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Chelsea 1-2 Spurs

Finished 10th that year though

My conspiracy theory is Chelsea is losing to ensure they're out of UEFA competitions next season since that will help them avoid sanctions.

I wasn't actually considering Hato as a centerback atleast for now. He is young and likely to make mistakes if played as a Cb in a fast, quality tempo league like the premier League. I feel the fullbacks we have currently will do well under the right system. Centerback is where our major problem is. We don't have a central defender who organizes the backline well especially in terms of positioning like Thiago Silva used to do. The likes of Tosin, Badashiele, Disasi, Fofana, Chalobah etc are not good in that. That's the first issue we have, poor positioning before talking about good decision making.

⏳️👌BREAKING: Chelsea are shaping up for a legal battle with Manchester City over their putative appointment of Enzo Maresca. (@Telegraph)

Not convinced by Barco as a LB for PL... he is not great defending 1v1 and he's also tiny (couple of inches smaller than Cucurella). He's great at passing though, think there was some stat about his through ball numbers but just based on the eye test the guy plays great through balls and plays great in transition, still playing quality through balls on the move or under pressure. I think he'll have his uses against low blocks for sure. Not even close to the kind of signing we need to fix the core issues in the squad, its just another "if he improves a lot in some areas he could become a hell of a player" signing for the future imo, that can get game time in certain circumstances already. But lets see...

🔵🗯Joao Pedro now dreams of Barcelona. Not making the World Cup is a big reason for him to put the Barcelona jersey to get him back among the elite. He grew up admiring Ronaldinho, Neymar and knows Raphinha well. The striker will do his part to wear Blaugrana. (@mundodeportivo)

It’s been a very tough four years hasn’t it? I’m not saying that all our problems will now…View the full article

That would be cool in theory but top keepers can play at their best level well into their 30’s and Maignan is only 30. If he were to come here and perform amazingly then Penders is locked out for at least a few years. I think what I would probably do is just take the risk and make Penders our #1 this summer. What I think will actually happen is the club will convince Alonso to give Sanchez one more season before Penders takes the job after another Strasbourg season of development.

Slowly letting myself get excited about Xabi, albeit I worry that expectations are a little too high for him with the way the media are talking about him (as if we've appointed Prime Jose). If we go and sign 2 top CBs and a GK then I might actually get excited for a new era. If we don't, its just more of the same shit with a new coach, the ceiling will always be low.

What we should have been doing for the last few years

What a comical thing to have to report. “Big club targets adult players who could actually crack the starting lineup”

Maybe in hindsight it was more Pochs system causing this but I honestly thought Petrovic was really bad for us and the advanced data backed that up. I think the desperation for anyone but Sanchez caused it to go under the radar, similar to the ageing Ivanovic/Baba Rahman situation.

To think this all started with the Courtois - Kepa shit show Petrovic - Sanchez was interesting because you could see some potential in Petrovic and Bournemouth took that chance.

Knowing Joe Shields he'd be on the phone to City asking for Trafford's price.

Hato hasn't done too much wrong of recent times for a young CB/LB who's still learning and developing. Between Reece, Colwill, Hato you have a starting base for the backline but we need reinforcements badly. I fear that keeping Josh here would be ruining his development, at his age, he needs regular games, not bench warming duties. He should have been on loan somewhere in the PL this season.

There is still time for Neymar's sister to have a birthday again.

Carlo just wanted the rest of the football world to walk around like him with a raised eye brow. Seriously though,bizarre squad selection choices. Could be positive for us.JP getting rest and then a pre-season with Xabi,channel his frustration into positivity for next season and beyond. Could be negative as he may think the season the club had cost him this WC.but Barcelona are just browsing Harrods on dole money budget. So not bothered about them actually taking him,just maybe unsettling him.

I don't think Palmer is going to the WC, I honestly think he will take Foden instead.

Exactly

yes, people forget that defenders need to also be creatives, they can set the rythym of play from the back

Simple, buy Maignan and bring back Penders, Maignan won't cost the earth, gives us a quality keeper and can teach Penders everything he knows.

I am glad we now have what I consider as an experienced coach who plays attacking style of football far more than delightfully counting how many passes his players make before remembering that goals win matches. Good attacking play will bring out the best from this squad even as it is but I did like him to do a total clearout of our center backs. Only Colwill and Achempong should be considered to stay while they bring in 2 too level experienced quality cb. We kind of lack creativity as we don't have skillful ball carriers. Our players tend to lose possession easily when under pressure except Joa Pedro who has really improved on this. Delap, Guiu, should be sold. Let's bring in another top striker like Laurato Martinez or Osimhen. With the right signings, only 4 or 5 incomings can set us up as title contenders. 1 or 2 experienced quality centerback (s), 1 ball carrying creative central midfielder, 1 top class winger, 1 top class striker.

But can he barge into players like a tractor?

In my auckland in August 2026 it's a preseason friendly with my 2024 established and founded Akl FC women debuting in 2026/27 A-League women season. New Zealand International Football Festival AUCKLAND FC WOMEN VS CFC WOMEN Eden Park, Auckland City 4pm NZL TIME KICKOFF KICK OFF TIMES SATURDAY 8 AUGUST 2026 AT 4PM NZST SAT 8 AUG 2026 AT 05:00 AM - UK ENG TIME https://edenpark.co.nz/events/saturday-8-august-2026-saturday-8-august-2026/ Auckland FC established their women's team on March 14, 2024, concurrent with the founding of the men's club. Although initially delayed, the team is scheduled to officially debut in the Ninja A-League Women competition in the 2027/28 season.While waiting to join the top flight, the club operates the Women's Talent Development Centre (WTDC), which was officially launched in September 2025 to scout and nurture female football talent in the region.