OhForAGreavsie

I think it will end up being more than half a billion, I don't think Roman is going to pay for any of it, and nor do I see why he should.

That's what I was being told about Charlie Musonda when he first arrived at Betis. I was telling people that it just wasn't true, barring one game in which he really did play very well. In the end, Charlie continued to play so well that he got dropped and never regained his regular place in the side. During that spell where there was a disparity between my assessment and those of others, I kept saying that more sober judgements about Charly's efforts would surface once they honeymoon period was over. I think the same is true of Rubes though I must say that, overall, I've liked what he's done at Palace better than I did was what I was seeing from Charly over that first Spell in Spain. I watched a display of Ruben's after which Kevin Day, a personality I really like, said that if Chelsea have better players than Ruben we will win the league by miles. Rubes was OK in the sense that he showed examples of his talent, but only as he sometimes did in his better displays here. I felt Day was honneymooned up. As I've been saying for five years now, I'm a big believer in Ruben's abilities but he has to influence games more. That means he has to get on the ball more than he does and that requires him to work harder when his team is in possession. The idea that he is defensively lazy is wrong in my view. Rubes is at his laziest when he's just done something good. Instead of getting on his bike again, he mentally switches off for an instant. When I first commented on this years ago he would literally stand around and walk during spells in junior team games. The penny is gradually sinking but it has taken far longer than it might have done. Hopefully the pressure to justify the expectations of Palace fans will help him solve this issue once and for all. Few things would give more pleasure than to see Ruben succeed in becoming the player his talent promises he might be, but it hasn't happened yet.

a player would be very badly advised to outright lie like that when so many people would know the truth. He'd just look ridiculous when it came out.

That would be an astonishing thing for Barton to say unless he had heard it from someone. Might be a case of Chinese whispers, but might be true. If true then either Antonio thought it was all agreed and that his part in the deal was over or, more intriguingly, maybe he just didn't want Barkley and engaged in a bit of sabotage? If it had reached the stage where the coach flet he needed sabotage to get his own way then that does not auger well.

Can't just dismiss the impact of different positions on this comparison. Different position, different skill set required, different definition of quality called for. I know for example, that you would not simply state that Mahrez is a better player than Manuel Neuer without qualifying the statement, given their different roles in the team. Well, I think the same qualification is justified between the roles played by Danny D and Mahrez. In the sense that no one is worth £100m, no he is not but, if Neymar is 'worth' his fee, then Dembele is easily worth his.

To be fair, I don't think we've had the full story about The Ox yet. Certainly, champions or no, he would have to fight for a place in Liverpool's midfield, if that is indeed where he expects to line up. I don't think he will be going there thinking he's an automatic selection at CM for them. In that sense, he is showing a bit of fight with the decision he's made. I was really pleased when it looked for a few hours like we might get AOC, and really disappointed when it turned out not to be. I'd love to know the truth but I wouldn't be surprised if he just felt that Liverpool will be a better side side than us and would play more expansive football. I also think there could be milage in the idea that his life will be a bit easier without the hassle he might receive from Arsenal fans if he moved across the capital. As for Barkley. The conspiracy theory that he and Chelsea agreed to shelve the transfer until January since he can't play until November anyway, is at least plausible. Come January, the theory suggests, Chelsea will get a better deal on the fee and they can split that with Barkley in the form of a better signing on fee. Maybe, or maybe it's something more simple Like Barkley asking Antonio where he might play and the boss having no better answer than, "not really sure Ross." A lot of unanswered questions in both cases but I think it's a bit harsh to dig the two of them out for making their choice. Personally I prefer to say nothing. Plenty of time to watch them regret it if our lads have better seasons and win more than those two do.

Fair enough. Where we can definitely agree is in the hope that RLC goes from strength to strength. On Ravel Morrison; that may be what happened or maybe the hype was born out of more honeymoon assessments in the first place.

Costa's advisors can't be unintelligent people so they must know their client's behaviour is undermining his own situation. They know that staying away from Cobham is the worst thing Costa could possibly be doing. Where they are underperforming is in being unable to influence the player to stop being so stupid. The last thing Chelsea want is for Costa to turn up at Cobham. If he did they'd have to provide him training facilities and support. That support would have to be one to one because we clearly don't want him working with others. We'd have to manage the potentially toxic influence of an openly disaffected player. Worst of all we'd have to pay him. If Costa arrived for training Chelsea would want to get his future sorted even more quickly so they could get him out of there again. By continuing to stay away, Costa is taking a lot of that pressure off Chelsea. You can bet his advisors are telling him to book a flight to London asap. Edit: Atletico's advice to Costa that he should get back to training is designed to ensure that if Chelsea end up suing Costa, there is no way Chelsea's lawyers can make any kind of case that Atleti were colluding with the player. They want to make absolutely sure that they can't end up being sued too.

Ruben is playing no better at Palace than he's played here. Reports that he is derive from 'honeymoon' assessments. Let's hope that he keeps his place in the side, and that those increased number of minutes may, in time, help him to produce his best stuff more consistently. He isn't at that point yet however.

