Vesper

6 years ago this week we signed the beast

He was actually quite good at AC Milan once he settled in

lol, I cannot believe I have to root for Spuds

this was as close to Lampard as he will ever get

you been watching too much pr0n smdh

and this just GUTS me grrrr what could have fucking been

i SO miss the little guy he was always so happy and carefree he must have been a wonderful teammate to have plus was a top 5 player in the world for much of his time here

I cannot speak for Laylabelle but I am on team so not so much dreaming of two boys one cup

that was random, lololol

Andreas Christensen to play with stints in his finger after breaking it in training https://tribuna.com/en/chelsea/news/2020-06-15-andreas-christensen-to-play-with-stints-in-his-finger-after-breaking-it-in-training/ The incident reportedly happened 10 days ago. The Dane has already had surgery. He's still expected to be fit to play against Aston Villa.

give this twat a retroactive ban for the rest of the season

did you dream of Matt Law again? @Laylabelle and I wanna know

I preface this all with the full disclosure that I detest Real, the only teams I can say I hate more are Spuds, Victimpool, Shitty, Arse, Manure (grudging respect), and Juve I also hate Bayern and Barca, but not as much as Real. I think that Real and Barca have been a poxy cancer on football with the transfer inflation, but Real, and Barca, plus Manure, Bayern and Juve at the same time rammed in FFP to keep your sorry arses at the top via a scam, that blocks deep pockets like us, PSG, and Shitty from doing what you lot do, BUY CHAMPIONSHIPS but claim you do not you shit is NOT organic at all, it is based off a captured market player wise you have a lot more issues than Hazard number one, Florentino Perez is close to the biggest cunt in world football, that fucker is staggeringly arrogant and I would love to see him choke on a bag of dicks on live telly number 2, your side is old at key points all of the following are past their expiry date and all are on monster salaries Luka Modric ridiculous he won the Ballon d'Or, CR7 was robbed, sell Sergio Ramos he is no longer good enough to be a full time starter, he is not Maldini keep Karim Benzema (soon, he has a year or two at most left at top level, he is the only one I would keep) keep Marcelo washed up, I dont give a damn about his goal last week, wuthless on defence, sell to Serie A team, grandpa league, or MLS Gareth Bale sell Nacho Fernández (was always dregs, a little thug with low talent) no clue why he even n the team, I would rather have David Bobble-head Luiz at CB, lolol now the dregs or just not good enough (some on crazy salaries) Dani Ceballos Álvaro Odriozola Lucas Vázquez James Rodríguez Mariano Díaz Luka Jovic Brahim Díaz Javi Sánchez Jesús Vallejo Alberto Fernández Jorge de Frutos Óscar Alberto Soro Sergio Díaz Dani Gómez Borja Mayoral Hugo Vallejo the ones worth keeping (I actually like most of them, save for Cuntois (great keeper, POS human, he is vermin), Carvajal (little fuckstick whingey bish) and of course the POS dirty twat cheat Ramos (the only player who made me feel sympathy for Salah) bold are WC Thibaut Courtois Alphonse Areola Raphaël Varane Éder Militão (needs to be upgraded on, he is only backup quality) Sergio Ramos (discussed above) Ferland Mendy Sergio Reguilón Daniel Carvajal WC, but Hakimi is better, plus Hakimi is not a prick, lolol Acraf Hakimi (2nd best RB on the planet, unless Kimmich goes back to RB) Casemiro (Best pure DMF on the planet, except maybe (not yet IMHO, but soon, say in 2 years) Kimmich Toni Kroos still pure class, but he will not be around forever, enjoy him whilst he is still peak or near it Federico Valverde (superb young CMF, I only rate de Jong as better under 25yo CMF) Isco Reinier Martin Ødegaard Eden Hazard Marco Asensio Vinícius Júnior (seems a semi-bust so far, but still so young) Rodrygo Karim Benzema (discussed above) Real needs CB's and a CF and a left-footed RW badly. Mbappe would help, lolol also you are FUCKED if Casemiro goes down injured, same for Varane and Benzema they need to stop buying all these overpriced Brasilian teens (that's old cunty Perez there) I have less than ZERO sympathy for Real's issues considered yourself lucky I even gave my analysis so sad that NO ONE is Spanish out of yer best players (Hakimi trumps Carvajal) , Perez has fucked it hard, its is just draw dropping Ferran Torres <<<< crazy that Real is not alllllll over thsi kid, he si spansih and will be a MONSTER and is exactly what you need, a left-footed RWer Perez would rather go have a wank in Rio looking for Pele's ghost

good call he is my top under 19yo (he turned 18yo nine days ago) CB on the board not saying he better than the 3 your listed ATM, but he certainly has the potential to be

IF we had the 2004/5 defence, then maybe but we are a LONG ways from that level, lol quick grab de Ligt (he bosses Bayern) and Romagnoli and then have Roman trade The Scream for Oblak!!! roflmaooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich acquired the painting “the Scream” by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, paying for it 120 million

