Following Our Nearest & Dearest Rivals, 2016/2017

[Ernie_blue]

1 minute ago, Scott Harris said:

I'm not basing it on one game though. Even against City i was saying he looked average. He scored, but he didn't play well. Look's quite lazy and doesn't look concentrated at times too.

Yeah he does remind me of Toure in that respect. I thought he played well against City and I like how he looks powerful and can burst forward with the ball very Toure like. At the age of 22 and 35m I reckon his worth it. Playing in the champions league, top players at Monaco and recently played for France. I feel Conte could really develop him.

Mbappe for over 100m is some serious money.

[Remy10]

2 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

Juventus are pretty damn good to be fair. They control games better than any other team. Monaco are a young side too, they are still learning. If they can keep this squad together, they will only get better.

Yeah, knocking out a Barca team featuring one of the very best players of a generation, and shutting them out pretty conclusively, is quite an achievement. Monaco have very little experience in their side by comparison, and have done brilliantly to make it to the last 4. Ligue 1 title and CL semis must go down as a good season for them, especially if they can keep the bulk of the team from being picked apart, and bring through some more exciting players to replace the couple who move on for big money.

This game will be a huge learning experience for all of them, they haven't faced a team with this quality and experience before, and in fairness Juve are most capable of putting up a fight against Real for a good final.

[Scott Harris]

If Juventus don't win it this year then they will be very disappointed. All over the pitch, they have looked like the best team in Europe this season. Real Madrid have looked excellent going forward but they leave tons of gaps in defence, Juve must feel they can take advantage of that.

[Argo]

Monaco literally had all the possession in last half hour but I never at any point felt they were gaining control of the match.

Not sure Jermaine Jenas would agree mind.

[the special one]

BT sport not holding back with their criticism of Bakayoko.

Edited May 3, 2017 by the special one

[Scott Harris]

2 minutes ago, the special one said:

BT sport not holding back with their criticism of Bakayako.

They were right in what they said too. He was at fault for both goals and clearly has a lot to learn. He's not ready yet, he's someone with potential to be great, but we aren't looking for potential, we already have that in Loftus-Cheek and Chalobah, we are looking for somebody who is good enough right now. 

[the special one]

14 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

They were right in what they said too. He was at fault for both goals and clearly has a lot to learn. He's not ready yet, he's someone with potential to be great, but we aren't looking for potential, we already have that in Loftus-Cheek and Chalobah, we are looking for somebody who is good enough right now. 

He reminds me of Toure in so far he just doesn't look arsed, all brawn and no brains but without the quality of Toure/Pogba etc (the same could perhaps be said about Loftus-Cheek). On tonight's evidence I hope we go all in for Verratti, De Rossi, Marchisio or Goretzka

Edited May 3, 2017 by the special one

[DidierDrogbalala]

Dani Alves is the best crosser i ever seen  ! 

Bakayoko had a rough night =\ probably cost his team the two goals like Scott said  because I thought Monaco didn't play that badly 

Edited May 3, 2017 by DidierDrogbalala

[Charles Ryder]

Guardian displaying a bit of historical amnesia:

 

"If they do so United would become only the fourth club to win all four European trophies – the Europa League, the European Cup, the Cup Winners’ Cup and the Super Cup – joining Ajax, Juventus and Bayern Munich."

[youlots]

4 hours ago, Charles Ryder said:

Guardian displaying a bit of historical amnesia:

"If they do so United would become only the fourth club to win all four European trophies – the Europa League, the European Cup, the Cup Winners’ Cup and the Super Cup – joining Ajax, Juventus and Bayern Munich."

Saw that as well Charles & it made me chuckle.

Sent an email to Jamie Jackson at The Guardian - doubt I'll get a response. No doubt other bemused Chels have done likewise to correct the record.

If he does respond I'll post same herein.

[Blueblur]

15 hours ago, Imran_CFC said:

Nice Counter Argument there mate

Sorry, I was quoting Ted Hastings from Line of Duty 

[Boyne]

UEFA looking at how penalty shoot-outs take place. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39798344

Penalty shootouts in football could be transformed to make them fairer under new plans being looked at by Uefa.

The sport's European governing body is already trialling a new way for penalties to be taken in decisive shootouts.

Instead of teams alternating spot-kicks, Uefa is considering a new system similar to the tie-break in tennis.

The system is being tried out at the European Under-17 Championship, which began in Croatia on Wednesday.

What makes the perfect World Cup shootout penalty?

How does it work?

As it stands, teams take turns in a shootout, with the choice of who goes first decided by a coin toss.

For example, team A goes first, then team B, then team A again.

The new system is called 'ABBA' and sees team A followed by team B - before team B goes again. Team A would then get two successive penalties, and so on until there is a winner.

A coin will still be tossed to decide who goes first.

Why is a change needed?

The idea is to stop the team going second having to always, potentially, play catch-up. The sport's rule-making body, Ifab, approved the trial after looking at research it says proves the team taking the first penalty have an unfair advantage as they win 60% of shootouts.

