Vesper

Well I feel the reverse, so we are at loggerheads, lol and again, congrats on the birth of your granddaughter 💖

Exclusive: Chelsea eye January loan deal for Joao Felix A winger is high on Graham Potter's agenda in January, but he also wants a centre-back who can compete for a first-team place https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2022/12/26/Chelsea-transfer-news-graham-potter-eyes-joao-felix-january/ Chelsea are looking at a deal for Atletico Madrid Joao Felix on an initial loan to bolster Graham Potter’s attack for the second half of the season. Felix, 23, is available at the right price when the transfer window opens next week and, according to Spanish sources, Atletico are braced for an offer from Chelsea as they look to climb back into the Champions League places. Potter’s targets for January include a centre-back to compete for a first-team place but a winger is high on his agenda to support an attack that has scored 17 goals in the Premier League this season. Chelsea are considering a loan with an option or obligation to buy in the summer, depending on the terms Atletico want for Felix’s departure after the Portugal international’s four seasons in Madrid following his move from Benfica in a deal worth more than £100 million. After falling out of favour under Diego Simeone – he has only started one Champions League match since September – Atletico are not expecting to recoup the fee they paid in 2019, when Felix was also on the radar of other Premier League teams. While Chelsea’s rivals have been monitoring Felix, chairman Todd Boehly is believed to be willing to move swiftly for a deal. Felix would compete as a left-sided forward who can also play on the right, with Kai Havertz in the frame to play as a central forward. Despite being out of favour with his club, Félix started in four games at the World Cup for Portugal and scored in their opening victory over Ghana, with his reputation still high among clubs around Europe. With Potter looking to add a centre-back to his squad in January, Monaco’s Benoit Badiashile is in his sights, with the France international expected to cost more than £30m. Chelsea are long-term admirers of RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol but the Croatia centre-back has other European teams now looking to compete for his signature.

I absolutely think she nixed some deals (sales and buys) and forced others through (mainly buys I wager), when the rubber met the road

Really? 5 times at CB is mainly? and only 2 of those 5 were full game as a starter (one in the CL, one in that League Cup loss to Citeh) you can call us buying a horse actually buying a duck, but that horse still wont have feathers and a bill, nor webbed feet

congrats m8!!

start it around 8: 30 or so (the whole podcast is fascinating tbf) he lays out a cogent case for it all (and this was not the first time he has talked about it) Matt Law has zero reason to lie, for ages he was as close as one could get to be THE insider on Chels, in terms of reporters She had to sign off on all major footballing decisions, including transfers, and of course she was in charge of contracts too she was also the one who also flew off the Italy and had her road run by Juve, Inter, et al. going back to at least the Juve with that Alex Sandro nightmare ages ago shew also turned down Real's £55m offter for Alonso and Barcas £45m for Azpi back when we were just leaving Australia (pre season) years ago I do not forget these things

Matt Law settled that issue ages ago, she DID control football and transfer decisions every few months (thankfully less lately) this always comes up

he is not a CB! that is just gaslighting to try and claim that lol no matter how much people wish he was or claim he is, he is NOT a CB, even when he plays in a back 3 he doesnt play a true role, plus he is so short he make Lisandro Martinez look tall IF we play him every game in back 3 or back 4 as a CB, we will finish down around 11th or so (at best)

3? we only signed Wesley Fofana and Kalidou Koulibaly both were mistakes and we are already shopping KK

copycat, LOLOL

yes

'I am not sure I would want them to be honest': Jurgen Klopp rules out trying to sign a player seeking Champions League football next season if Liverpool fail to qualify - with Jude Bellingham among his transfer targets Liverpool currently sit sixth in the league, seven points outside the top four Champions League football can play a big factor in attracting top players Jurgen Klopp isn't sure he would be interested in players who didn't want it https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-11572339/Jurgen-Klopp-rules-signing-player-seeking-Champions-League-Liverpool-fail-qualify.html

