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He only has that title because Mudryk has gone to Spurs and struggles to run in a straight line.

There are generations of souls who will never witness Kenn vs Dorset or Star vs the world Spoiler alert @loz - he did not have what it takes Edit: But I DID find that you can see the first incarnation of TSE: https://web.archive.org/web/20071011192425/http://www.chelseafcforum.com/viewforum.php?f=3 You can access the Rumours and Players forums for some absolutely sparkling hot takes on our legends

Yeah I tried the wayback machine and couldnt really get anything working unfortunately.

Are you sure this is his thinking? You don’t go out and spend €55m on a wingback that can’t defend + boost his wages from £4K/w to £150k/w if it’s a temporary fix.

Can imagine BlueCo signing a free agent off LinkedIn tbh think of the pure profit!

Vitinha is an interesting example because he had the same rotations and movements available to him from Ramos, Neves and Mendes anyway, and Portugal also had Fernandes, Silva etc who were all capable of very high level possession football. Apart from Ronaldo, the obvious problem there was Martinez' tactical instructions which was clearly to get the ball forward for Ronaldo and that was it. Enzo Fernandez wanted to be a receiver rather than a facilitator, and he was indulged by Maresca to do so. The problem being he was our best facilitator (and our only facilitator when Palmer was injured, really) but didn't want to accept that role. So everyone else was tasked with making line-breaking passes that they just can't do. I tend to agree that it isn't as simple as signing someone who is a better passer although I will point out it was you that (rightly) said we needed to target midfielders better in possession to play with Caicedo. Alonso also has to give players the licence and confidence to play through the opposition press or defensive structure, rather than trying to play around it or trying to beat it with quick counter-attack. The counter-attack strategy failed because Arsenal weren't willing to play by the rules and didn't get punished for it, which meant that Rogers/Pedro weren't effective targets for the pressure-release ball. I just hope that Alonso doesn't devolve to being just another 'systems manager' where he only wants to play one style or one way and the team lacks the tactical flexiblity to adapt.

Pato was the most talented player to come out of South America since Aguero/Messi/Di Maria and his desire to force himself to play through injuries ruined his career in his early 20s. If Estevao wants to go and ruin himself over a few missed games, nothing the club can or should do about that. Tbf Estevao will be 20 next year so time is ticking from Clearlake's perspective. Grandpas Palmer (24) and Rogers (23) aren't going to be around forever you know.

You can't be making sensible suggestions like that on the internet. Has Australia made you soft?

lol, I was about to write this, now i'm starting to get worried...

As captain, Reece is the only player who can legitimately challenge the ref about incidents like the Martinez one. He should have made it his business to a) Find out what happened to his goalie and b) advise the ref it was a boot to the head and at the very least get a VAR. I believe he can do this without risking getting booked.

Partick Thistle on 9th Sept 1972. 2-1 Rangers. An official crowd of 35,000. Add 10-15,000 for the real crowd.

St Etienne away in October 1975. Colin Stein, Derek Parlane and Tommy McLean. Now there was a Rangers front three.

I suspect that it was a bit of a lack in numbers and characteristics: it's like you put a good passer in a team without many passers and he will likely struggle; that's why I think Enzo has a very good chance to do better at City—yes individually too because he will benefit from all the passing and movement around him. Vitinha for Portugal is a good example to showcase this; the lack of movement alone (compared to PSG) makes all the difference for him even individually. So, I'm not sure it's as simple as signing a replacement at this point; it seems we are constantly rebuilding without end in sight.

Sure, we can say that now with hindsight. No one was thinking that three games into 2004/05 while we limped to a 2-0 win against Crystal Palace. That was a far more established side who already finished second and should have made the CL final at a canter. I was disappointed about the lack of reaction but I can't help but notice the same critics (including Terry) were critical of our disciplinary issues under Maresca and Rosenior. So are we too aggressive or not?

Match Day! Come On Chelsea!!

I think that's the best I've seen him play. Still a snake though.

I think we lost a lot of it when PR pulled the plug, and then more went in the move from the first incarnation of TSE to this one. Wayback Machine is limited because you needed to login to see the Chelsea areas

I agree, but Fernandez wasn't that player and Barco is virtually identical to Camara in play style so we had that option if we wanted it. I'm more concerned that Alonso doesn't see it as an option, or rather, has too much belief in his attackers rather than taking a whole of team approach.

I do think this transfer window was significantly better, even though BlueCo ofc fumbled at the final hurdle (though Monaco bear a great deal of responsibility for the Camara debacle too). Beyond that, I reluctantly think that Arsenal are still a better side than us, and that winning sides aren't built in three games. I don't think anyone was particularly outstanding but Rogers scored a pretty good goal despite fading out of the game, so I guess him by default.

It's hard to say, but retaining possession a bit better, especially when the scoreline is positive, can be a form of defending too. Yes, we are missing the guy who can regain possession, but having players who can keep the football can also help.... we are missing that type atm.

I agree, but playing Enzo Fernandez or Lamine Camara instead of James/Lavia wouldn't have meaningfully changed anything against Arsenal defensively, possibly even making it worse. Camara is for some reason being hailed as a defensive behemoth when he is very clearly a deep-lying playmaker and has a similar athletic profile to Valentin Barco who people believe is 'too small'. Great partner to someone like Caicedo, but not the solution to the current problem. I can't help but think the persistence with a midfield two vs midfield 3s is at least part of the issue. Our team's shape means that someone has to drop out of position to track an AM like Odegaard, and Pascal Gross and Josh King showed we already had issues tracking runners from midfield. Ideally the midfield two defend the flanks and Palmer/Rogers drop back centrally to handle attacking midfielders but I'm not sure Alonso trusts them to do that yet. And while Rogers and Palmer have rightly come in for criticism for defensive lapses, Joao Pedro has to be way more involved in the press as long as he is on the pitch, otherwise we're just giving opponents time on the ball to pick their passes. Could switch to a 4-3-3 and bring in Estevao alongside Palmer. It's counter-intuitive, but anyone of Estevao/Rogers/Palmer can play in the that 8/10 role very well, and defensively can act as a bit of a destroyer. The second, and more important effect, is that it allows us to be more proactive with possession and get some control of games.

Strange isn't it. Yes maybe they hung netting between the poles?

How many saves has Courtois made f**king hell