Jase

LOL

But is Haller a top striker in general though? He did score 15 goals in the Bundesliga in 2018/19 but apart from that, the only times he's scored more than 10 league goals in a season were in the Eredivisie.

Seems like Arteta has given up on the league going by that lineup he put out...

Think he said it because on the context of everything that has happened and the challenges faced in the league. See more of his quotes in my last post above.

Erling Haaland promises to be the transfer story of the summer and today’s Premier League clash between Chelsea and Manchester United may well be a prelude to a battle, which could also involve Manchester City, for one of the hottest young strikers of recent years. It is nine years ago since Chelsea last beat all of their top-four rivals, as well as some of Europe’s biggest clubs, to land Eden Hazard, and they have since lost out to United for striker Romelu Lukaku and City for central defender John Stones. United and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s interest in signing Haaland last January was well documented, but what is not as well known is that former Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard also wanted to sign him last year and made contact with the player’s entourage before he joined Borussia Dortmund from Molde. Haaland’s agent, Mino Raiola, last week claimed that there were now as many as 10 of Europe’s top clubs interested in trying to force Dortmund into a sale. Here, we examine the elements that will determine who comes out on top and which club, out of Chelsea, United and City, hold an advantage in each category. The agent Raiola was key to Haaland joining Borussia Dortmund in January last year, when both United and Chelsea had shown an interest in the player, and it appears the Italian will again have a big influence on his next destination. That could be bad news for Chelsea, with sources unable to recall a single player that the Blues have signed through Raiola, who took Lukaku to United instead of Stamford Bridge in 2017. Other than the huge fees he demands, Chelsea have been reluctant to work with Raiola because of the continuing influence he traditionally has over his clients and the interference that can bring, as United have found with Paul Pogba. Former manager Jose Mourinho had been interested in signing Pogba for Chelsea, but, along with other reservations, Raiola’s presence was a turn-off for the London club. City manager Pep Guardiola is also said to have fallen out with Raiola in the past over Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and he is not a manager who would stand for an agent making public statements about his players. Not one of the Premier League trio have a clear advantage in terms of their relationship with Raiola, but, for all the public rows over Pogba, United have done the most deals with him and were prepared to offer more in terms of agents’ fees than Chelsea for Lukaku. Both Chelsea and City will be relying on other factors convincing Haaland to instruct Raiola where he wants to go, rather than the other way round. Advantage Manchester United, but Raiola will be willing to talk to whichever clubs are willing to put up the money. The manager Sir Alex Ferguson used to be United’s jewel in the crown in terms of convincing players to move to Old Trafford, while Mourinho famously charmed Cesc Fabregas into joining Chelsea, despite his association with Arsenal, and Antonio Conte made an 11th-hour phone call to N’Golo Kante to talk him out of joining the Gunners in favour of moving to West London. United manager Solskjaer this week reiterated his relationship with Haaland, having managed him at Molde and revealed the pair remain in touch. But City clearly have the X-factor when it comes to the pulling power of each club’s manager and it is hard to imagine any attacking player turning down the opportunity to work under Guardiola if the Spaniard made it clear that he really wanted them. Chelsea’s latest head coach Thomas Tuchel seems on less sure footing than his rivals, given how recently he was appointed, although his experience of working with Kylian Mbappe and Neymar at Paris Saint-Germain would surely be taken into consideration. And history shows that it is not always the most famous managers, or those who have forged the closest relationship with the player, who come out on top. Both Ferguson and former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had spoken personally with Hazard before Chelsea made their pitch to the Belgian. Roberto Di Matteo was interim manager at the time and did not involve himself heavily in the pursuit of Hazard, so the responsibility fell to former technical director Michael Emenalo. It was after telling Hazard that he could become a club legend at Chelsea, rather than just one of a number of great players to have appeared for United and Arsenal, that Emenalo swung the odds back in the favour of the Blues. Advantage Manchester City. Pep’s pulling power must be second to none in world football right now. But how badly does he want Haaland? The Owner(s) Ask a footballer to name the owners of Manchester City and Manchester United and there is every chance they will not be able to provide an answer. Ask anybody who the owner of Chelsea is and barely anybody will pause for thought before naming Roman Abramovich. As a source told Telegraph Sport this week, when Abramovich really wants a player, he generally gets him. He may no longer watch the team from inside Stamford Bridge, but Abramovich can still involve himself in transfer deals when he so wishes, or give a directive over a player that he really wants – as was the case with Kai Havertz last summer. Given the chance, there are not many people involved in football who would not relish the opportunity to speak to Abramovich, either on the telephone or in person, or, even better, receive an exclusive invitation on to his new £430 million yacht which this week made headlines. Abramovich personally involved himself in the signing of Hazard in 2012 and, while United and City’s owners can certainly put up the cash, the Russian billionaire retains an aura and a reputation that makes people stop what they are doing and rip up their plans. Chelsea are acutely aware of the fact that Abramovich can effectively clinch a deal that he has a strong personal interest in and technical performance adviser Petr Cech, together with director Marina Granovskaia, may well have that card up their sleeves to play if the need arises. Advantage Chelsea. Roman Abramovich usually gets what Roman Abramovich wants. If he really wants Haaland and he’s willing to work with Raiola, then United and City will find him difficult to beat. Verdict Can Raiola and Abramovich finally find a way to work together or will both men hold a grudge and refuse to give an inch? The answer to that question may well determine Haaland’s destiny, although Chelsea and United must hope that Guardiola does not decide that the 20-year-old is the man to replace Sergio Aguero, especially given his father Alf-Inge’s City background.

