No sign of an article in the Tele today from that odious pr1ck Jason Burt who's probably hiding somewhere desperately hoping we lose to Spurs so he drag up a few cliches to prove he was right all along.
C*nt.
And a coward, too.
Meanwhile, how good is Kai Havertz? And win the league or not, how good are we for a team so young? :love:
How infuriating is Kai Havertz, is the question. 1st half, I wanted to lamp him, 2nd half, he was superb.Quote:
Originally Posted by WES
I'll eventually get bored of saying this but Odegaard, £30m :hehe: :hehe:
Quite, but also:Quote:
Originally Posted by PSRB
Saliba 27mil
Havertz 65mil
Raya 25mil
White 50mil
etc
Edu/Arteta really have been doing rather well in the transfer market. And just when they look like screwing up, Chelsea come to the rescue :-)
Ridiculed for paying so much for ben white. Ridiculed for signing tomiyasu. Ridiculed for signing havertz Ridiculed for signed ramsgate, and then for replacing him.Quote:
Originally Posted by WES
Lets hope he makes a few more ridiculous signings this summer 😁
Just one more point needed for top four 👍😁
But, but, Chelsea are a young team. It was mentioned a few times last night...Quote:
Originally Posted by WES
Along with McCoist borderline cheering on Chelsea.
It's his languid stylee innit.Quote:
Originally Posted by PSRB
See also Kanu and Ozil.
That said, Havertz held off Cucurella (who was particularly **** and annoying) like he was a small child.
and St. Totteringham :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
How **** was Mudryk? Utterly anonymous.Quote:
Originally Posted by IUFG
Whilst he might come good, it currently looks like we dodged a bullet, there.Quote:
Originally Posted by PSRB
"The Tiredness" is a fairly recent fabrication. Not long ago it was simply EXPECTED that players would play every game.Quote:
Originally Posted by WES
You'll like this photoQuote:
Originally Posted by IUFG
https://twitter.com/LowerNorthBank/s...30342175142253
To be fair, you have to apply some context here. With Arteta you have coaching and structure that can get great performances from good players. With Chelsea it is precisely the opposite- a total mess that turns really good players into mush. They could **** up Maradona.Quote:
Originally Posted by PSRB
I think there is a good player in Mudryk. I know there is in Caicedo because I saw it at Brighton. But he has been appalling at Chelsea for the most part. Their defending last night was atrocious- you wouldn't get away with that playing for the Bricklayers Arms.
No matter how good he becomes, the signing of Trossard will remain the better option. He has been massive for us for 18 months and we needed immediate contributions, not future promise. An absolute steal.Quote:
Originally Posted by IUFG
To a point maybe but Cole Palmer doesn't seem to be hindered by that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
I bow to no man in my admiration for Odegaard, and despite his man of the match performance he clearly didn't look quite right in the first half - a number of misplaced passes which is completely unlike him.Quote:
Originally Posted by WES
Saka is definitely running on fumes.
Saliba has been looking a little iffy in recent weeks.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir C
No, nor Gallagher. Some players can still thrive in chaos but others will struggle.Quote:
Originally Posted by PSRB
Look at what they did to Havertz. He was a shell of a footballer when he joined us and it took months to get him looking as though he wanted to be on the pitch again. And he only worked through it by playing regular minutes. Mudryk is in and out. Understandable as he is genuinely stand-out awful, but I still think there is ability there.
Excellent. Captures Cucurella's contribution to his team last night, perfectly.Quote:
Originally Posted by PSRB
Was a bit surprised to see Jackson get away from him. Looked very leggyQuote:
Originally Posted by Peter
Yes, although Jackson is very quick. Saliba has misplaced a few passes in recent games and there have been a few examples of him making the wrong decision.Quote:
Originally Posted by PSRB
Overall, still bloody good :-)
I think, Saliba has played every minute of every PL game this season. So not surprising.Quote:
Originally Posted by PSRB
Declan has also played every game, but he must be some kind of Barcelona-esque, EPO-munching beast.
True. I suppose we don't notice the little mistakes in midfield as much. He did make a big one for the first Bayern goal at the Emirates.Quote:
Originally Posted by IUFG
Agreed on Saka, who looks a shell of the player we saw post the Dubai break.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir C
If I'm honest, he's getting on my tits a bit. I know he gets kicked a lot, but at times he is making too much of it instead of getting on with it when we're in a good position and could use him, instead of having him whining at the ref.
Happened against Wolves and had me raging at him. :hide:
Not sure Arteta would tolerate Maradona qua Maradona.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
Fair enough. I mean I trust our players and our manager but I guess some fans are going to have their opinions :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by WES
He takes a lot of kicks through the back of him, they hurt.Quote:
Originally Posted by WES
He took the left back out in the first half. Loved it :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by PSRB
He was a properly irritating little pr1ck, wasn't he?Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
Their LB, not Saka :-)
I'd just like to see Saka get on with it a little more, but I understand him wanting to make a show of it at times given how often he is kicked.
But against Wolves we were in a great position and looked like scoring while he was rolling around whining at the ref instead of getting up and getting on with it. One needs to time one's gamesmanship properly imo.
That left back is an utter clown, he always has been. Amazed Pep was ever interested in him.Quote:
Originally Posted by WES
The problem with Saka is that there isn't that much a ref can do about it. 99% of the time they are not bad fouls, just shoves or kicks or shirt pulls to stop him getting anywhere. It is never going to stop and refs can book the guy eventually but it takes 3 or 4 fouls before he can, realistically.
We've put a lot of miles on Saka's legs in the last couple of years so it isn't surprising to see him tired. We really do need to think about how we can offer him a break next season. I expect Arteta will be looking at options for that over the summer.
The next phase of our development is going to be maintaining consistent performance alongside limited but regular rotation. Every side has players they need to field pretty much every week but we have too many of them- White, Gabriel, Saliba, Rice, Odegaard, Saka and now Havertz. City arguably have only four- Dias, Rodri, De Bruyne and Haaland.
I suspect MA thought Nelson would provide that cover but he's been either injured or crap.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
Mostly crap imo :nod:Quote:
Originally Posted by PSRB
He doesn't pick him so we have to assume he has his reasons :-(Quote:
Originally Posted by WES