OhForAGreavsie

Is this delay a football decision, or is it a local regulation?

Ah, thank you. If I ever knew that I've totally forgotten it. That fact is still not ringing any bells with me.

No memory about Salah but I definitely don't recall us facing KDB before he signed. Genk were in our CL group while he was back there on loan.

I had plans to go to Lisbon to watch Chelsea women in this year's UWCL final but Barcelona had other ideas. 🙁

I don't suppose Charlotte is a hot bed of Chelsea support anyway but I've a feeling that multiple shit show performances on tour in the US has dampened enthusiasm for the Blues.

I was afraid of Trafford to Newcastle. I paid over the odds to win a bidding war for Nick Pope in my fantasy league. I've been trying to sell him to other managers or back to the computer but no one will give me what I paid for him. Looks like I'm going to have to take the loss. I can only hope that some Premier League team will come in for Pope, make him their starter, and get me out of trouble.

How should this be interpreted? Is it a team made up of the players thought to have been the most scouted NH position during the tournament, a team comprising the players who received the best known scouting reports in their positions, the players found to have produced the best performances statistically, or some other basis?

I have not seen Santos play at Strasbourg and have only watched all touch videos (except that they weren't really ALL touches) of his youth tournament season before last. In those I saw absolutely nothing which suggests that allowing him to leave will even come up to CHO levels, never mind KDB.

I don't know so I can't rule out the possibility that what you say is correct. I wouldn't expect that it is however. I think it's more likely that clubs and journalists have a mutually beneficial relationship. The journos understand that they are being used but go along because the information they pass along still drives clicks, readership, viewership, etc. The clubs on the other hand understand that they can't always feed the journalist rubbish because that erodes credibility. If the journalist lacks credibility then it limits the impact of any information leaked through that journo. I can imagine conversations happening along the lines o, "Come on give me two hours head start on the real news when you get it, after all I put out three things for you in the last period of time even though I knew they were just plants." - "Sorry, I can't give you 2 hours because you know I've got to keep up relationships with other people too. I will give you 30 minutes though as a thank you."

Outdated comment.

Not sure there will be a discount unless there isn't much of a market for him. The transfer speculation around Fofana suggests that there will be interest.

I just can't believe that. Especially after PSG's loss improved our chances of a run to the semis. So much money available on the table club execs must have been desperate to collect a lump of it.

After PSG's shock result earlier, victory tonight gives us a very good chance to progress to the last 16 and avoid a clash with Bayern Munich in that round. Then, if we reach the quarters, there's a good chance we'll avoid PSG there. There's no doubt that the clubs would want the money for progression in this tournament. It's just a question of which ones manage to get their squads excited about it too.

Days when Chopper would play for the reserves in the morning and sit on the bench for the first team in the afternoon. 🙂

After the first game I saw him play at Stanford Bridge I posted here to say that I didn't think he would make it. I specifically talked about his one trick pony approach of fainting on his right and ducking in on his left. It wasn't long before defenses were lining up to shut down that move and that was that for Noni. With him on the left the defenses don't even have to pull a man on is duck to the left. The touchline takes care of that for them.

The fact that it's lunchtime on a work day afternoon is a bit of an excuse.

I heard a report which ranked him as POTM in his first Club World Cup performance. Did anyone see the game?

Earnings in the region of £50m if we reach the quarter finals gives the tournament an importance which the club can't, and won't, ignore.

Makes perfect sense.

But, over the years, they've fought to keep selected players like Reus, Bellingham, Dembele, Lewandowski, Gotze, and Hummels, for example. The are not fighting to keep Gittens. They are just haggling for the best price they can get.

If these valuations are correctly ranked, and accurately reflect consistent real game contributions, then six from the top, and six places above Sancho, isn't bad. I'm not encouraged by BVB's stance mind you. They aren't really fighting to keep him, and I would expect them to if he is of the calibre to make a really good impact in the Premier League.

Is anything known about why he turned down the Saudi move? It can't simply be the money since he won't get anywhere near the same offer elsewhere. Might it just be for his negotiating integrity? Has he maybe said I won't take any less than x amount, and then felt forced to walk away when he wasn't offered what he had asked for? Interesting to see what next in this multi-season drama.

Is it significant that Noni is starting for England while Gittens does not make the squad, or does his age fully explain this?

I'm looking forward to my first real viewing of Santos. I saw nothing whatsoever which impressed me during the youth international tournament where he received rave reviews, and I have not watched him at Strasbourg. This will be my chance to catch up so I hope he gets significant minutes.

As for the tournament itself, I find it hard to look past PSG for the eventual winners.