12 hours ago, dkw said:

Its the same every tournament, a few "unknown" players get bog moves off the back of a few good games and it very rarely works out well. 

I remember watching Robben (who we’d signed before the tournament) and was very much looking forward to seeing him play for us. All the stupid injuries aside he didn’t often disappoint. 

12 hours ago, Munkworth said:

I remember watching Robben (who we’d signed before the tournament) and was very much looking forward to seeing him play for us. All the stupid injuries aside he didn’t often disappoint. 

When he was firing on all cylinders, and switching flanks with Damian Duff, I'd class him the top 5 most talented players I've ever seen wearing a Chelsea shirt. 

Charlton away 2005. He absolutely tore them up for lavatory paper. Btw if you google the fastest speed a goal scoring shot has been recorded as, he's right up there   

+ Enzo Jeremías Fernández, the next big thing in world football.

On 17/12/2022 at 08:46, Fruit Bat said:

When he was firing on all cylinders, and switching flanks with Damian Duff, I'd class him the top 5 most talented players I've ever seen wearing a Chelsea shirt. 

Duff and Robben changed everything for us in 04-05. We were already good, but as soon as we got those two playing together, we really clicked and we were unstoppable from that point. The 04-05 team is still my favourite Chelsea team, it had everything.

Edited December 18, 20223 yr by Scott Harris

2 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

Duff and Robben changed everything for us in 04-05. We were already good, but as soon as we got those two playing together, we really clicked and we were unstoppable from that point. The 04-05 team is still my favourite Chelsea team, it had everything.

I actually think we were better in the first half of 05/06, the complete control we had on games at that point wasn't normal.

It hit me how good we became at Highbury near the Christmas that year, 1-0 up at the hour mark and wasn't remotely fearful we were going to blow it.

3 hours ago, Gol15 said:

+ Enzo Jeremías Fernández, the next big thing in world football.

Him and Bellingham will likely be at Liverpool next year.

But oh well we'll have Rice, yay!

1 hour ago, Argo said:

But oh well we'll have Rice, yay!

With Auba upfront we will actually have Rice & Pea(s). 

No chance Liverpool will sign both Bellingham and Enzo Fernandez, that's 200M+ just in transfer, and no even getting into the huge pay rise both will get.  I would be happy with Rice, he's a proven player, and he could play with or without possession.

We learned that Brighton signed a pretty good player in Alexis MacAllister. 

On 19/12/2022 at 03:40, Scott Harris said:

Duff and Robben changed everything for us in 04-05. We were already good, but as soon as we got those two playing together, we really clicked and we were unstoppable from that point. The 04-05 team is still my favourite Chelsea team, it had everything.

for once I agree with you Scott lol Ill never forget the Blackburn game when they tried to kick chelsea off the pitch (and in Robbens case succeeded) at the end of the game Mourinho Pt1 made the boys throw their jerseys into the away end, because he knew the significance of that victory. But one of the highlights when I 'knew' we were gonna be champions was the 2-2 draw at highbury. watching the game with majority of gooners in a pub, nearly getting into it with some fool who said we werent gonna win anything (the dangers of alcohol lol). If Duff and Robben were fit There wouldnt have been a miracle in Istanbul!

Disagree about Ziyech. IMO this shows that we should sell him since its so easy to choose when he wants to play well or not.

That when there's a decent alternative to Mason Mount even Southgate thinks he's a bench player.

This WC killed any hope I had for a good 2nd part of the season. Our squad seems to just be way worse than we think. Can't think of any Chelsea player becoming a positive surprise. Ziyech played relatively well, that's about it.

- Mendy in worst line-up of tournament

- Mount, Sterling and Havertz did nothing

- Kante, Reece, Chilwell (our best players) injured - no surprise here as none of thme can stay fit for more than a few matches

1 hour ago, reparto corse said:

This WC killed any hope I had for a good 2nd part of the season. Our squad seems to just be way worse than we think. Can't think of any Chelsea player becoming a positive surprise. Ziyech played relatively well, that's about it.

- Mendy in worst line-up of tournament

- Mount, Sterling and Havertz did nothing

- Kante, Reece, Chilwell (our best players) injured - no surprise here as none of thme can stay fit for more than a few matches

Kai scored 2 goals in the 100 min he played. Nice goals.

The real thing we learnt was that Messi was unplayable at 19, a worldbeater at 35, and people doubted him, count yourself lucky if you ever saw him live, just a joy to watch, cheers LM 10

18 hours ago, Night-T said:

Kai scored 2 goals in the 100 min he played. Nice goals.

True, I stand corrected. Totally forgot about the Costa Rice game.

That football is actually an enjoyable game. 

Not the slog we forced our eyes open for 70+ minutes for the previous months

Things we learnt - or confirmed....

1) EPL refs are some of the worst

2)The way EPL implements VAR is trash when compared to the big tournaments.

3) Eden really is done as a top player 

4) Ziyech and Puli stand out as the big cheese of their less ambitious teams, but are not good enough for top level. 

5) Sterling and Mount are not in Englands best eleven. James is without kicking a ball.

6) Gvardiol was a beast - sign him up

7) Giroud is better than lukaku - still.

8. Teams built around a single player can still thrive - it's not all about the System and team. Give the ball to prime Eden and we win. Give the ball to messi and he scores. Give the ball to Mbappe and he scores. There is a distinct lack of stardust in our team. 

9) South american fans are much better than the rest of the world. The passion and atmosphere of Argentina vs Mexico (which I was at) was far better than anything else I have ever been to - including fa cup finals and london derbies. Put us to shame.

10) There are loads of good goalkeepers. Why are we stuck with 2 sh*tters