Vesper

Pull Hazard, Jorginho, Kovacic and Rudiger out and keep Sarri (and thus his system that nullifies Kante by putting him a bad-fit role) the team as it is now is fucked. Oh, btw, 2 of those 4 are probably gone in the summer

I would love to hear Sarri's thoughts on this Kante is the key, he is so unique I think he would just wreak havoc to the point where diagonals wouldn't matter, as we also have an extra CB to cover the flanks the overload pressure on the opposing team, I would think, would be overwhelming I don't think Hazard would have that much more defensive responsibility as we would have the other 2 MF'ers to give width defensive as well, with Jorginho floating in a regista role, waiting for the ball to set up play he would get the ball from either the front 5 or Kante behind/beside/in front of him (Kante can appear to be in 3 places at once after all, IN HIS OLD ROLE, lolol) OR one of the 3 CB's (who also give width to our flanking cover) I soo want to pick Sarri's brain on this!! LOLOLOLOL I am really good at spatial envisioning (not just in footie) so my wife and I have been talking about thsi for a month plus before I dropped it in here I can find NO trace on the web about a 3-1-3-3 (or another variant we came up with, 3-1-2-1-3 (which would have double registas (backed up by Kante again and giving additional MF deep covering width as they (the 2 registas) would play a partitioned (ie. half the field) Jorginho role) and an pure floating trequartista feeding the front three (thus the 2-1 in bold) Call it a 3-1-3-3 with a more pronounced forward triangle in MF (the trequartista being the tip of the MF spear) and then another (the front 3) triangle, which would be either inverted (wingers ahead of the CF) or forward thrusting (CF ahead of the wingers) depending on the game play situation leading up to the ball being in that last 3rd of the pitch in either (they are VERY similar) formation, the entire team would act with an accordion-like compression/relaxation action, and rotated to cover, so I truly think width issues would be solved

With no Hazard and both our strikers being absolute tosh (in terms of goals scored) I would LOVE to see Sarri just go berserk and play pinball footie versus a slow as fuck Burnley CHO (LW) RLC (striker, NOT joking) Pedro ( RW) Kovacic (CMF/AMF/Box 2 Box hybrid) Barkely (AMF/CMF, more emphasis on forward play) Jorginho (Regista) Kante DMF Destroyer (first mission after smash n grab is to pass off to Jorginho) LCB Rudiger CCB Luiz RCB Azpi GK Kepa

I am still down with Martial as our number nine TBH Sarriball would turn him into a goal machine, he has unreal pace at CF and can be a deadly efficient shooter (as he has demonstrated on numerous occasions) Plus he deffo can get physical, if need be and is a decent passer. Let's hope Mou doesn't get the sacking and he puts in his walking papers

But we would have an extra CB, AND an unleashed full destroyer Kante to cover the gaps plus the 3 OTHER MF'ers to press higher, and both the wingers too

