Gimme 6 points and gimme that trophy.

<}=[[[[[[br /> ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

17 June
Villa v Sheffield 1p
City v Arsenal 3.15p

19 June
Norwich v Southampton 1p
Spurs v Utd 3.15p

20 June
Watford v Leicester 7.30a
BHA v Arsenal 10a
West Ham v Wolves 12:30p
Bournemouth v Palace 2.45p

21 June
Newcastle v Sheffield 9a
Villa v Chelsea 11.15a
Everton v Pool 2p

22 June
City v Burnley 3p

Would never happen in the US. For a lot of racist reasons. 

(Not that the UK isn’t very racist, but still)

epl
internationals
champions league
europa
and now politics

i feel like the tabloid media is going to try to drag him
through the mud w/ some frivolous bs like they did sterling

the venn diagram of british people who are racist and who hate
public programs is a single overlapping circle. 

heck, even on a MLS one

like would they be as willing if it was "Grenfell was
murder" or something. 

a classic double fail of both goal line tech and VAR

glad to see things aren't skipping a beat

lol

Unreal

https://i.redd.it/matraztb47c41.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/AW7KU2k.png

https://twitter.com/simpsonsarsenal/status/1273356485578424320?s=21

and for a ball that didnt even need him to come out for it.

However, that front line of Hazard, Benzema and Asensio?

Shittttt.



Hazard bagged his second assist in a row.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBmBWilpPan/?igshid=1ddnw6rv1p0qw

never hated him on the pitch like most of the evil empire, maybe because so many Real fans thought he was overrated when really, he was willing to support CR7 (kinda like the hate toward Griezmann who hasn't been as great as hoped, but has been playing his role for Barca)

Soccer stars post their own highlights on IG now?

-----------
you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

i get the impression that he doesnt take himself too seriously

most of the United players pages are pretty boring. feels like they just let somebody at the club media office run it

Asensio also scored a wonder goal on his first touch in god knows how long, like 20 seconds after coming on

it was a fun match. Rodrigo had one off the post and then one disallowed in the first 20 minutes

OGS was a little too focused on spurs coming forward when they never had any intention to. Should’ve played Pogba Fred and Bruno together and ran Spurs off the field

That's a sure thing for a couple of years. Auba leaving, not betting on saka signing until he does.

Leno didn't deserve that.

Douzi/Cebalos pivot is so impotent. Lacking talent across the board. Dark days ahead

"The curse of promoting an authoritarian African regime on your jersey sleeve strikes again."

lol

And incredibly insulting. Rawwnda is a great African story, but yes all African countries are the same. All for the lols

unbelievable considering the timing

who grew up in a colored township in South Africa.

But I’m sure he has no idea what he’s talking about. I’ll let him know your thoughts.

Anyway, Kagame ended a genocide. He also has become a dictator who murders political opponents.

Both things can be true.

curious what you guys thoughts are about the situation with the club basically getting piped out by agents

FWIW I don't rate Arteta but he's getting the rawest of deals right now.

Arseblog has a good review of the situation but basically the nut is that all these renewals are suspect as fuck. especially Cedric who hasnt even seen the field yet.
https://arseblog.com/2020/06/good-news-bad-news-contract-extensions-and-convenient-relationships/

other than Saka and Martinelli none of the young players are worth a shit either.

Moreover they're screwed at least until Ozil leaves at the end of next Summer


>other than Saka and Martinelli none of the young players are
>worth a shit either.

Leno (def not old for a keeper) has been another bright spot. I'd like to see Tierney stay fit for an extended period before passing judgement. Looking forward to Saliba arriving, obviously.

But yeah, otherwise I agree re: talent. They need to stop kidding themselves and sell Aubameyang

If they can't resign Saka I might lose it.

He's healthy healthy???

he's still just 25, I'm sure Deschamps is watching him with renewed interest

https://twitter.com/lfc/status/1275926929816711170?s=21

https://streamable.com/rv8sbp

elite all over the field

also English

you can tell he knows what hes talking about, that voice, and he gets SO worked up

https://www.nbcsports.com/video/trent-alexander-arnold-free-kick-gives-liverpool-lead-v-crystal-palace

new looks for everyone

especially w/ the games being staggered like this. i've been watching like 3 matches a day all week

celta has been scoring like crazy and barca has looked extremely beatable.

reddit . soccerstreams . net has a bunch of streams for those withoug bein

-----------
you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

Hadn’t seen that kid Ricki Puig play before, really like the way he plays the ball. Props to Celta for the comeback though I can’t believe that final miss!!

Plus tbh if he wanted to go to a big club then he had to know it wouldn’t be smooth sailing

YNWA

😐

I mean, we're defending better than we did before the break, but our forwards need to remember where the damn goal is.

I loved watching them play at the end of the Palace game

It's crazy. I thought it was crazy in the EPL, but in the La Liga, it's the only way they can stop him because they can't swivel to deal with his instant inside/outside cuts.

His own got damn Belgian teammate, while playing for PSG, intentionally fouled him because he couldn't stop him, which led to him breaking his foot a few months ago.

It's really focking bad, man....

You come in here talking about Jack Grealish....no one cares about jack grealish.


dude.

I could see Real winning out the rest of their season tbh, they are locked in like a fat kid at the buffet

https://giphy.com/gifs/nba-basketball-vince-carter-l0ErLeqamV3UOARsA

and re: your post above about Griezy F. Baby- I loved him at Atletico but never thought he'd be a good fit for Barça and his little Pique-sponsored "Decision" the season prior definitely left a poor taste in my mouth.

and then finances make them make more stupid moves. this board is fucking terrible.

-----------
you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

They just pissed all of that Neymar money away and then some.

sold arthur for inflated price to look like they made a big profit on him, buy pjanic at inflated price so juve can do the same thing.

it's accounting BS to get around FFP because of those other shit moves.

-----------
you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

because ter stegen was 2 inches off the line when he stopped the first attempt. that's never called and it didn't matter in this case (that was just a bad penalty shot by diego costa)

spanish VAR might be the most corrupt thing in the entire game--since the restart, at least 3 dubious calls for real madrid since the restart and now this.

-----------
you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

meanwhile most leagues still refuse to call any penalties when attacking players get tackled inside the 18 on set pieces

if this gets the team a step closer to a new board and xavi or koeman as manager, i'll take it.

-----------
you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

That match was not the most well refereed match I’ve ever seen.

His record in Qatar (gasp!) is abysmal.

Maybe get his weight up at B a la Pep or at another respectable league-- would definitely love to see him in the future.

i do wish he'd go the pep route and go to barca b.

honestly, i'd be ok with pimienta getting promoted from barca b. just give us a manager who will not try to fit square pegs into round holes.

-----------
you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

at best they can paper over the cracks but the club is in turmoil right now.

I was optimistic for what he could do to our team just from watching him drag around the joke that Sporting has become. scoring/assisting most of their goals. defending all over the field. literally a 1 man team.

but what he has done so far w/ us has surpassed my expectation. such an intelligent, all around, all action player. and a true leader. you can even see it rubbing off on pogba (so far at least), he's cut out all the needless showboating, youtube crap and moodiness that caused him to be so inconsistent and now we are finally seeing the player we expected when we paid 80 something million for him. matic is looking like himself again as well.

murda mason greenwood is a menace now w/ the bulk he added during quarantine. his speed has come along as well. i'd like to see him on FKs but he's too far down the team's clout rankings. i suspect he's the best at it in the team though.

rashford is still off a bit.

AWB dribbles like a he doesnt know all the trick stick moves but it still works. lowkey racking up assists too.

shaw...we gotta get rid of him. not a fan.

gonna be a very interesting close to the league, fa cup and europa for us. depth is still an issue

sancho and grealish (both seem very solid from the ITKs but Sancho moreso) in after that and we could do some things. we are closer than people think...chelsea too.

i wish that wasn't true for Chelsea, but yeah.

i don't have overwhelming dread now when I watch our games.

i think shaw is aight. i feel like he could do more with his work on the offensive end of the field than he does.

we need CB depth. don't love (but don't hate either, i guess) Lindelof and Bailly just never panned out.

like if you cant tell it from the naked eye just go w/ the call on the field.

it's time to change them

(C) Ba

FOH.He hasn't done anything. scored a couple of goals.

I see him as more of an infection to a team I have been following for 20 years.


Now I see all these band wagon Pulisic fans, talking about being hazards equal....etc, etc

He’s clearly on an upswing, will be interested to see how Franky handles him and Mount

because pulisic, by any objective measure, has been the best player on the team since the restart. "Scored a couple goals" is literally the stupidest thing you could have said regarding his current form. you should read what *actual* fans and objective observers/reporters of the team have to say about him.

and pulisic, also by any objective measure, is probably the most talented youngster out of the current chelsea crop. you're going have to learn how to deal with that.

>because pulisic, by any objective measure, has been the best
>player on the team since the restart. "Scored a couple goals"
>is literally the stupidest thing you could have said regarding
>his current form. you should read what *actual* fans and
>objective observers/reporters of the team have to say about
>him.
>
>and pulisic, also by any objective measure, is probably the
>most talented youngster out of the current chelsea crop.
>you're going have to learn how to deal with that.


tho i won't deny my bias as an american, and the fact he started slow AF this year, due to his lack of fitness.

