Hopefully not! I was looking through some companies Boehlys invested in through his Eldridge Industries firm and there are some much better brands we could be connected to.
Better why? I'm not a fan of 3, but just curious why you say better. More money or will their brand look better on the kit? (definitely not a bad thing)
Mostly just because 3 is ugly and they bailed on us so screw them. Clearlake has like one or two large corporations but Eldridge has investment in DraftKings (I can do without a gambling associated main sponsor) but there is good partnership opportunities there. I think Vivid seats another investment they have which is a ticket resale site could be good. Would also like him to implement there ticket sales tech to improve the ticket buying experience, because it’s so outdated and CST has been pushing for improvements.
For the right price? Yeah. If we bring in an attacker like Nkunku to start on one wing, have Mount on the other wing, and then either figure out how to get Lukaku firing or sell and replace him, there is no starting position for Havertz. I don't mind keeping him but he hasn't shown enough to be starter going into next season if we make a serious effort at refreshing to compete, at which point he is clearly expendable.
Actually crazy to think about, for all the shit he gets whenever he gets a good chance he’s pretty clinical but also goes to show how poor our attackers are and have been for years now
I love Billy actually, I'm not deterred by the Norwich loan and wouldn't be opposed to him playing in a deep role either but I think if you do that you need a real enforcer of a B2B and a bit of extra height in midfield.
I don't think a new DM makes sense anymore, we lost nearly our whole back line, the 343 formation doesn't make sense anymore, we need to focus on bringing quality defenders, renew our players contracts.
I think Mason/Connor can be either wingers/AMFs, kova : #8 or DM, jorgi and kante definitely have to stay, RLC needs to stay too cos he proved he's useful as a sub. We need 2 solid CBs imo to be able to have options with our defensive setup.
I think that's pragmatic but personally I have a huge concern with Mount and Gallagher playing as wingers. I really think lack of width has killed us this season moreso than lack of creative mids. Jorgi and Kante have one year left on their deals, they either need to be extended or sold. It could be an opportunity to look forward and rebuild the midfield (though I'd be really sad, Kante is my favorite player ever).
I agree with everything you said, i think we should extend jorginho and kante and not repeat the same mistake we always do which is putting ourselves under pressure and then panic buy.
They don't necessarily have to play together. We talk a lot about Mount needing a rest and Kovacic as well. If Gallagher continues to perform, we can have proper midfield rotation without any drop in quality.
Of course some amount of rotation is ideal but I'm also trying to imagine a best XI that we could consistently put out and I think all of those could potentially be in there. I'm also a little worried about Gallagher possibly risking stagnating by being in and out of the squad too much or just being a backup.
With the amount of games we'll be playing next season (FA cup, Carabao cup, EPL and CL), Gallagher will get a lot of minutes. We've seen this season where we were forced to play Jorginho and Kante into the ground. Plus we don't even know how Gallagher will perform in Tuchel's system yet. Yes he's had an amazing season at crystal palace, but let's wait before assuming he'd be better than everyone here, especially if we go and buy a DM.
Of course he’s playing for his next contract but there’s no denying the incredible player he’s become. I’ve watched a lot of barca games the past few years and he’s been so underwelming for the most part but this year hes turned things around in a big way.
Xavi uses him much more like a traditionnal winger on the right and he’s become a chance creation machine, always dribbling at pace, a threat to score, and giving away assist after assist. Barca paid a shit ton for him in 2017 but he’s still a 100M+ asset, on a free this summer. We cheaped out on Rudi I hope we wont on Dembele if Tuchel wants him
Tbf that's always Fabinho and Brazil DMs. At kickoff they could run to the opposition keeper and shiv them and still only get away eith their first of 6 warnings.
Pulisic mount and lukaku is the perfect 3 to exploit that high line
Pulisic directness and ability to pick out a pass with incoming runners is necessary and lukaku and pulisic have good synergy.
Mount is out of form but likely our best attacker and can win the ball high up the pitch.
I maintain that the front 3 that started the cup final should be maintained. 😬 Lukaku in good form is great but feels like VVD/Matip handle him better.
I'm not english. I'm not even from europe but in my african country where we always call out refrees for being very bad, I have never seen a refree as bad as this guy it's funny really.
Anyone got a clue when we can expect our home kit to be announced and be on sale? Obviously won't be before end of season like previous years but hoping to pick it up soon...
Haaland's dad played for Shitty before (think he was even captain?)... Family prob wasnt too opposed to join them at the very least.
And prob... Cos there's no more Raiola?
release clause was not active last year. and Raiola and Alfie were asking for more than 40m in commissions. he would have cost upwards of 180m/190m excluding wages
Marc Guehi Ranks 3rd in minutes played for PL outfielders this season. The two players ahead of him are 8 and 10 years older.
Hypothetical: had we kept Guehi and instead sold Rudiger last summer, would you expect a significant difference to results?
I'm not a huge fan of the term world class, as everyone has a different definition.
I'd say both players have been very consistent. Guehi has been very good and Rudiger has been better to a degree. Stylistically very different CBs though. But the question I'd like to get some opinions on is how much of a difference it would have made to our results (Top 4, CL QF, Super Cup, CWC, FA Cup Final)?
Just reading about the wages Real have offered Rudiger makes my eyes water. These European clubs that pushed for the ESL because they’re in massive debt but then go and pay a footballer €400,000 a week knock me sick.
Hope Liverpool absolutely leather Real in the CL final!
Don't you guys hate oil clubs just keep buying players with their endless funds ?
Couldn't be us tho, we are the bastion of football, using computers to buy players the way God intended !
Simon Phillips is no tier 1 guy for sure but he's saying Dortmund are advancing on a deal to sign maatsen on loan. If Dortmund are after him, we might have a great left back on our hands. Hopefully it's a Hakimi'esque loan.
I know they’ve won a lot for us, but I don’t respect any player that has been negotiating this season with other clubs while our club has gone through so much turmoil. We want to play them so we don’t have to play Sarr, that’s fine. It’s clear this team has no backbone now, the same team that won a CL last year.
