Vesper

and off he goes, lolol

worst game for Richarlison in ages he looks so frustrated

Pickford is HORRID btw every game I watch him he is dogshit

yep, this shit is done from what I see Everton is deffo one of those 'on the beach already' clubs

here is my issue with the pen yes, Digne did tap his foot (barely) BUT it had zero effect and Podence kept playing with ZERO effect to him, he took multiple little steps THEN he delay dives it is like he (after the fact) saw he was closed off now, so then tosses himself on the ground there was no direct continuity to it at all

I know, arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrf ffs really weak pen too

the MF has been so injured this season worst hit of all the positions no wonder we have continuity issues we need to sell Kante as his injury path is only going to get worse he is like Hazard in a way years of brutal play are catching up he just is not built like a little tank like Makélélé was

sarriball Lamps style is an ugly thing

I fully expect him to come good down the road he is not one I am hitting the panic button with at all his play atm is not great but he at least has massive potential his crosses are a true weapon and he surely will get better defensively, at least I think so atm

lol you surely must be having a laugh sis! nothing like a winter trip to Uzbekistan to lift the soul

Lampard is too smart for his own good at times he overthinks things too often that said, he is also intelligent enough to realise this I so hope when he gets it right, he is a genius, but he is bollocksing it up too much atm it is a rookie steep learning curve

Mount is FAR more valuable to our team than Jorginho overall I think Mount has been so solid this year he provides a tonne of intangibles other than pens Jorginho has, at least 60-70% of the time, been a negative he is so shit defensively plus slows the fuck out of our play most times and I don't want to hear about how many tackles he has, he is weak and gets caught out so often we so so need to sell him

Zouma is shit too NONE are good enough unless Rudiger somehow pulls his head out of his arse and goes back to his previous levels before he was injured Zouma is doom as a Chels starting CB he is horrific on the ball and makes far too many errors mentally and prepositionally only thing he is good at really is aerial duels, and the very occasional last ditch save and even then, we still are shite at defending free kicks and corners all six of our CB's (unless Rudiger goes right again) are shit I know people hate blanket statements but of the 13 defenders (4 fullbacks, 6 CB's (Guehi and Ampadu included) 3 GK's) the only one who is remotely acceptable atm is Azpi at RB (he is a fucking DISASTER at LB, Lampard you dolt!!!) and is hardly going to get better there and all thsoe near 5000 minute seasons are catching up with him fucking raging here overall Lamapard is a piss poor defensive coach and it is probably going to get him sacked next season unless he brings in someone and FAST combine that with a bunch of shit defenders, well, you get the worst Chels defence in 25 years goal-wise

come on Everton!

Premier League | Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Everton http://www.sportnews.to/sports/2020/premier-league-wolverhampton-wanderers-vs-everton-s1/ https://www.totalsportek.com/wolverhampton/

Saturday July 11 2020 Football Nerd Why Gabriel Jesus can succeed Sergio Aguero as Manchester City's leading man By Daniel Zeqiri Manchester City have produced some of the best football ever seen on these shores since Pep Guardiola's arrival, but with key players ageing and a 23-point deficit to new champions Liverpool, the time has come to rebuild a magnificent side. One of those players who City must draw up a succession plan for is Sergio Aguero, one of the great goalscorers of the Premier League era and a club legend. With his wonderful array of finishes and ability to generate power from little or no back-lift, Aguero borders on irreplaceable. While there will be calls for City to spend big money on a replacement, Gabriel Jesus is waiting in the wings and ready to step up in status. The Brazilian has been accused of lacking ruthlessness in front of goal and is not the cleanest striker of the ball, but he does fit Guardiola's specifications as a sharp, pressing forward. Although he is yet to score more than 13 league goals in a single season, his underlying statistics are truly outstanding. Here is why I think he will score a stack of goals in the seasons to come.

