OhForAGreavsie

Putting faith in another club's judgment is how we ended up with Cucurella.

Have to agree sadly.

I'm just looking for better than we get from Caicedo.

Technical excellence + Great body control + Half decent coaching = Good footballer.

Not enough e's.

You have to say this at the end of every game we're drawing now. 🙂

Scratch that. 🙂

That's my fear too. A save is my prediction.

Although MHL is a safe standing area, the seats are still allocated so there is a risk that people in the seats neighbouring yours, or your dad's, may not want to shift about. Possibly because they may themselves want to be able to stay together in a group. It's worth calling the box office to see if they can help. Alternatively, try emailing [email protected] giving them your account numbers and ticket details. If you and your dad's accounts are not yet linked under 'Friends & Family' you may be asked to link them before they can talk to you about changing your dad's ticket.

I didn't see either the confrontation with Ezza or the spat with Emma. It seems to me however that Eidevall was justified in his complaint about the ball but probably not so in how he dealt with it. In the heat of the moment, with time running out in a cup final you are losing, no footballer is going to remember that the game was being played with a single ball system. They are just going to grab the nearest one and get it into play ASAP. Arsenal's manager was right to complain, he just shouldn't have addressed his complaint to the player. Get the ref's attention or talk to the fourth official. Weather Eidevall was aggressive or not I can't say, but I think it's hard to attach blame to either party. The player and the opposing manager both acted instinctively. The underlying factor here is that, although they try to hide it, these two managers don't like each other. The first time they faced off, Eidevall irritated Hayes which led to she and her squad reacting in a way that raised the temperature between them though not in a good way.🙂 Emma didn't like how Eidevall celebrated Arsenal's win that day. She stewed on it until we beat Arsenal to the title by defeating Man United on the last day of the season. She deliberately did a copycat of his celebration in a clear attempt to mock him. Worse, when we clinched the double at Wembley the next week, many members of the squad also mocked him with the same celebration. For his part, when Eidevall was invited to say something nice about Emma before she heads off to the States, the best he could come up with was that she had won a lot but that she had also spent a lot. Underlining this point by claiming that she had spent more in this January's transfer window alone than he, and his Arsenal predecessor, had spent in total over the last five seasons. As you youngsters say there is 'beef' there.

Sjoke's good form continues. Two more goals for her tonight. 3-0 is great but I found large parts the first leg vs Ajax frustrating to watch. Too many moments of poor play featuring bad passing, loose control, third or even fourth best options selected in given situations. To have played so relatively poorly but to have won so handsomely anyway was a surprise. Ajax had looked pretty good against Bayern and PSG in their group games so I expected more from them tonight.

Highlights

Yes, Yo-Yo's shot deflected off her into the net.

Second correctly given to Nusken. She tapped in right in front of me from Ezza's effort. 🙂 Sjoke has since added a third when a shot from JRK deflected off her and past Zinsberger. The keeper probably had Yo-Yo's shot covered. 3-0 Half time.

... Speaking of the 4th round FA Cup game with West Ham next weekend (Sunday 1:00pm). There are more tickets on sale because The Hammers didn't take up their full allocation. Buy Women's Tickets | Tickets | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club (chelseafc.com)

A blow without doubt and one which might impact Sam's plans for next season. Her current deal expires this summer but, with her fiancee moving to England for the next 18-months, it looked like Sam would have been seeking at least a one-year extension. Will Chelsea be prepared to give her a new 12-month deal while knowing she'll play half of it at the very most? Perhaps Sam will have to commit until summer '26, or beyond, to get a new contract out of the club now. As for the cover we have within our squad, we'll miss Sam in some ways but not in others. Sam is nothing special in general play and is outright hopeless in one-on-one situations. For instinctive finishes, movement in the box, and aura on the pitch, she has no equal in the WSL. All of which adds to saying that we have backup for some aspects of her play but not for others. My choice would be to promote Aggie Beaver-Jones but Emma's selection and substitution policy suggests that she is more likely to rely on Mia Fishel. We'll get a clue from her line up against West Ham next weekend.

I hope that the people who criticised me when I said that I would sign Gvardiol to play LB for us are a little less opposed to the idea now. 🙂

Were there that many people wanting Felix signed? I admit that I've spent less time on Chelsea fan sites this year than any year in the last quarter century, but my recollection is that the majority of people had agreed that Felix was not the right player to target. I wonder if there are any Blues' fans who would write a cheque to Atleti for Felix now.

Some friends treated me to hospitality at this game. I thought the mince pies were a part of the package. Little did I know. 🙂

Enjoyable afternoon. Thought we played way better than last two outings. Felt Sjoke was good, ditto Ashley Lawrence, Ezza also. Really liked Hannah Hampton today too. Lived up to the billing as being the best around with her feet. Apart from the error which almost gifted them a goal thought she looked pretty competent. Hope to see her given more chances. Hats off to Bristol City. They are really getting right with building support. I was at Guro's first game for us at Bristol a few years back. It was played at Stoke Gifford in what was basically a university athletics track. There were maybe 150 Chelsea fans there and even fewer Robins' followers. Today they attracted well over 9000. Nice stadium, good fans lots of positive steps being taken. And they competed better than any Bristol team I've seen.

I won't be going to Stamford Bridge today so my ticket for the the Chelsea women vs Liverpool women game is available. I am essentially offering the ticket for free but only on condition that it is actually used. I will ask anyone requesting the ticket to send me £10 via PayPal but, if you later send me a photo of the game taken from my seat, I will refund the tenner. I paid £21.25 for it but, as a one-off general sale ticket, it would cost £25. It is an e-ticket for the Matthew Harding lower. If anyone is interested just let me know. I will give priority to anyone who has never attended a CFCW game previously.

I was not saying that he was overrated before he joined because I didn't watch him enough to have an opinion. Since he got here the doubts have been creeping in however. I'm looking forward to Poch having Lavia as an option then we'll see what the competition can do to keep both players at their best level. It would be nice if those two can keep that slot in the team under control while we sharpen the squad in other areas, before we have to come back and think if we need to look at DM again.

No, no, no, no, no.

Really interesting press conference from Emma today. Not said directly of course but it seems clear that the stories of difficulties in her contract negotiations with Chelsea are true, and that this played some part in her decision to go. There was also a slight slip in one reply which suggests that at least one of her staff will be leaving with her. Since there is already a claim circulating that defensive coach Denise Reddy, a Yank, will be going with Emma, that rumour only get stronger now.