OhForAGreavsie

4-1-4-1 with no Jesus, and with Gundogan as DM? Now, I have not yet seen enough of Jesus to put aside my doubts about him, but most people, including many who have seen more of him than me and who therefore are in a position to know better than I do, think Jesus is the real deal. If he is, then it still looks like B. Silva can only play if a good player sits on the bench. Net gain for City? My claim is that it's probably marginal.

That's why this deal wouldn't overly disappoint me. If new Silva plays, then another good player doesn't. Of course this would strengthen their squad but it's pretty powerful already. I don't see B. Silva making as big a difference for them as additions in other areas, or a more pragmatic tactical approach, might. I don't think there is any argument to be had to be honest. He is their best player I would say, and it seems to me that most posters on Bluemoon see it that way too. But you forgot to mention that water is wet.

Had they made the top four, I'd have been fully behind a United win tonight. As they did not however, Chelsea had something to loose from a United victory so I was backing Ajax. Ho hum, we don't always get what we want. Only upside for me is that Jose has won another trophy. Pleased for The Special One.

Been there, done that. Mind you, I think they've already won it too.

First of all, congratulations to Ronaldo. Those are remarkable numbers. It's a shame for Jimmy that he ruined himself with alcohol. As early as 1961 he was hitting the bottle to a degree which damaged his fitness. There's a story told of his time at Spurs when a teammate complained to Bill Nicholson that Greaves was, "Standing around on the half way line doing nothing again." The Spurs manager replied, "Yes, and when you score 40 goals a season you can go and stand there with him!" The truth hidden by that anecdote, is that Jimmy couldn't have worked harder even if it was his inclination. The booze sapped away his fitness and his record, as amazing as it is, does not do justice to his talent.

One of the greatest of any nationality.

Ah, yes I had somehow managed to forget that.

We lost that didn't we?

Interesting ideas and a good read. Thank you.

I was a bit fragile myself today. So fragile that The Bridge has given me a headache. My daughter says I have to learn to sing not shout. Whatever that means. And by the way, East Stand shame on you for breaking the chain.

Although there are exceptions, generally speaking I tend not to defer to the views of ex-professionals. I've heard too many of them, talking too much nonsense, for too long, to see their opinions as automatically more credible than yours or mine. Whether to rest players ahead of the final, and, if so, who to rest and in which game or games to rest them, are questions where I would give weight to their opinions however. Their experience must give them a valid insight into the right way to approach this. Has anyone heard any ex-Chelsea players talking about this?

I hope the 1st XI wins what ever training game is arranged for the 24th, but I'm sure the game on the 27th will be of more importance to Antonio and the lads.

The BBC Sport website is running a combined Chelsea team from 2004/05 & 2016/17 selector. It would be interesting to see people's ideas. My selection is below. I've chosen a 3-4-3 line up because I just can't leave any of Billy Gallas, Riccy or JT 04/05 out of the team. Those three occupying the centre back positions is a fantasy to end all footballing fantasies. When it comes down to it I just think Thibaut is a better, more athletic keeper than Petr. The best Chelsea performance I ever saw from Duffer was as a wing back. He won't make the side as a wide attacker but would fit Antonio's system well I think. Gerimi was born to be a wing back I think. I believe Ngolo is a better player than Maka. Obviously he is better in possession but I think he is also better out of it. Arjen & Eden in tandem would be a nightmere for any opponents. Diego has been poor for half a season, but The Drog was poor for nearly all of 04/05. I was very tempted to go for Eidur. He might well have linked better with Arjen & Eden.

He also said the biggest regret of his career was that he never won The FA Cup.

Palace can make things easier for us if they avoid defeat against Hull on Sunday. That way there will be no relegation issues at steak in either of our games. If Hull should win however, they would maintain hopes of catching Watford, and avoiding the drop. In that case, we would have a responsibility to put out a competitive team against The Hornets. I know many people take the view that it is not our problem but I'm on the side of those who say we have to respect the competition. How, for example, would we have felt if West Ham had played their 2's against Spurs last week? It will spoil the party a bit if Antonio's options are restricted by the need to do Hull a favour but it has to be business before pleasure as always.