'I'm someone who wants to prove people wrong': Mason Mount on answering his critics, working under 'passionate' Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea and playing at Euro 2020 with his best mate Declan Rice https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-9307697/Mason-Mount-says-learnt-lot-Frank-Lampard-dismisses-claims-hes-teachers-pet.html There is not much that can shock Mason Mount. Throw what you like at him, there’s a strong likelihood he has heard it all before. After all, if you’ve been raised hanging around the dressing rooms of the Southern League, trying to listen in on your dad’s team talks, it’s unlikely that harsh words from any critic will come as a huge surprise. Mount laughs at the memory. Since he was a toddler, his dad, Tony, had brought him along to watch the non-League team of which he was manager. ‘I won’t be able to say too much about what he said,’ says Mount, grinning. ‘It’s probably very explicit!’ Mum, Debbie, kept him shielded from the worst of it. ‘She wouldn’t let me go in the dressing-room at half-time. She knew what my dad’s like as a manager. He got a bit heated and feisty! ‘He’s told me some great stories about late winners in games, winning cup games against a higher team where they have no chance, winning the national leagues, fights that have happened in the game. That’s what non-League is about. That’s what happens!’ Mount, though, was in his element. He was two years old when he was first at the games, clutching a football, wandering around with his mum in tow. ‘I would have loved it, being in and around it. Tough games and tackles flying in, red cards ... that atmosphere has enhanced my love of the game.’ Mount also had an early taste of overseas football. ‘Dad was a manager at Newport, over on the Isle of Wight. I remember going from Portsmouth on the hovercraft to the Isle of Wight for games with my mum. It was a home game but an away day for us!’ The young man dictating the rhythm of the game against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night in a Champions League victory really was born to this. On Sunday he’ll likely start against Manchester United. He’s more than the academy protege now. He’s growing into being a key part of Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea. Though unambiguously tied to Chelsea since he was six, his first love was Portsmouth and his introduction to the top leagues came when he was taken to Fratton Park, one of the most evocative grounds in football, where you can almost smell the history. ‘I remember we sat on the side where the dugouts are and, it being an older stadium, there was a big pole in the stand and I was sat straight behind it. So I was trying to look around it and catching glimpses of the players!’ These were the Harry Redknapp glory days, before the descent into administration and down the divisions. ‘With all those players they had, I loved it. They are my first team and the team I support and follow. It means a lot to me.’ The outstanding memory from his childhood is the 2008 FA Cup final, the day Portsmouth beat Cardiff, when Mount was nine years old. ‘My dad took me, it was an unbelievable atmosphere and such a celebration when they won. I don’t remember too much from the game but I remember the feeling of walking out [in the crowd] at Wembley to a packed FA Cup final. It was something I’d never seen before. I was in awe of everything. I remember my dad saying: “Hopefully you’ll be down there one day playing in front of all these people.” Then a few years down the line, it’s really happened. It’s unbelievable.’ Mount’s tale is a little Roy of the Rovers. You get the impression that while that line will have been uttered by thousands of dads to thousands of sons over the years, the Mounts had genuine belief in the ultimate outcome. In an era in which they had given up on fairy tales at the Chelsea academy, where no one had graduated to be a first-team regular since John Terry in 1998, Mount is the leading light of a generation that has finally broken the mould. His dad famously once told him that he might be better off elsewhere as no one comes through from the Chelsea academy. Mount, something of a prodigy in the youth set-up, simply told him he was staying and that he would be the one to buck to the trend. Privately he must have worried about his prospects as he saw talents come, go on loan and disappear into the vortex of the lower leagues? ‘No, I don’t think I ever was. I never felt like: “This is not going to happen, I’m not going to make it.” I was just so very focused and driven to make it. ‘My development at every age group was good. If I was playing in one age group, I always wanted to play the year above. And then it came to the stage where I was in the [Under-] 23s and I needed that extra push.’ He went to Vitesse Arnhem for a year and then to Derby, under Frank Lampard. ‘I went to Holland and had a good season where I learned a lot about a different type of football. And then going to the Championship. We all know what that’s like, how tough it is. And that added a different part to my game. And then back to Chelsea and giving it a really good go. And it just happened.’ It happened under Lampard’s return and therein lies a multitude of conspiracy theories. Somehow it was assumed that Mount wasn’t playing on merit but that he was a favourite of the manager and his assistant, Jody Morris, who had nurtured Mount in the academy. Some called him a teacher’s pet. No matter that England manager Gareth Southgate clearly saw what Lampard did too. As does, after a wobbly start, Tuchel. Mount has had to fight twice over, for his place in the team and to convince outsiders he deserved it. ‘I never really looked into that kind of stuff where people say [that],’ he says. ‘Frank added a lot to my game and helped me go to the Championship, learning that kind of football and then bringing me back to Chelsea. I learnt a lot. And now it’s a different kind of learning under a different manager. For me, at 22, to learn off these different managers with different views of football, it’s only adding to me and making me better and better.’ The Tuchel era got off to an uncertain start when he was dropped, along with Tammy Abraham and Reece James, for the first game against Wolves. Lampard’s great academy experiment appeared to have come to an abrupt end. ‘I’ve never experienced a managerial change in my career so it was different. I’ve seen it from afar, in the academy. But you don’t really know what it feels like until you’re in it. ‘It’s very difficult. You know what I’m like, I want to play every single game. But, with the new manager coming in, I understood that he went for experience [against Wolves]. We had a chat and I understood what his view was and that really helped me moving on. I knew I just had to keep working hard and show him what I can do. 'Obviously now I have played or started mostly every game. He just said: “Keep working hard, I’ve seen you only for one session and I’m very happy so don’t let your head drop.” And that’s something I wouldn’t do anyway. I’m always someone who wants to strive to prove someone wrong or show something that maybe they haven’t seen.’ Last weekend, Tuchel demonstrated his more ruthless side with his substitution of Callum Hudson-Odoi after 31 minutes. You have the impression that he doesn’t leave the Chelsea players in any doubt as to how he feels or what he requires. ‘He’s very passionate,’ says Mount. ‘When he came in, we had a meeting, we had training and we had one day before a game and everyone knew their role with the team. ‘It was very clear what he wanted. The players understand what a new manager wants and what his goal of playing is, what he wants off the ball, what he wants on the ball, what kind of movement. He made it very easy to understand. We’ve been learning more and more.’ As for the impending death of the academy kids under Tuchel, there’s been a plot twist. Mount and Hudson-Odoi, notwithstanding the substitution fiasco, have been regulars, James is featuring and Tammy Abraham has made four starts. Mount enjoys the memory of last season’s 5-2 win at Wolves, which was a coming of age party for the Chelsea kids: Fikayo Tomori, scored with an extraordinary long-range strike, Abraham, assisted by Mount, got a hat-trick and Mount scored the fifth. ‘I have good memories of that game, with me, Tam and Fik all scoring … I think it was Fik’s first goal and what a goal! It was brilliant for us as younger boys, experiencing that together. I’ve come through with Fik, Tam, Reece and Cal. 