Vesper

Cesc Fabregas confirms he will follow John Terry's lead after retirement https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/Chelsea-cesc-fabregas-john-terry-24743878 Cesc Fabregas believes there is plenty of life left in the old dog and he's happy to be seen as the elder statesman in Niko Kovac’s Monaco ‘school’. The 34-year-old, who accepts he is coming to the end of his playing days, has his eyes on coaching in the future, but thinks he still has a role to play in Monaco’s youthful and exuberant side. Chelsea have seen a number of their former players move into coaching and Fabregas could become the next cab off the rank. In recent seasons, John Terry, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard have all tried their hand and the Spaniard has admitted that he sees himself becoming a coach “quickly” after retirement. But for now, Fabregas still has the energy and determination to help drive Monaco to an unlikely title challenge in the face of Paris Saint-Germain’s richly assembled super team. “The closer the end comes, the more thoughts come to your mind, but at the same time, I love football a lot and I’m enjoying training everyday,” Fabregas told MirrorSport. “Going to the training ground, staying here with the boys, learning new things, competing, trying to make things difficult for the coach and I just feel like I can still play. “Of course, the way Niko [Kovac] likes to play is very aggressive, very intense, a lot of sprints, a lot of runs at high intensity. “This is something that is maybe not so much into my game - not only now, but ever - but I’m learning, I’m improving, I’m doing good numbers and for this reason I still feel the energy to keep playing.” Fabregas has one year remaining on his current deal with the Ligue 1 club, after which he will make a decision whether he will continue on the pitch, or transition into a role off it. He continued; “This is my last year here, then I’ll see what I want to do. I’ll see where my head is and what I want to do, but yes, it is something that I want to do in the future, going into coaching quickly after I retire, whenever that is. “But here is a good place to be because a lot of young players are willing to learn, they ask questions, they want to improve, they let themselves be advised on many things, so it’s great for me to have this approach with them.” After working with the likes of Arsene Wenger, Pep Guardiola, Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho, there isn’t much that Fabregas hasn’t seen from a manager. However, in Kovac, he has been given a glimpse at one other style of coach, the teacher to Monaco’s schoolchildren. “I think every manager needs to adapt to whatever they have, I’ve been very lucky to play for big clubs, with big teams and big players. “Here is a little bit different, the approach here, you have to understand most players are 19,20, 21. So for Niko and the players, this is the school and Niko is the teacher. “He reapets things a lot, to put things into their minds, little things, like reminding them to drink water everyday. That’s something new for me.”

I have had you blocked for ages and now see (as your dross stills show up when people quote reply to you) that your gobby arse is back to pollute this board once again with sub-room temperature IQ ramblings, all backed up with a particularly pathetic type of aggressively anti-social Billy Big Bollocks posturing. Apparently I can still reply to you, so here it goes! To a cleverclogs wanker (pro-tip, that is you m8), You are, without a doubt, the worst, most ill-informed football poster on TC for my entire time here, as well as being a True Cunt© of a person. You literally are a prime example of the the Dunning-Kruger effect, a type of cognitive bias in which people like you believe that they are smarter and more capable than they really are. Essentially, low ability, low intelligence people such as yourself do not possess the skills needed to recognize their own incompetence. Your combination of poor self-awareness and low cognitive ability leads you to overestimate your own capabilities and knowledge base. In short, you are simply too dull a knife to realise you could not slice warm butter, yet you think you are a industrial diamond gang saw blade, capable of cutting though stone. You cannot even spell Timmy Mallett correctly on your own bloody profile. <<< FAIL Warning_Hazard = Peak of 'Mount Stupid' Stage TTFN, Vesper

so get those 3 specific players and only lose 1 of either AC or Rudiger (who may leave anyway)? hell yes no one sane would turn that down, literally no one

completely disagree he has great technical skills and is a beast cruncher add him now and next summer go HARD for Nicolò Barella (as I say, the closest thing atm to Kante on the planet, a wrecking ball of relentless chaos) monster double pivot

