OhForAGreavsie

It's a shame, sort of, though long expected. Fans singing we want you to stay for the last six months has not worked, and probably was never going to. The bottom line is that the time is right for Magda to leave and, since she and Pernille are done with living in separate countries. it's pretty inevitable that Pernille will follow wherever Magda goes. Though Mags has been playing in the absence of both starting CBs, the reality is that she is no longer first choice, and would fall further down the pecking order when Aniek returns from a season long loan in Milan. Worse, Emma tried to sign a left back in January and will probably go again with that in summer. She isn't likely to land her January target, McCabe from Arsenal, but she probably will strengthen that position. If so then the fill in minutes Magda has gained at left back will also be restricted. Mags is 29 and P is 30. They can't really wait much longer. Not if they want a good move anyway and, let's face it, Bayern is a brilliant move so now is the time I'm afraid.

Noted.

As I said when the decision was made. Fortunately, we were so anemic in the home game vs Madrid that his being in the side would have made no difference anyway.

Just as in music, or football fans with opinions, the oldies are the best. Well some new music is great I'm sure, but I am distinctly old. Nothing wrong with the opinion we share however. I was adamant all along that what we needed was an upgrade to Chilly, not a back up for him. (Not that we even got that as it turns out.)

Really enjoyable game last night, if a bit straining on the nerves. Liverpool really battled for the shirt. If they'd nicked a point, their effort would have earned it. In the end a slightly scuffed finish from Sam secured the win and on we go. Next up is Everton at KM on Sunday. In theory this is a tougher game than last night's given that the Toffees are about ten points above their big rivals. This will be the first of our six remaining fixtures this season. Victory in all of them would make us WSL champions and FA Cup winners.The way this season has gone for the men is depressing, but at least the women are giving Blues fans some games worth looking forward to. If you're free Sunday evening, and can make it to Kingston, get down to Kingsmeadow and help the women collect the result they need. Kick off is at 6:45pm. You won't get a free hot dog like fans did last night, but you will see a Chelsea team that might put a smile on your face.

Reckon Emma will be satisfied with this at halftime.

I did see it playing on The 5th Stand but the screen would not maximise on my phone so I went back to DAZN.

Thankfully this game doesn't matter anymore. Common Citeh!

The club has now sold out it's allocation of Women's FA Cup Final tickets. That said... Something in the arithmetic isn't adding up. Wembley say that they are hoping for a 'sell out', and that they have sold 65,000 seats themselves. The 16,000 tickets they allocated to Chelsea and Man Utd have also sold out. This makes a total of 81,000 tickets sold, which is about 9,000 fewer than Wembley's capacity, so what's the story? Have Wembley put an 81,000 cap on the crowd size? Do they have a different plan for the remaining tickets? Only hospitality tickets remain for the final: https://www.clubwembley.com/events/2023/Womens_fa_cup_final_23

Tickets are on sale now for two massive games. The Women's Champions League semi-final first leg vs Barcelona, this Saturday, 22nd April, and the Women's FA Cup final vs Man Utd at Wembley on Sunday, 14th May. The Champions League semi-final will see a record Stamford Bridge attendance for CFCW. Barring any late returns the entire lower tier of the stadium is sold out. As is the upper deck of The Shed barring some seats in block 1. Only about a quarter of the Westview seats remain available, but tickets can be had for the Matthew Harding upper. Over 65,000 tickets have already been sold for the FA Cup Final. It's been projected that Wembley will sell out and Chelsea have very few tickets remaining. When club tickets sell out, hospitality tickets bought direct from Wembley will be the best remaining option. Women's Tickets | Tickets | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club (chelseafc.com)

Coming here made no difference to Izzy, other than that it padded his earnings, which now looks an even bigger thing than it always did. Izzy didn't enjoy a stellar career for the simple reason that he was never good enough. Any other expectations, whether sincerely held, or expressed just to be encouraging towards a young footballer, were never going to be fulfilled. Izzy did not have the talent to be a Premier League player.

Ucking ek! Presumably, since the new rule is not yet in place, this means we can now extend the remaining amortisation of his fee even further. Unless the announcement of the new rule included a provision preventing this, we can look forward to twitter squealing if we do reduce his annual cost some more.

Ah, I misunderstood.

At the time most argued with my alternative suggestion for who to leave out instead.

He should definitely have been in the squad. His omission was clearly an error, but we are where we are.

Well at least that simplifies the tactical situation for the remainder of the game. At some point soon we will need Mudryck for one of the top two top two.

Don't believe it has anything to do with the injury. He is not, and was not ever, quick.

Have you watched him? I've been correcting people on this misapprehension ever since his academy days. He is not quick which shows itself in both directions. He can burst past a defender when he is on the run and the defender static, but if they are both static, or both on the run, he will always check out and go back. He knows his limitations pace wise.

As stated 4 months ago.

I don't agree. I felt we were generally poor in the first leg.

Possibly, but they look way short of their best this term. Arsenal thoroughly outplayed us at The Emirates despite the fact that we stole a point. They outplayed us at Kingsmeadow in the cup game but we made our chances count and won. They made us look a very, very ordinary side at Selhurst Park in the League Cup Final. Lyon were not able to do that to us in either leg of the quarter-final but Man City did four days before. It isn't even just the blue half of Manchester because Utd were comfortably the better side in the recent league game at KM though we were severely hit by injuries that day so maybe we shouldn't count it. I've felt for a long time that we are not as good a side as we should be. We have the medals to show that we have been better than the domestic opposition but they have all progressed while we have not. A refresh is necessary I feel and, personally, I'd be ok if that was guided by a new manager.

I've reached a controversial opinion. It's time to look more critically at Emma Hayes. She has won a lot but her team has been stagnating, while others are improving. Too many of her buys sell the club short in that they are not the cream of the crop players we should be looking at.

An exhausting night of drama at The Bridge:

Last time at The Bridge for CFCW:

A record number of tickets have been sold for a women's Champions League game at The Bridge ahead of the quarter-final second leg on Thursday. Tickets still available.