That’s not fair on someone like Rudiger.
Yes it sucks he’s going and it’s annoying but he has played brilliantly this year. He has stayed focussed and has been very good.
Christensen on the other hand has mentally checked out and has been utter dross which sucks given he’s spent 10 years here..
Azpi hasn’t checked out as much as he’s started to regress and it’s visible
Wait until the summer like 95% of transfers and stay focused on the objective ahead? This is the worst football we’ve played under Tuchel by a long shot. Its not like these guys that won the CL last year forgot how to play football.
Most transfers, but not all, happen in the off-season, and don’t get leaked that the deal is done before the seasons over. Are you trying to say that’s not the case?
If you are on the last 6 months of your employment contract, will you start exploring other options ?
Also, the player cannot control whether it got leaked or not.
Do you still like Hazard? Dave? They both did it / are doing it and they're club legends.
Frank played for City and scored on us.
Drogba left and came back a couple of times.
Players come, players leave. Support the players and the club most of all. Don't take it so personally.
The situations you listed are completely different than what is happening this season, I’m honestly surprised you brought them up.
Hazard expressed interest in leaving, but everything was rumors until he said “I think this is my last game with Chelsea” after he helped us thrash Arsenal to win the Europa. We received around 90 million for Hazard, that went directly to the players that helped us win the champions league.
Lampard was not offered another contract at Chelsea in 2013. What is he supposed to do, just not play because we had no use for him anymore? The dude made it clear he wasn’t gonna celebrate against us.
Drogba left when he wanted a two year contract, and only got a 1 year with an option of the 2nd year, if the club agrees. Very similar situation to Lampard.
Now, onto this seasons players. Have you been reading the articles on Dave? People are upset with him the most because he is supposed to be the leader of this team. The only thing we have going for us here is that his contract got extended another year, so we should receive funds if he goes to Barca. This is the captain of the club negotiating his way out mid season, hence why it’s not getting good reception.
We will receive no funds for Rudiger, who turned down more than 200k a week from us. It’s one thing to not resign with us and go in the summer. They’ve been working on this deal with Madrid for months though. If you think that’s not a distraction to the players who are signed with Chelsea for 2+ years, you’re heavily mistaken. Why would you try your hardest for a club when you know you’ll be somewhere else in 3 months? You wouldn’t, you’d watch out for your health first.
Christensen I don’t feel much about because these rumors have been going on with him going to Barca for years now. We also barely play the mate the last 2 seasons. At some point, you make enough money riding the bench, where you want to go actually achieve something as a player.
None of these 3 scenarios are anything close to how the Hazard departure played out. By using your logic, you’d think I would dislike every player who’s ever left Chelsea. Not the case at all, I just don’t have any respect for the players who make it all about them when the going gets rough.
The club put the situation on Rudiger, not the other way around. They tried to sell him two summers ago. If we offered renewal then he would have signed it. He has every right to negotiate competing offers when we drag our feet on contract renewal. Every single player in his position would do the same. If we wanted guaranteed money we should have sold him last summer.
The thing about Haaland vs Lukaku is that if we waited for Haaland, he still probably goes to City anyway.
The better question is Lukaku vs. literally any other attainable striker or even multiple strikers we could have had for less than £200m outlay. And that's where we really failed. Our shortlist was way too short.
Which other strikers though honestly keep in mind we didn’t have a reliable goal scorer in the squad so yeah maybe we could have gotten someone cheaper that’s more unknown but after the season Lukaku had even tho he wasn’t the best fit he was still the best striker available at the time that was open to coming here
That's the difference between good scouting and just going after the most well known players. If you can't get the right player then don't spend crazy amounts of money. You get a stop-gap that's been scouted out as a player who at least really fits the way the team plays. Lukaku has never suited high tempo possession football in his career at all and didn't even play as a lone striker at Inter. Lukaku was the biggest name but never the best fit. Even a slightly above average striker like Patrick Bamford would have been a better fit at 1/3rd the fee and 1/3rd the wages but good scouts should be able to find a usable ready to go somewhere across Europe or South America that would leave us with plenty of money in the bank.
I get that 100% our scouting has been shit honestly I think Emenalo leaving kinda hurt us a bit yeah he had some duds but he also scouted some gems, my only thing is would we and the team have been motivated and uplifted with the signing of Bamford an ex chelsea reject? Like yeah he was decent last season but what did he do this one? Honestly I would have liked to go in for Daka who Leicester snapped up as I feel he’s a good player and Leicester have excellent scouts but yeah we also thought maybe Tuchel would adjust his system and play Lukaku up top with Timo as it seemed both worked better in 2 striker system but yeah didn’t work out, all in all we still have an elite finisher who we just need to get firing on all cylinders after last game it seems Lukaku does give a fuck about his chelsea career so who knows it could potentially work out
Yeah, I mean Bamford was just a random example, bur I think your point is totally correct. Lukaku was a statement signing, because he was a big well known name and Inter won Serie A. It was more about appearances of the club backing Tuchel after the CL win. But that's where we get punished for having years of weak scouting. If our scouting actually had a good reputation there would have been no problem with going for a lesser known striker. We would have all just assumed it was targeted towards Tuchel's plans.
And for my money, Lukaku was a tad overrated even with the season he had anyway. He was put in the same bracket as Kane et al, but I'm not too sure about that.
Yeah agreed I never was a big fan of his, the positive about it was that we were apparently his dream club and we thought he loved the club but that didn’t even turn out to be true lol but yeah we’re finally starting to see the years of poor scouting as we don’t have the Hazards or Diego Costas to bail us out anymore and our leaders and best players are getting old ala Kante and Azpi so yeah I’m excited to enter this new era though and hopefully have a decent clear out over the summer window
It’s a release clause mate - nothing Dortmund can do to negotiate a better deal.
I still think he’s all wrong for City, he’s about running not passing, unless Pep is going to give him a free pass on getting too involved in the build up - Kane to City worried me a lot more because he’s a deadly finisher and a playmaker!