oh, it gets better perhaps you can bin that 80m euros price (£68m) if we want to do instalments Reports: Club tell Chelsea they'll need to pay £88m if they want to sign Jules Koundé from them https://www.thechelseachronicle.com/transfer-news/report-club-tell-Chelsea-theyll-need-to-pay-88m-if-they-want-to-sign-22-year-old-from-them/ Sevilla have reportedly asked for an additional £20m on top of Jules Kounde’s release clause if Chelsea are to pay his fee in stages. This is according to 90min, who claim that the Blues have tried to find other avenues in order to sign Kounde. Kurt Zouma was offered as part of a player plus cash swap. However, Sevilla wanted their defender’s £68.4m (Guardian) release clause paid off in full. Chelsea were obviously reluctant to part with such a figure, so instead searched for different means of obtaining the Frenchman. 90min state that after the Zouma proposal fell short, the Stamford Bridge chain of command asked if they could reimburse Kounde’s release clause across a number of years. Sevilla accepted this suggestion but apparently bumped up the overall price to £88m. Understandably, the Blues refuted the idea of paying over the odds, even for a player of Kounde’s potential. They are still working on ways to recruit the 22-year-old, whilst finalising the transfer of Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan. Chalobah worth considering Of course, Thomas Tuchel may have a few things to think about regarding Kounde’s potential arrival after last night’s Super Cup victory. Trevoh Chalobah made his competitive Chelsea debut in the back three, played all 120 minutes and was arguably the Blues best performer. “He never lost face and stayed calm and was physical enough to play 120 minutes,” said Tuchel on Chalobah after the match. “It was quite impressive. He forced his way into our thinking.” Of course, there is no guarantee that Chalobah will be part of the first-team squad this season. Especially not if the Kounde deal does get over the line. But it’s certainly given Tuchel some food for thought.

PSG and Citeh just came in their pants when you have trillions backing you, a 'luxury tax' is chump change I fully expect the Saudis to REALLY try and buy teams now, plus perhaps Bezos or Musk or Bernard Arnault (who just passed Bezos as the world's richest man)

Chelsea (2010, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2018) and Newcastle United (1932, 1951, 1952, 1955 and 1996) share the joint-longest run of appearances without winning or sharing the trophy. We are absolutely shambolic in it. 2 wins, 7 losses under Roman, 2 wins and 2 losses before that The 9 losses (1970, 1997, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018) are a joint record with Manure, but they have walked with the trophy 21 times (17 wins, 4 shared draws) versus our total of 4 wins, no shared draws (1955, 2000, 2005, 2009). We also are on the verge of no longer have a winning overall record in FA Cup finals.. 8 wins, 7 losses all-time. We started out 4 wins (2007, 2009, 2010, 2012), no losses under Roman But now have lost 3 (2017, 2020, 2021) of the last 4, with only a win v Manure in 2018 preventing a 4 straight FA Cup Final losing streak. Those last 2 finals versus Arse were stolen from us by absolute SHIT, corrupt PGMOL cunts. In terms of the League Cup we are oki (not great) in Finals, with only 2 losses under Roman versus 3 wins, BUT the first loss, 2008, was one of our true nightmare, when we lost to Spuds (Jonathan Woodgate in the 94th minute when Cech fucked up his puch and the ball bounced in, then Kalou hit the post on the last play of the game, grrr, a true gut punch for the ages) thus giving them their only trophy in the last 22 years, and only their 2nd of the EPL era (they won the League Cup in 1999 as well, also in injury time versus Leicester). 2019, of course, was the infamous 'Kepa no leave!' game under the Old Smoker, smdh.

Sevilla director claims Jules Koundé situation ‘a lot of noise but no real offer’ from Chelsea Doesn’t know what will happen https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/Chelsea-fc-transfer-rumours-news/2021/8/11/22620085/sevilla-director-claims-jules-kounde-situation-a-lot-of-noise-but-no-real-offer-from-Chelsea The Hot Days of Jules Koundé have become more like lukewarm days, at best. Chelsea’s supposed “acceleration” never quite arrived last week, and the situation appears to be pretty much the same as at the start: we’re interested in the 22-year-old center back, who’s probably interested in us as well, but Sevilla aren’t interested in anything less than their €70-80m asking price (without any makeweight). Sevilla director of football Monchi confirmed as much in an interview with Diario de Sevilla, adding that everyone on their side is cool and calm, and willing to maintain the status quo if Chelsea’s offer never even arrives (let alone the two teams finding an agreement). Koundé has yet to play a single minute of preseason football, though he was due to play against Aston Villa before Sevilla pulled out of that friendly last week due to “reasons related to COVID-19”. Sevilla’s season starts this weekend and presumably Koundé will be taking full part. Tuchel’s supposedly pushing for this signing, but we have less than three weeks to do so if we are to get it done at reasonable financial terms (i.e. not panicking into exercising yet another €80m buyout clause). Time to move!

