OhForAGreavsie

I watched the first half hour today before going for something to eat so I just missed his goal. He played as one of two strikers in a 4-4-2. In the 30 minutes I saw he mainly looked good. He was neat and quick and even when things went wrong you could see he was trying to do the right things. Towards to end of what I saw though there were one or two loose touches.

Guessing @lionking meant the Europa League Final.

Where did I say the speech was stupid?

True but what does that have to do with anything? Are you saying that Robbie would not have been sacked had he given the Guardiola speech? Of course you're not, and I understand that you're not. There are many factors which contribute to a manager retaining his job. Not making stupidly inappropriate speeches is only one of them.

Sorry but I have to express myself frankly here; what an absolute pile of nonsense. Had Guardiola given that speech while in charge of Chelsea in Munich on 19/05/2012, Bayern would still be celebrating now. You can say stuff like this when you are in charge of a team widely regarded as the best club side ever, but in other circumstances it would be suicidal stupidity. Pep played to his squad's strengths. He had every reason to believe that his men would beat anybody if they performed as they can. What he needed to do therefore was simply get them to do their stuff. Any idiot can give the speech, but what is the speech without a realistic hope of success? Pure vanity, that's what. I wouldn't dream of calling Pep vain. He'd assess his squad's strength's and react accordingly, I'm sure. Could Pep have led Chelsea to glory on that night in Munich? None of us know but we all do know that had he sent them out to just play football, Bayern Munich would have made him look foolish. One day I'd like a Chelsea manager to be able to prepare his team by giving such a speech, but that day is not today. It's not even tomorrow and it's certainly not the day after tomorrow.

The change to the seeding system from 2015-2016 on is, in most seasons, going to make things worse for all but one of our clubs.

QFT.

Ha-ha. (Original obviously better but it's necessary to avoid a Beatles overdose every once in a while.)

Has the alarm bell rung once too often now? Arsenal's Champions' League chances are hanging by a thread and City's are too. The Citizens might have picked up a slightly better result than Arsenal's but in truth they should have been at least 4 or 5 down at half time. We can't crow either. The pundits will probably spend the next week talking about Chelsea being the exception but none of us here will be fooled by that. Our draw masked a dreadful performance last week and we know it as is made quite clear by posts in the match threads. What the heck is up with our league? Do we have things too easy? Will the money roll in for the players no matter what and is the same true for the Chairmen? If they sign good players the TV cash floods in but what happens if they sign only adequate players? They still find themselves swimming in oceans of cash. These are only the same speculations we've all come up with after previous poor seasons in Europe but can we keep brushing this under the carpet? Now is the time to ask these questions before any potential miracle results come along to turn the ties around and lull us back to a false sense of security. Something is broken.

So he played CB not RB? All of this makes Kenneth pretty much a squad player currently. Any new information regarding how he feels about this?

Back more rigidly on topic: It's great to see Boga on the bench for tonight's 19s game with Zenit but I'm disappointed that RLC is not involved. In one way it's good news because it suggests that he'll be on the bench at Wembley and that Jose is not willing to risk him tonight. On the other hand, I'd have thought he could do with some game time since I don't believe he has played at any level for several weeks. Also, I really want to progress at least one more round in the EYL so I'd have been happier if we selected our top side available.

I think either I have not explained myself well enough or you have not quite grasped my point. Almost certainly the former I'm sure. I'm not arguing that Zouma is similar to other members except in one way way. I'm trying to describe my point of view that Kurt gets games for one reason, and one reason, only. This is simply that sometimes Jose feels the young man is the best player available to occupy one of the centre back roles. Kurt doesn't get the shirt because he is old, or young; because he's a record signing, or a free transfer. When he gets the nod it's because, in TSO's opinion, he is the best man available for that job, on that day. The same has been true for Nathan Ake on one occasion. That, I think you and I would agree, is Jose's modus operandi. Selection on merit only and, in judging that merit, his is the only opinion that counts. Calling for young players to get special treatment is always going to be a vain pursuit with our boss. Youngsters may get dead minutes at the end of a game, or the end of the season, but when it comes to getting live minutes they simply have to make Jose believe they are the best. Zouma has done that, Christiansen, for example, has not. Some people consider Jose's M.O. to be a fault but we've all seen Zouma and we've all seen Christiansen. Do any of us seriously doubt that one player looks ready and the other does not? I say again, with Jose, it's not about how old you are, it's about how convinced he is that you can help the team. If you want minutes don't just hold out your birth certificate and hope, make the boss believe.

Thanks Supporter. I have not seen enough of Koke so, while I feel justified to say that what I have seen has not particularly impressed me, I will bow to your greater knowledge.

It sounds like you've seen more of Koke than I have so I'm happy to accept that you are in a better position to judge him. Something I do feel qualified to hold an opinion about is that the Oscar fades idea is a myth. He's poor before Christmas too. It just seems to take till then for people to stop making excuses and face the truth. That truth is that he's a good player but good does not get it done for Chelsea's number ten.

As I said above, I don't believe that KDB will return. As for Koke, I've seen too little of him to be absolutely definitive but, from what I have seen, he looks no better than Oscar. Since I don't believe Oscar is good enough to serve as Chelsea's number 10, I am in no hurry to sign Koke.

And Thibaut

I see nothing wrong with what KDB is quoted as saying but in any case there is no news here. We can all read the runes and realise that KDB would not put returning to Chelsea at the top of his wish list. The only thing likely to persuade him to rejoin is a monster contract offer. Problem is I don't believe for one minute that Jose will want him back because those same runes tell us that the boss was even less happy about Kevin's off field approach than he was with the young man's efforts on match day. If it was only about performance levels that would be one thing, but when it's about attitude then it's hard to imagine Jose ever changing his mind. I would therefore say that the first step on the road to KDB's return would be Jose's departure. Even speaking as KDB's biggest fan around here, which I think I probably am, any choice between KDB and TSO is an absolute no contest. Ten more years please Jose.

Doubt there will be many, if any, there.

It's a bit of fun. I enjoyed it Alex. Good work.

No, I think it's great. Well played Alex. Mind you I did know about Thorgan's move before reading the headline so I was never in danger. We'd all be surprised though, wouldn't we, if anyone here actually thought the worst? Is anyone willing to admit they saw the headline and thought we really had sold Eden?

We have 10 days between Sunday and the return with PSG. For that matter we'll have a full week to prepare the Paris game after the trip to West Ham. Even if the Paris game did follow straight after Wembley there is, in my opinion, no way Jose should opt to use a shadow squad in the CapOne. After all it's a final and there has been more than enough evidence to suggest that, if used, our squad team would be clear second favourites against Spurs.

It looks great. If they also improve transport access to the stadium, which I believe is a part of the plan, it will be a terrific venue for Spurs. In my opinion, it will boost more than just their financial situation.

Lol. @CurlyHairLikeLuiz, looks like this is gonna be with you for a while.

The concept, was arguably invented by Baird so in that sense a case can be made. TV as broadcast from launch up until the digital revolution however was invented by an American kid. (Still don't have a firm opinion on Pogba mind. )

OK, I know someone is going to jump out from behind the monitor and shout, "Gotcha", but I'll bite... Calculators at the ready, 13 x 3 = ? :)