Butterhampton FC

I'm American but I do not share the same enthusiasm for Pulisic as others. Clearly a purchase by the club to gain a bigger fanbase in the states. He couldn't even get into the Dortmund team when he was healthy and doesn't provide enough final product. He'll be gone in 2 years.

Saw that after I posted. Shame. He just scored a goal again today as Atalanta moved into fourth spot in Serie A. They are also now in the Italian Cup final.

Maybe this is an unpopular opinion but I am fine with him leaving in the summer, especially considering our 30+ rule with contract extensions, and the crop of great young players we have in the academy or out on loan. Who knows, maybe we could sell him for decent $ to Middle East or China.

I rated Kovacic so much and while he was a teenager at Inter, I was hoping we would sign him. I remember, when he came off the bench to make his first appearance for Chelsea this season and played for 20-25 minutes, he was the best player on the pitch. His dribbling skills and 1-2 play with Hazard was phenomenal. I thought they would be dynamite together and I thought he would be scoring the odd few goals and providing lots of assists and incisive passes. Sadly, like most of our team, he has stagnated or gone in reverse. I can't remember a good performance since that opening appearance. Maybe I am too harsh of a critic but if we're going to let Hazard go to Real Madrid, we better get something better in return than a 100m euro fee and Kovacic, he is a wasted body imo.

Fair. I will admit I stopped reading closely when I saw you said keep Higuain no matter how awful! 😉

Totally disagree. If we are going to languish in UEL and between 4-6 place, we might as well draft in Abraham and give him a proper chance and have Giroud teach him. Abraham and Giroud would lead the line much better than Higuain. What else does Tammy need to do at this point?! He'll be another great young talent we regret not giving a chance and leaving.

Please take Sarri, Jorginho, Kovacic, Willian, Pedro, David Luiz, and Marcos Alonso with you on your way out the door this summer Gonzalo.

He's had a pretty good year for a surprising Atalanta team, who after tomorrow could be in the Italian Cup final and are only outside of a Champions League spot on head-to-head difference with Milan. I've always rated this lad, maybe he is not quite up to level of Chelsea but I guess you'd never know unless he puts the shirt on. Certainly Jorginho, Higuain, Emerson, Marcos Alonso, David Luiz, Zappacosta, etc. have been given every opportunity this year. So maybe why not give him an opportunity in cup games? But it might be past that stage now with this being his fourth loan at a club in a major league in Europe. Anyone see him ever playing in a Chelsea shirt though?

apologies if posted before, haven't been around in a while. One of my favorite artists just released a new single a week or two back and it's an absolute jam!

Apologies, yes it is Sibneft. Always get them confused now that Gazprom is one of our main sponsors! Thank you Englishman!

Yes they are Kage. Abramovich's company, Gazprom, was helped out a lot by Putin. Maybe a little too much... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/10713040/Roman-Abramovich-should-face-sanctions-says-Vladimir-Putin-critic.html

Putin voted as Forbes Most Powerful Person in the World. Terrible news for the world, great news for Chelsea?

By the way, Thorgan Hazard scored a brilliant goal in the German Cup this week for Gladbach. Hope he will start to get more opportunities with the first team with strikes like this. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2814761/Thorgan-Hazard-scores-stunner-Borussia-Monchengladbach-remind-Chelsea-talent-eat-heart-Eden.html?ito=video_player_click

That's exactly my point though, and the same could be said about Bertrand, di Santo or McEachran. Some of them made a handful or more appearances for the club but it didn't work out. So I don't think it's impossible like the critics say to break through into the squad. You're just going to have to be class. Macheda made 19 appearances because he scored important goals in his first two. Once the goals dried up, people realized he didn't have the talent to cut it at OT. It shouldn't be a shot against their/our youth teams because the players don't break into the first team.

Don't believe it. Have you ever stopped and noticed all the former United academy players in the Premier League? Some names that come to mind are Paul Pogba, Gerard Pique, Danny Welbeck, Kieran Richardson, Frazier Campbell, Jonathan Greening, Federicho Macheda, Guiseppi Rossi, Richie de Laet, Ryan Shawcross, Chris Eagles, Phil Bardsley, and the list goes on... They stockpiled so many promising young kids and for the most part, never gave them a proper chance, loaning them out to their feeder club in Belgium or in the lower divisions and then selling them to average Premier League/Championship clubs or abroad. We're now among the top football clubs in the world and thus it'll be tough for young players to break through. Only the cream can do it. Look at Madrid for instance, Callejon has been a revelation for Napoli but he couldn't get a sniff in there. Now, Varane is starting to become a regular at Madrid. Not every player in our academy has the skill/ability to become a Chelsea regular and inevitably some who do may be overlooked and go on to have a great career. But I think it's very promising that Ake, Zouma, Christiansen, Solanke and Baker are all getting proper sniffs at the first team and hopefully all of them can stay here for the better part of their careers and continue improving and become the next generation of Chelsea stars.