45 minutes ago, dkw said:

Our main problem with that is picking who the biggest c**t at the club currently is....

Physically it’s fine, if we’re picking on personalities the it becomes an issue.

Enzo had a post on social media offering his condolences to Estevao and his family.

Not sure who they lost but sadly is a time of grief for their family.

Credit to Enzo on reaching out and supporting him. Am sure he won't be the only one, is good to see that care within the team.

Will be interesting to see who turns out to be the biggest talent in the long term between him and Rayan. The latter has quietly taken the PL by storm, a goal and an assist in his first two appearances. He has the advantage of playing in a low pressure environment with the hand brake off. He is also going to rack up a ridiculous amount of mins without interference from the medical team/management. Been personally impressed with the highlights I have seen.

On 08/02/2026 at 08:56, markpitts said:

Will be interesting to see who turns out to be the biggest talent in the long term between him and Rayan. The latter has quietly taken the PL by storm, a goal and an assist in his first two appearances. He has the advantage of playing in a low pressure environment with the hand brake off. He is also going to rack up a ridiculous amount of mins without interference from the medical team/management. Been personally impressed with the highlights I have seen.

I only noticed him on the weekend, but he was very good. More of a provider than Estevao, who's natural instinct is to go for goal rather than pass.

On 02/02/2026 at 06:54, dkw said:

Yeah its never been a thing really, obviously it might effect some players if they bulk up too quickly when young and the body is still developing. I had that happen when I was a young un, I played Rugby League and was into cycling and basically my thigh muscle outgrew what other parts of my body could handle, mainly my groin (easy now) and pelvis, I could barely walk at one point.

But when done correctly on a plan then its shouldn't cause any issues at all.

And Mitchell starcs wickets were all done by cheating....

Basically my point on Estevao, most player gain upper body mass. I've seen multiple ACL's from putting on upper body muscle. Your weight affects your gait, all of our players with long term injuries are stronger young guys with lots of muscle. It's a running sport, you carry extra weight, you fatigue differently and your gait reacts. Colwill, Fofana, James, Guiu, Tosin, Essugo, Sarr and Lavia are our heaviest players. Tosin has the age and height for his weight, Guiu has been clean, Sarr hasn't had any premier league minutes all others have had a share of lower body injury issues.

On 13/02/2026 at 14:05, Wearyourblue said:

Basica my point on Estevao, most player gain upper body mass. I've seen multiple ACL's from putting on upper body muscle. Your weight affects your gait, all of our players with long term injuries are stronger young guys with lots of muscle. It's a running sport, you carry extra weight, you fatigue differently and your gait reacts. Colwill, Fofana, James, Guiu, Tosin, Essugo, Sarr and Lavia are our heaviest players. Tosin has the age and height for his weight, Guiu has been clean, Sarr hasn't had any premier league minutes all others have had a share of lower body injury issues.

I'm sure this makes internal logical sense but there is actually no evidence to support this at all and actually just reads like confirmation bias leading to tautology, i.e the players that aren't injured aren't injured. If what you are saying about upper-body mass is true, it makes no sense that ACLs are almost 3x more likely in womens football than mens, or that our worst ACL victim was Ben Chilwell, or that Adama Traore has never had a knee injury in his professional career. There is no evidence to show that any factors conclusively increase the risk of injury other than previous injuries and age. While it is common sense that ligaments and tendons can tear under strain, they can only get stronger under strain too. Human bodies are fantastically adaptive. There's just nothing to show that people putting on muscle mass is going to injure them more.

We do know that injury risk increases as athletes approach their 20s. The problem is, even though we know this is a crucial time for career injury prevention, this is the precise time where coaches limit physical training (ie gym) in favour of tactical work at both academy level and especially for those transitioning to senior football. They simply aren't going to be given the time in the gym to build strength and conditioning with a targeted plan.

The Howden injury reports confirm that young players disproportionately bear the cost of injuries. The report even understates the problem because it doesn't look at the proportion of players <25 vs 26+. The truth is players are more likely to get injured simply because they are young.

Good thing then that BlueCo haven't decided to go all in by buying exclusively young players in their peak injury years...

It's funny how some players start picking up injuries every few months, little niggles, and others just get away without any. Interesting to read young players get injured more, I would have assumed it was the other way around.

I guess more experienced players know their body more and can work within those limitations, whereas the young ones are always pushing to and past their limits, perhaps in part due to the arrogance of youth. I remember in my teens and early 20s, the concept of being injured just was never in my mind. Now it's very much at the forefront!

