foxedup

We've lost all of our scouts over recent years pretty much, to Everton, Spurs, Arsenal. It's a philosophy more than a person, and not really a way of working bigger teams can follow. Unless they are willing to accept the issues that come with it (inconsistency etc).

I'd rather you did as well. Don't think anyone will be sold this summer, Rodgers wants to keep the team together and add to it for a season.

Football is about dreaming, not so long ago Chelsea were a mid table team, a team relegated to division two with a few past glories to think of and dreams of hopefully getting it together and having future glories. It's what keeps clubs going, the dream that maybe, one day, you'll be the team that gets it together and rises through the leagues. You cannot end those dreams for people, without it football is worthless to 99% of the clubs out there. Yes it's unlikely and has become even more unlikely because of the financial disparity in football (that's another story). But it CAN still happen. Nearly 13 years ago my team got relegated to league one, the lowest we've ever been as a club. It was devastating, you feared for the club but you always kept dreaming that the right set of circumstances can turn it around. 12 years ago yesterday we won league one, we then went on to win the championship, the premier league, reached the quarter finals of the champions league and yesterday, 12 years to the day of getting out of league one, we reached the final of the FA Cup for the first time since I've been alive. Hours later, the door gets closed on any further dreams. The premier league will become a procession of haves and have nots (it's bad already, but this is the final nail), an utterly meaningless competition when clubs already know they won't be allowed into a closed shop. And if my some miracle you were, those already there would bloody well make sure it was only short term. Merit has to be the deciding factor on who is deserving and who it not, not how many fans you have in China or India. Or how many official paint sponsors you have.

Because you haven't looked very far? https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2020/08/25/ben-chilwell-join-chelsea-five-year-deal-week/ https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11668/12056806/ben-chilwell-chelsea-complete-50m-signing-of-leicester-left-back-on-five-year-deal https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/aug/26/chelsea-confirm-signing-of-ben-chilwell-from-leicester-for-50m

I've said the other day on here that the whole team was sh*t, no hiding that. So I wouldn't read too much in to the end of last season. His form can be very up and down and if the crowd get on his back he'll struggle. I think he'll nail down your left back spot for the best part of a decade, just give him time.

It's called... let's quote them a silly price and see how desperate they are, like the mugs at Man United. You weren't as desperate or as stupid it seems. £50m+ a nice bundle of add ons is more than reasonable for a player who was sh*te for the last 6 months of last season and can blow hot and cold. Don't get me wrong, I think he'll make the step up as he always has. But he's not the finished article yet and some patience will be needed.

Those top speed stats are nonsense... but... as a Leicester fan I can put this "slow" stuff to bed. He's not, he's clearly one of the quickest in our team and not a single Leicester fan has ever accused him of being slow or his pace being an issue.

Anyone thinking he's being signed off the back of a single season, that says more about your ability to see players outside of the usual elite clubs than it does Chilwell. Liverpool wanted to spend £10m on him before he'd even kicked a football for our first team Arsenal also had bids turned down. He was head and shoulders above other players in the youth ranks and has been tracked for years by clubs. His loan at Huddersfield saw their fans and pundits rave about him in the championship, and he then made the step up for us to become a first team regular for three seasons. Clearly being one of our most talented young prospects, and one of our better players even at a young age. He cemented himself as first choice left back for England on the back of his performances and before struggling to get over an injury and in a team where everyone was suffering from a crisis of confidence, he'd started the season once again as one of our better players. It's a move that's been five years in the making and he's been building up to. If you think people haven't been tracking him and seeing his progression for a long time, then you are wrong. If you didn't sign him, he'd probably be moving to Man city or Man United within the next 12 months. Yeah he's not the finished article, but this isn't a rush transfer off the back of a short period of good play.

Well that's utter nonsense.

Second half of the season he was awful.... but.... our entire team was utter dog muck the second half of the season. Now, they aren't all bad players, we just couldn't get out of a slump. He's prone to the odd lapse, but I really don't think there is that much of an issue defensively. In terms of issues we had in our team, Chilwell's defensive issues would barely register on my list. He's had to deal with working next to Maguire and Soyuncu, who quite honestly probably make more errors than Chilwell ever does and are prone to going walkabout. He also played with Barnes in front of him all season, who is a lad playing his first full season in the top leagues and would leave him exposed... they also never really gelled. As for the price... he's English, you can put £20m on a young English players price for that fact alone. For a young English left back with a huge amount of promise and room to grow, it's probably standard when buying from the premier league.

