Vesper

Chelsea scouts have watched Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey https://www.thechelseachronicle.com/transfer-news/report-chelsea-scouts-have-watched-atletico-madrid-midfielder-thomas-partey/ Chelsea may still look to strengthen in the midfield before the transfer window shuts, with a new report suggesting the club are weighing up the decision to make a fresh move for that area of the pitch. According to the Telegraph, the Blues are considering whether or not they should swoop for a defensive midfielder that can sit in front of the back four. It is claimed that West Ham’s Declan Rice has been a priority target for manager Frank Lampard, but the London rivals are reluctant to lose the 21-year-old. The report does also name Atletico Madrid’s Thomas Partey and explained that Chelsea scouts have been watching him in recent months. His contract at Spanish club Atletico currently includes a £45million release clause and that’s proven to be too expensive for Arsenal, who are interested in the 27-year-old’s signature. The Telegraph’s report explains that Chelsea’s priority as it stands is to offload some more players from the squad, but doesn’t rule out the possibility of trying to strengthen in the midfield. Partey, 27, is a no-nonsense defensive midfielder that looks like he would be a perfect fit for the style of Premier League football and he’s been a brilliant performer for Atletico in recent years. The Ghana international is an ever-present in the centre of the park where he can break up play and is a real powerhouse, as well as being neat in possession and aware of his surroundings. Chelsea’s transfer window has been exceptional so far and so many top-class players have arrived through the doors at Stamford Bridge, but Partey for £45million would be the icing on the cake.

shit happens

https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/championship-play-off-final-prize-money-premier-league-2020-565622 “To be part of that [the Premier League broadcast deal] compared to the EFL deal which is worth around about £7m per year for a non-parachute club is critical,” football finance expert and lecturer at the University of Liverpool Kieran Maguire tells i. “We’re looking at about £100m for a club that is going to be bottom three or four in terms of televised matches.” On top of broadcast revenue, promoted clubs are also guaranteed a minimum of two years worth of parachute payments which equates to around £70m, hence the “£170m match” tag for the play-off final. Promotion would be even more lucrative for Brentford as they have not been in receipt of parachute payments having never been in the Premier League. Fulham banked a parachute payment of around £41m for 2019-20 after succumbing to relegation and are entitled to a second year should they fail to beat Brentford. For promoted clubs who survive their first campaign in the Premier League like Sheffield United and Aston Villa this term, there is a further safety net in place. snip and the stadium renovation doesn't count against FFP they have splashed cash when promoted before https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/fc-fulham/alletransfers/verein/931

Mou wants King

If Fulham had a half a brain there are two PSV players who would go a long way to perhaps keeping them from being relegated

Merson's on the lash again, chapter 235 Chelsea boss Frank Lampard slammed for making 'dangerous' transfer mistake with one star Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has been criticised for sending Ross Barkley out on loan to Aston Villa. https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1343115/Chelsea-transfer-news-Frank-Lampard-Ross-Barkley-Aston-Villa-Paul-Merson-Premier-League Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has been criticised for sending Ross Barkley out on loan to Aston Villa, with Paul Merson declaring that the Blues boss has offloaded "a superstar".

and they only have two healthy wingers (and only 3 on the team) they are very low on depth overall (not just at winger) especially if Alaba leaves and they sign no more players they have only 3 experienced CB's then, plus an 18yo , and one of the 3 is 32yo fading Boateng, plus another of the 3 is Lucas, who is the only other LB on the team as well their only other option is their starting RB, Pavard (who then forces Kimmich to RB, which fucks them at DMF, as shown below) they have no backups at both fullbacks unless they also pull starters from other positions, they have only a very inexperienced (zero topflight footie) Adrian Fein to back up Kimmich at DMF, so if Kimmich has to play RB, it is Fein or nothing and only a teen (Zirkzee) to backup Lewa at CF PLUS, with Thiago gone and Michaël Cuisance probably leaving, they have only ONE healthy CMF, Tolisso, as Leon Goretzka is injured atm that is MADNESS that they are that thin atm Bayern Munich’s Leroy Sane is out with a knee injury After a positive start for Bayern Munich, Leroy Sane will be sidelined for a couple of weeks after he was injured in a match against Hoffenheim. https://www.bavarianfootballworks.com/2020/9/29/21493379/bayern-munich-news-injury-update-leroy-sane-injured-knee-hoffenheim-bundesliga-comeback-hansi-flick

lol, it might help if they spelt his name right

Confirmed: Ulreich before HSV change Sven Ulreich was number two at FC Bayern for five years. Now he wants to play regularly again and is apparently moving to the second division. https://www.fussballtransfers.com/a7030326646939543464-ulreich-vor-hsv-wechsel he would be a great back-up, have said this for ages

Bayern Munich and Chelsea have reached an agreement regarding tricky winger Chelsea have agreed a loan deal with Bayern Munich for Callum Hudson-Odoi. https://www.football.london/chelsea-fc/news/blues-reach-agreement-over-hudson-19042495 The German giants have long been admirers of Hudson-Odoi and tried to sign him in January 2019 before he agreed a new contract with Chelsea. He has since struggled to earn regular starts at Stamford Bridge, and now Sky Germany (via Fussball Transfers ) are reporting that the two clubs have a ‘fundamental agreement’ over a loan move. Included in the deal is a purchase commitment from Bayern for next summer. The German club have been keen to add depth out wide after choosing not to purchase Ivan Perisic following a loan spell at the club.

