Jase

Lampard on the club winning the CL, his regrets etc. Shame he wasn't asked how did Tuchel manage to do better than him with the same squad... https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/frank-lampard-reveals-thoughts-Chelsea-24309540 "Yeah when you work towards something you want to be there, you want to be the manager and I'm never going to try and lay claim on that. I was part of the early foundation potentially but Thomas did a fantastic job getting them there. "I will say when I watched it, first I'm a Chelsea person, Chelsea fans are happy and the club deserves. "But secondly to see Mason and Reece perform at that level, people like Mendy, Thiago and Chilwell, who came in in my time makes me pretty proud. But again that's a great achievement by them and well managed." "Well obviously you never want to lose a job, I'm in pretty good company at Chelsea. It happens. It's the brutal reality of football at the top level. "With reflection, I've had a few months out now, it's been nice to spend some time out of the game. I'm pretty proud at the job I did, it was an honour to manage the club. "I came in at a tough time with the ban and the loss of Eden Hazard and worked really hard to get into the Champions League and Mason [Mount], developing the younger players was a huge deal to me. "I'm happy. You don't want to lose your job but it's a huge experience for me." Asked if he had any regrets or done things differently, he said: "I think I could probably sit down and talk to you about a lot of things. That's a manager's job. There will be a lot of things you could do differently. "But as I say very proud of year one. Year two there were expectations, maybe different complications. Every team had problems this year. "We had a problem in January and I left my job. I can't go back and keep reflecting on those things in a negative way. I can only look positively going forward."

Fabregas on Kante... https://www.telegraph.co.uk/euro-2021/2021/06/14/humble-funny-great-little-dark-side-real-ngolinho-kante/ It was Eden Hazard and I who gave N’Golo Kante his Brazilian nickname of N’Golinho when we were all at Chelsea together and I still use it to this day. Obviously, it was a bit of fun but it showed how highly we rated N’Golo and how we appreciated some of the parts of his game that maybe other people didn’t see. Now everyone sees what an incredible player he is and, even if France do not win the Euros, N’Golinho is one of the greatest-ever players in his position. If France, who are my favourites for the tournament, do win the Euros then there will be a very strong case for N’Golo to win the Ballon d’Or having already added the Champions League to his World Cup and Premier League titles. I remember when he joined Chelsea, he was very shy, he wasn’t talking a lot. He had to move the ball a little bit quicker and always look forwards because sometimes it felt like he saw the pass forwards but he was not doing it, or at least was not taking the risk to find the little pockets where Eden, Willian or Pedro used to play. N’Golo was very much the style of player that Antonio Conte wanted in midfield, someone powerful who could run a lot, who was aggressive and who could make good recoveries. But under Antonio, he improved a lot going forwards and passing forwards, and that took him to another level. His dribbling could surprise you. He’s seen as a defensive midfielder who makes all these tackles and recoveries and it’s fantastic, but sometimes we wouldn’t see him lose the ball. He can run with the ball, break lines and dribble, and sometimes, just because it’s him, we don’t appreciate these things. So that’s maybe why we started to call him N’Golinho. He’s one of the most complete midfielders in the world, for sure. I remember N’Golo made an assist once for Eden at Bournemouth. He played a long ball over the top and Eden beat the keeper and scored. We used to train that a lot, a lot, a lot, nearly every day, and the day after when we were re-watching the game and analysing it, Antonio was so happy with him because it was exactly what he wanted. N’Golo is a quiet, shy boy, but once you get to know him you can have a lot of fun with him and he’s a very funny guy when he’s in the mood and at certain moments in training. He used to come on the back of the bus, playing games and cards or whatever it was, and have a laugh. Everybody knows he is a really good human being. One day, we met in the morning, we were playing at night, and everyone was ‘where’s N’Golo, where’s N’Golo, we’re starting the meeting’ and normally he was always on time. Eventually, he arrived and everyone started clapping and Antonio said ‘what’s happened?’ And he was telling us that he’s had a car crash and some people couldn’t believe it was him and they were taking pictures and he wanted to be polite. His car was all damaged and the wing mirror had to be taped back on, but he still stopped for photographs, even though it made him late! But N’Golo has a little dark side as well that I like, which I still see now when I watch him on television. He doesn’t lose his temper, but, If you watch, you will see that he does not mind fouling an opponent or getting a yellow card and he will not apologise or be nice to the other guy, he will just walk away. I like this and it gives a message to the opponent that N’Golo will not be too nice on the pitch. To be a really top player, you need this. If you are nice on the pitch, then they eat you alive and I smile when I see his darker side. We saw this season that N’Golo is a big-game player with his incredible performance in the Champions League final against Manchester City and I could always see, like all the best players, that he could raise his game to another level for the big games. This is the sign of a big player. I remember two games against Manchester United that we won, one was the FA Cup final. The same day of the final, I think it was Ramadan and it was so hot that day. We were having lunch and I asked N’Golo if he would eat and he said ‘no’ because he was fasting and I was worried he might not be able to run. But he had a fantastic game and I still don’t know how he managed to do that, with the heat. It makes me respect him even more because I wouldn’t be able to do that and he had an amazing final. It gives you a lot of security, insurance when you play next to N’Golo. The way he recovers, he never loses possession and his interceptions. We had a good understanding because I used to like the fact he recovered the ball and he’d release it quickly to me. He’s so, so smart and he knows how to make the most of his strengths. And when it was me and Tiemoue Bakayoko ahead of N’Golo, he was amazing as well. I could go forwards knowing that there was this superman behind me, running for all of us. It was actually incredible. Maybe I can understand that without playing with him or knowing him, it was hard for people to appreciate how much he does and how good he is, but I think more and more people are realising that once you have N’Golo on your team your percentage chance of winning games and tournaments increases a lot. If you asked all of the big players in the world now if they wanted N’Golo in their team, they would all say ‘yes’ without a question. Football was a little bit different when I played in the very good Spain and Barcelona teams, because then it was not so much about running. But, definitely, N’Golo could have played in those teams, he is that level. There is Claude Makelele and I played with a very good defensive midfielder with Spain, Marcos Senna, but there is no doubt N’Golo is one of the greatest in his position. I’m not always sure how the Ballon d’Or is decided, often my pick is wrong, but as a friend and a team-mate who competed next to him for three years I would love it if N’Golinho got this award. He will have a big, big chance if he can help France become European champions after already becoming a European champion with Chelsea.

