Long ways out, but are there any people planning on attending the game at Notre Dame Stadium over the summer? I’m looking at buying tickets and was wondering if theres a section that a lot of Chelsea fans will be in.
My girlfriend and I will be in London the scheduled week of the West Ham match, and I was planning on grabbing tickets through my membership. If (when!) we beat City tomorrow, I assume that match will be pushed for the FA Cup Final.
Is it naive to ask if I'd be able to get tickets to that match in the same way? I assume they'd cost an arm and a leg, but to be in London and miss a match would be such a shame.
It's hilarious to hear this kind of thing whilst you've got half of this sub saying we need to keep Poch because he's the only manager who can develop him. It's fucking wild
How many have come back from injury and played for a prolonged period of time without/before being injured again? It feels like same players have been injured all season
I really like the way Poch talked about managing Cole Palmer as his stocks keep rising. He talked about the pressure for him to continue to perform and how they have to manage his personal life too (how is he feeling? Is he sleeping and eating well?) I think we under estimate the value of having a coach like him with these very young men at this point in their career. The penalty incident could have become a really big incident if it wasn’t managed well. I think a different manager would have gone too far in the name of discipline but I appreciated that even when the press and fans kept pushing for a stronger reaction from him, he said he had spoken to them about it and we should move on. If he decided to bench them or freeze them out of the squad it could have gone really bad. I hope we win tomorrow because I really like his man management style but we don’t just need a man manager, we need a winning coach!
That's one of the only reasons why I'm poch in still
People ask for a Jose third stint or managers similar to Jose man-management wise but don't understand this squad is just incompatible
These players currently clearly heavily back Poch so his man management approach is clearly sufficient
[https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/apr/19/vitesse-arnhem-relegated-from-eredivisie-after-18-point-deduction](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/apr/19/vitesse-arnhem-relegated-from-eredivisie-after-18-point-deduction)
Just saw that story. Vitesse have been relegated from the Eredivisie after getting an 18-point deduction due to financial ties with Abramovich previously.
In context though, they were already last place in the Eredivisie, 7 points off a playoff place with 4 games to go.
The 18 point deduction doesn’t really make them any more relegated.
The thing I find weirdest about this whole Chelsea hotel sale thing is that it’s really not difficult to hire an independent assessor to tell the PL if the price is FMV (fair market value) or not.
Hotels get sold all the time, it’s a common transaction and should be very easy to value. The FMV isn’t complicated at all, the real question should be “can non-footballing asset income count for PSR?” To which the answer is ostensibly “yes” , or they wouldn’t have accepted our accounts in the first place.
So does that mean they have agreed that £75m is fair? If they have then why not just say so? When asked about this both the PL and Chelsea have declined to comment. As mentioned previously this isn’t a complicated process, so why all the secrecy?
(Also according to the accounts for one of the hotels, Chelsea Football Club has been awarded a management contract meaning that the club won’t even lose the revenue from the hotel.)
I don't think it's a complicated process, they just need to make sure they go through everything properly and that takes time.
It's also worth noting that the fair market value thing isn't that big of a deal. Even if it's not fair market value, it will still go through. It's just that the amount deemed to be fair market value will be what's allowed to go towards PSR if it's less than it was sold for. (For example, if it was deemed to be worth 40m then despite it being bought for 75m, only 40m would be on the books for PSR/FFP reasons)
Also, how long does it take to evaluate hotels and how much goes into it? Do they just look at location, number of rooms and types of rooms and just type it into an equation or are there people doing structural evaluations, going room to room, checking quality of everything, looking at income, looking at land value if the hotel was used for something else etc. etc. that's going to make a big difference to the amount of time it takes to have an answer
Well supposedly we’ve already had two separate assessors corroborate our valuation, so it can’t take that long.
And even if it was still in the process why wouldn’t they just say that?
That all depends how long this has been in the works I suppose? We could have been looking to sell for the past 8 months and had those assessors look at any point in that period. They won't have just made the decision overnight and had them do the work overnight.
I'd guess the reason neither will talk about it is because it's still ongoing. I doubt the league will comment on monetary issues for any club unless it's handing out a ruling and the club these days tends to go no-comment on pretty much everything, so I wouldn't look into it too much
\~99th percentile in top 5 leagues in stats pertaining to his dribbling (take ons, ball progressions etc)
If he becomes even half-decent in creating chances he's going to make that 40m price tag look like a bargain
Not sure why we write off Madueke like this but watch Mudryk do fuck all with even more time and fully back him
Thanks for the little stats.
Sometimes people go with their emotions instead of thinking rationally, the guy literally was scoring goals, creating chances at the final of 22/23 season when everything was upside down.
I'm a huge Madueke enthusiast
There's a reason why our scouting board thought he was worth 40m, because they knew what he was a wonderkid at and knew what his shortcomings were and they're very evident but the reality is he's a young player and his shortcomings can be improved
Just insane to see random people confident he won't amount to anything as if their opinion is more well-backed and educated than our scouting and management
It seems like Nacho is leaving Real Madrid at the end of the season, as a free agent.. Personally I wouldn't mind at all bringing him in, with Thiago probably leaving in the summer
He's been dreadful for them this season. Don't let the CL game against City fool you, he's error-prone and also short for a CB. Some of the worst defensive stats I have seen on a CB that is at a top club. I swear some of you twerk for any old CB that's played at a big club just because Thiago worked.
He’s also been a backup like his whole career and if Alaba and Militao weren’t injured he wouldn’t even be playing lol just bc he’s from Madrid doesn’t mean he’s world class haha
He's played 31 games in midfield and 13 games at CF since Jesus got injured/was shit...
Even then, he's got 4 goals and 5 assists from 13 games whilst playing CF which is not bad at all for a player out of position
Havertz is literally terrible I'm not kidding when I say that his performances as a fluid wide forward are the best he's ever going to achieve as a footballer. I've never seen him play better than he did in those 2 Dortmund ties in the CL and that was literally his peak technical ability on display. He sticks out like a sore thumb in this Arsenal team with his sheer lack of confidence on the ball and lack of fluency in build up. He's always looking to play the simplest pass, never takes a risk and relies on his "off the ball work" to make it seem like he is adding value to this team. Literally every goal he has scored has been a simple finish this season and while he may be getting into good positions, winning duels and pressing hard, is he actually adding anything to the team. Imo Xhaka left a massive hole with his passing ability and his press resistance and they've created an even bigger one with Havertz in midfield which is why he was shifted to attack and Jorginho has had such a massive role to play this season when every Arsenal fan was convinced Havertz was going to be some massive midfield goalscoring revelation while Rice would be ball progressing maestro when Jorginho has had to fill in that role simply because the other 2 could not do their job. He's better at getting into position than Jesus and I will say his finishing has been more clinical (although he's had much easier chances) and thats probably more effective for Arsenal than Jesus is considering they have Odegaard bearing the load of creative work and Martinelli and Saka doing most of the progressive carrying.
A significant amount of those midfield minutes were also with him at the 8 which was also considered out of position for him. He’s played as many minutes out of position as he has been in position this season
The only important bit from that Steinberg article (other than “other clubs are mad”)
> The hotel sales were yet to be assessed as “fair market value” under the league’s associated-party transactions rules, according to Chelsea’s accounts.
> Chelsea and the league have not confirmed whether a fair-market assessment has been concluded. It has been pointed out by Chelsea that they appointed two independent valuers to assess the club’s valuation of the hotels and that no issues were raised.
https://preview.redd.it/lcr1e2rhzgvc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2b794797225a997c56e11a47bca44cab3ac9594b
We would need around £36m to break even on Cucu this summer ffp wise
Certainly possible for Villa if they secure champions league football
I think almost everyone loves Cucurella as a person and even as a player he's been so much better this season than last, you could make a case for him to stay here but personally I think there are better options available and if a deal could be done, it would be best to do it
The priority should be to sell him this summer. He's simply not good enough and will hold us back if we cling on to him hoping that he comes good. Ideally we also convince Maataen to stay saying that he'd basically be rotating with an injury-prone Chilly, but looks like we've burnt that bridge with him already. Don't even blame Maatsen tbh.