Reporter delivers update on Chelsea FC link to Erling Haaland Fabrizio Romano explains how Chelsea FC were priced out of a move for Erling Haaland this summer https://www.thesportreview.com/2021/08/Chelsea-fc-news-haaland-romano-latest/ Chelsea FC ended up being priced out of a move to sign Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund this summer, according to Italian reporter Fabrizio Romano. The south west London side were strongly linked with a move to sign Haaland from Dortmund earlier on in the summer window before Romelu Lukaku emerged as Chelsea FC’s main target up front in recent days. Haaland, 21, is widely considered to be one of European football’s most promising young attacking talents but as things stand, it appears that he will be remaining at the German club beyond the summer. According to Italian journalist Romano, Chelsea FC had a strong interest in Haaland this summer but they switched their attentions elsewhere after it became clear that they would not be able to meet Dortmund’s asking price. Speaking on the Here We Go podcast, Romano said: “They [Chelsea FC] wanted Haaland as a priority. They’ve been inquiring but never made an official bid as Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea say. They knew making a bid for €110m-130m wasn’t smart because Borussia Dortmund were going to refuse this bid. “They had in plan to try again and find a solution but Borussia Dortmund were always the same like Sancho last summer. They were asking €175m because they always wanted to keep the player. “By the end of July, they had a feeling around Lukaku that there was a chance to sign him. Inter were saying it was impossible to sign Lukaku and they always said he was untouchable. He was acting like the king of Milan: ‘I love the city, I want to stay here’. It was the position of everyone involved in the situation. “By the end of July, Chelsea felt something was going to change because of Inter’s financial situation. They felt Inter were open to selling Lukaku. “They said, ‘let’s go on Lukaku’ because they can’t sign Haaland now and [they] can sign Lukaku with an interesting bid.” Chelsea FC, who finished fourth and won the Champions League last season, will kick off their new Premier League campaign with a home clash against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Trevoh Chalobah has ‘forced his way into our thinking’, admits Thomas Tuchel Here to stay, here to play? https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2021/8/12/22620960/trevoh-chalobah-has-forced-his-way-into-our-thinking-admits-thomas-tuchel

Chelsea vs Villarreal player ratings: UEFA Super Cup grades https://theprideoflondon.com/2021/08/12/Chelsea-vs-villarreal-player-ratings-uefa-super-cup-grades/ Chelsea’s march toward the meaningful matches continued with a thrilling victory over Villarreal via a penalty shootout in the UEFA Super Cup. Scratch that, apparently this was a meaningful match, it was only going to be considered a preseason fixture if the Blues were to lose. Thomas Tuchel’s men looked sloppier in this contest than they have in any of their recent preseason contests, so you’d be forgiven for thinking it was just another fitness test. Chelsea’s abysmal second half performance almost saw a European trophy evade it to begin the season and it would’ve marked a fourth straight loss in this particular competition. In the end, the Blues emerged victorious despite stumbling over their own feet. Kepa Arrizabalaga proved to be the hero as he saved two penalties in the shootout to save Chelsea from embarrassment after a lackadaisical showing. The Blues fans in Belfast are undoubtedly thrilled, as are all of the Chelsea faithful around the world. There were some concerning signs throughout the two-hour affair, but let’s save those for another day. For now, it’s time to celebrate some European silverware at the start of the season. Here is how each player performed in the Super Cup victory against Villarreal: Edouard Mendy (Goalkeeper): 8/10 Edouard Mendy was gargantuan in this game. He was practically standing on his head as Chelsea’s makeshift defense was beaten time after time in the second half. The goal conceded was faulted to the defensive errors along the back line and realistically there was little Mendy could have done. He did have one miscue when he slipped sending a goal kick forward, but quickly got back onto his feet and made a fingertip save to put the shot onto the post. If this is what preseason/early year Mendy looks like, we are sure in for a treat during his sophomore campaign. Trevoh Chalobah (Right centerback): 9/10 Trevoh Chalobah was rewarded for his efforts in preseason with his competitive debut for Chelsea. Despite the young defender’s likely loan in the coming days, he was handed a start in the Super Cup for his superb displays throughout the last few weeks against Arsenal and Tottenham. Suffice it to say, he was incredible. Chalobah outlasted Kurt Zouma at the back and played the entirety of the match, which goes to show just how much trust Tuchel has in the young Englishman. These last few appearances have indicated Chalobah has a brighter future at Stamford Bridge than some may have previously thought. He seldom put a foot wrong during a match with European silverware on the line. Oh, and did I mention it was his debut? It’s a fact worth repeating as he looked more comfortable on the big stage than a majority of others on the pitch—for both sides. Kurt Zouma (Centerback): 7/10 Zouma played well throughout his 65 minutes on the pitch. He was perhaps an unfair victim of the Blues’ sloppy play in the second half. The Frenchman seldom put a foot wrong during his time as the centermost defender in Tuchel’s back three, which may have the manager questioning his desire to swap Zouma for Sevilla star Jules Kounde. If there is a way for all of the centerbacks (plus Kounde) to co-exist, Chelsea needs to make it happen because selling Zouma would be a colossal mistake. On another note, fans found out on Wednesday night that the 6-foot-3 defender can in fact raise his leg above his head. If you know, you know. Antonio Rudiger (Left centerback): 7.5/10 Antonio Rudiger’s darting runs from the defensive line are back, as are his no-nonsense tackles. His mistake lead to Villarreal’s lone goal throughout the 120 minutes and saw the contest eventually get taken to penalties. The mistake wasn’t anything too concerning, just a sloppy passage of play by the German defender as he was overthinking when attempting to play from out the back. Rudiger’s rating would’ve been significantly higher without the error as he was superb against the Spanish side otherwise. snip