Why there are so few US stars in England (and why Brexit might change that) https://theathletic.com/1911562/2020/07/07/pulisic-us-premier-league-brexit-spector-friedel/ When Christian Pulisic ran on to the Old Trafford pitch to make his Chelsea debut last August, he became the 45th American to feature in the Premier League – a trend started by John Harkes, who became the first after joining Sheffield Wednesday almost 30 years earlier. That averages out at around 1.6 US players appearing in the top flight per season but in real terms, the numbers have peaked and troughed in fairly dramatic fashion. Go back to the 2006-07 Premier League season, for example, and there were 13 Americans (only three of which were goalkeepers) at nine clubs. In more recent seasons that number has declined significantly. Just three Americans have played in the top flight this season – DeAndre Yedlin at Newcastle United, Pulisic at Chelsea and Aston Villa youngster Indiana Vassilev. A further four US players – Zack Steffen, Erik Palmer-Brown, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Matt Miazga – are on the books of Premier League sides Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, but are currently out on loan. At first glance, the dearth seems simple to explain. In 2017, the US men’s national team suffered a shock defeat to the world’s 99th ranked team, Trinidad & Tobago, ending their chances of qualifying for the following year’s World Cup. For the first time in more than three decades, the US would be forced to watch the game’s top tournament unfold from afar. That failure came the year after the US Under-23 side failed to qualify for consecutive Olympics for the first time in a half-century. Clearly, the nation is in the midst of a talent gap. “I think that’s probably fair,” says former USMNT defender Jonathan Spector, who is head of international recruitment for MLS side Atlanta United. “I think there’s still a lot of talented players in the national team but it’s a younger pool of players than we’ve had previously. When I was coming through, there was more of a blend of experience and youth. Now there’s very much a focus on those youth players and I think some of that older generation is on their way out.” Spector, who spent the first 14 years of his professional career in England, playing for Manchester United, Charlton, West Ham United and Birmingham City from 2003-17, warns that it will take time for those young talents to develop and amass the kind of first-team experience that will help the USMNT get back to competing with the world’s best. “But looking at the big picture, you’re going to have a lot of young players who have quite a bit of international experience so when they do reach their full potential they will be more experienced than most on the international stage.” There are many who believe that pointing to the recent failures of the national team is a far too simplistic way to explain the lack of US players in the Premier League. “It really is more complicated than that,” says Lyle Yorks, global executive chairman of YM&U Group and a FIFA agent of 20 years. “Without dissecting it or if you’re not working in this industry day-to-day, it would be easy to say the Premier League continues to go from strength to strength and that maybe the US isn’t producing the same level of talent they used to. “But look at that next generation of young players coming through – look at Pulisic and Tyler Adams (of Germany’s RB Leipzig). These players are every bit as good as the ones they are following; the Clint Dempseys and the Claudio Reynas, so I think it’s more in-depth than that.” Yorks’ mention of Pulisic and Adams raises an interesting point; while there might only be three Americans getting minutes in the English top flight this season, there were 11 doing so in the Bundesliga during the 2019-20 season before it ended just over a week ago (The Athletic explored some of the reasons behind that number here). Of those 11, six are aged 21 or younger. That turn towards youth is something Yorks says has been one of the biggest shifts over the two decades he’s been working as an agent, moving over 35 players from the US into the UK in that time. “The game has just gotten younger,” he says. “To give you an example, now there’s a lot of 16- to 20-year-olds who are signing for pro leagues in Europe, whereas when I moved Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra and DaMarcus Beasley across, they had already played two or three years in college and then played three or four years in MLS. They were further into their development.” But with young British players including Jadon Sancho, Ethan Ampadu, Ademola Lookman and Jonjoe Kenny all taking their talents to Germany over the last few years in search of more playing time, the chances of a teenage American talent breaking into the Premier League straight from the US are slim-to-none. Aside from the competition for places, the biggest obstacle they face comes in the form of red tape. Work permit regulations mean that non-EU players must meet certain criteria before they are allowed to sign for an English club, including having played for their country in a specified number of competitive senior internationals in the two years preceding application. That number is worked out on a sliding scale, depending on the nation’s FIFA world ranking. For those teams ranked between one and 10, a player must have played in at least 30 per cent of those games, while based on the USMNT current ranking of 22 that number would rise to 60 per cent. These regulations were in place 14 years ago when there were so many more Americans in the Premier League but according to UK-based agent Gary Mellor, who helped to bring the likes of Geoff Cameron and Brek Shea over to England, they are applied far more stringently now than they once were. Mellor was involved in the attempted transfer of Juan Agudelo from New England Revolution to Stoke City in 2013. In the August, it was announced the then-20-year-old striker had signed a pre-contract agreement with the Premier League side and would join them in January 2014 following the expiration of his MLS contract. But the move never transpired after he was denied a work permit. “The club went to the appeals panel twice and were refused,” says Mellor. “There is an exception for ‘special talent’ but that’s at the panel’s sole discretion. Even so, when you have Mark Hughes who was the manager of Stoke City at the time, and had three ninth-place finishes in the Premier League telling the panel that Juan Agudelo’s a special talent – the same Mark Hughes, who’s played for Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester United, Everton – and