Last season we won the league with 87 points and 4th was on 70 points.

We are currently on 4 points after 5 games 
So with 33 games remaining there are 99 points available.
To get the same points total as last year we can drop another 16 points (i.e 4L 2D or 0L 8D etc).  I personally think this points total won't be matched this season as the league is tougher. City have improved their squad and are playing well but they won't play this well all season and with the league as competitive you have to be on it every game.
For 4th we would need around 70 odd points (from previous league tables) maybe less given the competition in the league so for that we can drop 35 points (ie 11L 1D, more likely scenario 5L 10D) so we still have a lot of lee way.

Personally I think the title is going to be a bit of a stretch and we will need to have an amazing rest of the season if we are to pull it off.
But I would be more than happy with a top 4 finish, especially if we incorporate players such as RLC(19) Baba(21) Zouma(20) Kenedy(19) in the first team squad as it would show we are building for the future, and a decent showing in the CL (a semi-final would be great).

 

Can we win the UCL?

I see no reason why we cant compete for the Championship title next year

Last season we won the league with 87 points and 4th was on 70 points.

We are currently on 4 points after 5 games 

So with 33 games remaining there are 99 points available.

To get the same points total as last year we can drop another 16 points (i.e 4L 2D or 0L 8D etc).  I personally think this points total won't be matched this season as the league is tougher. City have improved their squad and are playing well but they won't play this well all season and with the league as competitive you have to be on it every game.

For 4th we would need around 70 odd points (from previous league tables) maybe less given the competition in the league so for that we can drop 35 points (ie 11L 1D, more likely scenario 5L 10D) so we still have a lot of lee way.

Personally I think the title is going to be a bit of a stretch and we will need to have an amazing rest of the season if we are to pull it off.

But I would be more than happy with a top 4 finish, especially if we incorporate players such as RLC(19) Baba(21) Zouma(20) Kenedy(19) in the first team squad as it would show we are building for the future, and a decent showing in the CL (a semi-final would be great).

 

Yet on another thread you are claiming that none of the first team regulars want to be dropped or deserved to be since they finished as champions last season.  So how are the likes of Baba and Kenedy going to step in when you don't wish for Fabregas and Oscar to be dropped?

Yet on another thread you are claiming that none of the first team regulars want to be dropped or deserved to be since they finished as champions last season.  So how are the likes of Baba and Kenedy going to step in when you don't wish for Fabregas and Oscar to be dropped?

On that thread I didn't say Oscar and Fabregas should never be dropped, I was suggested that the introduction of another very good CM would mean 1 of these 2 having lesser roles (which I didn't think was merited after what they gave last season), and rotating in youth is very different to having 3 players looking to play the majority of games in 2 position.

And considering Zouma has played most games and Kenedy and RLC have been given a couple of sub appearances in 5 games we are already incorporating that youth into the side so even if it were true that i didn't want Fabregas or Oscar (who's been injured and most people are wishing we had back) to ever be dropped as first team starters how is my point any less valid.

Also if we had signed another CM would we have seen RLC?   

On that thread I didn't say Oscar and Fabregas should never be dropped, I was suggested that the introduction of another very good CM would mean 1 of these 2 having lesser roles (which I didn't think was merited after what they gave last season), and rotating in youth is very different to having 3 players looking to play the majority of games in 2 position.

And considering Zouma has played most games and Kenedy and RLC have been given a couple of sub appearances in 5 games we are already incorporating that youth into the side so even if it were true that i didn't want Fabregas or Oscar (who's been injured and most people are wishing we had back) to ever be dropped as first team starters how is my point any less valid.

Also if we had signed another CM would we have seen RLC?   

So you are saying going for Pogba is a mistake?

 

And now that Fabregas is playing poorly, you expect Loftus-Cheek to immediately step up to the plate and perform instantly?

 

Basically, you are condoning a sub-par bench with a bunch of untried youngsters and squad fillers like Papy/Mikel and a first team of untouchables which is exaclty what got Chelsea into the mess that it is in right now.  Pedro would never have been signed if your line of thinking prevailed at the Bridge.

