Theregulars

Did he though? Didn't pick him much and did talk about the need for positional discipline.

Does it not count for anything, in anybody's measure, that Howe rates him?

Well both Rafael Benitez and Eddie Howe picked him frequently, and in my view both of them are good judges of quality.

Ah come on, man. He’s a good player. Eminently capable of being improved upon but to my mind he’s been a lot more good than bad. Worst you can say is he’s frustrating.

If only the player felt the same way about you, Steve. He's not a generational talent either. Tedious, tedious club with a tedious, tedious fanbase.

Oh that’s the G spot right there

Zubimendi sociedad shirt ordered for all walks around London

He’d get an updated version of the shola song I reckon. Name has exactly the right bounce, cadence and pentameter. Keen on this basis alone

Hello nature, I'm vacuum. I don't much like you.

Chelsea give no fucks about competition between clubs and rivalry in my opinion. If it helps them launder money it’s on the table

Yeh I can sort of understand it from an outsider putting what they know together and drawing a conclusion, but I’ve just not got the impression that we’re run by idiots, short-termists or hotheads. It’s interesting food for thought to wonder what happens if we finish 7th again in similar circumstances (injuries everywhere), mind.

To be clear I was mainly joking, although I do think the central premise of your view - that it was a poor season which showed Howe in a bad light - is wrong. I don’t know how the ultimate owners viewed it all but you’d hope there’s a sensible voice in there somewhere which explains that, if you consider context, it was actually quite a good but ultimately frustrating season. Clearly they have some concern about methods and injuries, but I don’t take that to mean he’s on performance probation.

😂

Why did you come back?

Coming up for this one. Osula to score

That's fair enough and totally reasonable when you put it that way.

I thought about whether that might be an option - Guehi’s recovery pace meaning all 3 squeeze right high up so we keep teams boxed in and beat them up

Re: him being pictured at their training, I’m sure there’s some genuine desire there to try and talk him into changing his mind. I think their view is sell if he really wants and then maximise value, not let’s cash in now and force it.

😂

Difficult, certainly. They’ve a very good manager in my view. Admittedly just one match, but when I was in Spain I went to see his Frankfurt team dismantle Barcelona at the nou camp and was mighty impressed. Winning the EL was some achievement.

Right? I see them as a team to watch this year. If they carry on last season’s form…

Sure?! The point being made is that we shouldn’t sneer at perceived “smaller” clubs and assume we’re better than them. It’s a pointless discussion of whether we were shit or they were great, but I watched it and thought I’ve not seen a team neutralise us so effectively for a long while.

Just when I was worried that the Willennium was losing momentum

They didn’t look at best medium when they played us off the park at their place last season (when we didn’t field a bad side)…

Someone will eventually make a really good TV drama about Abramaovich and Boehly using Chelsea as a multijurisdictional money laundering vehicle. “The Shed”.