OneMoSalah

Eden said he wanted to leave last sunmer. While it wasnt a transfer request its not as if he didnt say it... Regarding CHO and more or less the majority of players with agents, I doubt his agent is really going to hugely influence him to sign or not sign a new deal etc, if a player wants to leave its ultimately their decision. Sure agents are there and maybe some yes they can influence or get their clients better deals (that fat Italian dickhead who Pogba, Ibra are represented by is the worst of them the millions he has rinsed from clubs is incredible) but ultimately the buck stops with the player for me regardless. If he wanted to really stay and sign a new deal he would of by now. This his brother is doing this or getting player X or Y a move to Bayern isnt really the reason why he hasnt signed. His head was obviously turned in Jan (the likes of Bayern being interested will do that to many young players) hence the transfer request, coupled together with a lck of playing time. The lack of talk regarding his future when asked after that said 1000 words too. Regardless, the club shouldn't be bowing down to someone who has only played 25 games in the first team if he doesnt want to stay. Anyone thinking their bigger, better or dont want to be here should be shown the door, especially a kid who however you look at it hasnt really achieved anything in terms of his footballing career to date. Not just Callum this is a huge issue with many young players in England. Big youth contracts, too much too soon, I mean look at Rashford, very good prospect and will be a top player but 200k a week? Jesse Lingard very average limited footballer, 140k a week... and theres probably hundreds of them in the UK alone.

Tbf if they look to play counter attacking football and throw crosses into the box from wider areas he will easily score 20 goals a season. Dont think Conte ever wanted him for how he linked up or that when he was here but more because of his record as a goalscorer and his physicality. Think Lukaku will do very well in Serie A if he does go. Id imagine that is only if Icardi is going to go though. Why else would they sign Lukaku when they already have Martinez and Icardi, unless he wants to play 352 with those 2 up top...

Think he will play as a winger here, his 1 v 1 ability would be wasted in central areas where most often than not in games that area become far too congested. Generally more space out wide as teams will sit deep and narrow against us.

Definitely. He wanted Alex Sandro and Candreva (not an amazing player but would of done well at RWB and his final ball was 10 times better) to improve on Moses and Alonso. He wanted Lukaku to replace Costa (still dont get why he wanted to bin him completely, he struck me as the typical mould of player Conte would want, top player, hard working, win at all costs, did it in big games - similar traits to what Vidal, Marchisio, Bonucci, Chielleni had). Think he also wanted Nainggolan (got Kante instead) and Pogba too, glad we didnt get Pogba tbf though. Think Inter will be a lot better under him, plus they already have half decent/good/very good players there like Samir Handanovic, De Vrij, Milan Skriniar, Diego Godin, Miranda, Roberto Gagliardini, Mauro Icardi, Lautaro Martinez, Ivan Perisic... a lot of experience and potential as well as a lot of definite fits for Contes 343 or 352 whatever he goes for.

Again though, talk is talk. Lets see if the players can take FL's words and put those things into performances. For instance, Villas-Boas said the right things too, good proactive football, winning, youth developement, bla bla bla.... Also regarding a unit pulling in the same direction etc, every manager who has gone through any sort of footballing licensed course or even ex player should be aware of that, its hardly pointing out anything that hasnt been mentioned before. Hes hardly said anything that no other manager would say in this predicament we are in, lets be honest. We need to judge him on what happens on the pitch. Hard work is arguably the most important thing in football. I hope he can be successful but again feel that people will cling onto every word he says even if its something that has been said before in a different light than anyone else because hes Frank Lampard. To put a dampner on things, Id still be amazed if he sees out all 3 years of his contract but thats not on him, thats the same with any other manager here. Despite having reservations I am exicted for this season, transfer ban isnt great as we need improvements but it forces the coaches hand to play some of these young lads which obviously as a fan and going on our academies reputation isnt all that bad. Top 4 still has to be minimum target. Would be the same if it were Pep, Allegri, Blanc, Steve Holland or whoever if it werent Frank.

