King Kante

Problem is with the first list is that even if they are loaned out, a number of them will have to have their wages subsidised. Further, with their problems and knees I am not too sure anyone is going to want to risk even subsidising part of Zappa, Drinky or Baba so they will either be here or on loan with us paying full wack. As for Alonso, I just did some checking and I have found various sites state £100k and not £90k or £150k: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.goal.com/en-qa/amp/news/inter-chelsea-alonso-pedro-giroud-leave-january/1lwcjqi22pgpq1viq8s3x2ez19

I am not sure we will have the money to buy him. This CV19 situation is going to hit finances hard and the money we have spare will need to go on operating costs. In particular, where we will get screwed is with our loan players. We have a lot of players on the books that we thought we would either be able to sell or at least loan out and have their wages covered. However, due to this situation, we are probably going to have a shed load of them at the club next year and/or have to loan them out and cover part or most of their wages. For instance, here is just a few examples of player we thought we would be able to sell/loan with their wages covered; Baka - £110k a week. Drinky - £100k a week Baba - £70k a week Moses - £70k a week Zappa - £65k a week Pasalic - £30k a week After that, you then have players in the first team squad that were presumed to be sold who are also unlikely to move: Alonso - £90k a week Emerson - £50k a week Barkley - £100k a week Batsh*t - £80k a week That alone makes approx £765k a week in wages, which is £39.5m+ a year in wages we will have to take a hit on, and that is before you write off any value that you were expecting them to bring you. Further to this, matchday revenue is not returning for a while (so add £20m+) and then you have issues around sponsorship monies and tv/CL money which is all up in the air. All in all, I just do not see where we are generating enough cash to buy players. Only way we may be able to do something is with swap deals but the problem here is that, apart from Pasalic, all the players are on wages that they will not get elsewhere, so are unlikely going to want to move.

I would take Icardi, however I know a lot of people cannot stand him or his wife.

What I have listed is not necessarily what I agree with, it is more what I think will play out. For instance, I have Willian going because I think he wants three years regardless and there is no way we do that in a million years, so instead we will turn to Pedro for one year. As for Tomori, I think SFL rates AC above him (as do I atm) and whilst I like him more than Zouma, I do not think the club will get an offer that they want for him. Therefore, Tomori will be in a position where he could go on loan to a PL side and be a CB1, or he will have to have another season as CB3/4 and he will pick to go on loan. Obviously, this is me just speculating but that is why I came to those decisions.

GK: Kepa, Willy, Blackman CB: Rudi, AC, Zouma, Dave FB: James, Zappa, Alonso, Maatsen CM: Mount, Kante, Jorgi, Kova, RLC, Gilmour, Barkley/Baka/Pasalic AM: Ziyech, CHO, Puli, Pedro CF: Tammy, Giroud, Broja Personally, I think in the case of no transfers in we have still seen the end of Emerson, I would be amazed if he is here next season as he appears to want to return to Italy. On top of this, I would also expect to see: Batsh*t sold/loaned, as Broja in the CF3 position offers probably the same level as we are getting from him Tomori and Amapdu will go out so that they can get 90 mins consistently as I cannot see the club selling Zouma or AC in this market. Zappa coming back to add some depth so we can use Dave as a CB4 option. Pedro and Willy getting extensions. Blackman coming back as GK3 as he is the best GK we have from the academy and Kepa and Willy is hardly rock solid. After that, it would just be something like Barkley may go (could see the Saudi's buying someone like him for Newcastle) depending on SFL's confidence in RLC's fitness and what makeup he wants in his midfield because I see no takers for Baka and Pasalic has proven himself to be handy.

I think people are worried because of the makeup of the squad rather than due to Ziyech per se. At the moment, we have a lot of small/slight technical players which is one of the main reasons we get easily overpowered at times. The squad as a whole is lacking in size and pace so it is not illogical for people wanting to see nee signings bring this to the table. For instance who in the squad is actually quick? I would say CHO, Tomori and maybe Zouma and that is about it. James gets mentioned a lot but he isn't actually that fast.