Mason Greenwood worries me. He has future star written all over him. They are still fucked at CB, DMF, and RW which is why they are after Koulibaly or Skriniar (eek), then Ndidi or Partey or Neves or Tonali (eeek), and then Sancho (double eek) and they want another CF, which I guess would be a target man type, as they had speed merchant Cf types in Martial, Rashford, and Greenwood and I guess they do not rate Odion Ighalo, who just turned 31 three and a half hours ago my worst nightmare would be Håland ends up there in 2021 or 2022, and they get Sancho they pull that off (plus the CB and DMF) and they are a monster soon as in better than Shitty and the Dippers on 2 or 3 years good, and a top 5 in world squad OGS is the main thing that would hold them back if they got those pieces to the puzzle, and I could so see them being to pull almost any manager on the planet at that point (other than Pep and Klopp)

Reconsidered: Just how good was Kaka against Manchester United in 2007? https://theathletic.com/1869135/2020/06/14/reconsidered-kaka-ac-milan-manchester-united-michael-cox/ This is a series re-assessing the most famous individual performances of the modern era. Some will be legendary displays by established world-class players, others will be once-in-a-lifetime cameos that have nevertheless gone down in history. It’s easy to look back on historic performances through rose-tinted spectacles or to revise our memories of particular displays based on what came afterwards. A second look at such games from a greater distance can be revealing. This week, we’re looking at a fixture 13 years ago — Kaka’s performance in the Champions League for AC Milan against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Why this game? Put simply, this was when Kaka confirmed that he was the world’s best player. What was the context? In 2007, football desperately needed a new superstar. The previous era of legendary players was over: Zinedine Zidane had retired, Ronaldo has been discarded by Real Madrid and was a bit-part player for Milan, the likes of Luis Figo, Rivaldo and Pavel Nedved were now in their mid-30s, and Ronaldinho wasn’t concentrating on his football. The reigning Ballon d’Or winner was Fabio Cannavaro, as he had captained Italy to World Cup success the previous year, but a centre-back doesn’t get everyone’s juices flowing. It felt like there were three candidates to become the next equivalent of Ronaldo, Figo or Ronaldinho — brilliantly skilful, ruthlessly efficient attackers. One was Cristiano Ronaldo, who had returned from his World Cup 2006 feud with Wayne Rooney a different beast, and was now the symbol of Manchester United. Another was Lionel Messi, probably the most gifted teenager European football had witnessed since the Brazilian Ronaldo. And then there was Kaka, who was three years older than Cristiano Ronaldo and five years older than Messi. He had turned 25 two days before this contest at Old Trafford but was still considered an emerging talent, a couple of years off his peak (despite consistent performances for a few seasons). He hadn’t been at Milan for their 2003 Champions League success, his starring first-half performance in the 2005 final was rendered irrelevant by the Italian club’s subsequent collapse against Liverpool, and Brazil’s World Cup 2006 campaign ended in disappointment. Kaka’s previous Ballon d’Or finishes had been 15th, ninth and 11th. He still needed a particular moment to demonstrate he was the best around. This semi-final first leg was it. The previous year, Kaka had faced Messi in a friendly between Brazil and Argentina at the newly built Emirates Stadium in London. International friendlies are routinely described as “meaningless”, but contests between those countries always mean something. And much had been made of Kaka scoring the final goal in a 3-0 victory: taking advantage of a poor Messi touch, then roaring away from him on a 70-yard dribble before rolling the ball home. It was a “Know your place, Kid” moment. This was his chance to upstage Cristiano Ronaldo. They had met a couple of years beforehand in Milan’s 2-0 aggregate victory over United in the Champions League’s last 16, but this tie was truly hyped as a shootout between the world’s new best players. “It would be the perfect tribute to the great Eusebio, currently recovering in hospital after emergency surgery on his arteries, if two dazzling Portuguese-speaking talents lit up Old Trafford tonight,” read the match preview in The Daily Telegraph. Manchester United v AC Milan was Ronaldo v Kaka. Ronaldo opened the scoring — albeit hardly with a moment of magic. Rising highest to meet a corner, his headed effort bounced off goalkeeper Dida’s shoulder, looped up into the air towards the net, and then Dida, under pressure from United’s Gabriel Heinze, pushed it over his own goalline. It was arguably a Dida own goal, but Ronaldo’s name was on the scoresheet. And then came the Kaka show. Was he as good as we remember? This was the perfect distillation of what Kaka was all about. Kaka wasn’t a classic No 10. A classic No 10 is capable of pulling the strings in midfield, putting his side in control of the game before occasionally pushing forward to provide the difference in the final third. Kaka operated in a more limited manner, partly because he had the luxury of playing alongside Andrea Pirlo, the world’s best deep-lying playmaker, and Clarence Seedorf, who linked midfield and attack from the left. A couple of seasons beforehand, Carlo Ancelotti would often field Rui Costa too, meaning Kaka could concentrate on playing as, effectively, a second striker. Kaka wasn’t primarily about guile and invention between the lines, he was