I wish he played for any other team in the premier league (other than united, spurs or liverpool, that is)

I was there in November (went to the Chelsea/West Ham game) and local folks loved Pulisic's game even back then. I was surrounded by SEASON TICKET HOLDERS and they were pleading for his teammates to pass him the ball throughout the game. Not to mention overhearing plenty of positive talk at the pubs. It was clear in November that he offered a creative spark and directness that was unmatched within the club.

Now? Sheeeeeiiiiitttttt. The majority of these Hazard comparisons that All Stah is complaining about ARE NOT coming from Americans. A basic Twitter search and/or a search of any discerning media outlet in London will confirm this.

Why a "fan" of a team would bitch about a young player with a shit ton of legit potential is beyond me.

And the fact that I look in the post and see people talking about chelsea who have never really talked about chelsea, tells me everything that I need to know. It's quite funny in fact.


Like I said he has scored a few goals, and has been with the team less than a year. So it has been a micro sample size, and that's all that it has been.


But YOUNG LEGEND? Again, that's the problem with this generation, we want to call someone great or the greatest when nothing has yet been accomplished. Again, talk to me in a few years, and then we can have a serious discussion about accomplishments.



Also, for years in these thread, people hated on chelsea and called them chelski, etc, etc, and dissed players left and right.....But now everybody on the bandwagon. Chelsea is the hottest shit now.

Everyone except you agrees how good Pulisic looks right now.

I think that about summarizes this sub thread.

I never said Pulisic wasn't good. See . This is the shit I'm talking about.

I said his good is not Legendary or young legend talk, and the comparisons to hazard, when he has not accomplished anything.. I responded to the post where he was called a young legend off a few goals being scored in some games. Not a real sample size. That's my point.

Funny, when he got benched and fell off from his hot start earlier this season, there was nothing, crickets.....

I gave love to Pulisic when he was at Dortmund...But shout out to Celery 77 because he was behind the kid since day one/

I follow players through and through, whether good or bad. Like with Hazard ,everyone is off the wagon now because of his injuries, and slow start due to the injuries. But I'm still in major support. Same thing with Tammy Abraham.....


Let's see where Pulisic is a few years from now, or where this goes before we start talking legendary status and greatness ...nothing has been achieved.....And lets see who the real supporters are in a few years as well.

WE shall see, and time will tell. As for me, I will be right here.

>I never said Pulisic wasn't good.


...


>I see him as more of an infection to a team I
>have been following for 20 years.

You can’t be this dumb!

That says nothing about him not being good.

And infection as in attention . Thanks for jumping to conclusion.

And I already posted the post of me talking about his breakout game and how impressive he was before he became hot topic...you weren’t talking about it and no one else was.

walk it back

That has always been my stand with him since joining chelsea , the attention. I've been big on pulisic since Dortmund. I never said he wasn't talented.

Even Frank Lampard, when he was getting blow back for not playing Pulisic, was like in time it will come, lets be patient about everything. that was my same stand. You had americans sending him hate mail for not playing pulisic....not real chelsea fans.

https://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=8&topic_id=2703943&mesg_id=2703943&listing_type=search

_____________________________________________________________________

I don’t know if I should be happy that pulisic is scoring or sad."
In response to Reply # 0
Sat Oct-26-19 05:41 PM by allStah



This NBC EPL is American thing is just so over the top and people walking around in Pulisic masks and screaming pulisic. Shit just becomes so Americanized. They dont do this in Europe.

This isn’t pulisic FC this is chelsea FC... and you can tell that Lampard is annoyed with it as well for constantly being question about not playing pulisic even though we were winning.

Maybe I have the wrong perception because I grew up on watching European and South American soccer , where they don’t fall in love with a single player.

Americans will love shit just because it is American and for that to rule over everything else. It’s totally different than when Donovan was outstanding With Everton, soccer had not really become a craze yet in America , and Everton was a smaller club, And Donovan was always respected by Europeans.

I just don’t want chelsea to turn into this huge American thing, and it is, got chelsea fans who are just pulisic fans, and never really knew about Chelsea before.

Well this is what Roman wanted...huge american dollars.

which made me laugh at this in hindsight.

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=29417317

No reason to just boot the ball out on the first goal
And then that third goal is just a clear lack of threat assessment. All Yarmo was ever going to try to do there is cut in and he just ushered him to the spot

Lets bring up some of those posts going way back to 2009 up until now....and what the perception was on Chelsea. Now everybody watching Chelsea.


everybody is on the stick now.

I remember when I was the only one on here talking about chelsea and battling every week against jerseytornado, back when chelsea would get blasted for parking the bus ..I used to be called all kinds of shit for following chelsea.

This is comical as hell.

Not happy about this, because the line of Hazard - Benzema - Asensio will not play together today. And I didn't like the way Zinedine paired isco and hazard with Benzema. It left hazard crowded with defenders, and being brutalized. Isco does not bring spacing, because he is not as dynamic.

I understand Asensio is on a time restriction, but at least put rodrygo out there with hazard, or put vinny on the right, when you can't play Asensio. I know Vinny does not like playing on the right, but his dribbling brings spacing.

I imagine he will go with Vinny- Benzo- Asensio. That should bring a lot of movement and spacing, and benzo should be able to get a couple of goals.


Also, would like to see Jovic get some time, since he is going to be available today.

https://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=8&topic_id=2703943&mesg_id=2703943&listing_type=search

This is when Pulisic had is great breakout game with Chelsea, not one person talked about it. I was the only one.

And even BrooklynWhat was calling it Pulisic Gas as in Pulisic Hype, when I was complaining about the new attention that Chelsea was getting from America.

Random Fact was not talking about Pulisic
Benny was not talking about Pulisic
Smut was not talking about Pulisic
dillinjah was not talking about Pulisic........

There was no young legend talk...nothing but crickets.....but now?
No one was talking about Chelsea games, etc.....But now? BrooklynWhat is talking about Chelsea games

It's all comical. If you need more receipts let me know.

_______________________________________________________________

"Young chelsea has to learn how to close out game "
In response to Reply # 0
Sat Oct-26-19 06:44 PM by allStah



Pulisic man of the match and a breakout impressive game.

Tomori is coming for that best CB in the world now!

Willian is still a beast on both sides of the ball.

Should get back RLC, Kante, Emerson and Rudiger, Christensen soon."""



--------------------------------------------------------

you're trying to document that...

people weren't excited about Pulisic then but are now.

Your conclusion being:

??

We can't think Pulisic is good?

We're not allowed to root for him?

You are a super genius who saw it first?

Help me.

https://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=8&topic_id=2703943&mesg_id=2703943&listing_type=search#2705086

Narrator:

Liverpool was even better this season than last and went on to finish one of the best seasons ever in the history of the league.

Why are you talking to me be about liverpool?

fock liverpool. and you know this

peace

but "Liverpool are showing signs" and then they have one of the best seasons in the history of english soccer is

https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/021/267/swedish_chef.jpg

what are you getting at?

Dude Liverpool were playing badly and showing SIGNS of fatigue, and playing like crap in the CL, and MU took it to them.


You took that totally out of context.

My point was that if you are going to jump on liverpool, that was the time to jump on them and that is what MU did.

Cool, You won your FIRST EPL TITLE.....W got 5 of them, B

Lets see you do it again, my friend.


Season and team still aint focking with 2009-2010 chelsea squad. FACTS

Liverpool won in a water down league, with teams going through transition and playing young players.


do it again, then holler.

And went on to win their next 18 afterwards

So in the middle of a 35-1-0 run...

"Liverpool are showing signs" is one of the greatest takes ever.

The point was, from September 2019 to the first week of November 2019, Liverpool won all of their games by 1 goal, and were struggling in the CL. They were not playing well at all, and were fatigued as hell.

And they survived those games due the inexperience of the teams they were playing. That wasn't a pretty stretch, which was my point.

I never said liverpool wasn't going to win it all, etc. I said they are showing signs of fatigue, considering the long season they had prior, and going through it again. And they have not played well in this year's CL.


So the time to jump on Liverpool was AT THAT TIME PERIOD, and machester united did just that by getting a draw

so cool, you guys won, but stop all the other narrative bullshit.

“ Liverpool and Man City are in their prime as teams, but you can tell it is more on the tail end.”

Just to be clear, Liverpool on the tail end means what for 20-21?

City has faded and are not the powerful team they used to be, and are carrying some old players. Pep looks tired and I stated all that shit last year. And I forget the weak team that murdered them , was that Norwich? Did they not fall off?

They still have KDB and Sterling, but MC is clearly trending down, we shall see.

And Liverpool? You guys were actually better last season, and you are dominating the epl because arsenal, chelsea , Spurs, Mc, are either weak, young or getting old.

Chelsea - new coach
Arsenal- new coach
Spurs - New coach

Come on dude, this season’s Liverpool is overrated some.
Isn’t good in CL this year. And that is clear is day.


I like how you changed the subject, but’s its cool.

Look, dude, this is just my perception on things. If you are going to turn it into some tit for tat , there is no need to have a perception.

there's not much more to say about it, though I will always be happy to repost it if you want.

Anyway, tell me what "tail end" means for LFC next year (since this year it meant one of the best seasons in league history), I'd love to know.

