cfr95

Seems a deliberate tactic when we get ahead

Chelsea 4 - 1 Brighton Palmer 7'

I'd argue Josh had a better game than Levi.

Fulham 0 - 3 Chelsea, Lacroix 19

I think that's a reasonable take to be fair to you. Agents often cause a lot of unnecessary friction.

Haaland hasnt spent the summer openly seeking a move away from City though so the comparison doesn't really work. Enzo wants to leave and even if we value him too highly clubs know we're willing to sell him. I imagine a combination of attitude issues and the fact that despite his decent output in terms of G/A, Enzo remains a fairly limited passer who's pretty shaky defensively is what's putting clubs off, rather than our valuation.

Would be foolish to take too much from todays game - especially considering how many academy lads we played. I thought Satpayev looked dynamic, and I was glad to see how sharp the first team players looked when they came on.

I liked the look of him at the world cup, looks tricky, fairly two footed, likes a long shot, and he's quite tall for a winger, which I personally quite like. If he's coming in as a backup on the left for Rogers then I'll be happy with that. I think he seems a closer to fit to the style of winger we seem to think Xabi wants than Gittens/Garnacho are. Obviously this is all very glass-half-full thinking, but if you can't be optimistic in summer when can you?

At the very least it will be refreshing having some players who are harder to bully physically in the side.

Big fan of Trev. We've served him some sh*t hands in recent years and he's never complained, always acted professionally. I'd be sad to see him go, but if he leaves I hope he has every success.

If we're going to be playing a back 3 I think he's a good signing for the central spot. I know Colwill could also play there, but Lacroix is 6'3 and rapid, well suited to sweeping up long balls and then feeding it to the wide CBs (which I assume will be Colwill and James) who we know both have the ability to play line breaking passes forwards.

Toxic dressing room. Very few managers last. In fact I think in the last 25 years only Jose, Zidane, and Ancelotti have survived more than one season.

I think Xabi is likely the best candidate out there this summer. If he's willing to entertain the idea of managing us I think we'd be foolish not to try and get him in.

Full control is a pipedream, and really isn't something you see at any big club. But letting him identify 3-4 experienced players this summer whilst letting the SD's supplement with their conveyorbelt of teenagers is something that could feasibly happen. Then if (big if) things go well, the cycle becomes manager asking for a couple specific players every few windows with SD's handling the players that are signed with a view towards developing them (either in house or on loan). That would get us somewhere closer to the model we saw under Abramovic and would allow the manager to feel he is able to plug gaps / pounce on players he wants, without him being responsible for the upkeep of the entire squad + loan army.

I'm beginning to suspect Liam might not be the brilliant tactician we were after