OhForAGreavsie

Mason Mount on for Kyle Scott. Good, Mason should have started I think. Although I've seen Kyle have at least one outstanding game, more often than not he seems lacking in possession. Bearing in mind his illness I think he's given his all but Mason's greater surety of touch may help us slow up the waves of PSG attacks a bit. Good stuff Kasey. 2-1.

PSG's equaliser has been coming.

I'm going to get stick for saying this but he reminds me a little of Ledley King. With Fikayo, Jake, Jay, Ola if he stays, and not to mention Andreas, I don't think we need to make any more speculative signings of young defenders. First team ready stars is one thing but no more Matt Miazgas I'd say. Nothing against Matt. I like him but I like that list of names too.

Tell you later. Dental appointment now. One spoiler though. If you were old enough to remember the event, you didn't just 'hear' about it.

I prefer to say that I feel the rivalry very strongly rather than that I dislike them. Liverpool are the only club I think I would say that about. I'm not certain but I think it's a combination of factors, as always. If there were a single thing maybe it's because the first 'live' game I ever saw on the television was the 1967 FA Cup final. I remember a deep sense of injustice because Terry Venables, who they had recently signed from us, was playing for them. I was six and didn't really understand the transfer system . I just couldn't get it out of my head that one of our players was playing for them. The evil, wicked, dastardly people from the land of Tottenham were miserable, stinking cheats. I think the feeling just lodged in my psyche.

Being aware that you are one of our overseas fans, I anticipated all of that while writing my original post and your point of view is entirely legitimate of course. That said, when your probable stance came to me, I thought of my own support of the NFL's Washington franchise. I follow them from a distance, as you follow Chelsea, albeit that I've done so since 1983. Part of Washington fan lore I've taken on board is the rivalry with Dallas. It's a good day in the NFL when bad things happen to the Cowboys. While I'm not intending to be critical of the way you do it, these cultural things do tend to transmit around the globe as can be seen in the attitudes of international supporters of, say, Celtic & Rangers, or of Manchester United and Liverpool. It's all part of the fun. The emphasis is on the word fun however. I don't hate Spurs, there are clubs indeed that I dislike far more than I do them, Liverpool for example. If it were a question of choosing between Spurs and Liverpool winning the title however, just hand me that red scarf will you. There is no ugliness in this feeling, not in the way I experience it. It is just part of the entertainment. As I have often said, stealing from much cleverer people than me, if Tottenham Hotspur did not exist, it would be necessary for me to invent them. Even at my age, I get wildly excited when the two Tottenham games come around. I would hate to be without them.

Well said. People who post in that way can't possibly be supporters of this club. Not, at least, in the way I've always understood by the word supporter. Now, @Blue_Fox_ and others may very well say it's nobody's business to tell them how, or even who, to support and they'd be right of course. When you post in that way on a Chelsea fan forum however you have to accept that people are not going to like it and that they are not going to keep quiet about it.

Never, if I lived for a million, trillion, billion, billion years would you find me agreeing that there could possibly be anything good about Spurs wining the league. I can hardly believe I'm reading such a thing posted by a Chelsea fan. Forget reasonableness, fairness or sound analysis; this is Tottenham Hotspur we're talking about man! I was alive the last time Spurs won the league. Fortunately I was just a baby so have no memory of it but, even so, I have to tell you that once was more than enough. As far as that lot winning the league while I'm still in the world is concerned, never mind twenty's plenty, one and done is the song I'm singing.

Yes! Last minute of injury time, winner from Fran Kirby completes the fightback. Chelsea 2-1 Man City. The holders, who trailed with less than 3 minutes of normal time remaining, are through to a second successive Women's FA Cup final. The game will be staged at Wembley on May 14th.

Give or take the odd upswing in form by Willian, or downturn in productivity from Oscar, I still think the observation I've been making about Oscar over the last 3 years is accurate. With apologies to those who've read it before, the observation comes in two parts: - Oscar is clearly not good enough to start for the team Chelsea wish to be. Oscar is nevertheless the best number 10 Chelsea have.

In fact it was a quarter-final in 2013/14 and a right mess up too. We somehow managed to go out to a side we had beaten home and away in the group stage. Also it's 3 wins out of 5 so far. If we get past City it will be 4 out of 5. Let's see if any of the current crop make the grade. It was pleasing to see Jake look so impressive today. You'd expect a player with first team potential to look a cut above at this level, and he did. Ola was good too and Jay looks like he's spent the time he's been out injured in the gym.

I'm afraid I'm very, very old fashioned about this. I'm gald they went through, hope they win it, and hope City win the other one too.

Yes there is. Sane? You'll have to ask other people.

I can't imagine why you would be bothered to do it but, if you wish, it would be easy enough to flick through various conversations and and satisfy yourself that the obsession you describe does not apply to me. On the other hand it's not realistic for you to make a chiding remark and then to anticipate that the other person will not reply.

