To be fair they did have an extra time CL game mid week. That psychologically will affect them.

If Slot had a deeper squad he could have rotated better, but he’s flogged his best players every game this season and has paid the price as his players didn’t have the energy when it mattered.

Football is so shadenfraude driven. I myself and revelling in it. Liverpool

Heaven stretchered off with what looks like a serious injury for Man U. Lots saying he was the best player on the pitch in the first half.
Of course Man U are a long level below us right now so it makes more sense he can start for them but be nowhere near that for us, also playing in a back 3 can mask defenders weaknesses - but I must admit I didnt think he was ready for the prem.
we have to get used to academy players leaving but the part that is unacceptable is that if we have a player Man U seem good enough for their first team we should be getting a proper fee for them

Newcastle have a handy knack of getting top teams to play the game Newcastle want to play.

He's going to win the league in his first season. I think he has managed the squad quite well.

That Heaven injury doesn't look good. Whiff of an ACL.

I did wonder what Ødegaard was so heated about. Bit amateur from the ref.

Superb version, thanks. Try this

https://youtu.be/fMHfKrsdRFM

Love your optimism

Ironically, both times we are the 2nd placed team. Does show our inability to wrest the initiative when the time is right.

Pool losing the final is great. Double whack in one week.
But then I recall we have had so many of those weeks in the past.

Test post.

Hi all. I have modified something in the back end of the forum as a security test.

If anyone sees anything acting odd, please let me know.

Hello hello, is anyone out there. Are you from a friendly planet?

I see U

Test post 2

Edit

My post was slightly tongue in cheek based on Arteta being criticised for not rotating enough. If you have no injuries it’s quite easy to just pick your best players every week, I still see their eventual league win as having as much to do with our injuries and City seemingly falling off a cliff as it does their own good play. Perhaps if players like Chiesa, Jones, Elliott had been given more minutes then the first teamers would have had a bit more in the tank to get past tight games v PSG and Newcastle and they’d still be on for a treble…..but then we saw the quality of Liverpool’s back ups when they lost to Plymouth in the cup.

Some good analysis on MOTD of Rice and James battle. James playing in an unfamiliar midfield role seemed tasked with man marking Rice, Rice just dragged him in to areas away from central midfield and directed others to rotate in to his spot which pulled Chelsea’s midfield apart. I like seeing these things that you don’t spot in the game and it shows how players can seemingly have a quiet game but still be effective.

Indeed - kind thoughts for his family and you all.

Well, kiwi's made a couple of intelligent posts

That's really weird

Watching us attack is so soul destroying.

Same things over and over again with pretty much zero end product.

https://x.com/kimmofc/status/1901410076 ... -j6VVZXEoA

I knew someone would have a complication of Fofana’s fouls yesterday. Disgraceful refereeing that he stayed on the pitch, from the same ref who decided he ‘had no choice’ when sending Rice off.

The worst one is the pull back not being yellow carded because it’s far less of a subjective card. The stamp is naughty but I can see it maybe lacks the force for var to give a red but it’s a clear yellow. Then studs late in to Trossard’s shin, clear yellow. The late trip on MLS in a dangerous place could easily be a yellow but a lot of refs cower away from giving second yellows there for most but not all teams

Hi Warrior,

It's very sad.

So sad that he's not here to see his forum still going strongly and so sad for his parents, family and friends to lose him in the prime of his life.

All the work you do is very much appreciated Warrior. That goes without saying.

20 years just goes by in a blink of an eye. My thoughts are with the Gleiber family on this sad anniversary.

We sometimes say we could have played all day and not scored - so its worth noting the same could have been said of Chelsea yesterday. It might have been only 1-0 but our defence had them absolutely at arms length. To think it wasn't that long ago we not only could barely get a point off these top teams but were often routinely humiliated - now we're 19 unbeaten against top 6 sides in the league

Yes we have come a long way, and trophies or not, the level we are playing at these days should be celebrated. The team spirit and the integration of young players into the set up is great to see.

RIP Steve

Best wishes to Steve's family and friends.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/arti ... gp328n18go
Name and shame. No reason for this at all.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day to all.

Kiwi? Otherwise all good.

People talk about raising the ceiling and raising the floor of your team. I think our 'floor' is very high, even with all the injuries and things that have gone wrong this season we're still second and in the QF of the CL. You only have to look at the downfall of other teams to see where their 'floor' is. Signings like Merino and Calafiori along with the emergence of MLS and Nwaneri really help to raise the floor of the team - but this summer has to be raising the ceiling of the team. Difference makers in clutch moments, players who win you games on their own or out of nothing - like Salah.

It is easy to say 'next season' but its becoming harder to accept that real success is always seemingly just out of reach. This summer is really huge for us because even more so than last summer when it would have been hard to predict Man City's downfall, the pieces really are in place for us to be able to get much stronger and for our closest rivals to not necessarily get weaker, but have far bigger obstacles to getting stronger themselves. The core and key members of our squad are still in that early to mid 20's bracket whilst Liverpool and City have many aging players. The contracts of the 3 Liverpool players is a big moment for them, it would take £250m to replace them and that's just to stand still. City have bought poorly for them so feel like they are in a bit of a rebuild.

Anyone going to Madrid?

Saliba...

Well that's two more than you've ever managed

Now just hold on one rootin tootin minute here young Decaf
...this very afternoon ; not three hours ago I had to undertake a series of tests to renew my drivers licence .

Eyesight , weight . blood pressure , memory , etc .... recite John Marshall 24 Market Street Richmond Canterbury ten minutes after first mentioned .

How many animals can you name in a minute ... nurse said I had set a record ; think I got 38 . quizzed me afterwards as to what an ocelot , serval and gharial were .

Nothing odd in this neck of the woods .

Good to hear things are still working, Kiwi.

Speaking of animals: yesterday a swarm of bees moved into our roof, via a gap in the wall in the carport. This morning by six they were making a deafening noise, infesting the carport and starting to get into the house through a gap in the hatch and various holes ... So, I got my gear together and got ready to go into the roof. Silence. They'd left on own accord. So, do I own up or claim a major handyman victory?

Always take the wins Decaf - I'd say it was the aftershave I was wearing

Yet again, the distortion between what people think Arteta has said and what he has actually said is miles apart - and then blown up to make a headline.

I guarantee you ask the average fan of one of our rivals what they hate about Arteta and near the top of their list will be he always blames something else when we don’t win - the reality is it’s incredibly rare he does that. I could script you a standard Arteta response when we don’t win he uses the same lines so often and it’s not making excuses he always talks about ourselves because that’s the only thing we can control

Chelsea have an obligation to buy Sancho from Man U when his loan ends but they are considering paying a penalty clause to be able to send him back to Man U. Absolute joke club