Bluelion7

The moment they took the plunge and put Sterling on alert, I felt like Noni wasn’t leaving. That whole argument, to me, centered around moving a player if you bring in Neto … and Noni was the option that would have been easiest financially. But he has stepped up the way the owners, front office and everyone else has asked players to step up: “make yourself unsellable” Ive always said I have no issue with the model, in fact I like it, if the best players stay and we can make profit on the ones that don’t. Some teams keep their 20 to 30m value starters and sell the players they can get 85m for to survive. We want to be the opposite. Keep the players who could command 80+m and sell the 20-30’s steadily. Noni is a gem: that rare athlete that truly relishes having weight on his shoulders and taking on challenges.

For Me, right now: cucurella Colwill Tosin James Lavia Caicedo Palmer Nkunku Jackdon Madueke It should be said that if inverting to midfield..Gusto looks GREAT playing the left side. Cucu will have to be strong to keep that option from creeping into Enzo’s head.

Very expensive Loan to Barca is a real concern and possibility at this point. Chelsea have a major African fanbase; we are the team of some iconic African legends. Our recent hero, N’golo Kante, is a French player whose parents immigrated from Mali. We have more than a few of our players unfollowing Enzo; which is pretty serious. They are making a statement about how they feel about associating with him. I don’t know how he fixes this.

Third kit, for sure. Has a team ever refused to wear a kit before?

So, people are saying “Chelsea were going in a good direction, but now they’ll have to bed in a completely new system… again” But is that true? This will sound like a conspiracy theory, but I really don’t think it is: We knew we wanted to play with a system like City’s. We did not like how things were going at mid year. We recalled Casadei from a successful loan under Maresca for seemingly no reason. We have a history of using players to get information about coaching candidates. We had people in the building that could have suggested the very basics of a system like Maresca’s in place already. It looked like we tried to implement something like it in preseason last year, and as soon as the season came around Pochettino squashed it for HIS 4231. I think Poch was a Dead man walking from January on. I don’t think he wanted to get fired, and I don’t think Chelsea wanted the optics of replacing a coach mid season again, so everyone pretended like everything was normal. They pretended Poch completely changing the way he plays mid season is something he does. And I think it was January that we started heading toward Maresca being our manager and playing his style. I think the “bedding in” is farther along than people would think, and the ease of the friendly win only attests to that. This is not to suggest that Maresca was actively managing us in secret: just that we knew what direction we were headed in and were integrating aspects of the system, like the fullback inversions, in advance … and most likely without much regard for Poch’s input.

We know that Napoli literally can’t afford to pay the wages they put Osimhen on to get the bigger release clause. This strategy will work less and less as the new reality of PSR football sets in. What worried me is they will play a game of chicken and let this drag out to see his desperate Napoli get to the end of he window, and then miss other targets. Now, if this means missing Duran, then great. Balotelli vibes with that one but with less talent. I actually like Openda and David. I don’t even want to go 70m for a striker from Italy fresh off a “downed tools” season, much less at massive wages. If we are going to stretch our wage structure at all it should be for Nico Williams

I actually prefer Hincapie. They are literally almost the same profile and age, but Hincapie has been playing at a higher level longer. I think people are obsessed with the hair on Califiori.

The Copa has been great so far for one thing in particular: I worried how Kendry would handle the physical rigor and sometimes down right dirty play of the PL. Question answered. The Cops so far has been more than just down in the mud, it has been kill or be killed, from high studs to choke holds. And Kendry …. Hasnt needed protection. In fact he got back and imposed a very well hidden bit of retribution in the Venezuela game. In 50/50’s he’s been taking the spot, often from bigger guys. Very impressive.

Don’t know what he will do with the team, but if there is one thing we DO know about Maresca is his player development skills are off the charts. Even the average players coming out of City’s EDS from the period have excellent field awareness, near flawless technical skill, and an almost eerie mental toughness.

Our first scout of KDH was more than a year ago, I’ll leave it at that on that front. Omari was going to be cut loose with Arsenal not providing any support to develop his career. We got him with promotion people, individualized strength coaching, made his training with the first team a priority, and used a valuable loan slot to showcase him. We were not “forced to sell” Omari. But Omari isn’t stupid: a highly rated, up and coming manager of a Premiere League side considers him first name on the team sheet. He will start every week he wants in the PL. that’s massive for him. This is why players choose to come to Chelsea to compete for jobs. We have an excellent track record of finding good jobs for even the players that don’t stay. It IS a strength.

I’m a fan, but it’s another midfielder that doesn’t fit a profile we can really find a use for.; somewhere between an 8 and a 10 that likes to make trailing runs into the box. He doesn’t seem all that dissimilar to Chukwemeka. This is the problem with extreme manager shuffling. Where does he fit?

There should be a general rule, if they haven’t enacted one already, that requires a look at the previous 3 year injury track record before any purchases. Death, taxes, and a Romeo Lavia hamstring issue; the sureties of life. Fofana had missed 103 games to injury in his short career BEFORE signing for us. The best ability is availability, and this can’t keep happening.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. He absolutely would suit a pressing team specifically.

If we allow Gallagher to leave… what heart remains in this team will instantly have been ripped out. Chilwell is just a likeable guy, and often a liability. Reece…. Reece has to play, and even when he is playing he is the quiet, “I hope they follow my example” type. Gallagher is the man on this team players have to fear if they aren’t running, or giving their best effort. He is our only worthy Captain. Must stay.

The WORST thing you can do to a team as young as ours is create instability around them. So in typical Chelsea fashion we figure the answer to their erratic play is to consider a 4th manager in two years and getting rid of the only player who truly pushes that locker room forward because he wants at least Joelinton wages? it’s farcical and crazy. Pochettino is great with bringing along young players. Their performances have been up and down, but when you go for an average squad age of 22 ish … that IS what you will get. Nobody better is taking the job. And it would be disaster if they did. That’s why all the pundits that hate us are pushing for it to happen.