Blue Armour

Carragher & co. will still find a way to spin this into a positive and claim that Liverpool did it the right way, through prize monies from winning the championship, etc.

Some strikers can make up for any lack in heading ability with other skills, ala Thierry Henry. But I guess that's where the question mark comes with regards to Gyokeres. What are the other tools he has in his locker to overcome PL defenses in these kind of situations.

I too was thinking about that 'sideways/backwards' comment from Palmer. At the time I wondered if he had referred to his own decision making, but he clearly is talking about the team and it's tactics. Whether Maresca explicitly tells players to not be more direct and not use their inventiveness, is a separate matter.

TBF, Delap strikes the ball with more purpose and power. NJ hesitates and thinks too much in front of goal. We'll see how Delap does when constantly facing packed defenses, but there is no doubt he improves our attacking options. Nothing else like him in the squad. Still wish he becomes aerially more dominant though. We have great crossers of the ball in the squad, but not many to get on the end of it.

For him to use his physicality to help against low blocks, I would like for Delap to add some headers to his game, because aerially he hasn't been the best. i.e someone who can consistently get on the end of the delicious crosses that either Palmer or James can feed. Without the ability to head we might have to rely on him to instead create space for others to score, by occupying defenders.

Fair point about the price tag. 30m is far easier to recoup in comparison to the other target of 90., and I don’t think Chelsea with its current squad can afford to take a massive gamble on a striker with question marks. Morata and Lukaku oddly started off well. Both of them. Shame their attitude couldn't live up to the expectations. Both were pretty weak minded., and that's unfortunately something you can never be sure of with modern footballers.

3 more goals...and more assists. I think they're both quite raw as players and not reliable goalscorers yet, but I can still see Ektike at least link up with the team meaningfully and contribute with his dribbling ability. Don't think he's worth the current price tag, but I'd choose Ekitke easily over Delap. And of course, a proven goal scorer over both of them,.since Chelsea have none currently

Big shout out to Reece James for finishing the season strongly. He's had his injury troubles over the 3 years, but have to say that both Maresca and him have carefully managed his comeback, and hopefully this has given him a stable foundation for next season. I know he has got a lot of flak for his captaining (or lack of), and he isn't as vocal like a JT or even an Enzo. But he leads in the best way possible, through example. By being on the pitch and displaying what it means to be a top player. You can see it in the reactions of the other lads too. Palmer in his goal celebrations with James. Caicedo also voting only James from the current generation into his all time Chelsea 11.

Didn't stop us from nabbing Caicedo or Lavia

Not sure about this. 12 goals playing with a mediocre Ipswich side is nothing to scoff at., but I wouldn't call it game changing either. Not sure how his strengths will benefit us when playing against the kind of defence we will face off against.

Whichever forward we finally choose to go with, let's get the deal done asap. Let them come in and get acquainted with the club, and hit pre-season running, and hope they dont get an Nkunku style injury right at the start. Much better than waiting till the end of the transfer window and causing confusion for the squad and the manager.

Getting a reliable forward is such a pain for the club in the past few years. Still remember when Morata came in and all the hype around him. He had a great start too. Scoring with left foot, right foot, and headers, and a hat trick. Then it all went to pot because of his attitude. Same with Lukaku. In the past 2 decades, we have had only 2 reliable strikers, Drogba & Costa. And a few semi-reliable ones, Eto'o, Anelka, Giroud, Ba and Kalou.

Can understand choosing a more established striker (and perhaps more pure CF) like Oshimen over Ekitike. But not sure about Delap. Other than him being a nuisance to defenders and being decent with the ball on his feet., I am not sure about him thriving against the defensive lines our team goes up against. Sure, there's the same concern with Ekitke too, but not sure if Delap is the answer there.

Why are 2/3rds of the internet rooting for Antony for this game? Did he become Messi all of a sudden?

I'm pretty sure the club admin are looking at the goal+assist tally when they weigh up Ekitke. Palmer still being in top 5 despite that tremendous drop off in form is quite remarkable.

Hmm. Just wish that claimed price tag would be lower. Would love for him to be part of the squad. That being said, this club admin seems to prioritize lower wage fees over lower transfer fees. So who knows how they prioritize a prospect like him over some one more established (but still a gamble) like Oshimen., that is very likely to command much higher wages.

Get Ekitke, yes. Lanky player. An inch taller than Drogba and Henry.

It's all in the eye of the beholder. I mean, we gave Roberto DiMatteo full credit (and rightfully so) for winning the CL and FA cup, in an otherwise mediocre season domestically, but the point is that the facts eventually catch up. And in DiMatteo's case, the team performance in a few knockout rounds weren't enough to guarantee long term consistent success. And that's my point with regards to Maresca and Ange. Full credit for their achievements this season. But let's not pretend there weren't any problems. More so in Ange's case, tbf. If he wasn't facing a below par United side in the final, the paper talk and the fan talk would be vastly different right about now.

After viewing his post-match comments, I'm very much in agreement with you about a need for an attitude shift. Really needs to create a more positive mindset. Probably no small wonder that players like Palmer seem off the pace. His words: “All the ones that have the answers or the ones that have the truth, they were saying that we are too young, we are not good enough, they were waiting for Aston Villa to drop points for us to achieve the Champions League. They were saying that we were not able to win on this pitch because we are too young, because we are not experienced. “Unfortunately for them, they have all been wrong. All the ones that have the truth and have the answer to everything. “So in English, how you say? F off to all of them, because the players deserve that. The effort they have been doing is fantastic.” I get the us vs them mentality, but he should be humble enough to accept that a lot of things did go his way with regards to other teams. And shitting on a portion the fan group, big Ange style, looks weak. Ange is another one who made the most of an easy Europa league run, and now looks like a hero despite racking up 20 plus losses and a negative goal difference.

Hope it's nothing, and it's just Palmer being Palmer. He looked a bit subdued in the team pics too. Hopefully next season he gets his motivation back. We absolutely need to surround him with more quality players though. If he has to do another one man job to bring creativity in our attack, he won't be sticking around for long.

Would be funny if he came here next season.

Absolutely. And Maresca doesn't care. Top 4 was never his priority. He changed his tune only midway through the season when he presumably got some PR pep talk from the club admin. The way he prioritized dead rubber EC games ahead of PL fixtures in the final third of the season is enough of an indication for me. And the fact that he's talking up the final and his relationship with Pellegrini bodes poorly. Have a sinking feeling that he's going to screw up the lineup for Sunday's game. And agreed. Even if it's a trophy, winning the EC final is a poor consolation prize for a club that desperately needs more sources of revenue.

I'm more worried about Maresca tinkering with the lineup because of his obsession with the conference league., rather than the referee. He cares more about his CV, than the club, so a trophy will be more valuable than a top 5 finish. We might have already secured a top 5 spot by now if hadn't screwed up the lineup against Ipswich Town by resting key players, because of a dead rubber conference league game. If James is on the bench again on Sunday, you know where is priorities are.

Yes. Dew it.

Maresca already complaining about the lack of time ahead of the conference league final, with only 72 hrs of rest and Betis having an advantage. He really should be focusing on the final PL game of the season which is far more important. Really hope he doesn't compromise on the lineup for the last game.