they turn him down, that seemed a bit odd to me. “If you look at the record of Agudelo compared to Tim Ream or Geoff Cameron when they came in, there was no reason why he shouldn’t have got in at that time. He was playing for the USMNT, he’d played for them from young and it was a good fee.” Mellor says that in the short period of time between completing the deals that brought Ream, Cameron and Shea to England from the US in 2012 and trying to bring Agudelo over, it had become increasingly tough to secure a work permit. “I think some of that came from the FA, wanting to make sure that more English players got an opportunity to play, which I’m not averse to, I just think clubs should be trusted to manage their recruitment process to a degree.” The idea that Premier League clubs are missing out on the chance to sign ‘special talents’ from the US at a stage in their career when their potential would far outweigh their price, is one supported by Wasserman’s executive vice president Richard Motzkin, who counts 21-year-old Schalke midfielder Weston McKennie and Werder Bremen striker Josh Sargent, 20, among his clients. “The truth is a guy like McKennie could absolutely play in the Premier League,” says Motzkin, “but when he was signing at Schalke as an 18-year-old he couldn’t have signed for a Premier League side because he didn’t have an EU passport. “Over the last few years we have had interest in some of our players who either were high-performing MLS players or young talented players but unfortunately when we did the analysis, Premier League clubs came back and said, ‘We really rate this player and think he could do very well but we’re not going to be able to get a work permit’. To me, that whole system seems a bit silly. If a club believes in a player and wants to sign him then it makes more sense to me to have a restriction on the number of international players a club can sign and then let the clubs choose to sign who they want to sign.” Motzkin agrees with Mellor’s belief that the work permit rules for entry to the UK have been applied “more stringently” in recent years. He represents former Manchester United and Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard and was also responsible for bringing another goalkeeper, Brad Guzan, to England in 2008. During that period he explains that the high levels of respect for American keepers made their pathway into England a smoother one – ”they were given a lot of credibility in terms of ‘wiggle room’.” In the case of outfield players such as Claudio Reyna, Brian McBride and Landon Donovan, Motzkin says that even if they didn’t qualify automatically, “more often than not they were able to get their work permits on appeal”. He points to two other factors as possible reasons why the number of Americans in the Premier League has shrunk in recent years. One being the fact that Germany is somewhere they can go without any restrictions and where they have seen young players given opportunities to play at the highest level. The other is the continued growth and improvement in the level of MLS, which is providing a more attractive opportunity for young American players than it perhaps was a decade or so ago. The way MLS is structured can put a further barrier in place when it comes to US players transferring to other leagues, though. Spector highlights the case of New York Red Bulls defender Aaron Long, who was linked with moves to West Ham and Southampton in 2019. That summer West Ham put forward a $3 million transfer offer for Long, but he was one international cap short of the number required and work permit issues would have meant going to an appeals panel if the deal progressed. In January, West Ham went back in. They tabled a $500,000 (£382,000) offer to take the 2018 MLS defender of the year on loan until the end of the MLS transfer window around May 1, with a $4.5 million (£3.4 million) option to buy him outright. This time, the bid was rejected by New York Red Bulls. “It’s difficult for clubs within MLS to try and replace a player like Aaron with the way the league is structured,” says Spector, “with the salary cap and the fact that when you have to go out and buy a player, whatever that transfer fee is counts against your salary cap. So some of those moves might not be quite as straightforward as they seem. I think a lot of players would want to play in the Premier League but sometimes for the clubs and the league it just doesn’t make sense to allow them to go if they are still under contract.” Those with an interest in seeing the number of US players in the English top-flight rise again harbour hopes Brexit will bring changes that could work in their favour. “It should be a level playing field,” says Mellor, suggesting that from January 1, 2021 the same rules should apply whether English clubs are trying to sign players from the US or European nations such as Spain, France and Germany. He points to the example of Spain, where clubs are allowed four non-EU players and it’s up to the club to identify who those four are. “We’re hopeful work permit regulations will change,” says Mellor. “We don’t yet know what that looks like but we’re already getting so many calls from Premier League and Championship clubs about players in North America. We’ve always had those calls but clubs have always been nervous about the work permit regulations. Everyone is waiting to see what they look like moving forwards.” There are various layers to the decline in numbers of American players in the Premier League. For some, the USA’s ‘talent gap’ is the flimsiest of them all, with players including Bundesliga-based Adams, Sargent and Giovanni Reyna proving that there is plenty of quality coming through the ranks. “We didn’t make one World Cup,” says Motzkin, “which was of course extremely disappointing and surprising but it happens to every country – England hasn’t made every World Cup either, right? “I am a firm believer that there are many Americans who could not only play in the Premier League but who, in the right situation, could do extremely well – not only the national team players and the ones who are performing at a high level in MLS but also the players who happen to be in the Bundesliga now. When you talk about the quality of US players, arguably Pulisic has been the best player for Chelsea since the restart. So I don’t think it’s a quality issue, I think it’s an opportunity issue.” If Brexit does leave the door slightly more ajar for such players, we could see the numbers head back towards 2006-07 levels, giving English clubs the chance to sign a Pulisic-type before his value climbs high enough to secure him a place in the record books as America’s most expensive star.