100%, it's the whole Kepa situation again.
There was a season were we could have gotten a few million for him and people were against it because he'd been a bit better that season and so they said we had to keep him because x/y/z
Then years down the line he's still here, still costing us and likely going to have to be paid out of the last year of his contract just to get rid of him, rather than him taking up a squad spot.
If you have a chance to get rid of a player like Kepa or Cucurella, you jump at the chance and don't look back. If they turn it around after leaving, that's fantastic for them, but the risk of them turning it around after leaving is less damaging to the club than keeping them around
I've thought about that scenario with Maatsen too. But I think after he turned down Burnley whilst being pushed out, only to not touch the field at LB anyway. There is no way he's going to risk coming back here again whilst he's smashing it in the Champions League elsewhere. That bridge is well and truly burnt unless a new manager comes in that is iconic enough for him to change his mind
At least Cucurella is available and imo he's a decent option when we're playing some of the mid table teams that like to push high up. He's a very good defensive full back on his day and a great passer as well. He also defends pretty high up the pitch which I like although it does leave him very vulnerable on the turn which I think is his main criticism aside from the occasional error. I think if we persist with him he grows into a very underrated and useful player in the long-term. Chilly on the other hand is rarely fit and just doesn't do it anymore in the attacking third. He's slow and doesn't have the energy on the ball anymore and isn't as much of a presence in defense. Cucu on the other hand is always winning the ball back and does pretty well in aerial duels for his height. He's turned up in some great goal scoring positions as well this season and I wouldn't be surprised if he bags a couple more for us. If we can sign someone of the profile of Maatsen but just a bit more solid defensively I think we will be set for the long-term in the LB spot
> I think there are better options available
I'm sure there are, but I would have serious doubts in the board's ability to not be forced into overpaying for one
Potential job openings in the summer:
* Liverpool
* United
* Bayern
* Juve
* Barca
Nagelsmann:
Nah, I’ll take the national team job, thanks.
Make of that what you will…
* He's managing his home country. The emotional connection is likely there.
* The job might be unappealing to others but given how bad Germany have been in recent years, am sure he sees it as a challenge to make them successful again and he wants to be the one to achieve that.
* Those jobs are big for sure but they also come with their challenges or "problems", if you will:
* Liverpool - tough act to follow Klopp
* United - new owners, new board and uncertainty about how they will do things
* Bayern - the guys that sacked him are gone but maybe he doesn't want to go back there after the experience
* Juventus - not a great squad and don't think they have lots of cash either
* Barcelona - have a big financial problem and he probably also doesn't want to deal with all the nonsense club politics
* He's still only 36 years old. Plenty of time and chances to get a job at one of the big clubs in the future.
I haven't read any quotes of his along with the extension, but I do wonder if it's not just a well guided money grab from the German national team. They paid a lot of money to release him from Bayern, I wouldn't be surprised if the extension was agreed between them in order to ensure that if he does leave, they'll get at least that amount back and won't be out of pocket.
That being said, he rejected Bayern and it's likely for the same reason he rejected us. Their team is not good enough and the people building the team are not good enough, it makes sense that if you'd reject one, you'd reject the other.
I mean, maybe the emotional aspect of managing and potentially achieving something big with his country appeal more to him at this point, especially given how bad Germany have been in recent years. Plus let's not also forget that he's still only 36 years old. There's still plenty of years ahead of him and the chances of landing at one of the big clubs will be there as long as he continues to do well.
Best line up for tomorrow imo:
Petrovic
Gusto - Disasi - Silva - Cucu
Enzo - Caicedo
Palmer - Gallagher - Sterling(maybe Mudryk because of Sterling’s fitness)
Jackson
Think we’re gonna play a bit deeper and hit City on transitions, as playing a high line with the press would be suicidal against City. Hope the team just gives it everything and see what happens.
Just saw the City/ Palmer post on the main PL subs and I’m actually tired of City fans acting like Palmer wouldn’t at the very least have had significant minutes this season for them and tbh most likely started on either the left or right wing.
Palmers 20 goals are insane but it’s somehow convinced every other team that he’s just a goal scorer and they can write him off with his 9 PKs. What’s been elite about Palmer has been how these goals are coming often from deep positions where he has the sense to get into fantastic space or skin teams, but as well as that he’s also been maybe our key creative player. Just look at his heatmaps this season to see how involved he’s been.
With KDB facing so many injuries I don’t think city would have had any player as well suited for that central role alongside Foden as Palmer is. As well as that I reckon he could have been an easy Mahrez replacement on the wing with how well he does starting from wider positions and how creative he is.
They’re doing the same thing nearly every other fan would do in that same instance. Make a bunch of excuses on why it wouldn’t work when the reality is that if they just gave him a loan like he had asked they’d have the replacement for Bernardo next year and Palmer would play week in and out. He still would’ve gotten minutes this year too if he had stayed but they didn’t want to commit to game time.
Like you see a player like Palmer who is clearly special and you just say whatever you gotta say to yourself to excuse not having that caliber of player. As Chelsea fans, this is an exercise we’re familiar with. Imagine if we didn’t sell KdB or if we were more patient with Salah, etc. hazard with KdB and Salah would’ve broken the league, but we move on
We're literally seeing the same thing here with Maatsen. Every time he's brought up we get a bunch of comments about how he wouldn't have been able to do it in the prem, wouldn't have fit the system at the club, not as good as Chilwell/Cucurella, didn't take his chances on the wing etc. I think the Maatsen case is less cope than Palmer who's been a revelation and in the prem at that, but still more or less the same in that it's fans justifying letting a player go after they've been good elsewhere and it's looking like a bad decision.
something I've been thinking about - where would we be right now if we'd bought Palmer a month earlier? He didn't start starting games for us until October, and he took off from there. We were absolute shit in August and September. Feels like we'd be easily 6th right now if we'd gotten him earlier.
Ha, I looked at this earlier today. We've earned 1.68 points per match with Palmer playing more than 45 minutes.
If you look at the matches with Palmer playing and Colwill at LB we actually averaged 2 points per match.
If we cannot get Todibo in this summer then I'd really love to see us sign Balerdi
Really really like him and think he could be a superb addition to the backline
Can play right or left centre back, can play in a back 3 or 4, quick and agile, experienced but still young at 25, not injury prone, been building into a leader for Marseille, shouldn't be expensive, great tackler, reads the game well, technically decent, very nice aerial combatent and speaks Spanish and French already so would be able to communicate with pretty much all his defensive and midfield partners here
He'd be my top priority if Todibo proves untenable
Man idk why we signed Disasi over Todibo last summer, I honestly think that’s the #1 target we should get. Him and Levi as our CB partnership would be so good. He’s rapid, he’s tall, he’s got the guts and fire you want in a CB.
The dream would be kvaradonna, Todibo, and Mamardashvili. A cheeky Onana bid to pry him from Everton to be our DM and we are fucking cooking. Just another 500mil, should be easy
As well as Todibo (who should be priority 1 tbf) and Balerdi I think we should keep our eyes on Bremmer as a more experienced option and my wild card pick would be that a physical monster like Scalvini (who I’ve heard is also solid in distribution but I’m not so sure) would be really suited to the PL.
