BlueLyon

They can play 4:3:3, with Mane and Salah on wings, Firmino uptop and Lemar as LCM. They will also get Keita in summer who will probably play RCM. They indeed need DM and GK, then they would have fantastic squad. Lemar doesnt need to be winger tbh. He is excelent in connecting the midfield with attack, keeping the fluidity of play. And his work rate is impressive too. Would be great replacement for Coutinho IMO, thats why I hope they dont get him.

Very very few kids have it what it takes from the get go. Kane looked average for Spurs first couple games. Its not always superstar talent at 18. We have Pedro and Willian on wings who are downright shit (sorry but its true) and yet they play week in week out. Odoi is very promising, but Musonda is now at age when he definately deserves the chance. Same with wingbacks, we have few yet Sterling doesnt play at all. Then we play Kenedy who has brain of a potato. This mentaly ready is just bs excuse because then Kenedy wouldnt play single game. We dont have balls to throw 17 year old in cup game because we fear we would lose the game. Thats says plenty of how much we trust our youth and how (un)reliable first team players are if they cant win a cup game with one youth player instead of regular. What its evident that some older players dont give two shits about norwich in carabao, youth players would give all in such game to prove themselves. And we dont make any change. And same applies to the league. We are far behind City and yet we dont experiment. All I ask is one damn chance. 2nd or 3rd it doesnt matter in the end does it if we develop a kid into regular for several seasons to come. What is one place lower if that meant we get to see Musonda/Odoi/Sterling as regular from next season on for next 5-10 years? But the club is so short visioned. No wonder we are lacking consistency when the board tries to be smart in buying and "develop" players when in fact whole board from coach to back staff doesnt know a single thing on how to make youth player a regular. Balls. The board lacks them. The players lack them. Its one big "take the easier way" business nowdays.

This. We have some useles players in squad who deserve to be benched, yet no one has the balls to actualy play our talented youth like Sterling, Salter, Odoi, Ampadu or Musonda for couple games. I would get it if we are in title race or having squad filled with superstars but come on. Maybe we have overhyped kids who realy arent that promising at all, but fuck give them a damn start or two. Even Real, Barca, Psg plays their kids in cup games. Norwich would be perfect example yet we throw first team players who shown zero fucks. And its gonna be the same next time. Yeah Ampadu is getting some (very limited) minutes, others not at all. I can see Odoi or Sterling may not be "ready" yet, but Musonda? Nah we just play Willian and Pedro 😑 We are lacking wingbacks and wingers, we have three youth players that can play in those positions but the board does fuck all. Thats one and only thing I realy blame Conte. Scared to lose vs norwich so he throws regulars who perform like shit instead of giving chance to Sterling, Ampadu Musonda and Odoi in second half. Next game is played at home and I bet we wont see youth again bar maybe Ampadu. The way this club runs youth is plain awful.

There is no way Pep will keep Sane, Sterling, Bernard, Jesus, Aguero, Sanchez happy. Besides we are three signings away from having top team too. RW and most importantly LWB and quality CM (or not if Barkley impresses). Back up striker too but doesnt have to be realy expensive. That is doable in summer with all the money we have and potential departure of Luiz and Bats. Football is unpredictable and ball is round. Everyone expected last season to be battle between manchesters, we won it. Everyone expected Real to destroy everyone again this season but its exactly opposite. Personaly I think Aguero will leave soon, Sanchez isnt out and out world class player, neither is Sterling. Sane could be and Kdb is awesome too. Silva and Fernandinho are aging. Peps defences were never truly solid either. So there is chance for us. City looks to be complete package to win PL yes because they have enough quality and depth, but Im sure we can build solid team to beat majority of PL too. Never mind if other teams improve, us but also City will have harder job. And second season after you win the title is almost never as good as everyone expects, so I think City will drop this form at one point. As for CL, my prediction is City wont win it for a while. Pep just doesnt adopt when he has to (key games with Bayern and he got destroyed couple times because he was naive). And PL has no break meaning his players will likely suffer some fatigue. Lets be honest stamina of players like Scholes, Lamps, Gerrard were miles ahead of those that currently Man city has (and english teams in general). Thats why we suffer in europe. Maybe Im biased and this all is just false hope, but football is like that. No era or team goes forever. And IMO while Pep has lot of quality and he installed winning mentality into City, are there any players that actualy have heart there? That would "die" on the pitch? This is something you desperately need. But obviously we will need to buy quality players ourselves too. There is no other way. I just think the gap isnt that large and we can catch them.

He cost 15m. I dont know what are you still going on about. He is going to either develop well and we got english player for peanuts or, if he plays so shit as you believe, he will be benched/sold. Either way he would be good choice from bench, we are not Real or Barca, if we have someone like Barkley on bench thats decent. If we sell him, he will go for profit no doubt. We cant lose on this deal mate. You see it as lack of ambition, but this one is clear example of smart business where we profit either way. I would be fuming if we paid 35 or more for him too, like I have been with Drinkwater. But Barkley for 15m is no brainer. Absolute no brainer. The problem is not Barkley. The problem is Bakayoko, Drinkwater who cost us 80m and cant outplay Norwich.

Absolutely awful performance by some of our main players. Pedro, Willian, Bats, Luiz...they should be more than enough to win the game. How the fuck can you demand and contend for place in first 11 when you get a chance against norwich and not give a single shit? Its the kind of game where you try to impress manager. Do they think first 11 is just going to be given to them? I would play Musonda, Salter, Sterling and Ampadu in replay. They cant play worse than yesterday. But Conte obviously wont do that.

