closed Newcastle 0-3 Chelsea

[Tomo 21,684]

22 hours ago, Jase said:

Wonder how many people that were pining for Reguilon, Telles or Tagliafico would chose them over Chilwell now. 

Happy to hold my hands up on that one, most of the issues I had with Chilwell from Leicester are almost completely gone.

Hopefully I'm saying the same thing this time next year just with "Lukaku from United" in the place or Chilwell from Leicester.

That said, I do think the former two of those trio you named would be good in our system aswell, Ben has one big advantage over those two in that he's being properly coached. 

[MoroccanBlue 5,205]

3 hours ago, Strike said:

Gilmour and Gallagher both look like good additions to the midfield next year. Saul obviously goes back and we sell Barkley

And Ruben? 6 midfielders for 2 roles? 

[Strike 6,973]

1 hour ago, MoroccanBlue said:

And Ruben? 6 midfielders for 2 roles? 

I see Gallagher as one of the two no 10s. Billy in the pivot.

[MoroccanBlue 5,205]

57 minutes ago, Strike said:

I see Gallagher as one of the two no 10s. Billy in the pivot.

So he replaces Ziyech?

[Jase 43,479]

4 hours ago, Tomo said:

Hopefully I'm saying the same thing this time next year just with "Lukaku from United" in the place or Chilwell from Leicester.

Not hoping Conte will take Lukaku to Spurs? 👀

4 hours ago, Tomo said:

That said, I do think the former two of those trio you named would be good in our system aswell, Ben has one big advantage over those two in that he's being properly coached. 

The coaching part is one thing but hardly think they have been pulling up any trees at Spurs and United. Telles is getting benched by Shaw while Reguilon is dodgy defensively and hardly great going forward. 

[NikkiCFC 7,597]

2 hours ago, Strike said:

Billy in the pivot.

Billy needs to do something to deserve potential place here. At the moment he is just another Ampadu. 

[Tomo 21,684]

57 minutes ago, Jase said:

Not hoping Conte will take Lukaku to Spurs? 👀

I said what I said yesterday in jest (sort of) but you're right I won't lose a great deal of sleep if it actually happens.

58 minutes ago, Jase said:

Not hoping Conte will take Lukaku to Spurs? 👀

The coaching part is one thing but hardly think they have been pulling up any trees at Spurs and United. Telles is getting benched by Shaw while Reguilon is dodgy defensively and hardly great going forward. 

I'd say getting benched by Ole is closer to a badge of honour than an insult on their abilities. He's taken two of the most promising young players in Europe (Van De Beek and Sancho) and given them next to no minutes because he doesn't know what to do with them.

If we weren't so stacked in midfield I'd happily have VDB here, he's a wonderful player in a proper system.

[King Kante 1,317]

8 hours ago, Strike said:

Gilmour and Gallagher both look like good additions to the midfield next year. Saul obviously goes back and we sell Barkley

Be interesting to see how CM plays itself out as it is actually quite complex when you take contracts into consideration. I would break the players down into five categories. 

Cat 1 - 100% safe/certain to be here next season

Kovacic - Peak age and playing well. No chance he leaves.

Kante - only way he doesn't stay is if Newcastle or PSG (possible if they fail in the CL as their CM is their weakest position) go mental and offer £70m+ or something (this however I do not see due to age and injury record over the past 18 months.) However, even if one of them do, I cannot see him being keen as by all reports he is super settled. Maybe 99% certain rather than 100%. 

Cat 2 - Contract situation 

Jorginho - Only has one year after this season. 30 in Dec and reportedly was in contact negotiations that have gone very quite. Agent has made some comments about him going back to Italy. I think he'll see out his contact but wouldn't rule out a Summer move 100% as club will probably want to avoid another Rudiger. 

Cat 3 - Not good enough/not needed/difficult to move 

Saul - goes back after loan. Still think he is a decent player but looks lost at sea in the PL. 

Barkley - Ok, he is getting a few minutes here and there but he is clearly just making up numbers. Issue however is contract as I reckon the only reason he isn't sold/loaned again is due to his wages. Could end up just being loaned until contract expires. Outside chance of a sale. 

Cat 4 - Sold to raise some cash, possibly one more year.

RLC - This one may be controversial. In midfield we have a lot of players and he is now at an age where you cannot class him as consistent enough to depend on (injured again and not enough of a track record.) For me, I reckon a bid of over £20m (his wages caps his fee) gets him. May get another year depending on what happens with Jorgi/Gallagher. 

Cat 5 - Loan players

Gilmour - Don't see him back next season. Should really have been loaned last season and is now not playing again. Still only 19. In my opinion, loan him out to Spain or Italy (why didn't he go there instead of Norwich this season as he is a prefect fit there?) Personally, I think it is in everyone's interests for him to get 80+ games before he returns as his type of position/play style requires experience/maturity. 

