up from the back is paramount. Against Liverpool, you may have noticed that Luiz and Cahill in conjunction with Kante were attempting a lot of passes at the back, though with very little success. I noticed that after a quick pass combo Cahill would either try to find Willian on the right with a long ball or, Luiz to Hazard, Bonnuci-style.

I'm guessing that if you have a back 3 of 2CBs and a DM who are all quasi playmakers, you can afford to carry non-creative runners like Willian, Oscar and Matic who can just do the legwork and prevent the opponents from pressing the creative back three. At least in Theory.
And thats why David Luiz, Terry, Cahill and Kante have each completed more passes than any other member of the team outside their core group.

The long and short of it is that, contrasting style of play is to be blamed for the numbers Alhaji Kante is posting now. Well I love the logic, it stands. So bye-bye to the days Kante charged around the pitch. Well, I actually loved that version of him to be honest. The only ninja who is close to anything like that is Everton's Gueye. The ninja has made 31 tackles already - nine more than anyone else, and you can see clearly how that hard-work is helping Everton.

This is coming so soon and I really hope Kante can make a success of his new role.

Nihilist:
I actually penned a rather nasty reply my guy, which I redacted along with my original post so that peace could reign. Sometimes you take an L. It happens.

Serves you right

Talking tactics now, what do you ladies make of Kante's change of role?

I bumped into a Sky Sports article that analysed the change and i think their claim is valid. The article explained how kante's tackles, passes and general contribution has regressed ever since he moved to Chelsea.

Under Conte, Kante has been 'forced' to sit comfortably in front of the defensive line, recovering possessions. This is in stark contrast to what we saw him do at leicester last season. His game is all about pressing all over the pitch, hounding opposition players from left to right and making your 90mins look miserable.

I dont know what the don intends to achieve with this change of role - condense space, possessional play or just him paying attention to our backline. Whatever the motive is, i believe it somehow defines his so much talked about 'idea of football' - an idea i'm still trying to wrap my head around.

I'd love to read your views on this issue 'cos personally i think we're tactically limiting Kante.

Meanwhile, Nihilist I trust you're recuperating fast from the fatal accident of yesterday? Stay strong brother, you have my best thoughts.

The reports are quite inconsistent, some say na trailer jam you, while others dey talk say na molue. Which is it abeg and what is the extent of the damage?

Bloody matching on.

Bimffo:
I am in a United mood. So no problem. Alonso couldn't start against that Liverpool side. Lol.

Actually I think his inclusion could have helped Hazard's course. Clyne owned Hazard for the most period of the game. Had Alonso gotten the nod to start, his link up with Eden down the left flank could have caused Liverpool some problems. You know those marauding runs fullbacks make and their deliveries, Dave hardly gave us that down the LB position on Friday.

Bimffo:
Griffon for over 24 hours now, You have not answered me because You can't find a Post where I directly or indirectly referred to You.

Actually, I can recall that the last time I quoted you prior this Friday was in January.

Please and Please, we are grown Men and we shouldn't just cause unnecessary Stir and become nuisances in this great thread of Learning.

And even if we wanna go the way of this Section (The bloody way), and become nuisances we should do that on accurate and correct accusations and not just typing grammar all over the thread to impress people we may never meet in our god damned forsaken Life!

Nigga slow your roll. I deliberately allowed that to slide. You can check up the post where you were vehemently attacking 'Mr Alonso', I'm sure you weren't in anyway advocating for the three man midfield of Luiz, Kante and Fabregas.

If it's a misunderstanding of some sort from my side then you have my apologies, I no get time for all these wuruwuru. If you want a war, no sh1t, I was born ready!

For the records:

Griffon:
As we licked our wounds after dropping two points on Sunday, who do you see sticking his head above the parapet on Friday eve? Us or them kopites?

I've been weighing many options now that JT has been ruled out with a strained ligament. Do we see Luiz making his second debut for us at CB? Or should Don Conte shuffle the midfield by pushing the returning Brazilian into the midfield where he would partner Kante?

