Pizy

It seems as though all of our defense oriented targets are going to be an absolute pain to sign for one reason or another. Rice and Chilwell are on long contracts, their clubs have no reason to sell, and even if they do sell they'll cost absurd fees. Every CB we've been linked with is either going elsewhere already like Ake, will cost mega money like Gimenez, or isn't really itching to leave like Ginter. Oddly, it looks as though it's going to be significantly easier to sign top quality attacking talent this summer than defensive ones. I think we have to prepare ourselves for the real possibility that we don't address the defense this summer goalkeeper apart. We may have to be patient and wait until another window and hope the improved attack + better keeper make our defense more solid.

Could be a silly score line if Bayern care to put their foot in the gas.

I'm annoyed but nothing more. I'm too excited by what we're going to be next season to really be too upset about the FA cup. A few days from now everyone will have forgotten about this loss. All focus now is on Havertz and some defensive reinforcements to ensure results like this don't happen again.

The FA need to expand VAR then I guess. Allow refs up in the booth to quickly view a wider range of situations like that ridiculous second yellow for Kova today. That way there's a second opinion if a ref blows it on the pitch. Give them as few ways to make mistakes as possible

There needs to be a suspension/demotion system for referees who have consistently poor performances. There being ZERO accountability when they fuck over teams is crazy. If one of them has a shocker and makes egregious errors they should be fined or something. Or demoted to a lower league for a week.

I'm just really looking forward to having so many more options in attack that can create magic and have a lot more invention. No more "give it to Hazard/Pulisic and hope for magic." Right now we just have too many attacking players who can only summon quality performances every few games. Giroud, Willian, etc. are great options but not consistently the level we need. Having Ziyech, Werner, and hopefully Havertz will just give us a massive injection of quality. We're just 3-4 signings away from having no awesome side.

Have a closer look at him on YouTube. He's not a big lump who just sits in front of the defense. He's extremely comfortable carrying the ball and is highly mobile. I think a midfield pairing of Rice + Kante or Rice + Kova would be great.

Speaking of Declan Rice, he'd have made a massive difference for us on the middle of the pitch today. Everyone knows I love Jorhinho, but he simply isn't right for Frank's team going forward. After Havertz, Rice should be priority #1.

Here we go with this tactical masterclass shit for Arteta all over the place. 😂 I thought it was extremely even despite us missing so many key players. I think we win that comfortably with Willian, Kante, and if Puli and Azpi don't get injured. Oh, and a ref with a pair of eyes. Arteta has certainly made them tougher in defense, but he didn't "outclass" or out jink Frank there. We were just extremely unfortunate.

I've said this for years and I could search for the posts here if I had the patience, but Anthony Taylor is EASILY the worst ref in the PL. I've said it time and time again over the years. He's a disgrace. That aside, I have to single out Rüdiger as particularly poor today. He reminded me of the worst of David Luiz. Charging up at players and completely whiffing. Just no discipline.

So.....have to say it. Is Willian injured or is he "injured?" As in he doesn't want to put his move away in jeopardy?

Just watched the doc on him above. He's exactly the sort of lad I imagined he would be from watching him play. Just a down to earth, calm, mature kid. Very even keeled. We've heard repeatedly from our recent signings that Lampard had a huge role in them choosing us because he cares not just about developing them as players but also off the pitch as men. If Havertz has indeed spoken to Frank as has been reported you can bet it was persuasive in that regard. Hoping we see an agreement this week after the FA Cup is done. Personal terms agreed, player super keen to come. Just get it fucking done. Forget Sancho, he will be the best overall signing a club will make this summer. Can't let him slip away and move elsewhere.

Of course ESPN has this behind their paywall subscription service here. Shitty stream it is then...

Look, I want to win it, I will be watching and cheering the lads on, I will be happy if we do win it. But I won't lose a second of sleep or be devastated if we lose. That's all I'm saying. This isn't the late CL final or losing a massive PL match where I'd be depressed for ages afterward. I'll just think "ah, whatever. On to next season."

I guess you guys are more romantic than I am. I don't think the modern footballer will take as much from winning or losing an FA Cup as they probably did years ago. People talk about how winning it can be a platform for players/managers/clubs to then go on and do big things. Arsenal have won it how many time recently? It has done fuck all for them. Would it be nice for Frank's confidence and give us all a great feeling for a week? Yes. Will it be some massive deal if we lose and set us back at all? No. Maybe it's because I'm not English but I just don't care much about this competition at all. Holds no real special place in my heart. All about the PL and CL and nothing else for me.

Yeah, I won't really be bothered if we lose. It'll be annoying, yes, but our goals for the season have already been met. I'm more concerned about the Havertz chase than I am this game. Winning the FA Cup would be nice for a couple of days (and AFTV would be gold) but it just doesn't mean as much as it used to.

I'm not sure since I haven't paid close attention to him. I remember he started off kind of shaky, but as I said those guys on AFTV like Troopz are always raving about him saying he's been their best player this season and they'd have finished even further down the table if he hadn't bailed them out a bunch of times. God knows Arse need the money desperately. And it's not like they'd refuse to do business with us since we sold them Luiz last summer.

Bernd Leno has been Arse's player of the season from what I've heard on AFTV. If that backup keeper of theirs plays a blinder tomorrow against us surely it would be hard to sit him back on the bench for next season? We should be in for Leno in that case. I'm sure he'd be happy to stay in London and play for the bigger, better club. I see he's back fit again after his bad injury.

CB market getting smaller and smaller. That's now 3 CB's we've been linked with (Ake, Ginter, Upamecano) off the market in recent days. Are we going to go all in on the Declan Rice as a CB route? Not ideal. Feels like a move for Rice would go like several sagas of past windows where we chase a big target all summer, fail, and then settle for a lesser player at the last minute.

One by one José is going to weed out the creative flare players and replace them with robots basically. I'm sure Spuds fans are delighted to see an exciting, highly technical player like Ndombele sold and replaced by that bang average Hojbjerg from Southampton.

If Jimenez were 5 years younger, maybe. He'd be the most saught after striker out there.

Damn. 😞 He's my top CB choice now. There really aren't many to turn to if Ginter is off the table.

So no chance he will be sold or just more expensive if someone does come in for him?

I want to see Chelsea sign a man mountain of a CB who is also good on the ball. Like Koulibaly or Ginter. Someone who will never be pushed around and someone who devours anything through the air that gets near them a la VVD.

What I'm saying is we already have CB's of a similar profile as Ake. If we already had the commanding CB then Ake would make sense as a compliment. What we need is a direct upgrade on Zouma.