FrankLampard8

Woah woah woah... Eidur Gudjohnsen!

How do we know he's a perfectly adequate stand in? We've never really seen him play at this level and we don't see him train. This Enzo and Caicedo thing needs to be worked out at some point - International breaks happen too often for us to miss them both after every one when they are our starting pair. You can't have £200m of midfielders missing what 4 or 5 games a season each before you even consider injuries or suspension. Something that probably should have been considered when signing them both but alas here we are and we need to work around it.

My question is, why do we need to take a chance now? To actually contribute to a midtable Premier League team, or hopefully better - I would have thought that's obvious. Why should he be at that level? He has started what, like 10 senior men's games total at a lower level? He is almost definitely still honing his craft and that's ok. He may never be good enough but it doesn't need to be now or never for a 21 year old playing his first senior season and Chelsea are doing poorly enough as it is without taking that risk.

I disagree personally. Maybe you can take those chances with a well oiled machine that is performing well and where everyone knows their roles - you can replace one part even if it ends up being not at quite the same level and the team keeps ticking over. The player is put in less difficult situations and may even brought up to the level of the others. That isn't this team though. The guys is 21 and has had 6 months senior football. I'm not sure why he has to be at the level required right now? For me, the sensible thing would have been to leave him playing minutes for a pretty dominant Leicester team in a good league. Give him another good loan next year and then see what he's up to. The last thing this team needs is another inexperienced head who has played even less football than our current lot.

I have watched more Championship football than Premier League this season and feel very happy saying Casadei isn't good enough to play for Chelsea (even this iteration) at the moment. I think it was a good loan for him and he was doing well. However, let's be honest he wasn't a nailed on starter there and he was very hit or miss (as one would expect from someone playing their first senior season).

Gosh, it is so hard to answer that just because I feel like we still don't really know what half of the Chelsea squad are or what level they are actually at. I think a loan suits both his development and Chelsea whilst they figure out what to do with Mudryk, Madueke, Chukwuemeka etc. I think he would benefit from another loan but you just hope it is the right loan, you know? Obviously the expectation will be that the next one would be in the Premier League and I don't think there's much to be gained by parking him with some clogger manager and a team that just parks everyone behind the ball for 90 minutes. He has astounded me with how much his work off the ball has improved in less than a season and he isn't afraid to get stuck in. So much so, that he's trusted to play as a 10 as often as he does out wide now. So no concerns there. His finishing and decision making has come on leaps and bounds too. He's a real player - everyone is saying he's the best loan singing in Ipswich history alongside Giovani Dos Santos which is high praise. My main concern is he isn't the biggest guy. He's very slight and I do think the extra athleticism could be a shock to the system when he steps up again. Other than that he just needs to keep adding to his experience and I think he could do without the pressure cooker of Chelsea at this stage. My gut says he won't be top 4 quality but if he keeps improving at this rate the sky is the limit.

Thanks! I've been lurking for a while - couldn't stay away could I?!

Put it this way. I live in Suffolk now. I have a toddler and my wife works part time as a result. Your typical young family starting out I would say. I make a decent chunk more than the reported average UK household income and my wife is obviously contributing on top of that too. I haven't been to the Bridge since before covid now for various reasons however, my nearest team are Ipswich who could make an argument for being the most exciting team/club in the country right now. My in-laws started taking me down there around 3 seasons ago. I've really come to love going and was starting to go more and more. However, even with tickets cheaper than Chelsea at around £30.00 a pop and an exciting historic season unfolding here, there came a point where I totalled up how much i'd spent on football this season and looked at my bank balance and had to take a step back from it. It really does seem like a far cry from days gone by and I have no idea how clubs will sustain fanbases in the future on this basis. I suppose people always find the money somehow because we love it. P.S. Omari is some player - what i'd give to have him in Suffolk again next season!

Woke is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) meaning "alert to prejudice and discrimination" so you'd have to be a pretty bad person to be opposed to it. That's my last post.

Who would you pick on this basis? Short of City I can't feel confident of anyone being in the top 4 every year at the moment.

I think you probably should because you're very sensitive. My point is ultimately, as long as it is blue with white socks I can't believe anyone is bothered if it has some gold on it.

It's ultimately going to have white socks i'm sure, so I can't believe it has people that rattled. Sometimes we have yellow on the kit and i'm sure this was just seen as a stylised version of that.

I actually think there is a difference between that and the nonsense you were sputing when you "triggered" people. I also think calling people snowflakes makes you sound like an ignorant boomer gammon. but each to their own.

Not particularly as the circumstances almost couldn't be more different. They all want to go which is the biggest factor but they also have less time left on their contracts and are worth considerably bigger fees. Cucurella wouldn't be the first player to have a considerably better season which at the very least would mean we get more of our money back even if he isn't ultimately good enough for the long term. I would keep Mount if I could personally - doesn't seem that straightforward.

If the alternative is to take a huge financial loss then yes we should absolutely give Cucurella another season. Losing a huge amount on him will still be an option next year.

We will have done really well to offload Koulibaly - what a terrible transfer. Don't suppose they fancy Cucurella?

I doubt he's forgetting that at all. I'm sure the transfer fee would be absolutely no problem for them given that we are desperate to get shot. I get the impression terms with the player more often than not get all but wrapped up before terms with the club. Why negotiate for a player that doesn't want to come or is unobtainable?

Might be cutting off our nose but he's made his decision and I don't think we should go back or up our offer if PSG mess them around.

David Luiz won the Champions League with a very similar barnet.

Beg to differ. The clubs balance sheet and the amount of games we play has literally no bearing on whether or not Ampadu is good enough to play for Chelsea. Sorry yeah you're right, but we need someone to play back up to Ampadu. I am certain at this point you're just here to troll.

I think Caicedo and Edson Alvarez would do me quite nicely. What evidence is there exactly that Ampadu can do a job? You seem awfully concerned about us being a midtable club and signing a midtable players and then want us to put Ampadu who is a relegation fodder standard player in this country and Italy in our midfield. Mind boggling.

I think Mbappe very much sees himself as a left winger and doesn't really want to do the hard yards up front - it would be interesting to see how RM would accomodate both him and Vini Jr. I think they have been quite subdued in the market by their standards in recent years so it wouldn't surpirse me if they could land Kane and Mbappe. Maybe Kane is perfect to keep the spot warm until Haaland feels he is ready for a new challenge? At any rate, their midfield is obscene and set for years to come with Tchouemeni, Camavinga and Bellingham. Even just one of Mbappe or Kane would seem them still looking very strong . They could do with some work at fullback - let's hope they don't come knocking.

Honestly, I think that could be exactly true.

You don't like imports from foreign leagues, you don't like players who are already playing in the league, what exactly do you want? We can't have an XI made entirely of academy graduates.

Been as good as any midfielder in the league at the age of what, 21? Care to explain why he's overrated? Overpriced you could argue but I can't believe he's overrated. The guy looks to be a phenom and I honestly think he could have Kante type impact here if we get ourselves together.