St Étienne ‘strongly considering’ Malang Sarr on long-term loan from Chelsea Back to France? https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/chelsea-fc-transfer-rumours-news/2020/10/3/21499505/st-etienne-strongly-considering-malang-sarr-on-long-term-loan-from-chelsea-report After reports that Italian side Sampdoria may be interested in signing Malang Sarr on loan, another club have joined the fray. According to Téléfoot Chaine (via GFFN), Ligue 1 club St Étienne, also known by their much cooler, abbreviated name, ASSE are also considering a loan move. ASSE have sold their star centre back, Wesley Fofana to Leicester City for a club record price of €35m, breaking the previous record of €30m, which they got in return for William Saliba from Arsenal last season. After selling their two most talented center backs in consecutive summers, ASSE, who sold Kurt Zouma to us back in 2013, are a bit short at the position: Timothée Kolodziejczak and Harold Moukoudi as their only senior options, which could indeed make for a good situation for Sarr. In addition, at ASSE, Sarr would play under Claude Puel, the same manager under whom he made his breakthrough at OGC Nice back in 2016. The report further claims that St Étienne are even willing to take Sarr for two full seasons should Chelsea accept the proposition. While ASSE do not represent a step forward for Sarr in terms of level of competition, they do sound like a good option overall, should he choose to return to France.

Paris Saint Germain vs Angers SCO – Highlights https://yfl.viditnow.com/player/html/VSOtznagg2TKk?popup=yes&autoplay=1

I recall when he was the next big thing out of France, then he had a horrid knee injury and it fucked his career Mar 11, 2017 Nice's Cyprien ruled out for season with ACL injury With scans confirming an ACL injury for Wylan Cyprien, the midfielder will miss the rest of the Ligue 1 season for title-challengers Nice. https://www.fotmob.com/news/1d6qupc4783bd1j8qz8l1o0eum/nice's-cyprien-ruled-out-for-season-with-acl-injury SCOUT REPORT Scout Report: Wylan Cyprien | Nice’s Forward-Thinking Midfielder http://outsideoftheboot.com/2017/06/11/scout-report-wylan-cyprien-nices-forward-thinking-midfielder/

I hope they do not rush the lad, let him fully heal, no need to start a Kante cycle

that's too deep of a grab for me to have even scouted African regional clubs are beyond my scope lolol that said, look at the last names on AS Dakar Sacré Coeur (not that last names means they are related or even remotely decent players) El Hadji Gueye Mbaye Ndiaye Lamine Sarr Moussa Sane Lamine Ba Pape Dieng Abdoulaye Diouf Malick Kandji Aly Thiam

would love to ship out RLC too and bring Aouar in somehow dump Jorginho and grab Thomas Partey Arsenal and all the goonas would EXPLODE and we would be a next summer grab of Upamecano and Zakaria away from title ready (as long as Mendy is fine)

still....

