Strike

Posted already. Noise about Caicedo

Perhaps a good thing he's not part of the squad in this unstable season and he can come in with some PL experience next year. top-level experience next year. Just thankful they didn't sell him in the summer when the club was negotiating for Cucurella Fofana, Badiashile, Silva, Colwill and Chalobah could be a good set of options.

HG numbers. Currently it is 9 including Castillo who can't be considered - Bettinelli, Chalobah, RLC, Sterling, Mount, Chilwell, Gallagher, James, Castillo. I think we keep all our HG players, maybe move on RLC and replace him with Levi

At least everyone fought well. Few good performances - Hall (apart from some shaky giveaways), Ziyech and Silva. Mason needs to be dropped - can’t ever find the right ball

That was a beautiful tribute to Vialli. All those former players out on the pitch.

Problem when you are a club mouthpiece who just relays what they say. Matt Law said this four days ago

Worried about exactly this. How good is he in tight spaces will be the real question. This is welcome but the midfield needs a refresh at the moment

Know the board want to clean-house but it is crazy to be prioritising a deal for Mudryk over strengthening the midfield at the moment. Arsenal will regroup and find a player who is not valued so high. Five months ago Shakhtar were looking for 30m from Brentford for Mudryk (Link - https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/aug/31/brentford-transfer-record-sign-shakhtar-mykhaylo-mudryk ) They've tripled that valuation now with our bid. This approach from Boehly-Eghbali is crazy and unsustainable.

What do you think now ?

Next week in the Premier League - stoppable force vs movable object

People on here were convinced last week that the board was sensible because they were not spending 100m on a player with little experience 🥳

Levi Colwill's looking good, putting together a string of good performances

Shame Ten Haag seems really good

will be back from suspension in the league before we play the CL game anyway

Will be a month before he plays again

Wonder why they are surprised when Darijo Srna, the Shakhtar director was at Stamford Bridge. Anyway, looking like we can rule out Mudryk too

Is there a quality mid available who the club can sign ?

Its been clear for more than a year that we have to upgrade in midfield. It is an area of the squad we haven't invested in since 2018 when Jorgi and Kova were signed. If we're spending heavy on any position right now, it has to be CM. I don't see people suggesting alternatives to Enzo. Rice is quoted at 80m and he is an inferior player, especially when he'll be in a bigger team with more of the ball. Have read Moises Caicedo quoted at 70m.

I am curious about one thing with all those saying Enzo at 100m was way too much - What would be your midfield signing(s) ?

You're right. Chelsea can't operate in the same way as Newcastle but there is a case for waiting to invest in the right player in the market than looking for immediate fixes. Club signed Koulibaly and Auba in the summer and are now replacing them in six months. The new signing Felix is a 6 month loan deal on big wages, very high loan fee with no option to buy. We will be back to the same situation in summer 2023.

Dan Burn has been weirdly good. Trippier too. Targett and Wood are doing their bit as back-up, helps with the team spirit. They now have positioned themselves to target a higher level of players.