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If our transfer ban stands this summer, will he be able to join? Doesn't the ban mean we are restricted from registering new players, and they can be registered only during the transfer window?

(Shhh..! They might be reading this forum and will change their minds.) Yes, Alonso is the best left back in Europe! He scores when he wants! If you don't believe me, believe Sarri, he knows what he's talking about.

LMAO! Could it be because he's Spanish and from their academy? I mean they have Alaba in the same poll, nothing else explains him being behind.

He still got a lot of stick from us. Shows you can't appreciate something until you get something worse.

So who are staying behind from international duty? I think it's likely that they will play as they will have the most training time with Sarri. Of course the mainstays will play regardless, but there are a few positions up for rotation.

Welcome @PaulineSinclair ! The bluer the forum, the merrier Some excellent choices of yours there. For me Frank Lampard is the GOAT, absolutely loved the man (and wish City-gate didn't happen). Him scoring a penalty against Liverpool right after his mother died is my favourite memory of him, I cried like a bitch. John Terry too, miss them both tremendously. They are who got me into Chelsea and are the reason why I didn't become a glory hunter, but have stuck through and will keep on sticking through tough times. Current favourite player? Has to be Drinkwater - he's not done anything wrong this season.

I tend to agree. He's slowly going the Ivanovic route, both were run to the ground by managers too afraid to rotate. Ivan overstayed about 2 seasons and that tarnished his legacy a bit.. I don't want that to happen to Azpi too. The club should learn to sell at the right times, not when it's too late. In today's game quick full-backs are super important, only Emerson comes close to the required pace.

Could've would've... all part of a learning curve.

Don't know who that is

The biggest shock in that piece of news is that Myspace still exists, wtf... Didn't it vanish around the time when Orkut did?

So, a nothing story.

Strange question. Not a single person greedy enough to own billions can be trusted. I don't believe there is a single billionaire in world history who is honest and hasn't broken any laws.

When you don't have leaders in your squad, then at least your manager needs to be a leader. But it looks to me more and more that he isn't, he's only a coach. The League Cup final demonstrated that the best - before penalties the players and staff were discussing and planning among themselves, while Sarri was sulking alone until he went to do a few symbolic words and claps for the cameras (I think the players didn't really give a shit what he had to say as everything was set up already). Nobody turned to him for any advice, most looked away, while City players were focused on Pep talk this entire time. He will set up his routine drills on training ground, but the players probably don't look to him for solutions and guidance. When they are playing, it feels like they are there on their own, just trying to get by as Sarri rarely does anything decisive to change things. Zappacosta for Azpi while trailing still haunts my mind. Sarri is not a leader nor are any of our players and it shows. With this transfer ban especially, we need somebody with authority to guide us through that time. Without a shepherd, sheep get scattered.

You could try to be a bit more positive though my sweet lady. A lot of your posts in recent times remind me of those doom-mongers on the streets yelling "the end is nigh!" It might be true but it's still depressing to get slapped in the face with truth bombs regularly. I know our current state is dire, but, you know, having it repeated daily is not gonna change that unfortunately.

You preach the truth master Come liberate us!

Surprised this troll is still roaming around free here, but have to admit you're funny. [emoji1] Post more please. Sent from my Mi A1 using Tapatalk

Height is where the similarities end imho. Puyol was an exceptional CB, as was Cannavaro who is even shorter. Both vastly more physical and better at defending. Azpi, for me, a bit too laid back and not aggressive enough to be a good fit in a 2 CB pairing. Those two would hassle the fuck out of you until you lost the mood to play. For example, who would you play against Drogba in a physical battle, Puyol or Azpi?

Politics and off the pitch drama don't have anything to do with my comparisons, only what I saw happening on the pitch. And yes the club needs to be sold.

Twitter has ruined journalism. I despise "articles" like this that cherry pick a few idiotic posts from random bums. Talking in general, not saying they are all wrong, but this type of reporting from newspapers is just ridiculous. Are there any unbiased outlets left in the world that don't pursue their own agendas?

And that was a title defence too. Still I think the worst title defence in recorded history. The same thing happened during Conte's slump, lots of people popping up saying it was the worst thing ever. Nah, not even close, Conte's slump and our current state is a joy compared to that.

After Conte's title it has been downhill yes, but uphill from Mourinho. If it had been only downhill then we'd be in Championship.

That was Hiddink's work. I'm talking about the individual's discord.

Am I the only one for whom the individual's palpable discord period was the worst ever and everything after hasn't even come close? 16th... It was horrible. It was a miserable time in my life as well, usually football used to cheer me up, it has always been one of my escape methods. But that year under Mourinho watching Chelsea made everything worse, I fucking despised it. Give me grumpy Conte or clueless Sarri any second of the day.

Yeah perhaps The only thing I didn't like in that line-up was Alonso obviously. Never expected him to start RLC and CHO anyway so can't say I was surprised. We have switched to 4-2-3-1 two times now (wow!) and both times looked more threatening. Need to start doing that more, and playing RLC and CHO more. Put Kovacic and Kante in double pivot and RLC, Haz, CHO in front of them. In my mind I can see it working better than that 4-3-3 dross.