Vesper

How Cole Palmer dominates games – whatever position he plays in https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5980716/2024/12/09/cole-palmer-Chelsea-panenka-penalty/ Considering he boasted a 100 per cent success rate from his 11 previous penalty kicks and is renowned for being completely unfazed in pressure situations, it was perhaps no surprise that Cole Palmer pulled off a Panenka from the spot in Chelsea’s 4-3 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. That goal means Palmer now has the “best” 100 per cent penalty conversion rate in the Premier League era, with all 12 converted, including his first Panenka, against Burnley in March. It also means he’s on 17 goal involvements in the top flight this season — only Mohamed Salah of Liverpool has more (21). As former England forward Paul Merson pointed out in his post-match analysis of the Spurs game on UK broadcaster Sky Sports, Palmer’s performance level this season is perhaps even more impressive than in his excellent 2023-24 debut year at Chelsea, because opponents now know about his quality, and he’s a marked man. Despite being the obvious player for their opponents to concentrate on, Palmer keeps providing decisive contributions. So, how does he do it? For Chelsea’s first game of the season, a 2-0 home defeat against his previous club Manchester City, Palmer started on the right. This wasn’t particularly successful — not only was his contribution in an attacking sense minimal, City also seemed keen to exploit the space behind him. A 2-0 loss to the champions was hardly disastrous in head coach Enzo Maresca’s first game in charge, but it prompted a re-think before Chelsea’s next match, a trip to Wolves. GO DEEPER Chelsea are no longer 'Cole Palmer FC' - his marked-man status is forcing others to step up For that game, Enzo Fernandez moved from the N0 10 position to a deeper role, Noni Madueke came into the side on the right, and Palmer was used centrally. This worked perfectly, with Palmer teeing up Madueke three times in the second half, only the fifth time the same player has assisted each goal in a Premier League hat-trick. Since then, Palmer has always been used in that central No 10 — on paper, at least. That’s the interesting thing about Palmer’s displays. Although used as a No 10, he’s barely ever played in the zones you’d expect from somebody with that role, as the heat map below from his 15 Premier League appearances this season shows. Only in one match, against Nottingham Forest on October 6, was he primarily positioned centrally, and between the lines. More regularly, he plays in an inside-right position, akin to how Martin Odegaard operates for Arsenal. His displays against Liverpool and Aston Villa are particularly notable in that respect. But often, Palmer does something completely different. Note, for example, his positioning in the ninth game of the season, against Newcastle, where he barely touches the ball on the right side of the pitch — which was the complete opposite of how he’d played against West Ham in match five. Another outlier came in the sixth game, when Palmer’s touch map is more what you would expect of a right-back than that of a No 10. This was deliberate. Against a Brighton side playing a high defensive line, he repeatedly strolled across to the right touchline, received a forward pass from the defence, and then flipped the ball over the opposition first-time for runners to get in behind. It created this situation, with three Chelsea players through on goal: And this one, where Nicolas Jackson rounded goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen but couldn’t turn the ball in: It was, of course, a pre-determined approach. “The manager had a game plan,” Palmer told the BBC afterwards. “We knew how to attack them, with first-time passes, as their line was so high.” But the extraordinary thing about Palmer’s performance was that despite effectively playing as a right-back because he was primarily charged with creating chances for others, he smashed in four goals before half-time. One was a penalty, and another was a free kick, but Palmer is capable of deciding games even when he’s playing a long way from the opposition goal. That’s another interesting thing about Palmer’s game. In terms of combined goals and assists, he is alongside Salah and Bukayo Saka of Arsenal in the top three. Usually, a key part of contributing in terms of goals and assists is receiving the ball in dangerous positions in the first place. Salah and Saka are also in the top three in the Premier League in terms of receiving Opta-defined progressive passes. GO DEEPER Cole Palmer's defensive diligence under Enzo Maresca deserves more acclaim But Palmer, in stark contrast, doesn’t make the top 50. In other words, he is not a specialist at positioning himself to receive dangerous passes. He either comes short to receive simple passes and then plays outrageous balls for team-mates, like his sublime around-the-corner ball for Pedro Neto against Newcastle, which teed up Jackson for the opener, or he lets others receive the good forward passes and receives simpler ones higher up. When Chelsea do look to play forward passes to a player between the lines, it’s often to Jackson coming short, who then feeds Palmer. This ‘goal’ against Newcastle was offside, but it showed their intentions: Therefore, Palmer is the complete opposite of someone like Mason Mount, effectively his predecessor in this role at Chelsea. Mount was sometimes criticised for not being overly creative, nor expressive with his final ball. But in 2021-22, he was joint-sixth in the Premier League in terms of combined goals and assists. Mount’s secret was not the quality of his final ball, but the fact he was so adept at positioning himself to receive progressive passes — he was seventh in the league by that measure in that season. Salah and Saka, incidentally, were the top two. But Palmer isn’t that sort of player at all. He is a No 10 on paper, but he spends most of his time coming very short, into zones where opponents aren’t inclined to follow, before playing killer passes from deep. On other occasions, he sprints into the channels to provide a goal threat, or he waits for others to collect forward passes, and then receives simple balls to feet. In a way, opponents are actually quite successful at preventing him receiving the ball between the lines — but that’s not enough to stop him dominating games.

