MANoWAR

As in through Abu Dhabi groups yes it's very shifty that they can circumvent through certain ways that others can't which seem very dubious in their legitimacy, but I don't think doing that is any more 'dodgy' than any of Chelsea's funding or that Roman wouldn't be able to pull a few strings himself (and to be honest, who knows if he does..)

I mean it's a mix of excellent ownership (nothing they do is notably more shady than having Roman bankroll us from the start), combined with the fact that they made 128m more over five years than we did -- simply through the CL consistently and going far in it. Quality on the pitch pays off, and Chelsea haven't met that with the same consistent basis. This is partly why managers get sacked when it's not looking favorable for the top four spaces. On a related note: It's also important to note that our commercial revenue looks quite poor given the status Chelsea has. Spurs themse

Matt Law (and later The Athletic) reported that the board haven't been convinced on Rice and feel he hadn't developed from his youth days - and that (supposedly) Lampard would push for it far more than they would. Whether or not it's the right call, the actual people who run the club think it's not a good plan to sign him, never mind the fans (I would want him here, but not at more than 60m). Maybe Tuchel will have an idea of somebody from the Bundesliga - Zakaria could be an option - because I'd be surprised if he doesn't look at our midfield and think its not lacking somebody in the mo

https://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/tuchel-laughs-about-psg-link-for-chelsea-midfielder-jorginho-4342107 😄

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Wasn't it partly because the surrounding areas (leaking onto Earl's Court) were known for male prostitution? Linked maybe?

One interpretation outside of this being made-up is that he was already scouted for a few years (i.e think back to Conte's tenure) and because we had two outgoing departures, he was going to be a signing (esp. for so cheap) that Lampard would've largely thought similar to, but would nonetheless be purchased regardless of the manager. It could be different in that case that the club weren't looking at Chilwell properly until he was actually requested/ wanted.

Aston Villa is another example - and now they've got a great owner with some good results. We're very fortunate to be in a position where we've had absolutely no issue with owner stability over our success, whereas most other clubs have! Liverpool were close to liquidation.

https://theathletic.com/2298337/2021/01/25/lampards-chelsea-sacking-tension-with-marina-unhappy-players-and-secret-job-offers Completely pilfered from Reddit (who has access to the article) https://www.reddit.com/r/chelseafc/comments/l4la7l/lampards_chelsea_sacking_tension_with_marina/ Lampard’s relationship with influential director Marina Granovskaia deteriorated Ralf Rangnick was offered interim job last week for four months but turned it down Calls were made in recent weeks to sound out Leipzig’s Julian Nagelsmann Leicester

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While we're on the topic of attacking output, just because I'm a bit of a stats nerd, here's some pretty graphs (one of which I sort of made..........): Obviously first indicates that our full backs cross a lot (no sh*t) but while we do make some chances there are a few other teams which cross less frequently but still make more chances - so they're more efficient at it than we are. Second is another way to demonstrate creativity, Chilwell's overall creativity (so that includes dribbles and passess - in SCA) isn't super high to where we'd want him to be relative to the rest of

I just discovered seen this elsewhere, it covers some of the downfalls of Chelsea's play: https://theathletic.com/2303208/2021/01/06/chelsea-lampard-tactics-werner?source=user-shared-article This is behind a paywall, but the 'Zonal Marking' podcast on Spotify is free and covers the exact same content. Cliff notes: - Chelsea are going better than their xG overall - it's 1.4 vs. their actual which is 1.7. Quite a big jump; Abraham has finished very well this season, Werner (obviously) hasn't and undershot his xG. xGA Chelsea are excellent - fourth in the table behind Man Cit

Lampard signed a 3-year contract in the Summer of 2019; I think it's highly unrealistic to even contemplate him filling that if we finish 6th or lower this season in particular if it's United and Leicester finishing ahead of us. If he sees Tottenham in that mix as well what chance is there Roman thinks 'ah, he's got the talent to turn this around'. If that happens, which is entirely realistic, then do you think he can just go to Roman and say 'Sorry boss, another 110m on Declan and Perisic will solve the job... and don't forget that expensive CB that you promised!' I also worry tha