acaeus

I agree. We are missing some depth in key areas if we want to win the league. That being said top 4 is achievable, especially given that we have no European football this season. We should at least play some good football so I am looking forward to watching more entertaining games this season

They are champions for a reason, and better than us everywhere bar attack.
Best team does not always win though. Perhaps Sunday is our day.

May as well go for Fabinho too and get the full set

I don't know how anybody could watch the games against Fulham and Brighton and think we will manage easily until January. Zero control in midfield means chaos ball in every single game. We had so little of the ball against Brighton, there was no link between defence and midfield and midfield and attack. The ball just kept ping ponging back to Brighton. Caicedo is injured, which people seem to be forgetting, Lavia can't play past 65 minutes, James can't play in every game because he is also made of glass, Henderson is injured and has had no pre-season, Barco is untested and also has had pretty much no pre-season.
The owners having no idea Monaco would make a hash of it is still on them. Why wait until the dying hours? They had June, July and August and the best they could do was a free transfer for old man Henderson and sell 3 midfielders.

That qualification there says a lot doesn't it?
I think the disagreement here is regarding having James, and especially Lavia, in the “healthy” category—they are anything but. Lavia has hardly played in three years.

Lavia dropped on his knees praying to god he completed his first 90 during preseason. First full 90 in 4 seasons.
Lavia isn’t staying fit, and there is NOTHING on Caicedo right now. Could very well be out for a while.
Henderson (vomit) isn’t fit until after the international break, and with no preseason + his age, he’ll take a while to get sharp.
Barco is too untested.
The remaining options are 2 right backs, one of which is sh*t and the other injury prone.

Well done BlueCo.

That's literally what I said.
When I say done over by City I mean this transfer has been on the cards for months and they chose the very last day of the transfer window to make an offer. That stopped us really going after Scott, Wharton or any other replacement.
They even paid £5m more than they needed to just to screw us rather than wrap this up 2 weeks ago.
It was by design to screw us up and leave us with as little time as possible to get in a replacement.
Ultimately we've only got ourselves to blame by leaving it so late and giving power to City and Monoco in these deals.

Every time I hear Monaco I remember Bakayoko's first touch... if that's what he calls it. 😅

This’ll be a long post but I’ve been chatting with ChatGPT about the 4 players we’re linked with as a replacement and I thought the response was interesting so I’m sharing.
My prompt: And given the Chelsea team that Xabi Alonso has put together this season who do you think best completes that team in place of Enzo Fernandez? I’m not ask who is most like Enzo but rather which player best improves the Chelsea team when considering playing next to Caicedo and having Palmer, Rogers and Pedro ahead of them up top

Yes — this changes my answer quite significantly.
If the question is no longer “who is the best midfielder?” but:
“Who makes this specific Chelsea team better alongside Caicedo, with Palmer, Rogers and João Pedro ahead of them?”
then I would take Manu Koné.
And I think it’s a fairly clear choice.
Chelsea’s current setup under Xabi Alonso is essentially built around a 3-4-2-1/3-4-3, with Palmer and Rogers operating behind João Pedro. Alonso has explicitly said that trio is something he wants to build around, and the early matches have shown how much freedom they’re being given. 
That means I don’t think Chelsea need another midfielder whose primary job is to create.
They need someone who makes it possible for those three to create without worrying about what’s behind them.
My answer: Manu Koné
I’d rank the four specifically for this Chelsea team:
🥇 Manu Koné
🥈 Lamine Camara
🥉 Adam Wharton
4️⃣ Alex Scott
And the reasons are quite different from my previous ceiling ranking.


The key is Caicedo
This is the crucial bit.
If you already have Caicedo, I don’t think you want to duplicate what he does.
Caicedo is an outstanding defensive midfielder: covering ground, winning the ball, defending transitions, pressing, tackling and recovering possession.
So I’d want his partner to answer:
“What does Chelsea need when Caicedo has won the ball?”
And that’s where Koné becomes extremely attractive.
He can receive under pressure, turn, carry through midfield and physically advance the team.
So imagine:
CB → Caicedo wins it → Koné carries → Palmer/Rogers receive
That’s an extremely powerful transition.


