It's simply not as easy to talk about the fact that you may as well replace Jorginho with a parking cone and need to replace half your backline. I would prioritize signing Declan Rice over almost anything at this point.. though at what cost.. and what's good with Ampadu? Surely he has to be on Frank's mind?
I'm a fan of Ampadu but he didn't get much experience on loan. Only 277 minutes from 7 appearances. He needs another loan spell and solidify a starting spot. Also think Odi needs a loan spell to gain playing time experience. His "talent" got him the contract, but his decision making and movement on the pitch is severely lacking.
Cho will def need to go on loan if Kai comes in. Ampadu I might gamble on bringing back. He can provide cover at CB and DM. He will get time.
Willian edging towards Arsenal. Arsenal looking at Coutinhio also. They want to get a Brazilian old boys thing going on. I wish we would just give him the 3 years. . .but I didn't think he was injured on last Saturday https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...after-rejecting-latest-offer-of-two-year-deal Baba Rahman (LB) hopefully he will stay at Mallorca - Chelsea don't want another loan but have no other viable options. There was a discussion with Rennes but they have a another option. Danny Drinkwater (CM) Chelsea want him gone - available. Kenedy (LM/LW/LB) Getafe want him - changed with the pandemic - finances nor great - available. Michy Batshuayi (S) Chelsea had no interest in selling him in January. Chelsea want a sale this summer. Crystal Palace may offer an option - Marseille would do but they have FFP problems. Fenerbahce will look to a loan to buy or a very cheap buy. Leeds or Newcastle may provide a solution. His agent is working hard to define the options apparently.
Chelsea looking at Sergio Reguilón from Real. They just rebuked Everton’s 18 mill bid. Would be much cheaper option to Chillwell and was rated as one of the better LBs in La Liga while on loan at Sevilla. Could prob be had for 25 to 30.
Yes I do, I think our downfall on Saturday started with Jorginho mucking about in midfield. His short obvious passes often puts his team mates in trouble, while he gets another pass statistic it does not help the team. But I return to the position that he (Kepa) has to make some saves. Look at keepers at teams at the bottom of the league, they have porous defences but they keep their teams in games. But it was not the lack of saves that first came to my attention, that only came after a while once the stats piled up. What was immediately obvious was his lack of authority. He is routed to the line he needs to dominate the 6 yard box, let alone the penalty area. I am sure that his lack of confidence spreads to the defence. I think that the same defensive players look more confident when he does not play. I certainly am. His one saving grace is his great reaction time that enables him to make the occasional spectacular save and makes for good highlight reels. However I would much prefer a bread and butter keeper.
The positions he's put in to have to make miracle save after miracle save are thankless and untenable. He does make plenty of saves and I will stand by that he has kept us in more games than he - he alone - has lost for us. Remember when he commanded the entire field and shot down his captain, Azpilicueta and Sarri when they wanted to take him out in the Europa League? We also won that trophy because of his PK shot stopping. If we had one defender worth an ounce of John Terry, no one would be talking about Kepa. I know, it's a really unpopular position but for me, it's so sloppy and lazy - especially from journalists - when the data is out there outlining how poor our defense and giveaways are.
Kepa had 55 saves in the EPL Krul had 132 saves Norwich was a shit team, and yet Krul still managed to be a better gk then Kepa stat wise.
I think we can do better than ultra reductionist arguments pointing to a stat says very little... you've been keeping up with the season. Our team doesn't tend to give teams tons of shots on target against us but prefers, rather, to give them very high percentage chances (lots of 1v1s). This would obviously lead to his save #s not being padded and worse ratio of saves to goals conceded. Kepa also had 8 cleansheets vs Krul's 5. You can cherrypick stats all day long - they don't tell the whole story. Besides that, I'm happy to admit that Kepa wasn't up to snuff this past season. I'm just more interested in seeing it get debated to a way that I don't think reeks of bias. See the below.. It is funny watching this video of his "howlers" and about half of them are screamers Absolute bombs from Aguero, Salah and others and they're somehow spoken of as being his fault? Azpilicueta and Jorginho have been at fault for more defensive errors resulting in goals than Kepa himself in the restart yet you don't see much if anything said about Azpi. I'm the resident "Jorginho out" guy. Point is it's just low hanging fruit. Great goals from the opposition somehow get turned into being his fault and that's just stupid.
And any suggestion that it is more important to replace him than sign some quality in midfield or at center back would suggest you're more comfortable with relying on your last line of defense (the keeper) to make unlikely saves than you are dealing with the root of our issues which is our inability to protect the goal. I'll take a solid defense with a parking cone in goal rather than a pasta strainer as a backline with prime Buffon in between the sticks. But therein lies the difference in how people are approaching this argument.
Seeing this too now on Insta (referencing ESPN Brazil, for whatever that is worth). [emoji2961] I can get over him leaving, but not Arsenal.
Advanced talks with Reguilon. Seems on par with how we've been doing things on the down low. https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation...-real-madrid-left-back-sergio-reguilon-report
I like it from what I reading he’s been one of the best in his league at LB. 80 for Chillwell is just stupid. Make it 25 and call it a day.
Don't get the animosity, Willian has just 1 big contract left, he has a family, they all want to stay in London, an extra guaranteed 5.5-ish million to him is significant, 5.5 million for a player who still might be good and faster than most in year 3 not that significant and likely far cheaper than the risks and expense of finding an alternate step in starter over just the next year or 2 or 3. With Pul hurt probably for first 1/4 of season, and a sketchy health record, Pedro gone, CHO disappointing so far we may really regret not keeping him
I don't think CHO has disappointed. He has had his own injuries, as well. Still young, finding his feet. I just don't think he's had a good run of games. All that said, I'm not really convinced he's all that special but I hope to be proven wrong. He seems like two weak feet and still unsure of the decisions he's making. And with that said, I think we'll see improvement across all players when Timo is the starter. Remember how good Sturridge got with Suarez? And how crap he was before and after? Cho kinda reminds me of Sturridge. Play will improve with Ziyech and hopefully kai, as well. Remember when the rumors were that we'd sign Callum Wilson.
Animosity is probably undue tbf. I retract it. I'm good on Willian. Far more frustrating than not plus beyond that.. I'm interested in seeing a new look Chelsea. Very much tired of the "old guard" and excited for the new.
O he can do whatever he wants and he should 100 times out of 100 do what’s best for him and his family. Just hate seeing him go to a rival like that. Especially with the other options available to him. Willian wants something the Lamps and Terry didn’t get. Only Luiz got. He’s not worth 3 years. I wonder if he’d accept two with a team option for a 3rd. Cho is finding his feet after a bad injury. I think he could use a loan tho. He needs a lot game time to refind his rhythm.