OhForAGreavsie

I have to say that I'm not excited about this deal. If she had joined after leaving Lyon that would have been a different story, but now I find that I'm hoping this will work out, rather than expecting it to. On the world Cup final; it was one of those slow motion car crashes wasn't it. You could see, as Lucy carried the ball further and further, that she was running into greater and greater danger. You could also see the gaping gap in the right back area that would be exploited instantly if there was a turnover. Where we differ a little, and I may have to watch the replay to confirm that I still see it the same way I did at the time, is that I do not entirely, or even primarily, blame Bronze. I was screaming at the telly for someone to give her an angle for a pass and, if I am remembering it correctly, you could tell from our right back's body language that she was asking for the same. Anyway, that's history, and Lucy is now a Blue. I bought my Kingsmeadow season ticket and Stamford Bridge package yesterday, so now I'm crossing my fingers about this move.

That's stark and a big surprise to me. I really liked the look of Adeyemi before he moved to Dortmund.

Why?

The club's website already lists 38 members of the women's first team squad. Jean-Francois would be number 39, and Lucy Bronze makes 40. The size of our squad is what got us out of trouble last season when the injury crisis hit, but 40 is beyond unwieldy. We have to expect some departures and some loans before the season proper begins.

Looking for a left footed 4 who can also play at 55? 🙂 LB & CB maybe?

I'm repeating myself I know but beat Aston Villa at home in October and we would now be preparing for a Champions League season. Because we endured last season we know that the team felt a very long way short of Champions League quality but, in the end, we were actually closer that it feels we were. I'm not looking for the team to go from near zero to hero in the upcoming season. I want clear progress and reason to believe in the direction of travel.

Took the words out of my mouth. Nine hours before I even said it. 🙂

Based on information, hoping, or just asking?

I hadn't thought about that. Excellent point.

Ah, that's a bit better. It doesn't rule out the possibility that he is leaving because he does not like the direction of travel, but at least he wasn't pushed. To go from talking him up, and effectively promoting him, to kicking him out would not bode well for our management. It's still significant however that Frasier is also leaving. The chances of this being coincidence is obviously slim.

All of these are arguable cases I grant you but; Abraham, Ake, Guehi, Livramento, Mount, Musiala, Rice, and Tomori are a few who could be discussed. All of these qualify as solid squad players at the least. That's not a bad record when you consider the level at which we were competing, and competing against sides which are basically drawn from the entire globe. Remember there are geographic restrictions concerning which players can be recruited by club academies. No club, not even the supergiants, will produce a world class first XI featuring a majority of homegrown players except in very rare circumstances.

I'm stunned by this. I posted a comment sometime in the last 24 hours in which I said that I wondered what Neil Bath thought of how Cobham youngsters were being managed by the club. I suppose this gives us a clue. The one thing I can say for the owners on this is that it shows a great deal of self confidence and a splash of ruthlessness. Not so long ago they were talking about Bath in a way which lead me to believe they agreed with my assessment that he was the club's most valuable employee. BlueCo keep rolling the dice. If they come up good all will be forgiven. If they don't all the owners have to lose are a few billions. We, on the other hand, have our hearts on the line. From a practical point of view I imagine they will have paid up Neil Bath's contract and placed him on gardening leave.

As my post said, you accurately described him that's being low waged.

So the rumours concerning both of these two turnout to have been accurate. I know nothing about Bartel and have never knowingly seen her play. I don't even know what style of midfielder she is but I assume she must be highly rated. Even with Jesse Fleming having departed in January, and Melly Leupolz leaving last month, this addition still might mean more departures. We have four midfielders remaining from last season's squad, and two more due to return from loans. On top of that we have James and Macario both of whom are probably best operating as AMs. That's eight players and Bartel makes nine. Too many to be vying for three places in the XI.

What a crazy upside down world we live in where an 18 year old earning two million pounds a year can be accurately described as low waged. Poor lad

No new front of shirt sponsor yet. I'm guessing that, unlike last season, they are reluctant to release the new kit without the sponsor's name on the front. Not for any preference of BlueCo's I would think, but because sponsors surely feel that maximizing the number of people acting as walking billboards promoting them, the better. I know I bought four shirts last summer, all for my granddaughter, and I moved to get them quickly before the sponsor was added. I know lots of people also did that so it could well have added up to an unacceptably high percentage of sponsor-free shirts moving through the world. I suppose it makes sense for the club to try to give their new sponsor a better deal by trying to avoid that happening again.

I have always felt that Lucy is a brilliant footballer, and have been among her biggest defenders whenever she has come in for criticism in an England shirt. I 'blamed' her for our loss to Barca in the 2023 Champions League semi-final. A genius level reading of the situation, and a perfectly timed step up, caught Sam Kerr marginally offside which lead to Guro's equaliser being ruled out at Stamford Bridge. That was ultimately the difference between the sides. So I bow to no one in my admiration of Lucy Bronze, but... I'm not excited about this move. I think the time has passed. This looks like a very short term move aimed specifically at making a stronger challenge in the Champions League. Fair enough, but if we could prize Ona Batlle away from Barca that would be a much more exciting and forward-looking move. Of course there is absolutely zero possibility Barca would let her go, but I'd like us to be planning for the next four or five seasons when recruit, not just the next one. In any case it was mainly inaccurate refereeing decisions that cost us the semi-final against Barcelona in the season just ended. Bad decisions and unfortunate injuries. Even then we gave Barcelona absolutely everything they could handle in that tie. I prefer more solid future planning and the confidence that that would help us give Barca a run for their money anytime, anywhere.

If Arsenal are willing and able to match our financial package to Calafiori, and I don't see why they wouldn't be, then they have a lot of advantages over us regarding competing at the highest levels immediately. The only thing I see as a potential recruiting advantage for us is that he is likely to have a harder time earning minutes at Arsenal than with us. They have a much more settled, and more successful, CB partnership then we do. For good measure they also have good cover at left back. He can't realistically expect to be an automatic first choice at the Emirates, but such unexpectation would be reasonable if he moved to Stamford Bridge.

I like this signing. KDH seems to me to have useful attributes to bring to our squad. Now we'll have the chance to see just how useful.

Well I have no ambition for Chelsea ever to win the Europa League again. I hope that in the upcoming season we will qualify for both the Europa League, by winning the Conference League, and the Champions League, by finishing in the top four. After that may we be a Champions League club forever and ever. Amen 🙂

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And if he does have one I hope he's going to need it. 🙂 (Just joking, Spurs games matter too much to me. I would miss those games if Spurs got relegated. 17th every year for Spurs would suit me just fine )

So Golding's fee covers 5/6 of the first year's amortisation of the KDH transfer. If another youngster does well enough to earn a £5m move this time next year that will basically be two payments down and three to go on KDH. As long as the outgoing kids are accepting these transfers for the right reasons, and are not players we should be retaining as likely or potential future first-teamers, I'm ok with this. I do wonder what Neil bath makes of it all however.

Someone from Olise's 'team' has apparently denied that money was the issue. Reportedly they say the player simply preferred Bayern.

They've become a part of a multi-club system. Michele Kang, a wealthy American business woman, owns Washington Spirit of the NWSL. She first added Lyon Women to her 'portfolio' and then London City vowing to take them to the WSL and to make them competitive. There are all sorts of rumours about who she might sign, including Viv Miedema and Fran Kirby.