OhForAGreavsie

Belloti's the one I'd like for sure. If that can't happen I'd be happy with Morata. Mbappe seems impossible and I've no interest in Lukaku.

On the phonetics first since that is not a question of opinion. I doubt I'm the only person who spotted the incorrect spelling but perhaps I am the only one who is interested enough to comment on it and to risk being thought patronising, or just plain rude. The pronunciation of the two words is different and this dictates their spelling. These words have entirely different meanings and, when annunciated correctly, are audibly different. That difference allows the two to be distinguished in speech, and, together with context, allows the correct meaning to be received by a listener. To claim that an "e" is missing from the word "for" is to ignore the rules of English spelling concerning vowel sounds when the word of which they are a part ends with an "e". I fail to see what you hope to achieve by deliberately misspelling the word. If the purpose of writing is to communicate meaning, then inventing your own lexicon can hardly help. As to Nemanja being similar to Glen Hoddle. I doubt you'll find a single sighted person on the planet who agrees with your claim. Certainly not Nemanja, and not even his mother. The opinion is nonsense. Having read that comment I can no longer take your views seriously on this issue. Indeed I can only imagine that you are having a good laugh at me for having taken them seriously in the first place.

No confirmation on any of it as far as I'm aware. Whenever there have been comments about Andreas which qualify as more than mere speculation, they have always claimed that he likes BMG, would be happy to stay there, is not prepared to return to Chelsea for anything other than a starting role and is expecting to take part in our pre season. I'd be surprised if he has any interest at all in Southampton, never mind a loan.

Can't rule out the possibility that you, me, and everybody else who sees it your way, are simply wrong but people seem to have lost their heads over VVD. A £55m - £60m Champions League defender? I just don't see it.

As you rightly imply later in your post, no one here has any right to claim that their opinion outranks yours. So, despite the fact that there are big differences between your thoughts on Nemanja and mine, you'll be glad to know that I'm not aiming to show why I think you have this one wrong. Instead I just want to say it as I see it. It is genuinely fascinating that two people who take a keen interest in football, can watch the same player, in the same games, and yet reach completely opposite conclusions about what they see. I don't see Nemanja provide a level of security that many others could not also offer. He is clearly competent, but no more than that in my view. Certainly I see no excellence in what he does defensively. You commented favourably on Nemanja's vision. To try to narrow down what is meant by that I'm defining vision as the ability to spot a pass. With that in mind I say what I've said many times, Nemanja is as good as most professionals at spotting passes and that, when things are in his favour, he is as good as most at completing them. I see no exceptional levels from Nemanja in this regard either however. Worse, when things are not in his favour; when his body shape does not suit the pass required, when he needs to manipulate the ball with quick precise touches to open up the angle, or when the ball is on his wrong foot, then the only way for me to honestly express my opinion of Nemanja's capabilities, is to say that I see him as a long way below the desired standard. It's clear that Antonio feels Nemanja is currently his best option for the majority of games. I'm interested to see if the manager goes shopping for a replacement, as opposed to a backup, in the summer. I certainly hope that he does. P.S. I hope you won't see the following observation as patronising. It is not meant to be. Where you have used the word fore above, you need the word for. If fore was just a typo, then it happens to all of us of course but, if my mentioning this is useful for future reference then I'm pleased.

Just a beautiful, beautiful goal.

One more reason, as if any more reasons are needed, not to judge strikers on their goal count alone.

It didn't feel at all special to me. In fact there were times it was very calm. Thought Nemanja did well not to get drawn in by the calls to shoot. The only time it looked like the memory of Saturday influenced his decision to let fly, it was definitely on so taking a pop was the right choice. He messed it up but no problem

Athleticism is the only area of Kennedy's game which matches the template for a wingback. In fact he outmatches Marcos in that regard so I can see why people are tempted by the idea of the young Brazilian operating at LWB. The temptation is a trap however because pace, strength and power are not enough. You stated that if Kennedy improves defensively he would then be a more viable option to be our second choice LWB than Marcos is. That's an opinion of course so you clearly feel able to form one based on what you've seen of Kennedy so far. Fair enough, I agree. I feel able to form one too, and I have. Indeed I formed the opinion that Kennedy's technique was below Chelsea level from watching his YouTube videos when his move here was being rumoured. At the time both the opinion itself, and the conviction that it could be formed by watching YouTube were challenged. I'd say both have been vindicated, though you may say that view is itself just another opinion.

Couldn't agree more. Perfect analysis in my opinion.

This makes it sound like you see Marcos as a liability. I couldn't agree with that. It was predictable that, with his skill set, he would improve us, and so he has. If an upgrade like Mendy can be recruited, I'd be fully in favour but the group of potential upgrades is not all that large. Or at least the group of which I'm aware is not all that large. There are enough however to give us a chance of getting one and I hope we do. I disagree more strongly about Kennedy. Even if he learned defensive discipline, which would be a big task for him, he lacks a key ingredient for the role. He is not a sufficiently good continuity player. Without that he would damage the team's ball retention, slow our counter attack and harm our defence. A few exhilarating skips down the line will never even begin to compensate for that. Not that Kennedy has shown signs of being able to deliver those on an acceptably regular basis anyway.