Very pleased with this deal. A firm upgrade over Matic & Mikel in my opinion. Fully expect his contributions to be a pleasant surprise for Chelsea fans who are not yet convinced about this transfer. Before Nemanja fell out of favour with a sizeable section of Chelsea fans, I made a critical comment about him, in response to which one poster challenged me to name a better player in that role anywhere in Europe. I replied that I could name a dozen just in England. Danny D was one of those I had in mind. Welcome and good luck Danny. Hope this move pays off for you; on and off the pitch.

Won't matter. The window will have been shut for 59 minutes.

Assuming this story is genuine and not just a cover for his real motives then, firstly, if he did turn down £9m a year because he wants to move, shouldn't we respect him for it? Secondly, what is wrong with preferring to play in one position rather than another? I don't understand your criticisms in this post at all.

It's possible that this whole story is just a cover. Perhaps he simply prefers Liverpool, their manager or their style of play. Or else, maybe he realises that he'll get a much harder time from Arsenal fans if he comes here instead of Liverpool and he thinks that he and his girlfriend just don't need it. Could even be a combination things. Could be that he's just decided this and it's less controversial to come out with the excuse than with the truth. It's even possible Chelsea are in on it since it's less embarrassing for us this way.

I don't think it's a question of making demands. If he wants to play as a cm, and a club is offering him that opportunity, then why not take it? Perfectly reasonable behaviour and he deserves respect for it. Of course there is another potential take on this whole posistional preference thing. Perhaps it's just his way of sparing our blushes. Perhaps he just doesn't fancy us or the way he's seen us play.

There is merit in what you say once a player is at a club, and a part of their squad. It's different however when a player is considering which club he wants to join. It's perfectly reasonable for a player to prefer the club which will select him in his preferred position. Of course, later on, the player is entitled to judge his new employers by whether or not they keep their promise. As far as I know Ox has never refused to play in any position he's been ask to fill. He's done exactly what you say he should, but he's perfectly entitled to seek starts in his favoured role.

Thanks BimV. All of these seem potentially informative. I've always taken the view that I'd trust my eyes rather than a table of stats. To be fair however you have to get a really good feel for what the numbers are telling you before you can accurately decide if they are helpful or not. The xG-Chain/xG-Buildup figures do sound like they are worth measuring but before I put any trust in them I'd want decide if I think they actually are meaningful. It seems highly probable that xG-Chain stats are influenced by the quality of the player's team. It seems likely that a player at City last season would naturally have a better x result than one at a club which struggled to create good chances. Does this mean the real way to use x results is to compare performances of players within the same squad? What about you, do you have confidence in x results? Do you feel there is a correlation between good players and good 'x' stats?

Thanks RB

Thanks for the warning.

Sorry to be boring about this but Azpi is not a wing back. He lacks the tools and is just not very good at it.

What an ignorant comment. Grow up or shut up.

I think most people have struck the right balance in their assessments of Victor's contribution last season. Some may have become over excited and failed to see the difference between being given a role which better suits his capabilities, and his becoming a genuinely better player. In the main however, people understand that Victor is exactly the same player he always was. This 'magic wand' theory, which claims that the manager can transform ugly ducklings into beautiful swans, is ridiculous of course. As you pointed out. Upgrading our RWB was priority number two for me this summer. Since the club has already attempted to address my top priority (CM) I'm glad RWB is also getting attention. I like The Ox and have consistently supported the idea that we should target him in the transfer market. My feeling is that he has the 'in possession' part of a wingback's function under control. The question for him to answer is whether he can bring his out of possession contribution up to the same level but that is an area coaching can help with.

Great info, thank you. That 'difficult passes' stat about Ross Barkley is surprising to me, and very interesting. This is an area in which we struggle. Even a very slight improvement in this aspect of our play would be huge. What, may I ask please, is an xG-chain?

Thanks Skipper. A few comments prompted by this post and the one to which you replied:- I'm not convinced that the 'English premium' in the domestic market exists any longer. Well, it exists, but it is balanced by the 'English tax' on the continent. There may be similarly talented players available at around €25m in Europe, but not to Chelsea I fear. Unless the transfer market takes an unexpected turn, Marcos Alonso may proove to be the last first-team player bought from the continent by Chelsea for under £30m. I like Drinkwater more than many seem to. I would rather see him in our line up than Matic or Mikel and, let's face it, we won a lot of trophies with those two in our side. If I'm right in this assessment, then adding Drinkwater would put us in a better situation than we've been in previously. If I'm right. Antonio has spoken of creating a new foundation at Chelsea. I wonder if that, and not building a potential Champions League winning side, has been the priority this summer? If that has been the thinking then I support it, and the proposed transfers seem like good steps to get that base in place. The stars can follow. One risk with such a strategy however, and it's a big one, is losing the jewel in our crown. I think we have to demonstrate to Eden this season that we are able to help him achieve his goals. If not, there is a very significant risk he will feel his time is up at Chelsea.

Arsenal types made a lot of it when he joined them in 2011, although we were also interested. Chelsea fan but he still chose Arsenal, etc, etc.

I wrote a post earlier which must have stretched to about two-hundred words. You've said more in two. Great post.