Edited September 16, 201510 yr by lchk

So you are saying going for Pogba is a mistake?

 

And now that Fabregas is playing poorly, you expect Loftus-Cheek to immediately step up to the plate and perform instantly?

 

Basically, you are condoning a sub-par bench with a bunch of untried youngsters and squad fillers like Papy/Mikel and a first team of untouchables which is exaclty what got Chelsea into the mess that it is in right now.  Pedro would never have been signed if your line of thinking prevailed at the Bridge.

No Pogba would have been a great signing for the club, so would have Vidal and the others mentioned Witsel and co, but Pogba is obviously top of that list as we seem to be looking to build long term.

and again no I would expect Mikel and Ramires to come in I would also have no qualms with them being upgraded. I would want rather have RLC as a sub and then for him to be played in cup and easier games like tonight as he has a lot of developing to do to be a top player.

And to be fair I wasn't overly keen on us signing Pedro not because I was anti us signing him I just would have liked to have seen a younger alternative who was currently playing more regularly, and I was very pro signing Sterling but I'm glad I was wrong about Pedro as he seems to fit very nicely into our squad and the premier league. This doesn't mean I'm anti-signings which I'm not signings are great, I am however anti people saying our transfer window was sh*t as we don't have the whole picture we don't know whats going behind the scenes, on who's available, what decisions are being made, how the club wants to go forward etc.

And there is a lot more going badly at the club than the fact that we have an apparently 'untouchable' first 11 which isn't frankly true, yes there is a small gulf in class between the first team and their replacements but at what team is this not the case I can't think of many teams that keep a strict rotation policy with a lot of depth.  

Also can you name me many better benches than the one we have at the moment when everyone fit and on form, Subs; Begovic, Baba, Cahill/Zouma, Mikel, RLC/Ramires, Willian/Kenedy, Falcao/Remy.? 

Man city's yes just about Cabellero, Clichy/Zabaleta, Otamendi, Fernando, Delph, KdB, Navas, Bony

Man u's and Arsenals bench however aren't as good and are very injury prone

 

Until it's mathematically impossible, I'll always have hope (although that is way down this season).  Our opponents are not going to have it all easy either.

 

However, City are in a very tough CL draw, and if they drop out while we advance, then I think top 4 and a couple of good Cup runs would be a realistic expectation 

I want another CL final. Only thing is that I don't think we're anywhere near the level of Real, Barca or Bayern. We would have to play one of them in the final.

But then we weren't the best team in 2012 so who knows what could happen.

I want another CL final. Only thing is that I don't think we're anywhere near the level of Real, Barca or Bayern. We would have to play one of them in the final.

But then we weren't the best team in 2012 so who knows what could happen.

Bayern isn't that great lately. I would add Atletico and Juve to the list.

Repost.

Edited September 16, 201510 yr by Michael440

No Pogba would have been a great signing for the club, so would have Vidal and the others mentioned Witsel and co, but Pogba is obviously top of that list as we seem to be looking to build long term.

and again no I would expect Mikel and Ramires to come in I would also have no qualms with them being upgraded. I would want rather have RLC as a sub and then for him to be played in cup and easier games like tonight as he has a lot of developing to do to be a top player.

And to be fair I wasn't overly keen on us signing Pedro not because I was anti us signing him I just would have liked to have seen a younger alternative who was currently playing more regularly, and I was very pro signing Sterling but I'm glad I was wrong about Pedro as he seems to fit very nicely into our squad and the premier league. This doesn't mean I'm anti-signings which I'm not signings are great, I am however anti people saying our transfer window was sh*t as we don't have the whole picture we don't know whats going behind the scenes, on who's available, what decisions are being made, how the club wants to go forward etc.

And there is a lot more going badly at the club than the fact that we have an apparently 'untouchable' first 11 which isn't frankly true, yes there is a small gulf in class between the first team and their replacements but at what team is this not the case I can't think of many teams that keep a strict rotation policy with a lot of depth.  

Also can you name me many better benches than the one we have at the moment when everyone fit and on form, Subs; Begovic, Baba, Cahill/Zouma, Mikel, RLC/Ramires, Willian/Kenedy, Falcao/Remy.? 