best RW targets for us (other than Bailey) the first 2 are pipe dreams are pipe dreams Mbappe (lolol, I can by dream) Bernardo Silva (will never happen and this one is a killer as we could have had him from Monaco and instead went and took Bakadonkeyo) now back to reality Federico Bernardeschi (Sarri thinks he is one of top 5 players in Serie A) I would be over the moon if we got him (even with no Bailey) Malcom (he made a huge mistake going to Barca and is miserable) Christian Pulisic Dortmund Suso AC Milan (poor mans Pedro) Nicolas Pépé Lille 23yo, really has come on lately, great athlete Iñaki Williams Athletic Bilbao (Kepa could help) David Neres Ajax Hirving Lozano PSV Cristian Pavón Boca Juniors Maxwel Cornet Lyon Reiss Nelson 18yo on loan (from Arse, grr) to TSG Hoffenheim, HUGE potential Allan Saint-Maximin OGC Nice 21yo Best LW targets (far more loaded than RW, especially as Mbappe can play here too) Lorenzo Insigne Poison Dwarf FC aka Napoli (Sarri rates him the best player in Serie A atm, the poison dwarf rates the chances of him coming here as FUCK OFF, lolol) Federico Chiesa Fiorentina.....arffff) (although he is a more natural inverted LW, the opposite of Bailey. IF Hazard leaves we better be on him ASAP, Sarri LOVES him) Ousmane Dembélé Barca (another one who can play either wing, he started off great, not is back under the cosh with team and fans, he would be crazy expensive but has insane talent) Jadon Sancho Dortmund (can play either wing) hottest player in Eurpoe atm and he is EIGHTEEN, tracking to 20 goals, THIRTY-TWO assists, Shitty SO fucked up potentially (potentially to the level that we did on KdB, so karma is a bitch ). Obviously he needs to show he can do it at thsi level for at least 2 seasons, if he can and actually does turn into 20 goal plus, 25 to 35 assist winger, he will cost at least £150m plus in 3 years Leroy Sane (pipe dream BUT he is not a happy camper at Shitty) Thomas Lemar Atletico Madrid (pipe dream) Marco Asensio overrated and overpriced atm IMHO, BUT still has insane upside, it all comes down to price as RM will NEVER let him go now for less than £100m Vinícius Júnior 18yo Real Madrid, has potential to better than all on here except Mbappe, but again, RM will NEVER sell him atm, and we need to see IF he can actually do it at worlds highest levels Kingsley Coman 22yo Bayern Munich (they want £90m for him, so, erm, no chance) Mikel Oyarzabal Real Sociedad 21yo, left footer who can player either wing, super technical, insane skills, not the greatest athlete though, but in right system can be huge, one of the best passing younger wingers on planet Keita Baldé 23yo on Inter, on loan from Monaco Julian Brandt Bayer Leverkusen (yes again) Paulinho Bayer Leverkusen (of course, lolol) 18yo potential superstar Brasilian, needs to show he is up to big leagues Steven Bergwijn PSV 21yo (potentially better than Lozano) Willem Geubbels Monaco just turned 17, a potential CHO clone

He is having a bad start to the year, I have to admit, and he is surrounded by a bad group of family/advisers/hangers-on. Bayer Leverkusen overall is having a bad year as well, I would not be shocked to see Heiko Herrlich get the sacking by the holidays if he keeps up the turgid pace. He has crazy talent at his disposal and yet sits in 13th place in an 18 team league.

This article is just woefully ill-informed on the continuing geo-political situation vis-a-vis Russia versus the US/UK alliance. You have 2 pincer movements that are going to continue to ratchet up tensions against Putin and his Russian oligarchs (of which Roman is one if the his closest allies). First off, the American Democrats are almost assuredly going to take back the US House of Representatives and have a slight but not impossible shot at the Senate as well. They are on an all-out anti-Russian hysteria ever since the 2016 presidential election of Trump. Even with just the House under their control this is going to be ratcheted up to crazy levels. The second part of the pincer movement will be Brexit, especially a hard Brexit. The UK will no longer have any mitigating force from the rest of Europe to reign in the anti-Russian hysteria from our end, starting with further tensions building over the dodgy Skripal case. The UK will also be desperate to further trade deals and will look to the US even more. The Trump administration will be under tremendous multi-variate pressure to really go after Russia harder so as to defext charges that they are Putin's puppets. Look at what has happened already with the medium range nuclear treaty, where Trump unilaterally pulled out of an agreement that goes back over 30 years. The US will demand the UK take an even more aggressive stance. These 2 forces will more than likely combined to bring forth such hostility that I can absolutely foresee the UK government freezing all Russian assets in the UK, maybe even going so far as to attempt seizure. Hello CFC in lock-down mode. Abramovich may also have all his other assets frozen or seized as well. This is NOT some fantasy with no foundation in reality. This is something that very likely can and will happen. Imagine if Roman sees this coming and DOES sell, only to find out all monies sent to him are now under global embargo. Another possibility is that the US and UK put on a series of super sanctions that make it impossible/illegal to deal with all Russian based firms and persons, no matter how tenuous the connections are. I would feel a whole lot more at ease if the club was sold in full to safer ownership. We already are fucked on a new stadium, with the lack of revenues that is the result of no new modern stadium handcuffing us for years, maybe a decade plus due to FFP regulations. This is NOT a good situation. The author is just flat out wrong to claim this as some sort of wondrous news. It shows an extraordinarily myopic view of the complexities of the real geo-geo-political world. Roman is already under the cosh, it is only going to get worse I am afraid.

