Superblue

The only thing at the moment I'm holding on to with Kepa is that last season his best performances probably came down the end stretch of the season and he seemed to take the League Cup final debacle on the chin and if anything come back stronger from it and the subsequent dropping in the Spurs game. It will be interesting to see if being dropped last weekend has a similar effect on him. If it doesn't I cannot see him staying here long term because he's almost getting to the point of no return with his performances this season.

They may be one of the few clubs we could sell too for a pretty good figure given their inability to sign anyone non-Basque. With that in mind, I'm not aware of their finances but I would assume they're a pretty wealthy club unless they have to pay well above market rate on wages to keep players at the club?

Rumours of Guaita came out last week because I think his Palace contract may be running down and so is Caballero's so the club are probably looking at him as a younger backup option to Willy. It makes sense as the club previously has looked domestically for a backup keeper who knows the league and can offer expected reliability. I think the Mirror have taken those suggestions and lazily included it in this piece. There is no way we're taking a Palace backup to be our first choice keeper. I'd also be surprised if Nick Pope was the keeper we'd look at to replace Kepa. I personally don't think he's good enough and would be found wanting making the step up.

Whilst I would agree about the left back situation because I also am unsure Chilwell is the best solution at the money being talked, but if the club have their sights on a first choice that is available in six months time then I think it's a better and more efficient policy to get into. It might not even be Chilwell as their first choice, it could be someone completely different (Chelsea seem to have a knack of doing that) who may not be available until the summer. If come the summer, we still don't get our first choice then these options which were available in January are still on the market to move on to but at least then we haven't gone for our third or fourth choice option because simply they're available soonest. Again I agree on Boga but if Chelsea keep Willian and buy Boga then there isn't really a spot open then for a new wide player next season because CHO and Pulisic certainly aren't being sold. I think Boga is a safe and cheap option to bring back next season to replace Pedro and/or Willian if higher priority options fail (e.g. Sancho) or both Pedro and Willian leave. I think it is simply the case of the opportunities available in the summer to do what is some pretty significant reinforcing and reshaping of the current squad far outweighs a quick fix solution in January.

It's a clear area needed for improvement no doubt about it. I wouldn't read too much into the Derby stats. There are only two teams this season in the Championship who have conceded less than the games they've played and it is such a ridiculously close and competitive league more often than not. I also wouldn't compare him to Sarri last season. This idea that Sarri got us playing attacking football is a bit of a myth. After Spurs ripped us apart we played football looking to control and dominate possession rather than an attack minded approach which allowed us to keep things relatively tight most of the time, and more often than not relying on Hazard to open up a team or create a chance. Without Hazard this season Lampard has opened us up far more. Probably a little too much at the start of the season as his lack of experience showed quite a naive approach but I think the all round defensive side of our game has improved compared to the first couple of months of the season. Still very much a work in progress but how open we were in some games early on was alarming and caused some massive problems. We do seem to be much more compact now between the lines but there is still a lot of improvement to be done. Silly mistakes and errors are still prevalent too, and need to be eradicated. Especially when a number of times the mistakes are being made by more experienced players in the squad so the excuse of younger players cannot really be used. With us, the clean sheets is definitely something that needs to be improved. In games this season where we are struggling to break teams down, we have to be making sure that we stay tight at the back. Obviously the lack of killer instinct in attack doesn't help with this as just encourages teams to go after us as a game wears on, but some games we've literally conceded just a couple of chances and conceded from it. They might still be on the face of things poor results, but losing to Newcastle, Bournemouth and West Ham all fairly late on by 1 goal - that's an extra 3 points which could be big come the end of the season in deciding our top 4 aspirations. He needs the opportunity also to bring in players though if he sees fit to improve the situation. Liverpool's first full season under Klopp he conceded 50 goals in the league and was averaging I think around 1.2 goals conceded in his first 2 and half seasons at the club. The additions of Alisson and Van Dijk to their defence cannot be understated in helping to change their fortunes around.

This wasn't really a thing because Sarri wanted to leave so I don't think it was ever between Sarri and Lampard, it was who to replace Sarri who was obviously outbound. I think Sarri would have wanted to leave to be honest whether that interest from Juventus was there or not. His football hadn't endeared itself to our fan base last season and was almost certain to be an even harder watch this year without Hazard and RLC, and with the glut of injuries we had heading into the season start. I was pro Lampard in the summer and I fully stand by that still because what I felt would happen has which is that he would be willing to place faith in our younger players which I doubt another continental manager would have done. Someone like Allegri say, is he really going to play Tammy over Giroud, Mount over Barkley, CHO over Pedro, Tomori over Luiz? At the stage we are at currently which even last year is miles behind City and Liverpool, the building blocks need to be put into place. With the transfer ban, this season felt like a complete free hit of a season to try something new. Whether Lampard proves to be a success as our manager or not, he has helped already to lay some new foundations at the club with a number of young players who will be well served for this season of invaluable experience playing regular first team football. I expect all of them to have long careers in the Premier League ranging from good to excellent and the hope is all will continue to develop from this. What is also a really important side point to this is they have all, bar Tammy, committed long term to Chelsea and I am pretty sure Lampard has had an extremely large influence on this that a pathway is now available at Chelsea. I think this has also opened the eyes of the board that more trust can be placed into the academy providing first team squad players. The longer term picture hopefully being that our recruitment can centre around 2 things - the best young talent and the highest level of talent we can attract, instead of mid-range squad fillers eating significantly into our transfer budget. And the other positive of this being that it hopefully encourages the next talented crop of youngsters that there is finally seemingly a pathway into the first team squad. The bonus of everything is we're still bang in the race for top 4, with no one yet capable of stringing any semblance of form together. The key is going to be this summer, top 4 or not this season. Can the board and management start really re-shaping this squad properly to push back up towards the top 2 again.

