5 minutes ago, Valerie said:

I polish and I polish.... 

Wait, that doesn't sound right 

All that rubbing.... 

Just now, dkw said:

All that rubbing.... 

I know!

 

1 hour ago, Valerie said:

I polish and I polish.... 

Wait, that doesn't sound right 

 

1 hour ago, dkw said:

All that rubbing.... 

She does it so well, and makes all the right noises too :)

19 hours ago, yorkleyblue said:

He isn't.  It's only a few people like you who think he is, and I think that's more to do with a healthy, man-on-man love for Emerson than anything else related to his actual performances.

Any comment on his performance last night?

26 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Any comment on his performance last night?

Wasn't great, I'll give you that, but wasn't piss-poor either.  I take it you have a long list of things he did wrong last night?   I have no list of wondrous things he did, but I don't have a big old mental list of all his calamitous failures, either.

 I thought the entire team played very well, when compared to that last nightmare against the Spuds, but I'll agree that Alonso wasn't the stand-out star this time.

I was chatting with mates last night and we all agreed that the age of social media and FOMO and Twatter and the like has created a society where there is a vertical line of opinion and everything has to be on one side or the other.  A footballer is either sh*t or marvelous, there are no gradations.  You, amongst a lot of other posters in here, have mostly those sort of opinions expressed about Alonso on one side of that line, and RLC and Emerson on the other side.

It's possibly a sad comment on society, but this doesn't only apply to football, but everything in life.  Perhaps its a generational  thing, but I, and my mates, can see and accept a wide spectrum of opinions about many things.  I've said many times, Alonso ain't world-class, but neither is he as sh*t as people in here claim.  Same goes for Willian, Luiz, Torres at times, Kalou, Malouda and Mikel amongst many others.  Sometimes they were dog' s and sometimes they were adequate and sometimes they played really well.  But the binary stance of a lot of people precludes them from saying "fair enough, X done alright this time".

I also fear people who are absolutely CERTAIN about anything.  That way lies a hidebound refusal to see any other way but the "right way, my way" and not in a Sinatra way.  That has a damaging and poisonous effect on any sort of decent society.  There are very very few black and white certainties (Spuds are nasty w**kers being one of them, Scousers are never responsible for anything but are offended by everything is another) but more and more we are going down the path of this is the only possible "right" thing.

So, when people really do play sh*te, by all means criticise. Equally, when they play well, say so.  If, as most players do, they play OK, no major mistakes but no great winning moments either, then also say so.

Accept that if you constantly raise the level of abuse for a player above and beyond the actual level of piss-pooredness that they displayed, you devalue that abuse so that people dismiss it as "oh, that's just poster X slagging off player Y because he doesn't like him, regardless of how he actually played". 

I'm sure that people who don't actually READ what I write on the subject of Willian just dismiss me as a 100% Willian fan who can see no wrong.  You and I both know that isn't true, but, you know, " how can I possibly have a balanced view of the player, that's not how it works, he's sh*te, isn't he"?

 

The Sun reporting he might require surgery that could keep him out for the rest of the season. Shame.

Missing half a season isn't the end of the world if it means he stops getting these niggling injuries every few weeks. Hopefully be able to get a full pre-season under his belt and get some momentum into the next season.

https://www.whoscored.com/News/RiC01OyvnkSaSXIQticitQ/Show/Chelsea-midfielder-could-be-out-for-the-season

 

45 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Missing half a season isn't the end of the world if it means he stops getting these niggling injuries every few weeks. Hopefully be able to get a full pre-season under his belt and get some momentum into the next season.

Ah, that old chestnut. How many times have we heard "once he gets a full pre-season under his belt........." only for said player to be as sh*t as he ever was!!

Jesting in the case of RLC. Signs are there that he could be a player but it is slightly worrying that a lad of his physique has had a fair number of injuries and yet not played a huge amount of football. Next season could be make or break for him.

 

39 minutes ago, Nibs said:

Ah, that old chestnut. How many times have we heard "once he gets a full pre-season under his belt........." only for said player to be as sh*t as he ever was!!

Jesting in the case of RLC. Signs are there that he could be a player but it is slightly worrying that a lad of his physique has had a fair number of injuries and yet not played a huge amount of football. Next season could be make or break for him.