Bloody hell he's not that bad, he's not even bad. He was a part of a team with the 5th best defence in the league and a team that finished 5th (would have been better but for injuries and Rodgers negativity), he was an important part of it also and we missed him when he was out. He's got a lot of positives about his game, my one major issues being a poor decision or a poor cross when in a great position, but honestly that's something that can be worked on and with a better set of players around him, he'll have far more options, and the pressure won't be on to find a perfect ball to one person in the box. I think I saw a few people saying he's not quick enough, I don't know what planet they are on. He's one of our quicker players and pace has never, ever been an issue for anyone here. He's able to get past players with ease and can run all day. When he first broke into the team he made some silly errors and would play dangerous balls across the box and stuff like that. But he's cut that out and seems to learn from his mistakes. He's a good player that I think we'll miss as an individual. But the money can probably be used to strengthen several areas and improve the team, just like the Maguire and Mahrez money did. Put it this way... is he better than the left backs at Arsenal, Man U, Man City, Spurs. Yes he is.

Begs the question... why not just sack him off now. He's coming in instead do you think?

Lads what on earth is happening at your club, please don't take it as an attack I'm genuinely interested. You spent money in the summer but it all seemed last minute and a bit half arsed. Now you're scratching around after Crouch and Carroll. Where does the problem lie?

If you'd watched us a decent amount of times, then you'd know that during our championship winning season, we had plenty of teams who just tried to shut up shop against us. Just as they continue to do this season, on current form we'll probably end up 7th, best of the rest. There are plenty of teams who don't want to attack us and just come looking for a point, just as they do you guys. The difference in those games most of the time? Mahrez. If we were talking about Vardy then fair enough, there is a reason he scores so many goals against the big boys, because the games are usually more open and he gets the space. He does tend to be less effective against a packed defence. Mahrez doesn't have an issue with that. We played a defensive team on Saturday with 8 defensive players behind the ball and he was still the best player on the pitch.

Ok... well you clearly haven't watched many Leicester games.

I think you've misunderstood. The point was the inconsistency people think he has, is a Leicester issue not getting him into good positions, rather than a Mahrez issue. The better the team he moves to, the better he'll look as his team mates with be a) better at finding him in the right areas b) actually give him support, rather than Danny Simpson standing 50m away as his only option and c) you have other threats that draw players away, where as here he's pretty much our only creative threat and the opposition try and crowd him out. Mahrez can put people on their arse with the flick of his boot, he's got no problem in tight situations with a lot of players. He's saved us game after game where teams came to frustrate us.

It was a bit tongue in cheek and more a comment on how quickly the market moves forward, whilst also setting the stall out for people to stop expecting us to accept a sh*tting offer just because Mahrez fancies a shot at playing somewhere else. Roma bid £17m in the summer FFS Mahrez isn't actually as inconsistent as people think, you need to watch us week in week out to understand our and his issues. As a team our form has been so up and down the last few years, Mahrez gets affected by that. When the other 10 are off their game or not confident, the only chance Mahrez gets to do anything is on the half way line, with no support and surrounded by 5 players... he's good, but expecting him to produce from those positions all the time is ridiculous. His skills and ability always shine through, even if as a team we aren't putting him in the positions and situations he needs to be able to imapct the game. People see that as a Mahrez issue rather than a Leicester issue, which it actually is. Somewhat like people doubting Hazard because your whole team was poor on Saturday and struggles to create situations for him to perform.

An agreement that we won't stand in his way has been in place for two years, but that doesn't mean we have to accept any offer. It has to be a substantial amount of money and inline with the current market. If someone wants to pony up £75m then the club will let him go.

Please send Kante back asap.

Please don't play Drinkwater, I'm not ready to see him and Kante playing in the middle against us. It'll break by little heart.

Honestly, he's so much more than that and he will suit your style down to the ground. He's a very forward thinking player, not a DM by any stretch, always looking up and forward and not the sort of player who just passes back to the defence 100 times a game. A real box to box player who can do a bit of everything. Good vision, good at passing. Ignore the passing stats here, that's to do with our style of play... Kante was no different here and his stats are fine now. DD is a far superior passer than Kante as well. His shooting does let him down at times, but the fact he's won goal of the season two or three times (can't remember exactly) in the last 4 tells you he's more than capable.

Good luck to him, incredibly sad to see someone go who started the incredible journey we've had. Even more so when they are one of the 5 players who were always a level above the rest. Is you worry about the fee, look at it this way... you got Kante for about £35m less than he was worth in this Market. So you've got two for one. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

That's exactly, as was stated last night by good sources. Them all the click bait bullsh*t artists took over.

Adrien Silva on a plane for talks from Sporting. Looks like this will happen if things go smoothly.

We've been playing a guy who has been out injured for the last two years with serious injuries. We have no idea if he's up to DD's level.