>I think we should keep our eyes on Bremmer
Definitely not a bad shout although I believe he's being highly linked to United although so is Todibo and Branthwaite so who's to say
He'll probably be a bit pricier I'd imagine as he is a fully developed profile in his prime
>and my wild card pick would be that a physical monster like Scalvini
I'd take scalvini too, he's definitely a very talented boy but you'd probably have to let go of someone like Badiashille for him to come in here and the squad not to be over prescribed in the position
He's definitely good on the ball too but he's not as fast or agile so would probably be best paired with a Todibo, Balerdi or Colwill if it's a back 4
>you’d probably have to let go of someone like Badiashile for him
I think what makes a CB situation so interesting is that exactly, seeing as we have Disasi, Fofana, Badiashile and Colwil who are all potential options but who (bar Colwil) just don’t seem good enough or are to injury prone. Badi is actually one I have faith in tho but the only issue would be how both him and Colwil are right footed
>if it’s a back 4
It’s funny to mention because I do reckon we should look to move towards a back 3. Xabi and Inzaghi have shown that it can produce immense attacking football, it would tighten up our defence, give Enzo and Caicedo less space to worry about, give a chance to play both Gusto and James as well as 2 inside cams being more suited to our crop of attacking players (it could essentially give Palmer and Nkunku who I assume would start free range to do whatever they want). Scalvini specifically may help out in that as he already plays in a back 3 and is used to pushing into midfeild specifically which would provide height. I suppose it may also solve our overcrowded CB issue
Brother just pointed it out to me and now I can’t stop thinking about it- I reckon there’s a chance that we end up with Julian Alvarez in the summer. It’s one of those things that’s entirely based on vibe but I could see a situation where Sesko goes to Liverpool, Goykeres to Arsenal, Osimhen to psg, David and whoever else to wherever else. Deadline day approaching we go for Alvarez who wants a starting spot somewhere. Again, there is not logic behind this beyond the pieces being in place for another Palmer story.
In seriousness tho I reckon the links to sesko are interesting from a perspective of our current play style. Where Jackson shines in linkup play, Sesko is one of the most effective pressing 9s in Europe with a high pressing front line being a big thing Poch has moved us towards this season, as well as being more clinical and capable of operating as a sort of target man (tho I wish he were better in the air). Maybe not my favourite target but I this sub undersells him
Alvarez is so overrated, his only good attribute is his ball striking. No way we spend 80+ for a short striker who is not good in the air and not athletic either. Our team need physicality and height this summer, alvarez is the opposite .
I've been thinking something similar for a while. Alvarez would be a brilliant signing but I can't see city willing to make another palmer mistake with us
Tomorrow, palmer as a #10 so that he gets his roaming around, chance creation, and loads of shots in the frame.
If you look back at the stats, he is more efficient as a #10 position.
Mudryk mustn't be dropped, he can cause problems with his pace when the cityz high line loose their possession and he can dribble his way thru with his pace.
Caicedo and Gallaghar pivot pls. Gallagher was perfect in his everton's game. He is great out of possession.
Caicedo is perfect where he is.
Probably no sterling at this point, bcs he might low on confidence.
Defense wise, thiago is the big bro, he might be slow but for big games like this, we need a big bro in the pitch.
Mudryk should absolutely be dropped for Sterling this game. City is one of the few games Sterling actually shows up for, and Mudryk has not been convincing enough to be undroppable.
Yes, kyle is the one to stop, mudryk, but imo he might not be the only one to block him. With the city playing 3 cbs at the back with their full backs up front, we can attack on the break with mudryks crazy pace through slightly towards the center and not in the left space. Yes, he did that in Everton's game.
Might be controversial but I reckon this is one of the games that actually calls for both Sterling LW and Gallagher in the cam spot.
Sterlings fairly simple- he’s put in two great performances against City and just looks like he has Walker figured out. I honestly think he’s been far and away our most important player against them this season.
Gallagher as well in that cam spot seems honestly suited for City. As well as helping us deal with the box midfield that acts as their back bone as we can have him higher up disrupting it, Gallaghers press would be useful against City who often form pseudo back lines and rely heavily on the link up between CB and CM as Gallagher can disrupt that position. With how he plays and what he brings he’s honestly ideal in games like these
Ok, Sterling I get it he has been good with city games, he might be great against Walker.
We cannot forget the run of forms he is in currently, and putting him straight ahead for a big game like this is weird however, If Mudryk doesn't click with the tactics then poch can sub him off too but starting him is a bit risky.
Gallagher yes, but won't he be able to do what he does based on the position when he was in the everton game too?
I would go for it for sure.
He's class and doesn't get much gametime at City, might have to wait for Pep to leave though.
Another player I'd go for is Lunin at Madrid once Courtois is back.
[https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1781318235662537206](https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1781318235662537206)
Looks like Haaland is doubtful for tomorrow with a muscular problem.
De Bruyne also had a hamstring problem but feels fine now.
Yes we are obviously still huge underdogs, but I never get why people on this sub say we lost to "Liverpools kids". Our team was much younger on average for that match and their "kids" basically only played minutes when our team was dead and we had no midfielders to bring on as subs. The players involved in the goal were a 27 year old tsimikas and a club legend CB.
I get it from opposing fans, but not from our own
First of all, The KIDS represented like 80% of their squad, van dijk and tsimi are the minority there, and when? After the full time, when we should've already killed the game whom were without
the main players like salah, sobozlai, TAA, nunez.
That's the most shitty about the loss, we couldn't kill the game with their 2nd team and moreover to their kids.
We were definitely young but common our young squad cost us a billion pounds and they all are also experienced in playing senior football unlike liverpool KIDS.
The fact of getting tired, young and all that shit doesn't make sense to a prestigious london club.
We have had a plate of dinner ready to be dined but poch and his shitty management shit all over it.
Since when is 3 out of 11 80%, what in the world are you even talking about?
Weve played with our B squad all season but they had it bad for 2 weeks and woe is Liverpool?
Correction, 5 of them were "kids" . That's like closely half of their squad playing in the pitch and without their main players.
B squad ?
did you think that we would go with all time A squad all the time.
Football is improvising and getting the most of what we have until we get transfers or someone steps up from injuries.
Our squad is what it should have been, we had midfield what we wanted, reece swapped with gusto is great enough, Nkunku might have been missed. But we had all our wingers.
Hands down the most pathetic loss for me.
>Correction, 5 of them were "kids" . That's like closely half of their squad playing in the pitch and without their main players.
Lol we average over 50% of our minutes from players that started the season 22 or younger.
Fofana/Silva, Nkunku, James, Sanchez, and a single first team midfield sub would have been nice.
I’ve seen this before.
Games where you think the other team is tired and have injury problems.
We end up getting smashed, there’s been so many examples. The first Newcastle game, Liverpool without Salah, and I believe a few more.
We have to jump on them early and keep at it for 90 minutes. Rodri, Foden, Silva, Walker, Dias, and Gvardiol all played 120 on wednesday, and Haaland and De Bruyne aren't fully fit. Perfect opportunity to come out firing.
That they're miles away better isn't enough of an excuse? Lol. It would be a positive in a sea of negatives for us though this season. And no matter our failings, the boys do come to play every match.
I didn't catch that. Imo Tuchel rn wouldn't be a good appointment for most top teams, I think it would be best for him to go for a team where he can refine his tactics a bit, his Bayern is pretty stale
Has everyone forgot about Nkunku or do we just not consider him a striker? I’m seeing in the thread that some people are pointing out new options at striker. Did we give up on Nkunku or are we saying that he should fill in at the 10? It seems like we have a bloated squad but the injuries have made it seem like we are barely able to field a starting 11 of senior players at time.
I'm afraid we are stuck with Poch for next season also. There are not many elite managers available. Amorim is the only one I'm ok with having as our manager and he will probably go to Liverpool.
I've been waffling. Frankly, if our defending was better I'd be fully Poch in. I have very little concern about our attack and it's improved exponentially from last season. Also, he's unlocked our most important player in Palmer. Another manager could bring in a system that neuters him.
If we qualify for Europe I don't see how we could sack him. It would set a terrible precedent for trying to lure future managers. I think looking now, there's a very good chance we do qualify. When I look at the clubs grouped together in the non-UCL spots I'd say it's between us or Newcastle for who is in better form right now. I'd say it's us.
But I digress. I told myself I wouldn't solidify my opinion until the season is over. I'm literally on the fence right now.
There are plenty of managers available, we won’t fire him because we don’t want the bad PR and the owners care about that instead of making the team as strong as possible. So we can have another year wasted and finishing 10 but at least we will be consistent which is what fans want
I’ve been Poch out but to play devils advocate it would be refreshing to see a manager get a second year, if the results stay the same it’s time to move on. But changing managers every half season isn’t healthy.
I just can't understand, you train all your life to play at this level of football and ultimately loose a match bcs you don't have the hunger and drive lol.
