Vesper

it is a huge issue with him for last year plus

horrid turnover by Tammy

arfffffffffffffffffffffffff Timo damn

need that 2nd

yessssssssssssssss

the Wizard

woooooooooooooot

no clue why we do not wear the away kit zero clash with NUFC strip

ughhhh I hate this kit

Watching the next stage of Billy Gilmour’s Chelsea comeback https://theathletic.com/2206639/2020/11/19/billy-gilmour-chelsea-development-efl-trophy/ As he jogged off the Memorial Stadium pitch in the 60th minute of the Chelsea development squad’s EFL Trophy group stage game with Bristol Rovers, Billy Gilmour looked satisfied that at least the “Plan B” for the final stage of his recovery from a significant knee injury had gone according to the script. “Plan A” was for Gilmour to be in Greece 24 hours earlier, captaining Scotland Under-21s with hope of leading them to qualification for next June’s European Under-21 Championship finals. Italian referee Michael Fabbri’s bizarre decision to show him a straight red card for dissent in the 71st minute of last Thursday’s match against Croatia in Edinburgh changed all that, suspending him for the rest of this international break. Gilmour had only been on the Tynecastle pitch for eight minutes when he was dismissed. He’d looked lively, rattling sharp passes left and right from the base of midfield as Scotland, 2-1 down against 10 men when he had been introduced, finally gained a solid foothold. They levelled the score barely a minute before Fabbri intervened to even up the sides, and played the rest of the match without their headline talent. A Gilmourless 1-0 loss in Athens then scuppered their hopes of qualification for the tournament — though he would surely not have been with them even if they had made it. Scotland’s presence in next summer’s delayed Euro 2020 finals, which begin less than a week after the under-21 version end, seems perfectly timed for his much-anticipated breakthrough into senior international football. In order for that to happen, regaining his rhythm and momentum in a Chelsea shirt has to be the priority. Amid the inevitable moments of rustiness at the Memorial Stadium, there were flashes of the talent that compelled Frank Lampard to promote Gilmour to the full squad in February. Operating in a double pivot with veteran outcast Danny Drinkwater in an expansive 4-2-3-1 system, the returning Scot shifted the ball sharply and sensibly — most often to his right, where the tricky running of Myles Peart-Harris was regularly supplemented by Tino Livramento’s surging overlaps. Less than a minute after Brandon Hanlan had capitalised on Chelsea’s sloppy transition defending to score a soft opener, Gilmour initiated the move that brought the visitors level: receiving the ball on the half-turn in the heart of midfield, jinking to his right and whipping a low pass around an opponent to the feet of Peart-Harris, who played a brilliant pass to slip Tino Anjorin through on goal. His finish was unerring. Bristol Rovers quickly retook the lead when some loose Chelsea passing in their own defensive third resulted in a shot that Karlo Ziger could only parry to the feet of Sam Nicholson. There is a ruthlessness to EFL Trophy games when it comes to unforced errors that is more often lacking in academy football, and therefore makes the competition a particularly useful learning tool for even the most talented youth prospects. The main value of Wednesday’s match to Gilmour, the most seasoned teenager on the pitch, was as a chance to sharpen up against motivated professionals in a competitive setting, without the pressure of Premier League or Champions League points being on the line. In the 18th minute, he showed he needed it, stepping in front of James Daly in search of a ball he could not win and conceding a free kick centimetres outside Chelsea’s penalty area. Ziger parried the resulting free kick and David Tutonda headed against the crossbar before offside was signalled. Daly got the better of Gilmour again later in the first half, robbing him of the ball just outside the Chelsea 18-yard box and forcing defender Levi Colwill to make an important tackle. But these moments were less an indictment of the Scot’s individual performance than indicative of the game as a whole: a disjointed jumble of good ideas and bad execution that combined to form an entertainingly chaotic, end-to-end cup tie. Gilmour and former Premier League winner and England international Drinkwater understandably displayed little chemistry and rarely functioned in tandem, but both took turns to play passes that put Chelsea on the front foot and panicked their League One hosts’ defence. In front of them, Anjorin was the outstanding player on the pitch and while the ball didn’t find him as often as he found space to receive it, he oozed class and creative menace whenever it did. He is convinced he is ready to contribute to first team right now, and there was nothing here to undermine that conviction. Throughout the first half, Gilmour’s own attacking radar came and went. On one occasion, he tried to slip Marcel Lewis in behind the Bristol Rovers defence, but Chelsea’s rapid winger never committed to the run. On another, he sprinted upfield in support of an incisive Lewis dribble and gave the ball back to him in a promising position for a cross, only to see his team-mate overhit the delivery. After the break, Chelsea’s two deep midfielders switched sides, with Gilmour moving to the left of the double pivot and Drinkwater to the right. The youngster got more opportunities to show the defensive instincts that led Lampard to trust him over Jorginho after the Premier League restart: smothering Nicholson’s run in the penalty area after he had crept beyond Dynel Simeu, then using his body to block Josh Hare’s bouncing header on the goalline with Ziger stranded. Chelsea still trailed 3-1 when Gilmour departed on the hour mark, to be replaced by Lewis Bate. Their eventual 4-3 defeat — sealed in agonising fashion by Hare’s last-minute header after a stirring fightback — is disappointing primarily because it means that most of this group will have to get their minutes in development football for the rest of this season, even if there are still trophies to win and proud club traditions of success to live up to in the FA Youth Cup and UEFA Youth League. Gilmour has grander goals in his future. Sources have told The Athletic he will be heavily involved when Chelsea’s development squad travel to the Etihad Campus to take on Manchester City in Premier League 2 on Sunday but, beyond that, Lampard is looking forward to having him back in first-team contention. Lampard can already count on N’Golo Kante, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic as options in the deep-lying No 6 role. But judging by the ironclad confidence the Chelsea head coach seems to have in Gilmour’s physical, technical and mental readiness, coupled with the almost fatherly pride he took in the 19-year-old’s breakthrough displays against Liverpool and Everton last season, don’t be surprised if he clears a path to regular playing time for him even where no clear route appears to exist. Gilmour is close to being fully fit again, and he has everything he needs to up-end Chelsea’s midfield pecking order sooner than you might think.

