Emmynator:


what your one true love says about Mount.

Roy Keane believes those who criticise Chelsea and England midfielder Mason Mount are nothing more than "idiots".

Prior to England's World Cup qualifier against Poland on Wednesday evening, the Corkman was asked about suggestions that Jack Grealish and Phil Foden should start ahead of Mount.

"Well that is pretty important, that your manager likes you," Keane told ITV.

"Doesn’t matter what people outside the game think, there are a lot of idiots out there.

"Ultimately, I think the players pick the team and he has performed well enough for every manager to say ‘listen you are going to be in my starting line up’.

"He wants to be an all round midfielder. I never hear anything negative about him off the pitch, he seems a brilliant young kid, he has gone out on loan he has done it the hard way."

Keane had also been full of praise for the 22-year-old following England's win against Albania at the weekend, a game in which Mount scored his fourth international goal.

"I think he's outstanding," said Keane.

"He affects the game, he's always involved. His goal today was outstanding.

"The beauty is he makes the game look easy. He's always in control of the ball. Outstanding talent."


What say you?

BlueAngel444:
the same team also wants to sign
Soumare, the past two season they almost made top four, they seem determined to top the table and remain top of table, finishing top four. With these additions it could be possible

swiz123:


Kjaer stood no chance against a heavier Lukaku; therefore it's no brainer that Horjberg should always be close by during their dwells in order to easily steal the ball from Lukaku. Isn't that what providing defensive cover is about?

Horjberg failed in his primary duty and that's the reason they lost.

BlueAngel444:
Rating our signings last season

Mendy no 1 in every sense 10.0

Silva great free signing, our defense got better, UCL in the bag 9.0

Chilwell, was worth the £45m, and Lampard chasing him. Didn't do the English flop like some expected. 8.5

Havertz, I knew signing Havertz was worth the anticipation, UCL worth 7.0

Werner, never wanted him to be our top nine and proved my thoughts right, fits the wings or supporting striker role better. 7.0

Ziyech, the player I thought would bring creativity and spark to the team unfortunately couldn't stay fit and inform, hopefully next season. 6.0

airmark:


Not only on nairaland, idiots are everywhere.

swiz123:


Kjaer stood no chance against a heavier Lukaku; therefore it's no brainer that Horjberg should always be close by during their dwells in order to easily steal the ball from Lukaku. Isn't that what providing defensive cover is about?

Horjberg failed in his primary duty and that's the reason they lost.

Unlimited22:
DISCLAIMER - This might be a lengthy read. Every view expressed here is strictly my opinion and is subject to fair and objective criticism.


Quite apart from the fact that this current team seem to lack the mental fortitude that characterised their mid to late 2000s forbears (a problem that I hope winning club football's biggest prize will help mitigate), there are a few glaring on-field issues still plaguing the team, problems that I thought about for a bit and decided to postulate possible solutions to.


1. The lack of a true goalscorer.

While Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud have their uses, they all have what seems to be the same glaring weakness. They just, at least at the moment, cannot be relied upon to bang in the goals regularly over the course of a season, something we have sorely missed since the heyday of one Diego Costa. And it is worthwhile to state that all the league titles we've won have had at least one player hitting 10 goals. Our highest goalscorer last season was Jorginho. And even though we've spent a lot on attacking talent lately, this is the issue with the most straightforward solution.
Just buy one of Harry Kane or Working Haaland or Romelu Lukaku. Whatever it takes. Whatever tactics and tweaks it will take. The aforementioned guarantee goals. We lack goals. Goals win games. Winning games translates to winning league titles. Simple.

2. The lack of a true DM

One area where Chelsea have a glut of talent is in the centre of the park, but one type of midfielder is conspicuous by their absence from the ranks - a true destroyer.
Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic and Billy Gilmour are all far more comfortable with the ball than without it, Ethan Ampadu has little experience in that role and seems more comfortable in defence despite his height and his quality in positioning, passing and tackling, Conor Gallagher is better served facing the opposition goal, while N'golo Kante will just not stick to one position as it quite limits his considerable capabilities. Other midfield players are more attacking minded than these 5 and any attempt to play them more defensively will be doubly damaging to the team in terms of limiting their talents going forward and exposing the defense. West Ham United are playing hardball over Declan Rice.

I have a twofold solution in mind.
One, simply buy a cheaper DM from Ligue 1. Aurelien Tchouameni and Boubacar Kamara both come to mind, but while supremely talented, both are still relatively inexperienced and might take some time getting to grips with the English game. Plus, the rather painful memories of Tiemoue Bakayoko are still fresh.

The other option is a bit unorthodox but far cheaper, especially considering the money involved in signing a new CF. And that is to convert one of Andreas Christensen or Reece James to a DM, the way PSG did with Marquinhos. I personally favour James, seeing as in his final loan season at Wigan he played quite a few games there, and he is stronger and quicker and more robust in the tackle than the Dane. His passing range is also good, his positioning has improved drastically, and he won't have to be making recovery runs, which is the one aspect of his game that still needs serious polish. With the impending signing of Achraf Hakimi and the emergence of Valentino Livramento, I would say we are covered on the right side of defence for the foreseeable. Worth trying IMO.