I think this is a sign Roman doesn't want to pony up on transfers this Summer. I think this could be due to the amount of loan players we have on relatively high wages and the dead wood that will be impossible to shift. Only way we will get a top rank CF is if we can do a Giroud/Moses/Alonso(or Emerson) plus cash deal for Martinez. However, I am not that sold on Martinez anyway.

Just out of interest, how are you able to scout all these players? I watch a fair bit of PL, Serie A, La Liga and Ligue 1 to varying degrees but I would have no chance of being able to make so any decisions on the players you've listed. I ask out of interest, as I consider myself to be pretty immersed in football from a fan point of view and spend a lot of my spare time watching the game but I come nowhere near the levels certainty you're able to attribute to players.

Yeah, it seems slightly odd that we will go into a season with Mertens and Giroud with both being 33/34. Mertens I do kind of get as he is similar to Werner in that he can play both as a WF and a CF which would be handy. However, it is odd we want him at his age when he has no experience of the league and we do not offer anything but 1/2 years to over-30's. That said, I have a little theory with Giroud re-signing that probably has no basis in reality. The theory is that he had his clause activated as we intend to use him as a part of a package to sign Martinez from Inter, with the package being something like, Giroud/Moses/Alonso plus £45-55m for Martinez. I think this could be possible as Inter's squad is fairly thin but they do not have much cash and Barca can not afford Martinez. Personally, I am not completely sold on Martinez but I think a deal like that may suit all parties as Chelsea would get a CF, Inter would get three players that fit their system, the Chelsea players would get decent extended contracts and Martinez would get more money.

I do not think we will be buying anyone of significance this season i.e. Harvetz/Sancho etc. In my opinion, all the top tier talent is out of bounds now because no club will want to finance it and the players will not want to sign long term contracts when the market is depressed. The only players I do see moving are: 1) Players out of contract 2) Players with reasonable buyouts and lowish wages. For me, that only leave Telles, Upcaameno, Werner, Cavani, Mertens and Boga as players we have been linked with that could still be possible. However, of those players, I think Werner will either stay at RB and look to move next Summer (or only move to the Dippers), Telles will go to the highest bidder in wages (we are also going to have an issue with shifting Emerson and Alonso now which I think may mean no LB) and Upcameno will stay in Germany and move to Bayern on a free next Summer as Bayern always do that to there domestic rivals. That then leaves Cavani and Mertens, however our problem with those players are their age and our contract policy for over-30's, which makes me think they will not happen either as both of them probably can pick up 3 year contracts elsewhere. For that reason, I can only see Boga and may be a GK that is out of contract that is decent i.e. a Foster type signing. After that, I think we will just add more youth players. That would mean Ampadu, Maatsen and possibly Gallagher. After this, I think our only chances are teams that have to fire sale. However, the only team I see with top rank players that could fall into this problem are Atleti and Lazio. That would then potentially open up options in SMS, Immobile, Gimenez, Oblak and Partey. However, this would be a big maybe.

It will be interesting to see how Ziyech adapts to the league and where we are going to play him exactly. From looking at the squad projects going forward you would imagine he will play RWF in a 433. At this moment in time I am fairly happy with him but I would say his floor and ceiling are pretty high/low. For me, things I am really looking forward to from him are; Set pieces Ability to assist Excellent passing range Things that concern me; Physicality - not sure if he will be able to take the rough stuff coming his way. For every Hazard there are two Reyes and whilst I am not too concerned here because of his confidence, you cannot tell until they have been thrown in the deep end. Shooting - he shoots from everywhere and anywhere. This is something I feel he is going to have to stop and become more selective with. I am happy that we will have someone that can/will shoot from distance but some of his shots are just ridiculous. If he does too many ridiculous shots he will not get away with like he does in the Dutch league as ball retention is much more important in the PL owing to the quality of the teams. Stamina - As with all players coming from lower quality leagues were they are the premier skill players there are some questions over his ability to keep up. Overall I think he will be a very good player for us and I think the concerns I have will not be that bad/an issue. However, I do think he may take a little time to adapt to the requirements of the league.

