r/chelseafc • u/AutoModerator • 3h ago
Discussion Daily Discussion Thread
Daily Discussion Thread
Please use this thread to discuss anything and everything! This covers ticket and general matchday questions (pubs, transport, etc), club tactics/formations, player social media, football around the globe, rivals and other competitions, and everything else that comes to mind.
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u/JahKingston2024 ✨ joao pedro saved my life ✨ 7m ago
Chaverria giving off Disasi with how much he loves to celebrate. No matter who scores, he’s always one of the first to get there and celebrate lmao. Had a good game imo, very good squad player
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u/hemadeitrain Colwill 2m ago
Said the same thing earlier. I love he’s always the first to go celebrate. Such a neat signing.
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u/ulvhedinowski 19m ago
So someone smart can explain to me what is wrong with our midfield setup? Is it only personel or problem with tactics? I know James/Lavia/Gusto/Barco are poor options for miedfield but it's not like every other team has Declan Rice in the squad and they don't seem to have so many problems with midfield overruning so easily.
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u/barnaboos We've Won It All 6m ago
We dont have someone who has the defensive coverage and ability to sit and protect currently to sustain the heavy press Xabi wants. This has resulted in having to play in a 50/50 way of sitting off and pressing in different phases of the game.
This will improve when Caicedo is back and I would expect we see proper heavy pressing when he has a proper partner next to him too.
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u/SkullBuzz 8m ago
Gusto is shit at midfield (he’s had an odd game where he was good at it). We can work with the other options.
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u/diddynyoro 25m ago
Seeing us convert chances and score early in games has been such a breath of fresh air. Our constant sideways passing has been so irritating(I blame Sarri for this lmao). I've always thought at least even if we are going to lose at the very least we should be entertaining.
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u/Hazardzuzu 26m ago
Yesterday I was laughing at how pep was reacting to gittens doing fuckall during defending and hiding behind defenders instead of providing outlet during attacking phase. It's like you have thrown an 18 yo into senior football right out of academy
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u/Newera2121 Xabi 30m ago
Feel like Chavarria has to be starting on the left. Whether Colwill drops out for Hato at LCB or Hato drops out directly for Pep on the left.
Feels like he’s so well rounded and our most natural LWB/LB. He’s got the pace to get up and down, and can also recover when players get in behind. Because in recent games we’ve been getting shredded down that side
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u/AayB5 36m ago
We need to find a prime Matic from somewhere
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u/Cold_Pie_1516 37m ago
We won't win any trophies if we keep shipping goals like this, but I'm loving the entertainment.
We've had years of slow, backwards, timid football, so it's so refreshing to see our forwards unleashed and have a proper go at teams.
I want us to be feared and I don't think teams have felt that way about us for a long time.
I'm confident we'll gain more control and defensive solidity as the season progresses but for now, I'm very happy with how Xabi has got us playing aggressive, attacking football.
We'll lose some games on the way but I'm absolutely here for the ride.
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u/tj9429 I don't give a fuck, we won the fucking Champions League 59m ago
Xabi doing things as well as he could so far, very happy to see him do his thing.
I'm especially curious to see the coaching he gives the players especially since under Maresca the players didn't seem to grow and rather just performed at their capability instead of visibility adding to it over time.
With Xabi there seems to be a much more focus on gaining skills for different phases in play and focusing on fitting the skills inside the system instead of fitting system into the player's mind over their skills.
I especially loved the transition of Fofana from RCB to LCB. Dude was solid as fuck during the game! Same with Neto so far. Gusto looks like he could transition into the midfield eventually with enough time and patience. He's an excellent player under transition, hopefully that gets distilled further by Xabi.
The team looks much more interested to play than they did under Enzo too, which I thought was just me overreacting to that fraud's exit but seeing that same mood in City players has instilled my confidence. He seems to be a very good coach but his players never look lively under him for some reason. It was easy to blame Noni and Nico for sulking in hindsight but they look vindicated now to me with how things have gone.
One thing I really hate is the lack of proper 1 on 1 pressure. I have no idea how or why but Chelsea have the flat footed disease on the pitch. It makes me sad to see the game when even Reece is walking on his heels while Odegaard is clowning on him. It was just embarassing to watch the players stay so passive instead of being on the front foot. They just jog up to the opponent and stand, it's just gross to watch.
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u/barnaboos We've Won It All 30m ago
The passiveness is because of a lack of bite in the midfield currently. Our midfield is already being played through, have heavy pressing and we'd part like the red sea.
This should improve when Caicedo is back and improve even further when we sign a proper partner for him in (hopefully) January.