Fans slam 'RIDICULOUS' decision to award Darwin Nunez man of the match after the Liverpool striker missed a hatful of chances against Aston Villa... but Jurgen Klopp insists the Uruguayan had an 'incredible' game and it was 'unfair' that he didn't score Darwin Nunez was given the man of the match award against Aston Villa The Liverpool striker missed a number of chances during Liverpool's win Some fans feel it was 'ridiculous' that he got the man of the match award However, he also troubled Villa's defence throughout the match Some fans have backed him to come good if he is given time to shine Jurgen Klopp has also backed Nunez, and felt he was 'incredible' against Villa https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-11575155/Fans-slam-RIDICULOUS-call-award-Liverpools-Darwin-Nunez-man-match-against-Aston-Villa.html

use Football Manager, lololol

we cocked it all up when Marina said Tchou was not ready 2 years ago Rice is not in his league and has regressed we should have sold Kante and purchased Tchou right after we won the CL in 2021, his value was still fairly high then we could have gotten close to double for Kante what Tchou would have cost then and Kante was already exhibiting injuries in the 2019/20 season the writing was on the wall #facts

he was utter dogshite today

Marcel Brands revenge for Everton sacking him

Liverpool 'to open Cody Gakpo talks as price-tag set' for World Cup star Dutch forward Cody Gakpo grabbed his third goal in as many games against Qatar this afternoon 16:14, 29 NOV 2022 https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/liverpool-to-open-cody-gakpo-25633016 SPOR

people here slated Gapko in the past we have never really been linked to him and yet now, AFTER we signed Nkunku, people are going to go all badmind? tief nuh like si nedah man wid bag

