Paddy

...............but Oli has been ripping up trees in every game he’s played then, such that you would argue him to be reliable and consistent ? I find it bizarre that you would think Oli has been that player but Reece is meh ? Funny how football opinion can be so differing, but is it about opinions so fair play if that’s what you feel ?

Well if your going to include Giroud in the reliable and consistent list then I would argue Reece too imo .

Remind me, how many managers have Chelsea gone through since Mr A took over ?

Is that true ? Was the manager asked about Torres or Shevchenko ? I understood that these were both RA buys - like it or lump it ? I don’t know RA but I believe he makes a lot of decisions about players without consultation and that the manager is expected to incorporate them ‘or else’ ?

I don’t think your suggestion should be dismissed out of hand, but we potentially lose as much as we might gain ie a top quality player who can genuinely play at right back or wing back and I’m not sure that he could or would want to play in that position? I’ve said before that it’s easy to be blasé with someone else’s money, but if the club is serious about eating at the top table then we have to have a squad of players of pedigree who consistently turn in 8/10 performances week after week - Silva is a short term sticking plaster and Dave is 32 at the start of next season - RA needs to splash the cash I’m afraid - hopefully he will let TT be involved in identifying the players needed - and the players needed aren’t exclusively defenders or centre backs either btw.

How do you reconcile Reece James ? He’s an exceptional talent and I don’t think he’ll be happy not starting, especially as I think he would have every right to consider himself the better option ? Football opinion divides like nothing else, but I personally think that RJ offers so much more. I don’t believe that cho’s defensive awareness or abilities are anywhere near good enough to be considered a proper wing back, he switches off too often, ball watches and forgets he has defensive responsibilities - was yesterday’s ice pack a face saving smoke screen ?

There in lies the rub - the word ‘seem’ . We are back to that piece of paper where it is written that these are generational , once in a life time talents , when in fact, thus far, they have been, mostly, no better than bang average or , in some instances, even worse. Can they, will they come good ? f**k knows, but I have to say the signs for Ziyech particularly don’t look good to me - I wonder if Havertz will prove to be as much of a disappointment as Ozil ? They are included in our PL & CL squads and all the while they are there, no one else can be considered so the biggest task ahead will be deciding who is staying and who isn’t and whether the decision makers believe what’s written on the various bits of paper ? Oh, and, for me, you can add Mendy to that list too - he’s light years ahead of Kepa but he isn’t good enough to be the first choice keeper and if yesterday he catches the ball (I feel it was eminently catchable) instead of punching it , then there is no penalty drama or controversy ?

Yeah, shame the same can’t be said about our underpants tho

agree - it would just be swapping one problem with another

He honestly looks out of his depth - we are effectively playing with 10 men with him on the pitch , gotta replace him ASAP

It’s staggering how little we shoot at goal from .....well from anywhere really , inside or outside the box. I understand all players have a better or preferred foot, but I find it quite shocking how one footed we are ?

Sam Allardyce? Simeone looks more like Gary glitter than Gary glitter, the old nonse

You are of the opinion that , ‘We have some very good players’ ?? Well, as we all know, football is subjective, so it depends on what you think it takes to be a very good player that will define your opinion I suppose, but this is how I look at it; If Manc’s C and U, Leicester and the pikeys - the clubs currently occupying the top 4 spots in the PL , add in Spuds, the arsewipes, Everton and the dippers, all pooled their match day squad players along with ours and then the club’s picked a player each in rotation - exactly like after school football matches - how many of our players would be in the very first round of picks and how left in the final group for selection and how many of our current squad would TT pick?! The only players of genuine, consistent week after week quality , are Mount and Silva. Close behind is James, although he has his moments ! , but let’s say 3, only those 3 I would consider to be very good and the only one in the first round pick is perhaps Silva? Perhaps slightly better than average on their day are Kova, Kante and chilli. The rest are mostly distinctly average, mid to bottom half PL or even championship level in some cases . ..................Havertz- coveted by a host of clubs - really !!! Offers to Marina c/o Stamford Bridge because he’s shown f**k all to suggest he’s average , never mind good and especially not very f**king good !!! Werner- Scored for fun last season and still making good runs. - mate, a) he has the WORST first touch I have ever seen in a professional footballer b) he can not control a pass played to him c) he consistently under hits his pass d) he consistently over hits his pass e) he’s called banjo because, like the back of the net, he couldn’t hit a cows arse with one, but if all of this is what it takes to be a very good player then my c*cks a bloater ?! Pulisic- if he can get the injuries under control, a very big threat - in my world you need to be consistently good to be considered very good, showing glimpses and then being absolute pants, injury or no, can’t allow you to be considered good - for example - Sergio Aguero has more injuries than most but when he plays he is very very good . Mount- One of England’s brightest young talents - Absof**kinglutley he is. CHO- Skill, pace, any top team would love him. Hmmmm, before yesterday and since TT took over, he’s had his chance and he’s played ok and sometimes better than ok, but he often a) switches off and ball watches b) switches off and forgets his role and defensive responsibilities c) rarely takes on his opposite number in a foot race as a winger should with dribbles/step overs - how many pens has he won ? d) instead of taking the defender on, he often will pass sideways or back. I’m inclined to suggest more offers to Marina and if the money is right let him go, because I don’t believe that he is any better than average when he can be bothered. I suspect you maybe a stats man , but the piece of paper that you imagine hypothetically makes us easily top 4 might well belong to Eurynomos ? As for you summation that it’s for TT to get a tune out of this squad, well you are correct , but I don’t believe that it is possible to polish a turd , sorry, RA needs to spend I’m afraid.