Klopp's game is heavily reliant on fast tempo and I don't see a fit JT and Gary keeping the likes of Mane, Coutinho and Firmino at bay for 90mins, chances that we would concede with the two at the heart of defence is damn high. So . . .

I think Conte should replace the injured JT with Bran at the heart of defence. Dave and Alonso as FBs, Luiz and Kante in holding midfield. Hazard and Willian on the flanks. Cesc in the hole. Costa spearheading the attack.

Courtois

Dave Cahill Ivanovic Alonso

Kante. Luiz

Willian Fabregas Hazard

Costa

This setup will do us a lot of good. Defensively, we'd stay astute, with the duo of Luiz and Kante rejecting the space that'll exist between defence and midfield. Going forward, Willian, Cesc and Hazard would have little to worry about. A large part of their defensive duties must have been taken care of by Luiz and Kante, all they need do is dominate play, create chances and of course cause the opposition team havoc.

Costa seems to have his mojo back, so we can trust him to bury the chances that'll come his way.

This is my idea, It would be interesting to read yours.

Nihilist:
Kante is doing his job just fine.

It's thr two guys in front of him that are dulling badly

I wanted the two outta this game, didn't I? A midfield of Kante, Cesc and Luiz could have done us a lot of good.

But then, niggas don't see sign. Even footie neophytes like Bimfoo come follow me dey talk over the tactical move.

Phuck this shit

As we licked our wounds after dropping two points on Sunday, who do you see sticking his head above the parapet on Friday eve?
Us or them kopites?

I've been weighing many options now that JT has been ruled out with a strained ligament. Do we see Luiz making his second debut for us at CB? Or should Don Conte shuffle the midfield by pushing the returning Brazilian into the midfield where he would partner Kante?

Klopp's game is heavily reliant on fast tempo and I don't see a fit JT and Gary keeping the likes of Mane, Coutinho and Firmino at bay for 90mins, chances that we would concede with the two at the heart of defence is damn high. So . . .

I think Conte should replace the injured JT with Bran at the heart of defence. Dave and Alonso as FBs, Luiz and Kante in holding midfield. Hazard and Willian on the flanks. Cesc in the hole. Costa spearheading the attack.

Courtois

Dave Cahill Ivanovic Alonso

Kante. Luiz

Willian Fabregas Hazard

Costa

This setup will do us a lot of good. Defensively, we'd stay astute, with the duo of Luiz and Kante rejecting the space that'll exist between defence and midfield. Going forward, Willian, Cesc and Hazard would have little to worry about. A large part of their defensive duties must have been taken care of by Luiz and Kante, all they need do is dominate play, create chances and of course cause the opposition team havoc.

Costa seems to have his mojo back, so we can trust him to bury the chances that'll come his way.

This is my idea, It would be interesting to read yours.

nateevs:
I saw this somewhere and it just made me laugh.

"IF HE TAKES YOU OUT FOR A ROMANTIC DATE ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHTS... EVEN THURSDAY, THIS SEASON INSTEAD OF WATCHING UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, THEN IT'S NOT LOVE.... HE IS A CHELSEA FAN"

Lmao

patrickmuf:
Short term fix for the amount involved sounds absurd.
Luiz is not as bad a player as many would suggest, with Kante and Matic screening the defense and Conte's conservative approach to the game, I don't see him being exposed often time.

Mind mentioning a single deal that isn't absurd in today's market?

raumdeuter:
So what's the purpose of buying Luiz

Short term fix. We're short of numbers at the back and we needed an addition.

Like someone rightly said, Cristensen and Zouma are the future, that is if all goes as planned.

People don't just learn. Emotions and gambling do not work in tandem.

Government be trying to eradicate polio, some girls be bringing it back.

Greatihex:
Just finished my final year in school. Glory be to God.
The labour market awaits.
Guys, join me in thanking God

Congrats brother. Looking forward to this feat in some months time.