OhForAGreavsie

If there is no room for Lewis Bate on the subs bench today then Frank should really have suggested that there be ten players on the bench for these games, not nine. The three points are paramount of course, but it would be nice to see Lewis get his first involvement with the squad.

The incoming additions already improve our midfield and attack from their lowest points of the Roman era. If Kova and Pulli are only to be rotational options then that group starts to sound powerful. With Mando, Tino and Lewis Bate as squad fillers, the direction of travel would look pretty good. I'm not sold on Tammy. Nor am I convinced that there would be no place for Kova in our top team, but there would still be lots to feel positive about in this scenario.

Frank's comments about N'Golo seem very genuine to me so I can see him wanting the world cup winner in his prime position. In addition he'll want to maximise the forward power he's assembling so I can see SFL looking at 4-2-3-1.

The info on Fik and Callum came in response to a general question about injuries. Hopefully it's a good sign that Frank did not mention Reece when he detailed the problems the other two are suffering.

Paying fees in instalments is perfectly normal and would be factored in to any calculation. Anyway, we've signed two players for next season already. We all at least respect them both, and want them to do well. I especially love Timo's pace. I'm looking forward to seeing how frequently we can create opportunities for him to exploit it. It's a heck of a weapon.

They all do but I used a harsh word when I said lie. Perhaps they'd say that their public statements are diplomatic or commercially sensitive.

No, of course I don't have evidence. I also had no evidence that Arsenal lied when they said they only had £40m to spend last summer. Until they spent £70m+ on Pepe that is. Clubs say convenient things for public consumption.

I watched a video within the last week purporting to explain why VVD turned down Chelsea. Who knows the truth of it, but Chelsea's interest was widely talked about.

I think this is a nonsense excuse. If they wanted him, they'd have made it happen.

I agree but i wasn't commenting on the accuracy of their claim. Indeed i was rather implying that the evidence so far suggests that they were not right. I was simple comparing their attitude to the Pepe deal last summer, with our attitude about todays announcement. We've both read posts in the transfer forum claiming exactly that about this player, or that player. We have also read many statements claiming that Van Dijk to Liverpool was indeed a bargain. Well, we can pick a number and call that the cut-off point but in the end it comes down to player performance. Were the fees we paid for Bats, Timoue and Alvaro bargains, or even acceptable because they were all £50m or less? Player performance, not player cost, is the true yardstick. I do think we have bought two players who will give us something. I will be shocked if either is a bust, but we need to judge them on how they perform, not on how great we want to believe they will be.

Not factually accurate. We were reported to have made an offer for Van Dijk for example. The plain truth is that if Liverpool had wanted Werner they'd have paid the fee and satisfied him about the game time he could expect. They did not want him enough to make the deal happen however, and there is a reason for that. Perhaps it's as simple as they believe that their existing front three will all be ahead of Timo for the big games. Fair enough, but that is at least one club whose assessment puts a firm ceiling on expectations for Timo's contribution. There is a reason no club who Timo might have preferred to play for pushed through a deal for him. This is an inescapable truth. I like Timo, but let's not go overboard with our expectations.

There was a video in which several AFTV regulars were raving about the Pepe deal. They talked about it being the biggest deal of the summer but how, relative to the quality of the player and the list of clubs who were said to have been in for him, they had done a great deal on the fee. In essence they were saying what you're saying now; they felt they had a bargain. I was like you, I'd have liked Pepe to come here, and was unhappy that another PL club got him instead. A deal can only be judged a bargain if the player meets or exceeds expectations however. They spoke too soon last summer, and I'm suggesting that we should avoid doing so now. I remember those Arsenal fans being absolutely stoked that they'd 'beaten' all the top clubs in Europe to capture the Lille man. None of them stopped to wonder, "Hold on a minute, why have we beaten them?" I'm suggesting we at least bear that question in mind.

Some of us were saying keep Bulka, save £71m before we signed Kepa.

Understood ... I don't believe we've signed players who can be expected to become world superstars, but I do think we've signed good players who will produce for us. Whether we have bargains or not can't be judged yet. Twelve months ago Arsenal fans were jumping about Pepe and and how little they were reported to have paid for him. They completely overlooked the fact that, had he been as good as they wanted to imagine he is, they'd never have been able to sign him. Bigger, better sides would have wanted him. and one of them would have taken him. In our case, if Liverpool had really wanted Timo they'd have paid up and the message he posted earlier today would have been addressed to Liverpool fans. We have to be realistic, and temper our expectations. I'm pleased with our summer window so far, but I'm not judging the value for money of our signings yet.

Fair enough, I happen to think that there is little chance that these players will be complete busts. For me, they each have enough quality to be, at worst, decent contributors. It is possible though that they won't produce the stellar numbers they managed with their previous clubs, or that they won't improve us enough to dent the advantage in quality Liverpool and City have over us. A few things: - 1. Had we signed Pepe last summer we'd have been crowing how well we'd done. So... 2. Lets see what impact these two make on the pitch before we talk too much. Therefore... 3. Let's hope other fans don't have reason to boast about the quality their recruitment next summer, compared to ours now. Anyway... 4. People could play that game on us by naming some other big money signings of ours that did not work out.

I'm really sorry but my careless typing, and lack of proof reading, means that my 'correction' needs more help than the sentence it attempted to comment on. 🙁 I typed, 'This an old story.' I should have typed, 'This is an old story.' I'm going to delete the original post. It's served its purpose. Albeit very badly. 🙁🙁

OK. Thank you. If we can get him to happily play LB we'll all be delighted.

OK. I asked because a social media post, reproduced above, claimed that Alaba does not want to play LB anymore.

I always said that it was his injuries which kept Darren Anderton at the top level. Without them, his inconsistency would have seen him slide downwards. The next time Ruben gets a run in the side may well be decisive for his Chelsea future.

There is no debate; I agree with you. As I said, Ruben has excellent attributes. My argument is that he does do enough with them. We would be crazy to do that again. Any player worth £100m would have to be an automatic starter for us. If he wasn't good enough to be that in this squad, then we would have massively overpaid. Again?? Relatively speaking, we've previously signed players for amounts equivalent to £100m in today's market and used them in rotation. Our squad is not good for us to burn money like that now. If we dump that amount into a player, he has to be on the pitch. Is Havertz worth that kind of money? I haven't seen enough of him in 90-minute action to be certain. If, however, Frank is convinced that he wants to spend such a chunk of his budget on the player then, in the absence of information to form my own judgement, I'd have to defer to my belief in Frank and Jody. If too, Marina can make the deal fit within FFP, then I will have to defer to her also.

This is the frustrating bit, he so very obviously has it in him. I can almost imagine that his mum used to tell him to be fair to the other boys and not hog all the limelight himself. We'll, they're big boys now Rubes. You don't have to be fair to them anymore.

Ruben has excellent attributes, but he has never shown any hint of becoming a world class player. Throughout his Chelsea progression he has consistently failed to impact football matches. No one doubts that he has the qualities to be a big factor in any game but he virtually never delivers. Those fantastic attributes got him in the World Cup squad; injuries got him in the side, and what did he deliver? Nothing. I've championed Ruben since his U18 days, but I've always offered the opinion that he would not make it if he did not find a way to bring his talent to bear on matches more often. It hasn't happened yet.

What position would you be signing him to fill?

Position of strength and we bought Kezman. I know he produced great stats, but how any football person could watch Kezman for more than 15 minutes, and yet conclude that he was a man to spend money on is beyond me.

Finnish striker Adelina Engmam has left Chelsea FCW today for French outfit Montpellier HSC. https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2020/06/16/engman-exits-chelsea-fc-women