almost a goalscoring centre-forward who happened to start in slightly deeper positions, before roaring through the defence to finish. For this game at Old Trafford, Ancelotti chaperoned Pirlo with two hard-working ball-winners in Rino Gattuso and Massimo Ambrosini, while Seedorf pushed forward to the left. Up front, Pippo Inzaghi was out injured, Ronaldo was cup-tied, and therefore it was Alberto Gilardino by himself. Gilardino was a hugely underrated centre-forward (he’s the joint-ninth all-time Serie A goalscorer) and while he wasn’t particularly prolific in 2006-07, he was excellent at making runs across the opposition defence to create space. This was the perfect ecosystem for Kaka. The side was entirely built around his qualities. Behind him, the Brazilian could rely upon both defensive protection and passing quality. Ahead of him, he had a striker creating space. He largely had one job — collecting the ball in the final third, then sprinting in behind and finishing. In keeping with the sense that Kaka was a centre-forward as much as an attacking midfielder, Milan started the match by launching a couple of long balls towards his head. At their first corner, they swung the ball in towards Kaka, on the penalty spot, who didn’t connect properly with a headed effort, putting it wide under pressure from John O’Shea. It’s easy to forget that Kaka was 6ft 1in (taller than, for example, a ‘proper No 9’ such as Karim Benzema) and physically strong. He was big rather than tall. More uncharacteristically, Kaka was intent on shooting from long-range in this game. Twelve minutes in, he collected a short pass from Seedorf and had Gilardino making a run into the channel, but tamely curled a shot at Edwin van der Sar from 35 yards. He subsequently had another effort from that same range, under pressure from two United players, which he scuffed and it trickled wide. Five minutes before half-time, he attempted a shot from even further out, which dipped and swerved before Van Der Sar unconvincingly turned it around the post. Kaka wasn’t a particularly notable goalscorer from this kind of distance, and these efforts add to the sense he was using this game to demonstrate his status as the world’s best. In the meantime, he had already scored twice to put Milan 2-1 ahead. His first goal was vintage Kaka: quick, efficient and devastating. He received a Seedorf pass between the lines. His first touch wasn’t simply controlling the ball, but prodding it in behind the United defence. From there, his acceleration took him past Heinze with ease, before a calm, left-footed shot was placed perfectly inside the far post. It was a brilliant goal, albeit one that was striking rather than beautiful — the key ingredient here wasn’t Kaka’s control or his finish, but his speed between the control and the finish. That’s not to say Kaka wasn’t a hugely intelligent player, too — he repeatedly collected the ball in clever pockets of space in behind Michael Carrick, and his ability to dribble while constantly surveying the options around him ensured opponents were never sure of his intentions. His preferred choice, however, was always going in behind himself. What was his best moment? Kaka’s second goal — infuriatingly missed on the live broadcast, as a replay was being shown — was truly spectacular. From a long Dida ball downfield, Kaka managed to hold off Darren Fletcher and get his head to the ball, then lobbed it over Heinze. Next, with Patrice Evra rushing across to cover, Kaka nodded the ball past him, sending the Frenchman crashing into Heinze. From there, Kaka finished smoothly past Van der Sar, and on ITV’s broadcast, Clive Tyldesley launched into one of his memorable monologues (see also Ronaldinho’s poked effort against Chelsea in 2005) that left you convinced you were watching something special. “Here’s Kaka, he’s seen off Fletcher… he’s seen off Heinze… it’s wonderful from Kaka! Absolutely magical! He played them on his own, and he beat them all. Kaka has struck twice in this first half… all his own work! Stunning goal!” What might we have forgotten? In light of Kaka charging inside from the left flank, beating three Manchester United players and finishing, it’s worth remembering that the home side were without Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic through injury. Of their first-choice backline, only Evra played. More pertinently, Milan ended up losing on the night, 3-2. Wayne Rooney equalised from a brilliant Paul Scholes scoop through the defence and then scored a superb late winner when taking on an early shot from an inside-right position, bringing to mind Ronaldo’s opener in his famous Old Trafford hat-trick for Real Madrid in 2003. What happened next? Milan won the second leg, 3-0. Kaka opened the scoring, latching onto a Seedorf knock-down and blasting home from the edge of the box. Seedorf thumped in the second midway through the first half and Gilardino added a late third. They subsequently defeated Liverpool 2-1 in the final. Inzaghi was the hero on the night in Athens, scoring both goals, but Kaka had won the free-kick for the first and played the assist for the second. There was no doubt he was Milan’s star man, and he finished ahead of Ronaldo and Messi by a long distance in the Ballon d’Or voting that December. Kaka peaked at 25. He had another couple of decent seasons with Milan, but never shone at Real Madrid, for whom he signed in 2009 for a world-record fee (which barely stood for two weeks before Cristiano Ronaldo joined them too). He was playing in MLS by age 32 — Messi and Ronaldo have both won Ballons d’Or at that age. For a period, though, Kaka was unquestionably the world’s best — proven by this performance.