'Seeing Fik start his first game or me play with Tam, watching Tam score his first hat-trick and Reece scoring in the Champions League … it was a special year for us younger boys and I feel we helped each other.’ For Mount, it wasn’t enough. He acknowledged that there were weeks when his performances didn’t quite match his high standards, that he risked being inconsistent. ‘I’m definitely someone who really looks at the game and studies what I do at the end of a season. I looked at some of the performances and games where I did have dips, maybe a couple in a row where maybe I didn’t have a big impact. ‘That was something I looked at coming into this season, where I need to get better. That was a big focus of mine, speaking to my dad as well, at the end of last season. I feel like I have implemented it and been doing well but feel there’s room for improvement. 'I’m definitely not content with just playing well or having good games. I want to do more. I’m happy but I’m not happy until I keep getting better and better and I’m at that stage where I know I can. ‘A lot of it probably comes down to experience. It’s only my second season in the first team. That first season, I was very happy with how it went and was buzzing to be in the team and how many games I played and what I achieved. I was too over-excited at times and wanted to do too much and it probably wasn’t coming off. 'It’s just going back to basics when you’re going through a tough time. You don’t need to try those passes which are tough and won’t probably come off. Go back to keeping the ball and when you don’t have the ball, work hard. AND that’s something I probably didn’t do as well last season. I probably went through some times ... where I wasn’t at the level I wanted to be. [This season] I’m a bit more relaxed. Because I’ve had that year of being in the Premier League and know what it feels like.’ His ambitions are clear. They won a fair few FA Youth Cups at Chelsea but Mount and his contemporaries will know that they have made the final step up when they’re clutching a major trophy. ‘Definitely, that’s all of our goals and I feel like I won’t really be happy until we achieve that. We need to be setting our targets at that vision of wanting to win Premier Leagues, wanting to win trophies, wanting to win the Champions League. ‘I feel like with the group we have, we can definitely do it. We’re very hungry to achieve it, very driven. With the older players, they have been there, done that had have that experience for us younger boys to feed off, to have little chats here and there and [ask]; “What’s winning at the highest level really like?” It really helps us. We want to achieve it and especially at a big club we’ve all come through at.’ For now, the top four, the FA Cup and the Champions League are the immediate goals. Another prize looms large though, the prospect of playing at Wembley in the delayed Euro 2020 tournament his summer, alongside his childhood friend, Declan Rice, whom he forged a lifelong bond with at Chelsea, until the academy let Rice go to West Ham. Rice was on the pitch when Mount made his England debut against Bulgaria last season, their families sat in the stands together. Sadly there were no fans when they partnered each other in midfield in the 4-0 win over Iceland, with both scoring. But it was a lovely moment to see childhood friends fulfil boyhood dreams together. ‘Me and Dec, we’re just best mates, so to do something like play for England, both score and both partner each other in midfield, that’s something we never thought about or realised we could do. ‘It’s a crazy thing to think about. Growing up together ... going round each other’s house, having sleepovers is just what we’ve done since we’ve been young. Now we’re achieving, playing for our country and, with a big Euros coming up, hopefully having the chance to play in that. It’s crazy the journey we’ve been on, different journeys, different routes. It’s something you could make a movie out of or do a book.’ Best mates they may be, but there’s one area in which he will give no ground. With West Ham’s fine form, there’s a danger Rice will finish above Mount in the table. Mount’s response is instructive. He can’t allow that to happen. ‘I can’t stress that enough,’ he says. ‘He wouldn’t let me live that down.’ Friendship, after all, has its limits.

