1 hour ago, Michael said:

I'd argue a quality keeper is more important than a midfielder.

I see your argument and raise you selling Matic and buying Bakayoko. 

The midfield, is literally central to everything going on... A quality midfielder is worth their weight in gold. 

Although you need a solid goalkeeper I would argue that the position and fullback is the two least important (if there is such a thing) roles in the team. 

That said, you're not going to want to downgrade on the quality of your goalkeeper and we've been fortunate that Chelsea have had good goalkeepers for the last 20 years almost. 

2 hours ago, Michael said:

I'd argue a quality keeper is more important than a midfielder.

I disagree. The midfield is the most important aspect of a football team. There is a reason why it's called the engine room. A grear keeper can save you 15 points but a great midfield can carry you to the title.

14 minutes ago, Deino said:

2 seasons ago, Zappacosta had the 2nd highest crossing percentage in Serie A and I was fooled then. Still reserving my judgment on him.

Haha! Yeah, I see your point. I never really understood that transfer to be honest. Alright, he's fast, has great stamina and can deliver a decent cross from time to time. But he just doesn't look like a real Chelsea wingback to me. He don't seem like a player that would ever be expected to be the first choice nor a fan-favorite.  

About the crossing percentage - that was primarily due to Belotti winning almost every single duel in the area last season.
- Fair enough, the crosses weren't bad - and Zappa does have a great technique when striking the ball - but still. The credit has to go to Belotti for improving that stat. 

Sure, we needed some backup for Moses - but did the backup-plan have to cost €25M?

Really it looked like the board was thinking something like: "Well, he's italian and he can run - maybe Conte will like him then?"

I mean, there are so many other young right backs, that the club could have gone for... Mukiele, Odriozola, Maffeo, Eder Militao, Elvedi, Calabria - or even our very own D. Sterling. Every single one is under 23 y/o. 

Either of the above would have been a way better investment in my opinion. 


Well, stats will never tell the full story. Not for Zappacosta - and probably not for Alisson either. But if the transfer goes through, I genuinely hope that he'll prove all the doubters wrong.

3 hours ago, Michael said:

I'd argue a quality keeper is more important than a midfielder.

I disagree. A keeper could be called on once or twice a game, a midfielder is being called on for 90 minutes of everything game. Without a midfielder, the team doesn't work.

50 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

I disagree. A keeper could be called on once or twice a game, a midfielder is being called on for 90 minutes of everything game. Without a midfielder, the team doesn't work.

That once or twice a game is more valuable though isn't it? You can work all game in midfield and be 8/10 without giving up a chance or scoring and who knows if you've won or lost. A GK who puts in a top level performance like that can directly win or save his team points.  

Mids can definitely influence the flow of the match but ultimately I think the gk position does more to determine results. We've seen Kante be his usual self and we still drop points. It's not his fault mind you but it's more of a collective effort than GKing. 

Theres a point where your GK only needs to be so good, Real for example have a very good but not great keeper and they've won a few CL trophies with him. Compare that to Karius in the final and you have a great example of poor GKing losing matches. Do Liverpool concede 2 of those 3 if they have a class GK? 

I have this argument with my football friends. I'd take a great keeper and average MF over a great MF and average keeper any day. 

2 hours ago, Deino said:

I disagree. The midfield is the most important aspect of a football team. There is a reason why it's called the engine room. A grear keeper can save you 15 points but a great midfield can carry you to the title.

 

1 hour ago, Scott Harris said:

I disagree. A keeper could be called on once or twice a game, a midfielder is being called on for 90 minutes of everything game. Without a midfielder, the team doesn't work.

I would argue the fact a keeper will only be called on once or twice proves how important it is to get the right one. Top keepers at clubs like ours spend 85% of the game twiddling their thumbs, the reason they are the best is because they can maintain concentration for that one important moment where they are called upon. Theres a real dearth of top quality keepers around at the moment, getting one is a must if you want to win the top trophies.

38 minutes ago, TheChelseaBlues said:

That once or twice a game is more valuable though isn't it? You can work all game in midfield and be 8/10 without giving up a chance or scoring and who knows if you've won or lost. A GK who puts in a top level performance like that can directly win or save his team points.  

Mids can definitely influence the flow of the match but ultimately I think the gk position does more to determine results. We've seen Kante be his usual self and we still drop points. It's not his fault mind you but it's more of a collective effort than GKing. 

Theres a point where your GK only needs to be so good, Real for example have a very good but not great keeper and they've won a few CL trophies with him. Compare that to Karius in the final and you have a great example of poor GKing losing matches. Do Liverpool concede 2 of those 3 if they have a class GK? 

I have this argument with my football friends. I'd take a great keeper and average MF over a great MF and average keeper any day. 

 

The only argument I have for that specific example would be, Liverpool's midfield wasn't great tbh. They were carved by Real's midfield like a Christmas turkey. I'd say the best last man is a GK. 

