Magic Lamps

Let's hope Abramovich's statement has reassured players and fans so now heads are clear for this final. Don't think we will be completely unaffected tho. Surely it makes Liverpool even bigger favourites. We need a huge performance to once again wn vs all odds. Surely every formerly neutral fan as well as the refs will be against us big time now even more than usual vs the media darlings. Will be a massive uphill battle.

Very sensible move. Roman prevents us to be affected by sanctions and allows for continued operation of the club even if he himself will be targeted. It is however unlikely he will fund us in summer in case sanctions persist, which i consider the base case. So we might be forced to pay for new signings exlusively out of the club's own cashflows.

rightly so. Overrated manager. honestly did not expect them to fall behind arsenal this much. If arse go through their big games unscathed they will seriously challenge us for 3rd, but i doubt it will happen. if we don't somehow implode due to the insecurity all over, we should make top 3 easily

kepa is better than Kelleher tho still dont like it, liverpool have quite a few decent long distance shooters in salah, fabinho, henderson

What would happen tho if the club just refused to pay back the loans? The club is solely under British jurisdiction and Abramovich can hardly call on the British justice to help him enforce the payback...

It’s easy to say. Now he plays in piss poor competitions only. Not uncommon a player leaves PL and starts firing

Wtf first Leicester with that epic collapse then wolves really can’t make their minds up if they want to European football or not those duds

Both are apparently fit - no serious injuries suffered

Tell that to the millions of refugees that will flee to Western Europe Nothing will be back to normal. This move marks the beginning of a new time. It’s hard to believe after decades of peace but this attack was not just directed at Ukraine . It is clear putin wants to restore the borders of the soviet union Freedom and democracy are now at stake there will be a new Cold War

I like his energy and cleverness. also a good crosser not sure about his tiny size and pace tho. He did look slightly faster than Mount but significantly slower than Pulisic Moreover he is ineffective in front of goal which would not work as our wingbacks are basically attackers and among our greatest goal threats

Leeds are absolute wussies what a pointless team. Should just go back to the championship where they belong knew this would get ugly but did not expect the suckers to roll over this early What a gift to Pool. Salad probably had his head in the plane after 5mins

Absolute bonkers Never understood goalies coming out when the striker is moving away from gaol, so basically improving the angle for him by coming out. Oblak just covered the corner flag more than his far post for Mangans to just roll it into an empty net thankfully we got Big Ed and not that clown

Rashford so stupid whole Atlético team is on the left and he runs straight into em when the centre was free

Awesome header by Felix havertz still better

we have to buy another wing back who can can challenge on either flanks or ideally two classy wingbacks, otherwise we will still not be competitive next season. Kounde is no a wing back, albeit i could see him in that position rather than cb tbh

As much as i could see lukaku succeed in bundesliga as he would jsut bully defenders all over the pitch just like he did in Serie A, i am quite certain Bayern would never be dumb enough to buy that empty shell of a player. Esp not for the crazy fees and wages he is on. As I said numerous times before and after his transfer, we will be stuck with the turtle eating huge holes into our annual budget for the remainder of his contract. Worst deal in the history of the club. Hence - I know it is painful but we have to face this - we should rather think about how we can still get a tiny bit of use out of him. I think maybe we could loan him out while covering parts of his wages. Surely some clubs would be interested in getting him almost for free, so he would at least not sulk around. Another possiblity would be to put him into the reserves team. That would be pretty much his level and he might be a good option from the bench for them. Have been struggling a bit in that department.

That’s not quite true. He scored a goal for Leverkusen vs inter in the el once that shaved the goalies balls off also his high effort from an angle today looked powerful enough

Maybe his best performances for us since the CL final. Could have scored more but what was most important was his intensity. he pressed a lot and with success, he was always ready and willing to receive the ball, run at high pace and look for his chances. also not disheartened by his early miss. Also did not step into his usual trap of looking too cool and not contributing much. Was an all-action display. If he keeps this up we can finally say he turned a corner and looks the player we paid 80m for.

Jota i heard would be in contention. Does not matter tho, they always find a way through the lines. as long as mane and salah play we are in huge danger without our first choice wingbacks.

For the life of me can't see us winning this. Would need Klopp to completely botch his tactics like Pep did and then still have incredible luck that Mane and Salah have an off day. Then we might stand a chance to win this on pens with the Kepa joker (albeit he did lose a pen shootout before vs Dippers with fkin Adrian) Will definitely play a back 5 just hope not with Alonso. Lille made it quite easy for us today but even they attacked mainly Alonso's side and he also had some stupid turnovers again which almost got punished. Most important will be to leave Lukaku out again, otherwise it will be curtains before it starts

Probably the best way to play in k.o. games anyway. As long as we are solid at the back, press and use our pace on the counter we are a danger to any team. Pulisic's goal was in fact quite similar to the one Emerson score vs Atleti in terms of the runs made Also playing on the counter is my favourite style. It is key to our identity and I just find a well executed counter attacking goal very satisfying to watch. Beats tiki-taka and endless sideways passing any day.

Very good game from us I thought. Had the boys over to watch it so could not much during, but for sure would point out that for me playing without Lukaku and esp Kai, Ziyech, Puli in their best positions made a hell out of a difference. Kova and Ziyech out is huge tho. I just hope it is nothing major. Expect them to miss some serious game time tho, they amassed quite a lot of minutes recently. The beginning was actually electric, wish it had gone on this way. We played very much on the counter attack, I do think this was the gameplan. Kovacic and Kante breaking their lines and spreading it wide and forward was a common pattern. Worked almost to perfection Big shout out to the wee man, that run and assist was absolutely inchperfect. Really beautiful counter attacking goal. Just hope we will see more of the same vs the dippers.

Ziyech and kovacic injured just perfect

I think the situation is a bit more complex. the club aka Chelsea FC plc is owned by Roman's investment holding Fordstam Ltd. Both are Uk assets, so could be seized. But since fordstam is the parent company it would probably be seized first and placed under administration. The club would then be at the mercy of that administrator. They would probably still allow the club to remain in operation and as long as we are financially stable and not acutely in need of financial aid from Roman, we could live on without him. But as Fordstam also carries our refinanced debt the club could be forced to pay that off which would be problematic. The club has existed before and will be there longer than Roman. What bothers me most tho is that the whole situation will probably drag on forever wihch will leave us in uncertainty for ages, will find it hard to attract a new buyer etc.

That looks almost certain now... the tanks just started rolling