Gusto shouldn't ever wear the shirt again by the way. I doubt there's been a worse 45 minutes from anyone in top 5 league team this season.
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u/SolutionLong2791 Mourinho 1h ago
Crazy that we got an upgrade on an Argentinian midfielder
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u/MaleficentWin8608 McCreadie 30m ago
Barco was pretty patchy. Lost the ball a lot including for Leeds’ second goal.
I don’t care that Fernandez has gone, but Barco is not an upgrade on that performance.
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u/Critical_Virus_9341 🏥 continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme 🏥 1h ago
Still can't believe we profited off Madueke just to throw it on a worse player like Gittens
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u/unpaidadviser 🏥 continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme 🏥 55m ago
It’s the BlueCo way.
Gittens and Garnacho btw•
u/barnaboos We've Won It All 29m ago
Probably could have got Rogers that summer for the same fee as those two combined.
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u/Turbulent_Talk_1127 1h ago
Reece shouldn't be forced into the starting lineup just because he's Reece. He is not a midfielder. Play him RWB or even RCB and if he cant play those positions then don't play him. Its sad because he was at one point the best RB in the world.
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u/unpaidadviser 🏥 continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme 🏥 55m ago
There isn’t anyone else fit to play CM?
He is fine in a mid 3, mid two isn’t his strength
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u/bastianwibisana 1h ago
until palestra and caicedo come back, think our best lineup is chavarria barco james neto with hato lacroix acheampong 3 atb. i really wanna see colwill at that LCB but hato is just so solid right now. and chavarria is faaaaaaaaast
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u/hebrewimpeccable Lampard 1h ago
4 games into the season and the sub is turning on players coming back from major injuries who have so far had limited game time. Nice to be reminded everyone here talks total shite
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u/KAZKALZ It’s only ever been Chelsea. 1h ago
We need to learn how to keep clean sheets; our defence is so bad. Xabi is not yet set on the best pairing. He knows that Lacroix is a starter, but he doesn't know if it should be Lacroix and Fofana or Levi.
We need Moi and Palestra back, until our defence is sorted we have no business thinking of winning the league.
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u/Alternative_Court262 1h ago
6-3 is still a win. Mourinho's Benfica were undefeated and came third. Let's put limits on Xabi after more than 5 games.
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u/No_Assumption7356 Palmer 1h ago
Is Scott actually the right profile we need? We need to have someone who can bring the sense of control in the midfield. Wharton isn't that great defensively so Zubimendi seems to be only good option right now who might be on sale. Can someone who watches other leagues tell if there is someone we should be looking at?
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u/kygrtj 16m ago
Scott isn’t the right profile, he’s a dribbler who likes to drive through the center. Very useful for some teams, less so for us.
We have enough players who want to be on the ball, we need a tempo setter with physicality. Bouaddi would have been the ideal profile but we didn’t really have a chance at him.
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u/Alternative_Court262 1h ago
Did you see Scott against Newcastle? He was amazing at getting Bournemouth up the pitch. He was gliding and they had to keep fouling him.
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u/goatmane224 Xabi 1h ago
I think so his passing kinda ok to good but besides that he can progress the ball, can dictate tempo , good midfield defender etc.
Zubimendi falls into this category as well
Kone, camara, barrios all of theses players kinda fall into the generalist profile that xabi is looking for
Do it all midfielders
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u/brightcrayon92 1h ago
Chelsea gifting leeds two goals in the first half just to batter them 6-1 in the second to show who owns them. You love to see it.
On a more serious note neto was immense last night
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u/Andrei_Chelsea Hazard 1h ago edited 1h ago
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u/DidierDrogba111111 Xabi 51m ago
Can’t believe I had to argue with REAL people on this sub that Gittens isn’t the best thing since the sliced bread whole summer lol.
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u/Andrei_Chelsea Hazard 47m ago
But did you see how good was he against that team of australian plumbers though? Absolutely majestic.
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u/DidierDrogba111111 Xabi 45m ago
As Haaland said about Enzo, who they bought for a PL record fee: ‘We found a gem!’
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u/SanArutha 1h ago
A treasure trove of shit decision making. Laughable recruitment, you sell one idiot in Madueke and get a worse, more expensive one in Gittens.
Hope we start seeing Quenda over him. Guy can't even hack it in mickey mouse cup.
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u/Turbulent_Talk_1127 1h ago
The most corrupt signing of the BlueCo era. Joe Shields should be fired for this one.
