Blue Armour

Yep, that stab into the far corner. Reminds me of his finish against Man Utd in 2007 FA cup final.

I fear they've pulled him the rug out from under him with this transfer window. There was an opportunity to back up an inexperienced manager with some decent quality squad reinforcements, and they bailed. If this club doesn't make the CL spots this season., they could be doing away with him come season end.

https://images.app.goo.gl/DEfJBmStAjEHkW8p8

Find it absolutely hilarious that the Brighton support is booing Sanchez when he gets on the ball. They should be doing the opposite

It's odd that they've spent over 200 million on 3 central midfielders, but not the same on CBs. Well, they did spend 70m+ on an injury risk Fofana, and what a poor ROI that was. They're probably still hoping he comes good and thus see him & Colwill holding it down for seasons to come. Poor decision. I would trade 3 of our backup CBs for one quality CB. I'm not even asking for a CB of Carvalho quality Heck, our Brazilian CB Alex who played for us in 2010 was leagues above any of the CBs we have now.

At the Emirates right? Chelsea will be wide open at the back., with Sanchez providing guided tours for the Arsenal attack.

Well, if it's any consolation. Chelsea tecnhically isn't playing this 'weekend' 😄

Not to worry, the directors will soon sign a new winger to make up for lack of reinforcements. They're also holding on to the mighty Disasi, so that he can realize his true potential and become the leader Thiago Silva was for us.

Like I said in the Maresca thread. This has all the makings of the club ready to pull the rug out from another (4th) manager. A lot of planned outgoing, with no decent incomings in sight. I'll still wait for the end of the window before confirming my opinion, but they clearly think the squad is good enough for whatever league position they had in mind for this season. If the team keeps losing matches, it will be bye bye Maresca by the end of the season.

Let me guess. The directors still see Disasi as a long term project that will come into fruition. Maybe they saw Silva playing for us at 35+ and said., hey wait a minute...

Whether it's the combination of injuries or just general lack of interest, Nkunku just isn't cutting it for us. Maybe the lack of playing time did him in., and he just doesn't care any more. He seemed a lot better with his cameo roles (and conference league) early on in this season. Maybe Maresca should have done more squad rotation, starting him in a few games against weaker opponents, especially back in December when we had several fixtures b2b. But bringing him on against City was just pointless, given his most recent form.

If Chelsea keep finishing outside of the CL spots, and treat every season as the start of a long-term 'project', I wouldn't be surprised if Palmer moves back to City or another top club. I mean, which top player would want their career dragged down by a bumbling Sanchez?

Tbh, I don't think we'll have to worry about him moving on. He can stay on as a deputy keeper., playing the odd game here and there against rubbish opposition. The problem is that he is starting every game, and is getting exposed.

I hope our directors realize this soon. Even when he's fully fit, he is very suspect defensively.

Still want Maresca to work. His overall results are as poor as Poch has ever been, but at least the attacking play is watchable. And I don't trust this board to find anyone better. And I certainly don't want them to restart another 'project' using the new manager excuse. However, given how the board has dealt with defensive transfer targets, I fear they're going to pull the rug out from under yet another manager.

When we went 1 up today, I was thinking back to other big games we played in the past decade. Almost any of our defender combos from the Roman era would have put up a fight to preserve the 1 goal lead. JT-Carvalho-Cole combo, Alex-Ivanovic, Cahill-Azpi-Luiz (yes, even calamity Luiz), Rudiger-Silva...any of them. Instead my mood started to drop seeing the Sanchez-Colwill clown show.

The shirt sponsor situation is even more laughable now. I'm pretty sure they never went in for a sponsor this season because they were waiting to secure a higher league position and get a better long term deal from a top sponsor. Now all of that planning looks to be going down the toilet.

And Puyol said Drogba was the toughest he ever came up against. Rooney said JT was the toughest he played against. The glory days were great when they lasted. Best of the best. All across the pitch.

Sounds like a script prepared by the board. Sack the manager. Say that they need more time to get into top league positions..rinse and repeat. The fans will never notice...

To be fair, Slot has Van Dijk in CB and Allison as a GK. Maresca inherited the wonderful backline assembled by Clearlake

That's why I didn't want Jackson to be subbed. Despite his glaring errors, he's far superior to the options we currently have on the bench. Laughable thought to think that Nkunku could have an impact when he's been moping around in several games this season. Conference league is his level atm.

Before someone brings up the Chalobah signing to try and justify things, let's be clear- It was embarrassing enough to recall a player who they had previously isolated from the squad. And recalling Chalobah is just a lazy stop gap option they made in panic, because all their well acclaimed CBs were dropping like flies They're probably counting on Fofana to come back fit as a fiddle next season to grow into this true potential. Just like the almighty Sanchez and the amazing Disasi.

After that loss to City, I'm pretty sure the directors are preparing a new list of wingers to sign up. That'll solve all our problems.

Poor choice from Chalobah to leave his man and go to Colwill and Haaland.

Don't worry. We will sign new wingers to fix our problems. That exactly what this team needs.