OhForAGreavsie

The season is it over yet. 😄

But then, we know that Pogba isn't.

By which time he will be less than six months short of his 30th birthday. Just another reason why you're right to say this is very, very unlikely to happen.

Unarguably sensible view of course although in the end it comes down to judgement.

I like the look of this kid. He reminds me a bit of Ess. He is very powerful, though not yet quite as powerful as The Bison. On the other hand his technique looks to me to be better than our legend's. If I'm right about that, this balances out the scales a bit. I have to admit though that, coming from me, this isn't as big a compliment as it might be since I never really thought Ess's technical level was top notch.

Hello SJ, Would you value Gibson as highly as the reputed £35m tag Boro have put on him?

I'm not a fan. I first saw him a number of times when KDB was on loan at Bremen, then I watched him a few times when he was being linked with us. The opinion I formed then was that he is overrated so I wouldn't be excited if he was signed. Certainly I would be a lot less positive than I was when we signed Marcos.

It might be the absence of Matic but it might also simply be that city have a quality collection of footballers. In other words, we don't have enough evidence to show whether things would've been better if Matic had been in the team on Saturday. I was strongly in favour of Alonso's signing. I think he has given us improved stability when we are in possession and that this has made a big difference to our effectiveness going forward as well as at the back. Of course he doesn't get all of the credit for that increased stability in possession; Victor has given us just as much of an improvement on the right hand side. Between them they've made a big, big contribution to our turnaround but we do need upgrades. I like Alonso a lot but we should urgently be looking for someone that gives us the same quality of continuity play, but with more to offer defensively. if we find that person, and Marcus is prepared to live with the role of a back up, then that would be a very significant improvement to the squad.

Haven't seen this lad since he was first linked a good while ago. In fairness I suppose I should watch him again to confirm, or update, my opinion but the view I formed then was that there is nothing special about him. As a result of that I wasn't surprised to read earlier in the thread that he has not been having a great season. I did just have a quick look at a YouTube video. It's not all that long but there are only two slightly impressive pieces of play featured. There is a nicely executed dummy on about the halfway line, and a good piece of power where he just brushes a challenge aside. Apart from that, there's nothing out of the ordinary. If it wasn't for all the positive write-ups, here and elsewhere, that video alone wouldn't encourage me to want to see more of him.

Been there, done that. 2 AM scheduled kickoff for Washington Monday night games meant a 5:30 AM finish, with work starting at nine. And I'm talking before the games were available on satellite telly and other platforms. Back in the day, it was a case of trying to latch on to an intermittent medium wave (AM) signal which was bounced by satellite from the States to Frankfurt and then broadcast to US Army personnel stationed in Germany. Sometimes, when it was a big game, and the reception was particularly bad, it meant dragging yourself out of bed, diving into the car to cruise around in search of a signal. These were no balmy, Antipodean nights either. I'm talking cold, wet, miserable midwinter London. 😊 Compared to that, buying a season ticket at RFK, or FedEx field, must have been a doddle!!

I have never, ever, ever subscribed to the view that one Chelsea fan outranks another for ANY reason. One day, when you're bored out of your mind, you can search my posts. You will find that I've made that point many times. The post to which you replied was my 'defence' against an accusation that I am not a real Chelsea fan, and that I was merely acting as if I was one. An accusation through which someone else was claiming to be a better Chelsea fan than me. In short, someone exhibiting the same behaviour of which you are accusing me. I never claim to be a better Chelsea fan than anyone else but, by the same token, I don't accept anyone else claiming to be a bigger fan of this club than I am. I hope you'll have the integrity to apologise for the comment to which I am replying.

Yes, I think that's an excellent point. It does depend on his getting a better understanding of what he can and cannot do, and on being willing to accept such a role as a career choice. Becoming a starting defender is almost impossible for Kennedy, but becoming a starting attacker at Chelsea's level is even less likely. The role you suggest is a potential solution for him.

As an offensive option, I never had any hope for Kennedy from the moment I first saw his YouTube videos. Not enough quality of touch. I love his hussle around the pitch but I do not think this qualifies him as a wingback. Indeed, I'd say he has a better chance as an out-and-out left back. The key component of a wingback is to be a good possession player. This is why a rather ordinary defender like Alonso, and a converted attacker like Moses, have nevertheless made good contributions to our general improvement. Kennedy is not a good possession player. He's more about making explosive and spectacular contributions. Minute by minute, game by game, moving the ball around calmly and accurately is not his thing. That is Alonso's thing however, and I love him for it. Even so, I want us to find an upgrade to Marcos. I want a player who can give us the stability in possession which Alonso provides but with a more powerful defensive performance at the same time. Kennedy is not that player. Learning to be an excellent defender who can provide an overlapping threat is his main chance. A threat which comes from getting on the end of passing combinations, rather than being involved in them. This is a huge task for Kennedy. He has spent virtually all his life as an attacker yet he has not become an excellent one. To change to a new position now, and to excel at it, is almost certainly too much to hope for.

The real idiots here are The Mail, if they have characterised Redknapp's comments as you describe. What he actually said is that Chelsea have the better squad but that, in his opinion, Tottenham have the better first XI. Redknapp then went on to say that he didn't feel he had seen "enough" from Chelsea to suggest that we are going to win the league. We may not agree with him, but it's a reasonable opinion, not one we should get agitated about.

