Jase

If it's in a Twitter post like the one above, then no, I don't think so.

Goalkeeper - As much as De Gea's form has dipped in recent times, I guess he's still better than our two keepers right now. Don't think I need to go deeper than that. Defence - One would take Shaw at LB, if only because our options are Alonso and Emerson. Otherwise, nobody would even bother with those 3 for LB. Don't think they are that great either in the CB area. They only look better at this point in time than ours because they are better coached and left less exposed. If you were to go a few years back, I'd take the Rudiger under Conte over Maguire or Lindelof and we still have Tomori, who should be a mainstay in our defence in the long run. At RB, we are equal but James is good going forward but not so much when having to defend while AWB is good at defending but not so good at attacking. Midfield - We have Kante, Loftus-Cheek, Kovacic and at a push, Jorginho. They have Fernandes (still to be seen whether he is actually good in the long run) and again, at a push, Pogba. McTominay is okay but he's like their Kante but not quite like Kante. Fred is still average despite whatever recent improvement because the bar was set so low for him. Just going back to Pogba, I feel like his hype is making him to be a better player than he is. Ever since leaving Juventus, he hasn't done anything of real note or performed consistently to justify why people say he's one of the best midfielders in the world. He turns 27 in a few weeks time, he's supposed to be at his peak and yet, he has gone AWOL this season with a "mysterious" injury and it looks like he'll be leaving United at the end of the season. If it wasn't for what he did at Juventus, he would probably have gone down the Lingard route and be seen as a meme footballer. Forward - The only one player I would say is good is Rashford. The rest is meh. Martial has blown hot and cold for someone touted as the next best thing years ago. Dan James looks just like your average hardworking winger and nothing more (some might say he's like Mount in that sense). Mata turns 32 this year and hasn't done anything really ever since leaving us. Haven't seen much of Greenwood but he looks like a good finisher. On our side, I'm not convinced by Abraham for the long term but we still have Pulisic, CHO and Ziyech to come. They arguably have better striking options but would still take our lot over theirs.

I asked a simple question and I got an essay-like reply!

