Ugbowo wrote:
G4L,
1. I know Bakayako is an upgrade over Chalobah. But do we need to go shell out 40 million for him? is he THAT much of an upgrade? I think the jury is out on him being that he was really a 1 season guy and Fabinho IMHO was the better player of the two when he played in midfield. I'm not too excited about this one.
2. We keep harping on Zouma's ball control but we are playing Cahill in our defense as well. What Zouma lacks in ball control he more than makes up for in speed and physicality. He was rusty last season and just needs game time. I guess with cut throat nature of the business we cant afford for a young player to play through his rustiness? Going to Stoke or WBrom may give him game time but im not sure what it does for actual technical development. Rudiger seems like Conte's FIFTH choice in the transfer market. Another defender im not too sold on as well because of his strangely inadequate disciplinary record in the not so fierce Serie A last year. I don't think he is an upgrade to anything we currently have in the first 11. 32 million for a back up. No be my money sha.
3. I know we are going to get a striker. If you noticed, I said 2 strikers. The top 3 are the ones you mentioned...those are a given. We need another option besides Batman as back up.
5. I am not in training with CFC, but the Kennedy Mourinho unleashed on us always seemed like he will be a way better fit than Alonso at LWB. He works very hard and was very strong and physical when he played. Had ability to take on players and packed a wicked left foot. I am sick and tired of seeing Alonso being pressed during the big games and almost always falling into a clumsy situation and losing the ball. Sandro would have been the perfect upgrade but not for 70 million. Kennedy deserves a shot.
Chief Ugbowo,
1. Bakayoko might not be worth the price quoted but in today's market, almost no player is worth near the quoted price so it is what it is. The main question is whether the player is an improvement over your current options (Matic and Chalobah) and in my humble opinion, he is an upgrade. The concern for me in that department is depth which is lacking. Otherwise the objective is to improve the squad from last season which means folks coming in on big money must be better or no worse than the current starters (I say no worse because last season, CFC in most situations did not have capable backups to hold the forte when a starter went down).
2. Call me crazy but my bet is Rudiger will start, if not right away surely in the very near future at the expense of Cahill, the obvious weak link out of the current starting back 3. CFC had massive problems building the attack from the back. If you watch Juventus and other top teams compared to CFC, shows how far behind CFC as a team is defensively in terms of playing from the back. Given Conte's philosophy, it is a big problem because it affects the effectiveness of the midfield and attackers if the team can't hold onto possession when facing the high press against some if not many opponents. When you have a guy like Eden Hazard who is prone to cause serious damage on opposing defenses, you need to create as many opportunities as possible for him to do his thing and it all starts from the back. Definitely, I see Cahill next, hitting the bench. Conte has been ruthless in shipping out/ reducing players that don't fit so I expect it.
3. Now, I understand your angle and I agree wholeheartedly. Ideally, it would have been better for a young striker to take that spot but as you mentioned, the likely scenario will be a false nine (Hazard or Pedro as the 3rd striker).
4. Kennedy does deserve a shot but the stakes are too high and demands almost unreasonable. That is the reality of Conte's situation. Jose is pushing hard. Pep is chopping at the bit for redemption. Wenger wants to go out with a massive bang. Klopp, Pooch etc. Everyone's arse is lit up under a ball of fire. Then you add to that the demands of CL and you know how much Roman loves CL glory. Point being that Kennedy has a long way to go to convince Conte that he is capable compared to the other options out there.