Fabregas on Werner and Havertz... https://www.telegraph.co.uk/euro-2021/2021/06/14/humble-funny-great-little-dark-side-real-ngolinho-kante/ I watch every single Chelsea game, so I’ve followed the first seasons of the club’s two big German signings, Kai Havertz and Timo Werner, very closely and I am convinced next season we will start to really see the best of them. As a midfielder who likes to make assists, I have played behind strikers before who are going through a bad time or suffering with their confidence. It’s a bit of both that it can be frustrating that they miss chances, but I would also be thinking at some time Werner will score. The most important thing is that he keeps making the runs, that his timing is good, that he’s not offside and with his speed he will always get chances. Players like Werner are so valuable nowadays because players want the ball at their feet a lot and, as a midfielder, you would like this type of player to run on to your passes. I’d definitely still keep trying to find him in games because when your own team-mates start doubting you, this is the worst feeling you can have because you feel it. What I like is to talk to people always in a positive way, even if in training they miss then you say ‘well done, the next one will go in’. Even if it has to be 100 times. Football is so much about confidence and what’s in your head and especially strikers who depend so much on scoring or not scoring. If they miss, it’s when you need to support them the most. I was talking to my Monaco team-mate Kevin Volland, who was a team-mate of Havertz at Bayer Leverkusen, and he told me that Havertz would usually struggle a little bit at the start of seasons to get going, but that once he gets a clear ride and is mentally good then he’s a fantastic player. Havertz didn’t start very, very well at Chelsea and sometimes he looked off the pace. But once Thomas Tuchel put him in a false nine position, it was working better. He didn’t have to touch a lot of the ball, but he helped the team tick. He was not losing the ball, he made everyone else secure, he was creating stuff. And I think at the end of the season, he was very, very good. I saw that both Werner and Havertz scored for Germany in their last warm-up game, so, hopefully, they can have a good tournament and, definitely, I think we will see different players for Chelsea next season.

