King Kante

That is a strong Leicester line up. Make them favourites for today.

It may be that he isn't 100% fit. When he has played since the restart he hasn't seemed that sharp to me. Jorgi I am not that surprised about as I thought Gilmour would start. Real surprise to me is no RLC as I would've thought SFL would want to give him minutes and Willian starting again as I would've gone with Pedro.

Not too sure about some of those signings. Onana is a problem as he has to disappear once every two years for six weeks, which is a massive problem at GK. Rice is a project if we buy him and not someone that will come in and do an immediate job, which is kind of what we need in the CB role. As for Tagilifico there are serious questions about his physicality and athleticism and whether he would be able to handle the PL. In my book Telles is a much smarter buy and even though I am not a fan at all I may even say Chilwell is preferable as we cannot go through another cycle of 'buy a FB and see if they adapt'. If we are doing that just go with Alonso and Maatsen next year I really cannot be bothered with another weak arse FB like Zappa, Baba and Emerson who ends up sitting around.

I cannot take the shirt seriously with such a ugly, big arse number on the front. If they are planning on planting this is every shirt, it looks highly doubtful I'll be buying another shirt anytime soon. That said, my last was the 2015/16 home shirt so I am probably not exactly the target market.

I do not disagree with your arguement and I think a big thing that has been forgotten is that in a relatively short amount of time, the Dippers and to a lesser extent City (who were instead under performing) have come a long way. However, there are a few things they did that meant they improved rapidly: 1) They replaced the clowns that they had in goal. This I think is the single biggest issue facing us. The Dippers and City had Karius/Mignolet/Bravo/Hart (so Kepa sort of level GK's) in goal and replaced them with Ederson/Alisson. The difference has been like night and day. However, our problem is some bright spark thought he was worth £72m on £190k pw on 7 years. Not too sure how we can afford anything other than a Foster/Fabianski level GK. 2) Both got their CB1 position sorted. City tbf already had Kompany but then got Laporte who sorted their backline out and would've kept them closer to City if he didn't get injured, Dippers got VVD, which doesn't need explaining. We face a problem in that there is no obvious CB (who is buyable) out there. I mean even Romagnoli (who is possibly the highest ranked than could be available) isn't that strong or fast and could look a little lost in the PL. 3) They got there FB's positions sorted. Here our biggest problem is LB in that we need someone who can play LB in a 4. RB, also requires James to pull a TAA. For this we have to get things right and not dick about. Dave and Alonso are great in certain situations but against teams that we have 60% possession against we are still lacking. 4) Recruitment hit a period where a higher proportion of singings paid off over 3 summers and they filled the correct holes - Dippers: Salah, Alisson, VVD, Fabinho, Robinson, Ox. City: Ederson, Walker, Laporte, B.Silva, Sane, Zinchencko, Jesus, Gungdogan. For me, this will be hard for us to ascertain for another 18 months or so as we need to see how, Puli/Werner/Ziyech/Kova adapt/improve and how the young boys, particularly James/Mount/Tammy develop. Further, we have to hope that the potential other signings (LB/CB) are hits.

I really do not see why Sancho himself would move this Summer, from every angle he is better off staying at Dortmund, as staying at Dortmund gives him; 1) CL football 2) Assurances that he will be one of the first names on the team sheet 3) A £190k a week wage - due to his fee being £100m+ this year, I do not see him greatly increasing on that. 4) He waits another year, his fee goes down but his signing on fee/wage goes up significantly. 5) Dortmund have more chance of winning the Bundesliga than Utd (the only team I can see buying him this year) have of winning the PL. For me, moving this year is insanity on his part.

Yeah, but Bayern do not do big transfers. Even if they did sell those two, they would expect Kai to wait at least another year before ponying up for him. That is the Bayern way.

Yeah but in one off games it gives them a much better chance. It is why I am strongly considering a cheeky bet on Atalanta in the CL as they just go back and forth on teams like Newcastle did under Keegan.

Leverkusen still have the Ropey League so they could qualify via that.

He is apparently on £110k a week or something. If that is true, he is not being sold as no one will give him that unless we give him away. For me, the Summer deal to do at LB is to sell Emerson and buy Telles.

I am possibly Kepa's biggest detractor on here but that shot from KDB was unsavable.

With games coming every 3/4 days we need to be pragmatic and rest a lot of the main boys for this one and also use it to get minutes into the legs of others. Whilst, I love a cup win, CL is far too important this season and with how tight things are (and the run ins for Utd and Wolves) we cannot afford any injuries to our key players. As a result, my team would be as follows: Kepa James. Zouma. Tomori/AC. Emerson Gilmour Barkley. RLC Pedro. Tammy. CHO/Mount

I have still yet to make a full decision on Tammy. There are some things he does really well but there are others he is still poor at. For instance, last night he should've run to the near post for Dave's cross but for some reason checked his run. Further, he isn't that clinical. That said, he plays in the hardest position on the pitch, is still only 22 and has done a good job this season given the circumstances, so that deserves a lot of credit. Further, both Drogba and Costa where both still in development at those ages so I do feel some of the criticism held against him is a little unfair at times.

I

When people try to defend Kepa, they really need to read this in-depth analysis on him: https://www.google.com/amp/s/weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/platform/amp/2020/5/14/21257561/solving-chelseas-kepa-conundrum-part-1 Honestly, this is a very good article on why there are rightly so many Kepa detractors.

Great win.

Was expecting to see Tammy and Kova to start. Although, to be fair Giroud was very good before the break. Not sure what SFL is thinking with Barkley starting against City.

Anjorin would be much better off on loan getting in a full season in the Championship/Holland than playing here as a AM4/5.

I am not Willian's biggest fan but if he gets a 1 year extension to play as AM4/5 I am prefectly fine with that. I mean whilst we can expect Puli and Ziyech to be AM1/2 we still need depth, especially as Puli has been injury prone and Ziyech will be new to the league. CHO has a lot of promise but it is still only that atm and moving forward I want Mount in the middle three as that is his best position (although I am ok with him moonlighting in an AM role against sides that we need to be more defensive against.)

I think the only real places you can play RLC is No.10 or maybe as an No.11. He cannot play in the middle (No.8 or No.6) owing to his work rate. Only way to get the best out of him is to put him somewhere in the front line and get the ball to his feet.

I do not know what is more ridiculous. Barca and Juve cooking the books but will be allowed to get away with it because they are not us or City, or Barca agreeing to swap Arthur for Pjanic with only £9m on top.

Ah ok, if it is coming from Bild I give it more credence as they are one of the more reliable sources. However, if CL is so important to him the surely he will wait to see where we finish.

I do not believe the link. However, if it is true a lot will depend on how we finish the season.

People on here need to take me less seriously.

For me, we are now in a no win situation. Lose and we have Utd and Wolves breathing down our necks, win or draw and hand the Dippers the title. https://gfycat.com/wigglycoldbighornsheep