Will Abramovich give Lampard time to build a squad like Klopp and Guardiola? https://theathletic.com/2104345/2020/10/02/lampard-abramovich-sack-marina-chelsea/ Not good enough. Tactically naive. Time to go. These were just some of the sentiments expressed by supporters about Chelsea coach Frank Lampard following their Carabao Cup exit to Tottenham. The level of vitriol from sections of the fanbase was surprising. Nobody would suggest it has been a good opening to the season, but the progress and promise of what happened in Lampard’s 2019-20 debut campaign seems to have already been forgotten or discounted. There is only one opinion which truly counts at Stamford Bridge and that is obviously what the hierarchy, most notably owner Roman Abramovich, thinks. History shows patience is not a virtue in the blue corner of west London when things are going awry. But Chelsea are not only just five games into 2020-21, but Lampard’s plans for the squad are also in their infancy too. One transfer window, even if over £200 million has been spent in bringing seven new players through the door, isn’t going to fix the malaise that was allowed to develop long before the former Chelsea midfielder returned as head coach. Between 2015-19, Chelsea spent more than £650 million on 29 players. Having three different managers — Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri — come and go in that time before Lampard took over meant the squad was always going to be subject to a lot of change. The vast majority of those 29 have now left, either permanently or on loan. Of the 11 remaining, only N’Golo Kante, Christian Pulisic and Mateo Kovacic can feel confident they are part of Lampard’s long-term thinking. Players such as Jorginho, Emerson, Marcos Alonso and Kepa Arrizabalaga have had game time, but Chelsea are prepared to listen to offers for all four before the window shuts on Monday. Veterans Willy Caballero and Olivier Giroud have featured too, however their ages mean this is surely their last season at the club. In other words, before this summer’s exciting splurge on Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, Chelsea haven’t recruited very well. They failed to capitalise on winning the title in 2015 and 2017 by strengthening with great quality. It made the transfer ban of last year an even bigger blow, especially for Lampard as he couldn’t make the kind of changes any new appointment in the dugout would want. There is an element of luck when it comes to recruitment. No one can ever be 100 per cent sure that a signing will work out. There was understandable optimism, for example, about Alvaro Morata’s arrival in 2017. He had shown ability at Juventus and Real Madrid, yet simply failed to cope with the pressure of being Chelsea’s front man, and was not helped by a niggling back injury. But a lot of cash has been frittered away on players such as Davide Zappacosta, Baba Rahman (a knee injury didn’t help him either), Michy Batshuayi and Emerson. They’re obviously not terrible footballers, but hardly the kind you need to compete for the Premier League or Champions League every year. Tiemoue Bakayoko and Danny Drinkwater didn’t exactly set the pulses racing after being bought for a combined £75 million in 2017. They have just 29 Premier League starts for Chelsea between them and it’s over two years since either appeared in the first team of a club now back in the unenviable position of frantically trying to offload them ahead of Monday night’s transfer deadline. A manager will always have to take responsibility for bad results and inevitably pay the price for when things go wrong. Lampard knows this. But Chelsea were never going to be a quick fix, no matter who was in the dugout, because of mistakes made in the past. Chelsea’s decline as a major force in the game is borne out by their failure to get past the Champions League’s last 16 since their run to the semi-finals in the 2013-14 season. Reaching the last four of that competition used to be commonplace — they got that far on seven occasions between 2004-2014 and went on to make two finals, including lifting the trophy in 2012. When Lampard held talks with Werner and Havertz about joining Chelsea, he talked to them about a three-year project to get the side back to challenging for the biggest trophies on a regular basis, a view he’s bound to have also shared with the board. It is encouraging he has been backed to such an extent and notable that the top brass granted his request for a new goalkeeper. But with that comes much greater expectations. One of the accusations being labelled at Lampard from fans and pundits is that there haven’t been many signs of improvement so far. It is hardly a surprise considering the new arrivals have just 12 starts between them in all competitions, with Ziyech not featuring at all yet because of a knee problem while another important squad member in Pulisic has also not played a game because of a hamstring injury. On top of that, this isn’t “Lampard’s squad” yet. There will be players the Englishman inherited that he doesn’t see adapting to his way of thinking or right attitude, let alone his style of play. The Athletic has been informed the atmosphere is a bit tense at the moment because there are a few individuals who are angling for a move and/or frustrated about not being involved enough. An indication of this came in the aftermath of Saturday’s draw with West Bromwich Albion and Marcos Alonso’s lack of discipline. It is going to take more than one window for Lampard to address all of this and an inevitable question the powers-that-be at Chelsea will face should negative results continue is how long are they prepared to wait? But they only have to look at some of their Premier League rivals to see the rewards that can come if you’re patient. Take Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, for example. They are a formidable force now, but a lot of work was involved to get here. A glance at the league positions alone show that after Klopp arrived in October 2015, the team finished eighth, then fourth in each of the following two years before mounting a very strong title bid in 2018-19 (finished one point behind Manchester City) and winning the Champions League final. Arguably the ultimate goal, being crowned champions for the first time since 1990, came this summer after a dominant year at the top of the table. It wasn’t just about incomings, like the arrivals of Sadio Mane in 2016, Mohamed Salah a year later and Virgil van Dijk and Alisson in 2018. During Klopp’s first pre-season tour, defender Mamadou Sakho was sent home from the USA for missing treatment sessions, being late for a team meal and also for the flight over there. The France international never played for the club again, and it sent a message to the group that the coach wouldn’t tolerate any indiscipline. Like Chelsea are now, Liverpool were struggling defensively at that time. Centre-half Martin Skrtel and full-back Jose Enrique went through the Anfield exit door too. Two strikers inherited from Brendan Rodgers who didn’t meet Klopp’s requirements, Christian Benteke and Mario Balotelli, were also moved on. As has been well documented, the decision to sell Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona in January 2018, meant they could make the key acquisitions of Van Dijk and Alisson that year. But it wasn’t just about the money the Brazilian forward brought in to fund these transfers — Klopp is very passionate about unity, so it never sat well with him trying to make someone stay who didn’t want to be there. Pep Guardiola experienced teething problems on joining Manchester City in 2016, as the rather underwhelming third-place finish in his debut season demonstrated. He came under a lot of criticism, but then won back-to-back Premier League titles in his second and third years. The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach showed his biggest ruthlessness in the goalkeeping department, something Lampard can relate to having just brought in Edouard Mendy to effectively start ahead of Kepa Arrizabalaga, who the club had made the most expensive player ever at the position just two years ago. Guardiola wanted a ball-playing goalkeeper at Manchester City from the outset. He had a meeting with Joe Hart but the long-time England No 1 didn’t really show any interest in changing his game, so his career there was over. He spent two seasons out on loan until his contract expired. Claudio Bravo arrived from Barcelona to take over, but after struggling in English football, Ederson was bought the next summer to replace the replacement. Having City’s riches obviously helped in the market and other important players in Kyle Walker, Gabriel Jesus, Aymeric Laporte, Bernardo Silva, Leroy Sane and John Stones all arrived within the first 18 months under Guardiola. There were issues between Guardiola and key midfielder Yaya Toure from a very early stage. Toure wasn’t ignored completely over Guardiola’s first two seasons, as his total of 48 appearances shows, but he was gradually phased out and played little part in the 2017-18 title triumph before leaving for Olympiakos. Mauricio Pochettino has no silverware to show for the five years he spent managing Tottenham, however no one can dispute he took the club to another level. His first campaign saw Spurs finish fifth, then they had two good attempts at becoming champions only to end up third behind Leicester in 2016 and runners-up to Chelsea a year later. There was also the very notable achievement of getting to last year’s Champions League final. The Argentinian showed a ruthless streak too. Aaron Lennon and Emmanuel Adebayor weren’t given squad numbers for the start of the 2015-16 season and soon left for Everton and Crystal Palace respectively. There were other members of what has been referred to as the “bomb squad” who Pochettino got rid of 12 months after joining from Southampton — Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Younes Kaboul and Etienne Capoue. They were joined by Andros Townsend, who paid the price for having an on-pitch row with club fitness coach Nathan Gardiner and was sold to Newcastle. Pochettino made it clear that you were expendable unless a player was 100 per cent committed to his methods. These departures made room for Harry Kane, Eric Dier, Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb to become regulars — although the latter also ended up as a fringe figure after a falling-out with Pochettino, got loaned out for 2016-17 then was sold that summer. It may be stating the obvious to highlight managers making changes, because everyone does. But Lampard will surely believe he shouldn’t be judged until he has had an opportunity to make the Chelsea squad more closely mirror what he wants. The problem is, many of those who have been sacked from his position by Abramovich felt exactly the same way.