What Chelsea can expect from Datro Fofana: exciting dribbler but very raw https://theathletic.com/4027734/2022/12/25/datro-fofana-Chelsea/ Chelsea’s striker search was made more urgent by Armando Broja’s serious knee injury, so it’s tempting to look at the club’s move to acquire David Datro Fofana from Norwegian champions Molde as Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital acting decisively to reinforce Graham Potter’s squad in January. The reality is likely to be rather different. “In terms of his football development, I didn’t expect him to be moving anywhere this winter, let alone Chelsea,” says Steve Wyss, Scandinavian football expert and contributor to The Nordic Football Podcast. “I thought he needed another half-year at Molde, and then usually the route from Scandinavia leads to Belgium. “He’s the sort of player you’d expect to end up at Genk or Gent, where the coaching is known for being good for attacking players and you can score goals against mediocre defences. Then from there you move to the next level. You rarely see a player signed from a Scandinavian league directly into the Premier League. It just doesn’t happen anymore. “His ceiling is quite high, because he does have that X factor. He’s still very raw right now though, so I’d be expecting a loan move.” It’s better to look at Fofana as part of the larger youth-recruitment drive that saw deals agreed for Carney Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei and Gabriel Slonina last summer, with Vasco da Gama starlet Andrey Santos soon to join them at Cobham. More are likely to follow. The man nicknamed — somewhat unfairly — “The Ivorian Mbappe” lit up Norway’s Eliteserien in 2022, scoring 15 goals in 24 appearances as Molde won their first title in three years. Brighton had been tracking his progress closely, but it is Chelsea — who perhaps not coincidentally have former Brighton employees Kyle Macauley and Paul Winstanley prominent in their new-look recruitment structure — who moved fastest to sign him. But what are Chelsea getting with Fofana? Let’s take a closer look… Fofana struggled in his first year at Molde, failing to score a league goal in 2021. “He was relegated to the bench quite a lot, he had injuries, there were rumours that he wasn’t training very well,” explains Wyss. “Settling into a new country wasn’t easy, and in that first year, there was a feeling that he might be a flop. “It didn’t help that Molde already had a good striker called Ohi Omoijuanfo who he couldn’t displace in the team. He impressed in the cups, but the first year overall was poor. He was promoted to the top striker at the start of 2022 and this year has been a lot better for him.” As the lead striker at Molde this season, Fofana has been given more freedom to play on the shoulder of the last defender —where his speed makes him a constant threat in behind — and drift into wider areas — where his skill with the ball at his feet makes him a problem to deal with in one-v-one situations. Using smarterscout, which creates a statistical profile of a footballer using ratings from zero to 99 to show how often they perform a specific action compared to others playing in their position or how effective they are at it, we can see that Fofana stands out in all the traditional attacking metrics when deployed up front — but also that his dribbling and ball retention are well above average for a forward. A lot of his open-play goals in 2022 came from situations similar to this one against Elfsborg: transition opportunities against scrambled defences where he is either given the ball with space to run into, or supporting a team-mate who can then find him with a low cross or cutback to score. Here, he takes the diagonal through ball into his stride with his first touch… …before using his second to flick it into the far corner over the onrushing goalkeeper with the outside of his right foot. Fofana’s ability to beat defenders with the ball at his feet is his most eye-catching skill, and one that at times enables him to turn a good transition attack into a great one. Here, he chests the ball down inside his own half with three defenders between him and the opposition goal and, as the first approaches him, simply flicks it over his head. He weaves past a second defender to isolate the third, and from here, a brief hesitation followed by a burst of speed gets him running clear into the penalty area… … where he dinks the ball over the sprawled goalkeeper, then still has time to run around him and poke it over the line. Even from a relatively stationary position, Fofana’s speed and skill give him the ability to create enough separation to get his shot away. Here, aware of more pressure from his left… … he quickly explodes to his right and squeezes a low shot just inside the far post. Fofana’s strength and tenacity make him even harder for defenders to deal with in these situations. Here, he is successfully tackled by one defender, with the other behind him primed to take possession of the ball… … but having quickly regained his footing, Fofana spins around and manages to get his body between the ball and the defender behind him, winning it back. A burst of acceleration then takes him past the other defender in front of him… … into a position