I don't think we will have a season like the 2015/16 one.. but we definitely aren't title favorites this season, especially with the current squad, playing in 4 competitions. My expectations for this season is the same as last year, that is a CL place and maybe a cup along with a quarter final game in the CL (which we didn't have last season).

Also Conte I'm sure is just frustrated over our transfer failings as we are, especially with the start to the season that we have. Remember last year except for WHU (derby) we didn't really have to face any strong teams untill Liverpool and Arsenal and when we did, they smashed us! Imagine that happening on our second game into the season against Tottenham. With our current squad we won't stand a chance against the top 6 sides. That's why it was so important for us to get our depth options in before the season began this year. Also its a wonder why we haven't when the board already knew of Hazard and Bakayoko's condition. Its all just so very frustrating.

So all in all, I don't think we'll have as bad a season as 15/16 one, but we definitely won't be near the title with this squad. Hopefully the situation change very soon.

13 hours ago, EdinburghBlue said:

I can't lie, I'm worried as well. I don't think it'll be as bad as THAT season but I think we're in a battle for the CL. I hope I'm wrong but we seem to be repeating mistakes we made before. 

 

 

Have to agree and think many of us have similar view.

The squad does look thin and it will take some time for Morata to bed-in and we have our best player sidelined. We all know that No Hazard = much less threat.

I think Conte will sort things out but it's going to be a whole lot tougher than last season. 

We have a good core, we win the league, we have great manager, we have plenty of money, just 150m. from PL title, and now we are 200m. from the winter till now, thats 350m. to spare.

Just give the guy 300m. and cut the 50m.

This year was the perfect time to reinforce our squad and to build great young team, that could dominate and fight for trophy for long time. When you build your mainly squad, you don`t need every season to spend big.

You just need little correction, that is.

So far we spend only 127m. on players.

With this 300m. we can easily make insane strong team, that could challenge for the titles and be in the mix in the CL. Lets said something like that:
Walker - 50m

Mendy - 50m

We could take James on loan for 2 years - 10m.

And then we could have get 2-3 alternative for 15-25m.

That`s 110m. for Walker, Mendy and James, and let`s said 50m for alternative players in midfielder/Striker - totally - 160m. And with the 127m. we already spend it`s 287m.

And there you go, you cut a 63m. And that is without the sale of Costa ....

And you have very solid, solid team.

You have happy manager and happy players.

But the board fu**** hard. Now Conte is not happy and no matter on what place we finish, he will probably go in the end of the season. And also you have player like Hazard, who won`t be happy.

You said no problem if we finish top 4, and with current squad i see us no further then 1/4 in the CL.

Do you think Hazard will be happy with that, or he will want a way out in the summer? Both Conte and Hazard want CL, and with this squad, we will never win it.

So the board fu**** hard, and that`s why most of the fans are angry and not happy.

City and United backed their managers, when they failed hard last season, and now they build really strong team, they have a core, that will last long.

And Conte was the savior. He came to us, when we was 10th. Who else we could have get, if Conte was rejected us, back then? Only for that the board should be thankful and give him everything he want.

He save their a** after the fiasco in 2015 and even whe they failed to bring the player he want last summer. He won us the title from 10th place.

And that`s how this s*** repay him.

So you can`t tell me not be pissed.

 

 

 

Guaranteed we lose Christensen aswell through not enough minutes and being poorly intergrated.. that will be another major thing that pisses me off when we see him starting for a massive team Next season. 

 

It turns sour after a year or two tops with every manager we get sadly. 

Conte now is starting to piss me off because his body language and what he's saying to the press reminds me of sulky Jose second time round and it casts a cloud over the team. 

I love conte and want him to stay but once again the board haven't backed him and he's already getting his excuses ready for a bad season so I'm 90% sure we're going to have one because he already believes it.

 

If I was roman id be onto the board demanding they sign conte a world class target and the rest 

 

There's Sandro, aurier , Cedric and Ryan at saints, Toljan, oxlade chamberlain, renato Sanches, all still possible 

 and I bet if you was to offer arsenal 80m for Alexis they'd snap our hand off 

 

70 m for Sandro and 80m Alexis and we have a world class first 11 and all of a sudden a stronger bench with alonso William and Pedro on it ... I don't know why I'm even bothering saying it it's not happening 

 

 

 

Losing to Arsenal in recent times seems to give us a big kick up the bum, hopefully it's the case this time around to.

1 hour ago, I Am Gay 4 Diegod said:

Guaranteed we lose Christensen aswell through not enough minutes and being poorly intergrated.. that will be another major thing that pisses me off when we see him starting for a massive team Next season. 

Conte now is starting to piss me off because his body language and what he's saying to the press reminds me of sulky Jose second time round and it casts a cloud over the team. 

I love conte and want him to stay but once again the board haven't backed him and he's already getting his excuses ready for a bad season so I'm 90% sure we're going to have one because he already believes it.