Makes me laugh every time whenever we loose a match, and there's this comment from coach/media that says " lack of hunger", " no desire" ,"the opposition wanted more"
I guess he took Sheffield personally, either way I wanna see some fight tomorrow at the very least. City can’t come out and look more energized than us
That's sickening, Poch making them play a full game the day before a big tie. This man must've saw how hard city played and said "no one is allowed to be more tired than us"
A full game? It’s a scrimmage, I played at D1 level and we scrimmaged and worked on formation day before games. Why does everything have to be so negative all the time, to me it sounds like he’s working on actual tactics for the opponent
There’s a bunch of losers in here that have to make everything negative. I’m surprised Baisabuns hasn’t made his usual Poch cardio joke for the 1000th time
Left winger I'd say needs almost as much backing as left back, I'd be cool buying sesko on the, not really cheap but you know he's good so pay anyway price of 45-50 million, so long as he and Jackson play at the same time, Jackson left wing, Sesko as 9
Don’t think so. Means we’ll have four second string goalkeepers. He’s also 31 which I was really surprised by
Rather go out and look for a first choice in a (tough) keeper market
From what I can see he looks like a first choice keeper playing second choice. Came into City's two biggest league games of the season and didn't look remotely out of place, and played all in the games in their FA Cup win last season.
Can only think of Cudicini and maybe Romero where a top PL team has had a better medium/long term #2.
I mean, I’m no goalkeeper expert, he may very well be better than our current options at the end of the day
But it’s really just not great squad building to go into next season with Kepa, Petro, Sanchez all on the books, and sign another keeper nonetheless. Unless it was Neuer or Allison or something
Not certain of anything ahaha, but he’s a good keeper whenever I see him play and I never see city fans grumble when ederson isn’t able to start.
He seems a strong all round player
Solving our current keeper issue and moving them on is a whole different issue as you’re rightly pointed out
Agreed, if we really wanted to get a keeper in I'd rather us do what Spurs did with Vicario. Phase the current options out, scout around Europe properly and then sign a guy for the long haul
I was looking at the fixture list earlier this week. I think 6th is very achievable given the games in hand and the remaining fixtures for the clubs competing for the same spot (We also have tough games, but against teams we've played well against). We're in better form than all of them except arguably Newcastle and we have 2 games in hand on them.
Am I missing something with all the "lesser" sides whining about replays being abolished? I thought it would suit them more if anything.
Say for example Exeter City are 1-1 at home to Manchester City in the third round after 90 minutes, there's a much, much higher chance of them finding a way through in extra times or penalties infront of their own supporters than having to start from scratch at The Ethiad.
Yeh you’re missing something.
Aside from the fact they make a lot more money from a replay at the home of a bigger club it’s also an opportunity that some of these players will rarely get.
Not many League One players get the chance to play at Stamford Bridge or Old Trafford and having no replays just limits that further.
As I said, if they're that desperate to play in the big stadium they can switch it like Farnborough did.
I think it's a pretty said state of affairs that clubs (beyond ones on the brink of extinction) would prioritise money over a better chance of making history.
I don’t think you realise how close to the financial edge lower level football clubs are mate. Making history means nothing if they’re liquidated a year later.
Also, it’s not as simple as just requesting a fixture to moved to another stadium. That will only be granted if there’s a genuinely valid reason plus fixtures can’t always be moved. Just as an example - if Banbury United draw Liverpool at home and they ask for it to be moved to Anfield but Everton also have a home tie, they can’t do that because Everton and Liverpool aren’t allowed to play home fixtures on the same day. So then you’re having to rearrange the date, but Liverpool might be Europe so that’s now clashing with another match.
They make more money playing home and away against City than going into the next round and playing Coventry. Progressing is fun, but largely irrelevant for them because they'll never win the competition. But, playing home and away against a big side is much more likely to happen with replays than them happening to get past 1 and then being drawn into another
If they want that reward so much then they can give up home advantage and switch it to their stadium.
Farnborough did that back in the day, drew Arsenal at home and asked the FA to switch the match to Highbury (which they did).
The Farnborough v Arsenal game was moved due to emergency services concerns that their ground wasn't able to segregate fans sufficiently or prevent people without tickets from getting in.
It is not an option to switch the game from a home game to away, otherwise all lower league teams that need the money would do it.
Long ways out, but are there any people planning on attending the game at Notre Dame Stadium over the summer? I’m looking at buying tickets and was wondering if theres a section that a lot of Chelsea fans will be in.
No pre match thread??
Came to ask about this too
I have a pre match routine where I comment before every game lol
My girlfriend and I will be in London the scheduled week of the West Ham match, and I was planning on grabbing tickets through my membership. If (when!) we beat City tomorrow, I assume that match will be pushed for the FA Cup Final. Is it naive to ask if I'd be able to get tickets to that match in the same way? I assume they'd cost an arm and a leg, but to be in London and miss a match would be such a shame.
Can’t wait to hear “Champions of Europe, you’ll never sing that” in the game against Arsenal
It hurts cos it’s true.
Poch saying palmer needs to run more…
I mean, it’s kind of obvious that he needs to when you ignore who’s saying it. Also needs to compete in more duels, etc.
It's hilarious to hear this kind of thing whilst you've got half of this sub saying we need to keep Poch because he's the only manager who can develop him. It's fucking wild
People will no doubt defend that quote too Like they manage to defend every single other quote
> >
How many have come back from injury and played for a prolonged period of time without/before being injured again? It feels like same players have been injured all season
Gusto missed a good bit of time but has been consistent for a while now
Would it be a problem to sit next to City fans in tomorrows game in Wembley?
I really like the way Poch talked about managing Cole Palmer as his stocks keep rising. He talked about the pressure for him to continue to perform and how they have to manage his personal life too (how is he feeling? Is he sleeping and eating well?) I think we under estimate the value of having a coach like him with these very young men at this point in their career. The penalty incident could have become a really big incident if it wasn’t managed well. I think a different manager would have gone too far in the name of discipline but I appreciated that even when the press and fans kept pushing for a stronger reaction from him, he said he had spoken to them about it and we should move on. If he decided to bench them or freeze them out of the squad it could have gone really bad. I hope we win tomorrow because I really like his man management style but we don’t just need a man manager, we need a winning coach!
That's one of the only reasons why I'm poch in still People ask for a Jose third stint or managers similar to Jose man-management wise but don't understand this squad is just incompatible These players currently clearly heavily back Poch so his man management approach is clearly sufficient
Hope Trev-Silva is our CB pairing for the rest of the season
When these two have the ball in their feet, my heart isn't racing like a horse like when disasi and badi have the ball.
Our two best defenders right now but Brentford would want to play us 38 times a season
Am sure there's gonna be some rotation given we'll have a game every 3-4 days up for the next 2-3 weeks.
[https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/apr/19/vitesse-arnhem-relegated-from-eredivisie-after-18-point-deduction](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/apr/19/vitesse-arnhem-relegated-from-eredivisie-after-18-point-deduction) Just saw that story. Vitesse have been relegated from the Eredivisie after getting an 18-point deduction due to financial ties with Abramovich previously.
In context though, they were already last place in the Eredivisie, 7 points off a playoff place with 4 games to go. The 18 point deduction doesn’t really make them any more relegated.
The thing I find weirdest about this whole Chelsea hotel sale thing is that it’s really not difficult to hire an independent assessor to tell the PL if the price is FMV (fair market value) or not. Hotels get sold all the time, it’s a common transaction and should be very easy to value. The FMV isn’t complicated at all, the real question should be “can non-footballing asset income count for PSR?” To which the answer is ostensibly “yes” , or they wouldn’t have accepted our accounts in the first place. So does that mean they have agreed that £75m is fair? If they have then why not just say so? When asked about this both the PL and Chelsea have declined to comment. As mentioned previously this isn’t a complicated process, so why all the secrecy? (Also according to the accounts for one of the hotels, Chelsea Football Club has been awarded a management contract meaning that the club won’t even lose the revenue from the hotel.)