Man City is on the tail end of things. They are not the same team. Sane is on his way out, Aguero is old, Silva is old, their backline is shit, and Pep appears to be burned out. And he never stays with a team long. At this point in time, it does not look good.

FACTS


Liverpool, we shall see. And to me they are not the same team they were the year before. Yeah, they won the league this year, but a lot of those games were a struggle, and they looked fatigued along the way. Again, CL is proof of that, because they have not had the same success.


Look, this is Liverpool's first EPL title .....FIRST. And when you look at the fact that MU is going through a rebuild and new coach, Chelsea rebuild and new coach, Spurs rebuild and new coach, and the same thing with fucking arsenal, they had no competition.

This Liverpool title is vastly overrated and so is the season....

Do it again, with the top teams in top form, then come talk to me. ]


So enjoy your first overrated ass titled. And fock Liverpool everyday all day.


SEASON = ASTERISK **************************

like a young, 20 year old kid?

i say that because now you post like you're 75 regardless of topic.

dude, the "young legend" comment was a joke.

why so serious, batman?

you're full of it if you think no one on this board has ever been excited about pulisic.

relax. you yourself said "small sample size". that WAS true. also, people are hesitant to praise the next hot young U.S. star because there have been so many duds. well, the sample size is bigger now, so people are starting to see the bigger picture and speaking on it more.

that's kind of how life works in general when it comes to things gaining popularity/exposure. people generally take a wait and see approach then when something proves to be legit it gains traction.

calm down dude.

No. It's not okay. You do not understand how much ridicule I went through for following chelsea in america and on this board.

Dude, there was a time when Manchester United was hot shit in America. That's all people talked about and followed, and then there was everyone else. There were a hand full of chelsea followers, arsenals followers, etc. And, I understand, that with the televising of games by NBC, the game was going to grow, I get that. No problem. But it's just comical to see these so called chelsea fans, who are really nothing but Pulisic followers , just glorify everything.

Hell, they didn't even do this when Donovan was killing it in Everton, couldn't even get people to support him.


To see this fake, media driven love for chelsea because of Pulisic, and from people and fans who hated and degraded chelsea in the past, is just comical and surreal.

All I am saying is that this is Chelsea FC and not Pulisic FC, and that he has yet to accomplish squat as a player. And as I posted, I was the first one praising dude in his break out game ( before the hype set in).


However, we shall see who the real supporters are over the next few years, because when he got benched before the pandemic, there were crickets.

I just don't want this hype bullcrap to be associated with my team, and that is why I said I see him as an infection....I was speaking on how extreme the attention is.

Chelsea's bandwagon.

like me? the blood in my veins is red and pasty like Sir Alex Ferguson's skin. Man Utd til I die.

fuck Chelski.

BUUUUUUUUUUUUUT, i'm also interested in the success of American players AND i'm fair and honest.

so it's not a big deal for me to say Chelsea is headed in the right direction, Pulisic has been doing well, and i will pay attention to his game by game play/development.

that's not me jumping on Chelsea's bandwagon, and i think these other OKPs you're going at are only doing what i'm doing.

A lot of good heated exchanges, I miss those days.

A part of me wishes that it all stays kind of small like it used to be. How we used to all get up early in the morning to watch epl on espn before all of america did.....

NBC is great, outstanding coverage. But now its like all mainstream and shit, and cats walking around with Pulisic kits......

True story, a chelsea fan asked me who did I follow while I was standing right in front of him with a Chelsea kit on. I was at a park track, back when I used to seriously run. And I had the top on as a warm up top. You can tell he was a new fan, because he had no clue that Samsung used to be a sponsor. It was an old chelsea top.


I guess one of the reasons I really appreciated soccer was because of its Cult like status in america.

lmfao.

-----------
you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

but he's busted out

It's a solution to something no one was complaining about.

If it's not intentional and doesn't obviously change play, you let it go.

EPL is on some American microscopic refereeing bullshit.

that handball on Ndidi yesterday was TERRIBLE.

Time to sell Kane and Alli while you can still get something for them and invest in young talent

I look at the squad and outside like 3 players there’s just no decent talent there.

Dele hasn’t developed into a world-class player. There’s still time I guess, but it’s disappointing. Harry is washed, and Moura just sucks and plays ahead of better guys. Still, we could cobble together a decent attack with Sonny, Bergwijn, and Lo Celso.

The defense is the issue. We’re paying the price for failure to invest in fullbacks. Sanchez is the only guy worth keeping. Dier is garbage.

I agree we should blow it up. Build around Sanchez, Lo Celso, Bergwijn, Dele, and (oh yeah) N’Dombele. Keep Son because I love him, sell everything else for parts. Give the striker position to Troy Parrot next year but bring in competition. Accept that we are at least one or two seasons away from returning to CL and build stuff the right way.

It’s awful right now.

The guy who singlehandedly dragged United to second is gone and ain’t never coming back.

I sensed dread. Didn't take him long at all.

Really good win.

Also like that we extended Gabi, those two will keep me engaged regardless of results for a while

Still wild like to see us find a way to make Pepe more integral (I know he wasn’t available today, but a general point)

smart play from Arsenal, with tactical pressing and aggressiveness, and for once efficient on their chances. Tierney was really good on his side, not sure why he was taken off but can't really fault Arteta on his coaching today. There's a very good team in there somewhere...

So turned out to be right call. Would have preferred Kola come out and KT move in.

against Watford.

The entire 11 played extremely well, with Barkley being man of the match. He has really come on strong since the return of football, assisting and scoring, and just making all the right plays.

Good link up play between Willian and Pulisic, and they seem to like playing with each other, and Giroud was solid as well scoring a sitter that was put on platter for him by Barkley.


Watford didn't pose a challenge at all, and the game was done by halftime. It was also good to see RLC out there getting some time.


I can't wait until the Nike deal is up, because the kits are terrible. They are too blue, with a dark ugly stripe on the side. And the cheap look of the sponsor's logo will be a jersey that I will not be owning. Money is not everything. We should have stayed with Adidas, as well as keeping Yokohoma or Samsung.....That's a sponsor for the lower teams not for a big club.

But Villa looked decent today.

So did my man Naby Keita.

Liverpool will follow.....


Enjoy your fluke title.


peace and stay safe.

One of the best seasons in league history.

“Tail end”

But a) we lack a goal threat and b) we dug ourselves a big hole in the first 30 games. Those two moves for the goals were excellent though.

Also when Klopp can pull a FIFA and it’s Hendo, Gigi and Firmino coming on, that just goes to show the gulf in quality.

More specifically, good enough to be an consistent starter for Manchester city?

He’s the opposite of efficient, and that’s my take wether playing for city or the national team.

That was my first impression when he came over to England 4 years ago. But I don't see much evolution. And it's not a city issue, just look at Raheem's growth.

Again I don't watch city that much, maybe I'm just missing his great performances, but I doubt it.

He is brasilian, so he is good and very talented. It's in his blood.

However, what's also in his blood is being somewhat injury prone, and like a lot of brasilians, his body might not hold up as he evolves, especially in the EPL. He is in that Neymar category.

That is what is so amazing about Willian. Dude is made of concrete as a brasilian. You can tell he is not part of the night life, and takes care of his body. Dude is 31 and is still fast or faster than most on the pitch.

He has broken his foot and injured the medial ligament in his knee as a player at Man C, and he is only 23 years old. Those types of injuries early on are not good for a striker playing in the EPL, where he has to constantly cut, run and be physical in the box against centerbacks.

And he plays for a coach who is tenacious when it comes to training, and that does not help, which is why a lot of his players are always on the mend. KDB, Kun, The Silvas, Sterling at times....every other week or so, one of them will be on the IL or out for a game or 2.

city generates enough chances to where anybody you stick up there will bag some goals. but his general play sucks, he's not going to craft a goal out of nothing, and even as a finisher he's not that good.

when you see the team sheet come out and he's on it you know it's one less thing to worry about.

Jesus has 18 goals on the season for man city, 10 of them being Premier League Goals, and he is only 23 years old.

Kid is talented, but he has physical issues as I mentioned in my previous post. He is on a goal drought right now, but to write a 23 year old off, where strikers don't really get in form and hit their prime and great years until about 24-29 years of age is complete madness.

A few years ago when Raheem Sterling was around 22-23, people shitted on him, and said he would never fit the part. But last season was Sterling's breakout year, and was the second best player in the league behind Hazard.



You were the same one that said Lukaku sucked as well.

yes lukaku and jesus are not up to it. just as we were not sad to see the back of lukaku, city fans will not be sad to see the back of jesus. they just watched aguero drop pretty much 30 goals a year for 10 straight years. they know jesus aint got it in him.

being a top striker is more than just the numbers you put up. as a chelsea fan you should be familiar with this from Drogba was the man.

fortunately for lukaku it has worked out for him being in a weaker league but they dont really rate him over there either. jesus will find his level at a club like a villareal or something like that.

2015-2016, with Everton, Lukaku had 18 goals.
2016-2017 he had 25 goals! All in the EPL. He was possibly the best striker in the league that year!

Went to MU to play for shitty coaches, and
And in his first year, he had 16 goals and 7 assists
The following year he scored 12 goals...and that was without getting
Service from other players. Lukaku was a top 5-10 striker in league easily.