It's very strange ... he was  perfect as a manager last year, and yet this summer it has all been gloom and doom and woe is me with my poor little squad ... which is essenially the same squad, apart from Matic has been sold, Hazard is injured, and he's decided he doesn't want Costa. He hasn't lost anyone, bar Matic, that he wanted in the first team squad, or even played much in 2016/17, and in return he has Bakayoko, Morata, Rudiger and Cabellero so far ...

Contrast to Pochettino who is actually worse off than he was last year (Walker sold, no-one has come in) and yet his message to the world (paraphrased) is "we are happy, we have a great squad of great young players and we are confident we can challenge again this season".

As a squad, you'd feel like a million dollars if you heard that and you'd be super confident and energised.

As for what we've heard over the summer from Conte ... honestly if I was a Chelsea player I'd be adversely affected by it ... it's human nature ... he's basically told our entire squad that they aren't good enough to compete at the top level in 2017/18. If he says it enough times, they'll believe it as well ...

 

No need to make ott negative predictions. All because of what happened the season after we last won the title. The press/media are always saying it. Now our fans are saying the same. As for yesterday it was a high profile friendly. See what happens on Saturday. That is when it gets really important. 

6 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

It's very strange ... he was  perfect as a manager last year, and yet this summer it has all been gloom and doom and woe is me with my poor little squad ... which is essenially the same squad, apart from Matic has been sold, Hazard is injured, and he's decided he doesn't want Costa. He hasn't lost anyone, bar Matic, that he wanted in the first team squad, or even played much in 2016/17, and in return he has Bakayoko, Morata, Rudiger and Cabellero so far ...

Contrast to Pochettino who is actually worse off than he was last year (Walker sold, no-one has come in) and yet his message to the world (paraphrased) is "we are happy, we have a great squad of great young players and we are confident we can challenge again this season".

As a squad, you'd feel like a million dollars if you heard that and you'd be super confident and energised.

As for what we've heard over the summer from Conte ... honestly if I was a Chelsea player I'd be adversely affected by it ... it's human nature ... he's basically told our entire squad that they aren't good enough to compete at the top level in 2017/18. If he says it enough times, they'll believe it as well ...

 

Brilliant post basically what I was trying to say but better .. players in my mind are generally mentally fragile when you consider how many dips in form players have through a season.. hazard, Costa, fabregas, courtois, luiz, Cahill, Willian, Pedro, matic - all big name and big game players who are vastly experienced go through dips and rises and periods of low confidence. Cahill does a few a year and he's our captain. So seeing and reading and hearing about conte worried this season is going to be his hardest one ever and he's anxious about a mourinho season (even courtois has referenced it and said he fears it) is only going to put doubt in the same players mind that last year he made believe in themselves and play above there level ( Moses, luiz, alonso, Pedro)

 

IF we sign two to three really good players the mood will lift dramatically we will be installed as favourites for the league the media will run with it and conte will be saying he expects us to defend our title and all this will be forgotten about. 

 

No no matter what happens tho I pray we don't have to go through this again next season. 

 

The two departures im bothered about most that to me deplete the "depth" is chalobah and ake. Our squad felt more solid with them than baker and tomori. Trust them and let them play a little more and they'd of loved to have stayed. 

2 hours ago, brakeit said:

We have a good core, we win the league, we have great manager, we have plenty of money, just 150m. from PL title, and now we are 200m. from the winter till now, thats 350m. to spare.

So the board fu**** hard, and that`s why most of the fans are angry and not happy.

He save their a** after the fiasco in 2015 and even whe they failed to bring the player he want last summer. He won us the title from 10th place.

And that`s how this s*** repay him.

So you can`t tell me not be pissed.

 

 

 

"Most" of the fans are unhappy because they're soft and entitled.

You're entitled to be pissed off. Others are also entitled to laugh at your opinion because it's not very well substantiated. 

I mean in the same post you say we won the league because of Conte, and then argue we can only win by chequebook football. I think it is also hard for some Chelsea fans to admit that 15/16 wasn't just about the players/Emenalo/Kenyon and that Mourinho failed.

It's worthwhile pointing out that in this era of mega-spending, we've won two of the last three EPL titles and the other one was won by Leicester. Man Utd have spent a quarter of a billion pounds and not come close. 

Surely last season, if anything, would remind people that we should wait until at least the window shutting before we pass judgement. Yet people are keen to pass sentence even though a competitive ball has not yet been kicked. 

Somewhat ironically, what has characterised Madrid's success in the last few years has been their relative stability. They've spent outrageously on a few marquee signings but the last signing over €30m was James Rodriguez in 2014. They opted for maintenance and it is the flourishing of the unproven - Zidane, Casemiro, Morata etc - that has been just as crucial to their success as Ronaldo, Bale and James. 

