King Kante

I really do not see us in the hunt for Alaba and this is his agent trying to whip up his price. Imo, I reckon they had a plan for Real/Barca and then Covid came along and buggered their plans and he had burnt his bridges with Bayern. In my opinion, if he leaves Germany he goes to Spain or Juventus. At a push maybe City as they love nothing more than getting in a new CB or FB.

Are there any clubs knocking about that need some dregs? In the coming window I am hoping to get shot of at least one CB and a LB.

I know it is a pipe dream but I would really like De Ligt.

I have always defended Mount on here, he is a very good player that is only going to get better and better. People need to remember two things with the SFL comparisons. 1) Mount presses a lot better than SFL did and 2) SFL didn't really become an elite player until 24ish. Mount still has another 3 years of development before we should be comparing him to peak SFL. From where I am sitting I would say at 21 Mount's all round game is actually better than SFL, although SFL at 21 did have better shooting technique. Further, this season his crosses from corners have been unreal. He must have something like a 80% hit ratio of hittting the correct area. Compare that to Willian's dire crossing we had to put up with since 2015/16.

This is the kind of game Jorgi would actually do really well in.

I am not so sure we need Sancho at this moment in time as I am still hopeful Puli will sort his injuries out and CHO will step up, while I see Werner as a LWF/SS. For me, he will only be needed if Werner goes to CF and/or the other two don't step up. As for Håland he surely has to be someone we're targeting. At the moment, our CF's are Giroud and Tammy. Giroud for me is great as a squad player going forward and I would actually like him to sign for another year. As for Tammy I do think he has a long term future at the club but as a CF2 and not a CF1. Imo, CF is actually the position after CB and DMF I think we need to sort out most in the next 18 months.

I meant in the sense of where we are now, of course their circumstances as to how/why they left are different. For me, Rice is seen as the one from our 'Golden Generation' that got away. For me, the club will want him back to complete the set. For me, James, Mount, Rice, CHO and Tammy will be our 'Golden Generation' in the sense of HG players that will have important squad roles for a long time. Of course, some of them may only be squad players (imo, Tammy is more of a long term CF2 than a CF1). However, I can see the club really pushing to get Rice, whilst Rice is also flirting like Cesc was. Billy, Ampadu, Gallagher and Guehi also have chances of breaking into the first team but they're slightly different in that Billy and Amapdu came to the club as 15/16 year olds and Gallagher and Guehi will be out on loan for a while longer (at least 18 more months imo.)

I agree but I do not see him here. Rice is essentially our version of Cesc to Barca when he was at Le Arse.

I am sorry, but are these values as adjudged by the Barcelona crack head board? Who the feck pays €95m for Dias and €110m for Saka? Do not get me wrong, not saying they're crap but those figures are absolutely cray, cray.

Zouma's composure/passing at times is absolutely diabolical.

Indeed. Kova is more useful against high pressing, possession based sides. For teams looking to counter we should really have Harvetz in there if playing a 433. Personally, I am a little concerned about their traps we have fallen for, there were two times in that half where they were one pass away from finding a free man. I am torn between taking Kova off for Harvetz and get a proper No.8 on or bring him off for Dave and go 343.

As anyone who has been reading the match forums knows, I am a big proponent of playing 433. However, the pragmatic side of me fears we may be playing into Jose's hands with it. Kante is going to have to be very disciplined today and cover a serious amount of ground as Spuds are very good on the counter.

Bale, Sanchez and Ndombele will probably start, but yeah would've been better if Kane and Son were in the line-up too.

Best ever game: Champions League Final 2012 Worst ever game: Tottenham away 2002 (5-1) Best away game: Liverpool CL Semi 2008 Worst away game: Man City away 2018 Best ever European away game: Schalke away Worst ever European away game: Barcelona away 2005 Favourite Chelsea memory: Winning the league in 2005. My games have been picked based on games I went too and experienced but this is open to all, so if you haven't been, still feel free to join in!

I thought it would be interesting to run a topic to see what all of our experiences are of seeing Chelsea live. I do this as I am interested to see what kind of demographic we have on here in regards to how we all experience the joy of following Chelsea. Further, you can also list the following: Best ever game: Worst ever game: Best away game: Worst away game: Best ever European away game: Worst ever European away game: Favourite Chelsea memory:

Agree, people are talking about a LB2 as if it is a massive priority, however with Chilwell here and him being a player that can get through serious minutes (80%+) we have no chance of attracting a top or even decent LB here as unless we pay them crazy money, which should be invested elsewhere. My concern going forward with the squad is: 1) Getting a real DMF 2) Getting a long term CB1 3) Getting another CF (Werner from me is staying out at LWF or will play as a SS, he is kind of doing both atm) or AM if Werner goes to No.9. 4) Getting a competent GK2 After that we can start thinking of a new LB as the bloke isn't going to play much. I know Emerson and Alonso are not flavour of the month around here so if you do not want them anywhere near the first team squad, you can still slot Dave over there to cover the 20%. On top of this we have Maatsen as a potential and Sarr can also come in as a CB if he continues to develop and be used there from time to time. LB2 seems to be a hot topic around here but I do not see the urgent need to go splash the cash there when we still have holes in the squad for starting positions (DMF) positions that require heavy rotation more than LB (AM/CF), a 36 year old as the best player in the position (CB) or a player that will be going walkies next season for up to 6 weeks in the busiest part of the season (GK).

