One Man Went to Mow

Club World Cup Squad announced today.
28 players.
Willian Estevao isn't one of them.
Make it make sense.

FIVE Champions League spots available and we aren't going to get one. From where we were in November it's not acceptable. 1 point from a possible 6 vs Ipswich?! IPSWICH!!!! And look at our last 6 games! Not getting much out of those, the way we're playing:

Fulham away
Everton at home
Liverpool at home
Newcastle away
Man Utd at home
Forest away

🤣 The funniest things are often very close to the truth!

Thinking ahead now. There are a lot of players who have proven to be just not good enough. I know they're mostly young, but you can just tell if they're good enough or not.
Who do we need to sell? Here's my list:
- Fernandez. What a waste of money.
- Sancho. But only after we've bought him from Man U. The deal we've got is a bargain. Buy him then sell for profit.
- Badiashile. Just not good enough.
- Fofana. Quick, but not good enough and never fit.
- Mudryk. Not got a footballing brain. And not available due to the drugs thing.
- Sanchez. Yeeesh. Great shot stopper. Terrible with his feet. An accident waiting to happen.
- Trev. Not good enough. Goes to ground too easy. Not strong or quick enough.
- Tosin or Colwill. They're both okay but you can't play them together because they're both slow. We need someone with Fofana's pace who is good and not made of straw. Get rid of one or both. I haven't seen Anselmino. If he's good maybe the future CB's should be him and Acheampong. Unless we can sign Van Dijk on a free.
- KDH. Not good enough.
- Kellyman. Not even seen him.
- George. I know he's young, but I'm not seeing it. Maybe a loan.
- Two out of Kepa, Petrovic and Jorgensen. We don't need that many.
- Disasi. Villa can buy.
- Gilchrist. He's not big or quick enough.
- Ugochukwu.
- Sterling. Good luck to him though.

There are actually some loanees who are arguably better than those that stayed. Broja, Felix, Santos, Carney, Chilly & Veiga. I like all these guys. Maybe Broja and a couple of others are too injury prone.

Remember, we've got 3 incoming - Essugo, Paez & Estevao Willian, plus 1 more in 2026 - Quenda.

It's March 24th. A lot of time has passed since my last post. We have really gone off the boil. Not looking forward to the Spurs game. We were good enough to beat Leicester and Southampton, but so's my mum.

Why are we trying to ditch Nkunku and/or Felix?!?! We need them as both back up to Palmer AND I'd argue as required to sometimes play alongside him. Free him up.

Our rumoured decisions often absolutely baffle me.

Why the interest in Garnacho?!?! Hardly the most pressing requirement when we already have Sancho, Madueke, Neto & Nkunku who can all play wide. Even Palmer could revert if we needed. Mudryk obviously could be gone a while and George isn't there yet, but they could be options!

January Transfer Window. What the actual f**k?!
We need:
- a striker: Jackson needs competition and Nkunku isn't a #9
- a central midfielder: we've got 2 good'uns but Lavia is always injured. Fernandez needs to be sold.
- a centre back: we need someone tall, quick and strong who can pass. Like Konaté or VVD. Colwill is tall and can pass but not strong or quick. Bad is tall and strong but not quick and can't pass. Disasi is getting sold. Fofana is quick but weak and permanently injured. Not great with the ball either. Trev is tall, but not that quick or strong.
- a goalkeeper: we've got 1,000 of them, Sanchez can't be the best one!!
Basically, a spine.

Wow! It has been A LONG time since I posted!!! However, my last sentence was quite prescient! 🤓

So, we've had a great first half of the season, which has seen the wheels come off a bit in the past 4 games. What's gone wrong?

(1) Over-reliance on Fernandez in midfield. Without Lavia in there, we are nowhere near as good. Fernandez & Caicedo as a 2 does not work well enough. We have known this for some time. Lavia's constant injury spells are costly.

(2) Jackson's form, particularly his finishing, has deserted him just when we needed it.

(3) Palmer is not as effective as he was, mainly because he is now given far more attention by the oppo. Personally I think Nkunku would be the best foil for this, as a second #10. However, there are other big names that would have to miss out.

(4) the main guys are getting less rest over the busy period and the second string are fine for the Europa Conference, but not the PL - as Ipswich demonstrated.

A turbulent January ahead

The Pedro Neto signing was made official today and he was introduced to the crowd at half-time in the last pre-season friendly vs Inter, which we drew 1-1.
He is a quality player - super quick and bright. However, I have three reservations:
(1) He is very injury prone. Seems odd for perhaps the club with the worst injury record to buy another.
(2) He is ANOTHER of these players who is fabulous until it comes to putting the ball in the net. And AGAIN, we have TOO MANY of those.
In fact, injury prone players and players who aren't great at finishing are our two biggest flaws, and yet Neto ticks both boxes.
(3) When he is fit, where is he going to play?!?!?! And perhaps more to the point, who ISN'T therefore going to play?!?
Let's assume there are just FOUR attacking positions up for grabs; Palmer and Nkunku have to start - they're our best two. If Neto starts that leaves just one space being competed for by:
Madueke, who's been our best player in pre-season.
Sterling, who's also performed well.
Jackson, who is our only decent out and out striker.
Guiu, who looks like a worker who can't finish.
Mudryk, who still has a lot to learn.
Angelo, who I love, but will probably get loaned.
Broja, who will likely get sold.

I don't think any others are in the running, even though there are others.
If we buy that Spanish guy, then that would be another vying for that place.

It's crazy, really.

Nkunku's best position is not striker, so if he is in the three behind, it's Jackson or Guiu to fill the spot. But that would be harsh on Madueke especially.
Maybe we'll have a team that plays PL games and an entirely different one for the Europa and the league cup. That wouldn't actually be a terrible plan.

Still on the inverted topic. Chelsea have been at their best in recent times with Chilwell and James on the pitch, overlapping the midfielders ahead of them. I know they've rarely been on the field together of late, but is changing the plan entirely - by inverting the full backs - really a good idea??

Pre-season is an odd thing. As I write this we are losing to Celtic 4-0, with 8 minutes left.
A few days ago we drew 2-2 with lowly Wrexham.

Last year we had a decent pre-season and to some extent carried some of that into the PL, albeit injuries, especially Nkunku's, took the momentum out.

The year before was awful. We had a terrible pre-season and TT didn't make it far past it.

So here's Maresca, changing our style again, starting from scratch again and we are clearly struggling to make it work early doors.

And these are the EASY pre-season opponents. The last one of those is Club America in a few days, but after that it's Man City, Real Madrid and Inter!!!

The signs are not good.

Just one thing I will say on Maresca's tactics. Almost all of the chat has been about inverted full-backs making an extra man in midfield. Now, I get that and it sounds good. BUT are you getting the best out of Reece James by pushing him inside all the time? I don't think you are. He is so good at getting balls in from wide and creates so many chances from there, it seems daft to remove that threat.
Besides which, he is suspended for the first FOUR games. That's quite a lot. What is the point of practicing that now, really? I don't think Malo Gusto can do the inverted thing, he isn't composed enough in possession, so what will Maresca do for those first 4 games?
Lots of questions.
While I wrote this we got one goal back from the penalty spot and it finished 4-1. Not good. I know we haven't got Palmer in there yet and there's chopping and changing but still...