OhForAGreavsie

Without the fans, not a single one of them would be getting a penny. Not a player, not a referee, not a physio, not a commentator, not a commercial director, not a manager, and not a journo. None of them.

Even?

And likely Champions League last sixteen qualifiers.

Jed won't be playing that's for sure. He was on the bench for Birmingham yesterday.

I don't know if heplayed for Flumanense thius season. I presume that he did but, if he didn't, I wouldn't be against a move for him in January.

According to Transfermarkt, our net spend is less than £3m. That result includes their guesstimation of loan fees, but the numbers are within a margin of error so the net figure could even be in surplus. In other words, we may have made a profit this summer. Those are the facts. What the reason might be is up for debate and speculation.

Can’t argue with you about much of this. We win trophies frequently but the mentality and spirit Jose brought to the club thirteen and a bit years ago always plays as big a part in those triumphs as does the outright talent of our players. Those attributes are now being shaped by Antonio’s own brand of brilliance, but Chelsea’s reliance on this, and on the failings of our competitors, cannot go on. We simply have to address our quality deficit, and must try to begin doing so in January. Stating this requirement is the easy part however. Making it happen is a different matter. The difficulties, including the fact that high calibre players are in no hurry to join us, are well known but solutions have to be found. On a brighter note, I’m on my way to watch the ladies play Bayern in the European Cup. Based on recent history their chances aren’t good but surely they’ll produce a less frustrating display than the men did on Saturday. Good luck girls.

Wow. And don’t forget we averraged easily more than two games a year against them in that time. Indeed, didn’t we play them five or six times in just one of those seasons? That’s pretty much as often as Petr’s lined up against them for Arsenal, in total.

Morning KF, Cant read it. Would you try again, or post a link please?

Well he couldn't have gone Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday (which would have been a proscribed recovery day) and, even if the act he wanted to see was still gigging, he obviously couldn't have gone on Friday or Saturday.. Thursday seems like his best, and probably only, shot.

No, it's definitely not just paper talk. Monaco's president told the press that Mendy had said that to him. It was reported in quotes so the president definitely said it and, if he was lying or misrepresenting Mendy, you'd expect the Man City man to have commented about it publicly. Mendy has not denied the claim however so I think we have to take this as fact.

I think he should retire. If he continues, he runs the risk that even his remaining believers will come to see the truth.

He's a young, fit, multimillionaire with dark Latin looks. Given half a chance, I doubt your daughter would give you much say in the matter. 😊😊 Fortunately, or is that unfortunately, my daughters are spoken for. 😊

Didn't see Saturday's game so can't comment specifically on that performance but I think your analysis about Willian being best in the middle third is spot on.

Can't see how it could be moot. If you don't care how the passes turn out then stick me out there. I'll get it forward for you. Clearly I'm not getting a game for Chelsea anytime soon, even with you in charge, but surely it's just as clear that the quality of the passes does matter.

For me it's an unarguable fact that Costa was useless in the second half of last season. The odd goal does not change that. If you are a professional footballer, playing as a striker for a league leading team, you will score goals. That is not what counts. What matters, what decides if you have contributed well or otherwise, is the difference you personally make. What happens because you were there that would not have happened if someone else was there instead. Costa's contribution post Christmas was way below standard. Way, way below.

Fair enough we simply see it differently. I'm one of those who thought Matic was hopeless and absolute priority number one to be replaced. Bakayoko, albeit with more adjusting to be done, is already a far better player in my opinion. So too is Danny D come to that. Alvaro has some attributes which Costa cannot match but the reverse is also true. Overall Costa suits the style we have played better than Alvaro does. Or he should do. Costa, after January was a disaster and deliberately so in my opinion. The rest of the squad were trying to win the league; he was trying his best to ensure his transfer fee fell to a level Atletico could and would pay. Alvaro is a major upgrade over that version of Costa.