Will Ramos ever get to play at the Bernabeu again? https://theathletic.com/1868833/2020/06/15/ramos-real-madrid-sergio-florentino-perez/ Real Madrid were 1-0 up with half an hour played when Sergio Ramos intercepted a pass close to his own penalty area and burst forward on the ball, moving it on to Karim Benzema and then continuing his run deep into the Eibar half. The defensive leader leaving his position to join the attack with his team just a goal ahead is not usually advisable but Ramos is always gonna Ramos and this time, it worked out well. His unexpected movement opened up space in the Eibar back four, Benzema’s pass played in Eden Hazard, and the former Chelsea forward drew out keeper Marko Dmitrovic before unselfishly squaring to give Ramos an easy finish. Madrid were 2-0 up, through just their second shot on target. From there, they were in control of their first game back following the three-month break. Even after easing off in the second half, Zinedine Zidane’s side saw out a 3-1 victory which kept them just two points off Barcelona in the title race. Ramos finished the game sat in the stands at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, where Madrid are finishing their season due to reconstruction work at the Santiago Bernabeu, having been withdrawn after feeling a problem with a thigh muscle. That was just a scare though, and he should be fit to face Valencia on Thursday back at the 6,000-seater stadium at the club’s training ground, usually used by the club’s reserve side, Castilla. A bigger question looming over Madrid at the moment is whether Ramos ever plays again at the Bernabeu, with the 34-year-old entering the last 12 months of his current contract. The issue of his future has been talked about a lot, although with a lot of noise but very few nuts, as the Spanish say. No formal renewal offer has been made by the club, while there have not even been serious negotiations with Ramos’ agent, his brother Rene. Asked about the situation on Spanish TV on Sunday evening, Madrid’s director of institutional relations Emilio Butragueno gave his usual assured response. “In the first place, Sergio played a sensational game. He is a great leader, our captain, a legend, we are delighted with him, and it is an honour that he is our player,” the former Madrid striker responded. “We want him to be here many more years. He is one of the greats of Madrid’s history, no doubt.” That was typical Butragueno, laying on the praise for Ramos but steering away from offering any actual details. The situation is further complicated by last summer’s drama, when Ramos came close to leaving Madrid. President Florentino Perez went as far as telling a Spanish radio station that the club captain had asked to be released from his contract so he could make a lucrative move to China. There followed a few days of uncertainty before the player called an emotional press conference where he admitted to receiving the offer but said it was “lies” that he had asked to leave for free. He added he still expected to end his career at the Bernabeu and even claimed he would “play for Real Madrid for free”. The two versions of the same story remained unchallenged but the issue continued to rumble on through autumn and winter. Ahead of last February’s Champions League last-16 first leg against Manchester City, Ramos was asked whether he would happily sign a one-year extension just to sort the situation for the moment. “Nobody is in a hurry over this,” Ramos responded. “We will reach an understanding, independently of what the club wants. I have never asked for two or three or four years. I understand that after a certain age, they do one-year deals. People are trying to create a distancing from the club that does not exist. If the club wants me to stay, I will stay.” Madrid lost the game 2-1 and Ramos was sent off for a late professional foul, again raising doubts over his long-term usefulness to the team. That was almost immediately followed by all football stopping due to the pandemic, with the financial fallout seriously affecting Madrid’s future planning for both contract offers and new signings. Agent Rene was asked on the Onda Cero radio station last week whether his brother would play again at the Bernabeu, which is expected to be ready to host games again in the autumn. “Hombre, the gum will stretch as far as it can but I also have to say that time stands still for nobody,” said Rene Ramos, mixing his Spanish metaphors but not clearing up the situation. “For him, it would be the best of send-offs after so many years here.” There is a feeling that Florentino might be quite enjoying seeing Ramos and his camp squirm a little in public. Supposed interest from other clubs, especially Manchester United, has previously been used as leverage before agreeing bumper new contracts with Madrid. That might be more difficult this time around, although there have been articles in the Spanish press in recent days claiming his friendship with former team-mate David Beckham, who is president of MLS side Inter Miami, could open opportunities in America. Perez also has a history of moving on big names when their contribution on the pitch no longer matched their influence in the dressing room or local media, perhaps having learned from how Santiago Bernabeu shoved out Alfredo Di Stefano himself back in the 1960s. More recent club legends — such as Vicente del Bosque, Fernando Hierro, Raul, Iker Casillas and Cristiano Ronaldo — have been shown little sympathy when their usefulness was deemed to be over. Anybody seen to challenge the ultimate authority of the club president is especially in danger of being shown the door. Ramos’ popularity with most of the local press, and the majority of Bernabeu fans, has held up remarkably well, even as his form on the pitch has fluctuated pretty wildly through the last couple of seasons. He was never the most positionally reliable but his defending has grown more and more reckless in recent seasons. Deliberately picking up a yellow card in last season’s last-16 first leg Ajax in the Champions League to rule himself out of the second leg — which Ajax went on to win 4-1 — was a memorable blunder, but not the only one. Last season, he made high-profile errors in both La Liga clasicos. Zidane has, so far, remained very publicly supportive but must have noticed that Ramos’ forays forward in open play often cause more problems for his own team than the opposition. The surge up the pitch against Eibar on Sunday afternoon did pay off — it brought Ramos’ 65th goal in 445 La Liga games for Madrid, a pretty phenomenal record for a defender (one goal every 597 minutes). His contribution to four Champions League wins in five seasons from 2014 to 2018 makes him immovable from the club’s history. Whether his future at Madrid is secured before the Bernabeu is ready to reopen remains to be seen.