 

Would be the English Prime Yaya Toure had it not been for this niggling back injury. Hopefully surgery will sort it out and he can kick onto being one of the greatest players the Premier league has ever seen, as he is destined to do.

39 minutes ago, Nibs said:

Ah, that old chestnut. How many times have we heard "once he gets a full pre-season under his belt........." only for said player to be as sh*t as he ever was!!

Jesting in the case of RLC. Signs are there that he could be a player but it is slightly worrying that a lad of his physique has had a fair number of injuries and yet not played a huge amount of football. Next season could be make or break for him.

 

I agree and think unfortunately with Barkley and Ampadu we will have a trio likely to spend a fair amount of time on the treatment bench, hope I am wrong............

If he is out for the rest of the season then signing another midfielder this month just became all the more important. 

Also means we have to hold onto CHO until at least the end of the season too because without RLC as cover in the wide areas we're looking a bit thin up front, even if a new striker comes in because we'll only have 3 wingers for the 2 wide positions. 

Agree about CHO.

1 hour ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Would be the English Prime Yaya Toure had it not been for this niggling back injury. Hopefully surgery will sort it out and he can kick onto being one of the greatest players the Premier league has ever seen, as he is destined to do.

That would be good. Just above Frank Lampard and just behind Mason Mount (although my boy does seem to have gone off the boil of late)!

Edited January 16, 20197 yr by Nibs

5 minutes ago, Nibs said:

That would be good. Just above Frank Lampard and just behind Mason Mount (although my boy does seem to have gone off the boil of late)!

Even better than....Josh McEachran?

Thank God we have Kovacic. If we didn't we would be relying on Barkley, and unfortunately I'm not sold on Barkley yet. He hasn't shown the kind of performances he put in at Everton.

Shame for Ruben though, he had a fantastic chance to make that starting spot if he had stayed fit. Must be frustrating for Sarri too as he mentioned how much he admires Ruben's ability. 

58 minutes ago, dkw said:

Even better than....Josh McEachran?

Josh Who? Not quite sure what you're talking about. Think you might have me confused with someone who knows nothing about football.

 

2 hours ago, Nibs said:

Josh Who? Not quite sure what you're talking about. Think you might have me confused with someone who knows nothing about football.

 

I was also on the McEachran bus mate after watching him dominate the Rangers midfield in a pre season game at Ibrox, so I`ll join you in the 

So he’s out for rest of the season? That’s really sh*t. He’s the only midfielder we have who poses a goal threat.

2 minutes ago, dansubrosa said:

So he’s out for rest of the season? That’s really sh*t. He’s the only midfielder we have who poses a  decent goal threat.

I think Barkley might if he is given a free-er role yet agree RLC is a big miss.

1 hour ago, Strider6003 said:

I think Barkley might if he is given a free-er role yet agree RLC is a big miss.

Yeah I did think of Barkley as well, but it seems Sarri has nullified him. I remember him in his younger days he’d be direct and go for a shot often. Nowadays he’s really conservative and goes for the safe option more than half of the time.

Not his fault though, probably just following tactics. I hope Sarri recognises we need more goals from midfield and Barkley could be coached into taking more shots and risks.

On 16/01/2019 at 16:03, dkw said:

I was also on the McEachran bus mate after watching him dominate the Rangers midfield in a pre season game at Ibrox, so I`ll join you in the 

McEachran was the real deal back in the day, it still baffles me how that 17 year old who played against Marseille is the player he is now. 

On 22/01/2019 at 12:47, Slojo said:

McEachran was the real deal back in the day, it still baffles me how that 17 year old who played against Marseille is the player he is now. 

Apparently he was always having vodka and cocaine fuel parties. That’s what I heard anyway. 

What's cocaine fuel for, really weird cars? 

57 minutes ago, Munkworth said:

Apparently he was always having vodka and cocaine fuel parties. That’s what I heard anyway. 

He changed as soon as he got that new contract, he went from youth wages to Premier League footballer wages and since then we saw that decline, he was going out with that lass off Corry and god knows what else. I heard all those rumours aswell. 

This is why you have to be careful with youth players getting big contracts, CHO... Who knows what a big contract could do to him? Micah Richards a big example at City.