Why anybody could win it – the lowdown on the Champions League hopefuls https://theathletic.com/1921186/2020/07/11/champions-league-draw-bayern-barcelona-man-city-juventus-real-madrid-psg-chelsea/ (Contributors: Raphael Honigstein, James Horncastle, Dermot Corrigan, Sam Lee, Liam Twomey, Carl Anka and Kieran Devlin) The Champions League is back in less than a month and after yesterday’s draw, complete with Pedro Pinto, dodgy internet connections and plenty of mask-wearing men, we now know who may face who in the eight-team extravaganza in Lisbon. Four last-16 ties still need to be decided, and those games will be played over the weekend of August 7-8. Manchester City hold a slender 2-1 lead over Real Madrid before their tie at the Etihad, with the winner of that playing Juventus or Lyon. The Italian champions have a 1-0 deficit to overturn in Turin if they wish to advance. Barcelona and Napoli are locked at 1-1 ahead of their second leg at the Nou Camp, with the victors facing Bayern Munich (or Chelsea, if they somehow overturn that 3-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge in the first leg). Quarter-finals (Single legs, August 12-15) Manchester City/Real Madrid v Juventus/Lyon RB Leipzig v Atletico Madrid Barcelona/Napoli v Bayern Munich/Chelsea Atalanta v Paris Saint-Germain Semi-finals (Single legs, August 18-19) Winner of QF1 v Winner of QF3 Winner of QF2 v Winner of QF4 Final (August 23) Our experts have put their heads together to give you the lowdown on the 12 sides left in it, and have even made cases — some more speculative than others — for each lifting the trophy… Why Bayern Munich could win it The draw hasn’t been kind to Bayern. Following the second leg of their last-16 tie against Chelsea in Munich (the Bundesliga champions are 3-0 up), they will face Barcelona or Napoli and then most likely Real Madrid, Manchester City or Juventus in any semi-final. Some of the treble speculation in the German media will be dampened, and that’s perhaps not the worst thing. The confidence with which some had predicted Bayern completing the treble next month had been bordering on over-exuberance. That is not to say there aren’t plenty of reasons to back Hansi Flick’s team for the club’s sixth European Cup. Their form has been outstanding in 2020: 21 wins and one solitary draw in all competitions, including 11 straight wins since the restart in May. Bayern have no significant injuries, a well-oiled starting XI and their superior pressing/possession system tends to overwhelm sides. A nice break after the conclusion of domestic duties should also see them travel to Lisbon with refreshed legs and minds. In Robert Lewandowski (51 club goals this season), they also have a potential Ballon d’Or winner up front, a back-to-his-best Thomas Muller behind him and Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman on the wings. Then there’s Joshua Kimmich in midfield, Thiago and/or Leon Goretzka, Alphonso Davies on the left, David Alaba at the heart of the defence, Manuel Neuer in goal… It’s a line-up that smacks of poise, power and precision. What they don’t have, by contrast, is a lot of depth. Youngsters such as 19-year-old Dutch striker Joshua Zirkzee have occupied most of the places on the substitutes’ bench in lieu of more established alternatives. Bayern are relatively ill-equipped to deal with injuries or suspensions, and must therefore hope that they can come through the remaining rounds unscathed. Perhaps playing one-legged ties will work in their favour in that respect. Raphael Honigstein Why Real Madrid could win it Had their Champions League last-16 second leg at Manchester City gone ahead as scheduled in March, Real Madrid would have had a tiny chance of progressing. The mood was not good in the camp following City’s 2-1 win in the Spanish capital, and new injuries to Thibaut Courtois and Marcelo, added to long-term absentees Eden Hazard and Marco Asensio, led many around the Bernabeu to accept their competition was probably over. Things will look very different when Madrid travel to Manchester for the rearranged game now taking place on August 7. Zinedine Zidane’s side have shown an impressive, machine-like concentration and resolve in grinding out eight consecutive victories to brush aside Barcelona in the La Liga title race. All their key injured players should be back too, although Sergio Ramos is still suspended after being sent off in the first leg, while key older players such as Luka Modric and Karim Benzema have benefited from the unexpected rest. Should Madrid make it to Portugal for the final stages, they will be very well set. The accelerated format could again suit the solid, efficient tactics Zidane has been using, with his team conceding just two goals in eight games since the break, and also finding a way to win tight games even when not sparkling. The draw has not been especially kind, but a potential path of Juventus, Bayern/Barcelona and Atletico Madrid will help keep everyone focused and motivated. Almost all the team’s key players know exactly what it takes to win the biggest competitions. Zidane’s record as coach is three trophies from two-and-a-half Champions League seasons, so he knows how to get the job done, even if nobody has yet been able to figure out exactly how he does it. Madrid’s biggest problem is that scoreline against City, but if they can find a way past Pep Guardiola’s side they will take some stopping. Dermot Corrigan Why Manchester City could win it Well, ‘if you want to be the best you have to beat the best’ and all that. City should have no problems with motivation, either, as they consider the prospect of having to beat Real Madrid, Juventus, Bayern Munich/Barcelona and then Paris Saint-Germain if they are to win their first Champions League this season. But hold on a moment, it’s not necessarily quite so difficult. Juventus trail Lyon heading into the second (admittedly home) leg of their last 16 tie, and although the French side haven’t seen league action since March, they are playing friendlies and do have the French League Cup final against PSG on July 31. And it may be Napoli in the semi-final if they take advantage of Barcelona’s issues, and then get past Bayern — anything is possible over 90 minutes. It may not even be PSG in the final, and as good as Atalanta are, City battered them 5-1 in the group stage. Atletico Madrid would be tough but… Oh, who knows what’s going to happen? City know what they need to do if they are to have any chance of winning the Champions League and it’s something they’ve known for a long time. Pep Guardiola spelt out their two big issues this week: sometimes they need “45 chances” to score a goal, and sometimes they “give goals away”. So in the four games that stand between City and the first European Cup in club history, they need to avoid the issues that crept up in around a third of their Premier League games this season. But… they have still blitzed most teams, retained the Carabao Cup, are in the FA Cup semi-finals and, despite those issues, they beat Real Madrid in their own backyard and they are still very much in the Champions League. There’s no point wondering about who comes next, City just need to focus on themselves. And they are pretty good, you know. Sam Lee Why Juventus could win it As Sami Khedira said at the start of the season, you don’t sign Cristiano Ronaldo and Matthijs de Ligt to go out in the last 16 or the quarter-finals. Particularly when you’re drawn against Lyon, who have a 1-0 lead from the first leg but should still be rusty by the time the Champions League returns despite planned friendlies against Celtic, Rangers and Belgium’s Gent, and the French Cup final with PSG in three weeks. If Juventus are to end their 24-year wait to lift the trophy again, they will have to do it the hard way with Real Madrid or Manchester City awaiting them in the quarter-finals and then Bayern, Barcelona or Napoli in the semis. Here’s the thing though. De Ligt is backing up why Juventus invested so heavily in him last summer. Giorgio Chiellini should be fit again after an injury-wrecked season to lend his experience when it truly matters. Rodrigo Bentancur is emerging as one of the most complete midfielders in world football. Paulo Dybala is perhaps the most in-form player in