What has happened to Fikayo Tomori? https://theathletic.com/1639869/2020/02/28/tomori-fiyako-chelsea/?source=shared-article As each week passes, more and more Chelsea fans are asking the above question. This is the central defender who was rewarded for a series of fine performances with a new five-year contract just two months ago and was being talked about as arguably the most outstanding of all the academy graduates to be promoted to the first team this season. Indeed, back in September Chelsea coach Frank Lampard couldn’t speak more highly of Tomori. “A lot of people would have seen him [Tomori] as number four (in the pecking order of centre backs at the club), he’s now number one or two as it stands.” But Tomori, who made his senior England debut in November against Kosovo, has barely been seen in 2020. The 22-year-old has not played a single minute in the Premier League and suffered the ignominy of not even being on the bench against Tottenham last weekend or in the 3-0 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League. No-one would be voicing their concerns if Chelsea were winning on a regular basis while keeping clean sheet after clean sheet. But their form in England’s top division following Tomori’s omission reads won two, drawn three and lost two, with Burnley the only opponents not to find the net. The only opportunity Tomori has had to impress since the turn of the year has come in the FA Cup ties against Championship clubs Nottingham Forest and Hull. Considering this is a young man who stood out in some of Chelsea’s finest wins this season — the 5-2 victory at Wolves, the 1-0 triumph in Amsterdam against Ajax and the 2-0 success over Spurs away from home — it is some fall from grace. Inevitably, there are people speculating what the possible reasons are and whether something untoward has happened behind the scenes. Multiple sources have told The Athletic though that nothing of the kind has taken place. There has been no big altercation, exchange of words, no breaking of rules regarding going out or being late for training. Tomori isn’t that kind of character as his pursuit of a business degree, as first revealed here, demonstrates. There was no sign of complacency setting in when Chelsea decided to give Tomori a new deal and a hefty pay-rise in December either. As he said after agreeing terms: “He (Lampard) is telling me I have to keep on working hard, keep on maintaining my standards and raise the levels I set for myself. It’s a big step, a lot more people are watching. There is a lot more scrutiny, a lot more praise. On the pitch, a lot more focus is needed. One split second and you can be punished.” Nor can his absence be put down to a niggling injury. It is just a simple case of team selection and at present coach Frank Lampard prefers Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger at centre back. Things can soon change of course. Tomori wasn’t in the first XI at the beginning of the campaign and due to the manner of the loss to Bayern Munich, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the line-up is altered for the Premier League contest at Bournemouth on Saturday or the huge FA Cup fifth-round match with Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night. However, there must still be reasons for why the England international fell out of favour in the first place. As 2019 was drawing to a close, it was noticeable that he was making a few more mistakes, particularly in possession. Being trusted to play in the Champions League group stage, as well as the Premier League on the weekend, meant an extra strain physically and there is a suggestion in some quarters that tiredness was a factor. After playing four successive games in Europe, he was left on the bench in Valencia and sat out the final group fixture at home to Lille with a minor hip problem. Yet Lampard has been concerned from the outset about Chelsea’s struggle to defend balls in the air and statistics show that of the four centre backs at his disposal, it is an area of the game which is perhaps Tomori’s weakest. When it comes to winning aerial battles in the Premier League Kurt Zouma has a record of 75.7 per cent, Rudiger 58.3, Christensen 57.7, and Tomori 55. The list of headed clearances shows a similar theme. Tomori has achieved the fewest with 15 despite playing two more games than Rudiger (19 clearances), Christensen is next on 21 and Zouma is well clear on 46. One source highlighted how in his last appearance in England’s top division against Arsenal, Tomori was outjumped by Calum Chambers at the near post and the ball was flicked on for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to score. Significantly he was replaced before the hour mark and Chelsea went on to win. But there are so many other stats which show Tomori in a positive light compared to his rivals for the position. The former Derby and Hull loanee has the second-highest amount of recoveries (91), interceptions (21), passing accuracy (87.17 per cent), touches (1,266) and blocks (7) between the four centre backs. He is second only to Christensen for tackles (28 to the Dane’s 29) and helped keep the most clean sheets (4). But rather than being punished for not performing well enough or failing tactically, perhaps it was inevitable his run in the side would come to an end. Many of his appearances came when Rudiger and Christensen weren’t available due to injury. There is also the argument that he is just an unfortunate victim of Lampard’s desire to promote Reece James at right-back in recent months. It is understandable why the Chelsea coach may have reservations about having two youngsters in defence and wants to lean on the greater experience of Rudiger and Christensen in the middle. And when it comes to leaving him out of the matchday squad altogether, it is normal for a manager to have only one centre back as a substitute and save the rest for more advanced positions. Zouma’s greater physicality has earned the spot in this instance. So how has Tomori reacted to the setback up till now? The Athletic has been told by sources the club that he is still training as well as ever and while naturally disappointed, hasn’t shown a negative reaction. As he first revealed in an interview with Chelsea TV he still turns to Zouma, one of his closest friends at the club, for help and advice on how to cope and improve. Tomori values the thoughts of Zouma, who has also found himself suddenly out of favour after being a regular under Lampard, because he has experienced many highs and lows since joining Chelsea from Saint Etienne in 2014. Yet he is mature for his age anyway. After being named man-of-the-match in the 2-1 victory against Hull City in January, Tomori said: “At a club like Chelsea, there’s competition for places everywhere. You have to be on top of your game and then the manager has to make decisions. “He (Lampard) has chosen to leave me out for some games. I have to respect his decision and try and work hard on the training pitch so when my chance comes, I can hopefully take it.” Time is of the essence. The way he was playing before Christmas, there was credible talk that he could be a part of England’s squad at Euro 2020 this summer. The manner in which he marked Mohamed Salah out of the game, albeit in a 2-1 defeat against Liverpool last September, showed the incredible potential and ability to play at the highest level. But England’s head coach Gareth Southgate won’t select him in the current circumstances. Right now though, just getting back in the Chelsea team is the main priority. With Chelsea struggling for consistency, surely it won’t be long before Tomori gets his wish.

I'm not saying they will get it but being out of Europe might help their chances a little bit more, given they would have less distraction. And TBF, even we, United and Spurs still have some tough games left to play.

According to this, United have to sell to buy. https://theathletic.com/1634690/2020/02/25/woodward-pogba-manchester-united-accounts/ If true, then one would think only Pogba can get them big money. The others not so much. And they would be in big trouble if they don't qualify for the Champions League.

Well, they are only 2 points behind Wolves, 3 behind Sheffield and 4 behind 5th (which would be a CL spot if City's ban sticks). I'm just going by the fact that they don't have any more midweek European games and can just focus on the league.

Form aside and as it stands, I would say the only edge they have over us is in the GK area. We are at least matched with them in other areas or if not have better players.

They can focus on the Top 4/5 fight now though...

Form aside, are you really saying that United have better players than us?

