The Rising Sun

I dont think they bring loans back if its just a tweak or pull and out for a few weeks, its usually if its more serious.

I think we should have kept Andrey Santos, he was ok in midfield for us. But selling 2 midfielders Enzo and Santos in the same window without any replacement isn't looking too clever.
Anyway, losing to the best team in the PL on Sunday isn't going to dampen my enthusiasm for the way we are trying to play under Xabi
Come on you BLUES !

Chelsea's record under BlueCo vs Arsenal:
W: 0
D: 3
L: 8
Hope their 'two right-backs in lieu of a midfield' strategy works out though. Meanwhile Arsenal can bring Zubimendi off the bench (and Guimarães whom they didn't even need).
Brilliant recruitment as always, trebles all round! Take your pick.

It does relate to us unfortunately, in the sense that Clearlake's non-Chelsea investments follow the same business model. Clearlake isn't investing in big name companies, it is investing in those smaller brands and trying to flip them to other PE for a (relatively) quick buck. It's a house of cards because it's built on the fallacy of perpetual growth.

Chelsea is a different investment, it is relatively safe and it is likely an asset they can borrow against to fund other operations.

We have zero midfield and zero good full-backs. I'm glad we signed a less good right-footed Cole Palmer (who does even more f**k all off the ball) for £117m though. Oh also a goalkeeper who is just Sánchez plus vibes. I hope all the private equity parasites get hacked to death after the next credit bubble bursts. Human detritus.

An interesting article in the Guardian today relating to concerns about the Private Equity Industry. While it doesn't relate directly to our club the way Clearlake operates has been observed to be more like a Private Equity company and this is certainly something to keep an eye on:
Private equity faces existential crisis in US as unsold companies pile up | Business | The Guardian

The idea that the Premier League cycle of borrowing and spending is unsustainable is starting to get some traction in the mainstream press:
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league-transfers-news-deadline-day-scr-rules-b3043423.html

Some managers believe that the system is the most important thing, others that the system is just a tool tailored to getting the best out of the players they have.
I think Alonso was asked about what system he would use in pre season, and that he indicated the way of playing mattered, the system did not.
If that is the case then I believe he will need to adjust the system in most games as Palmer, Estevao and Rogers have to be our way forward. There us much talent there, and should make for a great watch.

I think we should have kept Andrey Santos, he was ok in midfield for us. But selling 2 midfielders Enzo and Santos in the same window without any replacement isn't looking too clever.
Anyway, losing to the best team in the PL on Sunday isn't going to dampen my enthusiasm for the way we are trying to play under Xabi
Come on you BLUES !

I've just read a book about Clough called "Clough at War" detailing his falling out with the Derby hierarchy.
In the book he says tactics and systems are for teams that are " afraid to lose! " It was much simpler back then !

I think we should have kept Andrey Santos, he was ok in midfield for us. But selling 2 midfielders Enzo and Santos in the same window without any replacement isn't looking too clever.
Anyway, losing to the best team in the PL on Sunday isn't going to dampen my enthusiasm for the way we are trying to play under Xabi
Come on you BLUES !

I think we should have kept Andrey Santos, he was ok in midfield for us. But selling 2 midfielders Enzo and Santos in the same window without any replacement isn't looking too clever.
Anyway, losing to the best team in the PL on Sunday isn't going to dampen my enthusiasm for the way we are trying to play under Xabi
Come on you BLUES !

I think we need to calm down a bit. Palestra and Caicedo walk back into this team when fit and hopefully in the next couple of games Pep makes the LWB role his own. We need a CM in January and we're cushty. We're playing the most exciting football we've played since 14/15. One loss against the league champions with a cacophony of officiating errors doesn't change that. On another day Gabriel sees red within the first 10, their second goal is ruled out for Konsa's man handling of Rogers in the build up and we're walking away with at least 1 point. Everyone said before the game it was going to be an Arsenal win but a narrow 2-1 loss has everyone sh*tting the bed.

Everyone seaaon under BlueCo we suffer a glaring squad weakness despite spending millions. It's like sealing an air bubble and another pops up somewhere else.

Amen @PloKoon13 .
Game 1 after the window closed and we got the second round of "we have got internal solutions" briefs from BlueCo. How did that work out today?
The wingback we signed is being kept out of the team by a LCB. The midfielder you brought through Strasbourg via Brighton is being kept out of the side by not 1 but 2 right backs. How did those 2 "internal solutions" do against an actual world class midfielder in Declan rice?
Arsenal could bring on Merino, Zubimendi and Bruno Guimaraes who are all much better midfielders than James, Lavia and Gusto will ever be.
BlueCo have screwed over another manager, and all of us, with their incompetence, again.
We best get over this game fast, we must raise our standards reguardless of our issues, and we must beat Leeds, Hull and Brentford before the break.

As Joe Cole is saying, we were stupid to sell them Havertz - we did ok - and it might have been a different game if we'd played Estavao or brought him on earlier - I still don't see what people see in Neto - how many times did he put the ball in to no-mans-land yesterday... sure he'd do well at Citeh 😁
I know James is our Captain and all that but I think he's a right back - not much more.
Early days - cannot moan too much.

We didn't play our best, but still had our moments. Arsenal were the better team overall, but we didn't disgrace ourselves.
Obviously the issue with our defence and midfield are well-publicised. Alonso will have to find a way to address these issues.

Only looks stupid because we've wasted millions window after window.

I disagree. Their substitutions had exactly that in mind, withdrawing the likes of Havertz and Odegard at a time that they were both clicking. It's just they also have a deeper bench than we do at the moment

And Arsenal have got a Champions League game away to Napoli during the week. Didn't seem to be on their minds today at all

whatever happens today I hope our fans remember that we have a new manager trying to play in a different way. It's very early, and this is probably the best Arsenal team I've seen for a long time. We're going to have set backs, but we are going in the right direction I reckon.
Come on you BLUES !

I agree, but come January we must make two additions and do it early and large. We must get the box to box creative midfielder and we must get a top level CB, for depth.

for me this is pretty much spot on.
Front three are great but think the lack of a more creative box to box player will sometimes fail to unlock their full potency against the better sides as today.
Was disappointed to lose but probably a fair result on reflection, however decent performance with availability and I suppose trying to be positive good to actually feel disappointed in losing a game rather than fully expecting to get totally outplayed and well beaten.
Was originally sad to miss out on Europe last year but looking at where we are currently I think the opportunity for extra time on the training pitch with Alonso is gonna be extremely valuable to any development.

Give Xabi time to assess the team. I feel by January, that’s when he will start to fully get rid of more of the deadwood in this team.

I’m feeling optimistic with Xabi. He cut Sanchez out after him seeing that he’s not good enough.

And i think players like Fofana will be f**ked off out of the club.

For too long certain players haven’t been delivering.