FA to investigate object-throwing by Tottenham fans during Chelsea game https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5978951/2024/12/08/tottenham-objects-Chelsea-fa/ The FA will investigate after objects were thrown onto the pitch during Tottenham Hotspur’s 4-3 home defeat by Chelsea on Sunday. Objects were thrown multiple times from the South Stand — an area only home fans occupy — during the first half of the match, while Chelsea were attacking that end of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez, Jadon Sancho and Pedro Neto were among those targeted while they took set pieces or were in action near the goal. The FA will now review referee Anthony Taylor’s report on the match and investigate. Chelsea won the game despite being 2-0 down after 11 minutes, thanks to Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski. Two goals from Palmer, as well as one each from Sancho and Fernandez, then had Chelsea 4-2 up before Son Heung-min scored a late consolation for Tottenham. Both sides return to action on Thursday, with Spurs playing Rangers away in the Europa League and Chelsea facing Astana in Kazakhstan in the Conference League. GO DEEPER The Briefing: Tottenham 3 Chelsea 4: Sancho shines as Spurs crumble and Maresca's side go second in table

Chelsea’s Josh Acheampong close to signing new contract – Enzo Maresca https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5986239/2024/12/11/Chelsea-josh-acheampong-contract/ Enzo Maresca has confirmed Chelsea academy graduate Josh Acheampong is close to signing a new contract and is set start his first senior game for the club against Astana tomorrow night. The Athletic exclusively reported in October that the 18-year-old had been frozen out of all Chelsea teams because negotiations over a new deal had broken down. But there have been increasing signs of a reconciliation in recent weeks as Acheampong trained with the senior squad ahead of their Conference League match at Heidenheim a fortnight ago. The defender also played for the Under-21 side for the first time in two months when he came on as a substitute against Derby County on November 29. Acheampong’s contract runs out in 2026 but Maresca believes an extension is nearly finalised. He said: “With Josh it is all quite clear. We all love Josh, the club loves Josh, I love Josh and we are trying to find an agreement. We are close, we are almost there. We’ll see.” GO DEEPER Do Chelsea need to upgrade in the transfer market to become title contenders? A further indication of the teenager’s improved situation is he is in line to face Astana in Chelsea’s UEFA Conference match in Kazakhstan. Maresca added: “He is in the squad and is probably going to play from the start.” Maresca also confirmed a number of senior players will be left behind so they can concentrate on preparing for the Premier League fixture at home to Brentford on Sunday. One of the players who is remaining at Cobham is winger Noni Madueke, who is expected to start at the weekend due to Pedro Neto being suspended. GO DEEPER Chelsea squad audit: Analysing the 33-player group and their roles under Enzo Maresca

a new MILF for cosmic: Trump's new US ambassador to Greece

this must be the longest in-season round trip Chels has had since the 2012 FWCC in Tokyo (GRRRRR) and that fucking shit American friendly match in May 2019, where RLC destroyed his achilles on edit the Boston match was not as far away as this one

yep it's a weak year, but they are, atm, clearly the best team on the planet atm hopefully a last harrah for VVD, Salah, Alisson, and TAA

now if only Pool blow up and leave that cunt Carra in tears

Micah Richards almost crying love to see it

Squad Al Ahly FC # Player Date of birth/Age Nat. Market value 1 Mohamed El Shenawy Goalkeeper Dec 18, 1988 (35) €1.80m 31 Oufa Shobeir Goalkeeper Mar 17, 2000 (24) €600k 16 Hamza Alaa Goalkeeper Mar 1, 2001 (23) €150k 37 Mostafa Makhlouf Goalkeeper May 16, 2003 (21) €75k 15 Achraf Dari Centre-Back May 6, 1999 (25) €2.00m 5 Rami Rabia Centre-Back May 20, 1993 (31) €800k 6 Yasser Ibrahim Centre-Back Feb 10, 1993 (31) €600k 4 Yousef Aymen Centre-Back Mar 21, 1999 (25) €350k 34 Moataz Mohamed Centre-Back Mar 19, 2005 (19) €50k 18 Yahia Attiyat Allah Left-Back Mar 2, 1995 (29) €2.20m 21 Ali Maâloul Left-Back Jan 1, 1990 (34) €500k 33 Karim El Debes Left-Back Jun 3, 2003 (21) €250k 30 Mohamed Hany Right-Back Jan 25, 1996 (28) €1.50m 3 Omar Kamal Right-Back Sep 29, 1993 (31) €1.20m 2 Khaled Abdelfattah Right-Back Jan 22, 1999 (25) €200k 13 Marwan Ateya Defensive Midfield Aug 1, 1998 (26) €2.20m 36 Ahmed Kouka Defensive Midfield Jul 4, 2001 (23) €800k 26 Mostafa Aboul-Kheir Defensive Midfield Jan 1, 2004 (20) €50k 22 Emam Ashour Central Midfield Feb 20, 1998 (26) €3.00m 8 Akram Tawfik Central Midfield Nov 8, 1997 (27) €1.00m 17 Amr El Solia Central Midfield Apr 2, 1990 (34) €500k 23 Omar El Saaiy Central Midfield Jan 1, 2003 (21) €450k 20 Karim Nedved Central Midfield Aug 8, 1997 (27) €250k 19 Afsha Attacking Midfield Mar 6, 1996 (28) €1.20m 14 Hussein El Shahat Left Winger Jun 21, 1992 (32) €800k 29 Taher Mohamed Left Winger Mar 7, 1997 (27) €350k 12 Reda Slim Right Winger Oct 25, 1999 (25) €2.00m 10 Percy Tau Right Winger May 13, 1994 (30) €1.50m 28 Karim Fouad Right Winger Oct 1, 1999 (25) €600k 38 Mohamed Abdallah Right Winger Jan 1, 2005 (19) €100k 9 Wessam Abou Ali Centre-Forward Jan 4, 1999 (25) €3.00m 7 Kahraba Centre-Forward Apr 13, 1994 (30) €800k 32 Samir Mohamed Centre-Forward Sep 4, 2003 (21) -