Celtic are really useless in Europe. Even Gerrard has made Rangers look competent in Europe!

Arsenal are so lucky that they don't have a league game this weekend...

That's the thing. It feels like he's standing out at United because they have so many bang average players. Will he look good if he was surrounded by 10 other quality players?

Should probably sack the chief scout (can't remember the name) that works with her on identifying players.

Is he actually good or is it a case of him being the big fish in a small pond? Seeing people going gaga over him like he's Messi or Ronaldo.

If you wanna say Willian, just say it...

Never mind the goals and assists, Pulisic is still in top 2 (or top 3, at worst) in some other key attacking stats!

The ban hammer will come down on you the day he signs for Liverpool...

I need to ban the words Werner and Liverpool on here...

Since there were talks about Liverpool needing to sell to spend big and all that before, here's something on their financial state... Klopp’s kings of Europe help Liverpool to record-breaking revenues https://theathletic.com/1634138/2020/02/27/liverpool-finances-record-revenues-jurgen-klopp/

Aah, the classic 'Team X to sell flops after heavy loss' article...

The individuals are a problem and individual mistakes have fucked us up a lot this season but at the same time, not many people have questioned how we have allowed the goals we conceded come about. How often have we - as a unit - made life difficult for opponents to score against us this season? How often have we - as a unit - made opponents work really hard or have to come up with something special to score against us? Take the Bayern game for example. Yes, they are a class above us but look at how much space they had every time they went on the offence and they pretty much were able to get at our defence on every attack. We barely stopped their attacks in midfield or far away from our penalty box. And we also didn't help matters by overcommitting in attack - both wingbacks just bombed forward, Kovacic/Jorginho got forward - and that led to many easy turnovers for Bayern, who probably couldn't believe their luck at the amount of space they got to play with! That's why I said we need to be a little pragmatic, especially in cases like this. Bayern were always expected to win and that's fine but I would have preferred if we had reined it back a little, played more streetwise rather than played with reckless abandon. We gave ourselves no chance whatsoever by being so open against them, especially knowing they have better players than us at this point of time.

