Jase

Ligue 1 really jumped the gun...

Accomplishments in terms of what? If we're talking trophies, then both have won everything there is to win at the club, except for the Champions League in Azpi's case. Quality? At their best, both Ivanovic and Azpi are great defensively. Ivanovic may have scored more goals but then again, he is center back while Azpi is a full back. Going forward from open play, both are not that good to say the least. Azpi...a SQUAD PLAYER when he has consistently been in the XI every week, under 4 different permanent managers over 7 years? Okay, now you're just taking the piss...

He joined them at 18 and went straight into the first team.

Liverpool got Joe Gomez from Charlton. And IIRC, he doesn’t play every game either.

Youth promotion? Liverpool? Pretty sure TAA is the only one from their academy who is playing consistently in the first team right now. The rest are on the fringes at best. And they wanted to sign Werner before this pandemic happened. But what people think of Abraham doesn't matter here, does it? Lampard seems to be happy with him and his comments earlier suggested that Werner may compete with him for that ST position. Plus, if we're gonna spend 80-100 million on a player, there's no way we would be rotating him with someone else. He would be in the starting XI more often than not.

One thing I would also say that Lampard likes or wants the players to press and work hard off the ball. If Havertz isn't good at defending or his off the ball work isn't good, as @killer1257 alluded to, then he better produce Hazard-esque level performances to get a free pass to be in the XI, if he were to join us.

I get that but Giroud also gives us a different option upfront, providing us something different from Abraham, Werner or even Havertz. For the sake of argument, if we do sell Giroud and get Havertz, how then are you gonna juggle game time without hurting their development between Abraham, Havertz and maybe even Werner upfront? Here is the thing I find it ironic, we are all into youth this season and happy for them to play and help us get back to where we want. But now that we can buy again, people want us to go buy, buy and buy every player possible out there, even when we don't necessarily need to, at the risk of hurting the development of those young players. Why? Do people just not care about ensuring we have a balanced team? Or do people just want to stack our team for the heck of it?

@Tomo might have something to say about Villa Park being our bogey ground.

Unlikely if his most recent comments are anything to go by. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jun/19/chelsea-olivier-giroud-my-body-is-ready-to-play-a-few-more-years-at-the-best-level

Am loving the assumption that people think Abraham would remain the first choice ST by the way.

Switching to a 2 striker system makes no sense, especially when we're loaded with midfielders and apart from Atletico, no other top teams play 4-4-2 anymore. Midfield control is absolutely vital.

I can understand if people don't see Azpi as a leader, like Terry or Lampard (boy, were we spoilt for leaders in the past), but to constantly use that stick to beat him up is a total BS. Like you and @killer1257 have said, he was/has been arguably our most consistent player since 2013 and is one of the main reasons why we have won what we won during this period. To discredit him because he is not a big character or does not have the personality like Terry is farcical. There is a reason why Azpi has played consistently under different managers over the years.

Lampard on CHO's recent incident... https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jun/19/frank-lampard-ngolo-kante-kai-havertz-ben-chilwell-chelsea Lampard said Callum Hudson-Odoi, who will face no further police action after an allegation of rape, must knuckle down after a breach of lockdown last month. “I’m very happy that in the eyes of the law it’s been sorted out,” he said. “That was my main concern at first. I’m very sympathetic to the idea that we’re not angels or saints and we make mistakes, particularly at a young age. “The big conversation with Callum now is to make sure he learns his lesson from what happened. He broke lockdown and that wasn’t good enough. He’s admitted that and we move on. The next thing is to train consistently at a really high level. He came back from lockdown and got injured early so now he’s having to work hard to get fit again.”

Lampard denies he wants to sell Kanté to fund Havertz and Chilwell moves https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jun/19/frank-lampard-ngolo-kante-kai-havertz-ben-chilwell-chelsea Frank Lampard has denied Chelsea will fund moves for Bayer Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz and Leicester’s Ben Chilwell by selling N’Golo Kanté this summer. Chelsea are targeting Havertz and Chilwell after confirming the signings of RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner and Ajax’s Hakim Ziyech but Lampard insisted he had no intention of losing Kanté, even though the manager accepted some squad members could be sold when the transfer window opens. Kanté, who is available to face Aston Villa on Sunday after putting aside his safety fears over coronavirus, has made 22 appearances in all competitions this season after struggling with injuries. However Lampard, who is unsure whether Pedro and Willian will agree short-term deals to the end of the season, said the 29-year-old France midfielder was in his long-term plans. “In terms of N’Golo, I’ve seen some talk and reports about him and his future at the club,” Lampard said. “I’ve said it a lot of times about N’Golo – one of the best midfield players in the world. I would have loved to be able to play with him. He has everything. “Coming back to Chelsea and having N’Golo Kanté is something I really want to appreciate and work with. Because of injuries it’s been tough for N’Golo. It’s nice to see him a little bit fresh. N’Golo is so important to us going forward. We need him regularly and hopefully we’ll have that now.”

Lampard denies he wants to sell Kanté to fund Havertz and Chilwell moves https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jun/19/frank-lampard-ngolo-kante-kai-havertz-ben-chilwell-chelsea Frank Lampard has denied Chelsea will fund moves for Bayer Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz and Leicester’s Ben Chilwell by selling N’Golo Kanté this summer. Chelsea are targeting Havertz and Chilwell after confirming the signings of RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner and Ajax’s Hakim Ziyech but Lampard insisted he had no intention of losing Kanté, even though the manager accepted some squad members could be sold when the transfer window opens. Kanté, who is available to face Aston Villa on Sunday after putting aside his safety fears over coronavirus, has made 22 appearances in all competitions this season after struggling with injuries. However Lampard, who is unsure whether Pedro and Willian will agree short-term deals to the end of the season, said the 29-year-old France midfielder was in his long-term plans. “In terms of N’Golo, I’ve seen some talk and reports about him and his future at the club,” Lampard said. “I’ve said it a lot of times about N’Golo – one of the best midfield players in the world. I would have loved to be able to play with him. He has everything. “Coming back to Chelsea and having N’Golo Kanté is something I really want to appreciate and work with. Because of injuries it’s been tough for N’Golo. It’s nice to see him a little bit fresh. N’Golo is so important to us going forward. We need him regularly and hopefully we’ll have that now.”

Will likely be announced in early July. https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11679/12004199/man-citys-uefa-ban-appeal-to-be-decided-by-cas-in-july

You're being "optimistic".

Not much difference really. Arsenal - P14 W12 D4 Chelsea - P12 W8 D4 Man United - P12 W10 D2

But it doesn't mean we need to overdo it. Moreover, these players are still young. Constantly chopping and changing isn't going to help their development. If anything, I'd say we perhaps need another cover for the wide area more than another ST/CF. Hence the link with Benrahma.

Like they even care at this point.

Well, we had a similar run up till November as well. Our disbelief at finishing in the Top 4 back then said it all.

Judging by Lampard's comments about competition for places upfront earlier, not sure that would be the case IF we do get Havertz.

Err, why would City even care about Liverpool's result anymore?

We made it because others were shit during the run-in and gave us a way in. Gotta hope at least the others are shit too this time as well.