It's definitely a requirement for teams now that wish to dominate the ball, but I do still think you need a balance. Pep took Bravo to City in his first season for what was a pretty big transfer for a keeper at the time, and although he was someone quite happy on the ball but quickly realised the number of mistakes he was making and his shot stopping ability were going to keep costing City if he wasn't replaced. I feel at the moment Kepa is almost in a similar bracket where he is giving zero confidence to the defence, making far too many mistakes and it feels like he is trying to over-compensate for that with his ball distribution which is also suffering as a result. I think the biggest question to ask on this thought process is would you rather Kepa or previous keepers we've had like Cech and Courtois who were far better keepers but neither very strong with ball distribution or comfortable on the ball?

The biggest positive for me today was the ability to fight back from behind to get a draw. It hasn't happened nearly enough in the last couple of months and been too easy for heads to drop when we've fallen behind. This performance today showed a bit more grit and determination which we'll need in spades to get the top 4 because it'll be a real dog fight.

Surprised that the three of Kova, Jorginho and Kante aren't playing today. I don't like the 3 together against teams that will defend but they're the best combination in my opinion to play against the better teams to try and dominate the midfield. Pedro too is a surprise, however with January passed and no new arrivals perhaps Lampard has realised he needs to bring some fringe players back into the fold and give them games otherwise we'll look desperately thin in some positions in the run in. I had a feeling he might drop Kepa. Big match to do it in but this has been coming for some time and I'm glad he's got the bottle to do it regardless of the size of game. Kepa needs a huge wake up call and hopefully this is it. Otherwise we could be seriously looking at keepers in the summer.

Yeah can't argue with this. I think probably a bit of inexperience for Lampard has contributed to this position. I can understand why he didn't want to change things up when we were on that winning streak though, and since then the lack of game time has really showed up Pedro and Giroud in the odd games and minutes they have had since.

The injury to Tammy would be an issue if we let Giroud leave without bringing in another option. That would be pure madness and I would be raging then. I'm sure once the options for Cavani and Mertens weren't happening, we still could have secured a loan deal for another striker, but would we have found one as good as Giroud or Batshuayi? There's been links to us, Spurs and United for Slimani! If we're talking this level then you might as well stick with what you've got. Like I've said before, Lampard needs to find a way or have more confidence in giving opportunities to Giroud for the rest of the season. Or we go and buy a striker who we maybe could get this window but Lampard and the club aren't 100% on. That's the recipe for long term pain over short term gain when we're stuck with another striker come the summer that we'd probably rather move on than keep alongside Batshuayi, and potentially hindering any other pursuits. I'd rather we're buying a player challenging Tammy for the number 1 spot, not Batshuayi for the number 2 spot.

I don't think anyone doesn't feel like the team needs improvement, that is quite clear that we need 3 or 4 quality additions and our younger players (and manager) to gain more experience and development before we're in any position to start pushing the top 2. But if we've identified targets that both the club and Lampard agree on moving for and they're impossible to pull off this window then I don't see why you'd move away from that just because it's an opportunity to bring someone in. If we went and brought Zaha for £80m now, people would be losing their shit that we've done that just because he was attainable and questioned why we haven't waited to try and get Sancho, or looked at a better option than Zaha who could move in the summer (say a Grealish for example). It's a small sample size to be able to draw conclusions from but after the horrendous 2017 summer window (and the following January not much better) with a scattergun mentality that we're still suffering from, the 2018 summer window was done in a much better and thoughtful manner. Obviously no player is a guaranteed success (we could buy Sancho and he flops playing in England) as we've found with Kepa but the club over the last 18 months seems to have realised that the better way is to buy quality over quantity with our budgets and our stance in this window, for me, can only be seen as further proof of that. The Higuain deal last January was a temporary measure. In prior years we would have ended up buying a player like him and been lumbered with him for the next couple of seasons thereafter. From what it appears we've tried to find a similar option this window to help us for the rest of the season and it's not happened. If the only way of picking up a Mertens or Cavani was to buy them for £15-20m and give them an 18 month or 30 month deal then I can fully see why the club decided against it.

If this is true that there will be no incomings or outgoings then I hope Lampard can see that Giroud's skillset may be an alternative that can be utilised more against these teams that are defending deep through the middle. He is a completely different plan B from the bench which may give opponents something to think about compared to Bats who whilst more mobile, doesn't really offer anything else at all. Will be important to get through the next couple of weeks and get Pulisic back fit and hopefully RLC after the winter break. Seeing CHO's struggles earlier in the season, I'm not expecting miracles with him but he does offer an extra option and goal threat higher up the pitch.