Bayer Leverkusen, not Bayern Münich. If he was at Bayern we could forget about him altogether unless he totally crashed out.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Outside the box thinking here... what about a 3-1-3-3 formation? GK Kepa LCB Rudiger CCB Luiz RCB Azpi DMF Destroyer Kante (who, along with the CB's instantly sets up the offence by getting the ball to Jorginho after a pressing turnover or a takeawy) DH Playmaker Jorginho CMF Box to Box/AMF hybrid Kovacic AMF Barkley or RLC LW Hazard RW Pedro or Willian CF Giroud or Morata would look like this: Hazard Giroud Pedro/Willian Barkley/RLC Kovacic Jorginho <<<<<<<< Kante >>>>>>>>> Rudiger Luiz Azpi Kepa It would seem to put Kante back in a position where he can go back to what he does best, wreaking havoc as a true DMF floater. It also takes pressure off Luiz and allows Azpi to concentrate on defence. Only player we drop is the turtle Alonso. Thoughts?

Because .... Cardiff, lolol

Sancho with a brace now, he is on fire, unreal his progression. Tracking to 20 goals, 32 (yes 32) assists in all comps.

Targets to watch Dortmund CB Abdou Diallo CB Dan-Axel Zagadou 19yo, huge (1.96m) and pacey LB Raphaël Guerreiro (playing at LW today) RB Achraf Hakimi (playing at LB today, so great battle with Valentino Lazaro) DH DMF Julian Weigl CMF Mahmoud Dahoud LW Jadon Sancho (playing on the right, just scored, one of hottest players in Europe atm, only 18, Shitty made a HUGE fuck up selling him) RW Christian Pulisic RW Jacob Bruun Larsen (great 20yo prospect) injured players: Paco Alcácer (one of hottest strikers in Europe, minor knock, not dressed) Manuel Akanji (their best CB is injured) Jeremy Toljan (another injured player, great young RB) Thomas Delaney CMF Hertha CB Niklas Stark CB Karim Rekik RB Valentino Lazaro (my number one realistic young RB target) DH DMF Arne Maier (great young 19yo prospect) CF Davie Selke Jordan Torunarigha (21yo German CB is injured, he reminds me of Rudiger a bit)

Borussia Dortmund v Hertha Berlin HD stream https://www.vipleague.bz/borussia-dortmund-vs-hertha-bsc-berlin-streaming-link-1 tonnes of targets Jadon Sancho just had a CRAZY goal called off for offiside

Do you rate Barkley then? Kovacic is not a true AMF (he should take Kante's place, as I discussed at length above) AND Real Madrid are more than likely going to NOT sell him to us (I desperately hope they do.) If you don't rate Barkley, then surely you completely agree the number one AMF who is remotely available is Kai Havertz. Nabil Fekir is damaged goods, Victimpool saw the likelihood of a catastrophic re-injury of his knee. Isco is a pipe dream, unless you think a straight Isco for Hazard swap is a good move (it is club-destroying madness). Havertz is 19, tracking to 16 plus goals, 20 plus assists in all comps and already is capped at Die Mannschaft level. Talisca, Julian Draxler, Aleksandr Golovin (especially if Monaco get relegated), Carlos Soler, Pablo Fornals, Amine Harit, and Lucas Paquetá are other viable options. Please explain what you think we should do at AMF, seeing as you obviously don't rate RLC. Edited to add I still have big hopes for RLC at some position.