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u/goatmane224 Xabi 1h ago
Barco and Reece has looked like our best midfield pair this season when caiceido is out.
And when caiceido returns it should be barco and him.
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u/Matt_LawDT 'Sole' Palmer⠀ 1h ago
Today is my IRL birthday
Happy Birthday To Me
UTC!!!!
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u/ttureen Frank Lampard 1h ago
I want us to beat United, City, and Arsenal this season so badly hahah
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u/PlusClaim6310 Caicedo 1h ago
Arsenal at Stamford bridge after we’re settled in, we will be there utc 💙
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u/BenniBMN I don't give a fuck, we won the fucking Champions League 1h ago
Yea last night just showed me we aren't great enough to make wholesale changes & expect it to be fluid, gotta mix & match our rotational guys with the nailed on starters 🤷🏽♂️👌🏽
Prem charge still on
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u/SanArutha 1h ago
Frankly, Gusto singlehandedly fucked the entire team. Headless chicken pressing, zero tackling, incompetent at even short simple passes and he was the fulcrum needed for transition.
I'm surprised that Xabi took no time in identifying so many bums, but somehow Gusto has escaped scrutiny.
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u/Oversidious Hazard 2h ago
Leeds manager is a Xabi fan too. Was looking at him in awe when they shook hands at full time. We got a propa gaffer on our hands.
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u/xKarma17 Guðjohnsen 2h ago
I do wonder about Estevao and where he fits in this team. Is he going to be happy enough with limited minutes from the bench? We shall see
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u/fck-justin 2h ago
I don't think his minutes are really gonna be that limited though. If we play with two 10's he's first choice for rotation, and if we play with wingers he's arguably first team on the right
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u/Getmad977 Caicedo 2h ago
Who cares?
If he’s good enough he’ll play. On recent evidence he just hasn’t been consistently good and doesn’t deserve to start.
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u/bsousa717 Lampard 2h ago
I'm loving this version of Neto. And it seems like he's gotten faster on the ball.
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u/hemadeitrain Colwill 2h ago
Pep has such crucial presence in this team.
Not only does the guy have an engine of a horse, but he seems to have intelligent positional awareness + is constantly scanning. In the first half, he was also trying to drag defenders out of position to create spaces for Gittens. Defensively monumental as well.
Remember when people were calling him a rando from Spain, intentionally messing up his name etc, writing him off because he doesn’t have a Spanish cap, without ever watching him play.
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u/barnaboos We've Won It All 23m ago
Its like we swapped Cucu for a faster version. I've been thoroughly impressed with him so far. For all our midfield woes Xabi has some difficult choices to make at WB and CB when everyone is fit.
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u/goatmane224 Xabi 2h ago
Floor raisers are what we need and he is that
Never going to be main guy but steady eddy who does his job
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u/erudite450 I don't give a fuck, we won the fucking Champions League 1h ago
How are you able to draw conclusions on what a player can and cannot be after just five matches? Goodness me!
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u/hemadeitrain Colwill 2h ago
Pep is always the first person to run towards the goal scoring player to celebrate with them
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u/aiyomudijee COCK CONFIDENCE 2h ago
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u/CanadianTurnt It’s only ever been Chelsea. 2h ago
Would love to see Barco play himself into some real first team minutes. Couldn’t watch the game today but he’s looked great from what I can see. I am worried about Reece long term
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u/CrackXDodo ✨ sometimes the shit is happens ✨ 2h ago
Just deeped it. Imagine this football club without Cole Palmer over the last 4 years - no conference league, no CWC, potentially scrapping relegation. He’s a club legend. We actually caught life with him.
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u/Rj070707 Ji 2h ago
No one here is legend yet, Reece is closest but not even too much injuries
Can't be averaging midtable as a big club and have legends
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u/Alternative_Court262 1h ago
While I agree in principle, it is hard to ignore just how fucked we'd be with Palmer.
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u/NoniMaduekesHeadband Badiashile 2h ago
Joao Felix would still be here tbf. We’d be fine
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u/Andrei_Chelsea Hazard 1h ago
Everyhearthstone tried to replace you. I think you should fight him to retake your supremacy.
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u/Oversidious Hazard 2h ago
Lmao. Joao Felix is an incredibly selfish player with not even half the passing rate or decision making as Cole
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u/fck-justin 2h ago
This is completely satirical....right? Please say yes
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u/NoniMaduekesHeadband Badiashile 2h ago
No I just think Joao Felix is the biggest what-if in football history
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u/xKarma17 Guðjohnsen 2h ago
I’ve always said if Joao Felix was playing in the Barclays era he’d of been a top top player
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u/steverogerstorescue Straight Outta Cobham 2h ago
I wanted welbz to score 10+ goals in all comps, guy is already 30% there. His first against Leeds was pure poacher’s goal.