I didn't say that I want the club to sign Cavani. As for language being tricky I suppose you are saying that you don't in fact think that Rom's game has improved tenfold. Good, you're right.

I know all of those things of course yet, of the three, I still prefer Cavani. Tenfold means x 10, as you know. That might suggest, for example, that if Rom once miscontrolled 1 ball in 3, he would now miscontrol only 1 in 30. If I'm in a minority who know that isn't so then there are either a lot of innumerate people on this site, or an awful lot that don't watch Rom play.

I don't agree. Not even twofold. Last summer, I was among those who would have liked Dybala to happen. This summer I'd prefer Cavani to either either Costa or Lukaku. He's not the top option but I use him as the comparison because you did.

What a stupid piece of click bait. Loopholes? The article claims that Everton may owe Chelsea bonus payments under the terms of the deal which took Lukaku to Goodison and that, if so, Chelsea will expect those bonuses to be discounted from any transfer fee if Rom is re-signed. Well hold the front page! P.S. Don't want us to bring him back but if Conte does, he does.

I love Guus to bits but the only difference is that the players have been prepared to try for him. Had they been ready to try for Jose we'd be above 10th but they fooled themselves into believing that they are as good as they imagine themselves to be. They decided that they could go out and play however they liked and still win football matches. They have presumably learned now that they are not as good as they imagined. Only Jose could win with this mob and then only if they implemented his plans. I do think that the manager/coach is picking the team without interference but I suppose it's fair enough to speculate that he may not be. I find it harder to see what you mean by corruption however. Was it just a throw away word that you didn't really mean, or are you being serious?

Before I joined this forum I thought I was was one of the most negative Chelsea fans out there but how wrong I was. The naked hatred some people here exhibit toward Chelsea and Chelsea people is behaviour I just don't understand.

OK, that's an honest disagreement. Many, many people agree with you. They're wrong, but they do do agree with you. Firstly, the referenced post addresses your point about whether quality players are affordable and available to us. Secondly, it recognises that such players may not be, and, if so, that the practical thing would be to slide down the list. It accepts we might end up at Kante, but it argues that we should not start there. Thirdly, better players we know of are out there for all the positions you mention so there is nothing mythical about them. If, for example, you are telling me you can't name a player who you think might do a better job for Chelsea than Oscar, than I'm going to say that I don't believe you. What is more, there are almost certainly also better players out there who are not yet widely known outside their own clubs and scouting circles. There are several players of whom I had never previously heard doing great things in this season's Premier League. Perhaps that's true of you too. Years ago I became very interested in Chelsea signing Mousa Dembele from AZ Alkmaar. I watched an AZ vs Ajax game to see how he performed in what was then a top of the table clash. As it happened, he was poor that day but, for the first time, I noticed and commented on a bloke called Suarez playing up front for Ajax. This season I've been watching Rennes to keep an eye on Jed and, because of that, became aware Osumane Dembele. The young Dembele is now top of my transfer wish list* this summer. Football fans, especially those of us who don't play computer games, notice players when we come across them. For scouts it is different. I had never heard of Ronaldo when he arrived at ManU but it turns out that several sides around the continent had tried to buy him from Lisbon. Arsenal even thought they had reached an agreement with club and player. As fans we can see the areas where our team requires strengthening. We may even be able to suggest some solutions but, even if we are not able to, that does not absolve the club's recruiters of the responsibility to find those solutions. That's the nature of the competition. Players compete for results on the pitch, clubs compete for players off it. It's no good throwing up your hands and saying, "Please sir, Oscar is the best I can do." If you you want the prizes, excuses don't cut it. The Premier League has been poor in recent seasons but I don't believe it is going to stay that way. We must improve. * We almost certainly won't win the race for Dembele's signature but we should at least take part.

I didn't think posts could be deleted by non-mods like me. Based on what you say about going back 5 pages, I assume you have seen this post. This is the one I referred to and which I think deals with the points you made.

I go along with you 90% of the way but I'd put it a little differently. You're talking about spending, I'd prefer to talk about recruiting. Pretty much every member of TC probably agrees with you that we need to recruit and that recruiting well will almost certainly mean spending big. They'd probably also agree however that spending big does not necessarily equal spending well. While in recent windows our spending has been relatively low, it is still true that we have spent huge amounts on transfers. Our problem is not just about how much we spend, it's about how well we spend. I shudder to think of the oceans of cash wasted on players who have proved to be unable to help our first team. More than ever; to strengthen the squad, to dramatically improve our first team, to enthuse those of the current group who will remain next season, we need to add quality. Of course quality players can cost fortunes but, as we know from bitter experience, so too can bad ones. I say don't count the zeros in their transfer fees and wage packets, calculate the talent in their veins, and calculate it better than we've done before.

Oh dear. Read the earlier part of the conversation. It really won't take you long.

I've just naturally said e not eye since I first read the name Miazga, but now you bring it up it's occurred to me that I don't know. Don't think I've ever heard anyone say eye however and I've never heard Matt contradict anyone who said e.