The primary reason we cannot defend is because Kepa is either to scared to come off his line or is not good enough. A lot of Chelsea fans under rate TC because he wasn't a flashy shot stopper. However, he was great in the air which meant he cut off the danger before it happened. It is also not a coincidence to me that as soon as Kepa arrived we became the keystone cops at defending set pieces. It is because he does not control his area. Honestly, if you think that the second Arsenal goal was not saveable then I am not sure what you expectations of a GK are. That goal was a prime example of how Kepa also does not move his feet well enough and has a problem with his size/short arms. I agree that Emerson could've done better but he really shouldn't be beaten there. As I said before, can anyone actually say something Kepa does well? The only thing I can think of is that he can get up pretty quick after saving initial shots, other than that he is bang average/poor on: 1) Commanding his area/coming for crosses. He is literally always stuck to his line at set pieces. 2) Shot stopping - too many goals go right through him and his save percentages figures do not lie. 3) Use of his feet - gets caught rooted to his spot too often. Also on long range shots he does not anticipate shots well enough. To be honest, I am not going to argue too much about him as all his flaws are very clear and are fundermental aspects to GK'ing. If people do not see it yet, they will see it soon enough.

Not really. Last season he was new to the league so it took a while for teams to pick up on his weaknesses. Once he got exposed, teams started to target him and his stats dropped; this is why teams whip in balls into his six yard area as soon as they get the chance. Also, whilst he was 3rd last season it was still only 14 in 36 which isn't exactly pulling up trees for a GK that cost £72m and is on £170k per week.

I really do not understand how some people think there is any hope for Kepa. For me, he is a worse buy than Bakayoko as he not only cost £72m and made the clubs highest earner (which means we cannot shift him) but he also plays GK which is the one position where mistakes are punished the hardest. Now, I am a season ticket holder and go to around 50% of away games, so his poor play may be something that does not come across on the TV so much, but seriously name one thing that does Kepa do well? From watching him for the past two years, this is what I have noticed; 1) Does not come off his line at set pieces. He literally stays stuck to his line even when the ball is played into his 6 yard area. This makes absolutely no sense as any shot that close in is impossible to save. 2) Shot stopping. Has the weakest wrists I have seen on a goal keeper. There are about five occasions I can think off the top of my head where the shot has been right at him and he has let it through him after getting a decent hand to it. 3) Save percentage. A save percentage of 54-56% is absolutely shocking. It virtually means every second shot on target goes in. Now I would not mind if this was just on power shots or shots that were judged reasonabke, but his save figures include all the shots that just roll or flick up to him. Thus, his save percentage of decent shots must be below 50%. The thing that scares me the most about him is that I just do not see where he can improve as a lot of his problems (height/size/weak wrists) are physical and they are not changing.

Granny is clearly the one in charge of negotiating deals. Don't get me wrong, when we sell she gets great prices but incoming transfers are always an issue unless their is either a buyout or some sort of gentleman's agreement. I never said she was in charge of scouting but rather she is the one that needs to get things over the line. As for Courtios, his 'stunt' took place over the course of about 18-24 months as we spent ages trying to get him to re-sign. At what point during that time did it dawn on the board that we should be targeting other players as he was not going to sign? Because from the looks of it the club only accepted this in Aug 2018 by which point everyone had moved. Further, Kepa had a buyout of £18m in Jan 2018 (7 months prior to his actual signing) so it is clear we didn't rate him or even had him on our radar at that point. You say that, but all those GK's, other than Alisson went for peanuts and I would argue that Leno, Patricio and Dubravka are much better than Kepa. Further, with the way he has played since being here I am pretty sure Foster, Guitata and Fabianski would've had a good chance of displacing him if they were in the same squad. A save percentage of 56% is absolutely dire and anyone who thought a skinny 6"1' GK who stays stuck to his line with weak wrists was worth £74m needs sacking. Some of them may not be long term but they have all been better than Kepa since he has been here by every quantifiable measure there is. As for Conte where are the direct quotes saying he wanted Baka and Drinky? I think the only quote I heard him say about Baka was that he thought he was a good option but on the proviso he was brought in whilst Matic was sticking about and not as a direct replacement.