2020-21 English Premier League Newcastle United Chelsea http://www.sportnews.to/sports/2020/premier-league-newcastle-united-vs-chelsea-s1/ https://www.totalsportek.com/chelseafc/

lol, I push back on bollocks, there is not a goddamn snowflake thing about me, other than when it snows in Stockholm BTW that 'snowflake' meme has morphed into such a RW cunt-used term, smdh, as has 'triggered', and are now mostly used to try and deflect and minimise all sorts of REAL racist, misogynistic, homophobic, etc etc bullshit. Ergo I smell Trump and/or BoJo on your breath. magic 8-ball says

lol you came in all hard and heavy, trying to be big dick willy and got got pwned if you think that Messi doesn't know who Mount is you really are bright but not shining fucking ridiculous statement, you truly are embarrassing yourself at this point as for Rice, he clearly is the number one target for Lampard and the club, and it matters less than fuckall what you think about it I have posted for ages on DMF's out there Partey is off the board, and Zakaria has scared me off with his horrid knee injury the other 5 I rate are more roamer types who would be best served in a double pivot Camavinga (who can play CMF as well) or if he is Real Madrid or Barca-bound then go for the next best things, Boubacar Kamara (who can play CB as well) or Bruno Guimarães (who can play CMF as well) or Ismaël Bennacer (a hard pull, I doubt he leaves AC Milan) or finally the last of those 5 for me in terms of my preference, Boubakary Soumaré Boubacar Kamara and MAYBE Boubakary Soumaré are the closest to a trad DMF PS, Topps is not a source, they are a multinational corporation with a marketing deal with Messi, so take your divvy FUD positing and shove it baby, hard https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/2635499Z:LN https://uk.topps.com/index.php/uk-about-us The Topps Company Inc. was founded in America by the Shorin brothers in 1938 as a confectionery company. Topps invented the world-famous Bazooka bubble gum in 1947 and confectionery still forms an important part of the company's business with popular brands such as Bazooka, Ring Pop and Push Pop. In 1951 Topps created the first modern day sports trading card set and has continued to set the standard for quality and innovation to the present day. Starting in 1950s with entertainment cards for Elvis Presley and The Beatles, then Charlie's Angels, E.T. and Batman, Topps have published some of the top contemporary entertainment properties. Topps Europe was founded in 1989 as Merlin Publishing Ltd and quickly grew to become a major player in the European market for collectable stickers. The company's official Premier League football collection won rave reviews when it was launched in 1994 and became, annually, the world's best selling sticker collection. By 1995, the company's progress was such that it won the prestigious Price Waterhouse/Independent on Sunday award for the fastest growing privately held British company In 1995 The Topps Company Inc. acquired Merlin Publishing giving Topps a larger global presence, particularly in Europe, and a new format for bringing valuable properties to collectors and fans. Some of Topps’ most successful licenses in Europe have included UEFA Champions League, Premier League Football, Bundesliga, WWE, Pokémon, Doctor Who, Nat Geo and Star Wars. In 2006, Topps launched the Match Attax trading card game. With innovations in collecting, game-play, design and print technology, Match Attax has established itself as a powerhouse brand for a new generation of young football fans. It has become the world’s best-selling sports trading card game; being sold in every continent and applied to leading football competitions including the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and German Bundesliga. Topps Europe Limited continues to produce a wide and varied range of sports and entertainment collectables across Europe. Its range of products now includes stickers, albums, cards and binders, magazines, games, digital Apps, Print-on-Demand and collectable figurines. https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.the_topps_company_inc.ee7955d1ad34aba7e8df3fc803a7827d.html The Topps Company Inc 1 Whitehall St New York, NY, 10004-3612 United States www.topps.comExternal Website. Opens New Window Company Type: Corporation Subsidiary

