1 hour ago, Snedger said:

I beg your pardon? I suppose they also have 11 players, one of which is a keeper and they too kick the ball about ultimately trying to score a goal whilst not conceding. So yes, I guess we do play the same football.

I meant the same system, attack with 5/6 players and be aggressive and try to control the possession, also playing short passes inviting RM onto them and then getting out with smart passes and through balls..

There forwards r more clinical and there fullbacks have more pace and dynamism so I think we are getting beat but you never know.. a final is a final …

14 minutes ago, dansubrosa said:

At least we’re Chelsea.

Everybody knows that it doesn’t matter how dire the odds are, you never write us off.

Kalas having his first start at cb against a 11 game winning streak Liverpool. Nope.

Barcelona at absolute peak with Messi, against 10 men. Nope.

Bayern Munich to win the trophy at home? Nope.

Man City to win the treble (PL, EFL and CL)? Nope.

Could PSG be the next one? We’ll see.

100%

it’s funny the more dire our situation looks the harder we fight and comeback against all odds…

I don’t know how marescas gonna counter PSG will he sit back and hit them on the counter? Play our own game? Idk but they look lethal and we have to be at our best.

Best chance is holding for a draw and taking them to penalties but you never know what’s going to happen Sanchez brain fart maybe? Palmer brilliance? Pedro long shot top bins?

1 hour ago, nonotnowjim said:

Unsurprisingly, as it seems to be the case with most of what you say, I disagree wholeheartedly with your assessment.

Winning games, and competitions is always worthwhile. It breeds a cohesive unit and helps develop a winning mentality. This is why Jose always tried his damndest to win the carling cup, even though it was pretty worthless in the grand scheme. It got the players used to big games, brought them into the the thinking/direction, and developed their killer instinct.

This CWC is the same. The chance to win and call yourself the best in the world is absolutely important in terms of development.

1 hour ago, evissy said:

I think in terms of squad unity and the belief in the squad and fellow players this does hell of a good. Young players are slowly growing into the big shoes they are viewed to be in. I think this has been very positive for the team. And although Premier League is the main competition we are not realistically challenging to win it for at least a couple of seasons so there will be much more pointless games inside the 38 game season than this tournament for the players themselves. We all know players will concentrate 100% on the UCL games and the Prem game before it and after that game will be heavily affected as we've seen in our past and with other UCL teams from the Prem. That is pretty natural. That is why winning a treble or a double of Prem+UCL is pretty much a unicorn level stuff.

In terms of football to me at least this tournament has been very positive. All the teams have fielded more or less the best players and taken the matches seriously. Hats off to south american clubs and their fans as well

14 hours ago, WhiteWall said:

I am not talking about winning or not winning. If we want this player to improve mentally, you want them to be in high stake game vs quality opposition. Can they handle the pressure? Can they handle when the opposition is better in certain area than you?

I watched our game vs Palmeiras. It was high stake game but I have never seen a lone dm (Santos) can be that free in ages, maybe ijn friendly. There is no PL team who defend like that. Even pool who is better than us don't defend like that.

Maresca can do whatever experiment he want in that game and it doesn't matter.

Edited July 10, 20251 yr by Bob stark

1 hour ago, Bob stark said:

I am not talking about winning or not winning. If we want this player to improve mentally, you want them to be in high stake game vs quality opposition. Can they handle the pressure? Can they handle when the opposition is better in certain area than you?

I watched our game vs Palmeiras. It was high stake game but I have never seen a lone dm (Santos) can be that free in ages, maybe ijn friendly. There is no PL team who defend like that. Even pool who is better than us don't defend like that.

Maresca can do whatever experiment he want in that game and it doesn't matter.

Once again, I disagree. If we want these players to improve mentally, then there is a need for them to at times grind out results, get games over the line, see games out, get to finals, experience both winning and losing final games - this is all part of building a strong, and hopefully winning mentality.

It doesnt matter quite so much for young developing players if that game is a CWC tornament, a carling cup, the FA cup, the conference league or the zenith data systems cup - in fact, there is an argument that playing in and competing to win in 'lower calibre' tornaments would be more beneficial to these young players, than playing against the best of the best and getting spanked 5 or 6 nil. Winning games and eventually tornaments helps create habits, cohesion and unity. This team really needs that.

I dont care if Santos had 4 seconds on the ball, rather than the 2 or 3 that he might have had in the EPL. Playing against different styles of play/teams is also very useful. Not all teams play at 100mph like the EPL. Variety is the spice of life.

12 hours ago, Snedger said:

Me neither. And one thing that’s kind of weird is that many people write off their domestic league as a farmers league with no competition. And people have always said that no domestic competition leaves you ill prepared to play against strong opposition in European competition. Well, it doesn’t seem to be a problem for PSG.