Only way he comes back is if the Jorgi situation doesn't resolve itself. However, even then he'll need a full half season operating at a very good level. 

Gallagher - Looks ready to come back. Situation is complicated however due to the above players. Personally, I don't see the point of him coming back to initially play the CM4 role. With Kova and Kante here for certain at best he starts at CM3 (if Jorgi leaves.) If Jorgi stays then it will be a toss up between him and RLC. If RLC is able to keep himself fit this season, I can see a situation where it is decided that he is best off at Palace being a top dog, playing week in, week out for another season for the experience. 

Edited November 1, 2021 by King Kante

[Strike 6,973]

20 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

Billy needs to do something to deserve potential place here. At the moment he is just another Ampadu. 

The same thinking led to another loan for Gallagher. We can see the potential is there. Its time to throw him in next season I feel

[Strike 6,973]

22 hours ago, MoroccanBlue said:

So he replaces Ziyech?

Yes ideally replaces Ziyech in squad. We can even sell another winger like Pulisic and target someone like Raphinha who has a bit more unpredictability

[Strike 6,973]

20 hours ago, King Kante said:

Be interesting to see how CM plays itself out as it is actually quite complex when you take contracts into consideration. I would break the players down into five categories. 

Cat 5 - Loan players

Gilmour - Don't see him back next season. Should really have been loaned last season and is now not playing again. Still only 19. In my opinion, loan him out to Spain or Italy (why didn't he go there instead of Norwich this season as he is a prefect fit there?) Personally, I think it is in everyone's interests for him to get 80+ games before he returns as his type of position/play style requires experience/maturity. 

Would skip the loan for Billy and bring him back. He cant get into the Norwich XI partly because Daniel Farke is trying to play it safe and go with experienced players after a run of losses. But he's starting regularly for Scotland and has been playing well under Steve Clarke. I'd replace Saul with him, give him gametime like Callum, RLC are getting this year and let him develop at the club itself.

Next season - with the contract/age situations of Kova/Kante/Jorgi,  the club needs to start planning the future midfield. Another bid for Declan Rice is inevitable but not sure if that is going to happen. Even if it doesn't, Gilmour is a great talent to develop for the future. 

[King Kante 1,317]

1 hour ago, Strike said:

Would skip the loan for Billy and bring him back. He cant get into the Norwich XI partly because Daniel Farke is trying to play it safe and go with experienced players after a run of losses. But he's starting regularly for Scotland and has been playing well under Steve Clarke. I'd replace Saul with him, give him gametime like Callum, RLC are getting this year and let him develop at the club itself.

Next season - with the contract/age situations of Kova/Kante/Jorgi,  the club needs to start planning the future midfield. Another bid for Declan Rice is inevitable but not sure if that is going to happen. Even if it doesn't, Gilmour is a great talent to develop for the future. 

In my opinion, he is much better getting a full game once or twice a week like Gallagher. He isn't going to get that here in the foreseeable. In my opinion he should be loaned to Spain or Italy where his size won't matter so much. 

I mean how many minutes does Saul have? 120? That really isn't enough for him. 

Edited November 2, 2021 by King Kante

[OneMoSalah 8,616]

On Billy, I don’t think the situation at Norwich helps but its only 10 games into the PL season. Lets be realistic. Panic in the first week of January if it hasn’t changed. He’s already shown he can cut it here though, obviously the playing time is concerning but he’s sort of become an undroppable for Scotland despite not playing regularly since the Euros so I fancy he will end up back in the Norwich starting 11 soon. I’d be surprised if Farke, not desperate to get points, doesn’t use him as his ability on the ball is going to help them try go and score goals.

Then Connor has made a very good impression at Palace so far but again, its 10 games in, he needs to do it for the full season as well before we go head over heels. And honestly, I don’t think he really did enough at WBA either last season to stand out despite his WBA YPOTY award which sort of coated over the measly offensive involvements he got in 30 starts and the fact they lost like 20 games he played in. Maybe if he was here he would of done also what Billy has done/similar impact/better impact but he’s never played for the first team so either way until he plays for us here, lets hope he keeps doing what hes doing at Palace.

Thats the beauty of having Saul even if its just for the season, I still think when he’s properly up to speed with things here (hopefully he isnt going to be too far off now just needs regular match time you’d think because he looks much sharper the last couple of games to build up some momentum), he’s going to be able to step in and deliver giving the fact he has big game experience, has won a lot and played at the highest level whilst the young guys will be able to play regularly at Palace and Norwich hopefully,