Nothing strange about that Its a 4 3 3 With RLC as striker (very intriguing, would love to hear other thoughts on this, it probably is just too cray) and the move I have screaming to try, Barkley at RW, replacing the human play delay that is Willian.

2 different roles really. Kovacic is actually better at the role Kante plays when they both start, and RLC obviously, is the more natural AMF (competing with Barkley). Notice that RLC ran riot with Kovacic in the Kante role. I can almost certainly guarantee you he wouldn't have had a hat trick had Kante been on the whole time. Kante is just very limited offensively. I do not see this changing to any massive degree. Kovacic is vastly superior in his forward flowing play. I DO understand Sarri needing high pressing defensive play from that B to B Alan role player, and why he obviously knows that Kante can do that, BUT Kovacic does provide that pressing too. Kante is the worlds greatest destroyer trad DMF who is now trapped on a team that never uses that role. In the box to box 'Alan' role, Kovacic is by far, from all I have seen, the more effective player. Let me sum it up this way. Kovacic's offensive transition flow is is better to a GREATER DEGREE over Kante's flow than Kante's high pressing prowess IN THAT ALAN ROLE is better than Kovacic's. Obviously it is Kante hands down over not just Kova, but any other human on the planet if we are talking pure DMF. We just don't offer that as an option anymore for the wee baldy man. Unless Kante adapts, we are going to have to start considering either sacking Sarri (ridiculous) or selling Kante whilst we can still get well over £100m for him. As long as Sarri is here, Kante will not play the only role he is world class at. IF we lose Kovacic, we HAVE to replace him. We also HAVE to replace the truly spent, shamefully ineffective Cesc. We have literally zero effective back-up to Jorginho at DH DMF. I STRONGLY suggest we grab the 3rd best DH DMF on the planet (after Busquets and Jorginho) in Rúben Neves. Neves also is unique in that he can also score from that position. Frenkie de Jong is by far my 2nd favourite at that position. He can play ANY MF position as well as centre back. Neves and de Jong are also both only 21 but already multi year starters. IF we lose Kovacic, then we need to try and buy Piotr Zielinski from the poison dwarf (arffff) or Tanguy Ndombélé from Lyon or Bryan Cristante of Roma or Amadou Haidara of RB Salzburg or de Jong's teammate, Donny van de Beek. Maybe even (I have changed my mind on him and now rate him) Matias Vecino from Inter, but he will be 28 next summer and that's close to getting too old to buy on long term. His teammate Roberto Gagliardini is also a legit option. Also we are crazy to not buy (and loan out for one year) 18yo Sandro Tonali of Brescia, as Sarri is obsessed with him and if anyone is potentially the new Pirlo, it's him. Juve want him BAD. Lets FUCK THEM for a fucking change! Only way we can afford to buy these players is to sell Kante...... because......Hell, the only way to buy Neves alone is to sell Kante, as we ALSO have to fix a nightmare at striker, RW (Willian is shit and only will get worse, Pedro is getting old and is very injury-prone due to slight build), and potentially the grand-daddy of all nightmares at LW if Hazard and CHO leave. We are going to lose £100m on Hazard alone in lost valuation.

Especially on days like this (One of my alltime favourite games and days!) https://www.skysports.com/football/chelsea-vs-wigan/210847 Chelsea 8 N Anelka (6, 56),F Lampard (32 pen),S Kalou (54),D Drogba (63, 68 pen, 80),A Cole (90) Wigan 0 G Caldwell ( 31) Chelsea vs Wigan Premier League 4:00pm Sunday 9th May 2010 Stamford Bridge (Att: 41383) Chelsea are champions 6 days later, we won the Double in the FA Cup:) One of my truly favourite teams.

My only interest in him is as a striker. I do not even know if Sarri and the board see him as an option there. Surely they must, as other than a dice roll on Piątek the other options are insanely expensive and/or not available, or are ageing stopgaps or even bigger gambles.

Great news! January moves on a loan are usually not good outcomes.