Being forced into Kepa was down to Granny not planning properly. That Summer their were the following GK moves in the PL: Leno Dubravka (loan to perm) Alisson Foster Guieta Fabianski Patricio So there was really no need to painic. As for Baka and Drinky, there are strong question marks those were actually players that Conte requested and they were rather his 2/3/4th options, like Morata was instead of Lukaku.

CM is a funny position at the moment as individually the player are all good players but as a collective they do not fit the system SFL wants to play or compliment each other that well. Looking at the squad and what has happened over the course of the season, I believe SFL's preferred formation is 433 and is pretty much the same as the one Jose used here between 2004-07, with the only real difference being the amount of pressing. That means we need a No.4/No.6/No.8. At the moment, I would say that the No.6 (Essien) position is what is causing us the issues. I feel between them No.4 is stocked in Jorgi, Kova, Kante, Gilmour, Ampadu and No.8 has RLC, Mount and Barkley (this position may need addressing later if they cannot improve their goal output but is less of an issue than other areas.) The problem comes with the No.6 position which has fallen to Kante, Kova and sometimes Barkley, even though they are all better in the other positions. Kante can play this position but he is much better in it when we do not have possession, as his stamina and ability to intercept is second to none. The problem comes when we have possession as he isn't that great going forward or keeping possession, this is also why Kova doesn't really work here as he is the opposite to Kante - great with the ball, not so great without it. On top of this, a CM of Kante, Kova/Jorgi, Mount is not that athletic and small, which means we get overpowered/overran at times. It is for this reason that I think we need to get SMS as he has the right blend of technical skills, power and defensive ability (although pace may be an issue for him in the PL.) However, in order to get him you need to cull at least one of Kova, Kante and Jorgi and Kante is the oldest and most valuable of the three so it could be his sale means we make a profit on selling him and bringing in SMS. Doing something like that would leave us with a CM of: Jorgi/Gilmour SMS/Kovacic. Mount/RLC Which I think is a lot more balanced, even if I think Kante is a better player than SMS.

I am taking it that you're disregarding the transfers for Kepa, Bakayoko and Drinky.

Well yes, however it all depends on what happens with Pedro, Willian and Giroud and the market. For me, if they go and we cannot buy then we will be in serious trouble as the only players still out on loan that could possibly come in and take a position in the squad are all CM/DM's; Pasalic, Baka and Ampadu. That would leave us seriously short up front and goals are already our biggest problem. Lets hope there is still enough in the kitty to sort out another CF, AM and GK at the very least.

I would go: Terry - Need the leadership on the pitch Cech - I have no faith whatsoever in Kepa Drogba - Need the goals Hazard - As above Ash - Great player but there are alternative LB's out there that we can get for a reasonable fee and LB is not as important as the other positions above.

Interesting that you mention Grealish. Grealish is 2.5 years older than Mount and this is how there stats compare for the last two years in league games; Mount 18/19 - 39 Games, 3711 minutes, 9 goals, 5 assists. Goal/assist every 265 min. 19/20 - 29 games, 2302 minutes, 6 goals, 5 assists. Goal/assist every 209 min. Grealish 18/19 - 35 games, 3088 minutes, 6 goals, 8 assits. Goal/assist every 221 min. 19/20 - 26 games, 2334 minutes, 7 goals, 6 assits. Goal/assist every 180 min. Further Grealish at the same age as Mount this year had: 16/17 - 31 games, 1876 minutes, 5 goals, 5 assists. Goal/assist every 187 min. However this was in the Championship and not the PL. When looking at those stats, MM's trajectory looks to be higher than Grealish's. Further, MM seems much more professional. Since the lockdown, MM went out to play football with a mate down the park, while Grealish went out to a party and crashed his car.