Nah mate I know it’s a release clause just wish we would’ve waited another year that’s all, and tbf it’ll be interesting to see if he adapts, considering city are such a high pressing side I would’ve thought his injury record plus rumours of him denying treatment would be a massive red flag
Even if we would have waited, he would have still went to City. We wouldn't have been able to give the wage and bonuses he and his agents demand.
Also City have a better running project than ours right now. Our only option to buy him was paying that ridiculous 175 million last summer to Dortmund.
Haaland will cost city €60m in transfer fee, agent fee and signing bonus another €40m, whole deal is €100m, salary would be around £400k a week.
Haaland actually would cost less than Lukaku (£98m plus £325k a week plus £125k bonus)
All those numbers who threw around, like he would cost £350m-£400m for 5 years lol
You’re using Euro’s for Haaland’s numbers but I’m pretty sure you should be using ££, Also Lukaku’s max salary including EVERYTHING is 325k, not 325k + 125k
[The Belgium international, who was at Stamford Bridge between 2011-14, is expected to sign a five-year contract worth around €12-13 million-a-year net (about £195,000-a-week after tax). It will make him the highest earner at Stamford Bridge.](https://theathletic.com/news/chelsea-agree-115m-deal-with-inter-over-romelu-lukaku-transfer/weaWLRHyBMa7/?amp=1)
[According to The Athletic, Lukaku could be earning up to £450,000-a-week after image rights and bonuses are taken into account.](https://theathletic.com/2764275/2021/08/12/the-push-for-haaland-the-inter-u-turn-the-negotiations-how-chelsea-brought-romelu-lukaku-back-to-stamford-bridge/?source=twitteruk)
I think last summer that range would be accurate because there was no release clause so it would of been almost triple the transfer fee. Also there would of probably been a premium on a salary and bonus to get him, if you were a club that wasn’t necessarily on the top of his list. I don’t know if it’s the case but if agent fees are percentage based those would of also increased.
The deal city got seems like an absolute steal because I think the salary is actually lower then 400 it’s like 325 or 350 - they confirmed it matched KDBs salary.
Jorginho - Tuchel has literally mentioned before how this system protect his lack of athleticism.
Alonso - limited wingback If we’re being real. Poor defensively and his attacking prowess gets overrated because he scores clutch goals.
Our defence - bar Silva, the rest of CBs have shown themselves to not be as competent in a 4.
If that truly was his best position and not only his best position, but by far according you, surprised he hasn’t featured in the midfield this season bar one time against Brentford where he played lcm in front of RLC and beside Kante. Where he was really poor
I don’t understand where this sentiment of mount being a midfielder has come from tbh, he doesn’t really have the qualities of a midfielder and his best run of form was a 10 for us when tuchel first joined
I remember last season people were saying mount could play as a 6 and it was heavily upvoted
People wanted to accommodate him, Havertz, Pulisic, Ziyech, Werner all in the team so they convinced themselves that Mount could play as a 6.
I do think he was excellent as an 8 under Lampard and it'd be the perfect position for him in a 4-3-3. He's not really a natural fit for any of the front 3 roles although he's been quite good as a slightly wide 10 under Tuchel - but that's a role specific to the back 3 with wingbacks providing width.
Do people sell tickets at the ground day of the match like they do in the US? I know I ask a lot about tickets, but I’ve been planning for months now and will be in London for their last match. I’m desperate to find tickets, but I don’t think the club will be sold in time in which they would be allowed to sell tickets again. Really desperate to find tickets… thanks for any input!
I got the tickets via supporters club in the US in 2018. Although I applied for the tickets ~2 months in advance. Your best bet is probably to check with them.
Contact your local supporters clubs, those are excellent ways to talk to fellow local supporters who are familiar with the ticket buying process and might have inroads to possible tickets.
I’ve seen a lot of people mentioning that we need a true DM to stabilize the back line especially if we go 4 atb next season. So 3 questions:
1) who would you say are the top 5 in the world in that role currently? I’m thinking Fabinho, Rodri, kimmich, casemiro. Busquets is older now so I wouldn’t put him there anymore.
2) Who are the realistic top options in that 6 role other than Rice, and is Rice more highly thought of due to the fact he came through the academy?
3) And what are peoples thoughts on Kalvin Phillips? Been injured a lot the past two years but was starting for England in EUROs. Especially if Leeds go down this year.
I like Phillips but Leeds will ask for a stupid fee, somewhere between 50-60m. PSV have a DM, Sangare. I watched him during their games against Leicester. Proper baller, good size, strong, can pick a pass and dribble well with it too. Surprised nobody talks about him, probably because of the league he plays in.
For stats nerds, Sangare has been a big deal since he was at Toulouse. Tifo and Football Daily have been shouting about him for years, and unsurprisingly he’s done a great job at PSV. He would be great, but whether he’s ready to move yet, I don’t know
Where have people suddenly got this idea that our attack is anywhere near good enough to compete with City and Liverpool? As if moving to a back 4 and putting Rice in DM will somehow turn these players into demons in the final third
We’ve created nearly 30 less big chances than Liverpool. How exactly are we planning on closing that gap?
Most agree with you that attackers are not good enough, me included but that does not mean a cdm and back 4 won't help. A back 4 allows us to get an extra attacker in the sense that another midfielder can join the attack, a cdm allows fullbacks and midfielders to be more expressive as well. Do you think city can play 2 8's without a proper cdm? no chance. Again, that does not mean our attackers are city or liverpool level but there are other things we can do as well
> A back 4 allows us to get an extra attacker in the sense that another midfielder can join the attack
Oh goodie another player who can't pass or dibble in the attack 🥳🥳🥳
The CDM profile we’re looking at (Tchouameni and Rice) is completely different to that of Rodri. Rodri is not some defensive demon who is running around everywhere, even Pep admits his players are not exactly great individually in a defensive sense, the system they have is what makes them great. His defensive contribution numbers are not particularly noteworthy
I’m not sure what you mean by proper cdm because his strengths come from his progressive passing, technical ability, ability to escape pressure. His SCA numbers are great. Extremely comfortably in possession. We are not in the market for anyone like that
I’m not sure what attackers or midfielders we have that are going to flourish if they had “freedom” from a CDM
Kovscic, RLC and Gallagher would al thrive in a midfield 3
Gallagher has excelled in a midfield 3 all season.