"The hypothesis is that the player taking the second kick in the pair is under greater mental pressure," said Uefa.

The system is also being trialled at the women's European Under-17 Championship, which began in the Czech Republic on Tuesday.

[Bobbywoodhogan]

Why do they keep messing with stuff? They're gonna ruin football.

[Paul70]

2 hours ago, youlots said:

Saw that as well Charles & it made me chuckle.

Sent an email to Jamie Jackson at The Guardian - doubt I'll get a response. No doubt other bemused Chels have done likewise to correct the record.

If he does respond I'll post same herein.

i twitted him about this....he came back..."Club World Cup?"

i said "Ajax haven't won the club world cup".....waiting for a response.

[Boyne]

1 minute ago, Bobbywoodhogan said:

Why do they keep messing with stuff? They're gonna ruin football.

Exactly. The debate about whether or not penalty shoot-outs are the best way to finish a game has raged on for ages but I can't recall anyone: players, fans or managers complaining about the current A B setup. It's just luck of the draw who goes first. The UEFA proposal suggests that there is pressure on the second team to score to catch up. There is also an argument that there is pressure on the first team to get off to a good start.

[enigma]

12 hours ago, the special one said:

He reminds me of Toure in so far he just doesn't look arsed, all brawn and no brains but without the quality of Toure/Pogba etc (the same could perhaps be said about Loftus-Cheek). On tonight's evidence I hope we go all in for Verratti, De Rossi, Marchisio or Goretzka

de rossi? he's about 33 mate. would make little sense. verratti would cost a bomb, and marchisio is an old school italian so unlikely to move abroad. i never heard of goretzka. 

Edited May 4, 2017 by enigma

[enigma]

they should just make champions league two legs, no away goal rule. i think the away goal rule ruins things and creates complacency amongst teams/players. if you know you gotta go out there and win the match, it makes it more tasty, rather than sit back and defend a lead. 

[Bobbywoodhogan]

f**k no to changing pens, f**k no go sin bins and oh f**king hell no to Video Refs it's not a f**king side show! Honestly I am so bored with the constant wanting to change crap, change something won't effect the game we love but still matters like closing down the Jan transfer window or sorting out the European competitions.

[the special one]

59 minutes ago, enigma said:

de rossi? he's about 33 mate. would make little sense. verratti would cost a bomb, and marchisio is an old school italian so unlikely to move abroad. i never heard of goretzka. 

I namedropped De Rossi to emphasise that I'd rather we signed a 33yr old former great than Bakayoko. Incidentally De Rossi is to yet to sign a new contract at Roma? 

Agree about Marchisio, realistically can't see us signing him (although if Juve sign Tolisso who knows?)

Goretzka is apparently linked with Liverpool/Arsenal - I'm not entirely convinced he's anything special but considering I don't think we need to replace Matic this summer (as some have suggested) I think he could perhaps be a good rotation option (but then so could De Rossi??)

[Floyd25]

9 hours ago, Charles Ryder said:

Guardian displaying a bit of historical amnesia:

 

"If they do so United would become only the fourth club to win all four European trophies – the Europa League, the European Cup, the Cup Winners’ Cup and the Super Cup – joining Ajax, Juventus and Bayern Munich."

I just looked at the article, instead of giving us any credit, they have added the Club World Cup. However, Juventus and Ajax never won the Club World Cup, so they've got that wrong as well, they won the Interrnational Cup, which was replaced in 2004.

Edited May 4, 2017 by Floyd25

[Bobbywoodhogan]

If we signed Vidal to play alongside Kante wouldn't our midfield be a little small? Surely we need someone bigger to play there.

Look back to the Maka days we always had bigger players alongside him like Essien, Mikel and Ballack. I know we had Scott Parker for a bit but that didn't exactly work out.

Edited May 4, 2017 by Bobbywoodhogan

[CFCholland]

6 minutes ago, Bobbywoodhogan said:

If we signed Vidal to play alongside Kante wouldn't our midfield be a little small? Surely we need someone bigger to play there.

Look back to the Maka days we always had bigger players alongside him like Essien, Mikel and Ballack. I know we had Scott Parker for a bit but that didn't exactly work out.

Well Essien wasn't big. Maybe physically a bit stronger than Vidal but there isn't much in it I'd say.

Not that I'm a fan of buying Vidal to be honest.

[Bobbywoodhogan]

1 hour ago, CFCholland said:

Well Essien wasn't big. Maybe physically a bit stronger than Vidal but there isn't much in it I'd say.

Not that I'm a fan of buying Vidal to be honest.

No he wasn't big in the tall sense but the guy had a stocky frame. He was strong as hell. Tbh I don't think I've ever seen a midfielder with the bullish strength that Essien at his peak had.

[andy]

6 minutes ago, Bobbywoodhogan said:

No he wasn't big in the tall sense but the guy had a stocky frame. He was strong as hell. Tbh I don't think I've ever seen a midfielder with the bullish strength that Essien at his peak had.

He wasn't called The Bison for nothing 

[the special one]

If we're looking for a like for like replacement for Essien we'd do well to sign Kessie. Kessien?