Jose never thought that. Before the window opened, long before, he talked about the need for several players, and for getting the business done "before the holidays". I.E. he wanted the signings in place early. Later on, when signings did not materialise, he changed his tune to try to pretend all was calm and under control. As for whether the Don is right or not, it depends on timescale. Over the short term, aberrations can happen. In the long run however, money talks. Show me a league which is not dominated by its richest clubs. Spending money will not guarantee that you have good judgement, that is to say that you will choose to buy the right players. Nor will it mean that the good players will choose to join your club. A big budget does mean however that if your first transfer decision was a mistake you can try, try and try again until you get it right, or until the right player says yes to your offer. In the end money inevitably talks. If we manage to hold on and secure the title, then the Premier League will have been won by one of it's three biggest budget clubs in all but one season since it came into existence.

Especially if they fail to qualify for the CL. My ordinary idea, coloured by what I consider to be the correct attitude toward Jose, would be for United to make the top four. If we are directly competing for players however, then let's hope they miss out. The worst outcome, the one I want to avoid for sure, is that they finish outside the top four and win the Europa League. That would mean five, not four, English teams in the Champions League next season. For me that's bad because 1) it means one more club who can offer CL football to our potential transfer targets, and, 2) the Champions League TV pool would be split five ways instead of four, a difference of millions of pounds.

If we got those two, I think Antonio would be tempted into trying to recreate Bergkamp and Henry. With hazard floating and the wingbacks providing the width.

May 27th.

I had exactly this in mind when I posted the other day that the continued selection of Diego, despite his poor form, is fascinating and that we could speculate about what might really be going on. We could even include China, Internazionale, the league table and Chelsea's fans in the mix. Perhaps Antonio wanted the China money to reinvest in the squad. Perhaps he feels empowered to take this stance by Chelsea's position, by his popularity with the fans and by the fact that Inter are waiting to give him a pay rise if thing's go sour with the management. Perhaps. Whatever the truth, I was really encouraged by Antonio's press conference yesterday. It was not anything he said, but something about his manner when he talked about us being just at the beginning of our rebuild. He sounded like a man with a clear plan in mind. Of course there's another interpretation of the comments, and the attitude, but enough with the guesswork for now. 😊

Yes, perhaps I did not express myself particularly clearly. I meant David is "normal" in the sense that his form fluctuates just like everyone else's does, and that he makes mistakes, just like everyone else.

I think people go overboard about David in both directions. His reviews tend to suggest that he's the best of the best, or the worst of the worst. He is not either of those things. He's a normal footballer whose performance level fluctuates from game to game but, like any defender, he looks really awful when he makes mistakes. Eight great games for the remainder of the season please David.

And they've already done all in their power to make it happen. We're playing on Saturday evening followed by the Southampton game on Tuesday that could quite easily have been played on Wednesday. On top of that we've now been scheduled to play play West Brom on Friday 12th May, followed by Watford on Monday 15th.

This is what fascinates me. Antonio watches every performance several times, and does so forensically. He sees what we see yet he continues to select Diego. There is a reason for it, and I'd love to be told the unfiltered truth about what it is. I say "unfiltered" because public statements by managers are just as likely to be evasions as anything else. The boss may be telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, when he says, "Diego is playing well. He is doing what I want him to do, so I am pleased with his performance.", but it's hard to believe that is anything more than a manager defending his player as he always must. In some ways it's easier to come up with a speculative explanation for Antonio's continued reliance on Diego. Many of us will have ideas about what's really going o. I certainly do but, in the end, I want to believe it's simply that the boss thinks the other options are worse. Unfortunately, that's not getting any easier to buy into.

And now the ladies lost their FA Cup semi-final on penalties to Birmingham. Turning out to be a very bad Easter programme for the club. The 18s better get a decent result in the first leg of the Youth Cup final away at City tomorrow.

Not all bad then.

I don't understand your reaction at all. It seems to have just as little to do with what I said, as you tell me mine had to do with yours. We are clearly talking at cross purposes.

I didn't see the interview but misunderstanding questions is a frequent situation for Antonio and there's nothing intentional about it. He often gives long answers to an entirely different question to the one he was asked. Throughout the season, reporters have been patient and polite while he does that, often accepting the answer he gave and moving on to another topic. Sometimes our press secretary restates the question to help Antonio, and on one occasion an Italian journalist translated for him. The pre match presser for the visit to ManU was the first time I heard a journo loose patience, tell Antonio that he didn't understand the question and ask for an answer to the question he did ask. (That was the one about which ManU players would get into his Chelsea team.) It's clear the press like Antonio and give him a lot of leeway, but the pressure will obviously move up a notch now.

Are you saying you think Antonio was drunk after the game? Antonio selects and utilises the players he believes are best for each game. Second guessing the manager may be a favourite fan activity but we simply do not have as much information as he does. In the end, none of us can say for sure that we would not be making the same decisions if, like Antonio, we were watching training every day. I'm a non believer when it comes to Nemanja, and nor can I believe in Diego's recent contributions, but I do believe that Antonio wants to win as badly as we do. He will certainly have reasons for the choices he makes. Reasons which make complete sense to him.