From Everton to MU, Lukaku was double digits in goals every season. Rashford and Martial haven’t even come close to any of that , with Rashford only getting 10 goals in a season.

As for Jesus, he is 23 years old, wayyyy too early to define his career. Like I said . His main problem his health, and his body being able to hold up......but the kid is talented as fock for club and country.

>when you see the team sheet come out and he's on it you know
>it's one less thing to worry about.

Seeing his name in the starting line-up with a healthy Aguero on the bench is always a head scratcher for me.

4-1-2-1-2

i don't understand how that wasn't the lineup from the beginning of the season. messi likes playing behind a striker--griezou and suarez compliment each other as long as messi isn't up front also.

Roberto/puig/de jong/vidal all fit as wide mids in this lineup and depending on what you want, you can play any combo of them (though vidal was not great this game). Busquets and, to a much lesser extent, rakitic fit in the hole...but this is quick to become the main concern of the system.

this also gives alba and semedo (who was consistently wide f*cking open. man, if he had alves' attacking skill...my god) room to run. Need another RB with speed (Roberto ain't cutting it there in this system). Wague didn't get enough time to know if he's the one--but rumors Barca might sign Dest who would.

Defense on the counter is a concern. that's how villareal scored and they had a number of other opportunities. busquets' lack of speed is a concern here and its only going to get worse. De Jong might get moved here, but he wants to attack more. This is likely where Pjanic is going to provide cover in the hopes that oriol busquets (ironic naming), plus he's gotten some experience at CB, and some more depth there is nice. It also might be why barca is supposedly interested in Tonali, or N'Dombele.

all that said, with Pedri (promising) and Trincao coming in and dembele back form injury (for 3 games before he'll get injured again), they'll actually have wingers again.

-----------
you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

stuff to say. And this is the problem that I was talking about. You are one of those sensationalist, against or for, when it comes to players.

Please do not put Pulisic's name in the same sentence as hazard, joking or not joking. I see enough of that crap on chelsea messageboards, facebook, etc


He is talented, and I hope he has a great career and chelsea evolves from it. But there is absolutely nothing in Pulisic's game that is even close to being better or on the same page as Eden Hazard. ...club or country.

>there is absolutely nothing in Pulisic's
>game that is even close to on the same page as
>Eden Hazard. ..

"even close"

Literally everyone in the world who follows the game thinks otherwise right now. Everyone except you.

I have no idea how you can follow the team and the sport for 20 years and have these poor takes.

I'm not trying to be a dick but c'mon dude.

However, this is the main problem with soccer, we want to call someone instantly great and put them in the same sentence as LEGENDS.....He said better than Hazard Pulisic, which is foul in itself.

and here you come in running your mouth being way off and wrong defending the crap .... I think its best you not even respond to any of my post. That would be best.


There is not a god damn thing in Pulisics game that is even close to hazard, nothing. So there should be no comparisons. He does not dribble like hazard, or turn like hazard, or flair like hazard. Hazard comes from the same tree as Zinidine and Robben, and Pulisic is not from that tree. His style is not from that tree. You are aware that each player has his own style of play correct?


I hope he has a great career and he is talented, but stop with the dumb ass hazard comparisons, because anyone who knows soccer would know that there is none.

At the age of 21 Eden Hazard was already the best player in the French League years and years over. He won Young Player of the year twice, and he won player of the year twice!..let that sink in.


peace.

doesn't matter who your post is intended for. that's how a message board works. especially if you're going to post on a topic with full confidence in your expertise.

"There is not a god damn thing in Pulisics game that is even close to hazard, nothing." - you

a person who knows a lot more about that game than both of us has a very different take on the subject...

"I think with Christian he's possibly more direct (than Eden) in his style sometimes" - Lampard

And here is the evidence that you are just completely wrong:

https://twitter.com/SkySportsStatto/status/1280559836472709120

Christian Pulisic's first season at Chelsea vs Eden Hazard's:

Pulisic 2019-20

8 PL goals, 178 mins per goal
143 mins per goal or assist
3.1 successful dribbles per 90

Hazard 2012-13

9 PL goals, 293 mins per goal
132 mins per goal or assist
2.1 successful dribbles per 90

https://twitter.com/nomifooty/status/1279875157469913089

https://twitter.com/jakeheasman/status/1280103256228868099/photo/1

https://www.goal.com/en-us/news/hazard-like-pulisic-fouls-chelsea-american-sensation/1ghneinxcq8so11srj0f8c3kfz

^ one of chelsea's main beat writers. not american.

There's plenty more to dig up but I'll leave it at that for now.

But all good man. I'm not trying to get under your skin. I'm an ally. I just hope you realize that your takes will be called out if you're wrong. and you're wrong here.

You can pull all the material you want to support your lame narrative, like most people do to feel like they have won something. And whatever other micro stat you can conjure, and continue to name call...

And you dodged all the other stuff that I showcased on where HAZARD WAS AT THE AGE OF 21, that Pulisic is not even in the same atmosphere.

So continue with your micro stat pull to try to support something that isn't there.

Pulisic is a great young talent, and I hope he takes off and have great success with club and country.

And I'm going to leave it at that.


good day sir and stay safe

I've resigned myself to his presence at the front next summer. Unless Haller catches fire next season there's no way Deschamps lets go of his Giroud obsession

Giroud has been fabulous as a player and leader of the team, and he always finds a way to score a goal, similar to Benzema. One of the best veteran pickups, up there with Pedro.

Thing I love about giroud is his ability to know where the ball is and where it needs to be, and he has great footwork for a talk striker. HE should have been a chelsea player from day 1.


One thing that pisses me off about Conte, not only did he send diego Costa packing, but he was dead bent on bringing Morata over for 70 fucking million, when had we went after Giroud a year earlier, we probably would have repeated as EPL Champs.

imo his place up front is worth not being able to press as high as youd necessarily like. and i do my hair like his, so... lol

when he scores thats just delicious homemade gravy

EXILE HIM TO WEST HAM.

This is wrong and is not what I stated, and is taking out of context.


I said I saw him asan infection from an ATTENTION stand point, especially in the beginning of the season.. And Frank was like he has to earn his place and that the whole thing was getting a bit overblown.

That's why I was very bothered. The attention of it all, and it being a huge distraction to the entire plans of what Frank wanted to do. ...When a coach starts getting verbally attacked for not playing a player, and having to explain every week why he is being omitted ...that's a distraction and a problem.

That's why I had a love/hate about the whole thing. I think he is talented, and hopefully has a great career for club and country....But lets keep things in proper perspective here.

Lampard:

"I have four wingers to chose from now they are all fit. Pulisic we forget is 21 because of the price-tag. It is normal to have an adaptation period.

"He has shown some good moments this season and in pre-season but he must do it DAILY."

"He needs time to adapt but we support him on that. His time will come."

And that is how stand as well.


So hopefully that is clear to everyone. This is not a Pulisic hate fest, but I'm not going to be yelling and screaming legend and hazard comparisons when nothing has been accomplished, and this season is more like a preseason......Lets watch him evolve and see what he turns into.

nice goal to reacquaint yourself with the scoring chart

https://streamja.com/6BvoA

That end was brutal.

and Saka made the perfect follow-up

prolly gonna need to win both the north london derby and liverpool to have a chance at a Europa league spot

Laca sacristy l actually had a good game, but his finishing... Not sure it's every coming back.

Would have really liked to see how it would have played or with 11 v. 11

I think we'll finish 7th, which I *think* is enough for Europa

>I think we'll finish 7th, which I *think* is enough for
>Europa

As long as a toP 6 team win the FA cup, which is now guaranteed, unless we win it.

So I think 5, 6, 7 get in.

But sunday's a must win

He is still having problems with that right ankle, and more than likely will not play in the madrid derby.

Madrid can't get any great dribbling without him, because his play breaks down the defense and creates tons of spacing, especially for Benzema. Vinny is playing a lot better this year, and is playing with more control, but he still isn't there yet to really break down the defense.

I think at this point, considering the situation, and how short this season is going to be, just sit him for the remainder. I mean other teams in La Liga know that he is the creator, and madrid moves around that, then they are just going to continue to target him.


Also, I have to be honest, is his body starting to breakdown due to the many years of being tackled hard in the EPL? That could be a possibility as well.

Also, Real Madrid"s physio's are highly suspect due to madrid players constantly getting injured. That has to be a huge question mark as well.

Hazard is 29, and I say, he has about 3-4 years of playing at a high level. I would hate to see all that disappear due to injuries...

https://streamja.com/vVO5q

I must say that the game has passed him by. It clearly has. He is too set in his ways to evolve. Coaches like Ancelotti, Benitez, etc, can build a system based on the players that are available, as opposed to trying to force players to fit a particular system and that system only.


You have to be able to press defensively and attack offensively in this day and age. You just can't sit back, expecting to counter, get one goal, and think that is going to bring you glory. These teams will come out and score 1 or two goals, and then what? He has no answer for it.


He should just be analyst at this point, because he refuses to change his style of coaching.

It’s not hard, yet he refuses to even try it.

There was actually a game going on till that point. Welp, just hope Smith doesn’t get the sack. We’ll need him to get back up.