Europe right now and then the final eight is in Portugal, where Ronaldo won the Decima with Real Madrid in 2014 and the inaugural Nations League for the host nation last summer. Ronaldo has two years left on his contract at the end of this season but at 35 his window for a sixth Champions League success is closing. He showed up in the knockout phase last year with a hat-trick to overturn a 2-0 first leg deficit against Atletico Madrid and goals in both legs of the quarter-final against Ajax, but they weren’t enough to take Juventus through. Coach Maurizio Sarri was brought in last summer on the back of winning the Europa League with Chelsea in the hope that his brand of football, best exemplified at Napoli, is more conducive to glory in continental competition. But the team has so far blacked out in a handful of important games and remains a work in progress. There is still a month for it to click though, and if it does Juventus will be a force to be reckoned with. James Horncastle Why Paris Saint-Germain could win it A lopsided bracket means PSG will face Atalanta in the quarter-finals and possibly one of RB Leipzig and Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals before facing the lone survivor from the slobberknocker on the other side of the draw for a chance at “Old Big Ears”. It’s perhaps the best route to the trophy. Ligue 1 play ended in early March, but the change from two-legged ties to single-elimination games nudge PSG to the front of the queue. Kylian Mbappe, Angel Di Maria, Mauro Icardi and Edinson Cavani are among a bevvy of attacking players who can go supernova at any point and flip a game on its head. PSG don’t need to be perfect in defence, or diligent in their pressing or passing, they just need one of their superstars to catch fire for short spells at a time. Plus there’s Neymar, who despite recent meme-ified Champions League campaigns is still responsible for its best individual performance. Neymar’s seven-and-a-half minutes in the close of La Remontada saw him provide a goal, assist and a penalty, three goals that changed the footballing landscape forever. That astonishing Barcelona comeback was against PSG, of course. Now he’ll be looking to deliver the catharsis onlookers have been expecting since he joined them three years ago. In this new sprint-finish, Wild West Champions League race, PSG have more gunslingers with quick brains, quick feet and quick triggers than anyone. And in Thiago Silva, a defender responsible for one of the best Glastonbury performances of 2019. Paris Saint-Germain may not be the best team in Europe, but no one else is better equipped to be better than you at the end of any 90-minute segment. Carl Anka Why Atletico Madrid could win it The case for Atletico being this year’s Champions League winners is quite simple — they outplayed holders Liverpool over two legs when they were struggling for form before the COVID-19 break, so Diego Simeone’s team should fear nobody now that they are playing much better. Those two legs against Liverpool showed this new-look Atletico has many of the qualities of previous Simeone sides. Sure, they rode their luck at times against Jurgen Klopp’s men, but they also showed the determination, aggression and ability to roll with the punches any team is going to need during these quick-fire knockout stages in Portugal. Atletico have returned to action looking much sharper than they did pre-lockdown. The transformation of Marcos Llorente — the hero of Anfield — from back-up holding midfielder to an effective second striker has been fantastic. Others such as Jose Maria Gimenez, Koke, Saul, Yannick Carrasco and Diego Costa have found better form, and inconsistent Portuguese starlet Joao Felix may get a boost from playing back on home soil. The draw has also been pretty kind — with most of the remaining big-hitters in the other half. RB Leipzig and Atalanta are slight unknown quantities at this level, but Simeone’s men will fancy their chances of rolling them over. Also, there could just be something fateful for Atletico about returning to Lisbon – where Sergio Ramos broke their hearts in the 93rd minute of the 2014 Champions League final — and finally winning the club’s first-ever European Cup. Dermot Corrigan Why Barcelona could win it Barcelona’s best hopes of winning this Champions League come down to two words — ‘Lionel’ and ‘Messi’. Their myriad on and off the pitch problems have been clear during the last month’s return in La Liga — a hapless president under pressure, an inexperienced coach unable to impose his ideas or personality, senior players whose best days are behind them, newer signings who have yet to settle properly. Nobody watching any of their post-lockdown games — except maybe last weekend’s win at Villarreal — would give them much chance at all of winning Europe’s elite competition. Or even of getting past Napoli in their rescheduled last 16, second leg at the Nou Camp on August 8 despite the slight advantage of their 1-1 draw in Italy. But… and it’s a big but… Barca still have the world’s best player, who is hugely hungry to lift the Champions League trophy for the first time since 2015. Messi knows too long has passed since he won club football’s biggest competition, and also that at 33 he does not have too many chances left to add to his four winner’s medals. The quick-fire, single-game format might suit Messi in that a short, sharp, focused burst of brilliance could be enough. He and his team will also not have to worry about their recent embarrassing tendency to flop in away legs. The draw has not been kind with all of Madrid, plus Bayern Munich and Manchester City in their half — however it means Barcelona will not lack for motivation whoever they face along the way to the final. Fear of potential embarrassment against such historic and powerful opponents could push the team’s other veterans, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez, into one final big effort too. Messi is also mad as hell at the moment and needs to take out his frustration in some way. The best possible relief would be a thrilling, condensed spell where he makes up for his team’s flaws with enough moments of individual genius to turn tight games their way. It’s maybe not the most likely outcome for the competition, but if anyone can do it, Messi can. Dermot Corrigan Why RB Leipzig could win it If only they still had Timo Werner… While Leipzig take on Europe’s most defensively stubborn team in Atletico Madrid, the 24-year-old, scorer of 34 club goals this season, will be undergoing pre-season training with Chelsea or watching on in amazement as his new employers embark on an unlikely run in Lisbon after overcoming Bayern Munich in spectacular fashion in the last 16. There’s no point pretending Werner won’t be missed in the Portuguese capital. Coach Julian Nagelsmann has plenty of wide players and attacking midfielders such as Dani Olmo, Christopher Nkunku, Ademola Lookman and Emil Forsberg at his disposal but Danish targetman Yussuf Poulsen is the only real centre-forward left in the squad — unless Leipzig manage to buy Patrik Schick from Roma or to extend his loan. But they shouldn’t be written off too quickly. Their composed performances against Tottenham Hotspur in the last 16 showed they can win through dominance in midfield, where any combination of Kevin Kampl, Tyler Adams, Konrad Laimer and Marcel Sabitzer provides a highly competitive blend of muscle and brain. (Plus, there’s the highly-rated Amadou Haidara on the bench.) Werner was largely anonymous in the 3-0 second-leg win over Jose Mourinho’s sorry Spurs, truth be told, but that didn’t stop the Bundesliga’s third-best team on the night. Further encouragement can be gleaned from the return to full fitness of central defender Ibrahima Konate, who had missed most of the campaign. Captain Willi Orban, another high-profile absentee, might make it back in time from November knee surgery as well. Leipzig’s best chance of causing the biggest surprise in European football since Red Star Belgrade won this competition in 1991 comes courtesy of the format and draw, however. The one-off ties can naturally help the outsiders, and Leipzig have shown against Bayern (two draws) and Borussia Dortmund (one draw, one defeat) this season that they can hold