Boston Blue

I don't think Costa, Drogba, Aguero, RvP, or Henry were more or less accomplished in their first full seasons with their parent clubs at their ages than Tammy is. Let's give him time to actually develop before we kill him for not meeting unrealistic expectations. Nobody wants to drink a wine that was just bottled.

I wouldn't allow him to tend my garden...…...

I agree with this. I think he likes the diving Hollywood highlight save. He's not particularly good coming for crosses, or commanding his box. He's not physically imposing, and has shown that he is error prone with the ball at his feet, as well as his hands. And it hasn't appeared that he has been working on these deficiencies in training as he hasn't improved them since he's been here. In fact, you could argue he's gotten worse.

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He's not going anywhere unless Frank is convinced he's not the GK he wants, we can find a suitable available replacement, and if we can find a club willing to give us some small percentage of what we paid for him. We're not City......we can't afford to just dump a player like that after we realize he's not what we want. I know we were forced into finding a TBO replacement quickly, but this certainly makes the argument that our scouting needs improvement so that we are ready to move when needed

Kepa was dropped for one game, but in terms of time, it will well over a week for him to reflect on being dropped. I wonder if Frank planned to have him have this extra time to think as a test.....We will see how he reacts......that will tell us what we need to know in terms of his mental makeup.

Everyone knows Kepa is not coming for crosses and will generally stand on (or near) his line. That makes teams pump balls into the box knowing it has a high probability of bouncing in or finding a teammate. Our defensive issues are due to a few reasons: Defensive rotation where our CB pairings (especially) are not a settled unit. This affects how the GK and defenders communicate and work together as a unit to organize A keeper who is not a commanding presence and seems to be more interested in making a diving, highlight reel save over fundamental GK positioning and play A keeper who does not seem to be improving in any of these areas where he is weak. I don't know what he's like in training, and what he's doing for extra work on the training ground with his coaches, but there does not seem to be growth or improvement in his game. I wonder what Cech thinks of his play and training habits. Having Kante being more advanced (and hurt at times) removes a layer of protection that our defenders previously had Clearly Kepa is in poor form. Only the team/club knows whether he's working hard enough in training to get through it. Given Frank's comments about picking the players that are deserving based on training, maybe Frank feels Kepa isn't doing enough to get through this poor patch and dropping him is a wake up call.

I can't look at Twitter anymore......I've unfollowed or blocked every idiot and immature crybaby I could. I wish the board backed Frank with some players. I'm also happy we didn't just pay "whatever it takes" for some targets, or bring in more mediocre players. But.......the board waited too long to do something. We knew Giroud was not in the plans and wanted to leave. We knew we needed to replace him. We know transfers get more difficult the closer you get to the window closing. We appear to have been unprepared despite the effort to overturn the transfer ban.

As mentioned, we can't keep everyone. He looks quick and exciting, but I'm not a fan of his size, and I don't know enough about his defensive play. But how ironic for us that now a youth player wants to leave because another youth player is blocking his progress...….

If alleged stories are to be believed, Jovic on a 6 month loan would get us through to the next window. I know he's been below expectation at RM, but he's physical and tough, has shown he can score, offers us something different to Tammy in style. Low risk on a short loan.

I'm as frustrated as anyone that we haven't bought anyone yet. We know Marina isn't going to spend a single Pound/Euro/Shekel more than she/the club thinks is the right value for that player. It's clear that any player we inquire about in this window is going to have an inflated price because the selling club knows we are desperate to maintain the Top 4 spot, and we have money to spend after being forced to sit out a window. There's a Plan A player list, and a Plan B player list, and if we are being quoted Plan A prices for Plan B players, then I can see where we might be hesitant. A lot of people are saying we should spend whatever it takes, but we have a disadvantage of at least 20,000 seats in our stadium as compared to some of the other top teams. I have to assume that things are operating exactly as Roman wants them to run. If he was not happy with our lack of transfer activity, he would change it. As the owner, he would either direct the people in charge to get certain players by whatever means necessary, or he would replace those people with others who would follow his wishes. Frank and the current squad have done a nice job so far, and Frank deserves some backing. But he's not the first of our recent managers to not get the signings he's asked for. You have to assume that Jose, Conte, Sarri, and Frank all discussed how they would be backed with signings during their interviews for the job. Each of their frustrations would lead you to conclude that the eventual reality did not meet their expectations. I just don't want any more Drinkwaters, Zappacostas, Rahmans, or Djilobodjis.