I had five positional upgrades in mind for the summer. I had RWB 2nd on that list, RF 4th and LWB 5th. None were resolved. I agree with you that our gains this summer are in the improved depth of the squad but I believe we may have improved the first XI, albeit very, very, marginally. If I look for positives out of the situation, I'd say one is that our transfer needs are now very sharply focused. Baring minor adjustments, squad depth has been ticked. What we need now are first team upgrades. No possibility of ambiguity or conflicting priorities. The next two windows have to be about recruiting starters.

Diego's impending move is the right solution for everybody. I'm pleased that he's got the move he wanted and I'm glad he's moved on. I will stop short of wishing Diego well because his performances in the second half of last season seemed intentionally bad in my opinion. As I put it then, his displays looked too bad to be true. When the mood took him however he played some great games for us, and that should be marked with thanks for his contributions to our club.

In fact I don't believe that Antonio has improved those players at all. He has simply put them in a team framework which gives them cover for their deficiencies and allows them to make maximum use of their strengths. In terms of their personal qualities they are exactly the same players they ever were. I was taken by surprise in the way Antonio used Victor but I was very pleased the day we signed Marcos and was fully expecting that he would be able to help us. Even so, I completely agree with your assessment that both of our wing backs need to be upgraded. I'd say that assessment of yours is evidence in itself that these players have not all of a sudden made a step up in class. Like pretty much all of us, I hoped that the window would go better than it did but I don't see it as a complete fail in the way that some do. I'm on record as saying I did not think it would be possible to recruit solutions to all of our needs so perhaps that explains why I'm not as disappointed as some. One thing is for sure. I absolutely, totally, reject the the idea that members of our board are at one and the same time more evil than Sauron, and more stupid than Mr. Bean. We know the outcome of their efforts in the transfer window, but we don't see the input. We don't know the instructions under which, or the parameters within which, our squad builders operate. Unless you know that it is not possible to make a rational assessment of their performance. People lashing out at the board are just frustrated and in need of someone to blame.

I confess I came to this thread expecting to read many assessments which disagree with mine. I therefore also expect that many members will disagree with me when I offer the opinion that Charly did not play all that well last night. Indeed I'd say it was a typical Charly Musonda performance; one that flattered to deceive. Charly has good control, both of the football and of his movements. This allows him to buy himself a bit of time and space but then what? His goal was a rare moment of decisiveness. Much of the rest of the time he drew fouls. Why? Because he hadn't gone anywhere. He was still there, able to be challenged, able to be fouled. Charly didn't, and typically doesn't, use the momentary advantages he creates to move himself and/or the ball beyond his direct opponent. Instead he squares himself up preparing to take on the opponent again. Those opponents are professional footballers. They will close your space, they will disposes you or, when it suits them, they will foul to convert what might be a big problem for their team into a smaller one. There is a strand in some players' football DNA which makes them enjoy looking poised, calm and in control. Charly has that about him. He needs to learn that it is more profitable to be effective, than to look good. He is not effectve enough, often enough and will not succeed at the highest level until and unless this changes. Some people are as happy with what they saw from Charly last night as many were with his displays at Betis. I thought, and said, it was a mistake then, and I believe it's a mistake now. We fans can afford to make that mistake but Charly mustn't. He must assess the real value of his output and seek to improve it.

Do you believe that Antonio has already turned average players into world class ones?

What?

Agreed. it was never going to be possible to solve all our issues in one window though naturally we fans hoped to see more progress. The club now has to stay calm and look for incremental gains over the next few windows. There was a headline recently which claimed Roman was 'demanding answers' over the perceived failings in the summer window. That seems to me to be a typically sensationalist and silly way to look at things. I do though think the leaders of any club would routinely want to review their operations at the end of every transfer window and that must include ours. We have much to consider seriously, starting with understanding why we are unattractive to the most highly sought after players. We here can speculate about this as much as we like but the club has to get the right answers and develop the right responses. Repairing our image will be the work of years, not a single season.

Patrick is not below Premier League level because of the timing of his loans at that level, nor because he failed in those loans. Rather it is the case that he failed at those loans because he is below Premier league level. Nothing, at all, ever, would have changed the fact that he is not good enough. That much was absolutely clear from the first time he appeared for our youth team.