It’s all so depressing at times - we were awful again. We have a lot of very average players, who, as a collective are also average - if we are honest, we aren’t a good enough side to challenge for trophy’s with this crop of players, I’m afraid to say, we don’t even play exciting football. Out of all of this, what is completely evident is Mr A needs to get the Amex card out again this summer and get someone who knows something about football and footballers to spend his money , cause who ever bought the last lot and Kepa knows f**k all - IMO .

Well, one thing that might work in our favour is that both teams have to travel due to Spain’s COVID rules , so no ‘home’ advantage in this leg for either side ? Bucharest here we come , it’s an almost 4 hour flight from Madrid and slightly more from London - it might help?

I don’t think Kepa is having an especially poor run of form, I honestly believe that what we’ve seen is as good as he gets and (I know it’s easy to say in hindsight) but he’s too short, too light, too timid, too everything really to be top club keeper and if we all think that then every other club will surely think the same , I don’t think he is able to improve - this is as good as it gets. Bearing in mind the length of his contract and his current salary , it adds up to squillions in earnings over the next 4 and bit seasons that he hasn’t a hope in hell of earning anywhere else so I don’t think he’s, voluntarily, going anywhere any time soon. The worst part of all of this for me, is that he remains as the number 2 to Mendy and then comes the day when he has to step up - f**king disaster time ! It’s a real conundrum, a proper buggers muddle, who would give 13.5 for him ? I can’t see it - we wouldn’t so why would anyone else? Its easy to play with someone else’s money, but rather than let him warm the bench, loan him out, pay his salary for the whole of his contract and get a genuine No 1. keeper in his stead.

Southampton we’re doing ok and their manager had/has made them organised , but this is the team that has been stuffed 9-0 twice in successive seasons by teams above us and challenging for a top 4 place, not to mention being beaten recently by some of the lesser lights in the PL. If we seriously expect to be ‘contenders’ we have to be beating the likes of the S’hampton, it’s not a question of being over confident, it’s a question of the natural order of things when you have PL & CL expectations - we don’t wanna be diffident or timid, this is about belief, it’s about time we started to walk with a bit of a swagger and introduce that fear factor when teams play us, especially mid table teams on a bad run IMO.

Absolutely agree, nothing more, nothing less. I was furious last night when I saw that Kepa was selected ahead of Mendy and 24 hours later , although I sort of understand why TT did what he did, I’m no less impressed and definitely not keen on him ever repeating it . My worry is that last nights exercise in building up Kepa’s confidence, ready for the day when Mendy is genuinely unavailable, is just papering over the cracks, because you can’t make a silk purse from a sows ear - no amount of playing time for Kepa will make him taller, make him bigger physically, nor I believe, will it make him a commanding presence in the 18 yard box or give his team mates confidence in his ability to be a PL winning teams goalie. I’m honestly not convinced that Mendy is that goalkeeper , but Kepa will never be imo and I remain fearful that he will continue to sit as numero dos until that fateful day when the no.2 has to step up and be the no.1 and, inevitably, it all turns to rat sh*t again !!!!! He needs replaced, simple as.

Phew, TT just confirmed on sky that Mendy is the No. 1 keeper and will be starting from now on

100% correct

You know what, lets hope for the high scoring win with the usual Kepa f**k ups that FINALLY puts that useless c**t to bed and removes his name from TT’s thinking .

Kepa, Kepa ?? Ffs - it’s insulting that he can hold kepa’s performance v Barnsley as any kind of justification to select him to play - what a crock of sh*t, absolutely beggars belief - the guys on sky can barely believe either .

In my opinion, Kepa is too small, too short, too light, too fragile to be a top 4 keeper, his ball distribution is ok-ish, but we’ve all seen the f**k ups to know he has more than a reasonable chance of giving a goal away, he doesn’t inspire confidence in his team mates and consequently panic sets in - frankly , he’s just not good enough - even for a number 2 - and there is nothing that can be done about his physical stature and lack of height. If I’m being honest I don’t think Mendy, for a team with PL & CL winning expectations, is good enough either, but he’s definitely light years in front of Kepa. After last nights 6th round draw, I was thinking, beat Barnsley tonight, then an ‘easy-ish’ game at home v S Utd - very winnable, then 1 game from the FA cup final and as we all know, a final is anyone’s. So, for me, the FA cup is very winnable providing TT picks a decent side, there’s no place for Kepa going forward - mind you, after last night performances I’m having doubts about some others to - Pulisic, Ziyech, Emerson were particularly awful ?

I wondered if his team mates don’t trust him to control the pass and then do something meaningful with it ???

I know what you mean and agree - he genuinely remonstrates with himself for not getting on the end of a ball but his lack of anticipation or gambling on being a couple of yards off the goal line to convert the many decent crosses we manage to deliver is so so frustrating. He’s not alone in that either btw.