Tomo

Problem is if we say it's more system than decline to get the absolute best out of him again we will have to go back on the change of style we've spent nearly two years working towards and not only that, a style our next generation plus all all our signings under Sarri/Lampard are most suited too, abandoning all that after two years of hard work and around £250m spent would be negligence of the highest order. It wouldn't be worth it even for the best case scenario (getting Kante circa 2016 back). We'll never know but I'm unconvinced Kante would have made a great deal of difference Vs Bayern, they are simply a better team who brought their A game which rendered us fucked, Kova had one of the best displays I've ever seen from a Chelsea player that night and not even that got us anywhere near them. Also worth remembering Kante has played in hammerings before, like 6-0 at City.

Actually yes, a lot of people wanted a massive overhaul at the time and that included the old guard JT and Petr aside. Munich happened so obviously in hindsight thankfuck they didn't leave that year but no one could have guessed that was coming.

I don't think it's too big a risk purely because we've demonstrated we can cope without him and not just in small games, plus as @communicatesaid we're not in the position to win the league or (bar a fluke run) CL at the minute so it makes little sense going down the squeezing whatever we can out of him route. In this system Kova and even Ross are better fits for the RCM position, we shouldn't fall in the trap United did with Rooney and keep playing Kante out of gratitude for how good he was under Conte. I wouldn't advocate selling him domestically because unlike with Matic (still to this day laugh at how we got £40m for him) I'm not sure whether Kante's dip is down to natural decline or not being suited to our new style but if a good offer comes in from abroad it makes sense for all parties to take it.

I'm fairness most of our long term players sign new deals at 27-28 so this situation only really comes to the fore at 32-33 anyway. There would have been emotional torment saying goodbye to three legends at once but honestly from a footballing perspective if Cole, Lampard and Drogba left in 2011 I wouldn't have been that fussed at the time and the only reason I'm glad it didn't happen in hindsight is Munich (which we could have never guessed or factored in at that point as we all made peace that the chance had seemingly gone) and to an extent Frank getting the record. I thought they were well past their best at that point and I wouldn't have wanted multiple year contracts handed out to them either. It's hard to work on case by case aswell, the case in point would be the sheer difference between our players in 09/10 and 10/11. After the double it would have looked a good idea to give most of that team good deals but it would have quickly turned into a disastrous decision. Ofcourse they'll be exceptions where it would have worked out, like with Pirlo, but in general I think risk outweighs reward, especially from 32 onwards.

I don't agree and i'm very disapointed the board have scrapped it. In your 30's you're vulnerable to a sharp decline pretty much at the drop of that, remember what happened to us in 10/11? We went from free scoring to being unable to create proper chances in next to no time, leaving us stuck with player's who were barely even PL quality anymore, and looking at how Ballack and especially Joe Cole fared after leaving keeping them would have only made the situation even worse. Imagine if we gave in and gave Willy his three years and next year did a post double Malouda? He's frustrating at the best of times let alone post a decline.

We faced 3 of those 4 upto January and we never got below either despite spending December in relegation form. United look on the up and a challenge regardless but Spurs are broken, Kane and Son or no.

I think Sunak did well yesterday but Raab and Hancock are ridiculous.

I actually think it's a pretty rewarding system if you can get it right (changed my mind in recent years as I wasn't a fan initially). With it becoming harder and harder to find truly reliable strikers it's one way to negate that problem. Liverpool are the biggest poster boys towards how good it can look with the right player playing the role, remember when they brought Firmino on in the super cup? It genuinely felt like they brought on an extra man. I feel Hakim unlike our previous attempts will have a better understanding of when to drop and when to go, which Eden and especially Schurrle never really mastered. And also not to mention we will have a lot more goals elsewhere this time round compared to when we tried it with them two. CHO, Pulisic, new winger, Mason and Ruben will probably produce about 50-60 goals between them and that's before we even factor how many Tammy or Hakim himself will get.

I really hope he sticks to the right hand side, his link up play with James is genuinely sensational. Telepathic understanding between players is an overused phrase at times but it's no exaggeration with those two. I know that brings an issue with where does Ziyech go, if we don't sign a new striker I genuinely wouldn't mind trying him out as a false 9, unlike Hazard and Schurrle (who weren't suited to it) I think he has the skillset to play that role, and given he's played at CAM/CM before gives us an extra body in the middle when we need it.