Pulisic’s mentor on why Chelsea’s forgotten man can now thrive https://theathletic.com/1866313/2020/06/14/pulisic-christian-chelsea-united-states-usmnt-dortmund/ Just like all the other times Hannes Wolf sensed Christian Pulisic was in some kind of difficulty, he decided to give the attacking midfielder a few words of encouragement. “I told him, ‘Always love the game, work hard, believe in your strength’,” Wolf explains to The Athletic. “‘Even if it didn’t happen in this game, there is the next game. You have so much power and quality inside of you. Believe in it and it will come’.” Wolf felt the need to reach out as Pulisic faced an early crisis in his fledgling Chelsea career. Bought for £57.6 million from Borussia Dortmund last year, he went nearly two months earlier this season without starting a Premier League game (between August 31 and October 26) despite being available for selection. Sources have told The Athletic that Chelsea manager Frank Lampard felt the new arrival needed protecting from fatigue and injury, having not had much of a break that summer. Pulisic reported for pre-season training soon after representing the USA at the CONCACAF Gold Cup because of a desire to impress. His ability was never in doubt as far as Lampard was concerned but that didn’t make the impact of being left on the sidelines on a regular basis any easier to cope with. Without any prompting from the player, former Dortmund youth coach Wolf decided to send Pulisic a message. “I got in contact when Christian wasn’t playing for a few games,” Wolf adds. “The words I sent is what I have always told him and this was a moment to say it again. From time to time, I do it again so he doesn’t forget it! “I have always thought if he is healthy, has his energy, he can play amazing football. But I don’t want it to sound like I was the one who helped him out (at Chelsea) — that would be wrong.” There are few coaches in the game that know the Chelsea star better than Wolf. The German was in charge of the under-17s when Pulisic joined Borussia Dortmund in 2014 and also worked with him after being promoted to the under-19s. Wolf also played a major role in Borussia Dortmund beating PSV Eindhoven, who had long coveted the young Pennsylvania native, to Pulisic’s signature. A scout from the Bundesliga club, Volker Propper, first spotted the 15-year-old while he was playing in an under-16s game between the USA and Norway during a youth tournament in Turkey. It proved to be a battle between two No 10s that day. Pulisic was on the American side and Martin Odegaard, who is currently on loan at Real Sociedad from Real Madrid, was on the other. It was Pulisic who caught the eye, though. Wolf says: “The scout came back and said, ‘I’ve seen something that was amazing’. Then I started to watch videos of Christian and it was clear very soon that we should fight for him to make sure he would come to Borussia Dortmund. “What did I see that made Christian stand out? He was really small but fast. He played the numbers, so he scored and made goals, but there was something special in that he didn’t lose the ball in difficult situations. “He made less mistakes. That’s key when you’re fast and play in the last third — you’re always a good passing solution. It made him really special. Physically, it was clear he wasn’t ready, that he wasn’t going to be tall. He was small and thin but you could tell he could develop amazing physically.” What Pulisic achieved at Borussia Dortmund has already been well documented. Thanks to acquiring a Croatian passport — courtesy of his grandfather having Croatian roots — Christian was able to avoid FIFA statutes which prevent non-EU players from making such a move at that age. Even then, he couldn’t join in matches until after he turned 16. Success came very quickly. Pulisic contributed six goals and five assists to help Borussia Dortmund win the Under-17 German championship in 2015. There were another four goals in the first half of the following season for the under-19s. Such was the rapid progress, Pulisic was invited to join a senior training camp during the winter break in Dubai. First-team coach Thomas Tuchel was suitably impressed — it helped that he found the net in practice games against Jeonbuk Motors and Union Berlin — and he made his professional debut at home to Ingolstadt aged just 17 in January 2016. Just a few months later, he earned his first international cap against Guatemala, becoming the youngest American to play in a World Cup qualifier. There have been another 33 appearances for the national team since then. Why is all this relevant now? Wolf got to see how the youngster coped with so much expectation on his shoulders for club and country, the kind of situation he now faces at Stamford Bridge. Wolf continues: “Christian is highly talented but his character, focus and mentality is very, very special. He didn’t need me to be hard on him. We helped him with some things — how to move, how to act on the pitch — but there were a lot of things already there in his game when he arrived. “He understood from an early age that he wanted to be a complete player. A lot of young players who are talented don’t see the whole picture: all the running, the work, the defending that is required. I never had to tell him that he needed to do the defensive transition. A lot of other players don’t do this naturally. He did. That made him ready to play for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga and Champions League at 17. If you don’t do it, you can’t play at that level. He respects all the aspects of football. “He is the kind of player that works on his game all the time. Under me, sometimes he worked too much! He really wanted to make it but sometimes, in that scenario, you can lose your creativity and the joy of playing. It’s about finding the right balance. It can’t all be about work when you are a creative player that likes to score goals. For us, it was about finding the right way. We didn’t have to push him. He was a really hard worker. His strength of character was clear. “I saw the pressure he was under (from being seen as the big star for the USA at a young age), it was clear. But he wanted to go this way. It’s very important when you have so much pressure on you that you don’t lose your love for the game. It is what’s important for him now, that he still enjoys it and goes this way with all the passion and love for football. “Even at Chelsea, from my perspective, he has had a good start. There were some moments where he was out of the team but how he came back, scoring goals; I saw amazing movements. I saw in his face that he was really ready and (in) the way he celebrated his goals. I’m really happy with this.” This spell Wolf is referring too is when the now 21-year-old went on a run of six goals and three assists for Chelsea over just 10 appearances. A hat-trick in a 4-2 victory at Burnley was the clear highlight. Wolf was too busy in his role as manager of Belgian club Genk to watch Pulisic’s moments in full but what he saw, he liked. Unfortunately, a serious groin injury halted Pulisic’s progress and combined with football’s postponement, he hasn’t played for Chelsea since January 1. It’s almost like he’s become the club’s forgotten man. The three-month break in fixtures caused by the pandemic has given him the chance to recover and get fit again, though. There is a very good chance Pulisic will face Aston Villa in some capacity on June 21. However, the American will do so once again under intense scrutiny. The signing of Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech for next season has understandably raised questions over his role in the side, while another attacking player, Kai Havertz, is also a target. Wolf sees no cause for alarm, certainly as far as how Pulisic will respond to the increased competition is concerned. “Christian will keep on working,” the 39-year-old insists. “He knew when he went to Chelsea, making a step to this kind of club, there will always be more transfers and you have to fight to stay in the team, to get your minutes. This is what he will do. “He will not react too much. Borussia Dortmund was not too different for him. This is business. It’s normal. You want good players around you because it’s the only chance to succeed. Werner is a good player but I believe Christian can be a very good player for Chelsea, too. “The break in football has benefitted him. Now Christian can come back. People forget he is only 21. It feels like he is 25 because he has played at the highest level for four years already. He is still young. He has so much potential. It is very exciting. “The most important thing is that he stays healthy. He has had a big injury this season. With the physical way of playing and powerful way he has, the amount of games and travelling, it is very important he is fit.” While Chelsea have ambitions to compete for the Premier League in 2020-21, there is still a lot for them to play for this season. The possibility of qualifying for the Champions League via the Premier League and an FA Cup triumph is a realistic target. Pulisic has played 23 times for Chelsea so far but Wolf has no doubts that the prodigious talent can make the difference for them now and in the future. He concludes: “The only thing that should happen for him at Chelsea is that the numbers come consistently in terms of goals and assists. Everybody has seen his ability and speed to go into the box — he can do a lot. “There were some weeks where the Chelsea fans really saw it. I wish for him to produce the numbers that are in him, over a season. If he is healthy, he can be amazing for them.”