No. I must've dreamt that we broke the transfer record for a goalkeeper the summer prior to the ban and including Pulisic that season spent the best part of £170-180m, and then still managed to find a loophole to buy Kova for £40m during our ban. Not sure the exact figures but the summer and January in the prior season to last must have been close to a £200m spend too. There's a difference between spending big and spending well.

Add to this the ones seemingly bitching and moaning about him leaving and not getting enough chances are the same people that don't seem to have any patience and belief in the rest of our young players coming through anyway.

Of course you can compare Hazard's situation because he wanted to leave the summer before (after the World Cup), he's admitted to that and the club wouldn't budge. So instead of complaining he knuckled down and was the biggest contributor to us getting into the top 4 last season. Nobody can point the finger at him downing tools last season like somebody like Eriksen has done this season for Spurs knowing he's be on his way out and he certainly didn't pull any threats like Courtois did with regards to refusing to train or play. The club asked for one more year from Hazard and then managed to negotiate a pretty damn good deal for a player with only one year's contract left. We asked the same of Courtois to stay the last season of his contract and then leave and he wouldn't. Possibly in the same way we may ask Giroud to see out these next 6 months...

With regards to offensively, the energy and intensity he wants our attacking players to play with. The ability to press hard and high up the pitch to win the ball back, and players capable of running in behind defences. Certainly not to the degree that was on show against United and Leicester where players tired after an hour and the lack of cohesion in our pressing was evident, but I think during the run of wins we had, this football was very much on show and I don't see how Giroud would have fitted into that personally. I do think there should be a role for him right now because Batshuayi offers nothing as a backup and Giroud can at least offer a nuisance and aerial threat now that much of our game is being forced out wide where we're clearly not as strong. But even then it would only be a short term option. I think if Lampard was to have someone in the squad better aerially than Tammy (which shouldn't really be a question given Tammy's size but he still has a lot of developing to do in this part of his game) he'd still want them to be a far more mobile striker than Giroud is.

I mentioned this earlier that I'd rather settle for less fee and more clauses but to be fair we're hardly in a position of real strength of negotiation when he can move in the summer and even sign a pre contract agreement with foreign clubs already.

Fair enough but the point still stands regarding respecting a contract. If a player wants to dig his heels in and stay at a club there isn't a great deal a club can do to force him out so it should never work the other way. I think it's highly disrespectful and often seems to be the "go-to" option when they can't get their own way. I've mentioned before that since teams have started sitting deep against us and forcing us out wide and into crossing positions more regularly that Giroud would be a better plan B than Batshuayi, but I highly doubt Lampard would sideline him purely because of a 'vendetta' against Deschamps. The way we were playing in the first part of the season in my opinion was a blueprint for how Lampard wants this team to evolve and it was pretty clear then that Giroud would struggle for a role in this team.

He'll go massively down in my estimations if he does that. I don't like this idea that players think they can just go AWOL and/or act up to force a club's hand. I understand his frustration but I didn't hear him complaining when he was signing an extension to his contract last summer on big money. This sort of behaviour is the exact reason why Hazard left with the fan's blessing and will be forever loved around these parts, whilst Courtois tarnished any sort of legacy he may have built here and will be firmly reminded of that by Chelsea fans if we ever cross paths. Let's hope Oli has a bit more professionalism not to stoop down to this level.

Oh well, you can't keep them all. Even now that proverbial glass ceiling has been shattered. If Reece James stays at right back and isn't moved to a different position then the first choice spot is his for the taking for the next decade or more and that has to play into Lamptey's thought process. I wish him good luck at Brighton. His size is a worry for me, even 'small' full backs like Ashley Cole and Dani Alves were 4 or 5 inches taller. However it will be interesting to see if that becomes a non factor during his career. If he's good enough, he'll be back at a top club again one day.

Two strikers I think is fine if we had a hybrid player capable of playing as the front man if needed. (for example he wasn't great doing it and didn't like it but at least previously Hazard could play there at a push) I don't believe we have anyone capable of filling that role in the squad at present which does leave us short, especially when Bats clearly isn't fancied and as a result Tammy is playing week in week out with little chance to rest. That is part of the reason why I could understand the links to Mertens because I think we could quite comfortably sign him on an 18 month deal at least and still target another striker in the summer. Being able to play across the whole front line will still provide Mertens with a role next season and leave us much stronger from a depth perspective.

I think he's already done this all month long. He's made it clear that the squad needs strengthening and there are areas to improve so I don't think he's trying to kid anyone that he's 100% happy. But on the other hand he's also mentioned that January is not a very good window to do business in. A short term solution has been mooted but the level the club is at there are going to be very few short term options (i.e. a loan deal) which are going to improve us because otherwise the parent club wouldn't be loaning their player out in the first place.

The most sensible couple of sentences I've seen on this topic.

I know it's going to be hard with only 6 months on his deal but I'd rather try to negotiate a lower fee now and either a buy back clause (even if it was for quite a bit more, say between £20-30m) or failing that a sell on percentage.