Man city's yes just about Cabellero, Clichy/Zabaleta, Otamendi, Fernando, Delph, KdB, Navas, Bony

Man u's and Arsenals bench however aren't as good and are very injury prone

 

The transfer business in the summer was a flop due to targets being ideintified by Mourinho and the Board failed to land the central midfielder and the central defender that he wanted.  Nothing to do with behind the scenes shenigans as this is public knowledge.   

 

Mourinho's fixation with playing his favourites in all the important matches regardless of form is apparent in all the EPL matches this season so why do you claim it is untrue?

 

Man City and Man Utd have better benches than Chelsea's.  Take a look at the defensive and central midfield options. 

The transfer business in the summer was a flop due to targets being ideintified by Mourinho and the Board failed to land the central midfielder and the central defender that he wanted.  Nothing to do with behind the scenes shenigans as this is public knowledge.   

 

Mourinho's fixation with playing his favourites in all the important matches regardless of form is apparent in all the EPL matches this season so why do you claim it is untrue?

 

Man City and Man Utd have better benches than Chelsea's.  Take a look at the defensive and central midfield options. 

What targets were Identified? Pogba and Stones? two young and very unattainable players, so it makes the transfer window a flop because we can't land these 2 players. Pogba didn't want to join us as he has his pick of any club in the world as everyone wants him, Juve even apparently accepted a fee so its not like we didn't stump up the cash and then Stones who handed in a transfer request and we offered a frankly ridiculous fee for. Its not like we had been after a player for a month and then someone else swooped in and landed their man (Pedro and Man U), they both weren't for sale and we didn't want any of the other more available options.

The only other young and very talent options out there are also unavailable, Varane, Marquinos and Verratti, so we chose not to waste money this summer on someone we didn't want and go again in a different transfer window if anything that is smart, especially when you look at how Man U have managed to waste there money.   

On the point about the first team being untouchable currently this season,

Swansea-Man City; We made 2 admittedly enforced changes but Terry was subbed of at half time against city which is a big statement, also Fabregas was subbed off against swansea

Man city - West brom; 3 changes Courtois brought in fine bringing back a regular but Cahill and Willian dropped Pedro comes into the side after 1 training session surely thats a statement.  

West brom- Crystal Palace; 1 enforced change from a winning side but two major substitutions during the game Azpi and Matic subbed off for 2 19 year olds

Crystal Palace- Everton; 3 changes Terry comes back in with Cahill being dropped, Courtois injured and Willian is dropped for Mikel.

I get that this isn't the whole sale changes to the squad that some people were after but there is still a lot of variation between the teams and some people would say that too much variation causes its own problems.   

In summary there has been 9 changes made in 4 possible occasions, Cahill has been dropped Willian has been dropped and 3 untouchables in Azpi, Terry and Matic subbed during games 1 at half time, Fabregas also subbed but that was more down to being down to 10 men.

On Man U's Bench being better than ours

So what backup LB and RB do Man U have (Valencia and Young maybe Blind)  also what backup Striking options do they have a 19 year old and Fellaini. What back up wide options do they have (Valencia and Young) and that is with Mata playing out of position on the right. What happens when Luke Shaw for instants gets a long term injury do you play Young at left back and have no option to replace Depay do you play Blind at left back and bring in Jones? The only place Man U have depth is at CM where they have 5 or 6 options for 3 positions  and when you consider 2 of those are old and very injury prone this isn't actually a lot of depth.

Yes Man City's squad is currently better than ours and yes it looks in much better shape and yes they have improved there squad but can we really expect amazing transfer windows every season? 

Also have we not improved the squad on paper? with Falcao for Drogba and Pedro for Cuadrado, I would say we have and we also seem to be trying to bring through some youngsters which is also great to see

Could our window have been better? Yes but we certainty haven't floppped.   

Edited September 17, 201510 yr by PedroMendez

Can we win the UCL?

 

No. 

Can we win the UCL?

Yes.

I will say no... however, I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. Now hang on, before some people call be defeatist or a surrender monkey - if we can use this season to bed in more youngsters without the pressure of maintaining a lead and winning a first title in 5 years then the battle for a top 4 is still a good battle for our youngsters to have.