Of course, the right answer would always be you need both to win titles. Anything less is just par for the course.

He can join Giroud in the lovely beard club. 

Hopefully we sign him next week and Courtois leaves.

Did he play well today?  Didn’t see most of the match.  Appears as though there was little he could do on either goal.  Anyone have some insight on his overall play?

Poor.

Now he's out of the World Cup with barely anything to show for. Still figuring out how "good" this guy is

On 05/07/2018 at 16:09, TheChelseaBlues said:

That once or twice a game is more valuable though isn't it? You can work all game in midfield and be 8/10 without giving up a chance or scoring and who knows if you've won or lost. A GK who puts in a top level performance like that can directly win or save his team points.  

Mids can definitely influence the flow of the match but ultimately I think the gk position does more to determine results. We've seen Kante be his usual self and we still drop points. It's not his fault mind you but it's more of a collective effort than GKing. 

Theres a point where your GK only needs to be so good, Real for example have a very good but not great keeper and they've won a few CL trophies with him. Compare that to Karius in the final and you have a great example of poor GKing losing matches. Do Liverpool concede 2 of those 3 if they have a class GK? 

I have this argument with my football friends. I'd take a great keeper and average MF over a great MF and average keeper any day. 

 

The point is, take a keeper from a lower end team in the league, he still pulls off brilliant saves and keeps his team in games, now vs Tibo, I mean the gulf in what they actually do is very limited in the bigger picture, and PL even Championship goalie will go basically the same job give or take playing out and distribution, now take a lower end midfield vs cities and you'll see how much the gulf in performance is between a good and a poor midfield. On another note I really don't like Tibo his heart has never seemed in it, I'd be very happy for him to go, he is a Diva and the constant Real rumours are disruptive, and I used to rate him, I think he has filed to meet the potential he showed at Athletico 

Edited July 7, 20188 yr by ScrubsLaneCFC

On 05/07/2018 at 05:43, doctorblue said:

Not worth £70m...take Butland at £30m...new 'keeper Nicholas Tie has just signed his first professional contract with us...looks a good prospect...

Massive step up to go in the first team squad. he ain’t even the u21 keeper that lad we signed from Barca is 

On 07/07/2018 at 12:06, ScrubsLaneCFC said:

The point is, take a keeper from a lower end team in the league, he still pulls off brilliant saves and keeps his team in games, now vs Tibo, I mean the gulf in what they actually do is very limited in the bigger picture, and PL even Championship goalie will go basically the same job give or take playing out and distribution, now take a lower end midfield vs cities and you'll see how much the gulf in performance is between a good and a poor midfield. On another note I really don't like Tibo his heart has never seemed in it, I'd be very happy for him to go, he is a Diva and the constant Real rumours are disruptive, and I used to rate him, I think he has filed to meet the potential he showed at Athletico 

Disagree with this. We saw what a difference it was even between Tbo and Willy. If we had Scott Carson in net i'm sure the gulf would be rather large. 

I have not watched Alisson too extensively apart from the WC, where he did not do anything spectacular. He prob is a top keeper but I think spending over £60m on a keeper is ridiculous. Schmeichel for instance might not be as good as Alisson but he is a very good keeper and I don't think it is worth paying an extra £30-40m on a keeper who is not miles better than another keeper you can got a lot less for. I would rather get Schmeichel at around £20m or so than pay a fortune on a keeper. The money can be spent elsewhere on the squad imo.

Schmeichel  is also six years older.  We may get a couple of good years out of him and then we'll be looking again.  Better to spend 60m on 25 year than 30m on a 31 year and have to then shell out another 30-40m in a couple of years time.  I know keepers can play well into their 30's but in 6 years time you can either have a 37 year old Schmeichel  or a 31 year old Alisson who could potentially be the best in the world at that point.

13 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Disagree with this. We saw what a difference it was even between Tbo and Willy. If we had Scott Carson in net i'm sure the gulf would be rather large. 

Not nearly as large compared to having Scott Brown controlling the middle of the field, Begovic was the worst keeper in the league statistically  last season, did a decent job for us 

Liverpool are now favourites with the bookies to sign him, overtaking us.

Apparently Liverpool have table 70m Euros for him, basically what Roma wanted. If Alisson goes to Liverpool what other options do we have?

Just now, RIP Mourinho said:

Apparently Liverpool have table 70m Euros for him, basically what Roma wanted. If Alisson goes to Liverpool what other options do we have?

Bar keeping Tibo? I'm not so sure.

Not many quality keepers going right now. If we did sell Tibo then maybe get Navas in return? I'm not a huge fan of him personally but it will be slim pickings

Could try for Pickford.

Just now, Zeta said:

Could try for Pickford.

How much do you think he'd cost now after that WC though? Especially with Everton being rich as f**k now.

7 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

How much do you think he'd cost now after that WC though? Especially with Everton being rich as f**k now.

Insane money I'd imagine.

Less than Allison probably.