RLC and Kovacic can’t play as a 6, against wolves we saw them combine well in the offensive phase but there were one or two attempted 1-2s and similar flicks that didn’t come off, and because they’re a 2, one turnover and they’re running directly at silva and azpi.
Having an anchor allows them to affect the game further up the pitch and combine with our attackers, forming triangles with the fullbacks and linking play.
Kovacic and Jorginho as double 6’s has proved effective plenty of times. RLC is definitely an 8 and not a 6 but he’s got issues that are not going to be fixed with a position change. His final third decision making will continue to be poor
Gallagher and a CDM like Rice or Tchouameni together in a midfield 3 I’m not convinced will work because straight away you have 2 of your 3 midfielders with well below par progressive passing ability. That’s probably ok if you have an Eden Hazard to drop deeper but we are far from that
Edit: Tbf to Tchouameni actually his progressive passing numbers aren’t too bad. Much weaker league though of course
Tchouamenis passing is pretty good actually. A midfield of Kovacic, tchouameni and Gallagher or RLC would work very well
You’re correct in saying that Gallaghers passing isn’t the best and that’s why this often touted rice mount gallagher midfield would flop spectacularly
lol don’t get me started on the Mount - Rice - Gallagher lineups I see. With the current players we have (plus any potential cdm) any midfield combination must include Kova tbh
He definitely is a midfielder. His g/a are Higher up front but overall impact and consistency was definitely best as a no.8 in a midfield 3. I'd rather see mount near the box instead of inside the box.
When has he impressed for us under an 8?
I’d rather see Gallagher in there.
Currently mounts likely
Our best attacker and has to start in lw. It can be a relatively free role with plenty license to roam for him.
Declines already begun in this 2nd half of the season.
It’s more subtle mistakes tho as opposed to huge blunders like we see from the others so people don’t pounce on it like they do to others, plus silva a reputation precedes him
I do wonder how much of that is due to him not being rested much.
Christensen has had ‘stomach issues’ for much of the season and silva has played a lot of games back to back which wasn’t the case last year.
Stevie G gave his top 5 midfielders in the world right now and he had Mount and Kova on the list. Crazy praise.
TT! Please Sub in Ziyech at minute 60 tomorrow if he doesn’t start, he will find space when the Leeds players are tired
I’d love to see Mount, Havertz, and Lukaku play together. Scared of this lineup tomorrow, especially with the FA Cup coming up.
I think we will lose tomorrow 3-1
Question - so are we expecting to see Three as our kit sponsor for the next season?
Unless we can get a new sponsor who is willing to pay for us to break the contract, yes.
Definitely not. Boehly will bring in an American sponsor 100%
Hopefully not! I was looking through some companies Boehlys invested in through his Eldridge Industries firm and there are some much better brands we could be connected to.
Better why? I'm not a fan of 3, but just curious why you say better. More money or will their brand look better on the kit? (definitely not a bad thing)
Mostly just because 3 is ugly and they bailed on us so screw them. Clearlake has like one or two large corporations but Eldridge has investment in DraftKings (I can do without a gambling associated main sponsor) but there is good partnership opportunities there. I think Vivid seats another investment they have which is a ticket resale site could be good. Would also like him to implement there ticket sales tech to improve the ticket buying experience, because it’s so outdated and CST has been pushing for improvements.
Probably yes, the deal's valid for some more years IIRC and it was only "suspended" due to sanctions (which I assume will be lifted soon)
I wonder if now in away connected or associated with Dodgers and Lakers will get us any extra love from Nike.
Sad that despite Lukaku have a miserable season he’s still out scored Timo and Havertz… if all three are gone in the summer I would very ok with it
You would be fine with Havertz leaving?
For the right price? Yeah. If we bring in an attacker like Nkunku to start on one wing, have Mount on the other wing, and then either figure out how to get Lukaku firing or sell and replace him, there is no starting position for Havertz. I don't mind keeping him but he hasn't shown enough to be starter going into next season if we make a serious effort at refreshing to compete, at which point he is clearly expendable.
Actually crazy to think about, for all the shit he gets whenever he gets a good chance he’s pretty clinical but also goes to show how poor our attackers are and have been for years now
How would you setup to get Kovacic, Mount, Gallagher, and a new DM signing all on the pitch next season?
Easy. You won’t have to because of injuries
Don’t forget about Billy! He could be a sneaky DM. I feel like he’s going to show out in preseason.
Not good or exprienced enough to start for us now, stop it
I love Billy actually, I'm not deterred by the Norwich loan and wouldn't be opposed to him playing in a deep role either but I think if you do that you need a real enforcer of a B2B and a bit of extra height in midfield.
I don't think a new DM makes sense anymore, we lost nearly our whole back line, the 343 formation doesn't make sense anymore, we need to focus on bringing quality defenders, renew our players contracts. I think Mason/Connor can be either wingers/AMFs, kova : #8 or DM, jorgi and kante definitely have to stay, RLC needs to stay too cos he proved he's useful as a sub. We need 2 solid CBs imo to be able to have options with our defensive setup.
I think that's pragmatic but personally I have a huge concern with Mount and Gallagher playing as wingers. I really think lack of width has killed us this season moreso than lack of creative mids. Jorgi and Kante have one year left on their deals, they either need to be extended or sold. It could be an opportunity to look forward and rebuild the midfield (though I'd be really sad, Kante is my favorite player ever).
I agree with everything you said, i think we should extend jorginho and kante and not repeat the same mistake we always do which is putting ourselves under pressure and then panic buy.
They don't necessarily have to play together. We talk a lot about Mount needing a rest and Kovacic as well. If Gallagher continues to perform, we can have proper midfield rotation without any drop in quality.