Intersting. I knew he was overperforming his xG by a high level do presumed he was not missing many big chances (although did think he probablyhad 1-2 owing to the nature of a CF's role.) I think Timo is more on par with xG, unless I am wrong? Either way, as I said, I am not worried about Timo, he creates himself so many chances that the big misses shouldn't really worry anyone.

Almost certain we will play 343 in this game. SFL loves pulling this formation out for a big game where he does not want to lose. I also have a feeling we may see AC come in, but wouldn't be surprised if Rudi gets the nod instead: Mendy Zouma Silva AC/Rudi James Mount Kante Chilwell Ziyech Tammy Werner Bench: Kepa, AC/Rudi, Dave, Harvetz, CHO, Puli, Giroud

Misses like Timo makes happen all the time to players like him. What people need to consider is how many chances he creates for himself and others rather than the misses. So far he has something like 7 goals and 4 assits, that is about an average Willian season. For me, as long as he continues to score and assist at the rate he is going I am fine with the big misses. Sure, he can maybe improve it but as the stats for Mane/Vardy/Salah show, players as good as them still have big misses. Only player in the world at the moment that isn't doing this is Håland but he is a freak. Messi and CR7 are/were other examples of creating so much but being more clinical. However, I never thought Werner was this level as I do not play FIFA and think that is how football works in real life.

Oh, for sure. However, with the GK2 it isn't that hard to pick someone decent up, unlike CB or DM. For instance, someone like Romero shouldn't be too hard and if not him then someone of a similar ilk. I do agree it needs to be done, its just that I think it is easy enough to do. As for Håland, I actually think we have a great chance of getting him but we'll have to wait until 2022 owing to his clause. For me, with the way the squad is shaping up, if we can find a solution to CB and DM in the next three windows we could have a very promising set up that is ready to dominate for 5-8 years owing to the age demographic. That should be very appealing to him. Personally, I think Håland will come to England so we do not have to worry about Real/Barca/Juve. That would mean he will have a choice of us, Utd, City and the Dippers. City probably have a higher chance than us owing to his connections with the club already, however City by 2022 may be in need of a revamp if they do not get cracking in the next 12 months. Dippers for me do not really play in a style that best fits him, whilst Utd have been fecking up their squad building for years now. This is why I am not too fussed about squad/back up players at this point. For me, the key is finding a long term solution to every area of the starting XI. I know a lot of people want another LB prioritised but the way I see it Chilwell can play 80%+ games in a season, then we also have Dave who can cover their without being a clown. For sure, if we can get another great LB who is happy to play second fiddle then go for it but in my opinion that isn't going to happen and it is more likely than not you would just replace Emerson/Alonso with a player of a similar ability. Further, Maatsen looks promising enough so it may even be in 18-24 months he can come in and be the LB2.

With: 1) Giroud looking like he is going 2) Puli always being injured 3) Werner looking like a better fit at LWF or a SS 4) CHO having not kicked on 5) Ziyech off next season to the ACoN I would argue a CF or another AM (depending on what you do with Werner) is the third most important signing after a CB and DM. A GK2 is not really that hard to secure as you can normally get one cheap or on a free.

To be fair, having a Giroud as essentially CF3 is great, as it gives us real depth. Tbh, if he wasn't France's No.9, I do not think he would moan much and we would be glad that we had such options.

He has improved his ability to shield the ball and bring it down whilst under pressure in my opinion. There are still some flaws with his game, erratic finishing and lack of anticipation (although this has improved.) For me, he is developing well but it is hard to judge if he can continue to do so and also, maybe more importantly, become more consistent. This season is a big one for him as I think if he tails off again we may look for another CF. That said, I have always been fairly confident he would be at the least a decent CF2 for us, so even if he does not go on to be great, I still see him as a player that will be an important squad member for the long term.

Yeah, today was all about the result. We were good for about 50% of the game but we lost concentration for parts of it. However, we were missing Silva, Puli and Havertz and it was off the back of an international break. All in all, very happy, couldn't have really asked for much more. Mount MotM for me. Put in an absolute shift. James very close second and nearly edged it in the final 15 minutes.

They take bromance to a new level.