I'm at least going to make it benefit my fantasy team

The whole Pulisic agenda thing as far as comparing him to Hazard ,don't come to me with it. I will no longer respond to the nonsense. I'm putting it out there so that you don't have to waste your time posting to me or responding to my post. So save your paragraphs and don't mention my name.


peace

So hopefully we can get some creative play, and lots of goal scoring opportunities.

But again, more Madrid players on the injured list. Marcelo will be out, and will miss the remainder of the season. It's crazy man. I'm starting to think that Madrid's physios are shit,..straight up....too many players constantly nursing injuries every got damn week.



Can we please get some consistency?....anywhere.

I've never been tempted because of the prices but Fanatics had a PSG joint for $50 and it's definitely in a higher league than the basic-ass Dri-Fit they use for replicas. Might put up a few ebay alerts for these

His winning goal last week exercised an extension in his contract, so he gets an extra year.

He has 14 premier league goals on the season, and that is with being on a 10 game goal drought. Can he make a goal scoring run and get to 20 for his first season in the league? More than likely, No...but hope he keeps up the scoring.

As he grows and fills out, I think he is going to be a beast, and our main striker. I know we got Werner, gotta see how he plays in the EPl.

Nice first season for Tammy, and he definitely deserves a new contract.

we already know Kepa aint gonna stop shit (save percentages plummeting w/ each season), you could at least put some folks in front of him that know how to play defense.

And the problem starts with starting Jorginho. A midfield of Barkley, Mount, and Jorginho is going to lead to no command of the midfield, especially on defense.

And with a back 4 that is shaky, that is going to put even more pressure on the line.

Selection was all wrong, Kovacic should have gotten the start, and the formation should have been a 4-5-1, instead of 4-3-3. There is no direct movement to get the ball to Tammy.

Willian and Reece James got totally burned on that second goal. Out dribbled down the flank, and allowed service into the box, and the CBs didn't cover the runner. Kepa made a difficult save, but the rebound went straight to the striker for the tap in

And Mount has been all over the place, and unable to hold on to the ball. Pulisic has been fair, but coughing up the ball as well.

The lineup and formation has this team playing wacky....

Bring in Kovacic and RLC, have barkley and Kov as the back two mids, RLC as the attacking mid, pulisic and willian on the wings....and get more direct with getting the ball to tammy

Drops Mount and Christensen, who has an injured ankle, so that explains his timid movement today.

Brings in Alonso and Rudiger,



Pulisic - Tammy- Willian

alonso - barkley - jorginho - Reece


Zouma - Rudiger - Azp


I get it in theory, try to get some attacking and crosses from the wingbacks for more direct play, but Jorginho just makes everything flat. And with SU playing a 3-5-2, the midfield play has to get better!

Lets see how things work out.

So is he now moving to a 3-5-2?


tammy - giroud

willian
alonso barkley jorginho reece


zouma - rudiger - Azp


what's going on here, frankie?....this is all wacky today.

coughs up the ball and gets blazed, and rudiger gets his feet tangled and cant clear the ball!

all the subs, and didn't sub off the main player who should have come off. .never start jorginho again!

midfield total crap today.


and as I type this Jorginho coughs it up again.

it's funny because the defense is fucking horrendous.

a top class CB and LB is needed more at the moment than one Havertz.

rudiger and reece can be salvaged but you wouldnt shed any tears over seeing the backs of them either

which is fine because he should be more of a complete player in a couple years when Dave is ready to hang it up.

but you're right, the defense needs a complete makeover.

pretty sure chelsea can make the attack work just fine with werner/ziyech/puli/mount/rlc/giroud/tammy/odoi as options.

dude is ridiculously good

game. They were disciplined, played great defense, and took advantage of their scoring opportunities, and dominated the shit out of our midfield.


Their entire team is MOTM. And Frank got out coached.

So who is up next at CB?

I say go with Tomori/Zouma, drop reece, put AZp in at RB and start Emerson at leftback. Shore it up.

Jorginho's career at chelsea is done. Send him off to Juve to Sarri,should be an easy transfer.

Make this happen next game, Frank:


Tammy ( or Giroud)

Pulisic - RLC - Willian

Barkley - Kovacic

Emerson - Tomori- Zouma - Azp


More than Likely Zouma is going to Spurs. We bring back Ake, not allowing MU to snag him. Keep Christensen and Tomori, and Ampadu will be back off loan

Ake-Tomori-Christensen-Ampadu for next season....and get two more fullbacks. Reece is still a question mark. Alonso days are probably numbered and Azp is old. So Reece/Emerson and two more FBs.


These next three games are going to be intense and crazy as hell....gotta win them to get back into the CL

Kante obviously helps protect the inept back line.

And Kova can break the lines and open up the game for everyone.

The defense was horrible, the midfield was not effective in any aspect, the wings looked exhausted while not having much room operate (credit to Sheffield's tactics) and Tammy seemed to be falling down all game. Like, his balance is horrible. He's also really bad in the air for a guy his size.

Overall Frank got outcoached and this should have been a draw at the minimum.

had other ideas. Gilmore being out for the season due to surgery focks a lot of stuff up as far back up goes, but hopefully we don;t see Jorginho
anymore.

Yeah, that is pretty much how the game went. agreed

Tammy is still growing and filling out. He is only 22. I just love his effort and movement, and those missed headers and aerials will be a lot stronger in later years...He is still learning to use that body of his.

Mustafi FTW tho

and terrible.

Spineless.

southampton have made pogba a TARGET everytime he gets on the ball. dude just falls asleep in possession.

although his ball in on the first goal was nice.

they were discussing him on the main French soccer show last week and the consensus was he might be more Robin than Batman, depending on the context, but he can be Batman when he wants to. Can be frustrating to put it mildly but he was our MVP in Russia so he gets a lifetime pass from me

I get that the managers have been shit, but still. This could have been his team.

idk how the exact stat was phrased but something like the last 8 or 9 times chelsea have dropped points we havent gotten the full 3.

Luckily for Man U Leicester has a tough two games ahead before their final matchday showdown.

at home, controlling your own destiny, against a team with nothing to play for
And that is the effort you put out? Get theeeeeee fuck outta here

Martial the only one out there that died for the shirt today. Everybody else should be fucking embarrassed. Major props to him for finally putting in the effort expected of an elite 9 since the games restarted

Ole need to put his foot square up everybody ass before Thursday

https://streamable.com/a7k7tz

Should be an easy game against weak, weak competition......

I do not get these rumors about Kante going to Italy. I know the transfer market is gonna be depressed, but he's valued at only 40-50mil ?1?

Around the age of 29, and after injuring his ACL, Essien became injury prone and couldn't stay on the pitch. We are starting to see the same thing with Kante, so I think the focal point is to sell him why his stock is high.


No one is going to pay more than 40 -50 million for a 29 year old player who is showing small signs of regressing, so that is why his value is at 40 mil. Also, with Ampadu coming back from loan, who can play the number 6 and at centerback, plus that Gilmore kid showing good signs, I think chelsea is going to try to cash in on Kante for 40 -50 mil.

Kante is still an excellent player, but nowhere near the level he was on a few years ago. Dude was hands down the best defensive mid in the world. He is still one of the best defensive mids on the planet, but I personally feel that Sarri messed up his body. Sarri had him playing more attacking, and that is when the injuries started to pile on....all because Sarri wanted jorginho as a playmaking number 6


Jorginho just does not have the body nor game to really play in the EPL. He started off the season extremely well, but it is too easy for teams to single him out. No way can he be a number 6 or number 8 for us.

with that said if PSG snatch him I'm taking the day off and getting drunk af off Veuve Cliquot

That would be awesome for him to play for PSG....to return to the french league and play at home

It pisses me off that the french league isnt shown in the america, but espn shows that boring ass Serie A. ...Love the french league.

> ...Love the
>french league.

j/k I love my janky Ligue 1 too, overwrought defending, basic tactics and all. I'm pretty sure it's on BeIn, at least it was this season, and they cover it pretty well, although obviously it's very PSG and OM-centric. But for example they consistently had the Friday evening game, even when that meant sitting through Lille-Amiens or something

Why is that crazy?

I love the French love because of diversity on the pitch and the diversity in the stands, and it’s faster to me. I didn’t say it was the best league, but a lot of great players come out of that league...the French league is like an all star feeder league. You get to see a lot of young raw insane talent before they go to the bigger leagues.

I’m an Lyon fan big time, but There is no coverage to see them play. I knew about lacazette before he caught the attention of the Epl....drogba, hazard, makouda ,pepe....knew about them by way of the Ligue 1

first United now Chelsea, you'd think after the City decision these teams 3-6 would be making sure they get a CL spot

yeah that game was boring as hell. kinda stopped watching after the goal.

got the win, most of the players played well. Pulisic and Giroud played really well.

I wonder what lineup Frank will roll out this Sunday for the FA Cup. Given this historically crazy schedule it would seem like rest is more important than ever. Resting players and giving the cup game less precedence and then going all out in the final two games for a CL spot makes sense.

Traore didn't have a great game but he just ran through & over half of Burnley at once.