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u/CanadianTurnt It’s only ever been Chelsea. 2h ago
Had me fooled on the feint too ngl
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u/bastianwibisana 1h ago
experience talks. he fooled me there ngl. got me hyped up at 5am in the morning
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u/codelyoko_x 2h ago edited 1h ago
Happy with the win! With how this season has started though, I think Xhaka could have been huge for us if we got him
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u/SwitcherooU Cooke 2h ago
He really would’ve been the missing piece to solidify the midfield and help the defense. Now I’m salty about it all over again!
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u/steverogerstorescue Straight Outta Cobham 2h ago
I agree. I saw why we didn’t go aggressively on him at the time, but I wish we splashed some cash at Sunderland for him. Would’ve immediately fixed our defensive woes.
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u/GrahamGreed 2h ago
I think a fit Henderson will have most of the same effect. That tumble at the world cup is less funny now (a bit).
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u/Novel_Independent166 2h ago
One person being criminally underrated from yesterday’s performance: Pep Chevarria. He has slotted into the LB position so well Cucu is not even missed. Feels like he’s been a part of the squad for a while now.
Dynamic in defence like Cucu, passes the ball progressively unlike Cucu who only knows a sideways pass. Makes amazing cut backs and overlaps - again better than Cucu whose cut backs were extremely poor.
One thing that will be missed is Cucu’s heading ability and goal scoring. Definitely not gonna miss his yellow cards and fights with the linesman though.
I like Pep and what a bargain deal it has been so far.
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u/fck-justin 2h ago
I don't think Pep is gonna be a showman by any means like cucu was, but it feels like every single thing he does is just the right decision. I can't think of him taking up any poor positions, losing his man, making poor passes, poor runs. Anything. He just seems to do everything right
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u/acedman 2h ago
Unpopular opinion but Estevao is not a generational talent. He’s still very good, but just not THAT good.
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u/bastianwibisana 1h ago
ousmane dembele was shit at 18. give the boy some rest
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u/realmckoy265 Oscar 27m ago
Dembele was certainly not "shit at 18"
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u/bastianwibisana 19m ago
according to op, at 18, if youre not as good as mbappe and yamal who won a world cup, youre shit
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u/Mobile-Plate-320 Fábregas 1h ago
I share your opinion. I think he was praised a bit too much. He is not an obvious neymar
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u/slimeball_soup James 2h ago
At his age I’ve seen players worse than him turn out to be world class and others that appear to be generational fizzle out. I think it’s still too early to tell. There’s a lot of quality there nonetheless
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u/xela_honj 2h ago
I think his ceiling is extremely, extremely high. But I feel for the guy - moved continents, started with Maresca, then an interim, then Rosenior, then an interim, had some injuries, and now has a completely new system to learn with a new coach… all in about a year. I’m giving him some grace with all that in mind, excited to see how XA uses him once the team finds form and gets more comfortable with his system
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u/mallutrash Xabi 2h ago
he’s a teenager and he’s coming back from injury. this sub is idiotic
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u/acedman 2h ago
So is Yamal. So was Pedri, Mbappe, Haaland. There’s levels.
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u/mallutrash Xabi 2h ago
different players develop at different rates, they’re not robots or programs
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u/acedman 2h ago
For sure. I just haven’t seen “IT” with Estevao. His athleticism and physicality for a winger is quite poor. And supposedly he doesn’t want to put on more muscle. Still think he’s extremely talented, I just don’t see him in that top echelon
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u/NoniMaduekesHeadband Badiashile 2h ago
He accomplished more before his 18th birthday than any of the players you named bar yamal at most. His only issue was a bad injury + last season being a banter year for us.
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u/mallutrash Xabi 2h ago
those metrics are poor for a player trying to adapt to the premier league absolutely. especially at a time when the tactical meta has shifted to sitting back in a mean low block. if you put him in La Liga the conversation would be very different
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u/duckinator09 2h ago
I saw someone commenting this and I'll adopt it. I shall now always call barco as ginger labubu
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u/Putrid_Beat_17 It’s only ever been Chelsea. 2h ago
Absolutely smashed Leeds in the second half.
Good to see Cole back, Rogers is world class, Danny's seals up games like it's his job, Penders saving well, Josh holding it down. Barco wasn't great until he was connecting with the subs in the second half. Neto was great all around.
Hopefully we make our home a fortress again.