Injured too much. Would rather target Carlos Soler from Valencia.

I didnt know about his leg fracture and it was interesting to read to know who he is but honestly getting another "confidence" player was probably the last thing we needed. For the fee its smart business obviously, but I always thought Barkley is confident but inconsistent player. Now its clear he gets distracted realy quickly. And he now plays for club where players feel the most pressure in whole england. I hope it works out, but IMO it doesnt look particulary bright. Also these comparisons to Lamps are completely wrong too. Lamps had endless levels of energy and giant character. It was that what made him great player. I dont see Barkley having either yet. He has the skills but thats about it.

I was all in to get him, but now seeing they value him way above 50m, no thanks. I thought we could land him for 40m for some reason. He is a good player, but you can get much better abroad for that money.

Him unable to play CL and title as good as gone, its smart to pursue such targets in summer. Same with Lemar and others that cant play in CL. Only exceptions should be if someone quality can play in CL or there is already someone very interested in certain player we want (ie If United wanted sandro in jan, we would need to act quick)

I hope we extend with him soon hopefuly. Now with barca getting Coutinho and maybe even Griezmann in summer, Real will start throwing cash for players they might not even realy need. Not good for us.

I wonder how pursuing our board is with targets. Pool wanted Dijk and Keita, no one else. And they got them in the end. I hope we dont settle for second/third target after first bump. If we have doubts about paying millions in today market, we have very slim chances to get back on football throne.

Liverpool will make Lemar better than Coutinho probably. He fits them like a glove. Thats why I hope we get Lemar in summer. I would like Mahrez aswell, but if we are picking just one of the lot, Lemar by mile. He is younger and very good footballer.

Legend

Well eventualy we will need two players to replace Willian AND Pedro. One is not consistent and other one is getting older. Mahrez would be very smart addition, whereas we will still add another one in future. The league is almost done, but we still have CL and cups, Mahrez would help us alot. IMO he can improve and be in the range of Kante, Mane type of signings.

That was not a dive. There was clear touch but yes Hazard fell theatricaly. Still it was touch and penalty. If hazard didnt fell so dramaticaly ref might not call for spot.

He signed extension, bvb representatives said it couple days ago...

Yeah thats what we can hope for. Reality is Caroll is average player and he wont have any serious impact. We have been through the same with Ba, Remy and Bats. And they are better strikers. They just dont have the impact we expect. We need another Etoo. Someone experienced who played for big clubs, someone who may be past it, but his quality is still high.

Its 15m. This is nothing today. If it doesnt work, we can easily add another midfilder of high quality and ship Barkley on loan and sell him for profit. I hope we dont hinder RLC chances though, I think he deserves a shot. But even so, I think RLC should be out on loan playing regulary next two years, so we can get something from Barkley. If it works great, we get cheap english player, if not he will be bench player. Bottom line we can sign another Vidal/Seri/Savic anytime if we want. If Barkley cost 30-40m that would be concern though. Then we have rather expensive midfielder and we cant just sign another one if it doesnt work.

Andy Carrol? This surely is a joke right? I rather stick with Bats then. I was thinking we are targeting players like Willian Jose who can actualy surprise and play a part for us, not these bang average players like Carrol.

I wish we made more signings like him. Not super expensive, coming from midtable clubs, good age, little hype and proven. You just knew it was good deal back then. No questions what he can do and if he can do this and that. He is brought to break attacks and he does it brilliantly. No one was asking if he can pass or control the ball etc unlike with Bakayoko. I think we have so many questions when we are signing players. Bakayoko...is he techincal enough, can he pass...Morata can he be main striker, if he has killer instinct. When you buy someone, you need to know he can do it. Striker to score goals, midfielder to tackle or create. And we are wondering if these players can even do their main job and basic football work like passing when we sign them... And its clear such players struggle more. The only thing you have to ask yourself is can he do it for our club, in our league. Not if striker can score on his own, if midfielder can pass and hold on the ball. Those are basics that are expected.

This. Luiz adds character and grit to our side. He has that fire that pushes the team forward. It will be big miss for us if he is sold. He might have brainfarts in defence, so maybe midfield, but everyone rates him so poorly in midfield. I would love to use him next to Kante and Cesc for few games.

Not fear. Its just stupid. Buying english midfielders who are average when we already have one here. But seeing Barkley would only cost 15m, thats a bargain. We have nothing to lose then.

Well I agree we stepped on brake but Kante was pretty much top quality signing. Morata was example we are not afraid to fork big money either (70m isnt small amount). Besides when did Chelsea buy world class? Like truly established world class players or talents? Yes we signed quality defenders like Cole and Carvalho but Im positive we still can. If one thing, we can attract quality defenders. As it goes for other positions, Essien, Drogba, Anelka, Malouda,...they were good players but hardly proven. We make such buys in Bakayoko, Batshuayi,... Unfortunely some players dont have same impact as our previous generations. Lets be honest I can easily see Chelsea fork 80m for Lemar or Fekir in summer if we sell Pedro/Willian. But question is if they will deliver. Its a myth Chelsea could get Dybala or Griezmann in 2005. We were never as close to such players as we are now. Only difference is we spend less and we rather keep the players we have. Unfortunely some are realy underachieving.

Why is there always drama around this club all the time? From signing players, to managers to contracts...its never simple and done quickly. Im not sure if I hate that or love it because its never boring.