This dude is so criminally underrated its insane. He is Napoli's all time leading goalscorer, and he didn't start every match until Higuain left. Chelsea was supposed to sign him this year, but he chose to stay in Napoli, and rightful so, since he is a legend.

No diss to france, but that Belgium team should have won the world cup. They were that good, and even though I like Lukaku, had they had a more prolific striker, with hazard on one side and dries on the other, it would have been lights out.

He is possibly Napoli's second greatest player of all time, behind Maradona.

And actually Pulisic is more Dries Mertens than he is Hazard. ...I see more similarities between the two, especially in direct play with the ball.

up to 17 now

To compete in all fronts you need depth

Plus sancho is a perfect fit for us
Swagged out English 7

Fock all and everything that is Barcelona!....Time for Messi to jettison to MLS. Meanwhile, Ronaldo goes over to Italy and wins titles.....


crazy thing is Real Madrid has been dealing with tons of injuries, and haven't even come close to fielding its best 11. And once Hazard gets that ankle right ....man...forget about it.

my dream is to one day see chelsea against real madrid in a champions league final. I would completely lose my shit.

Come at us, bro!

Peace.

>Fock all and everything that is Barcelona!....Time for Messi
>to jettison to MLS. Meanwhile, Ronaldo goes over to Italy and
>wins titles.....
>
>
>crazy thing is Real Madrid has been dealing with tons of
>injuries, and haven't even come close to fielding its best 11.

I hope Barca turns to utter shit and gets relegated and then gets relegated again and again until they are in the 5th division of Spanish football.

and i hope Messi leaves because even though CR7>>>>>>>>Messi (be mad), he does make them better so him leaving will facilitate their downfall.

*dick dastardly laugh*

No let Messi stay .....


Let him wither into a beard of endless pain and defeat while the whole world watches and laughs, saying " this is the man who was once considered Ronaldo's equal?"

" This is your god of football?"


He is a man without his system, and without his system he is shite....so he yells mad at his system!



All of Barca bow down to the rulers of La Liga, now and forever!

messi said the quiet part out loud...he usually doesn't speak much, so it's really telling that he spoke so harshly after the match. he also looked easily disconnected during the game--if he wasn't involved in the play, he looked like he had stopped giving a fuck.

i've seen him walk instead of run his whole career to conserve energy for his moments, but the body language was different. then it was knowing it wasn't time to strike. Yesterday looked like he had had enough of it all.

wish bartomeu would take the hint and start an election this summer because next season is going to be just as bad. a holdover board that's almost definitely getting the boot, a temporary coach because Font is 100% hiring Xavi and Laporta probably would too (speaking of Laporta...christ, that's the improvement we're looking for? he. was. bad. i hate the board options). And now with the cards, barca b's promotion is at risk because they won't have Puig, Araujo, nor Fati to help in the playoffs because of a glorified exhibition game.

it's time for a cleaning like Pep did--sell some seemingly unmoveable names to shake shit up and trust the youth.

-----------
you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

It's not too late. For years now you have been on the path of the wicked and blind. Get in now before the Hazard Empire comes to rule all of La Liga.

You can use me as a reference. Let the past be the past, and glorify yourself under the Divinity of Madridista!

at all costs.

What moves do you think should happen in the shake up?
I think Busquets, Pique, and Alba need to move to the bench. I wouldn't mind if they left entirely, but they're club legends and should be treated with respect. Same for Suarez. Rakitic should already be gone.
It's probably time to move on from Dembele. An incredible talent, but he
can't stay healthy.

The more difficult thing to me, is figuring out who we should bring it.
A midfield of FDJ, Arthur, Puig, and Aleñá would have been cool, but would still need a couple more experienced players to balance them out. Thiago is still my favorite player, but that ship has likely sailed at this point. And he's just turned 29.

Lautaro is a no brainer. Idk who could else would fit across the front line with him and Messi. Neymar could obviously work, but i don't see how we work that out financially.

Back line. Idk. Lenglet is solid. Umtiti can't stay healthy. I'm still not sure about Firpo. I like Semedo, but attacking is definitely his weakness...

>What moves do you think should happen in the shake up?
>I think Busquets, Pique, and Alba need to move to the bench. I
>wouldn't mind if they left entirely, but they're club legends
>and should be treated with respect. Same for Suarez. Rakitic
>should already be gone.

Honestly, the reality is that a new coach needs to come in and someone who is seen as a key player needs to be sold to shake the team up, a la Pep and Ronaldinho and Deco. Busi/Pique fit that but that'd actually backfire because they're seen as "real barca" and are connected to that Pep revival. Rakitic is not a big enough move. Vidal isn't either (and I think he has a roll to play). messi's untouchable. Greizzou is too new. I have some hope for Semedo (see my last paragraph), but I could accept that as part of a turnover--though I think they just signed him through 2025. Which basically leaves Lenglet (but not enough cover and doesn't feel like he's part of any problem even if he isn't a star) and Alba. I think I just talked myself into selling Alba. Which, other than not knowing who would replace him, I'm pretty ok with--and Alba has often giving some pretty awful quotes in the media. Wish Miranda had had a good loan season or Grimaldo were available...

Busi definitely needs to be rotated a lot more. He lost a step. Alba too (and he has played better when his spot is threatened). Pique I think just needs more rest, when he's good he's good. but the mental fatigue definitely affects him.

Suarez has said for a year he's been ready to help train his replacement. Rakitic needs to be gone, as much as I thought he was underappreciated before, he's now more like what his haters thought he was.

>It's probably time to move on from Dembele. An incredible
>talent, but he
>can't stay healthy.

Fair. and they have the players coming up with speed to replace him (the trincao highlights I've seen have me very, very excited. and Pedri too, apparently). other than an absurd Neymar move, i don't think they should buy a winger because it seems like it just doesn't work from outside. that's gonna have to be a youth player--and there are enough to pick from with trincao and fati and pedri. I'd like to seem Dembele get time in the CL in August if he's healthy (that'd be the 6 months expected) hopefully to raise some value before a move. I'd also accept keeping him for a year because with that many youth prospects, we could survive without him (plus, the better answer with greizzman in this square is to move away from the 4-3-3).


>A midfield of FDJ, Arthur, Puig, and Aleñá would have been
>cool, but would still need a couple more experienced players
>to balance them out. Thiago is still my favorite player, but
>that ship has likely sailed at this point. And he's just
>turned 29.

pjanic is coming in, so that's one experienced guy coming in.

I'd like to see Thiago back also. but as I post this, rumor is he's going to Pool which...fuck that's a good move. And he's 30-40 million? good price. Rumor that Coutinho -> Arsenal would bring Guendouzi in. Don't know, honestly, how to feel about that (I have not watched arsenal enough). If Vidal stays and Alena returns, my main interest is in a MF who is ok being a supersub because it's crowded and Puig and FDJ should be regular starters, so we're talking about a rotation that has Roberto/pjanic/busi/alena already (not in order of preference). actually, i think i just talked myself into Puig/FDJ/Vidal with Vidal regularly rotated.

>Lautaro is a no brainer. Idk who could else would fit across
>the front line with him and Messi. Neymar could obviously
>work, but i don't see how we work that out financially.

infuriating that they're going to fuck this up. There's no striker in the pipeline from la masia. sign lautaro. stop fucking around.

>Back line. Idk. Lenglet is solid. Umtiti can't stay healthy.
>I'm still not sure about Firpo. I like Semedo, but attacking
>is definitely his weakness...

Just had this convo with friends. 100% CB my solution is Eric Garcia's return. Otherwise, I'm not sure. I feel like Semedo got mixed messages. When he just rampaged and focused on attacking, he was pretty good (not great with the ball sometimes), but he often held back (especially against Valverde) and got stuck in an in-between position which made him look like a worse attacker than he is. I'm actually ok with giving him another year, and then Emerson returns from Betis and he looked quite promising. Though if Dest is available, the marketing coup (and promise) of signing Dest makes a lot of sense. At LB, I wish they'd have Grimaldo or buy him back for LB. Miranda stalled this year on loan and I'm not sure.




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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

http://www.espnfc.com/chelsea/story/4137168/christian-pulisics-first-premier-league-season-compares-to-stars-like-sadio-mane-and-raheem-sterling

Pulisic vs. elite wingers (Premier League debut / age-21 season)

Player (year) Age Touch Passes Complete Assists Goals G+A Recovery

Coutinho (12-13)21 62.9 41.9 74.4% 0.48
0.29 0.77 5.70

Hazard (12-13) 22 74.2 52.0 85.2% 0.38 0.31 0.69 5.15

Salah (12-14) 22 64.8 39.6 80.3% 0.18 0.36 0.53 4.68

Mane (14-15) 23 57.8 34.8 79.4% 0.13 0.42 0.55 4.89

Mahrez (14-15) 24 60.7 32.4 73.4% 0.13 0.17 0.30 6.87

Sterling (15-16)21 61.3 39.6 85.3% 0.09 0.28 0.37 5.47

Pulisic (19-20) 21 59.7 35.0 80.6% 0.17 0.45 0.62 3.84


As you can see, touches, passes, completion percentage, assists , goals + assists, and recovery are farrrr superior with hazards first season vs Pulisic.


So please for the love of god, ..just leave hazards name out of it.