Full quotes... https://www.skysports.com/football/news/12040/12230304/timo-werner-exclusive-goal-drought-period-at-Chelsea-was-worst-of-my-career-but-old-timo-is-coming-back On the goal drought... "The smile wasn't on my face all the time. You have to keep smiling, that's the most important thing because when you are not happy and you don't enjoy football, and you are always angry or mad, you can't go back to moments where you can play good football. "That's my thing and how I want to train. The other things are: always be positive and not mad, and that's the next step to being back to the old Timo. Behind the smile, of course there were a lot of days without goals and also sometimes losing. It's not the best feeling but smiling on the outside is the best way to keep going. "The period where I didn't score was the worst time of my career because I'd never missed so many big chances. I'd never been so long without a goal, so I was very happy it ended two games ago. It was a difficult time without those feelings. "When I look back at my half a year with Chelsea, it wasn't the most difficult time in my career, but the best time to learn new things. When you have a period without goals you learn something from yourself. You learn a lot about how you can handle these situations and it was the best time for me to learn the most in my career. From bad moments you learn the most and that's exactly what happened in the last month." "In the past, I've had a lot of difficult situations in my career. Also, at Leipzig where I scored all the time. These situations were with myself because I learnt I had to make more for the team than I did before. I had to do extra work in terms of defensive work and make more assists for my team-mates rather than just rely on goals. "That way, I learnt not to be the goalscorer who just counts his goals but the man who worked for the team. I learnt I had to be patient and be the best Timo for the team and not the best Timo for myself. On missing chances... "When you come here to play as a striker and be the man to score the goals, of course I felt a little bit guilty that I missed so many chances. For the club, for the old manager but also for me because I want to score all the time and as much as I possibly can. "Of course, if I'd scored four or five more goals maybe the old manager would still be here because we'd maybe have won two or three games more but you can't look too much into the past because there are too many games ahead of us. "The past was like this and of course I feel a little bit guilty, but in football you have to go on, and now we have a lot of big games in the next few weeks and you have to look forward, especially when you have a new manager. It's a new beginning for everybody, for me as well because I'd missed so many chances and so many points, maybe I start now with a new start, and it's worked very well until now. "I understood the old manager very well. It was not because of the language, but when you can talk German to someone, there are things he can explain to me easier than the old manager could. It's different when you talk to someone in your own language because one word is enough to make a sentence completely different. "For me, that was the thing he changed. He knows me and his assistants know me from the Bundesliga. He gave me trust back and confidence back to be the Timo from the Bundesliga, to be back at the top and scoring goals." On the Premier League... "Everyone says there's a lot of strength, a lot of big guys in defence, the Premier League is very fast and there's a lot of high intensity. So, I came here and thought it would fit me very well, but now I know it is much more than just what people say. "There's a lot more work in the Premier League. You have to a lot more defensive work as a team than, for example, in the Bundesliga. What I get now is that the Premier League is really hard. Every game, whether you play against the bottom side or the third side, it's always the same game. "You can't go to the bottom side and say it's going to be an easy win today. You go to Burnley, you go to West Brom and it's a hard game. It's a very hard game and that's what makes it a lot of fun. You can never have a break. You always have to be at 100 per cent, always at the top level and that's something special in the Premier League."