According to the Athletic, Pulisic is nearing a return to first team training (5th paragraph below). The article also highlights Pulisic's impact in the attacking third... Chelsea are not panicking just yet. But Pulisic’s return cannot come soon enough https://theathletic.com/1639075/2020/02/27/christian-pulisic-chelsea-bayern/?source=shared-article Perhaps the most depressing thing about Chelsea’s heaviest-ever European home defeat was that, on the biggest stage of the season, so little of what has shone brightest in Frank Lampard’s team was on show. This was not the vibrant young Chelsea who briefly became the feel-good story of the Premier League with a seven-match winning streak in the autumn; the average age of Lampard’s starting XI on Tuesday night was 27.2, opponents Bayern Munich’s was 26.7. Naivety may have undone the home side, but very little of it was of the youthful variety. Mason Mount and Reece James started the biggest game of their young careers, but top scorer Tammy Abraham was confined to the bench by a lingering ankle injury that ultimately led to him limping out of the post-match warm-down. Fikayo Tomori, who performed with startling composure in the Champions League group stage victory away to Ajax in October, watched this last-16 first leg as a substitute. Callum Hudson-Odoi was not risked due to a hamstring problem, while Lampard decided this was not the moment to give Ruben Loftus-Cheek his first competitive minutes in nine months. The only sighting of Christian Pulisic, Chelsea’s marquee arrival last summer, came ahead of kick-off as he mingled on the Stamford Bridge touchline in street clothes. On that front, however, the news is more positive: sources have told The Athletic that Pulisic is nearing a return to first-team training after almost two months on the sidelines with an adductor injury, and is confident of being able to make a meaningful contribution to the defining stretch of Chelsea’s top-four campaign in the Premier League. When taken in conjunction with Lampard’s confidence that Hudson-Odoi will not be out for much longer and the fact that Loftus-Cheek is in the final stages of his lengthy recovery from a ruptured achilles, it is clear that Chelsea will soon be in a position to recapture some of the youthful vigour that has drained away from them in these difficult opening weeks of 2020. Those who know Pulisic say he is itching to get back onto the pitch. When he left a training session at Cobham in visible pain on January 4, there was no cause to fear he would miss this much time. By the end of the month he felt good again, and together with Chelsea medical staff the decision was taken to increase the intensity of his training – but his body wasn’t ready. “We tried to get him out there last week, to step it up a little bit, but we had to pull out of that,” Lampard said of Pulisic after Chelsea’s draw with Leicester. “The (February) break might have come at a good time, it buys us a couple of weeks. “Of course you miss him. He’s a quality player and he was having a really good patch pre-Christmas. Others have to stand up too, but we’ll be happy when he’s back.” It wasn’t a setback as such, simply a young athlete discovering how his body was responding to an injury that can often prove difficult to shake off. Matches against Manchester United, Tottenham and Bayern after the February break also came too soon for Pulisic, but all parties are optimistic that he can still have a strong finish to a promising first season in English football. That is just as well, because Chelsea have missed Pulisic even more than he has missed playing. Remarkably, his five goals in 16 appearances still have him in second place alongside Mason Mount in the club’s Premier League scoring chart, despite the fact that he has not featured in the competition since New Years’ Day. None of Lampard’s other wingers currently offer the goal threat that Pulisic provides. His 3.35 shot attempts per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season is second only to Abraham among regular Chelsea starters, while his expected goals per 90 minutes (xG90) of 0.54 also ranks second to the club’s top scorer. Pulisic may only have five Premier League goals to show from an xG of 6.47, but his rating for expected goals on target (xGOT) – a metric which factors in how difficult a shot attempt is to save, as well as the quality of the scoring chance – is actually 7.47, which suggests he has been denied another two goals by above-average goalkeeping. When fit, Pulisic has been Chelsea’s most consistent secondary scoring threat after Abraham — a status he underlined with a dazzling run of six goals in seven matches across all competitions in October and November, punctuated by a perfect hat-trick against Burnley at Turf Moor. “I know what a good player he is — I see that first hand,” Lampard said of Pulisic after his Burnley heroics. “There are things he has to learn and improve because he’s just turned 21, it’s the same with all young players. There are things that he’s going to work on and I think he knows it and he knows that I’m driving that daily in training. “The way he’s trained in the past few weeks, and the impact he’s had when playing, he’s said to everyone, ‘here I am’ and what talent he does have. I’m really pleased for him. It’s what we need from all our attacking players; to be a threat, to play like that, have a ruthless edge about how they finish and he showed the full package.” Lampard wants goals as well as creation from his wingers, and his talent for darting intelligently into the penalty area has helped Pulisic come closest to realising that vision. He leads all regular Chelsea starters by averaging 7.35 touches in the opposition box per 90 minutes in the Premier League, even ahead of Abraham (6.25). Hudson-Odoi, third on the list with 5.85 touches in the opposition box per 90 minutes, is still learning the art of moving without the ball, but his first Premier League goal against Burnley last month – a close-range finish from Cesar Azpilicueta’s in-swinging cross – showed signs of progress. “For Callum to score in the six-yard box is far more exciting for me than for him to score from 35 yards, without a doubt,” Lampard said after the match. “Because it means that he’s prepared to run the extra bit to sprint in there. And that wasn’t the only time he did it; he did it on one of the early chances we had in the first half. “He was doing it, recovering, going higher up the pitch at the right times, and his overall performance was an absolute statement for Callum of what he needs to do. That was the real Callum Hudson-Odoi and what he can be, and there’s obviously more to come. “But I thought his goal was brilliant for him and if he can carry on doing that, then that’s a serious player we have in Callum.” Pulisic and Hudson-Odoi are both regarded as pillars of Chelsea’s long-term plan. Lampard could have used their speed and invention either from the start or the bench against Bayern, but there will be plenty more opportunities for them to make an impact in what remains of this season — and that is why no panic accompanied the disappointment of Tuesday’s humiliation. Chelsea were pragmatic when the draw for the Champions League round of 16 was made. The expectation was that Bayern were a vastly superior team, and the gulf in class was borne out on the Stamford Bridge pitch. There has been no internal criticism of Lampard’s tactics for the match or his comments afterwards, because of the shared realisation of just how far this rebuild has to go. A significant number of the players who featured are likely in their final months at Chelsea. Olivier Giroud, Pedro, Willy Caballero and Willian are all out of contract at the end of the season, and there is no indication that the Brazilian will be offered the three-year extension he is asking for. As reported by The Athletic in December, sizeable offers for Ross Barkley will be considered. Bayern’s brilliance underlined the need for change and that is coming to Stamford Bridge this summer, with Pulisic, new signing Hakim Ziyech and Lampard’s ‘Class of 19’ in line to form the core of what remains. While painful viewing for many, Tuesday night was little more than an ugly snapshot of where Chelsea would be without the bright young pieces they intend to build around.[/quote]