You claim to know what I'm doing. I assume you know therefore what I did when I read this.

That simply means you prefer the things Iggy tends to post over the comments I make. Your choice, your business. When you throw around childish accusations as you did earlier however, you diminish yourself. Criticise, or ignore, but leave the school playground behaviour to those who belong there.

Laughable. Saw my first game in 1973. Bought my first season ticket in 1976. (Cost me £22.) Only home game I've missed in decades was the eight nil against Villa. Stop making a fool of yourself.

Stop acting like a Chelsea fan? Young man I never started. Only people who ever need to act, are those trying to fake it.

Happy birthday Kev.

Made it through the first 30 seconds then noticed there was still nearly 4 minutes to go. Had to move on I'm afraid. 😊

Unfortunately they are right about those who hiss. They are a disgrace to our club. I even include those who don't really mean it but just go along with it as a part of the chant. In some ways they are worse; It's precisely because they know better that they should do better. Every decent Chelsea supporter should be ashamed of that behaviour. Perhaps there will be some who don't hear it and who tend to think it doesn't go on. I'm sorry to tell you that it does and it makes me want to hang my head in shame.

Can't agree with you there I'm afraid. This is exactly the kind of day for making realistic assessments. In the stands we all loved it of course, but in the boardroom they need sober heads. The squad has done remarkably well, but it needs help. That's not a fact which can be hidden or ignored. January is coming. We need to act and then act again in the summer.

Totally agree with you about Dembele. He was outstanding, especially in the first half. If we could add someone with that fluidity to our midfield, someone exactly of the type you describe, it would represent a huge improvement.

I like his talent and I think he is highly suited to the system which has been working so well for us recently. Badelj is bery competent technically. Unlike so many of the people we've watched toiling for our club, his technique allows him to play with his head up at all times. He doesn't have to focus on the ball when he is in possession. Instead, his feet take care of the football and his eyes are free to concentrate on what he wants to do with it. Almost every time a professional player touches the ball, the next thing he must do with it is make a simple pass. Before considering any other attributes therefore, a wise squad builder will establish that potential recruits are outstanding at this task. It sounds a deceptively easy task but just one or two players who are not good enough at it will drain your team of its efficiency. Poor continuity players make your passing clunky, slow your attack and expose your defence. It seems to me that our squad builders have never fully bought into this philosophy. As a result, they have produced squads which are forced to huff and puff their way to victories and trophies, instead of being able to rely on the type of football we all yearn to see from Chelsea. Heads-up mastery of the football, combined with two footedness, equips players to be very good at this simple, but crucial, phase of the game. Badelj brings these abilities. Such tools alone don't make you a good player. They are entry level skills which give players a platform to build on if they aspire to the top. Badelj builds on them well. He is very offensive minded, accepts the ball under pressure, gets facing forward and has a nice weight of pass. On the downside, Badelj is not physically strong or bursting with energy. If it were possible to house his technique, and his attitude, in MJO's body, we'd have a perfect midfielder. The Croatian is not perfect, but he would be a very serious improvement to our squad. Edit: I'm not saying Mikel's technique is poor. That is far from the case but Badelj's is better and his outlook moves his team forward more quickly. My biggest gripe with MJ0 is that too many of his passes are under hit and take too long to get where they are going. A split second difference can change an attacking opportunity into a slow, boring recycling of possession. There are times, and whole games even, when this is exactly what is required; Munich for example. MJ0 just seems stuck in that mode however. It is why, quite rightly in my opinion, he can't get a kick.

Hello BCS, Firstly, I owe you an apology which I will write to you about privately as soon as I have finished this message. I like Badelj and I am very enthusiastic about us signing him. You may be right in that he does not seem a world-class difference maker, but I think he would make an important difference to us. Someone made a great point about Matic earlier this week. They speculated that he would be a much better player if he were able to use both feet. As has often been pointed out, too many passing angles and opportunities are closed to Nemanja because he has no confidence in his right foot. This is in sharp contrast to Badelj, who is very capable with either foot. I'm convinced that bringing Badelj into the team would give us just as big an upgrade as Alonso has delivered. Just as Marco has done, the Croat would give our possession game a boost and, in so doing, make our attack more dangerous and our defence more solid still. Our squad is very thin in just about every position. Adding a capable player is not a trivial matter, it is an important protection for our medium term prospects. The swiftest way to re-establish our club's credentials is to make an immediate return to the Champions League. The thinness of the squad puts that prospect in serious jeopardy. Lastly, someone else made a point yesterday about not wanting us to be active in January. I could not disagree more strongly with this point. We not only need to give ourselves the best chance of a return to the Champions League, but we need to be competitive once we get there. Our squad is a long way short of the quality and depth required to sustain a challenge on multiple fronts . It is very unlikely that we can make all of the additions we will need in the summer alone. If there are opportunities to upgrade our group in January, and Badelj represents a serious upgrade in my opinion, then we can't afford to waste that window. None of the ambitious sides around Europe are going to stand by and watch us improve. The scramble for players is a race and the starting gun has been fired so we don't have the luxury of sleeping in January.