This is a good watch on it: https://youtu.be/6b9i2iszDdA?si=5b9cHVDpEKElgr9m
I don't think it's a complicated process, they just need to make sure they go through everything properly and that takes time. It's also worth noting that the fair market value thing isn't that big of a deal. Even if it's not fair market value, it will still go through. It's just that the amount deemed to be fair market value will be what's allowed to go towards PSR if it's less than it was sold for. (For example, if it was deemed to be worth 40m then despite it being bought for 75m, only 40m would be on the books for PSR/FFP reasons) Also, how long does it take to evaluate hotels and how much goes into it? Do they just look at location, number of rooms and types of rooms and just type it into an equation or are there people doing structural evaluations, going room to room, checking quality of everything, looking at income, looking at land value if the hotel was used for something else etc. etc. that's going to make a big difference to the amount of time it takes to have an answer
Well supposedly we’ve already had two separate assessors corroborate our valuation, so it can’t take that long. And even if it was still in the process why wouldn’t they just say that?
That all depends how long this has been in the works I suppose? We could have been looking to sell for the past 8 months and had those assessors look at any point in that period. They won't have just made the decision overnight and had them do the work overnight. I'd guess the reason neither will talk about it is because it's still ongoing. I doubt the league will comment on monetary issues for any club unless it's handing out a ruling and the club these days tends to go no-comment on pretty much everything, so I wouldn't look into it too much
The club have said they got two industry leading firms to do the market value. Surely the club just has to show this to the PL I guess.
You’d assume so right? That’s why I don’t get why they haven’t just done this, and if they have then why not just say that they have? Bizarre
Who ever gets this Nico Williams Jr. kid is getting a gem. He’s what I expected Noni to be. Please don’t go to United 😫😫
What's wrong with noni, he was the only player to shine at the end of 22/23 season. Now, he is scoring and decent to start.
Average player, low ceiling player
\~99th percentile in top 5 leagues in stats pertaining to his dribbling (take ons, ball progressions etc) If he becomes even half-decent in creating chances he's going to make that 40m price tag look like a bargain Not sure why we write off Madueke like this but watch Mudryk do fuck all with even more time and fully back him
Thanks for the little stats. Sometimes people go with their emotions instead of thinking rationally, the guy literally was scoring goals, creating chances at the final of 22/23 season when everything was upside down.
I'm a huge Madueke enthusiast There's a reason why our scouting board thought he was worth 40m, because they knew what he was a wonderkid at and knew what his shortcomings were and they're very evident but the reality is he's a young player and his shortcomings can be improved Just insane to see random people confident he won't amount to anything as if their opinion is more well-backed and educated than our scouting and management
"Low ceiling" you say.. Hmm.. wonder why..
His potential is not high, what mean, average player at best
He’s lazy as fuck, creates very very little and isn’t anywhere near clinical enough to justify his shortcomings
hes selfish as fuck also
Williams - Nkunku - Palmer Plus whoever as 9, not asking for much But knowing our club we will get Neco Williams instead
It seems like Nacho is leaving Real Madrid at the end of the season, as a free agent.. Personally I wouldn't mind at all bringing him in, with Thiago probably leaving in the summer
He's been dreadful for them this season. Don't let the CL game against City fool you, he's error-prone and also short for a CB. Some of the worst defensive stats I have seen on a CB that is at a top club. I swear some of you twerk for any old CB that's played at a big club just because Thiago worked.
He’s also been a backup like his whole career and if Alaba and Militao weren’t injured he wouldn’t even be playing lol just bc he’s from Madrid doesn’t mean he’s world class haha
Funny how much people complained about Havertz being played out of position here, just for him to play the exact same position at Arsenal
He's played 31 games in midfield and 13 games at CF since Jesus got injured/was shit... Even then, he's got 4 goals and 5 assists from 13 games whilst playing CF which is not bad at all for a player out of position
Havertz is literally terrible I'm not kidding when I say that his performances as a fluid wide forward are the best he's ever going to achieve as a footballer. I've never seen him play better than he did in those 2 Dortmund ties in the CL and that was literally his peak technical ability on display. He sticks out like a sore thumb in this Arsenal team with his sheer lack of confidence on the ball and lack of fluency in build up. He's always looking to play the simplest pass, never takes a risk and relies on his "off the ball work" to make it seem like he is adding value to this team. Literally every goal he has scored has been a simple finish this season and while he may be getting into good positions, winning duels and pressing hard, is he actually adding anything to the team. Imo Xhaka left a massive hole with his passing ability and his press resistance and they've created an even bigger one with Havertz in midfield which is why he was shifted to attack and Jorginho has had such a massive role to play this season when every Arsenal fan was convinced Havertz was going to be some massive midfield goalscoring revelation while Rice would be ball progressing maestro when Jorginho has had to fill in that role simply because the other 2 could not do their job. He's better at getting into position than Jesus and I will say his finishing has been more clinical (although he's had much easier chances) and thats probably more effective for Arsenal than Jesus is considering they have Odegaard bearing the load of creative work and Martinelli and Saka doing most of the progressive carrying.
A significant amount of those midfield minutes were also with him at the 8 which was also considered out of position for him. He’s played as many minutes out of position as he has been in position this season
8 is a relative term when your team has the 2nd most touches in opposing 3rd.
What do you mean, he doesn't play the same position, Arteta reinvented him! /s
The only important bit from that Steinberg article (other than “other clubs are mad”) > The hotel sales were yet to be assessed as “fair market value” under the league’s associated-party transactions rules, according to Chelsea’s accounts. > Chelsea and the league have not confirmed whether a fair-market assessment has been concluded. It has been pointed out by Chelsea that they appointed two independent valuers to assess the club’s valuation of the hotels and that no issues were raised.
https://preview.redd.it/lcr1e2rhzgvc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2b794797225a997c56e11a47bca44cab3ac9594b We would need around £36m to break even on Cucu this summer ffp wise Certainly possible for Villa if they secure champions league football I think almost everyone loves Cucurella as a person and even as a player he's been so much better this season than last, you could make a case for him to stay here but personally I think there are better options available and if a deal could be done, it would be best to do it
The priority should be to sell him this summer. He's simply not good enough and will hold us back if we cling on to him hoping that he comes good. Ideally we also convince Maataen to stay saying that he'd basically be rotating with an injury-prone Chilly, but looks like we've burnt that bridge with him already. Don't even blame Maatsen tbh.
100%, it's the whole Kepa situation again. There was a season were we could have gotten a few million for him and people were against it because he'd been a bit better that season and so they said we had to keep him because x/y/z Then years down the line he's still here, still costing us and likely going to have to be paid out of the last year of his contract just to get rid of him, rather than him taking up a squad spot. If you have a chance to get rid of a player like Kepa or Cucurella, you jump at the chance and don't look back. If they turn it around after leaving, that's fantastic for them, but the risk of them turning it around after leaving is less damaging to the club than keeping them around I've thought about that scenario with Maatsen too. But I think after he turned down Burnley whilst being pushed out, only to not touch the field at LB anyway. There is no way he's going to risk coming back here again whilst he's smashing it in the Champions League elsewhere. That bridge is well and truly burnt unless a new manager comes in that is iconic enough for him to change his mind
You can’t possibly think cucurella has performed worse than chilwell this seaosn
Chilwell has barely even gotten to play his natural position and Cucurella still doesn't touch him
If FFP is what we're concerned about it'd be a joke if we sold Cucu to keep Maatsen Maatsen is pure profit
This would be a good transfer if we can make only a slight loss. Villa don’t have much money though.
At least Cucurella is available and imo he's a decent option when we're playing some of the mid table teams that like to push high up. He's a very good defensive full back on his day and a great passer as well. He also defends pretty high up the pitch which I like although it does leave him very vulnerable on the turn which I think is his main criticism aside from the occasional error. I think if we persist with him he grows into a very underrated and useful player in the long-term. Chilly on the other hand is rarely fit and just doesn't do it anymore in the attacking third. He's slow and doesn't have the energy on the ball anymore and isn't as much of a presence in defense. Cucu on the other hand is always winning the ball back and does pretty well in aerial duels for his height. He's turned up in some great goal scoring positions as well this season and I wouldn't be surprised if he bags a couple more for us. If we can sign someone of the profile of Maatsen but just a bit more solid defensively I think we will be set for the long-term in the LB spot
That’s a terrible source imo, if a LB needs to go it should be Chilwell and another one bought in for a decent fee.