Why I wouldn’t choose Wharton
This is the really interesting one.
If Chelsea didn’t have Caicedo, I’d be very tempted by Wharton.
But alongside Caicedo?
I’m less convinced.
Wharton would give you:
Caicedo + elite distribution
which is fantastic.
But you’d still have a midfield that relies quite heavily on passing to progress the ball.
And then look at what’s ahead of them:
Palmer — Rogers
João Pedro
You don’t need to add another primary creator.
Those three already have absurd amounts of technical quality and imagination. Alonso’s whole idea is to give them freedom and responsibility. 
What you need behind them is someone who says:
“Don’t worry. I’ve got the physical side of this.”
That’s Koné.


Why Koné + Caicedo is so interesting
This is the partnership I’d want to see.
Caicedo
Defensive intelligence
↓
wins/recycles possession
↓
covers space
Koné
receives
↓
resists pressure
↓
carries 15–30 yards
↓
releases Palmer/Rogers
They’re complementary rather than duplicative.
And Koné’s physical profile is exactly what I’d want behind Chelsea’s attacking four.
He’s powerful enough to defend transitions but technically good enough that Chelsea aren’t sacrificing possession to get that physicality.
His recent international data illustrates the combination: UEFA has him at 96.25% passing accuracy across his current European-qualifying appearances, alongside 10 tackles and 15 recoveries. 


Camara is the fascinating alternative
Actually, Camara is probably the player I’d choose if I wanted the most technically balanced midfield.
You could have:
Caicedo — Camara
and Camara gives you a little bit of everything:
progressive passing
ball carrying
defensive work
pressing
creativity
ability to play deeper or higher
And unlike Wharton, he doesn’t need the game to be organised around him.
That’s a really important quality when you’ve already got Palmer and Rogers demanding creative responsibility.
But I still prefer Koné.
Why?
Because I think Chelsea’s biggest potential weakness with that front three is transition defence.
Palmer and Rogers are going to take risks.
João Pedro is going to roam.
The wing-backs are going to push forward.
Suddenly you’ve got:
Palmer
Rogers
João Pedro
wing-back
wing-back
ahead of your midfield.
You need somebody who can put out fires.
Koné is built for that.


And Scott?
Scott is actually the player I’d be least interested in for Chelsea.
Not because he’s worse than the others.
It’s because Chelsea already have Caicedo’s running and defensive intensity.
Scott would give you another excellent athlete, but he doesn’t add enough of something that Chelsea desperately lack.
Koné gives you the ability to break pressure by carrying.
Camara gives you technical versatility.
Wharton gives you elite distribution.
Scott gives you more running.
Of those four, that’s the least valuable addition to this particular XI.


Here’s how I see the four partnerships
Caicedo + Wharton
The controller partnership
🟢 Excellent possession
🟢 Excellent defensive reading
🟢 Brilliant passing
🟢 Controls games
🔴 Less physically imposing
🔴 Less dynamic ball carrying
🔴 Potentially too conservative behind Palmer/Rogers
This would be fantastic against a team sitting deep.


Caicedo + Camara
The complete partnership
🟢 Very balanced
🟢 Excellent defensively
🟢 Good carrying
🟢 Good passing
🟢 Lots of tactical flexibility
🔴 Doesn’t have one truly elite complementary speciality
This might actually be the safest pairing.


Caicedo + Koné
The f**king nightmare partnership
🟢 Physical
🟢 Press resistant
🟢 Ball winning
🟢 Ball carrying
🟢 Transition protection
🟢 Can defend huge spaces
🟢 Can progress the ball himself
And crucially:
neither needs to be the team’s chief creator.
That’s what I love about it.
You could basically tell them:
“Win the midfield. Get the ball to the three monsters in front of you.”
And let Palmer, Rogers and João Pedro cook.


