Estêvão

I d like to see Estevao get at least 30 minutes in every game, it should be enough time for him to affect the game positively.

One of Palmer Pedro or Rodgers can make way for him.

7mins v Fulham

0mins v Brighton

9mins v Arsenal

isnt enough.

 
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I d like to see Estevao get at least 30 minutes in every game, it should be enough time for him to affect the game positively.

One of Palmer Pedro or Rodgers can make way for him.

7mins v Fulham

0mins v Brighton

9mins v Arsenal

isnt enough.
I agree, it's not enough minutes, but I guess they are mindful of the injury and to be fair, the team has been performing pretty well. But he definitely should have come on earlier yesterday and it would be good to see him get at least 45 minutes v Leeds mid-week.

 
I agree, it's not enough minutes, but I guess they are mindful of the injury and to be fair, the team has been performing pretty well. But he definitely should have come on earlier yesterday and it would be good to see him get at least 45 minutes v Leeds mid-week.
That is a Cup game though, and he will definitely start. I just don’t think he will hang around post Jan playing 10-15 in PL games. That also applies to Quenda & Gittens. If the manager insists on playing 3-4-3, he needs to be able to offer his options more than 15mins each game.

 
For now it is ok as Estevao builds back up from his injury.

However a player of his talent is too good to be getting so few minutes from the bench longer term.

It's a good problem to have but it is a problem for Alonso. He will have to find a way to fit in Palmer, Rogers and Estevao in to the same team regularly, and that does not mean one of them plays wingback, otherwise we do risk Estevao deciding to Leave us.

Estevao has to be giving a staring, central role to this team.

 
Does stevo start over Palmer/ Pedro/ Rogers? No.

Has he done enough to justify a starting spot other than being a big prospect. No I dont htink he has.

He has had to contend with Maresca, injury, and if he has patience, will get lots of opportunities to impress over the season. Its actually on him and his talent to force his way into the starting line up. needs to knuckle down, continue to influence games when on the pitch (like he did last season) and be fit when his chance comes.

We know he has the talent, but he has to apply it. Its what makes a good player a great player; see Frank Lampard.

 
I’m airing toward the approach of having all your best players on the pitch at the same time to give yourself the best chance of winning.

Probably means dropping a defender (Fofana for me) and adding an extra attacker, slotting Stevie in as a 10 between Rogers & Palmer and behind JP.

Don’t see why we couldn’t take this approach against every side that isn’t Arsenal or Liverpool really.

 
I’m airing toward the approach of having all your best players on the pitch at the same time to give yourself the best chance of winning.

Probably means dropping a defender (Fofana for me) and adding an extra attacker, slotting Stevie in as a 10 between Rogers & Palmer and behind JP.

Don’t see why we couldn’t take this approach against every side that isn’t Arsenal or Liverpool really.
🔥 thats hotter than July.

 
I’m airing toward the approach of having all your best players on the pitch at the same time to give yourself the best chance of winning.

Probably means dropping a defender (Fofana for me) and adding an extra attacker, slotting Stevie in as a 10 between Rogers & Palmer and behind JP.

Don’t see why we couldn’t take this approach against every side that isn’t Arsenal or Liverpool really.
That would be a very attacking approach but we would need at least 2 those 4 to track back and help defensively, even against weaker teams.

 
I’m airing toward the approach of having all your best players on the pitch at the same time to give yourself the best chance of winning.

Probably means dropping a defender (Fofana for me) and adding an extra attacker, slotting Stevie in as a 10 between Rogers & Palmer and behind JP.

Don’t see why we couldn’t take this approach against every side that isn’t Arsenal or Liverpool really.
We're already conceding over 2 goals a game.

Stevie needs to knuckle down and be better than one of our front three. If he has the talent this will happen. He may also get into the team through injury.

If he wants to play more he would have to join a team with a weaker attack. Is that such a good career move for him? Where would he go? He just needs to work hard and force his way into the team. I think Alonso will play him at some point. He just needs to be patient.

 
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I think having a front 4 is a good shout but it brings its own problems.

They would also have to defend which doesn’t suit any of them really. Essentially we’d have 3 mavericks on the pitch at once in Stevie, Palmer and JP and I’ve not been that impressed by Rogers when we are defending either.

It would probably allow Reece to play RB every week but Palestra (who I think will make us much better in the current system) isn’t a full back and might struggle for minutes. A solid double pivot would help but that’s not happening at the moment. Alex Scott had we got him would be perfect alongside Caicedo but them’s the breaks I’m afraid.

