re: 12/28

Hes def valuable, and a solid player, but when someone like Wilian is your POY, its not a good sign.

Meh... I think they could have won without them last year.

Willian is tremendous on free kicks but I dont' think he has scored a goal otherwise. Minus his ability to score on free kicks he is an average to mediocre player with little to no creativity.

Costa can help you win a championship but overall he is a distraction that takes away from the team. I liken him to a Dez Bryant or Dennis Rodman. Skilled, talented, but poisonous.

The problem with Chelsea is Fabregas. Last year during the 2-0 win for Chelsea against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, I had never seen Chelsea play so open. Arsenal were dribbling through zone 14, but weren't putting chances together. Chelsea played the same way against Tottenham and got walloped. And Poch is exactly the man who they should go after. He's an excellent coach who organizes his team well and is able to get some creativity going forward despite Levy spending like a moron. But Mourinho backed away from the open game and pursued a counter-attacking style he was use to, but a style where he didn't have the players to run it. Fabregas can play in a counter-attacking system, but he needs willing runners. Willian and Hazard are wingers who require the ball to feet which doesn't help the counter-attacking fluidity. Costa does make runs but sometimes I think he's more interested in passing off opposing CB's than he is running off the ball.

I called it when Fab moved to Chelsea that he wouldn't defend, and for the most part he hasn't. He needs to play at the tip of a three man midfield, but Chelsea don't have another player to pair with Magic and Fabregas.

It's worth noting that Fab has been at the epicenter of the implosion of three teams. He's a ridiculously talented player and delivers a fantastic final ball, but he doesn't care about defensive positioning. He destroys teams unless he's given a completely free role. He was given that at Arsenal but the team relied on him so much that he was decimated after mid-season. He played like shite when he was played anywhere other than a deep lying ten for Barcelona. And outside of Matic's amazing form last year, he has destroyed the balance of Chelsea's midfield. The only option a manager seems to have with him is to build a team around him, otherwise any tactical nous is beyond his ability.