King Kante

Must be, he was holding his knee after the collision. What is more confusing is how he stayed on. Anyway, this is a annoying injury for him as it takes him out of the run in and pre-season.

The problem is twofold. First is that too many people love to play fantasy manager and list all the players that they want us to buy and sell. When doing this I suspect a lot of them haven't really seen some of the players that they quote but because they have watched a couple of highlights, maybe a game or two, read the hype online and possibly played some game in which they become a great player, they must be had. I mean this is why you get people even beating up on someone like Mount who has shown a amazing dedication and has been run into the ground this season and sometimes they will even post a prospective line up for next year with only 1-3 players from this season in it. The second is that Tammy does have a few faults in his game that need ironing out. My main gripes are his off the ball running as from some reason he checks or stops his runs far too often and second is finishing as he is currently in the Andy Cole sort of situation where he needs three chances to get one goal. For me, Tammy has done well this season and next season having Giroud, Tammy and Werner as our options will be ok as that will give Tammy another year to prove he is cut out for the top end of the PL. Also, Tammy apparently has three years left as there was some clause that got activated when he played/scored a certain amount of goals: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2020/07/10/revealed-clause-means-tammy-abraham-has-three-years-chelsea/ So there is also no need to think he has to be sold now to get best value.

I say it is interesting due to the old Conte v Granny arguments. Chelsea fans seem to be split into two camps, with one group believing Granny carried out Conte's instructions and another which believing Conte didn't get any of his first choice players even though he won the league and to say he was responsible for Summer 17 isn't fair. Comments like this indicate that she does have the power to not do what is recommended by those below her.

Interesting. The way he says it, it is clear that Granny must have a serious amount of power. When asked the question he almost laughs. For me, this kind of confirms what I have always suspected, the scouts/managers/coaches can recommend players but Granny can veto it or go in another direction. For me, the only reason why things look to be changing is due to Cech being in there.

If we get Harvetz, what would everyone say we need after that? My money would be on: LB1 (Telles), CB1 (not sure who, De Ligt is the dream but not happening) GK1/2 (i.e. someone that can push Kepa - here I would go for a experienced GK). AM - Willian gets a 2 year renewal. As for outs, I would have: Emerson, Zouma/AC, Barkley, Bakayoko, Pedro, Batsh*t. Loan Gilmour (if Jorgi is not sold, I'd prefer him to have 90 minutes week in, week out - Spain/Germany would probably be best), Amapdu (PL this time), Broja, Anjorin, Maatsen.

Injured his ankle again. Got the feeling his ankle may end up being like Essien's knee. Really starting to feel for him if this keeps him out for long. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8505707/amp/Eden-Hazard-forced-pull-Real-Madrid-training-match-ankle-injury.html

Pope is great at controlling his box but he is a pretty poor shot stopper.

I do not believe this for a second but in the very unlikely situation it is true, you would have to imagine that player was Batsh*t.

Yeah, this is going to be a real problem for us. I have watched their last two games and they were causing Wolves and Burnley trouble in the air. God knows what they are going to do to us. For that reason, I would go with the team that is the biggest/strongest. My team would be as follows: Kepa Dave. Rudi. Zouma. Alonso Jorgi Kante/Barkley. Mount Willian. Giroud. Puli For me Alonso needs to come in for James. I am not someone that thinks James has been that bad but at the moment he isn't producing anything over Alonso and we can do with Alonso for set pieces. As for Gilmour, again I thought against Palace he was ok, maybe a little naive, but not bad like some made out. However, in this game we need to keep the ball away from them in the final 1/3rd and Jorgi is our best passer. As for Willian, he has to start for me as unlike CHO he is very good at keeping possession. Sure, he only will score a penalty but in this game turn overs will be crucial so he has to play for me. As for AC, I do rate him as our best CB as he actually knows how to read the game and is always in position, however for this one we need the players that get their head to the ball best, so that is Rudi and Zouma for me.

You would also think that with the opportunity to win the EL in 4 games, with all being one off games, which would then give them access to the CL and an extra £50m, they would take the risk. Personally, if I am Bayer, I am taking the risk. Against Rangers, they will not need to play him, then in the QF they could get an easy draw, which would then mean they may only need him for two games at most. For me, it would be an insane decision to sell before hand as the chance of a serious injury is actually quite low.