6

Yes! Yes! Yes!!!!!

Very old news. This has been a part of the plan since the beginning.

Is everyone familiar enough with Rugby Union to understand about The Barbarians RFC? For those who don't, here's a brief introduction taken from the website of The Babas, as they are known: - "The Barbarians are a rugby club which brings together players from different clubs to play a few matches each year to enjoy the camaraderie of the game and play attacking, adventurous rugby without the pressure of having to win." In the spirit of The Babas up and at 'em, attack, attack, attack approach, along with their commitment to playing the beautiful game at all times, wouldn't it just be amazing to see a team featuring Nelson Semedo and Theo Hernandez as their wingbacks? That team would not be dull. I've taken the advice of @Chelsea Legend 11 and watched some more of Semedo. I like him but, given the report that Hernandez is off to Real, that pairing won't happen at Chelsea.

I prefer Morata as you know, but your point about technical ability not being the only measure of talent is spot on. I do think however that technique is the most reliable quality, and that it renders players who are blessed with it less erratic in their performances. All players have good days, ordinary days and bad days. Players performing at the top table will always look great when they are on their game but those whose main strengths lay in areas other than technique, can produce truly horrible performances on their bad days. I cite Diego and Rom as examples of this. When those two are off their game, it can feel like they've swapped sides and their team is playing 10 against 12. On the other hand, a lad like Eden has many off days but on those days he just looks ordinary; he never gives the feeling that we'd be better off if he wasn't playing. Speaking personally, there are many days when I feel we'd be better off without Diego on the pitch and I know from social media that Everton fans sometimes feel the same way about Rom. I've long held the view that our squad does not contain enough technical excellence. I really look forward to a day when that is no longer true. I think we all do.

Some may disagree with this statement but it doesn't matter whether they do or not. The important question is how Andreas looks at this. I'd say the chances must be high that he prefers the Bundesliga, and Germany in general for that matter. BVB would not be so persistent in their desire to keep him unless they know that he wants to stay. Germany is where Andreas experienced the breakout moments of his life, that is where he has taken his first steps to manhood. I don't know if he was in a relationship when he left England but he almost certainly is in one now, and his partner could very well be German. In addition to the fact that he knows he can start at Dortmund, there must be lots of other reasons for Andreas to feel an attachment to BVB.

Fair enough. Good luck to the lad. Hope he finds a great move.

It's fair enough if the lad wants to leave. He gave it a shot but no one could blame him if he now sees his future elsewhere. On the contrary, we'd all find it a bit hard to understand if he announced that he wants to stay when he already can't make the bench, and when there is every expectation that more players will arrive in the summer to relegate him even further down the pecking order. I believe that the club's policy of scouring the world trying to unearth the best youngsters before other clubs snap them up is a sensible one. I just wish we would be a little more discriminating in the players we recruit. The first time I saw Kenedy's youtube highlights I felt, and posted to say, that he lacked the quality to be a Chelsea player. I think we should be able to tell an internationally recruited 18 year old that we want him to join us because we think he has an above average chance of making it here. I just don't see how that claim could have been made in Kenedy's case. I'm not saying Kenedy has been treated badly. I'm sure that he's been provided with the best of everything. Everything that is, except a strong enough dose of realism about his prospects. The system could do with a success or two to give it a credibility boost. I'm not the biggest fan of Gabriel Jesus, his touch looks a little loose to me, but at least he has enough quality to give Pep a chance to use him. The next time Chelsea and City are in for the same young player, City can point to Jesus and claim the high ground.

Yes he had a great game.

Exactly this for me. This must mean something. It's clear that Rom expected to leave Everton last summer and expected to be able to choose from a number of top sides. Didn't happen. Maybe it was because of Everton's transfer fee demands, but maybe not.