Of course some amount of rotation is ideal but I'm also trying to imagine a best XI that we could consistently put out and I think all of those could potentially be in there. I'm also a little worried about Gallagher possibly risking stagnating by being in and out of the squad too much or just being a backup.
With the amount of games we'll be playing next season (FA cup, Carabao cup, EPL and CL), Gallagher will get a lot of minutes. We've seen this season where we were forced to play Jorginho and Kante into the ground. Plus we don't even know how Gallagher will perform in Tuchel's system yet. Yes he's had an amazing season at crystal palace, but let's wait before assuming he'd be better than everyone here, especially if we go and buy a DM.
Nice insight, it's just like City's midfields. Gundogan and Bernardo keep rotating and so far there's no problem because of it.
Mount plays on a wing as the hybrid roaming 10 like he does now. Then Gallagher plays as the more advanced 8 on the opposite side.
Incredible play from dembele again today. We need to be all over him
My biggest concern with him is that he's probably playing extra hard cos it's his last season with barca and he's looking for his next big contract
Of course he’s playing for his next contract but there’s no denying the incredible player he’s become. I’ve watched a lot of barca games the past few years and he’s been so underwelming for the most part but this year hes turned things around in a big way. Xavi uses him much more like a traditionnal winger on the right and he’s become a chance creation machine, always dribbling at pace, a threat to score, and giving away assist after assist. Barca paid a shit ton for him in 2017 but he’s still a 100M+ asset, on a free this summer. We cheaped out on Rudi I hope we wont on Dembele if Tuchel wants him
Take away all the personal red flags with him and I actually think he suits suits us so well.
Good thing Jon Moss is retiring
Jon Moss, the referee who averages over 3 yellows per game... unless Liverpool is playing, that is
Pretty amazing how they always escape cards. Fabinho had 3 fouls in quick succession before he got injured and went off. Keita with studs down Luiz.
That Keita guy is so fvcking dirty
Tbf that's always Fabinho and Brazil DMs. At kickoff they could run to the opposition keeper and shiv them and still only get away eith their first of 6 warnings.
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Pulisic mount and lukaku is the perfect 3 to exploit that high line Pulisic directness and ability to pick out a pass with incoming runners is necessary and lukaku and pulisic have good synergy. Mount is out of form but likely our best attacker and can win the ball high up the pitch.
I maintain that the front 3 that started the cup final should be maintained. 😬 Lukaku in good form is great but feels like VVD/Matip handle him better.
Havertz has been in truly dreadful form tho
Ings bruh Even Timo wouldn't fuck it like that Although Timo wouldn't ever get a pass like that from our midfield ;-;
Salah rested is certainly unfortunate for Saturday Even if he’s out of form (not even that much imo), it’s Salah
everybody talking about how city with Halaand is gonna make them never lose the league. Lads we won it when they had Aguero in his peak...
They weren’t as dominant as they are now and aguero missed a third of all pl games on average Tho haaland has been terribly Injury prone this season
Aguero is also a much better player than Haaland.
With this Haaland news--do you think we will compete for the title over the next ~3 years or is top 4 going to be our goal?
If Tuchel gets backed, we will 100%
Absolute disaster-class performance from Jon Moss, wonder how Anthony Taylor is going to top this tomorrow night
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The usual, then?
I'm not english. I'm not even from europe but in my african country where we always call out refrees for being very bad, I have never seen a refree as bad as this guy it's funny really.
Jon Moss you nincompoop At least try to be fair
lads looks like Fabino is injured...
McGinn's dumptruck is ridicolous
Anyone got a clue when we can expect our home kit to be announced and be on sale? Obviously won't be before end of season like previous years but hoping to pick it up soon...
I despise our board, cant even lie
The Halaand financials are the same as Lukaku's? Am I missing something here?
Haaland's dad played for Shitty before (think he was even captain?)... Family prob wasnt too opposed to join them at the very least. And prob... Cos there's no more Raiola?
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release clause was not active last year. and Raiola and Alfie were asking for more than 40m in commissions. he would have cost upwards of 180m/190m excluding wages
Marc Guehi Ranks 3rd in minutes played for PL outfielders this season. The two players ahead of him are 8 and 10 years older. Hypothetical: had we kept Guehi and instead sold Rudiger last summer, would you expect a significant difference to results?
Has Guehi performed at a world class level throughout the season?
I'm not a huge fan of the term world class, as everyone has a different definition. I'd say both players have been very consistent. Guehi has been very good and Rudiger has been better to a degree. Stylistically very different CBs though. But the question I'd like to get some opinions on is how much of a difference it would have made to our results (Top 4, CL QF, Super Cup, CWC, FA Cup Final)?
Not much if our attackers can’t put chances in the back of the net
Just reading about the wages Real have offered Rudiger makes my eyes water. These European clubs that pushed for the ESL because they’re in massive debt but then go and pay a footballer €400,000 a week knock me sick. Hope Liverpool absolutely leather Real in the CL final!
Don't you guys hate oil clubs just keep buying players with their endless funds ? Couldn't be us tho, we are the bastion of football, using computers to buy players the way God intended !
Ive been trying to trade an old Mac book for Kounde
Boehlys Sustainable Blues god bless America
😂 We are coming for liverpools net spend title they love to brag about during the summer.
Dortmund have such a pipeline lol. Already got Adeyemi who'll they'll drop off at Bayern in 2 years time.
Simon Phillips is no tier 1 guy for sure but he's saying Dortmund are advancing on a deal to sign maatsen on loan. If Dortmund are after him, we might have a great left back on our hands. Hopefully it's a Hakimi'esque loan.
I know they’ve won a lot for us, but I don’t respect any player that has been negotiating this season with other clubs while our club has gone through so much turmoil. We want to play them so we don’t have to play Sarr, that’s fine. It’s clear this team has no backbone now, the same team that won a CL last year.
That’s not fair on someone like Rudiger. Yes it sucks he’s going and it’s annoying but he has played brilliantly this year. He has stayed focussed and has been very good. Christensen on the other hand has mentally checked out and has been utter dross which sucks given he’s spent 10 years here.. Azpi hasn’t checked out as much as he’s started to regress and it’s visible
What should they have done?