What is the point of comparing Mount's stats to Puli's? Mount is a CM and Puli is a AM. MM has been playing in a AM position due to injuries not because it is his actual position. Further, Mount's form dropped at the same time as the rest of the team so I wouldn't put it all on him as he is a young player, playing his first season in the league. As Tomo mentioned, MM and the other young players are not walking into the team full of world class players like Utd's Co92. Further, who was he meant to be dropped for? Dross Barkley? From looking at things with the squad from the outside in, I think Mount has kept his place all the time because he doesn't do anything poor or make stupid decisions and he has had no competition. For instance, Tomori overplays and gets caught out of position and Tammy makes the wrong choices when in on goal. Of course some criticism can be levelled that MM's output is not good enough, but again I would not say it is poor. For instance his involvement in 11 goals/assists is similar to the output that we have been getting, on average, from Willian for the past few years. So, when there are people saying he is a golden child or starting loool'ing him when he is classed as having the best season, it is very mystifying to me. In fact it reminds me of what West Ham fans used to say about SFL (not saying he will be as good, just saying it is very similar.) As for all the young players, as I said before, James seems the best and my highlighting of the run around Davies gave him was not to hammer him, but to rather highlight that MM has not had such things happen to him which is one of the key reasons why he has kept his position more than the others. Agree with all of this. CHO is in a very difficult position because he has been hyped beyond anything we can measure and he has been given a big contract after haggling. For me, CHO needs to be given time and he needs to play. My worry with him is if he does not get 10+ goals and 10+ assists next year, people will turn against him big time. As for Mount, I think the creative edge has not moved over because he has changed his position. Previously, in the youth teams he was more of an old school No.10 which does not really exist in the game today and can only really be played in a 4231 and he has instead moved to being more of a No.8. I noticed this with him last year with Derby as initially he started in that position but gradually moved to being an No.8 as Wilson took up more of the forward work. Former watching MM this season, everything he does tells me his best position is No.8, as he played against Spuds. One last thing, and this is not aimed at anyone in particular, what needs to be remembered with this crop of youth players is that not all of the players are going to turn into world class players. Some may do, whilst others will become solid top pros and some may just become squad players (if we are lucky). For instance with the Co92, I would say Scholes was really the only one I would term world class (add young Giggs to this as he dipped off after getting into the 00's). Beckham was close to being world class but was more famous than anything, whilst Nevile was a solid PL starter. After that you had Butt and P.Nevile who where decent squad players and not much more. Thus, when people look at the young boys, they should keep this in mind and not expect all of them to end up being world beaters as it just isn't going to happen and if we get that we should be as grateful as Man Utd fans are for that generation.

Kante is my favourite player in the current squad but even I admit there is a strong arguement for him to be sold. The reasons for this are; A) This Summer is the last one we can sell him for decent money - Covid or no Covid. B ) He doesn't really fit the system SFL likes to play. C) His fee and wages would be a serious amount that could let us invest elsewhere. If he stays then great, he is a fantastic player. However, if he is not sold then he will be a sunk cost and the system will need to change to get the best out of him.

Reading some of these comments about Mount is absolutely shocking. Mason this year has been thrown in the deep end at 20/21 and has had to play all over the shop to plug gaps. For most of the season he hasn't even played in his best position (No.8) and his experience before that was playing in the Championship and the Dutch League. Further, the kid also has a great attitude and seems level headed. I am not saying he is perfect but he has played more games than any of the other young players and he hasn't had a game where he has been dire/made shocking mistakes or been given the complete run around. Personally, I like James the most of the crop but he was destroyed by Davis in the BM game, has only played around half the amount of games Mount has and has been able to play his position when he has played, unlike Mount. As for Tammy, he has had some shocking misses and has done the wrong thing on numerous occasions (not playing in Willian and Mount in the Brighton and Liverpool games) so I am at a complete loss as to why Mount is taking so much flak here.

I hadn't spotted the reply!