Football’s back: Mood at Chelsea is sky high with Ziyech and Werner on the way https://theathletic.com/1859691/2020/06/15/chelsea-restart-preview-lampard-werner-mount-abraham-giroud-kepa-jorginho-kante/ Hakim Ziyech is on his way, Timo Werner will follow and other high-profile targets are being lined up to join them. There is no club with as much of a buzz around them as Chelsea right now. The club’s fans are already trying to figure out how the star signings will line up in next season’s team and whether a title challenge — the first since lifting the trophy three years ago — is a genuine possibility. But wait just a minute. There is the small matter of the 2019-20 campaign to complete first, and the way it finishes is going to have a huge effect on what happens next at Stamford Bridge. It’s great there is genuine excitement around the place again. Chelsea did win a major trophy in each of the past two seasons, but their narrative has been dominated by the mood swings of Antonio Conte, the tactical stubbornness of successor Maurizio Sarri, the departure of star player Eden Hazard and a FIFA transfer ban. Returning hero and new head coach Frank Lampard and the promotion of academy talent has helped freshen things up. It genuinely feels like the future is looking bright and plans are being put in place to make them title contenders again. Yet football’s long-awaited resumption comes with a word of warning as far as Chelsea are concerned. A reality check is potentially lurking around the corner. Why? Well, of the 10 teams in the top half of the Premier League table, Lampard’s side surely have the most to lose. How can that be? In the crucial race to reach the Champions League, Chelsea have sat in four qualification places since mid-October. Had the pandemic led to the Premier League season being voided or curtailed, they were set to keep their place in Europe’s premier club competition regardless. Qualification would have either been based on who had played in the tournament this season or whoever came in the top four/five — depending on Manchester City’s appeal against their Champions League ban — following a points-per-game process. Chelsea were sitting pretty on both counts, but now the season is back and they have to make sure they truly qualify. The lead over their closest challengers is a narrow one. Manchester United are three points behind in fifth, while Wolves and Sheffield United are a further two back. The threats of Arsenal, who have a game in hand, and Tottenham also can’t be ignored. It goes without saying that Chelsea need the prestige of Champions League football for the bank balance, as well as their hopes of beating the competition to transfer targets Kai Havertz and Ben Chilwell. For some clubs, this three-and-a-half-month break has been a blessing. That doesn’t completely apply to Chelsea. Granted, some of their injured players are now back and the lift of seeing Christian Pulisic, N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek fit again can’t be underestimated. However, it shouldn’t be forgotten how momentum was beginning to turn their way without these men before play got postponed in March. That month’s two games saw two of Chelsea’s best performances all season — a 2-0 FA Cup win over champions-elect Liverpool and a fine 4-0 victory over Everton in the Premier League five days later. That last display oozed confidence. Mason Mount, Ross Barkley, rising star Billy Gilmour and Olivier Giroud were all at the top of their game. Even the defence kept a second clean sheet in a row. Football can be unpredictable, of course, but their next match, away to second-bottom Aston Villa, looked a certain away win. Their hosts were reeling from a five-game losing streak and Chelsea were in the mood to make it a neat half dozen. Villa manager Dean Smith has now had plenty of time to massage dented egos and a loss of self-belief. Villa Park will be a much tougher test for the rescheduled game on Sunday, June 21 — even without 40,000 fans roaring the home side on. And with the nine rounds of games being played in the space of barely five weeks, no team can afford a slow start. But that’s enough of the doom and gloom. Lampard admits he is excited about football’s return and this is an individual who knows better than most what it takes to succeed on a season’s run-in, having done it many times at Stamford Bridge as a player between 2001-14. The former midfielder doesn’t know the meaning of giving up. There is probably a small part of him that thinks Chelsea can overturn that 3-0 deficit against Bayern Munich when the away leg of their Champions League last-16 tie is played in August. More realistic, of course, will be the pursuit of the FA Cup — a competition Lampard won four times as a Chelsea player. The first obstacle will be a trip to Leicester City in the quarter-finals on Sunday, June 28, which might also provide an opportunity for Lampard to broach the Chilwell subject with counterpart Brendan Rodgers. Now please spare a thought for those of us who cover Chelsea for The Athletic. It was hard enough trying to figure out or discover what Lampard had in mind in terms of line-up or formation when he didn’t have a full squad to choose from. But with the options he has available as we emerge from lockdown, particularly in the attacking and central midfield positions, it will cause a headache or two. Once Jorginho is back from suspension following the Villa game, Lampard is going to have some struggle on his hands. There is Mateo Kovacic, Kante, Mount, Barkley, Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek and teenager Gilmour, too. No wonder Chelsea were the ones asking for the amount of players that could be put on the bench to be raised to nine. The Athletic has enjoyed following Lampard’s debut season in charge and all the issues it has thrown up. Now we will get to see how Abraham responds to the imminent arrival of Werner and whether his contract situation will be resolved; if Mount can maintain his record of playing in every league game, much to the chagrin of some members of the fanbase; if Kepa Arrizabalaga can actually play like the world’s most expensive goalkeeper or whether Willian and Pedro get to leave the club on a high. Come join us for the ride — it’s going to be fun. Chelsea’s transfer revolution What do most readers ask me about? Transfers. So that’s why a group of us explored how Chelsea go about their recruitment business, to give a different take on the subject. By the time the piece was finished, I’d learnt something new too. What it’s really like to be a Chelsea loanee Many people seem to have an opinion on Chelsea’s use of the loan system, so it was great to hear from some of the current group farmed out by the club about their feelings on the matter. Who can argue with them? The end of Chelsea’s Brazilian experiment And with Willian’s time at Stamford Bridge coming to an end, I decided to write about how the club’s relationship with Brazilian talent is coming to a close. The prospect of the first team not being influenced by the samba beat for the first time in several years next season proved quite a stark and telling revelation.

