Pizy

Jackson the setup man AGAIN

Gallagher still shit, Cucu’s positioning and awareness still shit, and the most sad of all Sterling looks like a shadow of the world class winger he was in his prime at City.

JACKSON LINK UP PLAY

Malo Gusto has been a BEAST in these 1v1’s tonight!

Gallagher is a nothing footballer. Hope we never have to see him once we make signings. He’s not a Chelsea calibre player. I’d sell if a big offer comes in.

Kepa…. That’s why we need a keeper.

Sterling has arguably been the worst player in the pitch. Yikes, man.

Aggressive pressing is a Poch staple but we’re just sitting off them and not doing it at all. Why?

Yeah, the experiment with him as a winger against Wrexham was cute but he’s not at the level to be Chelsea’s winger against PL opposition.

Decent workout, that. We grew into the game. Gusto held up well against Mitoma which is encouraging. Chilly looks very sharp going forward. Colwill looks like an absolute gem with those long passes. Nkunku looks lively. Only genuine concern was how our midfield 3 looked very poor and shaken against the aggressive Brighton press. BUT that’s to be expected with Gallagher and a couple of teenagers making up the midfield. With Enzo, Caicedo hopefully, and a 3rd midfielder (Kudus?) that will dramatically improve.

Santos looks a bit overwhelmed against PL opposition.

The talent discrepancy on the pitch is unreal and yet Brighton look miles and miles more comfortable on the ball. They’re popping it around like prime Barca and we can’t get a touch. Our midfield has been invisible so far.

I’ve been watching the match. He was pretty invisible. Arse fans trying to convince themselves that Havertz was suddenly going to be able to morph into an all round midfielder who does a bit of everything are in for a rude awakening.

Mudryk & Enzo still not ready for action, huh? And it looks like Maatsen really is going to be thought of as a LW rather than a fullback?

I’d say so. One who plays with a solid base of two CM’s behind him. From all the highlights I’ve just watched he does almost all of his damage in the #10 area but is versatile enough to move all around the forward spots. With Madueke and Sterling here I doubt we’d be targeting Kudus or any other AM to play on the right. And I assume Mudryk and Nkunku are the left sided options.

I’m just glad the club are indeed not just looking for a deeper midfielder but also a more advanced one who is great in tight spaces, on the half-turn, and at carrying the ball from the center of the pitch into the box. Whether it’s Kudus, Cherki, Veiga. I don’t even care that much so long as it’s someone Poch wants.

Kudus’s long range shot and finishing are absurd for a small attacking midfielder, btw. That has got to factor into our interest in him. A midfielder that gets you goals.

We’re correct to be weary about Ajax players from recent years but unlike Ziyech, Kudus is actually a phenomenal athlete and can run all day. He’s not a lazy bastard. And he’s also got excellent pace to beat players with the ball at his feet.

Think the rumor when he was linked with Arse/United/Liverpool earlier in this window was like £40m. I could be wrong.

I’d personally prefer Cherki because I think his potential/ceiling is higher but Kudus is the sort machine-like athlete that should suit the PL instantly.

WOAH! An Ornstein bomb out of the blue like I hoped for a week ago. Kudus is an outstanding young talent who I would assume is an either/or option with Cherki. If you play with 3 in midfield he’s perfect for that #10 sort of area.

Obviously any manager can and should fight to keep their best players but there’s a way of doing so without being disrespectful. Poch has never, ever mentioned Caicedo by name, we’ve never tapped him up, we’ve been extremely quiet in negotiations behind the scenes. Yet De Zerbi has now repeatedly come out in public and taken a jab at us as a club and has name dropped OUR player repeatedly. There are some things you just don’t do. Hope we get Caicedo even more now and hope Brighton really come crashing down this season. They’ve gotten too big for their britches now after having 1 spectacular season.

De Zerbi is really acting like a clown now. He had one breakout season with everyone praising him and now he thinks he’s a big shot.

As I said, he wouldn’t sign a contract longer than a year. So no, you wouldn’t be able to sell him on. He’d be in the exact position for a new club that he is in now with PSG which is leaving to Madrid in summer 2024 on a free.

Anywhere Mbappe goes other than Real Madrid it’s to use that club as his Real Madrid waiting room for a year. So with that in mind, why would any club other than a Saudi one pay £150m+ to literally rent him for a year? He won’t sign any deal with a club for longer than 1 year surely.