OhForAGreavsie

It was an interesting interview. Can't remember if it was linked here or I saw it elsewhere but worth a watch. Depending on how Barca do with working out their issues, we should investigate taking Raphinha on loan for a season. Surely the wont want to pay him just to play Champions League. Ditto Lewa maybe. Would give us a year to workout permanent attacking solutions.

But for the fact that we're accustomed to seeing our team perform like this it would be possible to believe that we were watching two relegation candidates, not one.

And before they went down I did a post saying that we were European Champions and top of the league yet there wasn't a lot of positivity around the place. The reason for that was that there wasn't a lot to be positive about. The loss of our wing backs did hamper us but we were miles short of convincing even before that.

I can't agree with this. We all see what we see. Where differences occur between members is in the analysis of the causes.

The women play the opening game of their title defence against West Ham at Stamford Bridge on 1th of September. Tickets available from the club; Women's Tickets | Tickets | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club (chelseafc.com) Enjoy!

Well more information will come out at some point and we might be able to gauge Redknapp's comments a bit better. Meanwhile, I'm more excited about this potential transfer than any other so far this summer. I'd have been excited about a few that were mooted if I'd been able to convince myself they were real and the De Jong links have been in the same boat. Until now that is. Now, I admit that I can't help but hope based on Redknapp's comments.

Then you do think he's lying. 😀

Didn't sound to me like he was misrepresenting what he heard. It's only a matter of whether his ManU contact gave an accurate assessment of the situation.

And thank you for bringing us that Ray of hope from Harry Redknapp. 😀

The trick is to choose the Paste as plain text option.

That might be the simple truth or it might be a way to avoid saying that he isn't fully sold on Ben. Either way I doubt many doubt that we're in a better place at LB/LWB than we've been for a while.

Chelsea have signed Swedish winger Johanna Rytting Kaneyrd to a three year contract. She becomes the fourth player to join the first team squad this summer. The club seems to be striving to maintain it's domestic competitiveness and bridge the gap with Lyon and Barcelona. Competition for places is going to be fierce in all areas but especially so up top where we have; Beth England, Fran Kirby, Guro Reiten, Lauren James, Pernille Harder, Sam Kerr and, now, Johanna R-K.

Good luck Marcus whenever you leave, and wherever you go. Congratulations on all of the titles, and thank you.

Levi almost certainly has options so maybe any deal is waiting for Brighton to convince him?

You,and @Clockwork, make a good case. I hope it works out this way.

Yes, I agree with all of this. It's Marcus's goal contributions, and the goal threat at the far post which opponents have to account for, that I would put on the other side of the ledger.

Don't agree with this. I agree it's an upgrade on Emerson and on Alonso's defending but whether his overall attacking impact would be better than Alonso's is possible but not certain I think.

Interviewer's dream. Don't need many questions, just a microphone. Comes across as a really nice bloke.

Like this deal. Good prospect, presumably low cost, and, albeit young, plays in a position of need. We'll see in two years how good a move this was.

Transfer fee inflation over the last 24 months is staggering. It seems that the price to any top club, for any player under 28 with more than a year remaining on his contract, starts at £60m these days. In that context £30m-£35m seems positively reasonable but of course it's a ludicrous amount of money. The only way we can avoid getting caught in the overspending trap is to walk away but when we do that the board gets screamed at.

Some things that fit my template, but one that I know will irritate me if he joins. Technical excellence. ✅ Ability to do ordinary things to a very high level. ✅ Uncomplicated. Moves the ball quickly, decisively and accurately. ✅ A competent, not excellent, defender. Two footedness is a great attribute for any player but a near essential one for fullbacks. ❌❌

If TT sees those three the same way that I, and others here, see them then being clear with them about where they stand is the right thing to do.

Gvardiol clearly has the attributes to play at LB if required, even on a full time basis.

My opinion is that, like hundreds of players before, Ben has been boosted by his injury. Boosted in the sense that his reputation was enhanced in the eyes of many while the team struggled in his absence. Because Ben's injury came during a spell of mostly good form, people forgot and forgive his long spell of indifferent form in a Chelsea shirt. The truth is our high league place in the winter belied the way we were playing and was never going to last even if the wingbacks had stayed fit. What looked like falling off a cliff because Ben and Reece were missing was in fact mostly about our results catching up with our performances. I've said all along that if we sign a LB/LWB it needs to be an upgrade to Ben, not a backup.

Fair enough.