Think we have to give it a few competitive games before saying anything along those lines. Still remember after we played a few times and Inter with Sarri in pre season similar things were said but along the lines regarding his philosophy and how this is what we will be now etc. People need to not get too carried away after a week. While the quotes are encouraging, to say "the old Chelsea" is premature to say the least. Even to say compared to our team under Conte and even Jose in the 2nd spell, we could compete and fight teams even with players like Oscar, Hazard, Willian... we will never be that Chelsea team of 2004/05, 05/06 again because football has changed and managers really dont build teams like that anymore. We were a nightmare to play against physically, tactically, mentally the group was rock solid, could defend for prolonged peroids etc. Before this possession obsession ruined football in a way, as theres truely no correct or one way of playing football.

First game didnt expect much more. Ampadu really caught my eye but still at times in first half he played too safe with his passing. Kenedy isnt a LB and has no place here in the long term in my eyes. Batshuayi did good but still have doubts about him, although times the final pass to him was shit ornthey went another way. Billy Gilmour looked promising when he got on but think this seasons too soon. Dujon Sterling was disappointing. Hopefully with the addition of more senior players who played regularly together and more fitness training we will be a lot better. Im sure we will. 4231 is still for me not a better fit than 433.

He has even more of a chance than ever to be kept around for one reason which is mind boggling. We lost Rob Green and Gary Cahill who took up two home grown slots in our squad and Victor Moses is probably set to depart as well. So considering that, I think that unfortunately he will only be kept for that reason. Hes not good enough to start and really you would think he has to go but his HG status could help him as well as maybe only using him in cup games. We need how many, a minimum of 8 HG players in our 25 man squad? We have Andreas, Ruben, CHO, Barkley and Ampadu from last years squad. Few other names that spring to mind are Reece James, Fikayo Tomori (if Zouma stays he will go on loan likely), Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham. That gives us 9 but again theres talk of Tomori going and also clubs being interested in Ampadu (Aston Villa)... so we could be down to 7. Another few players who could be included in that HG list is Lucas Piazon, Izzy Brown and Marco van Ginkel IIRC... but I do hope we maybe think logically and maybe keep Jamal Blackman as 3rd choice GK and sell the other 3. Id be happy with us having Callum, Ruben, Ross, Andreas, Mason, Fiyako, Jamal, Reece, Ethan and Tammy making up HG places in the squad but honestly think that one of, if not both of Ampadu and Tomori will be up for loan if Zouma stays. Luiz, Rudiger, Christensen and Zouma is more than enough. Realisitcally dont think the 25 man squad will be too far off this: Kepa, Cabellaro, Blackman (HG) Christensen (HG), Luiz, Rudiger, Zouma Azpi, Reece James (HG), Alonso, Emerson Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic, Barkley (HG), Mason (HG), RLC (HG), Drinkwater (HG), Pedro, Willian, CHO (HG), Pulisic Giroud, Batshuayi, Tammy (HG) Obviously as well with the u21s you dont actually need to register them but some will definitely be registered this season as they will need to be. Would be interesting to see who else FL and JM maybe turn to but after saying they wont alienate anyone that means DD could stay.

They just got 50m for Wan Bissaka so we should ask for 35m. Good deal for us I would say but we would be short uptop.

Thinking about it, It will either boil down to one of two things. Playing time (which he will get more here than at Bayern who still want him) or money, which I can see being more likely now. If he rejects an offer it is more likely to be a financial issue as in my eyes now, he is probably going to be odds on to start most weeks if hes fully recovered with Eden being is gone and not being able to move for anyone. All the talk of 100k a week for someone yet to play 50 games professionally is a bit ridiculous though. Still think Ruben getting 120k a week is a wee bit mad too although a new deal was deserved but then again at least we arent dishing out 250k a week to the likes of Rashford or more to Pogba, Sanchez etc like United. Again think we have to be wary with some of these guys coming through, cant afford to spoil them too soon with huge huge paying contracts based of 15 games etc.