their own against top opposition. It was their results against lesser sides that had let them down after the winter break. Landing on the weaker side of the draw is another huge boon. A few days ago, The Athletic asked Adams whether Leipzig could become 2020’s version of Croatia at the last World Cup, making it all the way to the final. The American agreed, in principle, but it remains to be seen whether the parallels come to pass. Atletico Madrid are significantly stronger than Russia, and Paris Saint-Germain, their most likely semi-final opponents, have a bit more firepower than England did. Nevertheless, Leipzig have an outsiders’ chance. Raphael Honigstein Why Atalanta could win it Atalanta have scored more than 100 goals this season and they love playing one v one at the back. So the prospect of them meeting Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals with Rafael Toloi and Jose Palomino squaring up to Kylian Mbappe and Neymar and daring them to dribble past them should have you reaching for the popcorn. The men from Bergamo are never out of games. You can’t keep them down. They launch comeback after comeback after comeback which should have PSG scared; petrified even. If there’s one team you wouldn’t back to hold onto a lead in Europe, it’s the Parisians. This will also be the game in which France Football calls an end to the voting for the Ballon d’Or, cuts it in half and awards a piece each to Papu Gomez and Josip Ilicic. Qatar will pull out of funding PSG and buy Atalanta instead. All jokes aside, this is emotionally significant for Atalanta and their city, which suffered immensely through the pandemic. Coach Gian Piero Gasperini and his players want to give the people a lift. They are playing for them and have restarted the season as they mean to go on, with nine straight wins in Serie A. Looking at the side of the draw they find themselves on, you’d back Atalanta to break through Atletico Madrid and give RB Leipzig a real fight in a battle between Europe’s two model clubs. They have nothing to lose. Atalanta will be back in the Champions League next season but must look at this as a once in a lifetime opportunity. Three games are all that separate them from a triumph that would eclipse even what Porto achieved in 2004. James Horncastle Why Napoli could win it Barcelona don’t win the Champions League anymore. They’ve become like Argentina, too dysfunctional even for Messi’s talent to shine through and deliver the trophies that truly matter. Napoli know this and go to the Nou Camp for their last-16 decider with a reputation for raising their game against the elite. Even before coach Rino Gattuso arrived in December and galvanised a fractured dressing room, they were capable of taking four points from six off holders Liverpool in the group stage and keep knocking off Juventus, Lazio and Inter Milan domestically. This Napoli team are different to the Sarri and Carlo Ancelotti vintages that went before. They can still play wonderful combination football. But they also dig deep. They play in the image of their coach — with a knife between their teeth, as the old Italian phrase goes. Napoli gave up very few chances to Barcelona in the first leg and came together as a cup team under Gattuso, lifting the Coppa Italia last month to turn a tumultuous season into a success. Gattuso knows what spirit and temperament his players will need at the Nou Camp, having learned how to judge the mood on nights like this during his playing days with AC Milan. He will make it relatable and it’s the humanity behind every aspect of the way Gattuso works that marks him out as such a promising young coach. Barcelona’s formidable home record in Europe remains intact but you just know Dries Mertens, the greatest Napoli player since Diego Maradona, is going to try to upstage Messi, the true heir to Maradona. The Belgian has six goals in seven Champions League games this season, and isn’t done yet. Barcelona will also be without midfielders Sergio Busquets and Arturo Vidal. James Horncastle Why Lyon could win it Lyon won’t win this Champions League. Sure, they qualified from a difficult group at the expense of Zenit St Petersburg and Benfica. They hold a 1-0 lead over Juventus after the first leg of their last 16 tie in France. Naturally, they have some seriously gifted players in Memphis Depay, Bruno Guimaraes, Joachim Andersen and Houssem Aouar. Inevitably, their latest in a long line of academy prodigies, 16-year-old Rayan Cherki, will presumably win a procession of Champions Leagues in his career. But they will have played one competitive game in five months before that second leg against Juventus after France called a locked-down Ligue 1 at the end of April with Lyon seventh in the table; and therefore outside of the European places for 2020-21. Meanwhile, new manager Rudi Garcia, appointed in October after Sylvinho was sacked for picking up three points from seven games, has struggled to galvanise this talented group after their appalling start to the season. There was acrimony from the off as Garcia had implied Lyon were favoured by referees when he was Marseille’s manager in 2018, and following his appointment Lyon fans started a petition (signed by thousands) to terminate his contract immediately. Lyon are in a bit of a crisis off the field, and the weakest side left in the toughest half of the draw. So no, Lyon can’t win the Champions League. But do you know who’s really good at football? Moussa Dembele. The former Celtic striker has been Lyon’s top scorer for both seasons he has played there, and is averaging a goal every 150 minutes in 2019-20. A deceptively technical targetman, he’s noticeably improved his link-up play and variety of finishing since leaving Glasgow and, only turning 24 this Sunday, is markedly improving with each subsequent season. You know what? Lyon will win this Champions League, with Dembele scoring six goals in four games, resulting in him being sold for nine figures, and Celtic pocketing a healthy sell-on fee. There you go. Something that will definitely happen. Kieran Devlin Why Chelsea could win it Renowned essayist and scholar Nassim Nicholas Taleb called it a black swan: a high-profile, hugely significant event considered so unlikely that nothing in the past can point to it being possible, and therefore no one can see it coming. In Munich, that definition conjures only one memory: the 2012 Champions League final. Chelsea had no right to break Bayern’s hearts on penalties that night, or even to survive long enough for Didier Drogba’s towering 88th-minute header to send the match into extra time, where Petr Cech kept out Arjen Robben’s penalty to take the game to that shootout. But in football, as in life, sometimes all logic and likelihood are suspended. In those moments, something else rushes in to fill the void: chaos, or destiny, depending on your point of view. Eight years on, Chelsea will return to the Allianz Arena on August 8 needing arguably an even greater miracle. Trailing by three away goals to a resurgent and supremely confident Bayern, Frank Lampard needs to find a way to set up his team to score, score and score some more, while somehow burying their worst defensive impulses against one of Europe’s most dangerous attacking sides. But would it really be more shocking than 2012, when Chelsea faced a Bayern team that would win a treble the following season without their captain John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, Ramires and Raul Meireles through suspension, and with their starting centre-backs David Luiz and Gary Cahill having approximately 40 per cent of their combined hamstrings in full working order? Lampard’s team cannot count on a core of determined veterans this time, nor the greatest big-game match-winner in club history. But it does have youth, talent and, in Christian Pulisic, an attacker on a superstar trajectory. Bayern might be the best team in Europe on current form, but they are not invincible. If Chelsea do somehow pull off the unthinkable again in Bavaria, a semi-final against Barcelona or Napoli — two more clubs they saw off on their run through that knockout phase eight years ago — followed by a potential final against whoever emerges from the weaker half of this draw, will hold few fears. Liam Twomey