where he has two team-mates in scoring positions to his left waiting for a cutback. He instead takes the harder option of lifting a shot over the goalkeeper from a very tight angle, and manages to pull it off to score. Fofana’s decision-making in these situations can often leave team-mates throwing their arms up in frustration. His ability to create a shooting chance for himself against any Eliteserien defender can sometimes mean he fails to recognise others in better scoring positions. “I wouldn’t call it a selfish element but it is a bit of tunnel vision, where once he’s locked into one of his dribbles, he’s thinking ‘I’m going to score the goal’,” Wyss says. “If he’s going to become this player who is setting up others and being a creative force, he’s going to need to improve the mental aspect. It’s what you’d expect of a raw 20-year-old.” This, for example, should probably be a low cross to one of two unmarked team-mates, rather than a shot hammered into the near-post side netting. Here he is leading an attack with unmarked runners left and right — and the team-mate to his left is clearly trying to attract Fofana’s attention… … but Fofana instead goes it alone and though he does very well to create a good shooting window between multiple defenders — a shot he skews wide — against the higher calibre opponents that he will face in the coming years, a pass is the best option here. When he does get his head up, Fofana shows signs that he is very capable of seeing and executing incisive passes. Here, he has two team-mates to his left, but recognises an avenue of space opening for a through ball that directly creates a goal. “In time, he might not even be a player you rely on to score, but he can stretch the game and bring others into play,” Wyss says. Fofana’s finishing is best described as erratic; interspersed with his most impressive goals at Molde in 2022 were some very bad misses. Here, unmarked in the penalty area and with the ball at a nice height for him to find the far corner, he makes the classic mistake of leaning back and blazing over the bar: And here, running clean through on goal against Shamrock Rovers, he doesn’t open up his body enough as he tries a side-footed finish towards the far post. It instead rolls too close to the goalkeeper, who gets down to his left to make a fairly comfortable save: These are things that can be corrected with the right guidance. “Moving to a new club might help him because finishing is the sort of thing really good coaching can improve,” Wyss says. “I don’t think he’s lacking technically. It’s more about decision-making, composure, things like that.” If he does become more polished, there is a good chance that Fofana could become a very dangerous finisher — not least because he is dangerous shooting with either foot. Though predominantly right-footed, he has no hesitation about chopping the ball onto his left foot to get away from a defender’s block attempt here, before side-footing into the bottom corner. But the main reason Fofana attracted so much attention at Molde before Chelsea moved to sign him is his ability to create something from nothing. Here, from a distinctly unpromising starting position near the byeline, he manages to nutmeg his defender, dart infield into the space behind him and shoot high into the top far corner. That is the “X factor” Wyss is referring to, and what Chelsea will be hoping to build upon. The jump in quality from Eliteserien to Premier League football is gargantuan, and Chelsea supporters should calibrate their expectations of the club’s new young striker accordingly. Fofana unquestionably benefited from a mediocre standard of defending in Norway to showcase his best qualities. “He’s the sort of player who you could put into a Premier League match and he might do something special,” Wyss says. “Alternatively, he’s very raw and the logical conclusion is he would need more first-team experience somewhere else. This is the key step for him now: he needs a good coaching setup around him.” Fofana will get that level of support at Cobham, or wherever Chelsea might choose to send him on loan. “He would be a better wide player who cuts inside, Mo Salah-esque,” Wyss adds. “A wide-forward type. I don’t see him being an out-an-out No 9. There are comparisons with Didier Drogba because he’s Ivorian, but he’s nothing like him. “In time, he might not even be a player you rely on to score, but he can stretch the game and bring others into play. One-on-one, as a defender, you’re very frightened because he’s got the physical capacity to beat you and the technical skill. He’s scored the odd goal or two where you think, ‘How has he managed to keep the play alive?’, and he has a knack of winning penalties and fouls in dangerous areas.” Fofana is in many ways indicative of the type of player Chelsea are now targeting under the Boehly-Clearlake ownership: a very promising young talent the club might previously have been happy to pay three or four times the price to acquire once they had spent another two or three years refining their skills elsewhere. He is unlikely to be a significant first-team contributor in the short term but he certainly deserves to be considered one of the more exciting development projects at Cobham.