And look at the ball recovery numbers: pulisic; 3.84., hazard: 5.15! That deals with

Mahrez, Coutinho and Hazard were just on some other shit as first time players, as the reporter pointed out. And look at Sterlings and Hazard's completion percentage


The best comparison, as the reporter pointed out, is Mane.

so please, really, stop this nonsense. Great young player, and is off to a good start, but again, as the STATS prove, still has a long way to go. It's like people are trying to push that 2+2=5, when we know it equals 4. It's like everyone is trying to force this kids name onto that elite level. Not saying that he will not be elite one day, but just let it happen, and let it evolve. And stop with these overly extreme comparisons that make no sense......as the numbers prove.

TWO first half reds, and a second half own goal.

I’m mad one of the best kits in the league is getting relegated though.

I'm in disbelief to be honest. they haven't been close v City for several years now.

AMN too

What a performance

He is only 26, and he doesn’t get the attention he deserves. I think it is mainly because he plays with Spurs. He definitely needs to play for a bigger side. With Kun leaving City, Kane would make a great replacement.

Spurs are definitely in form at the moment. And they’ll be competitive, but can’t see them winning a title under mourinho. The Style is too conservative....so it would make no sense for Kane to stay.

He would make a great future replacement for Benzema at Real Madrid, and with a history of British players during extremely well , that should be the move.

The problem is that no one knows who Harry Kane is.

the guy who just won a 7th pichichi (4 in a row) and broke the season record for assists while missing a month of the season + not having someone like himself to assist (which xavi did have when he set the record Messi just broke).

GOAT. if only the board + coaches weren't failing him and had promoted riqui puig at the beginning of the season. deep sigh.

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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

Jose got these dudes flying! Must say when Mourinho got the pieces for his counteracting that shit is just vicious

It was like hazard, willian, Costa, fabregas under mourinho when they won the title....Fucking counteracts were nasty

And city refuses to get out of that back three! Sending everyone forward against a sit back and counter mourinho team...dumb soccer


Damn these counters bring back memories

Both goals are on him.

Gotta question Ole’s conservative strategy from the start.

I’d prefer Chelsea anyway. Enough pressure on the final without the prospect of United beating us and tying our all time record.

hopefully someone takes him off our hands.

shit, bring back Henderson from Sheffield United at this point.

No contest... garbage ass MU.

WE put a B team out there. Chelski put out pretty much their regulars minus Pulisic and y'all had 2 days extra rest.

that's not excuses. y'all deserved to win, no doubt. we didn't show up today for various reasons, but at least live in reality.

what a weird thing to say

What? You lie my friend.

Marcus rashford
Bruno F
Wan Bisakka
Maguire
de gea

Those are your everyday ballers.

Mount ( pulisic is the every game starter)
Alonso ( comes off bench)
Jorginho ( filling in due to Kante injury)
Slipping Willy as GK

Those are not our everyday starters and Jorginho is the weakest player in the EPL.
Plus this is the weakest backline in chelsea’s History possibly . So willian , giroud and kov were the only true ballers out there.


We role like this when everyone is healthy.

Pulisic - Tammy ( or giroud) - willian

Kov. - Kante - Barkley

Azp - Zouma - Christensen - Reece

Kepa

( and in a 3-4-3 it’s usually Zouma - Christensen- Azp). Reece recently started to getting minutes


You had you your best GK in play...and he was trash.

That was a chelsea B lineup out there. Not even close to being our top lineup
Our two top goal scorers : pulisic and Tammy were not on the pitch.

Rashford has 17 goals. Bruno is your top assist guy. WAN is your top interceptor . Maguire is your top clearance guy. And De tea is your top goalkeeper .
We had the weaker team on the pitch.

Stop it.

Also Matic and Linderlof are main starters too

So that’s seven players out your main 11 that played.


You didn’t have Pogba, Shaw, martial and greenwood. Martial has 17 goals, but you still had one of your main scorers and a main attacker on the pitch in rashford( 17 goals) and Bruno( your assist leader) . We didn’t.

Now giroud is putting in some goals , but he is not our main scorer. Pulisic and Tammy has most of our goals, and no Kante , Christensen or Kepa!

So you missed 4 main players and we missed 5 main players....but 2 of those main players missed make up the majority of our goals and attacking...

And again we played a B level GK.

Giroud is not our number striker. He is our in form striker. But okay I’ll give you that if you want it.

But again Tammy has the most goals and was our main striker up until the pandemic break. Out of the break he has been struggling.

Ole played a B team.

period.

allStah in here talking like Matic and Lindelof are somehow net pluses to the team.

FOH fam.

They are your main defensive players! That was the point.
We had JORGINHO as a defensive mid. Come now, promo. Really?

Tammy = Martial. Pulisic=Greenwood. Kante= Pogba. Christensen=Shaw
And Kepa=De gea( who played)

Take that L.

apparently it was planned to move there for 2021 but they decided to do it early. There's an ad-supported $5.99 plan, but I'm not sure if that would cover the CL games or if you need the $9.99 option. Either way, you really just need it for less than a month to watch the rd of 16-final in August

I think the only paying subscribers are Trekkies

I got to get better about remembering to cancel stuff, I hadn’t even thought about this service in months

have to make sure this would still include CL, TV rights are weird up here sometimes. Not sure if I should let it renew or try to use another email address to sneak another free month out of it lol

https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-club-world-cup/story/4141344/coronavirus-ballon-dor-cancelled-for-first-time-in-awards-history

the VAR ref.

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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

maybe getting a europa league spot will help

Man U likely wont need it and Inter definitely wont need it

its doable

>Man U likely wont need it and Inter definitely wont need it
>
>its doable

They'd def need to add depth going forward tho. . I doubt they'll be as lucky as they were this year re: injuries

they need more goals

both big matches today.

Some GD cushion would be nice while Watford continues to slump like this.

Konsa has been amazing since the restart.

i was 100% certain that corner was headed in

I was convinced it was going to be a repeat of the Everton match. We go and miss a chance to double and then the opponents level. So glad the post cooperated though.

Oh man. Now just need to hope Arteta is pissed off, and wants Arsenal to go into the final on the up.

That is what is chirping throughout the wire.

Fock. The lack of speed and athleticism that we have at CB is maddening.
We half assed on this.

And with his insane versatility to play fullback and wingback, plus a knack to score with both feet when he is around the box....

We had this dude before and he was on point for us....I'll never forget that spurs game where he was a beast. But Conte couldn't guarantee him starting minutes because we had luiz, cahill, azp as a back three....so he bounced.

This is fucked up.

They're gonna need to somehow facilitate a mass exodus if they expect to shore up the defense (and goalkeeping) after spending apprx. 100 mil on Havertz. They're going to need to get fair value for Kepa, Barkely, Batshuayi, Jorgino, Alonso, Emerson and probably one of Rudiger/Christiansen/Zouma. Not sure how possible that will be since teams will know they're desperate to unload.

Four years in a row, tricks.

Of course they’re winning the FA Cup to keep us out of Europe, so....

clearly a handball, but Pogba was protecting his damn brain & face from a rocket strike.

pure cowardice imo

of course we're gonna flub Leicester giving us the CL.

i don't understand our team at all.

we look like were ready to go on vacation

it's all right there, so easy for the taking, and for the last...well shit, since Sir Alex left basically...whenever we're in those spots we just snooze it up.

so frustrating.

If only man city stayed suspended, oh well, anyway.

Bruno made a mistake.

Please take Jorginho. Free of charge

And willian needs a rest clearly! But frank wants to play him every game!

Against one of the most vicious frontlines in soccer.

Suicide.


There should be four in the back! Less offensive and more defensive.

4-5-1 should have been the play..too much space

You can catch a team off guard with it here and there (as we've seen), but it's far from a failsafe tactic. I think most people cringed when they saw the 3-4-3 employed for this match. I get that the 4-3-3 is harder to employ without Kante, but 4 at the back vs Pool's front three makes sense.

Exactly

Soccer is not static. You play based on your opponent.
This is a different opponent. A back three is a bad formation against pool, especially when you have weak three defenders.

They are slicing up our back three...so we should be compact.

Really?

Fuck frank and this bullshit!

Bring in Tammy, pulisic, and switch the formation Frank

That free kick was masterful....David Beckham like

.

Willian should have been rested clearly ...giroud wasn’t a good match up here because of the strength of Liverpool backline...speed is needed

Now pulisic and Tammy and Hudson are on...and their speed is creating a problem already

Good linkup between pulisic and tammy.

Kepa is shit . He just stood there for that Firmino goal. ..never reacts well. Spain is focked ..kepa and de gea?

15 PL goals for Tammy!!

Nice goal by pulisic clearly should have started.

Hell yeah!

Lampard wants Mount to be good, and to be the lead attacker, because that is his guy. However, clearly, Pulisic is way better than Mount.


Also, Pulisic has to prove that he can be good in back to back games from a health stand point. He seems to play extremely well when he plays every other game. that's just my take. I think there are still a lot of question marks regarding his durability, and Frank is being mindful of that.


It's a combination of both....However, this is leading to same tension from earlier in the season when frank wasn't playing Pulisic....which is why I said the whole situation regarding pulisic was an infection, because of the Drama of it all. The boards are already going off on Frank, and wait until the reports come out.