Inter not in a great position off the field with the Suning Group already ceasing the operation of their club - Jiangsu FC - in China.

Just noticed Man United haven't lost an away game in the league since January 19, 2020...

I'm saying he has no excuse because Inter only have the Serie A left to contend with, meaning Conte has the entire week to prepare for games until the end of the season (we have seen the benefit of that ourselves), and they have also invested heavily in the squad last summer. Milan still have the Europa League and Ibrahimovic or not, I doubt they have enough to be consistent till the very end (they have also lost 3 of their last 5 league games). Pretty much everything seems to be falling in line for Conte and Inter, especially with Juventus also floundering. If Conte doesn't win the league, especially after the Champions League failure, he'll likely get the sack.

That's why Tuchel said what he said about finding solutions. Although our possession play is also slow, and not quick enough to unsettle defences. Onus also on Werner, in the long term, to add different skills to his game.

'Maybe it is our fault' - Tuchel admits Chelsea's possession-based style doesn't suit Werner https://www.goal.com/en/news/tuchel-admits-chelseas-possession-based-style-doesnt-suit/1nbk2viu91e2m1a4d0s6w8omm8 "Maybe it is our fault because we have a lot of possession and we push opponent teams very, very deep in their half so spaces are not too big," Tuchel said. "The biggest strength of Timo is to attack the space behind the last line so it is maybe also our fault in the dominant game that we play in the moment, it is very natural that the spaces are closed by the opponents. "A game like against Atletico, is there any team out there in the world that can close spaces like Atletico? I don’t know. This is not exactly the opponent that you wish for Timo to show all his skills, so what is left for him is to not lose faith and work for the team. "We are reflecting a lot about this and working a lot with him. "There are also solutions in tight spaces to use his speed in the first metres, to use his acceleration. "But it is not easy for him and I can totally see this and it is why I am very patient and very supportive and I believe in his potential and character and of course his goalscoring skills."

Conte really has NO excuse to not win the league this season. Milan are becoming inconsistent and Juve are 7 points behind and being inconsistent.

Probably more chance of Christensen giving away the penalty than scoring, as posted above.

Well god knows at the moment. Tuchel sticking with the back 3 is limiting our options upfront and who would have expected Tuchel to play as a RWB.

The funny thing about this Pulisic v Werner comparison is that Tuchel has used Pulisic in different positions. Wolves - LWB (came on when Tuchel threw the kitchen sink and Werner didn't play; Havertz and Ziyech operated alongside Giroud upfront) Burnley - Right ST (came on at HT and operated like a split striker on the right side of Werner) Spurs - Right ST (came on in the second half and operated like a split striker on the right side of Werner) Barnsley - LW (Werner didn't play) Atletico - LW (came on for Werner but hard to judge much since it was only 3 mins and likely done to see out the game with fresh legs) So where exactly does Tuchel see Pulisic's best position is? He already has different ideas to Lampard about other players' best position. And these are the numbers of where Tuchel used to play Pulisic at Dortmund: Attacking Midfield - 27 games Left Wing - 14 Right Wing - 29 And before anyone jumps in and accuses of being biased etc, no, I'm not being pro or anti someone here. Just throwing out some observations.

I mean, you give and take a little. No one converts every bloody shot. Even the likes of Vardy and Mane are in the double figures for big chances missed. And I saw his xG in the league is something like 9.5 and he's scored just 5. So, he's underperformed that by like 4-5 goals. One would hope that with more time and experience, he would get that composure and clinical edge in the final third.

The frustrating thing is he could have had at least 15 goals now. But otherwise yeah, next season is the best time to judge him and the other new signings. Hopefully things will be back to some form of normality then and need England, Germany etc all to get KOed early from the Euros!

Yeah, got a lot of fans abuse too. Don't think playing for Leipzig helped his cause either! (not saying diving is good obviously)

You happened to pick the right games then. lol And why is your post centralized?

Wasn't that mainly caused by the incident against Schalke?

Time for False 9?