would love to see Al Ahly beat Real in the final best overal African side (155 total trophies, including 25 continental ones) in the history of footie there versus best Euro (and world) side in history

Citeh ONE win in their last ten games just wow

Elon Musk Gloats as Trump Announces Billionaires Will Be Exempt From Normal Environmental Rules "This is awesome." https://futurism.com/elon-musk-trump-billionaires-exempt-environmental-rules SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is dancing with joy now that his new father figure Donald Trump has promised him that he will no longer have to abide by the pesky environmental rules that apply to lowly commoners. On Tuesday, president-elect Donald Trump announced in a Truth Social post that any "person or company" investing $1 billion or more in the US would "receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental [sic] approvals." "GET READY TO ROCK!!!" Trump exclaimed. "This is awesome," gloated Musk, the world's richest man, on X-formerly-Twitter, which he also owns. The unusual pronouncement makes it sound as though there will soon be two sets of environmental rules in the US: one for the wealthy, and one for everybody else. The initiative — if it actually happens, which is always a question with Trump — will also likely dovetail with his efforts to roll back environmental protections to pave the way for fossil fuel production. Trump's pick for Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, is a climate change skeptic, which means we should expect an even bigger emphasis on oil and gas production. Meanwhile, the president-elect has called for the US to "drill, baby, drill," while calling the environmental protection initiative known as the Green New Deal the "green new scam" and a "waste" of money. For his part, Musk has increasingly turned a blind eye to protecting the environment as his public politics have shifted. Previously, the billionaire had vowed to "expedite the move from a mine-and-burn hydrocarbon economy towards a solar electric economy, which I believe to be the primary, but not exclusive, sustainable solution" in his 2006 "Secret Master Plan" climate manifesto — which was quietly deleted from the EV maker's website earlier this year. Musk, who was once hailed as a pioneer in our efforts to electrify cars to save humankind from climate change, has become a poster child for flouting environmental rules. Just last month, the Wall Street Journal found that Tesla's factory in Austin had been leaking hazardous wastewater into the city's sewer, violating local environmental guidelines. SpaceX's operations at its "Starbase" in South Texas have also repeatedly run afoul of environmental rules by threatening a nearby nature reserve, including the wildlife that lives there, with its thunderous Starship rocket launches. The space company was sued in October over unpermitted wastewater discharges. That's not to mention the chemicals that many researchers believe SpaceX's thousands of Starlink satellites are releasing in the Earth's upper atmosphere as they burn up after their useful lives, a strain on the environment that scientists are only beginning to understand. Musk has also railed against the Federal Aviation Administration, with SpaceX suing the regulator for "regulatory overreach." In a bigger sense, Trump is also saying the quiet part out loud by announcing that only companies with a billion dollars to throw around will be allowed to flout environmental rules, leaving everyone else out in the cold. In other words, the richest men in the world are being served even more rights on a silver platter — at the expense of the American people who will suffer the consequences. "What about us small business owners?" one X user replied to Musk. More on SpaceX and the environment: Elon Musk Slammed for Filling Orbit With Space Junk

Tammy wins the game for Milan

Barca win 2 3 Groß blew the game

when she does the hoe stroll in her stripper heels she will make Greek dicks shiver

Pep in the dirt 2 nil loss to Juve

fuck 2 3 Barca Pascal Groß with a horror pass he has been HORRID since he came on

Dortmund are all over Barca that massive crowd is going bonkers

2 2 Dortmund scored Guirassy on a hat trick

Citeh have not won an away game in almost 8 weeks

Arse up 2 nil now Saka on a hat trick

Citeh down 2 nil

2 1 Barca