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IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
Some good games last night.

Watched Chelsea get beat first and wow. That team has problems. The scatter gun transfer policy hasn't paid off and I can see them really struggling all season, even if they bring in a new manager. Fair play to Zagreb. They demonstrated a defensive masterclass and deserved the 3 points.

I then watched Man City and Haaland is just unstoppable. Early days yet, but I have him down to be the highest goal scorer in Europe this year. If he stays fit, he could beat the PL record of most goals scored in a single season, which currently sits at 34.

Tonight I'll be watching Inter v Bayern. Should be a decent game. I think Inter will get a slender win, but it could go either way.
 

Nitty_Grimes

Made a crappy phPBB forum once ... once.
I reckon the new Chelsea owner could be worse than Abramovic.

He’s basically running the club on his own, which is his prerogative of course, but he’s got rid of most of the old team already.

Tuchel is a fantastic manager. I thought there was a rule that one premier league club couldn’t approach the manager of another premier league club in the season even if buy out clauses were met but obviously I am incorrect.
 

The Fartist

Gold Member
Todd Boehly: "So, Tuchel, who do you want me to sign for you?"

Tuchel: "I want Aubameyang, Fofana, Ampadu, Sterling, Slonina, Cucurella, Casadei"

Todd Boehly: "Alright, done, now get out"
 

DKehoe

Member
I reckon the new Chelsea owner could be worse than Abramovic.

He’s basically running the club on his own, which is his prerogative of course, but he’s got rid of most of the old team already.

Tuchel is a fantastic manager. I thought there was a rule that one premier league club couldn’t approach the manager of another premier league club in the season even if buy out clauses were met but obviously I am incorrect.
You're not meant to do it without permission of the club, they have a contract with same with players. Obviously conversations happen in back channels all the time anyway though. But Brighton would have given permission to Chelsea to speak to him.
 

*Nightwing

Banned
weGa7VA.jpg

Can’t wait to cheer Chelsea in the EFL Championship next season! /s
 

DonJorginho

Banned
weGa7VA.jpg

Can’t wait to cheer Chelsea in the EFL Championship next season! /s
What an awful meme, Todd is actually doing a great job at Chelsea and our infrastructure is starting to look like it could become something special after years of Marina being Roman's mouthpiece.
 

*Nightwing

Banned
What an awful meme, Todd is actually doing a great job at Chelsea and our infrastructure is starting to look like it could become something special after years of Marina being Roman's mouthpiece.
Yup great move spending all that money for Tuchel to have a team for one game then sack him.

The definition of”doing a great job”… exactly why every pundit that understands fighting for place an entire season has been shocked by the idiocy of this move.


Keep drinking the kool aide
 

DonJorginho

Banned
Yup great move spending all that money for Tuchel to have a team for one game then sack him.

The definition of”doing a great job”… exactly why every pundit that understands fighting for place an entire season has been shocked by the idiocy of this move.


Keep drinking the kool aide
Sacking Tuchel was wrong timing, but right move given the fact he had lost the dressing room and we had stalled under him, he seemed to have lost his love for football due to his public divorce and stories coming out over his handling of players only confirm that.

You can also analyse how we had been getting worse with every game on from Tuchel's 50th match as Chelsea boss and the downward trend was showing no chance of slowing.

Potter is hands down the best property out there in management aside from Pep and Klopp in the Premier League and if it goes how it should, we will finally become challengers again.

Todd is already implementing plans that we've wanted at Chelsea for years, a new scouting department after the failures of Scott McLachlan, a proper Sporting and Technical Director coming in after years of not having one since Emenalo left. Moving to more statistical based recruitment for players instead of stupidly signing players based on who Roman liked and didn't like. And the City inspired multi club plan to make a network of affiliate clubs is 100% the way to go for developing youth talents at top clubs and it's great that we're joining the trend.

It's not been a smooth start as we've been trying to spin a thousands plates at once, but now the window is over we can focus on implementing the infrastructure needed to push on as a club from January.

I get if you only blindly listen to pundits on Sky and TalkSport it can paint a negative picture, but please actually do the research, you'll find that the koolaid actually tastes surprisingly good 👍🏼
 
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DKehoe

Member
What an awful meme, Todd is actually doing a great job at Chelsea and our infrastructure is starting to look like it could become something special after years of Marina being Roman's mouthpiece.
Also statisticians do absolutely know the game. Remember how Klopp wanted Liverpool to get Mario Gotze and had to be convinced by the recruitment department (made up of stats guys) that they should sign Salah.

Potter is also a really good get by Chelsea. I'm glad United got ten Hag but he was another I was hoping they'd look at.
 

DonJorginho

Banned
Also statisticians do absolutely know the game. Remember how Klopp wanted Liverpool to get Mario Gotze and had to be convinced by the recruitment department (made up of stats guys) that they should sign Salah.