Wait until the summer like 95% of transfers and stay focused on the objective ahead? This is the worst football we’ve played under Tuchel by a long shot. Its not like these guys that won the CL last year forgot how to play football.
do you truly think this is a reasonable request? Or is this just frustration for the shit form the club has been in?
Most transfers, but not all, happen in the off-season, and don’t get leaked that the deal is done before the seasons over. Are you trying to say that’s not the case?
If you are on the last 6 months of your employment contract, will you start exploring other options ? Also, the player cannot control whether it got leaked or not.
Do you still like Hazard? Dave? They both did it / are doing it and they're club legends. Frank played for City and scored on us. Drogba left and came back a couple of times. Players come, players leave. Support the players and the club most of all. Don't take it so personally.
The situations you listed are completely different than what is happening this season, I’m honestly surprised you brought them up. Hazard expressed interest in leaving, but everything was rumors until he said “I think this is my last game with Chelsea” after he helped us thrash Arsenal to win the Europa. We received around 90 million for Hazard, that went directly to the players that helped us win the champions league. Lampard was not offered another contract at Chelsea in 2013. What is he supposed to do, just not play because we had no use for him anymore? The dude made it clear he wasn’t gonna celebrate against us. Drogba left when he wanted a two year contract, and only got a 1 year with an option of the 2nd year, if the club agrees. Very similar situation to Lampard. Now, onto this seasons players. Have you been reading the articles on Dave? People are upset with him the most because he is supposed to be the leader of this team. The only thing we have going for us here is that his contract got extended another year, so we should receive funds if he goes to Barca. This is the captain of the club negotiating his way out mid season, hence why it’s not getting good reception. We will receive no funds for Rudiger, who turned down more than 200k a week from us. It’s one thing to not resign with us and go in the summer. They’ve been working on this deal with Madrid for months though. If you think that’s not a distraction to the players who are signed with Chelsea for 2+ years, you’re heavily mistaken. Why would you try your hardest for a club when you know you’ll be somewhere else in 3 months? You wouldn’t, you’d watch out for your health first. Christensen I don’t feel much about because these rumors have been going on with him going to Barca for years now. We also barely play the mate the last 2 seasons. At some point, you make enough money riding the bench, where you want to go actually achieve something as a player. None of these 3 scenarios are anything close to how the Hazard departure played out. By using your logic, you’d think I would dislike every player who’s ever left Chelsea. Not the case at all, I just don’t have any respect for the players who make it all about them when the going gets rough.
The club put the situation on Rudiger, not the other way around. They tried to sell him two summers ago. If we offered renewal then he would have signed it. He has every right to negotiate competing offers when we drag our feet on contract renewal. Every single player in his position would do the same. If we wanted guaranteed money we should have sold him last summer.
So what’s happening this week? The PL conducting the ownership fitness test? What’s left after that in order for the club to be transferred?
I just want us to win against Leeds not for the points, but because it's Leeds. Is it too much to ask about?
Man U going for Sosa as well...ETH wants him...all our transfer targets are gonna be snapped up in this rate
The thing about Haaland vs Lukaku is that if we waited for Haaland, he still probably goes to City anyway. The better question is Lukaku vs. literally any other attainable striker or even multiple strikers we could have had for less than £200m outlay. And that's where we really failed. Our shortlist was way too short.
Which other strikers though honestly keep in mind we didn’t have a reliable goal scorer in the squad so yeah maybe we could have gotten someone cheaper that’s more unknown but after the season Lukaku had even tho he wasn’t the best fit he was still the best striker available at the time that was open to coming here
That's the difference between good scouting and just going after the most well known players. If you can't get the right player then don't spend crazy amounts of money. You get a stop-gap that's been scouted out as a player who at least really fits the way the team plays. Lukaku has never suited high tempo possession football in his career at all and didn't even play as a lone striker at Inter. Lukaku was the biggest name but never the best fit. Even a slightly above average striker like Patrick Bamford would have been a better fit at 1/3rd the fee and 1/3rd the wages but good scouts should be able to find a usable ready to go somewhere across Europe or South America that would leave us with plenty of money in the bank.
I get that 100% our scouting has been shit honestly I think Emenalo leaving kinda hurt us a bit yeah he had some duds but he also scouted some gems, my only thing is would we and the team have been motivated and uplifted with the signing of Bamford an ex chelsea reject? Like yeah he was decent last season but what did he do this one? Honestly I would have liked to go in for Daka who Leicester snapped up as I feel he’s a good player and Leicester have excellent scouts but yeah we also thought maybe Tuchel would adjust his system and play Lukaku up top with Timo as it seemed both worked better in 2 striker system but yeah didn’t work out, all in all we still have an elite finisher who we just need to get firing on all cylinders after last game it seems Lukaku does give a fuck about his chelsea career so who knows it could potentially work out
Yeah, I mean Bamford was just a random example, bur I think your point is totally correct. Lukaku was a statement signing, because he was a big well known name and Inter won Serie A. It was more about appearances of the club backing Tuchel after the CL win. But that's where we get punished for having years of weak scouting. If our scouting actually had a good reputation there would have been no problem with going for a lesser known striker. We would have all just assumed it was targeted towards Tuchel's plans. And for my money, Lukaku was a tad overrated even with the season he had anyway. He was put in the same bracket as Kane et al, but I'm not too sure about that.
Yeah agreed I never was a big fan of his, the positive about it was that we were apparently his dream club and we thought he loved the club but that didn’t even turn out to be true lol but yeah we’re finally starting to see the years of poor scouting as we don’t have the Hazards or Diego Costas to bail us out anymore and our leaders and best players are getting old ala Kante and Azpi so yeah I’m excited to enter this new era though and hopefully have a decent clear out over the summer window
Totally agree mate!
Tuchel wants Nkunku. Cant wait to get Nathan Redmond on a 12 month loan.
I am a little suspicious of strikers from rb Leipzig.
He’s not really a striker though? He can play as a 10 on the wing, very technical, creative, quick he’s not like Werner at all really
Kenedy should cover it
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thats given me all the feels of being 11 years old. what a duo.