Honestly as I and many have said before (even when he submitted his transfer request), if he decides to leave and still wants to go to Bayern then he is even dumber than I imagined. He wont start there 100%. If he wasnt getting selected regularly ahead of Willian and Pedro under Sarri he has another thing coming with Coman and Gnabry under Kovac. Bayern are reportedly very interested and looking at Pepe and Bergwijn as well. He will do well to make it in their starting 11 even if they only get one of them. Hes a talent but he needs to play, if he doesnt want to play here then going to Bayerns not exactly the right move either. Theres something off about this whole situation has been since the start.

Although both are limited players think Candreva would of definitely done a very good job at RWB ahead of Moses and Zappa. Think Conte played him there when he was incharge of the NT during the euros at times. Llorente probably wouldnt of done much more than Giroud though.

I think it theres one thing Atletico have successfully done is remain competitive despite losing their best players. Joao Felix may not have done much but they havent been as excited about a young player in Portugal since Ronaldo probably, which considering the talent they are producing now a days says a lot (some very good players coming through, as usual with Porto, Sporting and Benfica). €120m for a 19 year old who if he does well will make them a huge profit, if you think 120m is a lot now a days wait say 4 or 5 seasons down the line big clubs will probably end up paying closer tl 200m for 19/20 year olds off the likes of Porto, Benfica, Monaco, etc. Its not his fault or Atleticos fault that Benfica put a release clause to protect themselves in his contract, is it? Also Filipe isnt maybe an exceptional player or a well known one but if theres one thing Atletico recruit well on, its defenders. 30 year old or not. Even then you look at the likes of Godin, Filipe Luis, Miranda, Gimenez regardless of age all came from smaller clubs and improved under Simeone, who is one of the best managers at extracting things and pushing players to their full potential. Its no surprise Griezmann became much much better at Atletico under Simeone. Or Costa the first time. Also, yes Marcos Llorente isnt Rodri and wasnt really utilised at Madrid but again, I think he will come on at Atletico. Look at Thomas Parteys progression for instance. Regular minutes under a guy who played that same position? None of its a dead cert but Atletico will be fine. Simeone is definitely capable of rebuilding the team hes lost Falcao, Courtois, Gabi, Costa, Luis, Turan, etc before and replaced them with obscure buys in some peoples eyes but it worked.

Christ almighty. 2 players we need to bin desperately. Unless Batshuayi doesnt mind being 2nd choice. Drinkwater needs to go

Why panic? I mean lets be honest for our record with youth, which I dont expect to dramatically change even with Frank it isnt going to be a colossal loss. They could end up good players yes but if we have seen one thing in the past its that young players dont always pan out either. The academy is very good, true, but its not like weve had one year only and the rest have been mediocre weve seen before different age groups all being successful.... the academy will keep producing, losing two or three is not necessarily the biggest problem, not getting them involved with the first team is.

The guys I have unbolded, looking forward to see what sort of shape their in and how they do. Been a big fan of Billy since he was at Rangers, think if he gets minutes it will give a good guage of wheres he is at particularly physically as he is technically good. Doubt he'll be in consideration for the 25 man squad but if he fares well maybe get a chance of a loan? Who knows? Some of the other youngsters I am not overly familiar with but again will jeep an eye on them see how they do.

Honestly with the fact Maka and Drogba are meant to be coming back I am really surprised we couldnt make some sort of coaching position avaliable for Gianfranco as opposed to the ambassador role or whatever the club offered him. Hes still hugely popular and respected, maybe being here with Sarri and his coaching career went against him/wants a return to management or even Frank just wanted to bring folk he worked with in but I think he could have definitely fit into a role. Shame but hey ho. Classy statement, would expect nothing else from the guy. (Hope the club also look at recruiting Michael Ballack in some capacity although hes doing his coaching badges based off his Instagram so wonder what he will do after that)

What about the countless Bundesliga matches over the last 4 years where hes turned in good performances against the likes of Schalke, Leverkusen Mochengladbach, Bayern, Hoffenheim, whoever else? Again, like club games, at international you can only beat who is in front of you, players can only perform against whoever their up against. We are talking about a guy with 100+ games in one of the better European leagues in the world at the age of 20. But I suppose this means CHO's England debut vs Montenegro meant nothing either? You could consider them a "pub team"..... If you can perform well at 19 or 20 against Bayern Munich you can definitely perform against anybody.