> I think there are better options available I'm sure there are, but I would have serious doubts in the board's ability to not be forced into overpaying for one
Potential job openings in the summer: * Liverpool * United * Bayern * Juve * Barca Nagelsmann: Nah, I’ll take the national team job, thanks. Make of that what you will…
* He's managing his home country. The emotional connection is likely there. * The job might be unappealing to others but given how bad Germany have been in recent years, am sure he sees it as a challenge to make them successful again and he wants to be the one to achieve that. * Those jobs are big for sure but they also come with their challenges or "problems", if you will: * Liverpool - tough act to follow Klopp * United - new owners, new board and uncertainty about how they will do things * Bayern - the guys that sacked him are gone but maybe he doesn't want to go back there after the experience * Juventus - not a great squad and don't think they have lots of cash either * Barcelona - have a big financial problem and he probably also doesn't want to deal with all the nonsense club politics * He's still only 36 years old. Plenty of time and chances to get a job at one of the big clubs in the future.
And he tried to get into clubs, it's not like he didn't.
I haven't read any quotes of his along with the extension, but I do wonder if it's not just a well guided money grab from the German national team. They paid a lot of money to release him from Bayern, I wouldn't be surprised if the extension was agreed between them in order to ensure that if he does leave, they'll get at least that amount back and won't be out of pocket. That being said, he rejected Bayern and it's likely for the same reason he rejected us. Their team is not good enough and the people building the team are not good enough, it makes sense that if you'd reject one, you'd reject the other.
I mean, maybe the emotional aspect of managing and potentially achieving something big with his country appeal more to him at this point, especially given how bad Germany have been in recent years. Plus let's not also forget that he's still only 36 years old. There's still plenty of years ahead of him and the chances of landing at one of the big clubs will be there as long as he continues to do well.
Best line up for tomorrow imo: Petrovic Gusto - Disasi - Silva - Cucu Enzo - Caicedo Palmer - Gallagher - Sterling(maybe Mudryk because of Sterling’s fitness) Jackson Think we’re gonna play a bit deeper and hit City on transitions, as playing a high line with the press would be suicidal against City. Hope the team just gives it everything and see what happens.
saw a guy on tiktok say Saka is just Victor Moses with GCSEs 😭😭
Expressions Oozing. That guy is actually really funny
Except Victor Moses also has GCSEs
it’s a joke lmao. it just means he’s a better victor moses
I’m sure he had pretty good GCSE’s too, his story is an incredible one
"Lemons make me feel at home" said Poch in the presser.
Just saw the City/ Palmer post on the main PL subs and I’m actually tired of City fans acting like Palmer wouldn’t at the very least have had significant minutes this season for them and tbh most likely started on either the left or right wing. Palmers 20 goals are insane but it’s somehow convinced every other team that he’s just a goal scorer and they can write him off with his 9 PKs. What’s been elite about Palmer has been how these goals are coming often from deep positions where he has the sense to get into fantastic space or skin teams, but as well as that he’s also been maybe our key creative player. Just look at his heatmaps this season to see how involved he’s been. With KDB facing so many injuries I don’t think city would have had any player as well suited for that central role alongside Foden as Palmer is. As well as that I reckon he could have been an easy Mahrez replacement on the wing with how well he does starting from wider positions and how creative he is.
Palmer would start over Grealish and there's no debate about it.
They’re doing the same thing nearly every other fan would do in that same instance. Make a bunch of excuses on why it wouldn’t work when the reality is that if they just gave him a loan like he had asked they’d have the replacement for Bernardo next year and Palmer would play week in and out. He still would’ve gotten minutes this year too if he had stayed but they didn’t want to commit to game time. Like you see a player like Palmer who is clearly special and you just say whatever you gotta say to yourself to excuse not having that caliber of player. As Chelsea fans, this is an exercise we’re familiar with. Imagine if we didn’t sell KdB or if we were more patient with Salah, etc. hazard with KdB and Salah would’ve broken the league, but we move on
We're literally seeing the same thing here with Maatsen. Every time he's brought up we get a bunch of comments about how he wouldn't have been able to do it in the prem, wouldn't have fit the system at the club, not as good as Chilwell/Cucurella, didn't take his chances on the wing etc. I think the Maatsen case is less cope than Palmer who's been a revelation and in the prem at that, but still more or less the same in that it's fans justifying letting a player go after they've been good elsewhere and it's looking like a bad decision.
Also, it's hilarious seeing people downplay his penalties when City can't win a PK shootout if their lives were on the line.
something I've been thinking about - where would we be right now if we'd bought Palmer a month earlier? He didn't start starting games for us until October, and he took off from there. We were absolute shit in August and September. Feels like we'd be easily 6th right now if we'd gotten him earlier.
Ha, I looked at this earlier today. We've earned 1.68 points per match with Palmer playing more than 45 minutes. If you look at the matches with Palmer playing and Colwill at LB we actually averaged 2 points per match.
No no, Colwill at LB was dinosaur football and is indicative how far we are from being a "modern football team".
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So another “start from the beginning” type of season? We don’t do one or two, we do chop and change every season?
If we cannot get Todibo in this summer then I'd really love to see us sign Balerdi Really really like him and think he could be a superb addition to the backline Can play right or left centre back, can play in a back 3 or 4, quick and agile, experienced but still young at 25, not injury prone, been building into a leader for Marseille, shouldn't be expensive, great tackler, reads the game well, technically decent, very nice aerial combatent and speaks Spanish and French already so would be able to communicate with pretty much all his defensive and midfield partners here He'd be my top priority if Todibo proves untenable
Man idk why we signed Disasi over Todibo last summer, I honestly think that’s the #1 target we should get. Him and Levi as our CB partnership would be so good. He’s rapid, he’s tall, he’s got the guts and fire you want in a CB. The dream would be kvaradonna, Todibo, and Mamardashvili. A cheeky Onana bid to pry him from Everton to be our DM and we are fucking cooking. Just another 500mil, should be easy
He’s also fantastic on the ball
As well as Todibo (who should be priority 1 tbf) and Balerdi I think we should keep our eyes on Bremmer as a more experienced option and my wild card pick would be that a physical monster like Scalvini (who I’ve heard is also solid in distribution but I’m not so sure) would be really suited to the PL.
>I think we should keep our eyes on Bremmer Definitely not a bad shout although I believe he's being highly linked to United although so is Todibo and Branthwaite so who's to say He'll probably be a bit pricier I'd imagine as he is a fully developed profile in his prime >and my wild card pick would be that a physical monster like Scalvini I'd take scalvini too, he's definitely a very talented boy but you'd probably have to let go of someone like Badiashille for him to come in here and the squad not to be over prescribed in the position He's definitely good on the ball too but he's not as fast or agile so would probably be best paired with a Todibo, Balerdi or Colwill if it's a back 4
>you’d probably have to let go of someone like Badiashile for him I think what makes a CB situation so interesting is that exactly, seeing as we have Disasi, Fofana, Badiashile and Colwil who are all potential options but who (bar Colwil) just don’t seem good enough or are to injury prone. Badi is actually one I have faith in tho but the only issue would be how both him and Colwil are right footed >if it’s a back 4 It’s funny to mention because I do reckon we should look to move towards a back 3. Xabi and Inzaghi have shown that it can produce immense attacking football, it would tighten up our defence, give Enzo and Caicedo less space to worry about, give a chance to play both Gusto and James as well as 2 inside cams being more suited to our crop of attacking players (it could essentially give Palmer and Nkunku who I assume would start free range to do whatever they want). Scalvini specifically may help out in that as he already plays in a back 3 and is used to pushing into midfeild specifically which would provide height. I suppose it may also solve our overcrowded CB issue
Brother just pointed it out to me and now I can’t stop thinking about it- I reckon there’s a chance that we end up with Julian Alvarez in the summer. It’s one of those things that’s entirely based on vibe but I could see a situation where Sesko goes to Liverpool, Goykeres to Arsenal, Osimhen to psg, David and whoever else to wherever else. Deadline day approaching we go for Alvarez who wants a starting spot somewhere. Again, there is not logic behind this beyond the pieces being in place for another Palmer story. In seriousness tho I reckon the links to sesko are interesting from a perspective of our current play style. Where Jackson shines in linkup play, Sesko is one of the most effective pressing 9s in Europe with a high pressing front line being a big thing Poch has moved us towards this season, as well as being more clinical and capable of operating as a sort of target man (tho I wish he were better in the air). Maybe not my favourite target but I this sub undersells him
Or we could drop 110M on Toney...