3. We might soon have a CB problem on our hands.

Thiago Silva is 36, a geriatric in professional football terms. Cesar Azpilicueta is a fantastic defender but will struggle with the aerial aspects of playing CB in a 4 man backline. Reports have emerged that Antonio Rudiger is refusing to even discuss a contract renewal. Fikayo Tomori is now an AC Milan player. Marc Guehi, Malang Sarr and Xavier Mbuyamba are still relatively untested at the highest level of English football. That leaves just Christensen, who I'm advocating for playing further forward, and Kurt Zouma. Capable hands, yes. Not good enough. And no, Sergio Ramos is not the answer either.

The solution? Two very capable young defenders, one of whom is starting for club (Dynamo Kiev) and country (Ukraine, at this Euros) at the age of just 18. Ilya Zabarnyi is very young but has shown signs of being a very good CB in a time where there's a lack of top class defenders, and will be available for less than 20m Euros. Which means even if the experiment doesn't work out we can always recoup money from loan fees and maybe a permanent deal later on, but I'm positive he's the real deal.
The other is already a league champion with Lille at just 21, a left footed beast who's quick, good at positioning, reading the game and tackling, and is very comfortable with the ball. Because he isn't at the Euros he'll be relatively unnoticed and we won't have to pay a premium to get him if we act fast. Sven Botman is a brilliant CB, and Virgil van Dijk and Mathijs De Ligt Better watch their backs In the Dutch setup.

NB - There are rumours that Aymeric Laporte wants to leave City, but I don't think they have any substance and he might be out of our reach anyway.

PS - Don't forget all views are mine and can be objectively examined and critiqued. Please kindly ignore all typos and grammatical errors.

OJURONGBE1:


The UCL winning goal alone would live in our memories for years to come.
I was critical of him all season due to his lackadaisical attitude from the start but he picked form towards the tail end of the season with some good performances. I hope he gets better.

What do you think of the news below?
CHO for all his talent can't seem to have a manager who trust him enough.

OJURONGBE1:


True bro!
Leicester city are making moves in the transfer market. I read they are chasing Coutinho as well. It seem they're resigned to lose Maddison.

Skimpledawg:
Guys, what's happening around Ada-george road? Been away for a week now

cc; Timbros, rationalmind, unlimited22

Skimpledawg:
Guys, what's happening around Ada-george road? Been away for a week now

cc; Timbros, rationalmind, unlimited22

Skimpledawg:
Guys, what's happening around Ada-george road? Been away for a week now

cc; Timbros, rationalmind, unlimited22

donstan18:

By Agip or Peperoni?

timbros:


Omoh! It's been hell since yesterday that they blocked the road. Pepperoni junction is blocked left and right. Only People from Iwofe to Wimpey and vice versa can cross the junction. In front of Wike house in Ada George is blocked. The centre demarcation is brought down so that people can use one way and Chinda.

I picked my kids from school yesterday around 3pm and went to D Line, pick wifey and went home. Normally, I don't spend more than an hour to do this round. But yesterday,I reached home by 8pm. 5 good hours.

This morning is the same thing. Bro, e don be for us here in Ada George.

Havertz10:
players have also admitted that the euros is more difficult than the world cup

Xavi himself said it


When an opinion ages like fine wine

Ibime:


I think he is on Chelsea list but low down. I don't know what's wrong with them

donstan18:

By Agip or Peperoni?

timbros:


Omoh! It's been hell since yesterday that they blocked the road. Pepperoni junction is blocked left and right. Only People from Iwofe to Wimpey and vice versa can cross the junction. In front of Wike house in Ada George is blocked. The centre demarcation is brought down so that people can use one way and Chinda.

I picked my kids from school yesterday around 3pm and went to D Line, pick wifey and went home. Normally, I don't spend more than an hour to do this round. But yesterday,I reached home by 8pm. 5 good hours.

This morning is the same thing. Bro, e don be for us here in Ada George.

BlueAngel444:
2020 Chelsea after Havertz who wants to join Chelsea, signs Silva and Chilwell

2021 Chelsea chasing Haaland who agrees to Chelsea's move, about to sign Hakimi.... Ramos??

Skimpledawg:

Which kind wahala be this na

Pray your way out, sire

timbros:


Omoh! It's been hell since yesterday that they blocked the road. Pepperoni junction is blocked left and right. Only People from Iwofe to Wimpey and vice versa can cross the junction. In front of Wike house in Ada George is blocked. The centre demarcation is brought down so that people can use one way and Chinda.

I picked my kids from school yesterday around 3pm and went to D Line, pick wifey and went home. Normally, I don't spend more than an hour to do this round. But yesterday,I reached home by 8pm. 5 good hours.

This morning is the same thing. Bro, e don be for us here in Ada George.

donstan18:

I’m sure at some point, you wished you were in a cab for you to come down and start trekking down home.

Skimpledawg:

Which kind wahala be this na

Capaldi:
10goals more

OJURONGBE1:


Ramos who?
My club might be nicknamed 'The pensioners ' but that doesn't mean we should stack our team with old players.

Skimpledawg:

I no con understand o. Was Pepperoni part of the plan for flyovers?

Nawa o

BlueAngel444:
I know forlan played for ATM, I also remember he was in Inter when Mou won UCL

I also recall Forlan in world cup for Uruguay, so how exactly did you come up with your Forlan is not world class for you

Because I know the real world where Forlan lives in he was a world class player at several points in his career.

timbros:


Exactly!

If you see crowd trekking home in all directions! People were even catching their fun trekking home I come dey envy them.

BlueAngel444:
68, e go be 9. Neymar go pass Pele, wish he wins the world cup

Neymar >>>>> Messi will be official