Think it will be 4231 with Kante next to Jorginho or 433 witb Kante-Jorginho-RLC as the MF, just Kantes positioning/role will be tweaked. Think dumping/benching Jorginho would be a error. Nobody else in our MF does what he does. Even more so if Frank is wanting to try and continue persist along the same lines as Sarri did.

Welcome home Frank. Lets hope he is as successful as a manager here as he was as a player but also thats a tall order, lets hope he can hit the ground running.

Ive watched him and Lyon (really impressive young side) maybe 10 or 15 times the last 2 seasons. For me, he is definitely not going to be a dud. Also seen him play in the flesh in February v PSG with a few mates of mines at the Groupana Stadium (if anyone gets the chance, go to a game there, was great) and cant stress enough that he will fit in over here in England and especially at Spurs with how Poch has them playing (along with Lo Celso from Betis if they sign him). Physically he is strong, covers a lot of ground, can offer in both the offensive and defensive phase of the game. Technically he is good too. Fair enough hes not going to maybe be at his best years yet but over the next 3, 4 or 5 years he will be a brilliant player and huge fixture in the French NT if not before then. Hes not going to be a Veretout, Thauvin, Bakayoko, Nampalys Mendy, Benjamin Mendy (only categorised in this as of injury) or whoever. He will do very well in the PL. As will Houssem Aorar and perhaps Moussa Dembele if they ever make moves here.

Wouldnt say hes unproven. He showed in Ligue 1 the last 2 seasons he is one of the best midfield players in France and one of the best young midfielders in Europe. As well as having been playing for France, which when you look at their midfield options is no mean feat. Honestly surprised Real, Juventus or City didnt go for him but Juve got Rabiot on a free and City have signed Rodri who is maybe better suited for them. Real maybe prioritising Pogba but Ndombele would of been an excellent signing for any team. Very capable already and will grow into a top top player. Only 22 years old with 150 games under his belt. 55m upfront with 10m in add ons in todays market for someone who over the next 10 years will be an excellent player is hardly a huge risk at all. Aouar will be the next big talent to move from Lyon. Should keep an eye on him. Be surprised ir City dont go for him to replace David Silva next summer despite having Bernardo Silva and Foden. Pep is a huge fan. We need to be in amongst the race for his signature come then.

What a player. Honestly gutted to think he is a Spurs player. No point comparing him to Bakayoko, he is vastly superior in every aspect of his game. He probably wont need that much time to adapt. Dont think hes as raw as Bakayoko was.

If City get Cancelo in to go with Rodri and they are probably steamrolling the league, not even Liverpool can get that close to them this season because their most vital MF player Fernandinho and vunerable position in terms of lack of rotation now has a long term replacement and arguably a better player. Rodri, De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva with the likes of Sane, Aguero and Sterling... gonna be tough for anyone to topple.

Perhaps but its hardly as if it was a broken tradition at the club. The fact youth isnt used here predominantly and hasnt been for 10 or 15 years isnt down to one manager. Its down to repeatedly changing managers and ripping the script up every 1, 2 or 3 years. Is it Sarris fault? Joses fault? Villas-Boas fault? No. The real people to blame are the fannies running the club with a short term mindset but the media will never write about that and will contiounously produce puff pieces praising the likes of Marina etc for 60m sponsorship deals etc. Sarri used young guys more than the other managers, if he didnt watch u23s so what? Jody Morris said before previous managers didnt watch youth games despite the pitches being not too far from the office as he put it. All the best youngsters we have are probably out on loan too so is it bad if the managers dont make time to watch them directly although we have someone at the club who does loan reports?