Friday October 2 2020 Football Nerd Why Edouard Mendy faces a challenge adapting his distribution at Chelsea By Daniel Zeqiri Chelsea have addressed their most glaring problem from last season by buying Edouard Mendy to replace Kepa Arrizabalaga in goal. Kepa's statistical performance last season was frankly horrendous, and despite their defensive problems Chelsea would have had Champions League football wrapped up well before the final weekend with a competent goalkeeper. The early signs are good for Mendy, who was extremely solid for a competitive Rennes team in Ligue 1 last season. However, Mendy's tendency in France was to kick long from goal kicks, and he will need to adapt and be more measured at Chelsea. Playing out from the back has been a topical subject following Liverpool vs Arsenal on Monday night. I analyse Mendy's distribution here and whether it should be a concern for Frank Lampard.

QUOTE OF THE DAY “It’s a magical night, for us it would have been a shame not to get past this round” – Stefano Pioli, coach of aforementioned fallen giants Milan, sums up the lowered expectations after one of the more spectacular penalty shootouts The Fiver has had the pleasure of witnessing, opponents Rio Ave missing three sudden-death spot-kicks that would have secured victory before losing 9-8. All after Milan equalised with one of the last kicks of extra-time. If the link’s working, do try and watch.

I fucking love it, lol all so predictable

£50m sounds fair or a swap, CHO + cash for Lucas Hernandez which allows us to sell BOTH the dregs Alonso and Emerson, plus strengthens us greatly at 2 positions. (CB and LB) or really go creative and package Rudiger and CHO, for Lucas plus cash

took the words and exact player out of my mouth

it will have to be a straight buy, as Roman put the kibosh on any swapping/selling of Kante, and no a chance in hell (I would think) that Simeone would want Jorginho. If we do not buy Partey this window, then next summer I am even more all in for Zakaria, as Partey will be 28, and not a truly long term option at that point, and will be 30 at the point where we would sell him if he is a flop, so truly dead money

that was later, I am talking about summer 2018 it has been well documented for ages not going to waste my time going back over this same as the Willian shit back then