We really need to finish off the last (and biggest after manager) piece and fill that Sporting Director slot. Still just GUTTED that Christoph Freund turned us down 😓

Look at the team Potter built on a TINY budget at Brighton. He develops players and knows tactics. I watched them a tonne under him, and he is not 'some random bloke'. Our main issue is the players, after 5 plus years of disastrous buying/selling, cocking up contracts, not buying smart, and not knowing when to sell. Marina, for all the trophies at times, slowly let shit build up, and shit away what will end up being around 3/4ers of a billion quid, plus we pulled the plug on the new stadium due to Roman's Putin ties fucking him and us.

Chelsea’s transfer window: Striker is a priority… and there could be departures https://theathletic.com/4004523/2022/12/26/Chelsea-january-transfer-window-striker/ It’s about time Chelsea made a significant January signing again. The winter window is often derided as one reserved for desperate clubs, and Chelsea have been rather quiet in it over recent years. Yet go further back and they have shown good business can be done. Influential players such as Nicolas Anelka, Branislav Ivanovic, David Luiz (the first time), Gary Cahill, Nemanja Matic (the second time) and Olivier Giroud were bought in these cold, short days at mid-season. The club have already started making moves to acquire some young talent with the future in mind but, in their second transfer window, the new regime could do with acquiring an individual of similar quality and character to the names listed above to prompt an upturn in results. How likely is that? The Athletic takes a look. What did Chelsea spend in the last three January windows? 2020: £0 2021: £0 2022: £1.6million ($2m) How much money is likely to be available this month? Chelsea spent more than £250million, a Premier League record, on new players last summer, but that won’t stop them from getting the chequebook out again four months later. The club’s new co-owners are determined to carry on spending to try to make Chelsea more competitive in all three competitions they are still in. The Todd Boehly-Clearlake consortium want Chelsea to secure a top-four finish and so qualify for next season’s Champions League. They are currently in eighth and struggling to fulfil that ambition. The club are also looking at improving the academy squad. How much money they will use obviously depends on what players they’re able to attract. The complication is they are also planning an ambitious recruitment drive for the summer. Despite confidence about meeting financial fair play requirements, they clearly can’t use up all of their budget during January. The other factor in the equation is the split between the funds they are using to invest in teenagers and what is put aside for those able to feature in the first team now. Who makes the key decisions over signings? This is what’s going to be so fascinating at Chelsea, because they have made some key hires in recent months to help put a more cohesive transfer strategy in place. Co-owners Boehly, Behdad Eghbali and Jose Feliciano took charge of matters in the last window, with academy director Neil Bath, who has since been promoted to director of football development and operations, providing some advice. Since then, Chelsea have employed Christopher Vivell (technical director), Paul Winstanley (director of global talent and transfers), Kyle Macauley (recruitment), Joe Shields (who will be co-director of recruitment and talent once gardening leave from Southampton is over) and Laurence Stewart (the technical director, to focus on football globally, once he’s finished his role with Monaco). Graham Potter, who replaced Thomas Tuchel as head coach in September, will also be involved. The intention is for Chelsea to have a collaborative approach, so everyone will get a say. As they’re all new to their jobs, we don’t know yet how well they’re going to combine, nor how much control the co-owners will actually relinquish having had so much influence before. January will provide the first test of the new structure. Which position is the priority? A striker and a centre-back. This was the case even before Armando Broja suffered a knee injury in early December that rules him out for the rest of the season, but losing him has made the situation all the more pressing. Chelsea have already agreed a deal with RB Leipzig to sign France forward Christopher Nkunku for the summer but, as explained above, the club recognise the importance of strengthening their ranks now. With Broja out, they are left with just Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Kai Havertz as options to lead the line. Neither has looked convincing so far this season. Aubameyang, who joined from Barcelona on deadline day in September, has scored just one Premier League goal so far and three overall. Havertz managed four goals between August and November. As my colleague David Ornstein reported, the club are prioritising Monaco’s Benoit Badiashile at centre-half, a young, talented defender who can play on the left side of a back three. Chelsea had been in advanced talks with RB Leipzig for Josko Gvardiol during the previous window but couldn’t agree a price. They wanted to resume talks in the new year, but Badiashile has jumped to the front of the queue. Given N’Golo Kante is not expected back from a hamstring injury until March, another midfielder is also a possibility, while the club are already looking at who could operate as a backup to Reece James at right wing-back. They are in the market for a new goalkeeper, too. Who are plausible targets? Chelsea want to build a squad full of young players, ideally aged 25 and under, so the desire is to find a forward who can play for several years rather than another veteran in the mould of 33-year-old Aubameyang. They are already in advanced talks for Norwegian club Molde’s Ivory Coast international David Datro Fofana but at 19, he is still very raw and unlikely to be ready to make the kind of impact the first team requires straight away. Similarly, they’ve shown intent by going after Borussia Dortmund’s 18-year-old Germany striker Youssoufa Moukoko. Having missed out on Endrick to Real Madrid, they’re now looking at another Brazilian starlet in 17-year-old Vitor Roque, who plays for Athletico Paranaense. As for more high-profile names, Chelsea have been admirers of Rafael Leao since the summer and got to look at him up close in this season’s two Champions League group games against AC Milan. The 23-year-old’s deal expires in 2024 and as yet there are no signs of him signing an extension. His Portugal team-mate Joao Felix, also 23, is unsettled at Atletico Madrid. Neither will come cheap. If they decide to opt for an older, less expensive choice anyway, Memphis Depay won’t cost a lot to prise away from Barcelona, given his contract has just six months left. Regarding midfield, Chelsea are admirers of Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice. Any attempt to get them will have to wait until the summer. Chelsea had a £43million offer for Ajax’s Edson Alvarez rejected four months ago, but intended to try again in January. Significantly, they are in advanced talks with Brazil’s Vasco da Gama for 18-year-old Andrey Santos, plus still have an option to finalise Arsen Zakharyan’s £12.6million switch from Dynamo Moscow, having agreed terms in the summer. That transfer is complicated due to sanctions imposed by FIFA and UEFA preventing Russian players joining other clubs. Who could be heading out? Chelsea could certainly do with bringing some money in via sales to help their accounts. They earned just over £50million from departures in the summer, which only puts a small dent in their outgoings. So who fits the bill now? This might be a good time to cash in on two high-profile players who have been getting increasingly discontent about their roles at Chelsea: Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech. They have started just four Premier League games between them this season, so are very much on the periphery. However, Chelsea now find themselves in a win-win situation. Both players showed good form at the World Cup for the US and Morocco respectively, which might either encourage Potter to use them more often or attract bids from other clubs. Ziyech, who will have just two years left on his contract at the end of this season, is liked by AC Milan, who are considering making a loan bid that includes an option to buy. That isn’t ideal, but it could help with any Leao discussions. His former club Ajax might look again into taking him back, having tried in the summer. Pulisic’s case is more pressing for Chelsea because he has just 18 months left on his deal. Manchester United and Newcastle United continue to be linked with him. Which World Cup star would be perfect for your club? Kylian Mbappe, but that is the stuff of fantasy. Slightly more in reach, but not without difficulty as they’re up against stiff competition, is Dortmund’s Bellingham. The 19-year-old is exactly what Chelsea need to make their midfield one to be more feared again and due to his young age, could make a difference for several years.