Sciatika

I think it might be time to move on.

One moment. I seem to have got some grit in my eyes. POTY 2023.

I am always impressed by John McGinn. He's the kind of player you'd love to have on your own side and hate to play against.

Bonmati waving an imaginary card.

Having a few Spuds sent off for wild challenges in today's NLD would help.

Happy Demba Ba Day everyone.

I would expect a lot of rotation, so sometimes that might happen, at least briefly.

Aitana, "the best player in the world,"™ Bonmati, waving an imaginary card in the face of the ref. Later, she requests a stretcher because she can't walk off, and when she reaches the touchline, she runs to shake hands with the player coming on.

UEFA ref sends off Chelsea player shock. Bunch of cheats.

I am probably a bit late, but for those attending the game, don't forget to bring your boots.

I was thinking yesterday about some posts from a few years back. I can remember quite a few people, myself included, saying that we would accept two or three years adrift as the price to pay to bring through some of our young players. I still feel that way, to a degree. I hadn't realised how much top-level clubs rely on experienced players to teach the mentality needed to convert losses into draws and draws into wins.

Over Land and Sea (and Leicester) next season.

In truth, I have no idea, but I think it has to do with the nature of elite sport and players being permanently on the edge of breakdown. Pat Nevin used to talk about this. In every game, they carry minor injuries. Mostly, that's OK. Sometimes, they have corticosteroid injections as an anti-inflammatory and sometimes painkillers. However, sometimes, they flip over the border into injury. Sometimes, that means surgery; sometimes, they just need to rest and recuperate. Anyway, from a club perspective, this is usually fine because the squads are large enough to accommodate injuries (unless you are over-dependent on a few players). Even so, all players need a break from time to time. However, if you choose to limit rest and recuperation by, say, playing across the Summer without a break, then you can get into a situation where the squads can no longer cope, and then you get into a kind of chaotic system with increasing numbers succumbing to injuries. I think this has happened in the prem this season. To some degree, it's the players. They love playing football. Injuries are frustrating. Also, they know being in a squad is competitive and important for their careers. They want to play for their clubs AND countries. This problem is exacerbated by heavy training programmes causing injuries. Many players enjoy extreme training regimes because it makes them feel fitter (e.g. Sterling's comments at the beginning of the season), but it's risky. Travelling also does not help; for women, natural cycles may also be an issue. Also, there is a temptation to defer surgeries (e.g., Enzo, James). In the end, there is huge pressure to succeed from all sides. Organisations such as FIFA, UEFA, the FA, the PL, sponsors, and media organisations are financially dependent on an increasing number of games. They keep inventing new competitions. Equally, clubs and international teams need success for financial reasons. They need commercial success so they organise more tours and commercial activities to engage in. They resist reductions in fixtures. Even fans demand success, naturally. And players are their own worst enemy. They want to return quickly if, for nothing else, to justify their fees. That happens when the dominant narrative is their transfer fee. I bet lots pretend to be fit when they aren't. So pressure is put on the coaches and medical staff to get players fit quicker than is sensible or to pass them fit when it's marginal. Players train too early and get injured during recovery or soon after returning. Sometimes that have the same injury and sometimes they overcompensate to protect an ongoing injury and injure something else. Now you have to overuse the rest of the squad to compensate. I don't think any of this is special to us except maybe having an over-demanding training regime (if that's true) and having very young players who are more susceptible to injury.

It reminds me of one of my friends at college. It was her favourite record. One of my best friends, though it took me a while to appreciate it. She died in her mid-thirties. She was and is much missed.

Oh God, Another evening of Ally-effing-McCoist

I know I have said it before, but I think Luton's Elijah Adebayo might be worth a look as a backup. He is a 26-year-old centre forward who has also played as a CB, so he knows how to help the defence; he is 6'3" tall, quick, can hold the ball up and scores goals with head and feet, He has nine goals in 23 appearances in the prem. He has 1Y0R. The yellow is against Palace so I can't blame for that. The downsides are: - he has struggled with a thigh injury in the latter part of this season. It is a worry, but he does not seem to have a history of injuries. - he signed a new contract at the start of the season. Transfermarkt thinks he is worth 12m, which is nonsense.

Arsey McArseface?

You're right. My bad.

I imagine players returning from long-term injury would be built up in training before returning to the squad. If I had my way, they would turn out for the U21s, who have a fixture with the Saints tonight. With Enzo out, I imagine something like: -------------------------------Petrovic Disasi/Gilchrist-------Chalobah------Silva------Cucurella -----------------------Caicedo ----------------------------------------Gallagher -----------Madueke--------Palmer---------Mudryk ------------------------------Jackson But with lots of rotation up front, I did wonder if we might play Cucurella on the right. I thought he played well there against Brighton, handling Mitoma well. That would allow us to play Chilwell on the left. They will probably play Rogers on their left as Zaniolo is injured. But we lack solidity at the back, so the extra CB as an RB seems to make sense. Hopefully, no one gets themselves sent off this time. Not confident.

We should probably treat all reports from "inside" the club as potentially suspect. This one might be a "build-up to knock them down" from Nizaar Kinsella of the Express .... or not. Chelsea FC players do not want Mauricio Pochettino to be sacked as manager faces crucial run-in | Evening Standard

Disappointed, but as usual I need to leave it a couple of days to sink in.

No, ridicule would require a Jorginho hattrick.

You're right. Enzo is on £180K/week. I think the average salary (£15.47m) does not match the actual salary (£9.36m). I think it must be a typo on the site. The rest are correct, at least according to Spotrac. E&OE as usual.

In a desperate effort to show that I really have no clue what I am talking about, it seems to me that we should be playing Gallagher and Caicedo deep, Carney as a #10, Madueke right, Mudryk left, and Jackson up front. If Palmer can make it, replace Madueke with him either from the start or later. I'd have Mudryk on the left because he can be tasked to help deal with Saka alongside Cucurella, who proved at the weekend that he is quick enough to take on Walker on a sprint.

Do we have two Gallaghers?