Sideshow Luiz

Morata is going to play. He will play until he is dislodged. If he's terrible we may get a stop gap in January and be in for a striker next summer. Keeper situation is sorted and we got someone the manager actually wanted (who wasn't over the hill). Yes, we overpaid. I wish we got Courtois level keeping with Ederson distribution for 20M. But, we didn't. And if that's the only thing that would make me happy, then I wouldn't bother anymore. We got the player we wanted, end of.

He loves Tibo. He did this shit at Genk when he came to us as well, so to be expected, in hindsight. He'll say the right things at first at Madrid, but you can't stop being who you are and he'll eventually piss of the Madrid fans (who have 0 patience). He'll say something along the lines of the club being lucky to have him or some crap.

It's double deuce out there. Moses is also back to being a shit winger. At least he's homegrown and 5th choice. I guess from that perspective, Drinkwater can stay this season (assuming Kovacic is done).

I don't think that was an option. Once Morata decided to stay, he was ours.

Yeah, it's almost worth the extra 30M just to not deal with that.

I don't get it either. Board pinches pennies, slagged, not happy. Board overpays, slagged, not happy. It was our number one priority. Okay, it could have been handled in a more timely manner, and targets should have been lined up. Not getting Alisson was a blow. TBo deciding that he didn't want to say what he had to say to Sarri's face made this happen now. Anyone deemed to be good enough, either this summer or next, was going to cost us at least 50M anyway. And that's for 3rd, 4th, 5th.... choice.

Work horses in midfield. That's what Conte wanted. He wanted better quality, but you can see what Drinkwater and Bakayoko have to offer in a technical side.

Sure, it's crazy money. As soon as we allowed ourselves to get in to this position we were always going to over pay (whether this summer or next). It's got a touch of panic about it, but it's better than panic buying some dross like Drinkwater. At least it's panic buying the guy you want. The club's transfers have been criticized for not just spending the money on the player they want, always the cheaper shit option. Well, here we go, we overpaid for the guy we want. Personally, I'm fine with it. Rather overpay for the thing you want than "save money" for something you don't. To me, it's a waste of money to spend it on something you don't want.

Don't know if anyone's seen this: But, that man stepping out from defence was not happening against City. Rudiger kept backing off Aguero for the first goal.

No one is making runs. The intricate passing is nice, but the 3rd man runs are what opens everything up.

Yup. I was under the impression that they were going to trigger the clause when it was 20, but Zidane decided against it. But, tha'ts whakt I mean, when he was 20M, he was Real's first choice. At 80, not so much. We, on the other hand, don't have a lot of options. He was what the club determined to be the best option, then they went out and got him.

Ah, Moses. How I've missed your inability to make decisions. Zappacosta was streaming in.

I'm for this signing. But, I'm expecting PL growing pains. DDG was terrible at claiming crosses and corners when he came.

Well, not exactly true. Kepa at 20M was their first choice.

Like I've said, I try. I'm having a particularly good day though. Courtois situation dealt with. Kovacic in (okay, only a season, but okay). Had to take the dog to the vet last week to have a lump removed. Got the results from the lab today and it's just a benign lump, so no doggy breast cancer. I consider today a win.

I don't think we filled the full 25 man squad last season (might be wrong). In either case, RLC's status will have nothing to do with Fekir. Willian out for Zaha.....

RLC = Home Grown. It's about the 17 non-HG players.

Agreed. It's 1 out 1 in, not just for financial reasons.

That's what I was saying before. We gave Madrid the chance to show him some love. We said "we think you should be the record transfer fee". We want you to be a Chelsea player for life. So, let's see what Real think of you. So, Real, here's your chance to woo him and show him how much you love him. They basically sent him a dick pic and "Netflix and chill?". They want Neymar next summer, IMO.

Fair point.

There's a site I haven't been to in a while, had a look for some Sarri articles and saw one that was interesting, and I don't recall seeing it here: http://outsideoftheboot.com/2017/07/30/breaking-down-maurizio-sarri-tactics/ Edit: most of it is stuff you've all read or watched by now. But this video at the end of the article had a few nice examples of how the short passing distracts defenders and allows player to make runs in behind.

Where's @Unionjack? He hasn't started his party without us, has he?

You're not suggesting that the board would know that a player was leaving at the end of the season, then wait until the last possible minute to get a replacement are you?

Still haven't seen anything definitive on the option to buy at the end of the loan. I've seen reports saying yes, others saying no.

I remember his biggest problem at the beginning was coming out and claiming crosses and corners. I had a Utd friend who was really unsure of him at first (obviously over that). I think a lot of La Liga keepers have those issues (so courtois' biggest strength may not be important at Madrid).