mad_mac

regardless of where he's being played (and it has been all over the place), one thing that worries me about Sterling is his complete lack of ability passing players in a one v one situation. He tries to run at defenders, and unless it's from wide where he's cutting in to shoot with his right foot, he inevitably loses the ball and posession.

Actually bummed that for the first time in a long time I'll not be seeing Chelsea on a US Tour. Will be interesting to see what young lads get a run out. usually it's a chance for them to showcase. I remember oe of the Seattle games, and Kakuta and Stoch looked very good, but then didn't materialize. Wouldn't read too much into the games either, but I expect the usual meltdowns if we don't win 9-0

the uk rags loved to drag him. Think they even had a negative headline when he bought his mum a house

Ones of my favourite ever players, and completely ecstatic that he played for Chelsea, and won the CL with us. I was worried that he'd be too old etc, but he's been phenomenal. I'm not sure how he'd have fared in a back 4, but I don't care because that's hypothetical. Plus his wife is a riot on Twitter

Bloke asking was a Man City fan too, got what he deserved tbh

Now that he's here, I'll support him. Terry said that it was a great signing too

Kenyon running in with the Olympic torch to get the deal done

I'm sure it has been said elsewhere, but I can't see new American ownership come in and sell the prized American asset on the team. I expect him to be here again this season, and then if no improvement, he's gone

part of the US Squad. I am not sure that Barca are going to be able to sign anyone, given their financial situation.

Enjoy yourself mate. Usually I make one of the US Tour stops, but I just can't make it work this year. I've done SEattle a couple of times, and Minneapolis the last time the team were here. If you're US based and have twitter, follow Chelsea In America. They usually set things up outside of the game and have had past players at loads of events. Sadly the guy I know within the org isn't able to attend this year either

Looks like he's been seen down at Arsenal's training grounds...photo of him hugging someone from Arsenal staff

I think I remember hearing he was doing time for domestic abuse, but stand to be corrected (violent stalking and kidnapping...3 years bird)

Chatted with my mate who is a Juve fan who also told me we were getting Conte ahead of it happening. For what it's worth, he's pretty certain that MDL is done at Juve, and they are going to use the money to rebuild the squad and challenge for the Serie A after finishing 4th the past two seasons. He's also telling me that Koulibaly from Napoli is who they want to target as a replacement. Take all this for what it's worth, but just sharing a Juve fans perspective, and that's probably as good as most ITK

I thought the Boehly - Mendes meeting was merely him tapping up the agent to talk about the intricacies of dealing with purchasing players in Europe, seeing as Boehly is stepping into the interim DoF role. The CR7 talk was merely a courtesy of that meeting

Durie was tough because he harped on about being homesick and wanting to go back to Scotland, then effed off to Spurs Burley is just miserable, and even blasts Celtic a lot too. He never really got over being resigned to the bench in the FA Cup final either. Poyet as stated went to Spurs then kissed the Cock in front of the Chelsea fans when he scored against us at the Lane. I know he said later that he was caught up in the moment; however, he was really nasty to Jon Harley who was playing well for us at the end of the 90's. He was a young Left Back and if Poyet ever messed up, he'd turn round and berate Jon as if it was his fault. Completely shattered the young land, IMHO

from what I am reading, the ties to the fans are being done at the board level (this was already in place before Petr leaving), and despite TB asking Petr to stay a few times, Petr himself has asked to leave. Lets maybe hold off bashing new ownership already

He's doing all the right things, and I've high hopes for him. I think he could play wide left of a front three

I definitely don't see Barkley or Saul in our squad next season, so I think we can count them out. I also stated that my opinion about Billy not making it at Chelsea is predicated on ALL of our current midfielders coming back again next season. So, if we think of the current squad we have: Jorginho, Kovacic, Barkley, Kante, RLC, and even Mount. I've not included academy or Saul in there. But that's 6 players for two spots (again, I know Mount is more forward). Now, lets assume it's next season and maybe J5 has gone to Italy, and we decide to sell Kante, there are obvious gaps that need filled, and Billy "could" be one of the players to be brough back, just as Gallagher could also be. However, the rumours of Tchouameni, Rice, Casimero to name but a few, make me feel we will buy to replace them rather than give Billy and Conor first crack. Again, this is all conjecture and hypothesizing, and maybe I'm being pessimistic because I don't want to get my hopes up. But I'd be willing to bet that Billy will not be part of the Chelsea squad next season.

Ok, bear with me a little here, as I'm not trying to talk through the merits, or lack thereof, of him going to Norwich on loan. I think the new manager is playing him more often, so that's good; and I'll leave it at that. However, if I take my blue-tinted, Scottish glasses off for a minute and think in as neutral a mindset as I can have, I don't think we will ever see Billy back at Chelsea. I don't want that to happen obviously, as one of the reasons I followed Chelsea back in the early 90's was due to the Scottish players we had back then, and I'd love to have a full time member of op. "But what makes you think this, Scott? Surely we need depth in our midfield!" Thank you for the question, and I agree with your sentiment here; however, we seem to favour a midfield 2 under TT, which limits chances for Billy. If we ever switched more to a 4-2-3-1, or even a 4-3-3 I could see it, but the 3-4-3 formation with wingbacks making up 2 of the middle 4, I'm not sure that favours Billy's chances. I will also admit that my feelings on this also depend on another couple of factors outside of formational preferences: 1) That everyone we currently have fighting for one of the two midfield spots returns next season, 2) that there is weight behind some of the rumours out there suggesting we are looking at midfielders like Rice, Tchouameni, and even Casimero are all being linked with us. I get it, different players, different positions, etc; but that's starting to look like a lot of players vying for few spots, and 3) the absolutely amazing-to-see emergence of Conor Gallagher as a top footballer who we can recall next season. I've tried to watch as many Norwich games as I can, and obviously I'm waiting for the inevitable gut-wrench of Scotland failing to qualify for the WC, so I've seen him play for his NT a lot. He's a good wee footballer, maybe a little lightweight (not that big a concern for me), and he was put in numerous MotM performances for Chelsea, Norwich, and Scotland. There is a good player in there, I'm just not sure it's good enough to warrant guaranteed first team football at Chelsea next season, especially if we add players. I can see him maybe going on loan again, or possibly signing on with another team under the promise of more regular first team football.

a rather turgid affair, lots of possession but little end product. I feel that both James and Azpi delayed balls into the box far too often. Also felt that Mount tried hard but could have looked up more. Lukaku at the end could have squared it to RLC. Anyway, 3 points, but obviously in second due to goal difference. Take it and move on. Up the Chels

It's wild to see folks getting upset about a banner celebrating a player that's been with us since they were 6yo ffs. Anyway, i'm all for all our academy lads getting banners

Stories doing the rounds on Twitter (so take this with a grain of salt), that he's unhappy with the way he's being treated, and will push for a move in the next Window. It does seem strange that we made a big deal to keep him, and yet under a few managers now he's only got a few limited chances, and not even in his best position. Starting to wonder if the club are kicking themselves for not taking Bayern's offer a couple windows back

Billy has always impressed me carrying the ball forward, he has great vision for passes too. He stated before that he saw himself as a "Fabregas" type player. I think he's good, but really excels with a solid DM beside him

https://www.thefa.com/news/2021/sep/01/chelsea-fc-charged-010921

great read, thanks for sharing! What a story, and how great that his parents, even though separated, both told him he wasn't coming home!