OhForAGreavsie

Turns out Juan played in the team featuring loan players, not the development team. Interesting.

There were two games at Cobham this morning. One featured the development squad, the other featured players who are already a part of the loan army, or who are perhaps set to become a part of it. Juan played for the loan team. Should we take that as a clue to the next step? Probably.

To be fair, I think most regulars here saw through Lukaku. Nainggolan probably did split opinion a bit more.

Reece is ahead of all of them in my opinion. That said, we probably need to carry three strikers so Tammy's path into the squad looks clear.

Petr in coaching gear working with Kepa is a worrying photograph. It's not news to anyone that Petr's role is undifined, but we need him to work out a function where he operates with the executives of the club. Instead that photograph suggests he is tempted to gravitate toward what he knows, the training ground. Obviously there is no problem with Petr attending training. He needs to take a step back from hands-on involvement however. His brief now is to observe, assess and advise. Importantly, that advice needs to flow upward. It's perfectly natural for Frank and Petr to trust each other, so if the new manager wants to use his mate as a sounding board that's fine. If Petr allows this to become his role however, he'll be letting the club down. I'll be more encouraged if I see him wearing shirt and tie at least as often as training tops and boots. Of course, it's entirely possible that Petr is just having a chat with Kepa.

Juan hasn't been listed in the squad to goto Japan. Unless there's an innocent reason for it that's disappointing. The development group have a game tomorrow. If he's in the squad for that game we'll have some information.

Further ticket update for Chelsea Women vs Tottenham Hotspur Women at Stamford Bridge on Sunday 8th September The the club announced earlier today that all available tickets have been requested. As far as I know tickets for the two middle tiers were not made available, but every other seat in the ground has been claimed. That's more than 30,000 I reckon. Of course, when tickets are free not everyone who asks for one actually turns up. Here's hoping at least two-thirds of the people who requested a seat will use it.

Ticket update for Chelsea Women Vs Tottenham Hotspur Women at Stamford Bridge on Sunday 8th September. Tickets are going much faster than I expected. All seats have been allocated for The Shed end, only singles remain in The Matthew Harding plus the lower tiers of both the East and West stands are also fully taken. Looks like you'll need to be quick if you want to get down there and support the female blues. Details here, tickets here.

They already had him for free but let him go. 🙁

I wonder if everyone here is aware that Chelsea Women will be playing their opening game of the Women's Super League season at Stamford Bridge against Tottenham Hotspur Women on Sunday 8th September. The men will be on an international break that weekend so, if you haven't yet experienced a live game of women's football, this is a good opportunity to take in a WSL match. What's more the tickets are free. More details here.

All the best to Kaz from a CFCW season ticket holder. Hoping she'll be doing a lap of honour at The Bridge on September 8th.

Oh yes, I agree we should try. Just don't think we'll be any more successful with him than we have been with other sought after players recently. Bayern are in an incredible position which even the Spanish giants must envy. In effect, all 52 professional clubs in Germany serve as their academy.

In the scenario you describe his Leipzig contact would end but the preagreed contract with us would then start. Think he'd turn us down however.

It is now online and free.

Agreed. I feel for those lads and the situation they find themselves in. Identifying the right club for a permanent move is clearly proving difficult. Fingers crossed for them that they manage to get something worked out this summer.

The midfield is going to need some quick and decisive decision making. Bakayoko, Barkley, Drinkwater, Jorginio, Kante, Kovacic, Loftus-Cheek, Mount can't all be accommodated and there are other midfielders we could list in addition to these. Some need to leave one way or another.

Antonio definitely did, plus some youth games as well. We have to assume that the story is true and that Maurizio took no interest in the club's development squads. That amazes me. Maurizio is clearly a highly intelligent man but this was deeply unintelligent behaviour. If only for the sake of good relationships within the club, you'd take interest. If only so that you can calibrate the opinions of development squad coaches when they recommend player a, b or c, you'd take interest. If only to avoid taking stick for not doing it, you'd take an interest. I just can't understand an intelligent man acting so much against type. For the first time I have heard something which makes me glad Maurizio left the club.

I don't agree with everything said here but this is clearly a well thought out and entirely defensible point of view. My own position agrees with the comment which started the current phase the discussion. That post basically claimed that Eden's move to Madrid will provide us all with more information to chew on. It won't be the best possible information however, because Real are rebuilding and that's an important part of the equation. Real have always had an interest in Eden but, while they were at their peak, they never quite wanted him enough to make a decisive move. Maybe that fact should come into the discussion too.

Good point. People can certainly argue that Neymar is better than Hazard, and that argument may even be right. I very much doubt however that many people would buy into the idea that Sterling's numbers suggest that he too is a better player than Eden. My feeling is that if you swapped their teams, you would also swap their numbers. I'm not saying anybody here doubts that the quality of the team he plays for makes a difference to the impact a player can have. It's just a question of how big that difference in quality has really been in this case, and exactly how big a difference, if any, it has made in the Eden vs Neymar debate.

Maybe, but it's fair to say that Bristol will be happy with this price. Their fans were generally really pleased with Thomas last season. They were more excited about the prospect of getting him permanently, than about getting Jay and most of us think Jay is a pretty good player.

More than that when all the loan fees we've collected over the years are added.

Grab your favourite glass, hit your favourite chair, cast this video to the big screen, and enjoy ten minutes thirty-nine seconds of football therapy.

The more interesting thing for me is what is causing the hold-up. I doubt it's about Frank's pay but it could be to do with the amount of control he wants over squad affairs. Maybe we are negotiating with the coaches Frank wants to recruit, and with their current clubs. Maybe Frank wants assurances that the contracts of key members of the existing squad have been tied down, or maybe it something else. We'll probably never know the actual reason but I'd be shocked, and bitterly disappointed, if it is anything which could be described as taking the p.

Does this do anything to change Atleti's interest in Alvaro for next season?

Well, every rating system gives it to Neymar but I think it's closer than this suggests. Playing in a genuinely effective team makes so big a difference that Eden has been at a huge disadvantage for the bulk of his career. When your side moves the ball quickly, with purpose and with the kind of quality which wrong foots defenders, then running lanes open and the impact of any movement is multiplied. When your passes are collected by Messi or Suarez then your statistics are going to get a boost. I think this compensates for the differences which lead to Neymar being consistently rated above Eden.