There’s a feeling of now or never for Ross Barkley at Chelsea https://theathletic.com/1854318/2020/06/15/lampard-everton-england-ross-barkley-at-chelsea/ Ross Barkley could be forgiven for wondering what might have been. In a parallel universe, where the coronavirus pandemic never struck and football, like society, had merely muddled on as normal from mid-March, he would be recovering now from England’s opening fixture of Euro 2020. Croatia were due at a crammed Wembley on Sunday. Having featured in six of eight qualifiers for the tournament, his role would potentially have been pivotal. He had just been starting to make his quality tell under Frank Lampard at his club, too, before COVID-19 swept in and football was suspended. He had rasped that fine shot across and beyond Adrian to see off Liverpool in the fifth round of the FA Cup, and followed that five days later with arguably his most impressive display yet in a Chelsea shirt against his former employers, Everton. His performance that afternoon had those excited by the data salivating — six key passes, a pair of assists, seven successful dribbles, two clean tackles, three shots. With the naked eye, he played with the strut of one who belonged. He looked comfortable in the attacking brief in which he was being asked to operate, his decision-making and passing seemed crisper and more assured. Barkley was a shoo-in to start the team’s next league match, at Aston Villa. Gareth Southgate, who has lent heavily upon him since the World Cup, would surely have picked him for the scheduled friendlies against Italy and Denmark at the end of March. Things were looking up. Now, lurching back to reality, all there is once again is uncertainty. Barkley may well begin at Villa Park in the team’s scheduled opener to mark Project Restart next Sunday afternoon. Jorginho and N’Golo Kante featured in a friendly against Reading in midweek and QPR yesterday, but the France midfielder has only just returned to contact training and the Italian is still serving a suspension. Given there was such balance to the midfield on the team’s last competitive outing, there would be a logic to Lampard leaning on the personnel who contributed so impressively against Everton. But, 15 weeks on from that 4-0 success, his inclusion from the start is far from the definite it would have been in March. Indeed, with Chelsea having bucked the anticipated trend of austerity by launching an eye-catching recruitment drive, it suddenly feels as if the 26-year-old is fighting more than ever for his future at Stamford Bridge. Hakim Ziyech has been secured from Ajax and Timo Werner will follow from RB Leipzig, both dynamic forward-thinkers to implement the slick, incisive style Lampard craves. There is long-standing interest, too, in Kai Havertz at Bayer Leverkusen for all that others share that admiration for the Germany international. The sales pitch to those signed or courted revolves around working in a vibrant, youthful team embracing the energy and excellence of Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic, Tammy Abraham, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Reece James and Billy Gilmour. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is fit again after a serious achilles injury. Mateo Kovacic has arguably been the club’s player of the season. Jorginho and particularly Kante, when fit and available, will feel they still have much to offer. There are yet more youngsters — Conor Gallagher, Henry Lawrence, Tino Anjorin (who secured to a new five-year contract this week) et al — waiting in the wings, all reminders of the club’s bright future. Amid the clutter of competition, it is easy to wonder where Barkley fits in. He tends to find himself listed alongside the likes of Marcos Alonso and Michy Batshuayi these days; players for whom Chelsea would listen to offers as they seek to balance the additions with some requisite squad trimming. Plenty of clubs, post-coronavirus, appear keener to recruit younger players of promise who would not necessitate either a large transfer fee or such hefty wages from the outset. But Newcastle, if under new ownership, and West Ham would apparently be interested in signing a midfielder who is contracted to 2023. An unlikely return to Everton has even been mentioned in dispatches. Quite how Barkley would feel about moving on remains to be seen. He must curse poor timing given the latest hiatus to his career progression in south-west London occurred through no fault of his own. Global pandemics constitute mitigating circumstances. Yet an inability to build on those tantalising flashes of class has become a recurring theme. The fact there have been only 23 Premier League starts in 64 games for which he has been available, served under the stewardship of Antonio Conte, Maurizio Sarri and Lampard, since his £15 million move from Merseyside in January 2018 tells its own story. He