Fabregas on Werner and Havertz... https://www.telegraph.co.uk/euro-2021/2021/06/14/humble-funny-great-little-dark-side-real-ngolinho-kante/ I watch every single Chelsea game, so I’ve followed the first seasons of the club’s two big German signings, Kai Havertz and Timo Werner, very closely and I am convinced next season we will start to really see the best of them. As a midfielder who likes to make assists, I have played behind strikers before who are going through a bad time or suffering with their confidence. It’s a bit of both that it can be frustrating that they miss chances, but I would also be thinking at some time Werner will score. The most important thing is that he keeps making the runs, that his timing is good, that he’s not offside and with his speed he will always get chances. Players like Werner are so valuable nowadays because players want the ball at their feet a lot and, as a midfielder, you would like this type of player to run on to your passes. I’d definitely still keep trying to find him in games because when your own team-mates start doubting you, this is the worst feeling you can have because you feel it. What I like is to talk to people always in a positive way, even if in training they miss then you say ‘well done, the next one will go in’. Even if it has to be 100 times. Football is so much about confidence and what’s in your head and especially strikers who depend so much on scoring or not scoring. If they miss, it’s when you need to support them the most. I was talking to my Monaco team-mate Kevin Volland, who was a team-mate of Havertz at Bayer Leverkusen, and he told me that Havertz would usually struggle a little bit at the start of seasons to get going, but that once he gets a clear ride and is mentally good then he’s a fantastic player. Havertz didn’t start very, very well at Chelsea and sometimes he looked off the pace. But once Thomas Tuchel put him in a false nine position, it was working better. He didn’t have to touch a lot of the ball, but he helped the team tick. He was not losing the ball, he made everyone else secure, he was creating stuff. And I think at the end of the season, he was very, very good. I saw that both Werner and Havertz scored for Germany in their last warm-up game, so, hopefully, they can have a good tournament and, definitely, I think we will see different players for Chelsea next season.

Thanks but yeah, it seems to be BS. I mean, if he really costs only 115 million euros, I doubt the club would be hesitating to get a deal done or that other clubs would just sit around quietly and do nothing. All the common talk about Haaland seems clear - Dortmund don’t want to sell him this summer. It would take a HUGE offer for them to maybe change their mind (likely to be at least 150 million). On top of that, The Athletic’s Simon Johnson was saying the other day that Haaland also wants an astronomical amount of wages, more than what has been reported. So yeah, IF we somehow pull this off, it will cost us a fortune and likely blow off our entire transfer budget for the summer.

Brought the Euro 2020 section nearer to the top. Hope that makes it convenient...

It's a laughable suggestion (not from you) because Tuchel clearly wants to add to the midfield and not sell one to buy one. And Gilmour is likely to leave on loan.

"According to the report, the Champions League winners will let Inter choose between other players who can potentially be included in the deal: Davide Zappacosta, Mateo Kovacic and Tammy Abraham." Kovacic? 🤣

The 2009/10 team wasn't exactly defensively solid and Alex spent half of that season being injured - https://www.transfermarkt.com/alex/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/15420/plus/0?saison=2009&verein=&liga=&wettbewerb=&pos=&trainer_id=.

The back-to-back title winning team? No. The double winning side or current side? Debatable.

115 million euros for Haaland? ABC Deportes? 🤣

To be fair, that was the first game of the season and it was at Old Trafford. He might have a point, especially when you consider Lampard left Mount on the bench in the next game against Liverpool in the Super Cup. Having said that, Mourinho was saying that as someone looking in from the outside and we also know that he isn't exactly a pioneer for youth either.

I saw your initial reply before you edited it. All jokes aside, am I really wrong to say Mourinho would have used Mount the way he used Oscar? Part of the reason why Mount has been used by most managers is because of his tactical discipline and versatility, which wasn't different to what Oscar was. Although, as self-driven as Mount is, it's debatable whether this current Mourinho would have been able to improve and make him a better player compared to say someone like Tuchel.

Yes, we can point to individual mistakes but at the same time, Lampard's carefree tactical approach didn't help matters. Players' shortcomings were left exposed on a weekly basis and they eventually lost confidence, especially when results started to go south and that spiraled out of control. Tuchel came in, implemented a solid system with clear tactical instructions and one that hides the players' shortcoming as much as possible and lets them shine with their strengths. He has also got more out of them mentally and emotionally as well.

The ironic thing with Rudiger is most of us were glad that Lampard wanted to push him out and sell him last summer but now want him to stay because of his turnaround under Tuchel. Could point to Lampard being a bad coach/Tuchel being a good coach etc but yeah, hindsight is 20/20 and all that.

🤣 Yes, I saw this the other day but my second point above still stands. Inter have 9 players at the Euros, Arsenal have 4 and Everton have only 3. We have 17, more than anyone else! The Athletic's Simon Johnson has mentioned that the players will be given 3 weeks off whenever their Euros is over.

Interesting...

What happened to giving the benefit of the doubt to the attacking team on a close offside call!?

Fichajes is a shit source...

I don't necessarily disagree with your reasoning but it's no guarantee Abraham will be successful there. I mean for example, Immobile went to Dortmund and couldn't hack it in the Bundesliga but was/is prolific in Serie A. Even though Abraham may know where the goal is, his overall game can leave a lot to be desired. It's arguably the reason why Tuchel has not fancied him and it's probably not lost on Dortmund either. Plus financially, it also doesn't make sense for them as mentioned earlier.

What makes you have that assumption/belief?