OhForAGreavsie

I thought that it had been settled, contractually, that Estavoa will be playing for Palmeiras in the Club World Cup?

Everybody's top South America scout is watching that tournament. 🙂

Listed in order of preference?

My opinion is that you can't make an accurate positive judgement from highlight videos but you can reach a more reliable negative judgement. If a player looks good in highlight vids you always need to see more, but if he looks bad, and depending on what in particular is bad, you have almost always seen enough already.

For me, this includes Geovany Quenda. He has looked very unimpressive to me in the highlight videos I've watched. It might be that there is other material in which he looks a good player but I'm very doubtful. It's not just the outcome of his actions which I don't like, it's how he does what he does in those videos.

Feel the same way about this possibility as I did about Sancho. Ridiculous price for a player not worth half as much in my view.

It was a strange decision to sign him in the first place. Was delighted when news of the break clause emerged. (If this was public at the time he joined, I didn't notice it.)

DZAN usually put the big WCL games on their website rather than on their YouTube channel. Still free though.

Yes, Shed Lower Block 6. Best crowd participation at any Stamford Bridge game so far. Not the best noise overall because we've had much bigger crowds. In terms of people individually showing vocal support for the team however, definitely the best. I was trying to encourage people around me to stand, because we all tend to make more noise when we're on our feet. Only partial success with that but, in fairness to a group of people behind me who wanted to sit, they all said they were fine with me standing even if it meant blocking their view sometimes. That was the right attitude but naturally I would never be comfortable standing and enjoying myself when I know it means damaging someone else's enjoyment of the game, so I mostly kept to my seat. The atmosphere was encouraging last night, and it could be seen that the players were lifted by it, but it still was not where it should be. I'll be attending a meeting of the Chelsea Women Fan Forum next week and atmosphere in the ground is on the agenda for discussion. (It should also be on the agenda for the mens forum by the way.) Does anyone reading this, weather you go to women's games or not, have any ideas about how we can get more people to back the team vocally during matches? One chant which absolutely never catches on at women's games is Carefree. To me that's a big shame because, whenever Stamford Bridge is truly rocking, Carefree thunders around the ground. I can't say this for sure but I suspect that it doesn't catch on because a significant percentage of people don't want to chant the F-word. I have never sung that line myself and I never will, but the culture of womens' football seems to reject it. Suspecting that people won't sing the original version I try to encourage them to sing, "And we know no fear" instead but I'm pretty much the only one who uses that line. I just can't get people to agree that it's more important to chant things that inspire and motivate the team, than it is to exercise their right to sing whatever the F they want to.

Definitely agree that Millie was POTM. Erin Cuthbert was the main catalyst in our quick start but after those first 15-20 minutes Bright and Bjorn came to the fore.

A 5-0 win for Chelsea sees us through to face West ham in the semi-final. Game will be played on 5th/6th of February.

R

Ever since the England vs USA international last November there have been rumours about US centre-back Naomi Girma joining us. Those rumours have really gathered pace over the last week, and it is now being reported in The States that the world record transfer has been completed. Girma is widely regarded as the top defender in women's football. Former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes has described her as the best defender she has ever seen. The fee is said to be $1.1 million. That would beat the current women's world record transfer fee by a little under $500,000 although there are rumours of Chelsea's French international right back Eve Periset going to San Diego as part of the deal. It is also being widely reported that the club will be selling a stake in our women's team to an outside investor. It's not impossible I suppose that some of the money from this proposed sale is earmarked for funding the world record fee. https://www.sportingnews.com/us/soccer/news/most-expensive-players-womens-football-transfer-record/308d858c74e79a2b421a111e

Big game at The Bridge 12:30 on Sunday afternoon (26/01/2025) A win for the women would pretty much end Arsenal's title hopes. Tickets remain on sale if anyone fancies going. https://bit.ly/CFCWvsArsenalTickets

This is the point. All top level goalkeepers are good shot stoppers. It's an entry level skill. It's not that being good at it gets you the gig, it's that not being good at it rules you out of contention.

Thanks. Unlike the Champions Cup and the Cup Winners Cup, the UEFA Cup even inherited the two legged final from its predecessor.

Memory is a strange thing. Well my memory is strange anyway, but I don't think I'm alone. 🙂 Because I'm old enough, I do remember the Fairs Cup, though I don't remember Leeds winning it in 1971. Meanwhile, all I remember about the much more recent Intertoto Cup, is its name. I could not tell you a single other fact about the competition. My belief, and I think the belief of everyone who lived through the transition, was that UEFA regarded the UEFA Cup as the polished up continuation of the Fairs Cup. This means that, up to reading your post, I always considered a UEFA Cup win as a tick in the box for the Fairs Cup with no need to consider the competition as a separate entity. With qualification for the older trophy being linked to whether or not your city hosted business fairs, and teams able to be formed of players from more than one club, the competition never really caught the public imagination. The only things (I think) l remember about CFC in the competition is that we once progressed through a tie on the toss of a coin, and were also once eliminated on a coin toss.

I was all in on the potential signing of Olise. Are you saying you felt it would have been overkill at that time, or that the later signings of Neto and Sancho would have made it overkill? I don't think anyone can doubt Musiala's technical level, or that our squad will need further upgrades whether or not we qualify for next season's Champions League. The issue is that it is claimed neither Estavao nor Paez will be loaned out, and we clearly are not finishing lower than 14th so will be obligated to make Sancho's move permanent. Even if we can persuade Musiala to rejoin, what would be the plan for him and all the rest? Is it realistic to go with; Musiala and Sancho covering the left, Palmer and Estavao through the middle, Neto and Paez doing duty on the right, while Mudryck and Mads are sold? I'm not convinced that this keeps everyone happy, and nor am I convinced that Musiala would return anyway.

Don't forget the European Cup Winners Cup, which we won twice. That would make it 'all four', or five if you count the Super Cup.

Three max, excluding players who are exempt such as qualified academy youngsters.

Do we have a role for Musiala in our squad?

With fingers crossed for Champions League qualification, our squad builders' aim should be to improve the 'B team' in such a way that it is strong enough to allow the 'A team' to be rested against a different profile of opponents. Meaning; in selected domestic cup games, CL league stage fixtures against 4th seeded sides, and even certain Premier League matches if and when the fixtures line up in a helpful way. We already have arrivals set up who, if they live up to billing, will allow some current A teamers to be available for B team matches. That should, in theory, improve the B team. We also should expect further recruitment, either of projected A teamers, or even of players being brought in to directly bolster the B team.

Am I missing something, or some context, here?

And 7 points.