JFKvsNixon

Maybe there is some serious conformation bias going on here, and it's not as obvious as people think it is? I also remember a pundit saying that the reason Spain wouldn't win the Euros with Cucurella at left back. Here Sanchez is rated in the top 10 goalkeepers in the world, and Chelsea have 3 goalkeepers in the top 20. https://football-observatory.com/WeeklyPost499#:~:text=The top three are Paris,Real Madrid's Belgian Thibaut Courtois.&text=Two players from outside the,João Ricardo (Fortaleza EC).

I'm not telling you what you should or should not be doing, it's not personal. It's not about liking or disliking what you post. I'm just sticking up for the team I love. I've done it a million times in the past and I'll do it a million times in the future.

I don't follow them, I support them. You have to take the rough with the smooth. Considering the turmoil that hit the club after Abramovich was forced to sell the club, If you're not willing to suck up the losses then maybe Chelsea isn't the team for you.

So is that for Chelsea and you for the foreseeable? All over a dodgy 30 mins?

The squad last year walked the Conference League and qualified for the Champions League, and you still think that Conference League is it's level?

I guess you wasn't one of the fans singing "We've got our Chelsea back" No other club has invested into a clubs future more than our owners, and it's still not enough for some. The fact that we're back in the Champions League so soon after the club has had to change almost everyone and everything, from the bottom to the top, is a massive achievement.

The reason you're so critical of him is due to him playing in blue. I've never know a set of fans who are unable or unwilling to support their own players. If Chelsea were linked to the Premier League midfielder who's created more chances from open play calendar year than any other, you'd be all over it. When you find that that midfielder already pays for Chelsea, then you'll find excuses to rubbish him.

I think that Petrovic will end up going to Milan.

Mike Maigon breaks the so called age structure. He's 30 next month.

Yea, reading between the lines it seems that they believe in Mike Penders, and we just have to get through this season with our current keepers.

If Veiga has a good loan spell, gains his mojo and convinces at centre back, it could work out well for both parties without needing to sell him.

David Fofana was injured just before xmas, and is expected to be out for the rest of the season; it's why he was recalled.

He's out for the rest of the season. It's why he was recalled.

There's a post on Reddit claiming that Dario Essugo has already played for two clubs this season, and as such would not be able to play for Chelsea until next season.

Nope, I'm deffo talking about David Fofana. He was stretchered off before Christmas with an injury that required surgery, I think it's his hamstring. He's meant to be out for a further 4 months, and it was thought it was better if he had his rehab back at Chelsea.

Hasn't he picked up a long term injury?

If I remember correctly, Chelsea wanted to keep Livramento, but he was refusing to sign a new contract.

I'd imagine that Delap would sign now and join in the summer. Guehi has less than 18 months left on his contract, so arguably he's be cheaper in the summer, which may motivate Palace to sell in this transfer window.

I can't believe that people are questioning Maresca as Chelsea's manager, the difference between the two teams is night and day. Under Maresca we have patterns of play where we are much more effective at pressing, and beating the press. The players seem to know what they are doing instead of trying to make things up as they go along. Personally I put the recent blip down to inexperience of the players, and being a little light in defence and midfield. We had more than enough opportunities to win each of the recent games where we dropped points, with an improved squad and greater experience next year I'm confident that we'll manage periods of adversity much better, I don't even think that we need that many new signings, a new centre back and goalkeeper, and bringing Santos back when he's completed his loan should address weaknesses in the squad.

I've read that Delap has got a £20 million buy back clause with City. If so, offer Ipswich the chance to double their money with a £40 million bid. If I remember correctly, we did something similar with Kante. He had a release clause for Champions League clubs, Chelsea offered more than that release (they didn't qualify for the Champions League that year), to stop him going to elsewhere and to ensure that Leicester were motivated to sell.

Sancho could really work out for us. I think that the reason he never worked out at Man Utd was that he was expected to perform the role of a counter-attacking winger, and that is just not his game. He doesn't have the pace to do this effectively at the highest level, what he's very good at doing is playing in tight spaces, something that Chelsea has struggled to do.

As others have said I.m watching this free on Chelsea TV. The website broke for a bit and wouldn't let me log in, then it allowed me to watch it without logging in. How can our website be so shit?

From listening to retired footballers talk on podcasts I believe that footballers receive their signing on bonus monthly, spread over the term of their contract. If I remember correctly and I'm happy to be put right if I'm wrong, if the player asks to leave they don't receive it, but if the player's moved on they have a claim on it. It may well be that Sterling wants to clarify this.

A few years ago, Italy became concerned with their brain drain and tweaked their tax laws to combat this. It was a 5-year tax break to skilled workers who moved to Italy, whether it was Italians returning from abroad or people from other places entirely. The idea was to tempt talented people to settle in Italy, spending money and creating jobs. The was a part that applied to football, which allowed players and coaches who haven’t worked in Italy for the previous two years, whether native Italians or not, to pay taxes on just 50% of their incomes rather than the usual 100%. This meant that in Italy, the clubs offer salaries to their players based on the amount they will receive after tax, which is why the media in reports those amounts in after-tax terms, as opposed to the UK who report the salary before tax. This meant Italian clubs could afford to pay good wages to their players. The law ended earlier this year. There's more in this video:

The investigation has not got anything to do with the FA, it's the Premier League. This is where it gets interesting. The Premier League is owned by the clubs who are currently in it, and I'm not so sure that Liverpool, Man Utd, Arsenal et al would be open to allowing Man City get off with a soft punishment, especially after they refused to cooperate with the investigation. Let's not forget that many clubs have made big sacrifices to ensure they stayed within the regulations, so they'll also want their pound of flesh. The only question for me is whether or not the Premier League managed to get their regulations watertight enough to survive the legal challenge that Man City will bring. It's worth noting that the Premier league does have the resources to ensure that they had all their ducks in a row, so there's every chance that Man City will get the book thrown at them. If I had to choose a punishment, I'd given them a 200 to 400 point deduction that would carry over through the following seasons, on top of a long transfer ban. It would be interesting to see them struggle to hold on to their players, whilst they drop down through the leagues.