Analysing Chelsea’s centre-back pairings (and a potential move for Declan Rice) https://theathletic.com/1916817/2020/07/11/upson-tomori-rudiger-zouma-christensen-chelsea-rice-lampard/?source=weeklyemail Matthew Upson has seen enough of Chelsea’s centre-backs to determine what their chances of winning the Premier League would be should the same quartet be used again next season. He tells The Athletic: “If they want to compete for the title, it is an area they have to get sorted out. “There is a lot of talk about who they will sign next. They seem to be heavily weighted in terms of attacking players, but centre-back should be the next port of call for them. I feel strengthening that area of the pitch is going to put Chelsea in the best position to compete with Manchester City and Liverpool next season. That would have the biggest impact on their team getting better.” You may be questioning the worth of Upson’s opinion. He has no connection to the club, so why read any further? But you would be wrong to dismiss his input so quickly. This is a man who started 16 games at the back during Arsenal’s Premier League and FA Cup double triumph in 2001-02 and won 21 England caps, two of which were as a starter at the 2010 World Cup finals and another a goal-scoring 90 minutes in an away win over Germany in 2008. Subsequent moves to Birmingham City, West Ham United, Stoke City and Leicester City meant he played the majority of his career — 290 of 377 league appearances — in the Premier League. Perhaps more significantly from a Chelsea fans’ point of view, his tenure for club and country meant he got to line up both alongside and against the club’s greatest ever defender, John Terry. In other words, he knows what it takes to play the role. He is also a very intelligent analyst of the game, one of the best out there. Terry left Stamford Bridge when his contract ran out in summer 2017 and it is no coincidence that they haven’t challenged for, let alone won, the Premier League since. “It is stating the obvious, but Chelsea haven’t replaced John,” Upson says. “It is not an easy thing to do. He had a sixth sense as a centre-back. He could smell the danger and positioned himself in areas he needed to be. His anticipation was first class. He had the bravery and the physicality to attack the ball. That’s what made him a formidable player. Chelsea don’t have a player like that now. Is it easy to find someone similar? No. Players as good as him are not on a conveyor belt. It’s a challenge.” Ask the Chelsea fanbase who their favourite centre-back is out of Antonio Rudiger, Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christensen and Fikayo Tomori, and you will hear many different answers. Even more so when it comes to opinions on which two make the best pairing. Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard has tried all the options during the campaign, which is a sign he doesn’t know the answer himself. Just when a chosen duo seems to be doing well, a bad performance comes along and someone else is plugged in and gets a turn. We have had a good example of that since the season resumed against Aston Villa three weeks ago. That day and for the next two league fixtures, including the notable 2-1 victory over Manchester City, Rudiger was selected next to Christensen. But following a terrible display in the surprise 3-2 loss at West Ham, Zouma replaced Rudiger. Zouma now appears to be back in favour, having been in the first XI for two straight matches having previously started only one league game since New Year’s Day. The Athletic has covered Chelsea’s defensive woes in great detail. Just recently, we explained how Lampard’s side have the second-worst record among the top five leagues in Europe at conceding goals from corners. Chelsea are still waiting to keep consecutive clean sheets in the top division this season and their goals conceded (46) is the joint-worst among the top-nine sides. Upson has seen the quartet in action in his role as a pundit for radio and television. He has noticed deficiencies with each one and has great sympathy with the predicament former England team-mate Lampard finds himself in. “Lampard doesn’t look particularly happy with any of the partnerships,” he says. “Rudiger has experience. Out of all of them, he has played at the top level the longest. He has played in huge games more frequently. He has good physicality and you would regard him as the most dominant member of the back four. But he sometimes goes into areas where he can’t recover. Rudiger is good at going tight, like Terry, but he is not great at running back the other way. “Christensen and Zouma have been in this phase of trying to break into the team for about five seasons now, but haven’t established themselves. There is just a question mark whether they will fulfil that potential or just end up being a squad player. Can they grab the shirt and be on the team sheet every week? “I’ve noticed with Christensen that he has very indifferent performances. His consistency is a problem. I’ve seen him have really strong games where he doesn’t put a foot wrong and then I see him look on edge, make a mistake and get dominated. The problem is you don’t know which one you’re going to get. I wouldn’t say he looks particularly vulnerable physically, but it’s a mentality thing. I don’t know what game you’re going to get from him and that would make it hard for his partner. It makes it hard for Lampard too, to keep picking him. “I’m not sure what’s happened to Tomori in 2020. He has barely played (starting just once in the league this calendar year, and not played at all since February). But it’s probably not been an easy back four for a young player to integrate into. That hasn’t gone in his favour. It hasn’t been established. “As a young player, especially at centre-back, it helps to come into a team that is well established and balanced. And you kind of filter in. At Chelsea, with the goalkeeper issues as well, it has all been a little uncertain, unknown. That makes it tougher.” So, what does make a good centre-back partnership? During his time at Arsenal, Upson benefitted from having the towering presence of fellow England international Sol Campbell next to him. At West Ham, there was an effective understanding with Anton Ferdinand, brother of