venom2011

1 loan signing is our best midfielder and another is our best attacker. Sounds like relegation candidates to me... But on a serious note, it would be utterly stupid to sack him now. If there is any serious threat of relegation, sure. But otherwise he, like any other manager, deserves to show what he can do with a full squad and some time.

I think I read Atletico wanted an obligation to buy and for obvious reasons we didn't want to pay a high fee for a unknown quantity. But I think we'll sign him if it works out. I'm super excited though, wanted him ahead of Havertz as he's a different profile to the rest of our attackers. A player that demands the ball, plays with aggression and can spot a pass. Fingers crossed.

I pretty much chalked it off to being the first step towards the multiclub model. These players are just the right development profile for a club in France or Portugal. They are the kind of signings Benfica would make to turn a good profit or hopefully get them ready for the Chelsea first team.

Found this interesting. After the 1min mark, Simon talks about meeting Boehly in Qatar and intimates that there were some 'eye-watering' issues around the Tuchel sacking that aren't public. He then goes on to say that he would have sacked him as well. Just perhaps another little reminder about how little we know regarding club issues.

I would bet half my house on Haaland failing here had we signed him. Not great with his back to goal, doesn't have the best touch, and all his great runs would have come to nothing. Our supply lines are simply shocking.

Agreed but that may be because we've largely been shorn of midfield creativity. Costa wasn't great with his back to goal either but he scrapped for the ball. We shouldn't be buying strikers like Torres, Lukaku, Werner etc and then ask them to change what makes them successful. I like the look of the kid though, looks to have a good mix of physicality and technical ability.

It happened with Torres, it happened with Werner and even Auba could've been played in a couple of times in the last league game. Eventually they stop making the runs, lose confidence, and then we blame the striker. Costa is seen as the one exception to 'we've had sh*t strikers since Drogba' but it's not a coincidence that he had Fabregas and Hazard to feed him the ball.

At this point I’m almost certain that if we had prime Guardiola, these clowns would have sacked him for Potter or AVB with his brilliant presentations. That said, to sack Potter now would be equally ridiculous.

Kova had an injury in the latter part of the CL winning season but even with that, winning it over Kova was daylight robbery.

Noticed in his last 2 appearances that he seems to be getting some acceleration back. Right about time for another injury.

No dribbling ability? This is the Christian Pulisic of hot takes.

Sure but that's like leaving your partner after your first fight and saying they didn't try to make it work. You need the time/possibility to do it - to change if needed. I don't blame Tuchel at all because he never changed during his tenure, and he wasn't given the time to adapt to the new ownerships demands. All he got during his time here was a 5th choice striker in Lukaku, and a few weeks of time with players he actually wanted. Boehly wanted a company man and Potter is the very definition of a company man. He won't rock the boat, scream at players, be ridiculously demanding, and be stand-offish if he doesn't get his way.

collaborates well though

Now imagine instead of touching your left window, your car roof was raised. With your body in the exact same position as before, which hand reaches the roof easier? Not every shot to left will be horizontal and not every keeper has a great leap on them to compensate. Add to this that a shorter keeper like Kepa is likely to have a relatively more horizontal body position when diving compared to Mendy (on a stretch). So for shots somewhere near the crossbar it's sensible to go with opposite hand on occasion.

The (crystal) balls on this guy...

Palpable discord in 2022 or 2023?

Madness. We are pressing like donkeys and offering the opposition half the pitch. He's clearly left.

I'm not okay with that. Just a preference, but we had manager after manager for a while playing pragmatic football and giving the opposition half the pitch in defense. I much preferred the full engagement of Tuchelball. I couldn't care less about creating more space against a weak Milan. Show me that we can go to Madrid and Barca and be utterly dominant. I'm not sure if that is outside of the realm of expectation now, but I guess we'll see.

*had the pace. He is now royally crocked.

Clicked the pre-order button and the system asked me twice if I'm sure. So I'm optimistic that this is going to be a banger.

Has anyone checked to see if it's not a fantasy novel? A tribute to A Song of Ice and Fire perhaps. You're all too quick to judge.

As much as I want to bash them for firing Tuchel, they are seemingly aggressive in their pursuit for whatever their model of success would be - which is why things are so public since the takeover. Edwards, Campos, and Freund all have very different reasons for not joining - Edwards needs a break, Campos prefers a more casual role for whatever mounds of gold he's earning at PSG. And the director who was just fired is a moron. Less ambitious owners would've found a director sooner, probably. Let's wait and see if they make good on their promises of a structural rebuild. I want to see how they improve men's, women's, and youth facilities. And of course they stadium. For me the most positive thing they've done so far was the pursuit of players for the dev team during the window. Which indicates that they are indeed serious about the multiclub model - I expect there to be a purchase within the next few months.

We've simply lost yet another competitive advantage on the clubs just below City and Liverpool. Over the last 6 years or so, we've had a competitive advantage in our midfield and defense, and occasionally our managers. Slowly our midfield has been crumbling due to personnel, age, & injuries. So until recently we could say we had 3 components of our team which were better than Arsenal, Spurs, Utd - after sacking Tuchel we are down to just the defense. And they are all at least on par in the other areas. As you say, it felt like we were a few signings away from realistically competing with City and Liverpool. And before the season started I thought they'd both be weaker as well given what they've lost. Right now it's all up in the air.

I agree that is too simplistic... and I'm not sure how you inferred that from I've said, which is quite plainly - there is not a midfielder at the club who could hit that pass consistently. Which is true. It's a higher risk pass for Kante than it is for Fabregas because of the difference in their skill levels. Tuchel, Potter, Lampard all have an appreciation for high tempo, high-risk passing but Kante would instinctively not try that pass (if he'd even see it) because he knows the end result is misplaced 99% of the time.

'They've been instructed not to' is one of the most overused, non-sensical arguments. Why would any manager - especially ones as tactically flexible as we've had in recent years - ask players not to play brilliantly weighted, defence-splitting passes? There is a reason why you only see those passes consistently from the likes of Fabregas, Lampard, KDB, Pogba, Kane etc. That is not an easy pass by any stretch. It is perfectly timed and weighted - requiring high level technical ability. I'm not sure how you can watch Kante, Kova, Mount, misplace and overweigh 5 yard passes, but think they can pull that off regularly.