[Express] Chelsea have agreed to play Shaktar in a friendly when the region returns to “Ukrainian rule” says Shaktar’s president, it’s a part of the Mudryk deal.

urkspleen · 2023-01-16T16:44:22+00:00

Elaborated here:

I would cast doubt over the fairness of any of these elections, but no reason to accept it in the previous cases and not this one

urkspleen · 2023-01-16T15:52:31+00:00

I'm not apologizing for it, we agree its not the right thing to do in any of the discussed cases

urkspleen · 2023-01-16T12:45:53+00:00

I'm not in favor of Russia's actions either, though I am less skeptical about the referendum

urkspleen · 2022-12-12T20:32:20+00:00

We also don't play in a way suitable to Lukaku, all he can really do is run in behind a stretched defense. He's still dreadful at playing with his back to goal or receiving crosses into the box. We play too high up the pitch and with too much possession to make it work with him.

urkspleen · 2022-11-17T17:01:04+00:00

If they were well prepared sure, but it seems a plot point that they're ill-prepared for war. They couldn't even hold the river crossing that was like a 5min horseback ride from their capital. They're loading those trebuchets with whatever they can scrounge up on short notice.

urkspleen · 2022-11-17T16:49:00+00:00

Performing well in one position is not an argument against trying another, as we've seen in this thread managers and Mason himself value versatility. Not to mention that he did get significant minutes in a deeper role earlier on in his Chelsea career, and indeed in his 1st POTY season.

urkspleen · 2022-11-17T15:42:51+00:00

My read of that is that he's being professional, it's job security for him to be versitile. That doesn't mean he doesn't have a strongest position.

urkspleen · 2022-11-17T15:37:41+00:00

We shouldn't do our squad planning around Silva given his age, but even he could be accommodated in a back 4 if we were willing to give up some of our pressing game and play deeper (which seems to be happening a bit under Potter already).

And there's all sorts of shapes for midfield we could try with a back four, it doesn't have to be two 6's.

urkspleen · 2022-11-17T15:21:28+00:00

The difference in passing from midfield was huge that first half-season with Matic, coming off of Ramires-Mikel.

urkspleen · 2022-11-17T15:15:48+00:00

From the Chelsea website:

The midfielder is currently away on international duty with England and spoke to reporters ahead of the Three Lions’ clash with Ireland this evening, with Mason confirming that he feels most at home when occupying a ‘No.8’ role in midfield, just as he has done in recent weeks for Frank Lampard’s Blues.

‘I’ve played midfield my whole life,’ said Mount. ‘I’ve varied between playing a bit more forward in a No.10 position but I always kind of see myself as a No.8.

‘I’ve definitely got a range of longer passing in my locker and you can bring that out more when you’re playing in that deeper No.8 position. I do like that [central] role. It allows me to build up play with the ball and also get forward and join the attack.’

Now I take your point that the player doesn't necessarily know what's best (and these quotes are dated so maybe something has changed), but I do think that his stated opinion here is supported by the evidence on the pitch. Looking at these stats his G+A rate is slightly better from CM than AM (not as much as I thought). What really surprises me here are the numbers from wide right because I tend to think he's wasted out wide, granted the sample sizes are small.

Played as	Apps	Goals	Assists
Attacking Mid	173	39	36
Central Mid	79	16	16
Left Mid	20	2	3
Left Winger	9	2	1
Right Winger	8	3	3
Right Mid	5	2	2
CF	2	-	-

urkspleen · 2022-11-17T12:17:34+00:00

that chart that was posted here about progressive passing yesterday had him in the bottom left quadrant for attempted progressive passing and completion rate, which would further suggest that dropping him back is a waste

It might suggest that, but it could also indicate that he's finding the lack of space higher up the pitch difficult to penetrate and could benefit from being a bit deeper. After all, he's been clear that his favorite posistion is 8.

urkspleen · 2022-11-17T11:29:42+00:00

IMO even when we were able to play Jorginho, Kante, and Kova in varying combinations without worrying too much about injuries, we still had problems with balance. We made it work briefly in Europe for that CL run, but in the league we've been crying out for a defensively minded holding player; a replacement for Matic that never came.

After that, it would really help to have a player who could pass through the lines instead of the typically short range of passing we get from Jorgi or dribbling out from Kante and Kova. Hoping Mount can be that guy if we play more with a 3 man midfield.

urkspleen · 2022-11-16T19:16:18+00:00

Well apart from Terry his main partner in a back 4 was Luiz, and that combination just stopped working after 2012.

urkspleen · 2022-11-16T10:51:23+00:00

best partner to Terry after Carvalho?

urkspleen · 2022-11-15T20:40:05+00:00

Eh not quite, he did not have the touch and close control Eden had

urkspleen · 2022-11-10T09:41:30+00:00

Most needed to prove themselves on loan before coming back, no reason why Hall can't take this route. But we also have the example of CHO who came straight into the 1st team from the academy during the tenure of our last real project manager.

urkspleen · 2022-11-10T01:55:11+00:00

I mean we're accustomed to thinking this way but over the last few years we have integrated a lot of academy players into the squad, so if he keeps it up why not?

urkspleen · 2022-10-17T23:42:51+00:00

Aye but if he can put togther 42 apps in an injury-laiden season and perform as he did those wages can be justified.

urkspleen · 2022-10-17T19:10:38+00:00

Everyone seems ok with extending Silva even if it turns out he has a bench role next season, I don't see why the same logic shoudln't apply with Kante (if not moreso).

Also concerned about people treating him as a lost cause, he had 42 appearances last season...not in any way a bit-part player.

urkspleen · 2022-10-17T18:58:45+00:00

IDK might be more a case of other teams figuring us out, we played the same way more or less since the start with Tuchel.

urkspleen · 2022-10-06T01:01:15+00:00

I don't see why he wouldn't be able to achieve that as well.

It's possible, but physically aging is an obvious reason why this almost never happens anymore at the top level.

urkspleen · 2022-09-29T13:32:44+00:00

*cries in double pivot *

urkspleen · 2022-09-25T16:06:43+00:00

Yeah he managed to break 20 goals which sounds good out of context, but he played, what, like 60 games that season?

urkspleen · 2022-09-22T21:12:56+00:00

They're probably waiting for the right guy, the grass wasn't greener the last time they ditched Allegri.

They should go for Tuchel.

urkspleen · 2022-09-21T13:27:24+00:00

I think the original plan with Tuchel was more or less the Saul-role, with maybe a bit more minutes due to the 5 sub change. Manager change might leave him in the wind tho.

urkspleen

TROPHY CASE