Not now. It had been a problem when they were a decent 8 players with 3 Galácticos bolted on upfront who contributed little beyond their goals. Too much for L1, the fundamental flaws were exposed against top teams. Enriques and the management have built a team.

Luis Enrique's done an amazing job at PSG. Hats off to him. The most impressive thing is none of their players are in love with the ball. Most times they pass first time without taking unnecessary extra touches and all of them are for the team. No ball hogging just progressive moves with the ball as a team. Pass and move - Simply amazing.

Naturally requires great footballing talent but most of all desire to work for the same goal and it looks like ego has left the team. Our squad has similar building blocks so I really hope Enzo instills that thinking to the team.

17 hours ago, charierre said:

Our new song for next season

Runners up in the club world championship you’ll never sing that

If you substitute 'championship' with 'cup' it will be sung for years!

World Champions! Could be huge for the club, albeit after the massive gamble on holding off for sponsorship, that will have bagged a top sponsor on top of being brilliant for the young squad.

And we get a special badge for bragging rights 😂

25/1 we were ... congrats to all the playing and coaching staff. Didn't think we had much chance of going all the way.

Feels great !

I still have my issues with the tournament, but I can forget that for today and just enjoy this moment. What a win!

Edited July 13, 20251 yr by Scott Harris

World Champions again.

We all knew London is Blue, but for this brief moment, the world is Blue!

Plenty more to debrief on after this tournament, but for now am just simply proud and elated. This means so much to the club - every single person connected with it. A massive moment to cherish.

So are we singing Donald Trump is the leader of the shed next season?

We did it!

The whole world doubted. Now they know.

The result today proves that FIFA, UEFA or whoever is in charge of football outside England has some serious work to make football competitive again.

How can a team competing in a glorified farmer's league be expected to even compete against a £600m club who won at a canter despite fielding a kids side???

People making excuses for PSG forget they basically play in a competition hardly more than a conference league.. can rotate the complete XI and still win..

I don’t buy they are the best team in the Europe.. they play only one competition every year so yeah they won after 20 years of trying .. bullocks

When Salomon Kalou teases the Parisians, wearing a Chelsea jersey. ❤️🇨🇮

Ramires: Yes! @ChelseaFC

2 hours ago, Jangz said:

People making excuses for PSG forget they basically play in a competition hardly more than a conference league.. can rotate the complete XI and still win..

I don’t buy they are the best team in the Europe.. they play only one competition every year so yeah they won after 20 years of trying .. bullocks

100% agree, like I said after the CL final people are too quick to glaze them especially given the amount of commentators who are on the Qatari payroll.

For a decade they've had practice matches after January each season and failed to win, it took Tuchel to even make them a serious contender for the CL. And the narrative that they are some hard-grafting youth side is just nonsense, PSG pay obscene wages and fees that make Clearlake look like misers.

Sofascore team of the tournament

6 hours ago, BKLYNProdigy said:

When Salomon Kalou teases the Parisians, wearing a Chelsea jersey. ❤️🇨🇮

Ramires: Yes! @ChelseaFC

Pas les Champs Elysees 😄

I love how many of our old boys still root for Chelsea.

6 hours ago, Jangz said:

People making excuses for PSG forget they basically play in a competition hardly more than a conference league.. can rotate the complete XI and still win..

I don’t buy they are the best team in the Europe.. they play only one competition every year so yeah they won after 20 years of trying .. bullocks

They chopped Bayern and Inter into pieces, especially Bayern are no mugs. PSG were the big favourites going into the CWC final, and many here sung their praises and envied them their manager. They are a really good team. And we outplayed them, we were better 😀

57 minutes ago, Valerie said:

They chopped Bayern and Inter into pieces, especially Bayern are no mugs. PSG were the big favourites going into the CWC final, and many here sung their praises and envied them their manager. They are a really good team. And we outplayed them, we were better 😀

Yes, they are a really good team. The Farmers League stuff is BS. But no team is invulnerable. Bayern proved that early on but couldn't keep it up. We did.

Now that we have conquered the world in America I am setting my sights to win the next trophy in Visitmalta Weekender friendly tournament at the Bridge 🏆. Another weekend, another trophy? I was surprised Tottenham wasn't involved in this. 🤔

1 hour ago, evissy said:

Now that we have conquered the world in America I am setting my sights to win the next trophy in Visitmalta Weekender friendly tournament at the Bridge 🏆. Another weekend, another trophy? I was surprised Tottenham wasn't involved in this. 🤔

Do Leverkusen and Milan get to play each other too? It's hardly a tournament if they're not!

4 minutes ago, Valerie said:

Do Leverkusen and Milan get to play each other too? It's hardly a tournament if they're not!

Don't spoil the dream!