Back to Estevao, great finish yesterday but man he made a mess earlier missing an open net. He did all the hard stuff. I don't think it was the easiest finish, but I would expect him to be able to keep that shot down.

I'm not convinced by Estevao yet.

There is no doubting his talent and potential though I am yet to see him playing well for close to 90 mins.

It might be due to the manager's tactics or maybe he needs time or to put on more muscle.

Time will tell.

8 minutes ago, strider6004 said:

I'm not convinced by Estevao yet.

There is no doubting his talent and potential though I am yet to see him playing well for close to 90 mins.

It might be due to the manager's tactics or maybe he needs time or to put on more muscle.

Time will tell.

More a case of his youth and lack of experience at the top level. It will come.

2 hours ago, strider6004 said:

I'm not convinced by Estevao yet.

There is no doubting his talent and potential though I am yet to see him playing well for close to 90 mins.

It might be due to the manager's tactics or maybe he needs time or to put on more muscle.

Time will tell.

he's 18...

17 minutes ago, GarnachoCheese said:

he's 18...

You think that's an excuse? Back in my day players were winning 3 Ballon D'ors a year before their 16th birthday.

Kids these days...

On 16/02/2026 at 19:44, SydneyChelsea said:

I'm sure this makes internal logical sense but there is actually no evidence to support this at all and actually just reads like confirmation bias leading to tautology, i.e the players that aren't injured aren't injured. If what you are saying about upper-body mass is true, it makes no sense that ACLs are almost 3x more likely in womens football than mens, or that our worst ACL victim was Ben Chilwell, or that Adama Traore has never had a knee injury in his professional career. There is no evidence to show that any factors conclusively increase the risk of injury other than previous injuries and age. While it is common sense that ligaments and tendons can tear under strain, they can only get stronger under strain too. Human bodies are fantastically adaptive. There's just nothing to show that people putting on muscle mass is going to injure them more.

We do know that injury risk increases as athletes approach their 20s. The problem is, even though we know this is a crucial time for career injury prevention, this is the precise time where coaches limit physical training (ie gym) in favour of tactical work at both academy level and especially for those transitioning to senior football. They simply aren't going to be given the time in the gym to build strength and conditioning with a targeted plan.

The Howden injury reports confirm that young players disproportionately bear the cost of injuries. The report even understates the problem because it doesn't look at the proportion of players <25 vs 26+. The truth is players are more likely to get injured simply because they are young.

Good thing then that BlueCo haven't decided to go all in by buying exclusively young players in their peak injury years..

Sure most proven prevention for lowering ACL injuries both in men and women are strengthening the lower body, balancing glutes, quads and hamstrings and fixing the gait. Our AI friend "Tested ACL prevention programs, such as the FIFA 11+ and PEP program, focus on neuromuscular training, reducing injury risk by up to 50% through improved strength, balance, and landing mechanics." Lower body strength, body mass relative to lower body strength and fatigue are causes. If we have shown that improving balance and body mechanics significantly improves injury reduction, its not a stretch to say having worse balance and body mechanics increases risk.

Chilwell's ACL if I recall was a contact injury, partial tear and he had a very fast recovery IIRC. Both Colwill's and Fofana's were much much worse.

Traore's an interesting player I've always wondered if his size helps him or hurts him. But he is so strong in the lower body.

The differences between men's and women's ACL injuries is interesting because a women's cycle is very significant: I know people studying this trying to figure out if the differences are due mostly to hormones, elasticity, or blood oxygen during a women's cycle. Also women footballers are known to have quad hamstring imbalances way more than men. As well women do have some extra upper body mass that can change their gait.

Conclusion: ACL tear risk in skiing in women is not constant over the menstrual cycle, being 2.4-fold more frequent in pre-ovulatory (follicular and ovulatory) than post-ovulatory phase (luteal). Oral contraception seems not to exert any protective effect.

On 17/02/2026 at 13:57, Shweaves said:

You think that's an excuse? Back in my day players were winning 3 Ballon D'ors a year before their 16th birthday.

Kids these days...

Yes Rooney was 17 when he payed for Everton and England.

For me Estevao has a great talent yet we wait to see if he can be developed to work well for the team or even be a shining star.

On 17/02/2026 at 18:21, Shweaves said:

It's funny how some players start picking up injuries every few months, little niggles, and others just get away without any. Interesting to read young players get injured more, I would have assumed it was the other way around.

I guess more experienced players know their body more and can work within those limitations, whereas the young ones are always pushing to and past their limits, perhaps in part due to the arrogance of youth. I remember in my teens and early 20s, the concept of being injured just was never in my mind. Now it's very much at the forefront!