How Lampard tweaked tactics to ease Chelsea’s set-pieces troubles https://theathletic.com/2205157/2020/11/18/corner-lampard-goals-chelsea/ There was a point last season, crystallised by a 3-2 loss to West Ham United at the London Stadium in July, when every corner kick that Chelsea conceded was cause for panic. David Moyes tailored his game plan that night to exploit the visitors’ glaring weaknesses when defending set pieces, matching 6ft 4in midfield giant Tomas Soucek against 5ft 10in Cesar Azpilicueta at the back post. The strategy proved highly effective, and briefly threw Frank Lampard’s bid to deliver a top-four finish into doubt. Moyes wasn’t alone in identifying this particular route to success against Chelsea, who ended last season as the worst team in the Premier League at defending corners. In terms of raw numbers, only relegated Norwich City conceded more goals (12) from corners, but they faced 266 across their 38 matches. Lampard’s team managed to let in 10 from 133 — exactly half that number. Premier League corner defending 2019-20 TEAM CORNERS FACED CORNER GOALS CONCEDED % Chelsea 133 10 7.50% Manchester United 186 9 4.80% Norwich 266 12 4.50% Brighton 204 9 4.40% Aston Villa 242 10 4.10% Manchester City 97 4 4.10% West Ham 219 9 4.10% Wolverhampton Wanderers 148 6 4.10% Arsenal 229 9 3.90% Watford 201 7 3.50% Everton 182 6 3.30% Newcastle United 252 8 3.20% Burnley 238 7 2.90% Leicester City 175 5 2.90% Crystal Palace 235 6 2.60% Southampton 223 5 2.20% Tottenham 207 4 1.90% Bournemouth 251 4 1.60% Liverpool 160 2 1.30% Sheffield United 218 2 0.90% Overall, 7.5 per cent — around one in every 13 — of the corners Chelsea conceded in the Premier League last season resulted in opposition goals. It was a rate of defensive failure that distinguished them from every other team in the division for all the wrong reasons; in fact, the only team in any of Europe’s top five leagues who conceded goals from a higher proportion of corners faced in 2019-20 was French side Amiens, who ended up relegated from Ligue 1. Europe's worst corner defences 2019-20 TEAM CORNERS FACED CORNER GOALS CONCEDED % Amiens 140 12 8.60% Chelsea 133 10 7.50% Borussia Dortmund 102 7 6.90% Werder Bremen 198 13 6.60% Bayern Munich 102 6 5.90% Cologne 200 11 5.50% Sassuolo 213 11 5.20% Monaco 137 7 5.10% Schalke 178 9 5.10% Manchester United 186 9 4.80% Finding a way to solve or at least mitigate Chelsea’s set-piece problems was an urgent priority for Lampard heading into this season, even within the context of the team’s broader defensive issues. After that West Ham game, he suggested the solution might be as simple as recruiting taller players, but he has also been proactive in switching up his system in his search for a configuration that works. For the first few months of 2019-20, Chelsea lined up with striker Tammy Abraham guarding the near post area in a similar manner to predecessor Didier Drogba, with four team-mates deployed in a line along their six-yard box and most of the rest of the side stationed in front of them, tasked with blocking or disrupting opposition runners. When that purely zonal system yielded too many free headers, Lampard switched to a mixed strategy, with Abraham and Kurt Zouma the only men given freedom to attack the incoming ball while virtually everyone else was given a man to mark. That change improved things for a while, but teams soon found weak spots to target; either nipping in front of Abraham at the near post, as Ajax midfielder Edson Alvarez did at the Amsterdam Arena, or drifting in behind Zouma to meet a floated delivery to the back post, the way Soucek did for West Ham. Roman Abramovich’s spectacular spending spree has built a very different Chelsea team in almost every aspect this season, and Lampard has in recent weeks seemed to settle on a defensive structure that balances the attacking firepower now at his disposal. He has also made changes to the way his team defend corners, and the early returns look reasonably positive. Premier League corner defending 2020-21 TEAM CORNERS FACED CORNER GOALS CONCEDED % ▼ Liverpool 14 2 14.30% Brighton 25 2 8.00% Manchester City 26 2 7.70% Leicester City 42 3 7.10% Sheffield United 47 3 6.40% Fulham 34 2 5.90% Burnley 42 2 4.80% Leeds United 42 2 4.80% Newcastle United 43 2 4.70% Chelsea 44 2 4.50% Everton 39 1 2.60% West Bromwich Albion 44 1 2.30% Southampton 43 1 2.30% Wolverhampton Wanderers 44 1 2.30% Crystal Palace 48 1 2.10% Tottenham 37 0 0.00% Arsenal 41 0 0.00% West Ham 42 0 0.00% Aston Villa 27 0 0.00% Manchester United 28 0 0.00% Lampard’s latest system appears to blend elements of the previous two, with four players — including centre-backs Zouma and Thiago Silva — stationed zonally in a line along the edge of the six-yard box and three or four colleagues in front of them marking and tussling with opposition runners. Behind them, new goalkeeper Edouard Mendy is encouraged to be proactive in venturing off his line to intercept high balls into the box in contrast to Kepa Arrizabalaga, who too often remained rooted to his line. Mendy seemed particularly keen to be assertive in this regard