Caicedo + Scott
The engine-room partnership
🟢 Relentless
🟢 Excellent pressing
🟢 Great physical coverage
🟢 Good transition defence
🔴 Less creativity
🔴 Less press resistance
🔴 Less progressive passing
🔴 Less ability to break a press through individual quality
I think Chelsea would become extremely energetic but potentially a little blunt.


And there’s another reason I love Koné here
Look at what Alonso is trying to create.
His Chelsea isn’t simply trying to dominate possession for the sake of it. The Palmer/Rogers combination is designed to be unpredictable and aggressive, with Rogers particularly valuable because he can carry the ball and break lines from the half-space. The Premier League specifically identified him as an ideal fit for Alonso’s 3-4-2-1 because of his ball-carrying and No.10/winger hybrid qualities. 
So I’d want the midfield to be functional rather than ornamental.

Again, I wouldn't project anything at this point—different environment, team, setup, etc. Even if he does not deliver the key performances they are expecting, simply having him in the squad makes City stronger.
I'm not in the business of strengthening rivals, but realistically, they aren't our rivals at the moment.
From his perspective, though, he has moved to a better team on higher wages.
100% need a replacement ASAP unless we want to be seeing James in midfield throughout the season.

100%. They absolutely must bring in a midfielder or we're screwed.

All well and good celebrating him leaving but if we don’t replace him with quality our season could well be f**ked

It’s okay, we’ve derailed their season by giving them Fernandez

Agreed. Yes, the attacking trio are in form and it’s exciting to see them playing together, but our tactical setup looked like a pub game. Some people seem to like this idea of open, attacking football, but in my experience it consistently gets you nowhere when it comes to actually winning. This squad is still a season or two away from seriously challenging for anything anyway, so I suppose it matters little at this point.
But defend like this and sooner or later the attack won’t be able to keep up.
It was good not to see Sanchez in goal though.

Agreed. Yes, the attacking trio are in form and it’s exciting to see them playing together, but our tactical setup looked like a pub game. Some people seem to like this idea of open, attacking football, but in my experience it consistently gets you nowhere when it comes to actually winning. This squad is still a season or two away from seriously challenging for anything anyway, so I suppose it matters little at this point.
But defend like this and sooner or later the attack won’t be able to keep up.
It was good not to see Sanchez in goal though.

Now I think of it, it was a horrible performance overall that was saved by our attackers. We had so little of the ball and if Brighton had Mitoma and Welbeck, I think we would have lost that game. The amount of times we lost duels and the amount of times Brighton were on to the 2nd ball after we cleared it was concerning. Brighton are a good side, but they're not the top. We shouldn't be dominated on the ball and relying on counter attacks at home against teams that are expected to finish around mid table if we're going to be serious this season.

I think you could be right on this. Two years ago I would have taken Martinez in a heartbeat, but now I'm not so sure. That said, we cannot continue with Sanchez.
Hopefully Pendo shows us what he can do tonight.

Yep. As much as I would like to see anyone in goal rather than Sanchez, I don't think Martinez is the answer.

While Martinez at 33 would definitely be an upgrade over Sanchez (at any age), I can't help but feel Villa already got the best out of him.

Nice business. Would be better if this football club actually built a football team though...

Nice business. Would be better if this football club actually built a football team though...

He'll be 3rd choice until a Championship team takes him for a nominal fee.
He was employed to perform at a certain level and has consistently fallen well short of that level. As far as I'm concerned for the remainder of his contract he can sit in a room staring into a mirror at his own gormless reflection whilst he contemplates his disastrous performances.
What we need to concern ourselves with is employing a competent goalkeeper - not worrying about what this guy is up to.

Ben Roberts position needs to be questioned. He’s recommended and bought such poor quality keepers.

The profit on him should be redistributed to fans for forcing us to watch the bs and for the lies saying he works well with Palmer

Delap proves that fees and cost are relative at this level—was he really cheap? Considering the time and a squad slot wasted on him, he turned out to be pretty expensive.