I really rated our transfer window but I can’t help wondering how close we might have pushed Arsenal this season had we got Scott or Wharton. Unless they implode the self entitled pricks will win the league. We definitely have more than enough to finish top 4 and you never know. One of the youngsters, Barco or a fit Lavia playing alongside Caicedo might just have a breakout season.

#Hendersonsindiansummer

 
I think having a front 4 is a good shout but it brings its own problems.

They would also have to defend which doesn’t suit any of them really. Essentially we’d have 3 mavericks on the pitch at once in Stevie, Palmer and JP and I’ve not been that impressed by Rogers when we are defending either.

It would probably allow Reece to play RB every week but Palestra (who I think will make us much better in the current system) isn’t a full back and might struggle for minutes. A solid double pivot would help but that’s not happening at the moment. Alex Scott had we got him would be perfect alongside Caicedo but them’s the breaks I’m afraid.

I really rated our transfer window but I can’t help wondering how close we might have pushed Arsenal this season had we got Scott or Wharton. Unless they implode the self entitled pricks will win the league. We definitely have more than enough to finish top 4 and you never know. One of the youngsters, Barco or a fit Lavia playing alongside Caicedo might just have a breakout season.

#Hendersonsindiansummer
All true, we did see a lot of the 4-2-3-1 in pre-season and vs Luton, but without Caicedo we would just get overrun in the PL imho. I'm sure we'll see it more once he is back though, and especially when/if we get a partner Xabi trusts alongside him. Even in the 3-4-3, I dont think its the idea to start with Rogers/Palmer every single time, but this early in his tenure you probably dont want to change too much from game to game. I'd expect Estevao to start more games after the international break, no matter what formation we play

 
I don’t know wether it’s a bit of a small club mentality creeping in or wether it’s just further degradation of the beautiful game by modern ‘tactics’ but this notion that our forwards must also be defenders does irk me somewhat.

I think we’d all be in agreement that two of the best Chels sides of ‘recent’ memory would be that early Jose side and the Carlo teams.

Now I could be misremembering but I don’t think any of Robben, Drogba, Joey Cole or Duff were particularly lauded for their defensive contributions. The same goes for a Drogba, Anelka, Malouda approach.

We took the game to other sides, made them game plan for us not the other way around.

Like I touched on our strength is in our attack, we should play to that and for me that involves getting all our best attackers on the pitch at once to give us the best chance.

Looking at it this way, would you trust JP, CP, Rogers and Stevie to score more than you would trust Hato, Fofana, Levi, Lacroix & Gusto not to concede?

 
I don’t know wether it’s a bit of a small club mentality creeping in or wether it’s just further degradation of the beautiful game by modern ‘tactics’ but this notion that our forwards must also be defenders does irk me somewhat.

I think we’d all be in agreement that two of the best Chels sides of ‘recent’ memory would be that early Jose side and the Carlo teams.

Now I could be misremembering but I don’t think any of Robben, Drogba, Joey Cole or Duff were particularly lauded for their defensive contributions. The same goes for a Drogba, Anelka, Malouda approach.

We took the game to other sides, made them game plan for us not the other way around.

Like I touched on our strength is in our attack, we should play to that and for me that involves getting all our best attackers on the pitch at once to give us the best chance.

Looking at it this way, would you trust JP, CP, Rogers and Stevie to score more than you would trust Hato, Fofana, Levi, Lacroix & Gusto not to concede?
Blimey. I can't believe you have never seen Drogba play.

And Jose kept subbing off Joe Cole until he started to get the defensive side of his role up to the level Mourinho required. And Duff always put in a big shift defensively whenever the opposition had the ball.

Robben? You have a valid point there though.

 
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I think it’s clear what Alonso wants to do imo. Until this team defends as a unit effectively I think we will continue to see 5 at the back.

 
We're already conceding over 2 goals a game.

Stevie needs to knuckle down and be better than one of our front three. If he has the talent this will happen. He may also get into the team through injury.

If he wants to play more he would have to join a team with a weaker attack. Is that such a good career move for him? Where would he go? He just needs to work hard and force his way into the team. I think Alonso will play him at some point. He just needs to be patient.
He will start and earn more at Liverpool & Utd for starters.

 
Now that the transfer window has closed and Chelsea have lost their first match it’s open season for these journalists.

From Estevao’s point of view he can stake his claim against Leeds tomorrow.

Slow news week.

 
He will start and earn more at Liverpool & Utd for starters.
Will he, based on what exactly? Are you really claiming young players dont get a chance at Chelsea, considering the average age of our squad the past 2 years?

 
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