Blue Armour

Why do we even keep giving these guys the no.9 shirt. It's as if we want them to fail.

Maybe we did not offer said amount to Benfica. The point of contention here is that we told the player, Enzo, and his entourage that we would trigger the clause. Maybe something got lost in translation, but it apparently turned the players head., according to their club president. And there is some evidence here, given that Enzo basically failed to show up for training for few days. Having a poor relationship with another club is one thing (and definitely not good), but screwing a top player doesn't send a good message when trying to convince other superstars. Anyway, damage if any, is already done. Time to move on.

Agreed. I saw the replay, and I was just thinking what it would be if we had a quality midfielder to play in front of Kovacic and Zakaria. Today it was Havertz playing behind Aubemayang. Havertz is either incapable (or has not been instructed to play a direct pass through the middle), and Aubameyang is just washed up. No pace or interest. Cucurella is looking such a waste. Doesn't offer anything defensively, and I would gladly take Alonso over him for offensive ability. Not even going to talk about the injuries. I've accepted that we will lose 1-2 Chelsea players to injury every other week. Negatives out of the way, I was pleased with that first half performance. Shame that not even one of our attempts could sneak in., and rescued at least a draw.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but he has been a known proponent of Chelsea going for Rice EDIT: note how he also mentions Potter's interest in Rice, and simultaneously questions Enzo's ability at a domestic level. Anyway, agree to disagree. This stuff is not going to affect any transfer for Enzo.

I agree with Matt Law about the need for calm over chaos, but jeez, he's complaining about us potentially overpaying for Enzo, and not making a move for Rice. Come on.

“As much as we want to win — and I don’t want to sound like it’s acceptable to lose, it’s not — but unfortunately part of the game is dropping points, is not succeeding, you’ve got to suffer and get better. “When I think back to how I got to this point, a lot of the things are the setbacks and the moments of struggle. So it’s not thinking of [winning this game potentially] as a kickstart, we focus on the next match, try to improve and try to get better.” -Graham Potter; source: Football.London Getting some real Conte season 2 "we must suffer" vibes here.

-delete wrong topic-

A disappointment we could have all lived without. Even back in the day with Roman, there would be rumors linking us to really elite players - but those would be very insignificant rumors., that you could tell were not really going anywhere Based on the last window, it's clear someone in the club management is now leaking news and feeding the hype machine needlessly for every shitty transfer negotiation. How else could a bunch of journos (even if not top tier) get conned into thinking sensational deals were nearly complete.

Like the sound of DDF

But we already have started bringing in players that are adding to problems. KK is here on a long contract and is on incredibly high wages (just found out about this). Cucurella is never going to be starting 11 material for a competitive team. Sterling also seems to be progressing towards a bust. I get your point about owners having to scrutinize each incoming and paying only fair price. But that doesn't seem to be what they are doing based on evidence from the last window. I've seen them go after highly rated targets like DeLigt only to get beaten to it by someone else. Similar to this one, we were all over the news because we were seemingly close to sealing the deal. Like I said earlier on this thread, if they fail to secure this move after all the press hype, it will feel like they are doing this only to feed the hype machine and not really accomplish anything.

Striker

Wonder whether Fofana will play a part in this game, or in the cup game against them during the weekend.

While I admit Potter is terrible atm, I still find it hard to think Arteta showed signs of quality, especially in his first two years. I'll admit he was good in spells last season (especially after they got their injured players back), but his first 1-2 seasons at Arsenal looked terrible. He took Unai Emerys already terrible team and made them perform worse, barring a couple of fluke cup wins (especially the one against us). And played some awful defensive football along the way. I could be mistaken., but that's just how I remember Arteta before last season.

Quick...get him in before the City game(s)

Fearing the worst in this match, but the worst thing Potter can do is have Azpi and KK play together on the right hand side of our defense. They are going to get skinned., if so. Bring in Chalobah, or play a winger as full back. Anything to avoid that combo.

Strongly agree with this. I worry about this, and the only way that it's going change is if he reshapes the squad over the years, like Arteta did. Weeding out players like Aubemayang and Ozil. But that was a long and painful process.

Agreed. I said at the time that even if it was an inevitable decision, they shouldn't have done it in such a rash manner. Abramovich never intended to keep Ranieri for long, but at least he gave him a full season. He even gave Di Matteo close to half a season

What is there's an even bigger twist and we call back Mourinho 3.0

I just hope Spurs don't go after Tuchel next.

The fact that we got Aubameyang as top striker, a player much derided by his former team and manager, only to have him lose his first match against them, and then go on to see them leading the table by 7 points, with Aubemayang relegated to the bench - just shows the state we are in.

He might still join - but I'm worried that he'll also just end up playing mediocre football.

Back when we signed him in the summer, I saw this article from the mail comparing his stats against other CBs. How does Koulibaly compare to Chelsea stars and Big Six stalwarts? https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-11010037/How-does-Kalidou-Koulibaly-compare-Chelsea-stars-Big-Six-stalwarts.html At the time, I was a bit shocked because he was objectively worse in nearly every department. (Especially the number of times he has been dribbled past by) I mean, a defender who has been praised to the moon by his former managers. And now, reality hits. Terrible at tracking back, unimaginative in attack. The only thing he does is press upwards to defend, and almost gives up a foul in the process. And he is just gassed every game. Silva is nearly 6 years older than him and plays with great tempo.

Yeah, I doubt they will replace Potter without giving him at least one transfer window. Not unless he gets into loggerheads with them like Tuchel did, and Potter is not the person to do that.

Even if Tuchel went off the boil.., at least he seemed to do something on the touchline. Giving out instructions, changing shape, etc.

I think the way it happened just makes it worse. A war we had nothing to do with and a vindictive government combined forces to strip the club of everything.