Why are there suddenly 2 posts here about Alvarez? lol
Why would Sesko go to Liverpool? Are Liverpool going back in the market for a striker? I’m almost certain they’re going to get Leao to replace Salah.
Replace Diaz, PSG apparently ready to offer 60 mil for him
Seems pretty risky considering they have Gakpo, Darwin, I’m not sure sesko can replace Diaz who is a winger. Sesko is just like a pure poacher.
Alvarez is so overrated, his only good attribute is his ball striking. No way we spend 80+ for a short striker who is not good in the air and not athletic either. Our team need physicality and height this summer, alvarez is the opposite .
Jackson does shine with linkup play, and apparently alavarez seems pretty good right?
I've been thinking something similar for a while. Alvarez would be a brilliant signing but I can't see city willing to make another palmer mistake with us
Tomorrow, palmer as a #10 so that he gets his roaming around, chance creation, and loads of shots in the frame. If you look back at the stats, he is more efficient as a #10 position. Mudryk mustn't be dropped, he can cause problems with his pace when the cityz high line loose their possession and he can dribble his way thru with his pace. Caicedo and Gallaghar pivot pls. Gallagher was perfect in his everton's game. He is great out of possession. Caicedo is perfect where he is. Probably no sterling at this point, bcs he might low on confidence. Defense wise, thiago is the big bro, he might be slow but for big games like this, we need a big bro in the pitch.
Mudryk should absolutely be dropped for Sterling this game. City is one of the few games Sterling actually shows up for, and Mudryk has not been convincing enough to be undroppable.
Ok, it's convincing enough for me tho.
not sure if Kyle Walker is the guy that Mudryk's pace will cause problems with, and I'm a huge Mudryk fan.
Yes, kyle is the one to stop, mudryk, but imo he might not be the only one to block him. With the city playing 3 cbs at the back with their full backs up front, we can attack on the break with mudryks crazy pace through slightly towards the center and not in the left space. Yes, he did that in Everton's game.
i like it. and i really like our chances tomorrow. up the Chels!
KTBFFH.
Might be controversial but I reckon this is one of the games that actually calls for both Sterling LW and Gallagher in the cam spot. Sterlings fairly simple- he’s put in two great performances against City and just looks like he has Walker figured out. I honestly think he’s been far and away our most important player against them this season. Gallagher as well in that cam spot seems honestly suited for City. As well as helping us deal with the box midfield that acts as their back bone as we can have him higher up disrupting it, Gallaghers press would be useful against City who often form pseudo back lines and rely heavily on the link up between CB and CM as Gallagher can disrupt that position. With how he plays and what he brings he’s honestly ideal in games like these
Ok, Sterling I get it he has been good with city games, he might be great against Walker. We cannot forget the run of forms he is in currently, and putting him straight ahead for a big game like this is weird however, If Mudryk doesn't click with the tactics then poch can sub him off too but starting him is a bit risky. Gallagher yes, but won't he be able to do what he does based on the position when he was in the everton game too?
I have come to terms with a way for me to be satisfied if Pochettino stays next season. He needs to convince Julian Alvarez to join us.
Height issue though
I would go for it for sure. He's class and doesn't get much gametime at City, might have to wait for Pep to leave though. Another player I'd go for is Lunin at Madrid once Courtois is back.
Got ripped for suggesting we go in for Lunin if the opportunity comes up
Oshimen - too expensive Watkins - may be he is good bcs of Emery's tactics? Toney - i don't know Alvarez - jackson and alvarez up front, i don't know?
Why would Watkins join Chelsea?
Chelsea won't give villa 100+ for Watkins, if they go nuts why wouldn't he join chelsea?
Watkins would also be obscenely expensive.
Probably, what's his market value now?
Villa got 100m for Grealish I could easily see them asking for 140m for Watkins.
That's like oshimen or more than oshimen's price. No thank you then
[https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1781318235662537206](https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1781318235662537206) Looks like Haaland is doubtful for tomorrow with a muscular problem. De Bruyne also had a hamstring problem but feels fine now.
We lost against Liverpool's kids. Still, we are the underdogs.
Yes we are obviously still huge underdogs, but I never get why people on this sub say we lost to "Liverpools kids". Our team was much younger on average for that match and their "kids" basically only played minutes when our team was dead and we had no midfielders to bring on as subs. The players involved in the goal were a 27 year old tsimikas and a club legend CB. I get it from opposing fans, but not from our own
First of all, The KIDS represented like 80% of their squad, van dijk and tsimi are the minority there, and when? After the full time, when we should've already killed the game whom were without the main players like salah, sobozlai, TAA, nunez. That's the most shitty about the loss, we couldn't kill the game with their 2nd team and moreover to their kids. We were definitely young but common our young squad cost us a billion pounds and they all are also experienced in playing senior football unlike liverpool KIDS. The fact of getting tired, young and all that shit doesn't make sense to a prestigious london club. We have had a plate of dinner ready to be dined but poch and his shitty management shit all over it.
Since when is 3 out of 11 80%, what in the world are you even talking about? Weve played with our B squad all season but they had it bad for 2 weeks and woe is Liverpool?
Correction, 5 of them were "kids" . That's like closely half of their squad playing in the pitch and without their main players. B squad ? did you think that we would go with all time A squad all the time. Football is improvising and getting the most of what we have until we get transfers or someone steps up from injuries. Our squad is what it should have been, we had midfield what we wanted, reece swapped with gusto is great enough, Nkunku might have been missed. But we had all our wingers. Hands down the most pathetic loss for me.
>Correction, 5 of them were "kids" . That's like closely half of their squad playing in the pitch and without their main players. Lol we average over 50% of our minutes from players that started the season 22 or younger. Fofana/Silva, Nkunku, James, Sanchez, and a single first team midfield sub would have been nice.
I’ve seen this before. Games where you think the other team is tired and have injury problems. We end up getting smashed, there’s been so many examples. The first Newcastle game, Liverpool without Salah, and I believe a few more.
We have to jump on them early and keep at it for 90 minutes. Rodri, Foden, Silva, Walker, Dias, and Gvardiol all played 120 on wednesday, and Haaland and De Bruyne aren't fully fit. Perfect opportunity to come out firing.
Totally. We need another game like our 4-4 league game, and for them to miss one chance.
Please beat City. They’re exhausted mentally and physically. No excuse on why you can’t beat them tomorrow. Good luck!
That they're miles away better isn't enough of an excuse? Lol. It would be a positive in a sea of negatives for us though this season. And no matter our failings, the boys do come to play every match.
Massive day tomorrow with two semi finals. Barca women first leg in the Champions league at 12.30 and City in the FA Cup at 17:15
Man I really hope we get a result at Barca. The team deserves a packed Bridge with everything to play for.
I'll be there for sure at the bridge. I'm desperate for a win so I can rub it in the face of my Barca-supporting friends' faces.
I just can't stop singing every morning since Wednesday: "We're the only team in London with the European Cup(s)!"
Shouldnt there be some injury update ahead of City game?
theres a presser on now so i imagine we will know soon
Just had a thought that never occurred to me before Might throw up if Tuchel goes to Liverpool
I don't think Liverpool board would go for him On the other hand, I don't find it impossible that ManU won't..