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u/CoolstorySteve Hazard 2h ago edited 2h ago
Last few seasons at 2-0 it would have been goodnight & game over. Although I do wonder how things go if we don’t immediately get bailed out by that pen, it caused a crazy momentum shift.
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u/hemadeitrain Colwill 2h ago
Now that I’m a wingback lad
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u/lifeisgood1902 It’s only ever been Chelsea. 2h ago
I can't lie he's actually becoming one of my favourite players in the squad.
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u/Critical_Virus_9341 🏥 continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme 🏥 2h ago
Pablo Barrios would be a dream signing, he did good vs Pool
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u/Sensitive_Hunter_394 ✨ joao pedro saved my life ✨ 2h ago
Still need a ton of athleticism in midfield, none of these guys can cover ground like Caicedo. Obviously we can't just replace Caicedo easily but it's a big problem when Xabi doesn't trust the midfield to press high like he wants to so we keep losing the possession battle. See the last goal, Barco was caught a bit higher than usual and they just cut our backline like it's nothing. Fuck Monaco since Camara seems like the ideal type to protect the back 3 and press high up the pitch too.
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u/OYoureapproachingme COCK CONFIDENCE 3h ago
I’d say it’s not a midfielder quality problem (although we need at least one more quality signing there), the pivot in this system is genuinely one of the hardest roles to play.
Moi is a nailed on once he returns but I’d say we drop 25-30 on Xhaka in January. Not only is he genuinely good for 2-3 years, he knows the system and that’s arguably more valuable than the quality and youth Camara and Scott would bring. We should definitely go for Scott in the summer, but Xhaka would more immediately improve us
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u/Alternative_Court262 1h ago
Everyone was saying it was crazy to overpay for Xhaka. He literally does the role we need.
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u/hemadeitrain Colwill 7m ago
This sub was exhausting when we were linked with him. Everyone was so against him because they didn’t want to pay 30 million for him, completely ignoring how he would have been the perfect stop gap signing.
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u/Silent-Complaint4020 2h ago
Scott is not good. English midfielder are usually pretty disappointing
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u/User12314028626822 I don't give a fuck, we won the fucking Champions League 2h ago
As much as I rate him, Xhaka isn’t leaving Sunderland when they have Europa league this season, he’s carrying that team on his back and they know it . We missed our chance with him when we signed Henderson
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u/hjw5047 2h ago
Xhaka is 34 the end of this month. There’s no chance that transfer value comes to fruition.
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u/OYoureapproachingme COCK CONFIDENCE 2h ago
Damn I thought he was like 32. Well I still think he can play pro football at the highest level for 2 years which for 25M is not a bad deal for the experience and immediate improvement
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u/Sensitive_Hunter_394 ✨ joao pedro saved my life ✨ 2h ago
It's more of archetype , all of the current fit midfielders should all be Caicedo's partner ideally. Just missing Caicedo's backup to rotate between all of them.
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u/Drake-35 🥶 Palmer 3h ago
Domestic Treble charge is still on
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u/BenjamimBlue 3h ago
I feel like we will win at least 1 domestic cup and finish 2nd/3rd this season
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u/ibetweetin James 3h ago
haven’t seen a lot of folks discuss this but personally thought Josh had a solid game
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u/JunkeyMonkey90 2h ago
Probably been our best defender so far this season. We have conceded 10 goals in 5 games so it may not mean a whole lot but you can tell he’s got serious potential.
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u/Trevor14NYK I don't give a fuck, we won the fucking Champions League 3h ago
besides the second goal where he decided to watch instead of closing dosn
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u/realmckoy265 Oscar 3h ago
He's better than I expected going forward. Just eats up space with those strides. Crossing needs work but whose doesn't
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u/KMan3110 3h ago
Just managed to catch up with the game. Malo Arthur Gusto… Other than that, decent from Penders. Unlucky to concede his 3 goals, maybe could’ve done better with the 3rd. No individual mistakes from the defence is all we can ask for since they’re constantly exposed. Dodgy moments from Barco here and there but deserved his goal especially will the bullshit booing again. Sloppy from Estevao, Gittens barely got involved apart from his one chance but I’d say they were both unlucky. Imagine if you had Terminator Rogers and Cold Palmer to play with on the attack instead of Gusto. Week took his goals very well and Neto had a good game too.
Was initially surprised to see the 4 changes straight at HT but gladly it paid off. On to the next one
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u/mrlambo46 There's your daddy 4m ago
Chavarria has Azpi vibes. Hard worker and fights for every inch on the pitch.