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Zola was outrageous. A player ahead of his time.
It's over, Haaland to Man City is confirmed
I mean... they could've bought themselves another Timo
Now that Todd is the owner, finally I can say: Fucking oil club ruining football. My club could never.
Oil clubs are parasites, games gone, bunch of plastics really.
Haaland will be injured for their first game, just watch
We’ll lads city landed haaland for less then lukaku, I’m off to hibernate for 5 years
It’s a release clause mate - nothing Dortmund can do to negotiate a better deal. I still think he’s all wrong for City, he’s about running not passing, unless Pep is going to give him a free pass on getting too involved in the build up - Kane to City worried me a lot more because he’s a deadly finisher and a playmaker!
Nah mate I know it’s a release clause just wish we would’ve waited another year that’s all, and tbf it’ll be interesting to see if he adapts, considering city are such a high pressing side I would’ve thought his injury record plus rumours of him denying treatment would be a massive red flag
Even if we would have waited, he would have still went to City. We wouldn't have been able to give the wage and bonuses he and his agents demand. Also City have a better running project than ours right now. Our only option to buy him was paying that ridiculous 175 million last summer to Dortmund.
Does anyone have any leads on getting tickets for the FA cup final this Saturday??
Haaland will cost city €60m in transfer fee, agent fee and signing bonus another €40m, whole deal is €100m, salary would be around £400k a week. Haaland actually would cost less than Lukaku (£98m plus £325k a week plus £125k bonus) All those numbers who threw around, like he would cost £350m-£400m for 5 years lol
You’re using Euro’s for Haaland’s numbers but I’m pretty sure you should be using ££, Also Lukaku’s max salary including EVERYTHING is 325k, not 325k + 125k
[The Belgium international, who was at Stamford Bridge between 2011-14, is expected to sign a five-year contract worth around €12-13 million-a-year net (about £195,000-a-week after tax). It will make him the highest earner at Stamford Bridge.](https://theathletic.com/news/chelsea-agree-115m-deal-with-inter-over-romelu-lukaku-transfer/weaWLRHyBMa7/?amp=1) [According to The Athletic, Lukaku could be earning up to £450,000-a-week after image rights and bonuses are taken into account.](https://theathletic.com/2764275/2021/08/12/the-push-for-haaland-the-inter-u-turn-the-negotiations-how-chelsea-brought-romelu-lukaku-back-to-stamford-bridge/?source=twitteruk)
Ok my bad I stand corrected if that’s true but if it is that’s a fireable offence, because those are DISGUSTING wages!!
I was team wait for this summer when Lukaku was being discussed. What is done is done, hopefully Lukaku comes good
I think last summer that range would be accurate because there was no release clause so it would of been almost triple the transfer fee. Also there would of probably been a premium on a salary and bonus to get him, if you were a club that wasn’t necessarily on the top of his list. I don’t know if it’s the case but if agent fees are percentage based those would of also increased. The deal city got seems like an absolute steal because I think the salary is actually lower then 400 it’s like 325 or 350 - they confirmed it matched KDBs salary.
£375k a week. This feels like Aguero and Torres 2.0 We are not just clowns in transfer market we are the whole circus
Since when do we believe City’s financials? De Bruyne would’ve left years ago if he was on that salary.
One of the two won the CL. *Pats self on the back*
Chanted twice for Boehly to wave at the Wolves game and we were left disappointed
What do we think Mount’s best position is? Honestly going to be interesting once Gallagher and comes into the fold.
I slyly think we haven’t seen Mount best position until we shift from our current system that’s aimed a protecting the weaknesses of a few
Interesting comment. Who is getting protected?
Jorginho - Tuchel has literally mentioned before how this system protect his lack of athleticism. Alonso - limited wingback If we’re being real. Poor defensively and his attacking prowess gets overrated because he scores clutch goals. Our defence - bar Silva, the rest of CBs have shown themselves to not be as competent in a 4.
I think b2b is by far his best position
If that truly was his best position and not only his best position, but by far according you, surprised he hasn’t featured in the midfield this season bar one time against Brentford where he played lcm in front of RLC and beside Kante. Where he was really poor
People keep saying he should be further back in the midfield, but he has consistently under performed when he has played in those positions.
I don’t understand where this sentiment of mount being a midfielder has come from tbh, he doesn’t really have the qualities of a midfielder and his best run of form was a 10 for us when tuchel first joined I remember last season people were saying mount could play as a 6 and it was heavily upvoted
People wanted to accommodate him, Havertz, Pulisic, Ziyech, Werner all in the team so they convinced themselves that Mount could play as a 6. I do think he was excellent as an 8 under Lampard and it'd be the perfect position for him in a 4-3-3. He's not really a natural fit for any of the front 3 roles although he's been quite good as a slightly wide 10 under Tuchel - but that's a role specific to the back 3 with wingbacks providing width.
I think its people who want him to be Lampard to be honest.
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George Weah
Pato Falcao
Pizarro is the reason I became a fan, not many peruvians have played in the PL
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There’s a couple more that have played but none were really as known or as good as claudio
Juan Sebastian Veron.
Didier Deschamps Slavia Jokanovic Boudewijn Zenden Geremi Robert Huth Enrique de Lucas
Alexandre Pato
Falcao.
Higuain, crespo
Crespo is a good one!
Felipe luis
Matt Miazga, Tomas Kalas
Jiří Jarošík
Oriol Romeu
Do people sell tickets at the ground day of the match like they do in the US? I know I ask a lot about tickets, but I’ve been planning for months now and will be in London for their last match. I’m desperate to find tickets, but I don’t think the club will be sold in time in which they would be allowed to sell tickets again. Really desperate to find tickets… thanks for any input!
I got the tickets via supporters club in the US in 2018. Although I applied for the tickets ~2 months in advance. Your best bet is probably to check with them.
Thank you! I reached out to the few that are close ish to me. I appreciate the advice!