on his Chelsea debut, against Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup in September. Spurs got four corners in the game and of the three they decided to send directly into the penalty area, the Senegal international rose highest to connect with two and almost punched Zouma in the head in his eagerness to clear the other one. Mendy’s formidable 6ft 6in frame has impacted Chelsea’s set-piece defending beyond his willingness to use it to command his penalty area. It also acts as a deterrent, discouraging some opponents from swinging corners directly into the box and leading them to take more of their corners short. It is here that Lampard’s new system has been caught out a couple of times, most notably in the opening minutes at home to Sheffield United in the final game before the current international break. Here, Oliver Norwood takes a corner short to an unmarked George Baldock and the pair of them then take advantage of miscommunication between Hakim Ziyech and N’Golo Kante, combining slickly to work space for a cutback that leads to David McGoldrick’s ninth-minute opening goal. Manchester United’s best chance of the second half in a dour goalless draw against Chelsea at Old Trafford last month also came from a short corner: Bruno Fernandes giving the ball to Luke Shaw and getting it back, before whipping in a low cross that substitute Edinson Cavani pokes just wide after darting in front of Kai Havertz. Lampard can reduce the short-corner risk by moving one player closer to the taker and anyone who shows for a short pass, but he must also be wary of leaving too much space on the edge of Chelsea’s penalty area. West Bromwich Albion capitalised on this to score their third goal of a shocking first half for Lampard’s team in September, when Darnell Furlong was granted the freedom of The Hawthorns to redirect a floated delivery to Kyle Bartley at the back post. Marcos Alonso compounded the system failure by losing his man. Another scare came in the second half of the goalless draw with Sevilla in last month’s opening Champions League group game. In this example, Timo Werner is stationed at the edge of the penalty area, as he generally is when he is in the team, both to put himself in a position to provide defensive support and to offer the threat of a rapid counter-attack. But behind him, Sevilla midfielder Joan Jordan is unmarked in space. The ball is floated towards Jordan and Werner can’t get close enough to bother the midfielder, who tries to beat Mendy with a spectacular volley. Silva’s smart decision to retreat to the goalline once the corner has gone over his head, however, basically means Jordan can only score if he finds the top corner from nearly 20 yards. He gets impressively close to scoring what would have been one of the greatest goals in Champions League history, but instead his shot sails narrowly over the crossbar and loops onto the roof of the net. John Terry was a master at picking exactly the right moment to put himself on the goalline to make a crucial block, and Silva’s defensive talents are underpinned by similarly intelligent instincts. The bulk of the Brazilian’s value to Chelsea’s defending of corner kicks comes from the fact that, though he isn’t the overwhelming aerial force that Zouma is, he generally puts himself in the right positions and times his jumps well. He has directly cleared six of the 37 corners Chelsea have faced with him on the pitch across all competitions. It isn’t quite as simple as buying taller players, but Lampard’s system looks more convincing with many of his new personnel in the team. Mendy is a more confident, dominating presence than Kepa was, while Silva and Ben Chilwell are both proving to be adept in the air. Havertz is not a particularly physical player but he is tall at 6ft 2in and does not shy away from headers, meaning that Chelsea lose less defending corners when 5ft 11in Werner plays up front instead of 6ft 3in Abraham or 6ft 4in Olivier Giroud. Defending corners at an average level of efficiency constitutes a big improvement on last season for Chelsea, and Lampard deserves credit for the systemic tweaks he has made — as well, of course, as signing the right players. In the coming weeks and months, however, the biggest scope his team has for further progress in this area has nothing to do with individuals or scheme. If they want to concede fewer goals from corners, Chelsea simply need to concede fewer corners. Over the first eight matches of the new Premier League season, they have given up an average 5.5 per game; by way of contrast, in 2019-20 they averaged just 3.5 — second-fewest in the league. So far in 2020-21, they have conceded 30 more corners than Liverpool and 18 more than Manchester City, the two teams Lampard constantly holds up as the benchmark for his young group. Greater control of matches, and therefore of their opponents, is the key to Chelsea eliminating goals conceded from corners as a significant issue. Lampard and his players are working on that but, in the meantime, upgrading their corner defence from extraordinarily bad to average is a big step forward.

