Tomo

I really don't get what people find so funny about calling their own players names, for sure criticise their performances and if need be workrate but these constant "nicknames" a few select players are getting is beyond awful.

Oh come on!!

Nothing to do with no nonsense, the reason why the club took a "no nonsense" stance on Solanke was the fact he wasn't good enough nor had the potential to be, Odoi by comparison is arguably our best winger currently and has elite potential.

May be PL2 but he's looking very very sharp.

Or another Solanke... Its upto the coaches to identify which then.

I'm not sure on the nuances but City seem to have a strict policy about if players don't want to be there fuck them so I can't imagine them going against Jason's wishes if he fundamentally states he doesn't want a return.

Depends on factors. To sign a player like Sancho will probably require sacrafices in other areas so in many ways it will come down to how much if atall Tammy and/or Emerson reduce our need to sign a new ST or LB respectively. As far as attacking players go he's definitely the very best one we can realistically hope to get next summer and as an added bonus we can finally level up with City over KDB should we pull him off.

While i'm under no illusions that the chances of actually getting him is any more than 1% at most if he refuses to renew at Paris it's a must that we atleast enquire. Going from what i've seen him and Drogba have a close friendship and if DD can get his charm on (like Joe Cole did to Eden) you just never know. However in the extremely likely event that Didier falls flat on his face trying we should try and attract Sancho (who is a Chelsea boy and best mates with Callum and Tammy).

Quite funny seeing everybody wank themselves silly over Madison only for Mason to be preferred to him. Same will happen re AWB/James.

The way Trent's defending Reece may get in sooner than we think.

The 2014 version would do, thought his contributions for us were massively underrated.

Pepe was arguably the best player on the market last summer bar the Ajax pair. The real top ones are more than likely out of reach no matter what. The only elite player there's even a 0.1% chance of ever attracting is Mbappe (from social media he appears to have a close friendship with Drogba and a few of our players so if Didier can get his charm offensive on you just never know but even with DD I imagine the answer would still be no), the rest we would have to pay China esque wages from them to even consider, CL or not. Whoever emerges as next summer's Pepe I would still believe we have a very good chance of signing, CL or no.

We can get them anyway. If Arsenal can attract Pepe and Aubamayang while playing Europa we will have no problem.

I can kind of see why he's lost his way. He had that unexpected joy at Leicester and wanted more, in his initial interview he such clear hunger and determination to add to his collection and show his 15/16 wasn't a fluke. After failing at that is probably when he lost it, he was happy grinding out a midtable/championship career previously but after a taste of the top level couldn't motivate himself to return to the more working class area of the industry.

Its defensively he's suprised me. Going forward I still think his decision making is sketchy but going the other way he's gone from a liability to solid almost overnight.

I think in many cases investment is required regardless. Striker especially, even if Tammy hits over 20 we will still need another striker as the alternative would be Tammy going down/losing form away from being back in the shit again. Ultimately to compete long term we need serious depth, either through a 'B team' that in itself is top 6/8 quality or a solid 6-8 players that can play in multiple positions.

The way he's surprised me is defensively, it's like he's learned how to defend almost overnight (i remember as recently as Fulham away in March i was truly horrified at his defending) however i'm unconvinced he gives us enough going forward, he can get in dangerous positions at will but never really causes any damage.

Did we even get that calibre of player back in the day? Ronaldinho for example didn't go near us and Sheva was past his prime. Also no CL won't really mean doom in terms of attracting players, if Arsenal without even a title challenge for a decade and a half alongside Europa for the 3rd succesive year can attract Nicolas Pepe (probably the best attainable player on the market summer just gone bar the Ajax pair) I'm sure we can get some quality in, after all, all our three current CM's (one of which the best at what he does) gave up CL football to join us while out of it.

Neres would still cost a lot and we need to look at depth from within, we should keep Pedro for the 4th choice rotation winger for aslong as he's happy and capable playing such role. He may not be his prime self anymore or even close but he's won everything there is to win and was part of the greatest club side ever, that type of experience and know-how is invaluable to young wingers still very much learning the trade. If he decides he would rather play reguarly elsewhere then we have enough versatility with Mount, Loftus and even Emerson to play on the wings if we get to stricken or we could change to a diamond until they return. I disagree with Azpi for now atleast. I want to see if his performances improve playing more sparingly and if they do (and like Pedro is happy playing more bit part) I see no reason as to why we should get rid of him. Should James become an undisputed starter by next summer (which I think he will) we will be hard pressed finding any fullback of any real note that will sign just to play back up.

What's his record like reliability wise? If this hypothetically comes to fruition i'd be delighted with Sancho and Dembele (initially wanted more experience on the wing but have strongly come round to Jadon now), content with Chilwell, mixed with Ake but not happy with Neres.

I don't really see the issue with doing it on a football forum, i have experience in running a football club (all be it very low down on the pyramid) so i am more aware than anyone that it's not going to be as straightforward as getting all the number 1 targets in by July 1st. Also given we are in the early stages of (hopefully) building another title and CL challenging side discussion of how and where we can improve is natural and inevitable. It's not really any different to posting lineups in the pre match thread that's unlikely to be reciprocated by the manager's selection.

While I absolutely do not doubt his intentions are genuine there's one thing saying you will be happy to take a back seat at a point you are playing reguarly compared to actually doing it when the time comes, even Mr Chelsea himself JT chose to move on after a year in a squad role. I don't mean by that he will kick up a stink and act like a schoolchild like Cahill and Luiz did but if we get to next summer he's firmly number 2 and a host of clubs can offer a guaranteed starting place I could certainly see him atleast weighing up his options.

The issue is, will he accept that? If yes then ideal because should James become the bonafide #1 (which i think he will) then finding good cover will be a bitch as no one of any note will want to join if playing prospects are so minimul.

Maybe in some cases but Alexis is more of a Torres case than a Quagliarella, he's been so unbelievably bad for 2 years that even a mini revival would be unprecedented. From watching him at United i genuinely don't think he's even a top flight quality player anymore, when you also factor wages United would have been better off signing any and i mean any other PL winger.