Chelsc96

I'm not seeing the excitement around this guy at all. I know people are desperate for some spark to come from the squad, but I'm not seeing it. He looks slow and clumsy. More like a big lump for a lower side than for a team like Chelsea.

The team is crap. We were always going to struggle for top four, especially with Manutd coming into form (their summer transfer window was fantastic) and Tottenham just having a much better attack (Kane is worth more than our entire forward line put together, including attacking midfielders). We have been fortunate that Liverpool have been poor to put us even in contention. The warning signs have been there since December 2021 that we needed to do severe surgery on the squad, but that did not happen. Our transfer window was, arguably, the worst in the league. We did not fix any of the weaknesses that we had. The squad management has been awful for the last 2 or 3 seasons.

He did not spend £200m. The £200m was spent, but it needs to be wisely spent. This was not wisely spent - it was completely wasted on players who are on the wane or just not good enough.

Cucurella was awful under Tuchel. Sterling was alright at best but had some bad games, also, where he was ineffective.

I don't get what he was trying to rectify, though? Do Aubameyang (a dreadful player in the end at Arsenal - all speed is gone) and Sterling (notable for missing easy chances) improve our ability to score? If anything, they just add to it. We didn't bring anyone in as backup to James. Cucurella was not a proper backup option to Chilwell - his best asset at Brighton was defending; he didn't contribute much to a tangible attacking sense. It was also far too soon. He only had one good season at Brighton.

Ah yes, the prestigious final trophy. Too bad he only won one.

Tuchel was part of the squad building. I don't know why people keep on going on about him. He is the one who wanted to bring in a finished player in Aubameyang. He was part of the decision making to bring in Sterling and Cucurella. He was part of the problem.

We lost that when we got trashed by Leeds and Southampton. We haven't been a genuine top side in play since 2021.

Good start to the half.

How is that a foul?

Sterling looks done. Think City could see it and that's why they let him go. They seem to get their timing correct - they know when to get rid.

To be honest, for all the talk about Arsenal, I can only think of two opportunities they have created this half. Not exactly being peppered.

We really need to have someone who is genuinely fast in the forward line. We don't actually have anyone like that.

No, they do have a better side. Odegaard is better than Havertz and Mount. Saka, Jesus, Martinelli are far better than our attack. The teams aren't even close.

Not surprising when they have a better team.

Classic Sterling.

Juventus loaning him out after six months was a big enough warning sign. You have to be beyond bad for a club to want rid of you that quickly.

Do people forget that Tuchel lost 5-2 to West Brom in the season he joined? Yes, the same West Brom that were relegated in that season. It can happen. The team just isn't very good. We have a severe lack of attacking options: Aubameyang is a poor signing (he showed how much he lost at Arsenal); Sterling is known for being a terrible finisher (there is a compilation of youtube of his misses last season, and they are awful); Pulisic and Ziyech are incredibly average. It is so bad that people are wanting us to just continuously throw Broja in and hope he turns out good enough. It is because everyone knows we are screwed this season if he is not. Our attack is worse than Brentford and Fulham, just to give it perspective. The midfield is weak. We have lost Kante, and, unbelievably, we didn't conceive that this was likely to happen in the summer so we didn't sign anyone. On top of that, Kovacic is playing through injury and cannot play in every game. We are playing a second-rate midfield, at the moment. We have no real replacement for James. This means we have no attacking presence whatsoever from the right wing-back position until he returns. Having that, on top of a poor attacking line, is not exactly the best thing to happen. This team needs severe work in the next windows; Potter needs some time to bring players in that actually fit the system that he wants to play. This team is, most certainly, not it.

I always thought Havertz was great.

