Jase

It's not a stretch to say that Crystal Palace have a very old squad. And while their contracts aren't expiring this summer, players like Zaha turn 29 and Ayew 30 later this year. They could be in serious relegation trouble in the coming seasons.

I don't disagree with the overall sentiment but the reason why we lost at Wolves was more down to the tactical management side of things as opposed to weak character, IMO. Everyone knows Wolves' strength is counter attacks and yet, we kept giving them opportunities to hit us on the break because we kept charging forward recklessly and Lampard did nothing to help change the flow of the game.

Seems good that Tuchel is realistic enough to know that, instead of going around claiming he needs to be given time for the sake of it.

Tuchel admits he must earn right to emulate Klopp rebuild at Chelsea https://www.goal.com/en/news/tuchel-admits-he-must-earn-right-to-emulate-klopp-rebuild-at/1psdkrjwp071f17sjp1whpdsng “I have to earn it," Tuchel told reporters. "I have to earn it that I can have the same time as Jurgen and Pep. "This was no gift to them. Everybody in the club saw what they are doing, what impact they can have on teams and on their clubs, in the second step, and this is what I have to prove. "This is my target and from there on, it’s my job. I have to live every day and every week to make my impact here and to show that I deserve the same amount of time to build teams. "I have to earn it, I cannot say more, but I don't have the feeling right now that it’s an obstacle at the moment that holds me back from building and showing that I’m capable to do it.”

Wouldn't be the worst if we get a point tomorrow. Need to get at least 4 points from Liverpool and Everton.

Fuck for the percentages! If worse comes to worst, we'll just go and win the Champions League!

That's exaggerating it, I think. I don't believe for one second that Leicester, West Ham and Everton won't stumble (potentially a lot) along the way.

It's the same media outlet but different person reporting it. And I presume Bayern aren't mentioned because they still have Lewandowski and if we're being honest, what competition is there really for Bayern apart from in the Champions League? One would imagine Haaland wants to experience challenges as well.

Would like to see Milwall get promoted. The chaos they would bring against West Ham etc.

It's a shame that we keep on seeing mostly the same teams coming back up.

Meanwhile over in the Championship, looks like Norwich are coming straight back up. 10 points clear at the top with 12 games to go...

WHY DID YOUR SLAVIA PRAGUE HAVE TO GO KNOCK THEM OUT OF THE EUROPA LEAGUE!?

Really can't help but notice that the Ross Barkley PR machine has gone very quiet... 💀

I see the American media have pressed the "panic button" over Pulisic's lack of game time under Tuchel...

Leicester drew with Burnley. Villa lost at Sheffield United.

An impostor Pulisic returned from holiday in Greece last summer...

LOL

Of course but my point is, not winning the head-to-head games against the top half teams is the main reason we are in the predicament that we're right now. We are not close enough to those above us and not able to pull clear of those below us. We have basically been relying on the others not beating much of the rest and are under pressure to win every game from here on in. Let's not also forget we contrived to draw 3-3 at West Brom and 3-3 with Southampton after being 2-0 up under Lampard too.

Buying so many players in one window was always gonna be a problem (all part of trying to "catch up" with the rest after the transfer ban), even more so during a pandemic season. No pre-season. Constantly playing a game every 3-4 days. Injuries. Players getting COVID-19 (one in Havertz in this case). New players struggling to adapt or needing time to settle in England. Put all those factors together and we ended up with what we have seen. Hopefully we will have a slightly more normal season next time and then we can judge the players better, although the Euros being on this summer is not helpful at all. On top of that, this is like maybe the first time or maybe the first time since 2012/13 or 2013/14 that we went out and bought so many young players, players who are not finished articles yet for the first team, which has led to the struggles/inconsistencies with them. Otherwise, we have tended to buy players in their peak, established players who can come in and make an immediate impact. Not really the case last summer.

A table featuring only results between the current top 10 teams in the Premier League...

It's not always the case. Luiz's contract was due to expire at the end of the 2018/19 season but confirmation of his extension was only announced in May 2019 - https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/david-luiz-signs-Chelsea-extension/13sy0pt52y08m17sjbm8nskguk. And there's also JT, whose contract was due to expire at the end of the 2014/15 season and the extension announcement only came in March 2015 - https://www.eurosport.com/football/premier-league/2012-2013/john-terry-extends-Chelsea-contract_sto4654695/story.shtml. Did we really want to extend Pedro's contract? He was like the 4th choice last season, only normal he wanted to leave/we decided to let him go especially when he wasn't getting any younger. Willian's situation went down to the wire, no? He wanted 3 years, we only wanted 2. Had the club buckled, the announcement would have been made like in July/August last season. I don't know what's the exact situation between Donnarumma and Milan but I also don't see any guarantee that he will be leaving them and I also don't see anyone really homing in on him (the story you shared said we're only monitoring). And there's also this quote from himself last November. Milan also working on the negotiation/contract of another player whose contract expires this summer...

If there's anything that's killing us, it's those fucked up results against top half teams we had under Lampard. Those results have basically put us under huge pressure to win basically every remaining game.