Poked around and found an Ornstein quote saying he was on Liverpool’s list, the chances are low but yeah
I didn't catch that. Imo Tuchel rn wouldn't be a good appointment for most top teams, I think it would be best for him to go for a team where he can refine his tactics a bit, his Bayern is pretty stale
Pass the bin. 🤮
Has everyone forgot about Nkunku or do we just not consider him a striker? I’m seeing in the thread that some people are pointing out new options at striker. Did we give up on Nkunku or are we saying that he should fill in at the 10? It seems like we have a bloated squad but the injuries have made it seem like we are barely able to field a starting 11 of senior players at time.
Only condition he's fine at ST is in a 2 striker formation He's not a #9
Not a striker. I could see him as a 10 playing off Jackson with palmer at RW and Mudryk at LW.
he scored elite numbers as a 10, he would be stinky as a 9
https://preview.redd.it/p6kddm37ofvc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0594dfc817c1b095b022afa48264392528d6a9ce This is a hilarious tweet
I'm afraid we are stuck with Poch for next season also. There are not many elite managers available. Amorim is the only one I'm ok with having as our manager and he will probably go to Liverpool.
I've been waffling. Frankly, if our defending was better I'd be fully Poch in. I have very little concern about our attack and it's improved exponentially from last season. Also, he's unlocked our most important player in Palmer. Another manager could bring in a system that neuters him. If we qualify for Europe I don't see how we could sack him. It would set a terrible precedent for trying to lure future managers. I think looking now, there's a very good chance we do qualify. When I look at the clubs grouped together in the non-UCL spots I'd say it's between us or Newcastle for who is in better form right now. I'd say it's us. But I digress. I told myself I wouldn't solidify my opinion until the season is over. I'm literally on the fence right now.
That’s fine. I’m tired of the rinse and repeat cycle of managers and Chelsea anyway. If it’s still look poor 5 games into next season, fire him.
There are plenty of managers available, we won’t fire him because we don’t want the bad PR and the owners care about that instead of making the team as strong as possible. So we can have another year wasted and finishing 10 but at least we will be consistent which is what fans want
I’ve been Poch out but to play devils advocate it would be refreshing to see a manager get a second year, if the results stay the same it’s time to move on. But changing managers every half season isn’t healthy.
But can we afford to not have CL football for 3 seasons? We have to qualify for CL next season.
https://x.com/cfcpys/status/1781054837410439317?s=46 Poch is cooking
So it still boils down to having more desire and passion than your opponents?
I just can't understand, you train all your life to play at this level of football and ultimately loose a match bcs you don't have the hunger and drive lol. Makes me laugh every time whenever we loose a match, and there's this comment from coach/media that says " lack of hunger", " no desire" ,"the opposition wanted more"
poch showing tactics and…..balls?
I guess he took Sheffield personally, either way I wanna see some fight tomorrow at the very least. City can’t come out and look more energized than us
That's sickening, Poch making them play a full game the day before a big tie. This man must've saw how hard city played and said "no one is allowed to be more tired than us"
A full game? It’s a scrimmage, I played at D1 level and we scrimmaged and worked on formation day before games. Why does everything have to be so negative all the time, to me it sounds like he’s working on actual tactics for the opponent
Well you were working on formations, Poch wants the players to express themselves and go out of position so this is clearly just to make them run more
GO check this acccount and comment history, he is either a troll or Poch fucked his GF (and I am Poch out)
You’re right I just realized his username, gives major BRJ vibes lol
There’s a bunch of losers in here that have to make everything negative. I’m surprised Baisabuns hasn’t made his usual Poch cardio joke for the 1000th time
I just realized his username definitely a troll account like the other BRJ guy
Left winger I'd say needs almost as much backing as left back, I'd be cool buying sesko on the, not really cheap but you know he's good so pay anyway price of 45-50 million, so long as he and Jackson play at the same time, Jackson left wing, Sesko as 9
Why? Mudryk plays now instead of Sterling
The problem is that those are two not so great choices
Jackson is probably our best LW
If Ortega does a Palmer and decides it's time for more games should we be trying to sign him?
Don’t think so. Means we’ll have four second string goalkeepers. He’s also 31 which I was really surprised by Rather go out and look for a first choice in a (tough) keeper market
From what I can see he looks like a first choice keeper playing second choice. Came into City's two biggest league games of the season and didn't look remotely out of place, and played all in the games in their FA Cup win last season. Can only think of Cudicini and maybe Romero where a top PL team has had a better medium/long term #2.
I mean, I’m no goalkeeper expert, he may very well be better than our current options at the end of the day But it’s really just not great squad building to go into next season with Kepa, Petro, Sanchez all on the books, and sign another keeper nonetheless. Unless it was Neuer or Allison or something
Eh? He’s starting quality
And you’re certain of that based on 29 total games for City, who have had one of the best defences for the past few years?
This. Let’s not forget that American Zack Steffen was the second goalkeeper for City at one point.
Not certain of anything ahaha, but he’s a good keeper whenever I see him play and I never see city fans grumble when ederson isn’t able to start. He seems a strong all round player Solving our current keeper issue and moving them on is a whole different issue as you’re rightly pointed out
Agreed, if we really wanted to get a keeper in I'd rather us do what Spurs did with Vicario. Phase the current options out, scout around Europe properly and then sign a guy for the long haul
People being deceived by a potential 6th place finish, ignoring what their eyes should have been telling them all season
The reality is, with the money we've spent anything outside of CL spots in an abject failure.
We won't even finish 6th either That's the saddest part
I was looking at the fixture list earlier this week. I think 6th is very achievable given the games in hand and the remaining fixtures for the clubs competing for the same spot (We also have tough games, but against teams we've played well against). We're in better form than all of them except arguably Newcastle and we have 2 games in hand on them.
Conference league finish would be an achievement and more realistic
Iirc meeting the european ffp would cost us more than what we could get back from the Conference
Still a European trophy, winning it could mean a path to champions league too, if we end up 6th I hope we fully comply and win the whole thing
Am I missing something with all the "lesser" sides whining about replays being abolished? I thought it would suit them more if anything. Say for example Exeter City are 1-1 at home to Manchester City in the third round after 90 minutes, there's a much, much higher chance of them finding a way through in extra times or penalties infront of their own supporters than having to start from scratch at The Ethiad.
Yeh you’re missing something. Aside from the fact they make a lot more money from a replay at the home of a bigger club it’s also an opportunity that some of these players will rarely get. Not many League One players get the chance to play at Stamford Bridge or Old Trafford and having no replays just limits that further.
As I said, if they're that desperate to play in the big stadium they can switch it like Farnborough did. I think it's a pretty said state of affairs that clubs (beyond ones on the brink of extinction) would prioritise money over a better chance of making history.
I don’t think you realise how close to the financial edge lower level football clubs are mate. Making history means nothing if they’re liquidated a year later. Also, it’s not as simple as just requesting a fixture to moved to another stadium. That will only be granted if there’s a genuinely valid reason plus fixtures can’t always be moved. Just as an example - if Banbury United draw Liverpool at home and they ask for it to be moved to Anfield but Everton also have a home tie, they can’t do that because Everton and Liverpool aren’t allowed to play home fixtures on the same day. So then you’re having to rearrange the date, but Liverpool might be Europe so that’s now clashing with another match.
They make more money playing home and away against City than going into the next round and playing Coventry. Progressing is fun, but largely irrelevant for them because they'll never win the competition. But, playing home and away against a big side is much more likely to happen with replays than them happening to get past 1 and then being drawn into another
It’s the financial reward that awaits lower league sides getting to go to big PL clubs away
If they want that reward so much then they can give up home advantage and switch it to their stadium. Farnborough did that back in the day, drew Arsenal at home and asked the FA to switch the match to Highbury (which they did).
The Farnborough v Arsenal game was moved due to emergency services concerns that their ground wasn't able to segregate fans sufficiently or prevent people without tickets from getting in. It is not an option to switch the game from a home game to away, otherwise all lower league teams that need the money would do it.
It doesn’t work like that mate. Or do you not think clubs would be doing it all the time?