I think it is slightly different situation. Werner had a clause that was expiring that we had to activate. Once we activated it, it meant we had to start paying him. Harvetz on the other hand has no such clause and is under contract. Therefore, Bayer can just sell after the EL. It does not really make much sense for them to do it before that as it is not like they will lose money if he stays for an extra month.

Good. However, the problem still rears it's head then. For me, Said B is not really a gamble we should be taking, unless he really is a great player. As I said, I have only watched Brentford via the highlights on Sky, so I cannot say I have seen enough of him to form a judgement. However, £30-35m for a Champo player seems excessive to me when there are other options that have been playing at a higher level.

I do not know. AM is probably one of the most demanding positions due to the amount of work that they have to put in. If we just have CHO, Puli and Ziyech then we are down to the bare bones, as 'Arry would say, with one injury/suspension/AfCoN. To be honest, an ideal for me right now would be to sign Willian for one more year as he could tide us over whilst Ziyech beds in and hopefully CHO can kick on. However, he appears to be a bit of a joker and seriously want three years.

I think it will come down to whether FFP is actually legal. For that reason I think they may have a chance of overturning it. FFP is essentially a cartel system set up by the biggest clubs and is contrary to EU law.

Just finished watching the Sheff Utd game. We are going to have to ensure we do not let them get any set pieces or corners, they were dominating Wolves tonight in the air. I hate to think what they'll do to us. If SFL was watching that I can really see him thinking of starting Barkley, Alonso and Rudi.

Yeah, this is the problem. He looks great here but once you put him in against a City or any team that presses well he falls apart. He is kind of like the opposite of AC, where AC is a wimp, he is strong, where he cannot read the game, AC can etc, etc. Last night I actually gave him MotM in the poll as I love nothing more than the type of tackle he put in on Benteke, however when watching the highlights, the only reason he had to do that was because of his positioning which allowed Benteke in. Further, for the first goal he really needs to be stepping out and closing Zaha down as he has Dave and AC in position either side of him. Kepa and James where obviously more at fault for that goal but Zouma did have some blame as he did look to go then for some reason decided not too.

Personally I have been impressed with him since I saw him the first time down SB (I have a season ticket). I had seen him a little at DM and I thought that whilst he had a lot of potential he also wasn't all that clinical (although I realised he did have very good reading of the game as he has always known when to lay the ball off when someone else has a better chance.) However, when I saw him play live what struck me was his desire and how quick he actually was. I have been fortunate to witness the debuts of Robben, Hazard and Pulisic and whilst I still rate Robben as having biggest first impression on me but I would definitely say that Puli's was second (even if Hazard was more involved in the game for his.) Lastly, what I loved about last nights finish was how it contrasted with his one against City. Last nights finish was a controlled power hit with his left, whilst he one against City was a cultured curler at speed with his right. The difficulty level of both shots were both reasonably high, yet he executed both perfectly, now that is really special as normally you would expect them to come from his stronger foot. As ever we need to see how he develops and if he he can keep himself fit before we all get too excited about him but in his current form he is showing a very high ceiling.

I am not too sure about this transfer if true - although that may be due to my own ignorance as I have only caught Brentford on the highlights Sky put up on there website, so I have not seen enough of him. Personally, I think he is a bit of a risk as he has only been Champo football and, at a reported £30-£35m, he is hardly cheap. A further thing that confuses me is that he would presumably come in as a AM3/4 and be behind Puli and Ziyech and fighting it out with CHO. As a result, one of the principal times we need him (when Ziyech goes off to the ACoN) he will also be off to play for Algeria. On top of this, we also currently have a buyout of £13m'ish for Boga and then you have someone like Torres as Valencia who is going into their last year (although with Torres I am not sure we would be the right club for him as we already have two young AM's, he is pretty lightweight and I can imagine Barca and Real will be after him.) Then you also have someone like Gallagher who has shown a lot of promise coming through (although I want him to stay on loan for another 1-2 years.) All in all, if we are looking for a AM3/4 I think there are better options out there, unless this bloke is a real top talent but somehow found himself in the Champo at 24.

I would be interested to know what the actual transfer budget it. Sure we got Hazard and Morata money and some money left over from not being able to spend. However, surely this Covid business has taken it toll on the finances?