Manchester United star Rio. Yet the 41-year-old believes it is not as simple as that. “All four of the current options have the qualities to make a centre-back,” he continues. “Every defender has a weakness, it’s about pairing off with players who hide that weakness the best, or cope with it the best. “The trouble is, when you have a back four that isn’t functioning well, you can pick apart every position. Some of the best centre-backs reacted off each other’s games. It is very much an area that works as a unit. I know it sounds like a cliche, but it’s true. Every player has their inadequacies and their vulnerabilities. But good teams set themselves up to be able to counteract that, or have players around to compensate for the others. “Terry wasn’t the quickest but he had Ricardo Carvalho next to him, who was the best coverer you’ve ever seen. It allowed Terry to be his dominant self, to be physical, to go tight, to step in front to win the ball. He knew if he was beaten, Carvalho was there behind, sweeping up. It’s those type of partnerships and understandings that strengthen everyone’s game individually, and (gives you) the belief to go and do what your best at. “You can also look at the other factors — like Chelsea’s current keeper and the left-back situation. At left-back, you have Marcos Alonso, who is a remarkable player at times; the amount of important goals he’s scored is remarkable. But defensively, he is not the answer. As a centre-back, I think he would be difficult to play with. He tends to be very high up the pitch and isn’t blessed with the pace you need to get back. “(Goalkeeper) Kepa Arrizabalaga is not particularly dominant in the area. Look at his stature and the way he is. He is very agile and athletic and has made some good saves. He is still a young keeper, but in terms of patrolling the area, that is something he can improve on. Everyone is looking at him. The fee paid (£71.6 million, a world record at the position) was astronomical, and he isn’t the finished article by any means.” As far as who Chelsea are targeting to improve themselves at centre-back, The Athletic has gone into detail about their desire to buy Declan Rice from West Ham. The notion has caused quite a stir among many Chelsea fans. They are bemused why they’d want Rice for such a key role when he has been mostly employed as a defensive midfielder by West Ham and for England, and is only 6ft 1in tall. Upson, who is not suggesting his former club should cash in by any means, can see Rice thriving if he moved to Chelsea. He was invited by then-West Ham academy manager Terry Westley to act as a mentor to Rice during the 2016-17 season. Sources have explained to The Athletic how Rice is viewed as a similar character to Terry, who played midfield in West Ham’s youth set-up before he joined Chelsea at the age of 14 and was then converted into a defender. Upson understands Chelsea’s thinking process. He says: “I know Declan very well, it is why he has done so well and established himself at West Ham so quickly. He has that personality you need. The characteristics we talk about regarding John Terry — his instincts, communication, leadership — that is Declan Rice. He ticks the boxes. “I worked a lot with Declan when I was with West Ham Under-23s. He is a fantastic communicator, he is very mature for his age, has leadership mentality and personality. “The issue is: he hasn’t played a lot at centre-back in the Premier League. He has shown how good a defensive midfielder he is, he is one of the best around at the moment and potentially will be the best. “But I worked with him when he was playing as a centre-back. He is capable of playing in that position. It is difficult to know what impact he’d make at Chelsea because it depends on so many things — who does he play with? Would the team be strong enough when he first goes back to playing at centre-half as a young player still? He is just 21. But he is an absolutely brilliant lad.” Even if Chelsea succeed in landing Rice — and it won’t be easy to convince West Ham to sell — he obviously won’t be able to help them until next season gets underway. Before then, there is an awful lot at stake. News of Manchester City’s appeal against their Champions League ban is expected next week, which will determine whether fifth or fourth place will be enough to qualify for Europe’s premier club competition. As it stands, a top-four finish would be a race to the finish for two out of Chelsea, Manchester United and Leicester. Aside from Champions League qualification, United, who have beaten them in all three meetings so far this season, are their opponents in an FA Cup semi-final a week on Sunday. Of the current quartet, who would Upson pick to start in the middle of Chelsea’s defence? “If everyone is fit and up to speed, I would go with Rudiger and Tomori,” he says. “They can match up quite well. If Rudiger goes in tight, Tomori has the speed to cover. “The one thing I’d say Tomori has over all the others is mobility and pace. That is always a strong asset to have as a centre-back, and certainly good for players such as Rudiger, who wants to get close to people. To have someone close next to you, reading your game and covering those runs in behind, it’s like a safety net. It’s great knowing if you get done or mistime the challenge or whatever, that Tomori is there. Just like Carvalho was with Terry. That is a great likeness. “But if Chelsea get their defence straightened out with a signing, it puts them in the mix at the top of the table again. The rest of their team can be that good.”

its Pep he is relentless he also is arrogant on need for players I said he was insane last summer when he said his CB's were good enough that they needed nothing there I said all it takes was an injury to Laporte and they were done for in the league, and even with him, all the rest were dogshit (Fernandinho is simply too old now) and boom that all said, ironically this might be his best shot to win the CL with Shitty if they beat RM, they have a punchers chance against anyone in a home and away

I think £55m or so would prise him away, £60m max

yep It is pretty simple to see that a turd is a turd when it is on the grass

I am starting to think Lampard is full of shit

quite good from all I see have seen him over the years