If it has to come down between Frank and Pulisic, as far as who stays, I'm not sure in which direction the board will go in. Frank is a chelsea legend, and deemed the greatest chelsea player of all time by most. Pulisic is a very talented young player, and is the future....so a lot to think about..

I personally think there is a little angst there, with the whole English and american player thing ... I don't care what anyone says, it's there. Clearly Frank should have played him today....CLEARLY.

Keep in mind Chelsea acquired Pulisic way before Frank was even considered for the position, because Sarri was still there, and we got Pulisic during the winter transfer window. He wasn't part of the Tammy, Mount, Reese, Tomori call up by Frank.

When the options are fire the manager or anything else, I know what I’ll take.

shoulda been playing all game.

Got damn. Kepa has to go ,and play Barkley! Never play Jorginho again.

This loss is on frank!

Kepa is really bad ...bad.

what happened?

He wasn't this bad last year. Now, it's like he does not know what to do. He never dives or goes after the ball.

He has reaction issues. I think he cares and wants to be good, but he seems stunted.

It does not matter if he is in front of goal, or on the sides, he just does not anticipate anything. It's really, really bad. Like terrible.

It's even worse than De Gea. De Gea is making mistakes. Kepa just isn't moving at all.

A goal keeper is shit without the ability to read and react ...and kepa sucks.

T Arnold man of the match. Dude is a beast and best fullback in the world. It’s like watching Ashley Cole

Anyway, bad formation and selection by Frank. Had we started pulisic- Tammy - Odi
Upfront with a back four, we would have won this game.

Something to grow on for the future, because the speed of those three could turn into something epic....similar to hazard- Costa - willian ...or hazard - Oscar- Mata

I’m out.

Abraham is a nice back-up tho

Arsenal-Watford on the Golf Channel, appropriately

Forest throwing away a 5 goal lead on goal difference to drop out of the playoffs.
5 different teams in the relegation zone throughout the last 20 minutes.
Barnsley saving themselves (for now) with a 91st minute winner.
That winner casting Brentford into the playoffs instead of automatic promotion
Wigan winning more points than anyone other than Leeds and Brentford since the New Year and still dropping due to a points deduction.

would be very good for future of the squad. And Pimienta has worked magic getting a depleted squad to the finals.

barca's masia MF looks very promising, though very gassed at end of game. Some potential at RB in Morer, but LB and CB weak (except Araujo who is already up, but traveled back to help barca b).

Konrad de la Fuente wasn't supposed to play for barca b till next year, but because of injury and players leaving on free before the playoffs, he's been starting. bagged 2 goals in the first game, solid in the second. Shows real promise. Pulisic/Weah/Konrad is a pretty impressive trio of upcoming wingers (Konrad behind the other two, but also two years younger). Put pulisic at attacking mid and that's quite a potential attack in 4-5 years.

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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

both looked real good at U20

Dude needs a real break before the season starts

i said to my bro "watch THIS is the game Lingard scores somehow"

LULZ.

we back baby, we back!

still need a lot more out on the pitch but that's to be sorted out later.

also, finishing 3rd vs. 4th? that's a nice feather in the cap.

"i expect Grealish to be in an United kit next season"

i'll take all those players you mentioned and we need CB help sorely. pissed that Ake to Citeh seems legit. Ole didn't spit that good enough game I guess.

different teammates and several different coaches.

KDB is a beast with MC, but doesn't play like that for Country or other coaches. And at MC, Never had to carry teams with mediocre strikers like hazard did after drogba left, and after Costa left. ..For Full seasons, Hazard had Torres and Morata, and Higuain...straight trash.

He is definitely player of the year this year, though

3 out of 4 times the winner is usually from the league winner's squad.

And City had some dreadful performances this year on top of that. Obviously not his fault, but that seems to be the bias in this voting.

Should be single elimination, neutral site

Still going to tune in for this Swansea Brentford game, as it's 105 great index here in Chicago and I feel a bit let down with the level of excitement from there PL finish.

Congrats Villa, not too worked up about the 3 going down. I was rooting for Norwich, but that was an eventuality from very early on.

I am also pretty sure we won't see bornmouth back for a long time

Nathan Ake is gone for sure.....

I know the Champ is a LOT of games, but might as well end it with one more at ours and yours, best team wins.

all skills and abilities of 2019/2020


Before him, my unrelenting love was for R9.....But since, I can watch this guy all day long.

It's going to be quite some time before another player steals my love.I don't see any magic with the up and coming players.

Hazard might be the last of the Mohicans ( R9, Ronaldinho,Messi, Maradona,Zidane,Robben, etc).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elRNfS9n8Us

Prove me wrong.

Let’s see how he does over time in a “normal” season

Finally ..reasonable thinking.

With a slow back line against Arsenal’s pace, you play a back 3 and press, AND you screw up all your subs. Basura

The 3-4-3 has been a hit or complete miss all year.

Seem la like Lampard wants to play in a 4-3-3 with two attacking mids but that only works with a world class DM.

>With a slow back line against Arsenal’s pace, you play a
>back 3 and press, AND you screw up all your subs. Basura

He has no idea what his best starting 11 is, or what his best formation is. He will be given time. He has no trust in his players so he keeps going with the same thing....almost like Sarri

Frank, like Sarri, fails to realize that when you don’t have the players to execute your style of play, you always go with protection. ....4-3–3 or 5-4-1 should have been implemented. Mourinho sucks offensively, but he ain’t going to get lit up by goals. He thinks protection first, and then get goals on the counter.

But if he does not improve his selection process next season, people will start screaming for John Terry.

I personally think when it is all said and done John Terry is going to be the coach at chelsea. I’ll give it 5 years

What a fucking trainwreck of a game for Chelsea.

TBH, some dodgy calls went Arsenal's way...but I'll take it.

Auba has literally carried us all season, and in these 2 games at Wembley.

Honestly shut down the Emirates and let's just play all our games there.

Our records at Wembley is insanely good, regardless of the quality of the team.

Pulls hamstring. That’s my only knock on him, can’t he maintain his health or condition?

I think his body type makes him injury prone. I’m still amazed at how hazard got pulverized in almost every game, but was ready for the next match. But hazard has a maradona/Messi type body..low center of gravity and pudgy.

No diss... I don’t know about this kid. I don’t think he can survive a full season.

And not snarky stuff all the time or battle all the time. Everything isn’t a diss, and no player is off limits just because he is liked or popular. I will talk about pulisic just like I talk about every other player.

He had a nasty adductor injury in January and missed a lot of time, and had to get back in form. 75 days total. After that , in march he was injured for 14 days, had to get back to fitness.

Now he has a pulled hamstring injury and will miss major time and will not be available for champions league.

And being how physical the premier league is, even more physical than bundesliga,
Where he had a run of injuries, it is a concern. He is 21 years old. In his last 2 years in bundesliga, he had constant torn muscle issues

This is his injury history

https://www.transfermarkt.us/christian-pulisic/verletzungen/spieler/315779


At chelsea, Willian and Hazard are and were the staples of being iron men. Hazard had one serious time of being injured and that was the hip injury under mourinho, and willian I don’t even recall a time. Florent Malouda was a steel winger, no time missed. Pedro pretty much without injury.....

So as a winger , for Chelsea, at the age of 21, will this guy be strong enough to stay on the pitch? I have my concerns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFStPiJtBow

It's one of my favorite soccer podcasts.

hoping for a good match

https://redditts.soccerstreams.net/event/brentford-fulham-live-stream/501226

these teams aren't very good.

but I dunno, it was from so far out how do you not get there?

and just like that, the guy scores again.

£170m win.

Taking too long to set the marking and not paying attention to the fact that the whistle had gone.

He was a total professional in his tenure, and his energy was relentless on both sides of the pitch. He dribbled, scored, and track backed with great intensity. He was another great pickup by mourinho, that helped form the great Spanish onslaught of costa,fabregas, Alonso and Pedro.

He will be added to Chelsea’s legacy of strong wingers : Malouda, willian, Robben, hazard, etc

Farewell to the gladiator Spaniard!

He just finished playing 5 successful years at chelsea, and in those years he
Played up to a legendary status for chelsea.

Thank you for messing up a CHELSEA tribute.

Seriously, please fock off.

just going to roma. all stah is a little extra, but this ain't about pedro's status at barca. we all know chelsea couldn't have produced a Pedro on their own. it is what it is :)

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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

That is, until L10 did it..

I wish him well at Roma. Still got a soft spot in my heart for Totti..

When a great player leaves a club, you send him off with a tribute, FACTS.

You send him off with a praise, which is what every chelsea fan is doing right now, and has done with drogba, hazard,etcccc...and will do when willian, Kanté,etc leave.

Pedro was very instrumental in Chelsea winning titles, and was an outstanding professional , which makes him a chelsea legend.

Everything is not meant to be some trivial shit.

which is actually like 5ish weeks from now assuming the "6 weeks" is from the diagnosis they received earlier in the week.

he might miss a game or two next season max. not bad at all.

It’s a worry, considering this is his third significant injury in a chelsea jersey. And he will again have to get back in form once he is cleared to start back training.

Getting one more significant left winger should be on the table, so it’s good that young players are getting called up for the CL.

Hopefully his recovery is fast.

Your online geography is off...wrong thread