P302Rivals Football - Chelsea FC
Bakayoko
by upthechels @, 12/08, 21:32

Looks like he's off to AC Milan on loan.

Amazed Conte played him so much tbh. It was clear he wasn't going to cut it in England but still Conte saw something few others saw. I hope this was Sarri having his say.

Bakayoko
by Walter @, 12/08, 23:25 @ upthechels

Thank goodness he's gone.

Drinkwater gets some grief, but at least he can control a football and pass to feet.

Bakayoko
by Droy263, 13/08, 00:26 @ Walter

He must have been a conte signing and a man he wanted. It was clear by December he was struggling but Conte stuck with him for whatever reason. I could not see him developing and he got 30+ games to bed in which in our crazy league is a hell of a chance when you consider the games given to previous players.

Bakayoko
by MartyF @, 13/08, 13:56 @ Droy263

That or he was a board signing and he wanted to make a point by continually picking him.

Either way, on form, he should never have been in the team although I thought he had a good game in the cup final.

Bakayoko
by Famous, 13/08, 14:05 @ MartyF

The other issue was, anyone else who came in and played or could have played in that position. didn’t exactly set the world alight either.

Bakayoko
by cfcww, 13/08, 14:49 @ Famous

Agree they didn't set the world alight but Drinkwater for example would have a 6 out of 10 game and promptly get dropped for Bakayoko who had a string of 4 out of 10 games followed by a load of 3 out of 10 games leading up to the Watford game. It was a standing joke inside the ground on the night but it had building up for weeks in advance.

Drinkwater is no world beater by any stretch of the imagination but he'd have a better than average game and get dropped. One game last year Kante run 30 yards to tackle a player that Bakayoko was 5 yards from and that was in one of the games he was playing a bit better.

Bakayoko
by Famous, 13/08, 15:06 @ cfcww

Not saying I agreed with Conte playing Bakayoko throughout that spell but I can still understand the logic. Bakayoko the season before, at his best, was so far ahead of anything that Drinkwater would ever be able to do even when he’s at his best. Drinkwater didn’t really do anything wrong when he played but it’d have made it easier for Conte to drop Bakayoko if someone had come in and played really well and made it impossible for him to not start them.

Bakayoko
by cfcww, 13/08, 17:10 @ Famous

I think the reverse is true K, I think most of the competing players in that position reasoned quite rightly that regardless of how they played Bakayoko was going to play irrelevant of how well they performed, that has detrimental effect on players and team mates alike no matter how professional they try to be

Example last season Bakayoko has a stinker against Brighton, can't pass, can't tackle & misses a sitter. Drinkwater comes in against Stoke, scores a belter, plays tidy 7/10 in most reports, next game against Arsenal, Bakayoko is back in and has another stinker but stills plays 90 minutes. He was so poor the fans even changed the words to his song!!

There is no real logic to bring Bakayoko back for the Arsenal game given Drinkwater had just had his best game in a Chelsea shirt despite limited opportunities. it was just blind faith or arrogance by Conte.

Bakayoko
by Famous, 13/08, 19:40 @ cfcww

Not blind faith, I’d say it was more naive hope that a player who has shown he could perform to a higher level, could recapture that form. Misguided perhaps and as I say, I’m not saying I agree with it myself, but I can still understand the thinking behind it. I’ve never seen Drinkwater have a bad game for us particularly and I’ve seen Bakayoko play some absolute horror shows on a few occasions, but on his rare good days he can reach a level that the likes of Drinkwater would probably never reach and has definitely never reached for us.

Bakayoko
by cfcww, 13/08, 10:00 @ upthechels

The 30 minutes he played against Watford before being sent off is one of the most inept performance I have seen by a top division player, far surpassing the likes of Winston Bogarde, Keith Dublin, Jerry Murphy and Alan Dickens.

His confidence was shot to pieces and Conte had a blind spot about him.

Bakayoko
by upthechels @, 13/08, 13:01 @ cfcww

When I witness managers like Jose playing Brana through horendous form and then Conte playing Baka through some performances like you mention it does damage my thoughts on them as managers.

Bakayoko
by Famous, 13/08, 14:03 @ upthechels

I think it makes more sense when managers pick players who are in poor form but have proven before that they can do it at that level, I can see that logic in hoping they play back in to good form rather than benching them and risking breaking any remaining semblance of confidence, perhaps irreversibly.

That makes more sense to me than doing the same with young players who may or may not ever be good enough.

I saw enough from Bakayoko at Monaco, including at the business end of the CL, to suggest he could still end up a good player who just had a nightmare few months in a new League. He did eventually get a break from playing and actually looked decent again when he came back (and he had a good few games this time last year as well). I hope he plays regularly and does well over there.

Bakayoko
by upthechels @, 13/08, 16:11 @ Famous

I can see what you say but during that period Jose could easily have moved him to the centre without dropping him. He was getting absolutely slaughtered week in week out mate. Brana deserved a little protection and I feel he was 'thrown under the bus' as they say. Jose is right up there with footballs great managers...he totally lost my way of thinking on this particular issue.

Bakayoko
by Droy263, 13/08, 13:02 @ cfcww

Alan Dickens - had high hopes for him.. Scored a ZDS hatrick.. That was him peaked and done after that.. :-D

Bakayoko
by cfcww, 13/08, 13:57 @ Droy263

Same as that D but he was woeful for us although had always played well against us which I expect is why we bought him!

I had a random conversation with a bloke who knew him in later life, he said Dickens turned up for pre season and Campbell just kept sending the players on long runs to build stamina which apparently was not his forte. He kept trailing in miles behind everyone else and Campbell wasn't impressed. I guess that's why he was constantly subbed as the game used to pass him by!

Bakayoko
by Droy263, 14/08, 09:09 @ cfcww

No doubt Dickens struggled with the Ernie Walley school of running, Micky Hazard told me a similar scathing assessment of his methods.