Potter is also a really good get by Chelsea. I'm glad United got ten Hag but he was another I was hoping they'd look at.
On our board we have Daniel Finkelstein already, who literally was the pioneer of the recruitment department Liverpool have in place.

We're in good hands, people are just hating on Todd as he's American.

ETH is an amazing coach, glad he's shutting up the critics atm
 

DKehoe

Member
CNOu7mX.jpg


Actually could have been worse as well. Rodri isn’t playing and he’s so good for that team.
 

Urban

Member
So Boys i dont follow the Premier League that often but how can ManU let CR7 sit on the sideline in a Derby like this?
 

DKehoe

Member
So Boys i dont follow the Premier League that often but how can ManU let CR7 sit on the sideline in a Derby like this?
At this point what specifically is Ronaldo bringing that would improve things? And not just in a “he knows what it takes to win” vague sense.

If you’re looking for a striker to run in behind the defenders that’s just no longer him. In the past couple years you basically had to change your playing style and sacrifice other aspects to accommodate him but he would get you X goals a season. But we’re now at a point where he’s no longer delivering that. So he will still dominate your attacking output and will take a huge amount of shots but isn’t getting the same return on that investment as before. He’s not got the same burst of pace to give himself the space from a defender to get a decent shot away. In recent times there have been moments where, no offence intended to them, kinda mediocre defenders have caught up to him and shut him down in instances where previously he’d have been off clear and scored. He can still finish well and has good movement in the box so in theory you could just have him stay in an advanced position to somewhat balance out those shortcomings. But he also lacks the positional discipline to stay up top, he’s dropping deep so often and then his relative lack of pace is getting exposed even more.

He’s one of the best players of all time. But now he’s 37. And for a 37 year old he’s incredibly impressive. As a United fan I watched him adapt his game to become the ridiculously efficient player that he was at his peak but it seems like he’s now either unwilling or (understandably) unable to do that now that he can’t play in the same way he used to be able to.

I’m not saying that Anthony Martial is the greatest striker on the planet. But you can look at his game and see attributes that can work within this system. Statistically he’s got a willingness to press and, when fully fit, has the pace to get beyond defenders. Whereas, again, what is Ronaldo bringing?
 
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ikbalCO

Member
I dont know how many gunners out here but when do we address the saka problem?

He just doesnt work and i dont think he'll ever work. You cannot sub him - even though he plays like shit, destroys every chances we get from the right wing - because marquinhos isnt at the epl level yet and subbing him would mess the new contract talks but something has to be done.

And tbf i dont think he is overrated. I think he is well rated but when it comes his playing style, i believe the jig is up. It is almost too obvious how he is going to play every time and he is not quick enough to make the obvious work.

I am not saying he is slow. He is very fast indeed but when it comes to desicion making, passing, intercepting etc he is just not quick enough.

I feel like arteta is aware of this situation as well. Thats why he wanted to bring raphinha last summer and i red somewhere that we are in talks with asensio - very overrated player- for a possible january transfer.

I wish edu goes for a more experienced player though. You can not build a team with just young players. Seasons between the years 2007 - 2015 sadly prove this.

So how about mahrez? He is not getting any play time in city. He would be perfect for arsenal.
 
Looking forward to the Liverpool/Rangers game.

Gerrard might have managed us but I have no soft spot for Liverpool. Hope we do them tonight but we'll need to put in some performance. We've been shit so far this season.
 

DKehoe

Member


Bayern didn’t win the Champions League with Lewandowski, except when they did.

The premier league blinders that some pundits have is mental. Not being able to imagine what playing at Bayern could offer over playing at Spurs.
 

Labadal

Member
Well, they spent big, and the results were still bad. I'm not surprised that he got sacked.

I thought Rodgers would be the first to go, but the difference is that Leicester didn't buy anyone.
 

DKehoe

Member
Ronaldo made a massive mistake coming back to United. The club is a shitshow, it baffles me that he chose to come back.
The club is better off without him but the problem now is that there's probably not going to be any clubs at the level he wants to play at who want him.
 
The club is better off without him but the problem now is that there's probably not going to be any clubs at the level he wants to play at who want him.
Yeah, but I don’t think he can play at that level at his age. But surely there are mid level teams in France, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal who would take him.
 

DKehoe

Member
Yeah, but I don’t think he can play at that level at his age. But surely there are mid level teams in France, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal who would take him.
He can’t but he’s still desperate to, in part because of that Champions League goal record that Messi might close in on, and wants to be paid like he can. So at this point the clubs that fit the profile he wants don’t want him and he doesn’t want the clubs that perhaps would be interested, like that Saudi club that apparently wanted him. And he’s now shown he makes things more difficult for your club. It was one thing to demand everything be about you when you’re at the absolute top of the game, it’s another to demand that when it’s no longer the case.


Maybe something will work itself out in the January window. I think it’s in everyone’s interest that it does. He’s also going to need a great World Cup to impress suitors. But I really don’t know where it goes from here. Ten Hag handled it well though.
 
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