It is a significant period of time. Average performance over a period indicates reality over a small sample; it is 8 months of averaging below top-four form. I believe that is an indicator of what we actually were for a large period last season, and I'm not shocked that we had a tough start in this one. The writing was on the wall, for me. Regarding James and Chilwell; didn't Tuchel have them this season? We also have everything to play for, so what is the reason for there being no improvement in performance? In fact, we looked worse this season under Tuchel with all of that going for him. Surely, we should have been expecting a replication of the start of last season? We could not go into this season expecting the opposition to be as poor as they were last season; we needed to improve as we benefited too much from the opposition being terrible to get top four. This season, they have all improved and we regressed under Tuchel; I believe, had we stuck with him, we would not get top four as both our goal concessions and scoring were awful. It is the manager's job to motivate the players, and if he cannot pick them up for the final run of the season then it is failure on him to keep them driven. Despite Tottenham and Arsenal having terrible starts (being 10 and 11 points behind us at matchday 15), we still only finished 3 and 5 points off of them, respectively. I wouldn't say it was particularly comfortable at the end, considering where we were. We topped the form table until matchday 15 last season, but that period hasn't been replicated. It seems more of an outlier to our league form.

I think it is about time that people realise that we were 6th in the Premier League form table for 7/8 months under Tuchel. Getting top four last season was heavily reliant upon Tottenham, Manutd and Arsenal being poor. If there was any improvement from those three sides, in terms of results, they were going to knock us out of the top four this season. We needed to show improvement to secure top four this season, but we didn't under Tuchel. We were, once again, sixth in the form table for the first six games of this season, and the performances were dire. We were leaking goals (9 in 6 matches - PL only) and there was no promise of improvement in our play. I would not doubt that we would have fallen below 6th by this point. Just to show that we were actually poor last season - we actually averaged 5th in the form table from the 8th game of last season to the end. Our competition had absolutely dire periods that saved us from being out of the Champions League entirely. We had been performing poorly under Tuchel for a long time. ---------------------------------- Unlike some people, I have seen an improvement under Potter. We have only conceded 3 goals in 8 games in all competitions. Under Tuchel, we conceded 10 in 7 games in all competitions. Potter had to do something about this, and he has succeeded in stemming the flow. That is a change from 1.42 goals per game to 0.37 goals per game. Do people not see why he has been forced to make defensive adjustments? We scored 8 in 10 under Tuchel in all competitions but have scored 14 in 8 under Potter in all competitions. That is a change of 0.8 goals scored per game to 1.75 goals per game scored under Potter. So, we are scoring more and conceding a lot less. I would say these stats are promising and have shown vast improvement from the depths of where we were under Tuchel. It isn't going to be perfect, though, as it is going to take Potter a lot of work to change this team. There is a lot to fix with this team and making snap judgement on him not being as good as Tuchel are pointless at this stage.

Tuchel didn't play him. Potter doesn't play him. There must be something really wrong with him. He was only at Juventus for half a season, and they decided to loan him out? Sounds like they aren't impressed and want rid. Teams usually give players more time than that - think there are more issues with him than meets the eye. I wouldn't be surprised if it is attitude/commitment issues etc.

But we haven't been doing any of that well for a long period - one game against Real Madrid in 2022 doesn't change that; one game that we lost, anyway. We have shown very little since that point. Leeds took us apart (possession means nothing when you get trashed); Southampton took us apart. We have not been great since December 2021. In fact, in the form table, from that point onwards, we were placed 6th until the end of the season. We had a good start to the season that saved us with getting top four (Thankfully, Manutd were useless and Arsenal were inconsistent, also). But it has been a long time since we have been operating at a high level under Tuchel. Potter isn't more defensive than Tuchel, if you ever watched his Brighton team. They are very forward thinking. It will take time to install into a team that has been, by nature, very defensive.

I do agree that people are jumping the gun with Broja, and it will be a slow process. I think Potter is playing him as much as he can at this point. I was never really a fan of the Aubameyang signing based on how it ended at Arsenal, to be honest, but I did think we needed to sign a striker in the summer. I just think it was the wrong one.

City sold him for a reason. He has lost his edge. He hasn't got the burst of acceleration that he used to have - he is still quick but has lost some of it. His dribbling has been impacted due to this and, thus, his creativity. His shooting and decision-making has always been erratic. 20/21 & 21/22 has seen a decline in his goal and assist output. He is currently on a downward trend, even at City with the insane amount of chances they create. Goals & Assists 18/19 - 28 in 34 - 82% 19/20 - 24 in 33 - 72% 20/21 - 18 in 31 - 58% 21/22 - 19 in 30 - 63% He can contribute, but he has never been a player to be relied on as the main output. He has always been inconsistent, especially in finishing. He is also on the decline.