Back to Estevao, great finish yesterday but man he made a mess earlier missing an open net. He did all the hard stuff. I don't think it was the easiest finish, but I would expect him to be able to keep that shot down.

It really depends, players who peak early whose games depends on speed will always have niggling issues. They'd have to take care of their body in the level of C.Ronaldo and Thiago Silva to have longevity in the game

On 17/02/2026 at 10:39, strider6004 said:

I'm not convinced by Estevao yet.

There is no doubting his talent and potential though I am yet to see him playing well for close to 90 mins.

It might be due to the manager's tactics or maybe he needs time or to put on more muscle.

Time will tell.

I do get @strider6004 reserving judgement on Estevao.

No doubting he is super talented and yes, at only 18, of course he will be inconsistent. With all the hype and folk throwing in names like Messi and Rooney who were good week in, week out, even at a young age, it is easy to get carried away. Earlier in the season, we wanted him to start every game, as he is a game changer. But now he has started more games, he has struggled a little and I must admit, he isn't quite as quick as I first thought he was. Some folk were almost suggesting he was more important to us than Palmer FFS!

Think LR is playing it right by giving him more minutes than the bald fraud but still not over-playing him. Do think it might be best to start Neto in the bigger games and bring Estevao on against tired legs with 30 + minutes to go.

7 hours ago, Nibs said:

I do get @strider6004 reserving judgement on Estevao.

No doubting he is super talented and yes, at only 18, of course he will be inconsistent. With all the hype and folk throwing in names like Messi and Rooney who were good week in, week out, even at a young age, it is easy to get carried away. Earlier in the season, we wanted him to start every game, as he is a game changer. But now he has started more games, he has struggled a little and I must admit, he isn't quite as quick as I first thought he was. Some folk were almost suggesting he was more important to us than Palmer FFS!

Think LR is playing it right by giving him more minutes than the bald fraud but still not over-playing him. Do think it might be best to start Neto in the bigger games and bring Estevao on against tired legs with 30 + minutes to go.

If you remember the matches against Barcelona in 2006, the one at the Bridge was basically Messi's introduction to the world of football. Up until there he was playing some minutes here, some minutes there and was not doing anything spectacular on the pitch, nor was scoring that much. I think he scored like 6 or 7 goals in all competitions in that season. Just the normal stuff that a super talented 18 year-old would do and, as I said, was not even a regular in that Barcelona team.

Still way too early to judge Estevao on anything. IMHO the World Cup in the US and the early October - late December in the PL will be important. If he has a good World Cup and follows it by imposing himself on that right wing at Chelsea, I think we will see that wow moment that all future superstars have at one point and he will announce himself on the big stage from there on.

What's the latest on Estevao? I know he hasn't travelled for the PSG game, but do we have any idea when he might be available again?

The winger is unfortunately nursing a hamstring injury at the moment.

He has already begun individual training on the pitch.

Can't wait

I like Stevie. First half against Port Vale he was a bit quiet but the 2nd half he turned it on.

2 hours ago, Deino said:

I like Stevie. First half against Port Vale he was a bit quiet but the 2nd half he turned it on.

He was on the left in the first half, all the play was down the right. Hardly saw the pill. Second half he was on the right. Saw the pill.

In the second half we started 3-0 up, he was nominated as MOTM.

He only figured prominently once we were three up.

I've said before once he starts getting the first goal or the winner against a big five club a couple of times then I will start to believe.

6 hours ago, strider6004 said:

In the second half we started 3-0 up, he was nominated as MOTM.

He only figured prominently once we were three up.

I've said before once he starts getting the first goal or the winner against a big five club a couple of times then I will start to believe.

He only figured prominently when he moved to the right. Where the ball spent 90% of the time throughout the match.

9 hours ago, strider6004 said:

In the second half we started 3-0 up, he was nominated as MOTM.

He only figured prominently once we were three up.

I've said before once he starts getting the first goal or the winner against a big five club a couple of times then I will start to believe.

Just enjoy things man

only bright spark at the club right now apart from Pedro.. love his directness - not the fastest but fast enough as he builds strength will be impossible to shake off then the goals will start coming at even more regular pace..

Back in Brazil a lot of his goals were long distance.. for some strange reason havent seen that yet here so thats another gear for him to go up.

6 hours ago, Jangz said:

only bright spark at the club right now apart from Pedro.. love his directness - not the fastest but fast enough as he builds strength will be impossible to shake off then the goals will start coming at even more regular pace..

Back in Brazil a lot of his goals were long distance.. for some strange reason havent seen that yet here so thats another gear for him to go up.

He has tried. They haven't come off.