Pizy

That was a shocking second half performance. We literally did NOTHING despite being the ones needing a goal. Arse just passed it around with no desire to do anything and didn’t have to get out of first gear. Our players all looked shattered after a decent first half. Oh well.

When we did get possession for sustained periods we looked nice and tidy. That interplay in the middle looks great. João Pedro fantastic holding the ball. Problem is with Pedro and Delap so far from the box we provided no real threat to Kepa’s goal.

We have 3 midfielders on the pitch and can’t get a touch of the ball.

Delap as a touchline hugging winger…..

Yes, it’s annoying that Reece isn’t in the squad but I’m not really that bothered about this competition. Never want to lose to Arse but I won’t lose a second of sleep if we do here. Couldn’t care less about the Carabao Cup. I just want to see us put in a respectable performance without our two best attackers.

Or Roman getting his ultimate dream of getting Pep and playing like Barca. We may have won 2-3 more UCL’s.

If Anderson and Wharton are too much I think Barco will be the guy. Would be an incredibly easy move to do I would assume. Of course the wildcard situation is if Enzo continues this form the rest of the season and we miss out on UCL he could ask to go to Madrid. That’s the only scenario in which I could imagine us spending gigantic money again to replace him. I could see us going for Tonali then.

I’d take Tonali here in an instant as would every big PL club. I just cannot ever see us spending mega money like that again on a single player. Especially not in midfield after we already bought 2 £100m guys. Do I think BlueCo would sanction a midfielder for £50-70m? Probably. But never £100m again. Not with Andrey Santos gaining in stature.

Tonali would probably also be a £100m player unless his contract is running down, surely? Also likely to be even more sought after than the other two if he’s available. Wouldn’t be shocked if United try sign 2 of Anderson, Wharton, Baleba, or Tonali if they finish in with UCL football. So hopefully we’re laying the groundwork with whichever midfielder we want already.

Let’s now hope he does reasonably well so that they or someone else buys him for good.

There’s always this hope that Lavia can stay fit. We saw Reece and Fofana have horror spells and both seem to be over their injury woes lately. But for Lavia his issues seem more than bad luck. He may have an actual medical condition where his knees are predisposed to break down. His body just may not ever allow him to remain fit for extended periods periods. If we could ever just get 2-3 months straight of Lavia we would be a different team. He really would be like a new signing. But we know that’s not going to happen.

So it doesn’t look like any of these big clubs made a significant move to improve themselves and change their outlook for the remainder of the season other than City, right? Unless I’m forgetting someone. Big players just don’t really move in January anymore. Too many clubs now have lots of money and can block top players from leaving against their wishes.

I continue to wonder if Rosenior will deploy 3 CB’s more often with Sarr joining. Sarr central with Trev and Fofana either side of him if we need some extra defensive steel.

The club must be super confident that either Lavia or Essugo are close to returning AND that one or both will remain fit. Because it’s still really weird how we clearly wanted a midfielder last week, didn’t get that particular one, and now are clearly not getting anyone. An injury or more disciplinary trouble for Caicedo could completely derail our season. If Romeo is fit (lol) then we’re good but tht never happens.

Unless someone is an Estevão or Quenda level super talent we need to stop fucking signing these teenagers, ffs. Imagine what a smart club could do with all the tens of millions we’ve flushed down the toilet on the likes of Deivid Washington or that random kid from Villa who I’m not even sure still exists. This rumor about the kid from Nantes better be bullshit. Absolute fucking joke to go out and spend 30m+ on an 18 year old CB after we’ve just briefed that we’re happy with all these young CB we already have.

His ability and comfort on the ball + his athleticism are still far, FAR better than Tosin or Badiashile. I understand that Trev and Fofana are ahead of him. But there’s no reason the first two should be. Any time Fofana is rotated out to manage his knees it should be Josh starting in his place.

“Chelsea rejected big money for Acheampong!” ”Several massive clubs have tried for Acheampong but Chelsea have said NO CHANCE!” ”Chelsea view Acheampong as massive talent and key part of the future project.” We hear these things over and over again and yet he doesn’t play. New manager comes in and he still doesn’t play ahead of players he hugely superior to. He’d have been better off out on a PL loan this season playing every game.

This is why I’m not even upset about missing out on the player himself. I had literally never heard of him before we were linked a few weeks ago. I’m more annoyed at our stupid club directors for doing the same song and dance once again where they lead everyone to believe we really want someone and then don’t actually follow through. Then brief us all with PR as if we’re idiots.

Bet we’ll get a brief midday tomorrow from every journalist simultaneously saying “Chelsea looked around in the market and were going to make a couple of signings but then decided they loved the players they had instead. They’re expecting to go big for targets in the summer.” Fabrizio and others now revealing that our own tactic of hoarding loads of young CB talents swayed Jacquet’s decision. LMAO! That’s what BlueCo gets. He saw a much clearer path to becoming “the man” at Liverpool because we have so many options all around his age on our books.

Probably figure that he doesn’t immediately displace Konate right now so they can wait until the summer and let him play every week at Rennes. For £62m they must be 100% convinced that this kid will be a VVD level CB in the future. Insane money for a 20 year old CB who will have ONE season’s worth of football under his belt by the time he arrives.

Fabrizio: “remember everyone, watch out for Chelsea these last days of the window. They’re going to be very BUSY. Not just a CB but also maybe midfielder and attacker!” In reality, busy = sending out a bunch of ultra fringe players who weren’t close to the first team out on loan and recalling a CB who may not even get into the team ahead of dogshit Badiashile and Tosin.

We probably thought that since Rennes are a small team and not so wealthy we could swoop in and lowball them with £35-40m like we were told initially. Instead, they stood their ground and stuck to their demand for their record sale. Now we’ll look like clowns who briefed for weeks that we wanted this player badly and will see him potentially starting for a direct rival for years. Again, I’m not crazy about Jacquet as if he’s some world class player but if he was your #1 choice and presumably someone that Rosenior knows well and recommended and you don’t get him that’s a terrible look.

Regardless of what I think of the player (I don’t see this unreal talent that he’s supposedly is) it would be a terrible look for this board if your primary CB target who you’ve been chasing for weeks goes instead to a direct rival. Would feel like yet another case where we try to low ball another club repeatedly and then someone else comes in with the money that other club is asking for.

So much for all that “keep an eye on Chelsea in the last days of the window” Fabrizio repeated like 50 times. Like I said a week or so ago when we pulled out of the Douglas Luiz move, we all better pray that Caicedo stays fit the whole rest of the season.

Thing is we paid such a monster amount for Fofana that he’d count as a massive loss on the books, right? We ain’t getting a gigantic fee from Marseille for him. So that’s why instead I think it’ll be Trev that’s sacrificed because being homegrown he’s pure profit. Getting £10-20m for Tosin who we signed for free will also be easy profit.