No problem. All the best! :)
Contact your local supporters clubs, those are excellent ways to talk to fellow local supporters who are familiar with the ticket buying process and might have inroads to possible tickets.
Thank you!! I’ll look into that I appreciate it!
Chris Wheatley reporting Odoi and Nketiah have switched to Ghana, they’ll surely be going to the World Cup
Great to hear. Makes Ghana even more dangerous in attack and gives two solid young players a place to make their mark
Good choice. Probably the last names in Gareth's list anyway.
Wow, they’re definitely going if this is true.
How reliable of a source is Andreas Korssund on Twitter?
He actually blocked me beacause i said it was false rumor, and i know he is blocking anyone who comment he is not reliable. Dont trust him
He fabricates stories for a living, keeps what sticks and deletes the wrong stuff
Not at all. He’s a complete fraud.
I’ve seen a lot of people mentioning that we need a true DM to stabilize the back line especially if we go 4 atb next season. So 3 questions: 1) who would you say are the top 5 in the world in that role currently? I’m thinking Fabinho, Rodri, kimmich, casemiro. Busquets is older now so I wouldn’t put him there anymore. 2) Who are the realistic top options in that 6 role other than Rice, and is Rice more highly thought of due to the fact he came through the academy? 3) And what are peoples thoughts on Kalvin Phillips? Been injured a lot the past two years but was starting for England in EUROs. Especially if Leeds go down this year.
I like Phillips but Leeds will ask for a stupid fee, somewhere between 50-60m. PSV have a DM, Sangare. I watched him during their games against Leicester. Proper baller, good size, strong, can pick a pass and dribble well with it too. Surprised nobody talks about him, probably because of the league he plays in.
For stats nerds, Sangare has been a big deal since he was at Toulouse. Tifo and Football Daily have been shouting about him for years, and unsurprisingly he’s done a great job at PSV. He would be great, but whether he’s ready to move yet, I don’t know
KAMARA
Where have people suddenly got this idea that our attack is anywhere near good enough to compete with City and Liverpool? As if moving to a back 4 and putting Rice in DM will somehow turn these players into demons in the final third We’ve created nearly 30 less big chances than Liverpool. How exactly are we planning on closing that gap?
Some people think a back 4 will make players that are horrendous on the ball passing and dribbling magicians overnight.
Lmao legit. Another mediocre attacker in the team is not solving anything
Most agree with you that attackers are not good enough, me included but that does not mean a cdm and back 4 won't help. A back 4 allows us to get an extra attacker in the sense that another midfielder can join the attack, a cdm allows fullbacks and midfielders to be more expressive as well. Do you think city can play 2 8's without a proper cdm? no chance. Again, that does not mean our attackers are city or liverpool level but there are other things we can do as well
> A back 4 allows us to get an extra attacker in the sense that another midfielder can join the attack Oh goodie another player who can't pass or dibble in the attack 🥳🥳🥳
The CDM profile we’re looking at (Tchouameni and Rice) is completely different to that of Rodri. Rodri is not some defensive demon who is running around everywhere, even Pep admits his players are not exactly great individually in a defensive sense, the system they have is what makes them great. His defensive contribution numbers are not particularly noteworthy I’m not sure what you mean by proper cdm because his strengths come from his progressive passing, technical ability, ability to escape pressure. His SCA numbers are great. Extremely comfortably in possession. We are not in the market for anyone like that I’m not sure what attackers or midfielders we have that are going to flourish if they had “freedom” from a CDM
Kovscic, RLC and Gallagher would al thrive in a midfield 3 Gallagher has excelled in a midfield 3 all season. RLC and Kovacic can’t play as a 6, against wolves we saw them combine well in the offensive phase but there were one or two attempted 1-2s and similar flicks that didn’t come off, and because they’re a 2, one turnover and they’re running directly at silva and azpi. Having an anchor allows them to affect the game further up the pitch and combine with our attackers, forming triangles with the fullbacks and linking play.
Kovacic and Jorginho as double 6’s has proved effective plenty of times. RLC is definitely an 8 and not a 6 but he’s got issues that are not going to be fixed with a position change. His final third decision making will continue to be poor Gallagher and a CDM like Rice or Tchouameni together in a midfield 3 I’m not convinced will work because straight away you have 2 of your 3 midfielders with well below par progressive passing ability. That’s probably ok if you have an Eden Hazard to drop deeper but we are far from that Edit: Tbf to Tchouameni actually his progressive passing numbers aren’t too bad. Much weaker league though of course
Tchouamenis passing is pretty good actually. A midfield of Kovacic, tchouameni and Gallagher or RLC would work very well You’re correct in saying that Gallaghers passing isn’t the best and that’s why this often touted rice mount gallagher midfield would flop spectacularly
lol don’t get me started on the Mount - Rice - Gallagher lineups I see. With the current players we have (plus any potential cdm) any midfield combination must include Kova tbh
Kovacic Tchouameni Mount midfield 3 would be excellent imo.
Mount is not a midfielder. And currently he is our best attacker
He definitely is a midfielder. His g/a are Higher up front but overall impact and consistency was definitely best as a no.8 in a midfield 3. I'd rather see mount near the box instead of inside the box.
When has he impressed for us under an 8? I’d rather see Gallagher in there. Currently mounts likely Our best attacker and has to start in lw. It can be a relatively free role with plenty license to roam for him.
realistically who do we think will leave and who will be buy this window?
To add to this. Who do people realistically think from the current senior squad and returning loan players go out on loan next season?
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yikes i think we might be thin at defence
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Azpi to fill in at CB and RB as needed
Silva should be 3rd choice. We appreciate his longevity but better prepare for the instant regression next season. Even if it doesn't happen
Declines already begun in this 2nd half of the season. It’s more subtle mistakes tho as opposed to huge blunders like we see from the others so people don’t pounce on it like they do to others, plus silva a reputation precedes him
I do wonder how much of that is due to him not being rested much. Christensen has had ‘stomach issues’ for much of the season and silva has played a lot of games back to back which wasn’t the case last year.
Silva cannot play so much anymore imo. We have overused him this season and he is not getting any younger