That could describe our style of play at times this season.

I believe they are using Velcro.

I thought last year that more kids from the Academy in the team would create more passion and fight for the shirt. This season, we have all these academy kids that have been proper Chelsea for years, and we still don't seem to have improved the mentality. I know these players are young, but there is an overall lack of steeliness in the squad. I thought Rudiger would have brought some of that back, but that hasn't happened yet either.

The transfer window isn't really open until I see a story linking us with a move for James Rodriguez.

And also because many people knew he had only one year of management experience in the Championship, so it was presumed he'd have to experience some on the job learning. Just like we knew that would be the case having to use so many young players. Earlier decent results seems to have skewed the expectations some.

This. His injury was painful, he was out for months, and the rehab really sucks. Not surprised he'd be hesitant. He looks a shell of his former self. He is putting zero fear into defenders right now. Today, he either just gave the ball away, or got knocked off the ball way too easily. Looks short on confidence. He is missing that swagger where he knew a big club wanted him desperately. I will say that the leap to head the ball later in the 2nd half where he flipped over backward and hit his head/neck on the way down was a good sign. Well timed, good leap, desire to get the ball.

I questioned one of these "insiders" on Twitter earlier today. His post said his sources inside the club said no decision has been received from CAS and we shouldn't believe anything we read. I pointed out how ironic it was that we should believe a tweet from him when he's pointing out that we shouldn't believe everything we read.

I could have sworn I saw a SkySports tweet this morning with breaking news that said CAS had upheld the ban. Now there is no tweet from them at all regarding the ban from today. Now there are all kinds of unsubstantiated stories claiming that the ban will be reduced. Proving, everyone wants to be first with the news, but no one really knows what is going on.

Kepa has made some saves that have preserved leads and games. I believe he should better command his area, come for balls into the box, etc, but that is for another thread. I don't know of a player like him that is available, but Van Dijk has made a pretty significant difference for Liverpool. JT made a pretty significant difference for us. Look at City without Kompany. Warrior like commanding CB leaders make a huge difference.

I didn't misread your post. The first part of my post included this statement regarding the previous (at the time) league games: "...…...we've given up goals in the last three league games to Burnley, Southampton, and Watford, all bottom half teams." I'm sorry, but I don't believe we are defensively solid. We may be a little better than earlier in the season, but we have been bailed out by Kepa on several occasions, and opposing teams have not taken their chances as clinically as they could have. I'm not confident we can hold a one or two goal lead against any league team at this particular time without severely anxious defensive periods. Maybe it gets a lot better when Kante is back. It will definitely get better if Alonso is kept off the field so he stops committing stupid fouls in areas of the field that allow teams to launch dangerous free kicks into our box.

The league table...…...

Defensive nightmare tonight......

That's not entirely true...…...we've given up goals in the last three league games to Burnley, Southampton, and Watford, all bottom half teams. Our GA is the worst in the top half. Granted, Rudiger has not been part of things, and he may help shore things up. But clearly depth is an issue. You can't always insert an unproven youth player in either...…...and we don't know how the young players will perform over a long season. Remember when Christensem hit the wall and Conte? I don't think he's reached the form or confidence he had in that first half of the season.

I'm not sure......He said there was no reason to discuss an extension when asked last year. SO I don't know how long term he is. Christensen has not developed into a dominant CB. I'm less convinced now that he ever will be that. And that's what we need. Yes, Guehi looks full of potential, but I see him benefitting from a loan where he can play consistently. And who knows what will happen with Ampadu…... Azpi has not been the lock down defensive player he has been, and his crossing has not been up to par this year. OK Reece James may be the answer here, but he's started how many games? We have all these players, yet we are still very dodgy defensively.