closed Chelsea 3-1 Crystal Palace

[Milan 17,959]

Crystal Palace face Tottenham at home next week. Hopefully they will grab a point against Spurs.

[Johnnyeye 7,510]

1 minute ago, milan.cech said:

Crystal Palace face Tottenham at home next week. Hopefully they will grab a point against Spurs.

most likely will get raped

[Laylabelle 9,536]

Shouldn't laugh but that attempt.. Still got 2 more then usual 

[Milan 17,959]

1 minute ago, Johnnyeye said:

most likely will get raped

that is what some negative and depressed people on here said a week ago or so when They faced Arsenal at home. 2-2.

[Johnnyeye 7,510]

1 minute ago, milan.cech said:

that is what some negative and depressed people on here said a week ago or so when They faced Arsenal at home. 2-2.

ya but i will be surprised if they take points off Tottenham

[Vesper 30,225]

6 minutes ago, FabHazard said:

Luiz at times too casual and over confident....He should maintain focus and cut out silly errors

We could have this convo anytime over the past decade, lolol

[Vesper 30,225]

4 minutes ago, Laylabelle said:

Shouldn't laugh but that attempt.. Still got 2 more then usual 

4 in four, almost 5 in four, that pace guarantees us CL next year for sure via top 4, and maybe an EL trophy to boot

[Johnnyeye 7,510]

3 minutes ago, Laylabelle said:

Shouldn't laugh but that attempt.. Still got 2 more then usual 

i was already thinking hattrick but then the chip failed, shame he couldnt grab his 1st Stamford Bridge hattrick, chances like that dont come too often.

[Vesper 30,225]

9 minutes ago, Mana said:

It's both actually. Why go for the chip and make things difficult. A chip in that particular situation is just for showing off.

I think he panicked 

[Johnnyeye 7,510]

well i think its unanimous, Morata motm today, we dont say that too often do he? hihi

[Pizy 18,952]

Honestly, our only real weakness currently is the self inflicted defensive mistakes. An errant pass here, a poor lunge in by Luiz there. Other than that every once in a while we're super comfortable.

This game changed like a snap of the fingers with the introduction of Hazard and Kova. Our two best technical players came on and it was like the whole team knew it was over. Kovacic has to come back in as our first choice 3rd midfielder. Barkley is a good option to bring on if things aren't working or when an eye for goal from midfield is required. He's not as tight and comfortable on the ball as Kova, though.

[Johnnyeye 7,510]

Just now, Vesper said:

I think he panicked 

he overthinked it for sure

[Vesper 30,225]

2 minutes ago, Johnnyeye said:

he overthinked it for sure

Hopefully Sarri goes over the tape with him and shows other options

[sainttourist 68]

really want to step up for Luiz. He was superb today. Yes he made mistake that cost us. But, just compare last game and this - Luiz and Rudiger is our strongest force. This system demands a lot from CB, we are lucky to have both Luiz and Rudiger.

[yuvala 2,167]

13 minutes ago, sainttourist said:

really want to step up for Luiz. He was superb today. Yes he made mistake that cost us. But, just compare last game and this - Luiz and Rudiger is our strongest force. This system demands a lot from CB, we are lucky to have both Luiz and Rudiger.

I think we can do much better honestly.. They're both not good enough IMO.

[Vesper 30,225]

15 minutes ago, sainttourist said:

really want to step up for Luiz. He was superb today. Yes he made mistake that cost us. But, just compare last game and this - Luiz and Rudiger is our strongest force. This system demands a lot from CB, we are lucky to have both Luiz and Rudiger.

Superb???   LOLOLOLOL

You must be a relative or work for his agent.

Some of the comments on here just gobsmack me.

AC has regressed terribly ever since that fucking Barca game last year, Cahill is shit now (and now our confirmed captain, ffs) and Ampadu is injured. These are the main reasons why Luiz is starting. We surely must upgrade at CB soon. To not wish to is sheer folly IMHO.

[Vesper 30,225]

6 minutes ago, yuvala said:

I think we can do much better honestly.. They're both not good enough IMO.

Rudiger is good enough, Ampadu will be, the rest need to go go go go ASAP (I fear AC is going to need a change of team to move forward, his confidence is shot to fuck here).

[BlueLyon 9,359]

27 minutes ago, yuvala said:

I think we can do much better honestly.. They're both not good enough IMO.

Rudiger is alright, but we need longterm replacement for Luiz; either Skriniar or Hernandez would be nice.

I would wait a bit for Christensen too, maybe he can develop but right now he is just piss. He is too nice for a CB and makes horrible decisions. 

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

Good win. Another 3 points what is matter above all for me now. 

I am reach at the point that I don't really care if Kepa who score the winning goal, as long as we come out as a winner in the end.

[Vesper 30,225]

1 minute ago, BlueLyon said:

Rudiger is alright, but we need longterm replacement for Luiz; either Skriniar or Hernandez would be nice.

I would wait a bit for Christensen too, maybe he can develop but right now he is just piss. He is too nice for a CB and makes horrible decisions. 

Lucas Hernandez is a left back, and good luck prising him away from Atletico Madrid for less than £70-80m or so. José Giménez is the main target for CB from AM, but he will be at the same price level (or more).

Same with Inter and Skriniar. They are a very ambitious club atm.

If we truly have top 5 in world ambitions, then we need ro go to battle with the big boys for de Ligt. He is already absolutely superb in every aspect of the game. I do not think we will pay the price needed to win him though. Same for Marquinhos at PSG.

Kalidou Koulibaly is obviously (for one more summer, then too old to sign to a 5 year plus deal) a perfect CB for us, but Napoli will never sell him to us unless we are talking him at 32yo or beyond.

Sarri wants Romagnoli (I rate him) or Rugani (I cannot see him as WC at all atm, he can't even break through at Juve, who are really old at CB). Both will be very hard to prise away. Juve is a nightmare to deal with, they have fucked us so many times over the past 4 years. AC might be a little easier, but Romagnoli is their captain, and they will never sell him easily.

Benjamin Pavard is probably the best bet, and can play RB as well, so we can sell Zappacosta back ro a Serie A team (Torino really wants badly).

Another superb young CB is Dayot Upamecano from RB Leipzig,  but again, he will be crazy expensive. Ruben Diaz from Benfica would be less, and has huge potential,  but not sure if we would roll the dice on him.

We also have a buy-back option on Aké, but he is a level below all mentioned above.

All this said, I don't think the board has the ambition to make any of these moves. They will just renew Luiz and gamble that Ampadu comes good soon enough to be the third option. Hell, I wouldn't be shocked if we signed the turgid Cahill to another one year contract.

We are a very poorly run club atm, I really mean this. Look at how we utterly crashed out the next season after our last two titles. Our current unbeaten streak is papering over some truly deep and long term issues, even if Eden renews.

Luiz, Willian, Cahill, Moses, Drinkwater, Zouma, Bakayoko need to be sold ASAP, none are remotely good enough, all status quo-defenders' opinions aside.

I am not even going to get into some of the others here.

Luiz was horrific today. A decent team would have punched home two goals off his 2 most horrid mistakes and we would all be going batshit crazy over that offside call and Morata's miss at the death, as we would have drawn 3-3.

The team exploded with energy when Kovavcic and Hazard came on. Willian off was huge part of that. Pedro is miles better but is so fragile due to small size.