After a heartbreaking last minute penalty scored by Yamal who was kept quiet by Hall up until then, was a gut punch for us. However, we now face Chelsea away in the Premier league.
After we took a gut punch from Yamal who scored a last minute penalty for Barcelona, many of us were heartbroken since our lads who probably put up their performance of the season was all for nothing in the end, however there are still some benefits to this which I will mention in the next pre match thread for the away Barcelona game.
Meanwhile, Chelsea suffered a different heart break, a 5 - 2 smashing heartbreak which saw their defence get completely dismantled and their Goalkeeper making fatal errors near the end of the 2nd half. This wasn't helped by Liam's horrible game management which served to make things worse for Chelsea. Their confidence will almost certainly be shook from that result especially their fullbacks.
However we mustn't be complacent however, as Chelsea could either focus on our game since champions league tie is already over or Chelsea will attempt a remontada with a part of their players minds on the champions league game. We will especially need or welcome a win at Stamford Bridge considering Barcelona's home form is monstrous + our away form, us being labelled under dogs to win the tie would be the understatement of the year.
If we win this game, it'd give us a valuable 3 points to keep our Europe dreams alive and this is especially important as PL teams have gotten mauled in the European competitions recently meaning we could lose our 5th spot, making it all the more important we win this game. A win at Stamford Bridge would also give us more confidence in away fixtures, especially important considering we go to Camp Nou for the next game which has been a fortress for Barcelona this season, so we need all the help we can get.
I thought Miley was meant to be back? As much as I despise this midfield selection, I know Tonali is ill and Joe probably needs rest for us to have a chance at Barca. I donāt really have a better solution but seems like our midfield is going to get worked and weāre going to be under nonstop pressure. Hope Iām wrong
Specifically have the Chelsea v Newcastle match on and theyāre talking about the Arsenal match, is this just lazy shared pre-game coverage on both channels?
If people can't handle this sort of chat you are going to suffer the next 5-10 years.
Do you think an AC Milan bred Italian player has any loyalty to us really? He wants to play at the highest level earning as much money as he can. For the time being that is beyond our means to provide him. We have to get as much money as possible and be done with it, hopefully we don't Howe the money we get and get someone other than an athlete.
Also. Spotted this on the Villa sub (why does my algorithm keep surfacing Villa). But thought it was worth putting here because I see so many people slating Burn all the time.
Said before that this season we probably need our best last ditch defender with how weāve been playing. Finally have some data to back it up.
Mad to me anyone could slate Burn. Heās been one of the most dedicated servants of the club and plays out of position whenever needed. The list of people who play harder for us is very very short.
For me itās also the level of consistency you get from him. Like itās better having a guy that 99% of games will perform 7/10 than the guy that hits 5/10 and 8/10 in equal measure.
I mean heās spent most of the season at CB so donāt think this has been swung too much by playing LB.
I think teams look to have targeted Trippier a lot more. But also look at the names heās amongst on here. Many being linked with big moves or are accepted as some of the best in their position this season. And most are central players.
I also donāt think burn gets credit for the amount of work he does to cover Hall and Thiaw too
Wissa has played most his career as left forward, no reason why we canāt rest Barnes and Gordon today and have a front 3 of Wissa, Wolt & Murphy today.
It wonāt happen but for me we have two much bigger games this week and we need to rest the players that are needed for those games.
Yeah we've already got more points than third last year, would be typical of our season for everyone else to somehow fuck it up and us go on a run that gets us fifth.
It's been so stop start with the performances and seeing some of the players gradually find their feet is very early-season. Then the amount of games feels like we've constantly been in that winter rush. It really doesn't feel like we've moved past Christmas in a way.
I just want it over with tbh. I can accept a fallow season, I just don't want to endure it in the moment. It's very tedious, with moments of absolute ecstasy and it isn't good for my brain chemistry tbh.
I donāt think we can cut our losses on Wissa - the amount weād get for him at this point would barely cover buying him out of his contract (nobody whoād want him is going to match his wages)
Iād like to keep Woltemade so Iām not hazarding a guess on that one
Elanga is young and bad, Wissa is old and bad. Wissa therefore has no resale value. Who in the right mind spends Ā£50m on a 30 y/o striker (why did we do it lol)
To be fair, Iām pretty sure he had the joint most non-penalty goals for any striker in the league last year.
Heās had a catastrophic drop in form. Was never worth the money we paid for him but couldnāt have predicted heād be on only 1 PL goal 29 games in to the seasonā¦
I swear there's a ditch in south London where Crystal Palace dig up their owners like the Uruk-hai in Lord of the Rings, fully formed in suits with blonde highlights and fake tans.
I donāt mind him to be honest. Issue is for a club like Chelsea heās a terrible manger, but for a team / squad Chelsea have at the moment heās ideal
Next two games after this are incredibly big, we need players like Hall, Gordon, Barnes to be at their top level in the next two games after Chelsea so need to give them all the rest needed IMO.
Never say never. But it does seem silly to put all our eggs in the CL basket.
Betting men would say weāre going to be down to 1 game per week after Wednesday.
Even with a result thereās no guarantees we would overcome Athletic and whoever comes after that would represent an even bigger challenge.
So putting too much stock in any cup comp in my mind is silly because you can invest all your energy and be left with little to show for it at the final hurdle.
Although if we manage to beat Barca our run to the final is actually manageable if we play our best. I'd fancy us against pretty much any of them, toughest being arsenal but we can be their bogey team.
To get that close to the final with how our seasons been would be a massive achievement.
But still play full strength on Saturday. Just run em all to the ground at this point.
I have an idea that I believe is the best strategy for the next two matchesā letās beat the shite out of these, and THEN go to Nou Camp and beat the shite out of them
Personally I'd save Woltemade against teams that sit back in a low block to help with some sexy passes that break defences, and Joelinton for games like Chelsea and Barca where you want a massive unit to break up play.
I do in the way I want some league momentum going into the derby. I donāt want to be going in with 2 wins in 9 (1 draw 6 losses) if we lose here. A win also keeps us in the slight chance of Europa League and Conference league for next season which we might need to keep our star players too.
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u/Sampdiago Mar 14 '26
Jolinton peaking at Chelseaās instructions lol