actually played more minutes for England in September and October last year than he did for Chelsea in the Premier League. There is so much natural ability there — vision, two good feet, presence when in full steam — but he remains a player who has yet to make himself essential to successive head coaches. Injuries have played a part, as has the disruption in the dugout, but he is still striving to convince all that he should be a mainstay of the Chelsea team. After a while, however good you might potentially be, it is too easy to become peripheral and forgotten. Discarded as an enigma. A transfer that did not quite work out. Maybe he is still suffering from the hype that has swirled around him since his emergence on Merseyside, and all the obvious comparisons drawn with Wayne Rooney. So much was expected of Barkley. Chelsea had actually courted him for seven years prior to securing his services, their recruitment department having tracked his progress closely since he was 17. Even in that pre-season of 2011 he had been earmarked as Lampard’s long-term replacement as a box-to-box, goalscoring midfielder. There was a bid to buy him and loan him back two years later, which Everton rejected. When he did eventually arrive, he had 196 senior games to his name. Lampard had boasted the same number when moving across the capital from West Ham in 2001. Yet there the similarities end. In the period since, and despite now boasting FA Cup and Europa League winner’s medals, Barkley has never succeeded in proving wrong those who always argued he would end up stewing on the bench by cementing his role in the side. There have been promising periods. Not under Conte, when his fitness after a long lay-off was still an issue. But there was regular involvement with Sarri, and he seemed to be thriving under the Italian’s forensic approach to training. Gianfranco Zola, Sarri’s assistant, took him under his wing. “Over the years I haven’t been coached much, and I am at an age now where I understand football a lot more,” he said in the autumn of 2018. “I believe that, if I’d had that type of approach from a coach when I was younger, maybe I would have improved a lot more.” That was perceived as a slight on Everton’s youth system, and the senior managers — David Moyes (who is clearly not overly concerned given his interest in securing Barkley for West Ham), Roberto Martinez, Ronald Koeman and Sam Allardyce — under whom he worked at Goodison Park. In truth, it probably reflected the flip side of rushing a teenager into the cut-throat world of a first-team set-up, where instant results were required and there was less time to dedicate to personal development. The thirst for improvement has been maintained under Lampard, who has publicly praised the player’s “desire to learn”. He hired a personal chef to improve his diet and, for a while, was one of the most industrious members of the team, eclipsing even Jorginho and Kante in terms of the amount of ground he covered during games he had started. Yes, there has been the odd aberration en route — an altercation in a Liverpool taxi over spilt chips, and a trip to Dubai while injured during an international break which, although not breaking any club rules, probably sent out the wrong message — but he is more mature now. He surely recognises he has to seize the opportunity presented to him. Whether that is feasible given the quality and sheer quantity of the competition is open to serious doubt. Lampard is balancing experience with youth. Barkley may fall in the middle ground not least because, when everyone else is fit and available and the midfield rejigged, he will probably end up competing directly with the promising Mount for that attack-minded berth in a central three. Should the board be seeking to claw back a fee, they may consider him a saleable asset. But that is for August, not now. He has apparently returned to Cobham, like his team-mates, fit and eager to make his mark in the restart. Which is just as well given that, if he is to stand any chance, he has to recapture that form from March when Everton were swatted aside so emphatically. Otherwise a player considered integral to the national team, who boasts 33 caps and had hoped to be excelling at a major tournament this summer, may be forced to consider his options. This is no time to be on the fringes. Not at 26 and the peak of your powers. Barkley needs to demonstrate he deserves a significant role in Lampard’s Chelsea future, or it might be time to explore a new challenge.

and I have been saying Guaita for backup (Uğurcan Çakır or Predrag Rajković as number 1) but Dúbravka is also high on my list we would be so better off for the next 2 or 3 years with a combo of 2 of those 4 those as our keepers (and a SHEDLOAD less cash too for them) Kepa is becoming my number one fear we can play really well and he can still fuck it up he makes ridiculous errors