For some bizzare reason praise of Odoi is treated as an unpopular opinion these days but I feel we're in for a breakthrough from him next season/restart of this. In January he really stepped up a level and i think/hope he will carry that on when we restart.

My bad i misread your initial post.

I don't think there's any chance we will void the season, far too many compliications. Forget Liverpool for a minute, out of everyone who will suffer they will the least, there's clubs who's long term future rely on this seasons finish, imagine if this was 2003? A void would have destroyed us financially. Sheffield United is another example, they're on course for CL football, with it they have a money to truly establish themselves as a top PL side, with a voided season they're technically back to being a newly promoted team and will probably disappear into irrelevance again (not a chance their current squad with a few journeyman signings minus Henderson keep up this years pace). It would be the biggest footballing injustice if Spurs and Arsenal get default entry into the CL at the expense of Leicester and Sheffield. Not to mention the free money Norwich and the likes will get. I don't know when or how, but this season has to be finished somehow.

He's definitely above Schurrle but he's also a very frustrating player for me, sometimes he genuinely looks as good as Hazard (Super Cup and Burnley) but other times is a complete ghost. I've far from given up on him (that would be hypocritical of me given the patience preaches I've given re Mount and CHO) but he needs to start impacting games a lot more consistently, Callum i feel could play dogshit and still come up with a matchwinning moment (for example Newcastle at home this season he was dreadful then all of a sudden set up the winner) whereas i don't yet feel CP does.

Imagine if Drogba missed on top of that..... Makes me feel for Valencia and Atleti, they lost two finals in quick succession and it looks like their chance to get that elusive one has passed, especially for the former, getting that 1 is really a weight off.

Not only that, suicide, stress, austerity will come if a lock down is anything other than a temporary measure. That's why i laughed at the "lockdown immediately for aslong as possible" argument, ultimately that would cause a problem even bigger than the virus.

Because we make Real fans look like the epitome of patience.

As shit as things are looking we're not on that trajectory, we're on a similar path to France.

My theory is why would he have left his post as Ajax manager to become assistant all over again? Also from what i recall there was a distinct improvement in our attacking patterns of play after he arrived.

I've always been slightly curious about the regime that season, my gut instinct is Ten Cate was informally incharge.

Alicante is great although in small doses, there's not a great deal to do once you've hit the beach and the Santa Barbara Castle. I have a social network there so I was okay but if you do it as a lone traveller I wouldn't recommend more than two nights. Its fantastic if you are looking for a cheap messy holiday with freinds however, bottle of beer at the shops is one euro, bottle of sangria around about two, and there's a couple of bars that do shots for 50 cent. I was genuinely having nights out for 20-30 Euro (although I was on an organised pub crawl where after the initial payment I didn't have to pay for entry anywhere). Valencia was incredible also but for some reason never really hit it off with Barcelona, possibly because it coincidenced with the most stressful time of my trip. One City I would reccomend strongly is Lisbon, there's a shit load of things to do aswell as for the football fan two beautiful stadiums to visit (Benfica are in the next generation technology wise). Regarding Iceland, the flights aren't the problem it's more living when you get there. Pints, food, activities even Hostels and the transport from the airport to the centre of Reykjavik are obscene, from the research I've done it makes London look like a City for the pennypincher.

AC and Inter are getting a brand new modern stadium. Was suppose to be 2022 IIRC but the pandemic may cause a delay.

Lol, no, had a few days to fill and there were cheap flights to and from Malpensa airport (in Spain) so took them and went. On a random note never realized you don't need a passport to go between some EU country's (Spain/Italy being two), half the passengers used ID cards at the check before the flight.

South, spent various time in Alicante, Valencia and Barcelona. Went to Milan in the middle for a few days aswell purely to see the San Siro (as it's being demolished soon). As for where i'd love to go, Iceland appeals but it's so expensive (even a 3 day budget trip you're looking at a grand), i have tried to save for it but it's hard as the opportunity of a Chelsea match or a cheap City break comes up and i'm back to square one

The J League is scheduled to restart in early May, if that happens without a hitch then a clear prescedent is set. Plus it will nice to watch football again.

Doesn't matter if Jadon was born on August 31st and Callum September 1st, the former was still a year ahead in leaving school, becoming scholar/full time, playing in youth/reserve league's etc. If you were a college lecturer would you hold it against a second year student for not being as advanced as the third year kid? Regarding Sarri i was and still am in the minority that thought he managed Callum quite well, he should have played more the League Cup and Europa group stage but his overall appearances exceeded my expectations at the start..