he seems to have his confidence back a lot more his huge issue is something that cannot be fixed his bloody too short arms

he is much better on the ball than Zouma and he is the same height 1.90m big lad, perfect height for a CB or DMF or a late game defensive full back I have zero issues if he makes the squad other than that cray cray hot mess of his hair, lolol

we can talk after we win the FWCC that gold shield world champions badge for a year or probably two is Billy Big Bollocks level stuffs

classy I always liked Villarreal, as they tended to torment fucking Barca and Real at times and Emery is a damn good manager his subs tonight were perfectly timed he just had fuckall cards to deal Arsenal were IDIOTS to not back him

Nicolò Barella is the closest thing out there to Kante on the planet atm IMHO. a free floating wrecking ball with relentless drive (will have to be next season) Aurélien Tchouaméni is a freak on nature talent, a crunching DMF with great technical skills those two in a double pivot is league winning level other options Frenkie de Jong (if Barca collapse and he wants out) Marcos Llorente Declan Rice Sergej Milinković-Savić Leon Goretzka (if he refuses to renew with Bayern) Fede Valverde Eduardo Camavinga Jude Bellingham Franck Kessié Youri Tielemans Florian Wirtz Rúben Neves Houssem Aouar Carlos Soler Kalvin Phillips Lorenzo Pellegrini Tomas Soucek Saúl Ñíguez Ismaël Bennacer Boubacar Kamara Manuel Locatelli Ryan Gravenberch Bruno Guimarães Leander Dendoncker Sandro Tonali Ilaix Moriba Weston McKennie Gerson Julian Weigl Corentin Tolisso Eljif Elmas Patrick de Paula Lucas Gourna-Douath

it is actually only 6 and half months January 26th to August 11th

and three of those were before Roman bought us, so people (Pool and Manure, you fucking CUNTS) can fuck off when they say we only have been good since 2004 33 topflight trophies and counting, 21 under Roman, 12 before and only 4 of those were Community Shield (2 before Roman, 2 during his ownership) we have lost that motherfucker 9 times (3 on pens, arf and in those 3 pen shootouts we only made a COMBINED 3 of the pens, including ZERO in 2007 versus Manure) 7 of the 9 losses were under Roman, smdh the 4 wins (including some revenge against Manure in 2009, when we won 4-1 on pens)

fuckkkkkkkkk

that knee only, no hands save was madness, lol

next stop on the trophy express

Tchouaméni YES

we have 8 now, they have 6 we had more BEFORE Roman bought us than Arsenal have had in their entire 135 year history up to the present lolol

half the team is not in prime season shape, so uts hard to just pun it on that but obviously we are miles better with the wee man on the pitch

wow, Mendy's English is AMAZINGLY better