bloody shame Silva is not the same age (26) that VVD was wen he came to the dippers

just parking this here so we no longer have to hear false claims that Messi never comment favourably on Mount one would think that this was not needed, but based off a new interaction just now, it apparently is Topps are the biggest sports trading card firm in the world Topps has a European division, which is based in Milton Keynes, that deals with football they have a promo deal with Messi 'He can be one of the best': Messi's quotes about Mount resurface after recent criticism https://tribuna.com/en/chelsea/news/2020-11-18-he-can-be-one-of-the-best-lionel-messi-praises-mounts-potential/ Mount has recently received harsh criticism from a lot of Chelsea and England fans. Messi named Mason Mount as one of the 15 prodigies who he believes can be the future of the game, as reported by The Mirror. Messi was the primary contributor for a Topps ‘Lionel Messi-Designed Set’ card pack. Messi said about Mount, "Having watched him play, he has the potential to be one of the best." Christian Pulisic and Kai Havertz were the other two Chelsea stars selected by Messi for this list.

Friday November 20 2020 Football Nerd Why Aston Villa's fine start to the season has been built on stability In a Premier League season bound to be affected by coronavirus-forced absences and multiple injuries, picking the same team on a regular basis could prove a significant advantage. So long as those players do run out of gas, of course. One team reaping the benefits of consistent selection is high-flying Aston Villa, who have made just three starting XI changes so far this season - the fewest of any team in the Premier League. The continuity Dean Smith's team are enjoying is in stark contrast to last season, when they struggled to integrate 12 summer signings who cost more than £120 million combined. Premier League clubs are faced with a fascinating dilemma. Do they rotate heavily in an effort to be fresher than their opponents or gamble on continuity in the hope a familiar team will prove more cohesive than those subjected to chopping and changing? There is a delicate balance to be struck, and I assess whether Aston Villa's stability can be maintained here.

they did not, as I just proved that poster is full of shit

lol sod off you are as transparent as a window, noob you non stop troll and slag off the team since I have seen your rot posted here and are 100% full of shit on your claim in this case You obviously do very little research before you shoot your gob off Ever hear of Topps? they are the biggest sports trading card firm in the world Topps has a European division, which is based in Milton Keynes, that deals with football they have a promo deal with Messi and don't EVER flatter yourself that you are going to 'tell me' anything, you aren't my fucking father, nor my mum

it is madness so much hate going on whenever Mount is even tangentially involved maybe they need to take it up with Messi Lionel Messi claims Chelsea star Mason Mount ‘has potential to be one of best’ as he names 15 youngsters to watch https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/11292802/messi-topps-mount-sancho-foden/ Lionel Messi's comments give insight on what he thinks about Mason Mount criticism Mount has come in for some stick as the debate has raged over whether he or Jack Grealish should start for England - but now Barcelona star Messi has given his verdict https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/lionel-messi-mason-mount-criticism-23027844

Olivier Giroud's agent blasts Frank Lampard for 'unfair' treatment of Chelsea striker https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/chelsea-giroud-lampard-abraham-update-23038522

pack of cunts