I love Scotland, just not for footie. Maybe if Rangers get on level terms with Celtic again it might make for a decent Old Firm game, and I really do hope Hearts (I prefer Edinburgh over Glasgow any day) can take Celtic finally out, but the level of play and players in the SPL just isn't there for me overall. Only leagues I truly watch are the EPL, Serie A, and the Bundesliga. I will watch (only to scout) La Liga (unless it is a big 3 game, then I usually watch) and Ligue 1 (only to scout a certian player or maybe Lyon v PSG or Lyon v Marseille or PSG v Marseille) a wee bit. La Liga has almost no players I want who are truly available. Most I would love to have will never be sold in their prime. The only established players who are actually available would be (besides Firpo and obviously, hopefully our own Kovacic) Malcom (huge mistake by our board and also Barca's, as he is simply not playing), LW Mikel Oyarzabal, AMF Carlos Soler, AMF Pablo Fornals, CMF Manu Trigueros (poor mans Cesc), RW Iñaki Williams, AMF/RW Rafinha (Barca are fuckers to deal with when its a player they rate, and they rate Rafinha higher than Malcom atm), AMF Pablo Sarabia, and CF Maximiliano Gómez. BTW, I am not slagging off Tierney, the main reason I didn't list him is that he will be more expensive by far than all above except Firpo and perhaps RB Achraf Hakimi (if Real Madrid would even sell him). Firpo is worth the extra quid over Kierney IMHO at LB. Atm I cannot say the same for Hakimi over Valentino Lazaro. That may well change but Lazaro is REALLY good too. I also rated Nordi Mukiele and Wan-Bissaka as great values. RM almost never sell young players they rate, and when they do, it is for insane prices. Asensio is perfect example. £100m for him is NOT a great price, yet RM offers him up at that and acts like it is a monster bargain. He has regressed in my book, and is not remotely near a Hazardian level. To sum it all up. I would be over the moon if we sold Alonso and Emerson and bought Firpo AND Tierney (or Ferland Mendy). Same with Azpi (I can hear the howls now) and Zappacosta and buy Hakimi (for fair price) and Valentino Lazaro. Azpi is 30 next season, and fullbacks age horridly. Marcelo (always horrid on defence) is now falling off overall at 30yo. Injuries also pile up much more easily. Jordi Alba is literally the only other WC LB over 28. Had someone tey to say Filipe Luís (33yo) was still! LOLOL. Go watch the AM v Dortmund game and get back to me. Fortune favours the bold, and all my picks play at high level (including Europe) and thus are hardly academy level dice-rolls. I know we never sell all 4 at once we have now, but we really need to at least being in great young players who can eventually bench Azpi and especially Alonso. The way things are going I am not getting my hopes up, but I am nothing if not an incredibly stubborn bish, so I will keep on posting.

I rate all Firpo miles more than Tierney. Mendy too. That whole post was to point out young fullbacks who won't cost 70m plus quid. Scottish league footie is a joke, so hard to splash the cash Celtic would demand. We could try a loan with option to buy (not obligation), and pay 50% above fair market 1 year loan price (so probably a couple million quid extra) as a sign of good faith. Doubt Celtic would go for that though. Firpo was imperious versus Milan last night. I think he would be aces here. We are stuck with the turtle Alonso for years I fear, so all this is apparently meaningless. Azpi also needs to step it up, he has been the biggest drop off from last year so far. You can't count Willian and Morata as they were already shit. Azpi was a top 5 RB. The best defensive RB on planet. This year, nowhere near that. His offensive input is underwhelming at best, and has strangely been off the mark on defence as well. If you want to see a RB playing great football in high intensity pressing system, look at 19yo Achraf Hakimi of Dortmund. Unfortunately Real Madrid owns him, he is only on loan. They will never sell him unless we waived insane money at them.

Fuck Courtois. His parents on honeymoon:

GK Kepa CB Rudiger CB Luiz LB Alonso RB Azpi DH DMF Jorginho CMF Kovacic AMF RLC LW Hazard RW Pedro CF Giroud Bench Willie AC Emerson Kante Barkley CHO Morata