It’s not over until it’s over blah blah blah but I don’t be too disappointed if we don’t put forward a serious challenge IF our youngsters play more PL games.

No.

Why?

Yes.

Ditto, until it's mathematically impossible ...

Can we win the league? Yes unless someone knows maths better and says it is not possible. 

 

Will we win the league? No unless we buck our ideas up and fast. We also need a really good run of wins.

 

UCL? I think its anyone from 6... Us, RM, Barca, Munich, Juventus, PSG.

No team with Chelsea's record after five games of a PL season (W1 D1 L3) has ever finished higher than third.

 

We won't finish lower than 3rd, will probably finish exactly 3rd I would say.

 

Yes we've had a poor start but it's far from the disaster it's being so happily portrayed as in the media.

 

There is nothing out of the ordinary in losing at the Etihad or Goodison Park.

 

We were very impressive at West Brom before going down to 10 and even then held on very well to win under huge pressure.

 

We were beating Swansea (who finished 8th last season and have started this season superbly) until we went down to 10 and they equalised simultaneously. Drawing the game from that point is not a bad outcome.

 

And Palace are statistically currently the best away team in the league. (since Pardew took over they average 2.4 points per away game!)

 

5 games, 3 tough away fixtures and probably two of the more awkward visitors played at home. Yes of course 4 points is less than you would expect but it is not very far short of what would be considered a mediocre tally (7 points maybe, so 3 short of that) especially considering some occurances such as multiple penalties and red cards suffered.

 

A bit of perspective when looking at ourselves wouldn't go amiss because you can be damn sure nobody outside of the club is going to apply any when the "sky is falling" narrative brings about so much glee.

Edited September 18, 201510 yr by startedwithglenn

So last year we won with 87 points, given our horror start, we just need a 28 wins (28x3=84) out of the next 33 to retain the title. Give me the team and form we had 12 months ago, I say we could do it. 

 

I'm sure right now the title is the last thing on Jose and the players' mind, we just have to find a way to win 1 match. It looked like every team was on their best against us. We need someone to score a screamer on Saturday, or a bit of luck to get the 3 points this Saturday. As I see it, if we break the drought this weekend, we will be pretty confident beating up Newcastle ( for a change), and so on..

Why?

 

Theoretically, Maccabi Tel Aviv can win the Champions League, if that makes you feel any better. But realistically, we were embarrassed by 10 men last season when we arguably played much better football than now. 

 

The only way for us to win the Champions League is to fluke it again, but counting on it will only make the disappointment higher when the much more likely outcome occurs.

 

For now, let's get out of the relegation zone.

I will say no... however, I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. Now hang on, before some people call be defeatist or a surrender monkey - if we can use this season to bed in more youngsters without the pressure of maintaining a lead and winning a first title in 5 years then the battle for a top 4 is still a good battle for our youngsters to have.

It’s not over until it’s over blah blah blah but I don’t be too disappointed if we don’t put forward a serious challenge IF our youngsters play more PL games.

Spot on Gem I still think we'll pick up some silverware (maybe FA Cup) and finish second/third. If we can bed in one or two kids it will be a successful season.

I will say no... however, I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. Now hang on, before some people call be defeatist or a surrender monkey - if we can use this season to bed in more youngsters without the pressure of maintaining a lead and winning a first title in 5 years then the battle for a top 4 is still a good battle for our youngsters to have.

It’s not over until it’s over blah blah blah but I don’t be too disappointed if we don’t put forward a serious challenge IF our youngsters play more PL games.

 

Pfft.

 

What a surrender monkey.

 

 

Thought I'd oblige!

Can we win the league? Yes unless someone knows maths better and says it is not possible. 

 

Will we win the league? No unless we buck our ideas up and fast. We also need a really good run of wins.

 

UCL? I think its anyone from 6... Us, RM, Barca, Munich, Juventus, PSG.

 

I bet i know maths better than you, and I say we wont win it.

 

In this case, statistics is more relevant anywway, and I would really like to know how many times a team with a start like this has won the league.