Yeah, Ramsey have fuc* off. He is 29, injury prone, on £400k a week and is boarderline lightweight. I do actually think he is a good player but he is certainly one we do not need. De Ligt would be a dream but I do not see it. We would have to chuck in Jorgi, Emerson and some money to pull that one off and even then, I do not see Juve going for it. As for Kai, we'll see. I have not really been buying into the links as I believe 99% of sport journalism is now just click bait. However, if we do get him the worry will be what is left in the budget for defence and the GK. They are surely the biggest priorities right now.

So, as I am bored and cannot get to sleep I thought I would take a look at what Leicester fans think of Chilwell as I simply cannot believe some people think he is worth anything over £30m. Here are some of the things they say: His erraticness in the final 3rd is every bit as bad as Jeffrey Schlupp's, but to be fair at least Chilwell was never a striker in his early years so its not been his main priority when learning his craft. I just struggle to believe his end product will improve enough to be considered one of the best left backs in the league and Europe, which is what the media are alluding he is given the prices bandied about. Happily sell, we've often looked more of a cohesive team without him just like we did without Maguire last season when he was unavailable. He is the one asset we could afford to lose and it not make us immediately weaker. £55m + add ons and i'd have a lockdown party. I think Chillwell has a real lack of footballing intelligence. He doesn't see the pictures on the pitch that the best players see. He's got so much pace and ability to dribble yet he rarely tries to beat a player and pull the ball back. It's probably his greatest ability and he doesn't use it. It's infuriating. Well if we didn't replace him we would become immediately weaker. Whenever Fuchs plays you appreciate what Chillwell offers in actually getting us up the field, Fuchs barely crosses the half way line these days. We could absolutely sign a replacement that would be cheaper and improve the position though. It's so annoying because he's so close but he has the ball much more in the opponents half and doesn't seem to improving in this area. If I was Rodgers, I'd have him up against a couple of the u23s with the sole aim of bursting past them and putting hard low cross into a dangerous area. He reminds me of Schlupp so much. The amount of time i'm willing him to just knock it past a right back, sprint past him and whip a cross in. It's like he doesn't realise he's rapid. Happy to see chilwell leave. Of all the players linked with moved away he’s probably the most replaceable and least important. So if he’s the important player that leaves this year I’ll take that. Just hope we can get telles in. That would be a major upgrade.

I would keep the same team but have Jorgi and Alonso start for Gilmour and James. If Kova is fit, then maybe start him ahead of Barkley.

I actually game Zouma MotM as I love a hard tackle like he put in but you're right he is partly at fault for that and on the first one he also needs to be stepping out and closing down Zaha as both Dave and AC are in position; further everyone knows Kepa is a complete clown so ir is not like you can trust him to save a shot on target. Today again just emphasised how bad our CB's are. All three (Tomori I am excluding at this moment due to small sample size) are really only adequate for a CB3/4 role. Rudi has the heart but no brain, AC has the positioning and reading but is a wimp and Zouma has the athleticism and strength but cannot read the game nor pass under pressure. So, whilst we can all say play any one of the possible combinations, we still produce pure comedy gold moments as each one is flawed. Yeah, Rudi has been dire this season. Only reason I think he has escaped criticism until recently is because he shouts and brings some enthusiasm which pretty much makes him the only one in the back line that does it.

That game really showed the worst of us. We score three, but we must've had a xg6 or something. From off the top of my head we had: Willian miss at 2-0, Zouma free header miss at 1-0, Giroud free header 2-1, Tammy scuff 3-2, Mount to the bottom corner 3-2, Willian block 3-2. Then at the back we provided yet more comedy gold moments. Kepa not able to save a shot straight at him, AC bamboozled by a slight turn of pace, Tammy giving the ball away cheaply at 2-1 etc. Tbh, if we get CL I will be amazed, we are so sloppy. Oh, and Jorgi needs to start.

Yeah, remind me not to suggest bets to you again! 😅 As for the game, Mount and Puli have been stars. Giroud doing well when the ball goes into him and I do not think Gilmour is actually playing that badly. As for there goal, this is way have have been slaughtering Kepa. He is dog sh*t in every area - can't kick, can't save, can't catch, can't boss his six yard area because he is a pussy, is funsized with t-rex arms etc. Any decent GK saves that. However, there are others at fault, James gave the ball away cheaply, Gilmour went and chased the ball rather than stay in position and Zouma holds off instead of stepping out to close the space and not allowed the shot. All in all, just cementing what we know, our GK and defence is now the absolute No.1 priority in the transfer market.