In a hyper-inflated market where we still remain extremely competitive domestically, perhaps it makes sense to opt for relative stability instead of constant revolution.

Edited August 7, 20178 yr by SydneyChelsea

My frustration is that we don't learn our lessons from previous title wins. 

We've stripped the squad of experience before and we've performed poorly and slowly in the transfer market off the back of successes. 

We've sold off a lot of depth and experience in the last 6-8 months and, in my opinion, we've not done enough to give Conte a squad to be competitive going into the new season. That he didn't start the game against Arsenal with any new signing spoke volumes to me and that with just two players missing through injury meant we had to name a massively inexperience bench was concerning. 

There's a couple of weeks left in the transfer market but I don't like that we're heading into a new season with so much business left to do. 

2 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

My frustration is that we don't learn our lessons from previous title wins. 

We've stripped the squad of experience before and we've performed poorly and slowly in the transfer market off the back of successes. 

We've sold off a lot of depth and experience in the last 6-8 months and, in my opinion, we've not done enough to give Conte a squad to be competitive going into the new season. That he didn't start the game against Arsenal with any new signing spoke volumes to me and that with just two players missing through injury meant we had to name a massively inexperience bench was concerning. 

There's a couple of weeks left in the transfer market but I don't like that we're heading into a new season with so much business left to do. 

To be clear, there is a world of difference between your frustration and the others who appear to be tipping us for imminent relegation.

Just now, SydneyChelsea said:

To be clear, there is a world of difference between your frustration and the others who appear to be tipping us for imminent relegation.

My comment was not intended as a direct reply to your post above mine, was just throwing my 2 pence worth into the conversation. 

But I do agree that there is some staggering hyperbole flying around. 

Does seem like we have left it much too late, but you never know if we will get some 11th hour deals. 

We have a good first 11, past that we are wafer thin.  It is a worry. 

However, had we won yesterday easily, we may not see any reinvestment, maybe the bad results will spur on more business. Its all awfully quiet !

25 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

My frustration is that we don't learn our lessons from previous title wins. 

We've stripped the squad of experience before and we've performed poorly and slowly in the transfer market off the back of successes. 

We've sold off a lot of depth and experience in the last 6-8 months and, in my opinion, we've not done enough to give Conte a squad to be competitive going into the new season. That he didn't start the game against Arsenal with any new signing spoke volumes to me and that with just two players missing through injury meant we had to name a massively inexperience bench was concerning. 

There's a couple of weeks left in the transfer market but I don't like that we're heading into a new season with so much business left to do. 

I think the majority of our fans feel this way, and its perfectly acceptable given our current situation. I`m not sure what the end game is here with our board, but if we do bring in 2 or 3 new players then things suddenly look a hell of a lot better. As Sydney says, the way you and most others put these fears across is good, the way some of the more erm..special fans are completely losing their minds is embarrassing.

19 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

But I do agree that there is some staggering hyperbole flying around. 

Which unfortunately gets in the way of actual discussion. For example, supporting the club in their dealings so far makes me an obvious Emenalo shill. 

It's worthwhile considering that PSG have just spent £200m to arguably bring their first-team on par with ours. Sure, they'll storm the French league and get one over a bunch of teenagers from Monaco, but they are realistically little better off vs the other top teams in Europe.

I agree with the point on depth, which appears to be lost amidst the hyperbole around improving the first team. Again drawing on my Madrid example, the rise of Morata, Asensio and Casemiro etc as crucial squad players shows the importance of depth. Barcelona learned that painfully last season with the injuries to Messi and their midfielders which left a unproven Andre Gomes flailing. 

Juve is a team who don't have amazing depth, but then again, they hardly need it given they are leagues ahead of Serie A. Same as Dortmund etc. but again they are teams who can afford to forget their league positions in lieu of the Champions League for different reasons. So depth is clearly important.

However where I disagree with most people is that depth appears to be something built up over time. I don't think it is something that you can buy in a single window like some appear to be suggesting. I'm trying to think of a top team who did that and I can't, in fact it seems Barcelona's attempt last year (signing 'depth' with Gomes and Alcacer etc) failed when they needed it most. As I pointed out before Real Madrid's success appears to be due to depth cultivated over a number of seasons, same for other clubs like Bayern as well.

 

If depth were buyable, then Man City would have far more EPL titles than they do, and they wouldn't be out-competed by the likes of Tottenham or Leicester. To me the idea of just buying depth in a single window is a bit more of a fantasy or a myth than a legitimate goal.

 

I think we will lose Hazard if we have a mediocre performance this season.

I think last season showed we had an excellent first 11 and thankfully most of our key players missed very few games - Hazard, Kante, Luiz, Azpi etc. Our depth came in the back up players like Ake, Chalobah, Zouma and RLC. All did a decent job when called upon. Now none of those are available and the youngsters who have been given squad places have almost no experience so it does make you a little fearful but hopefully Conte has seen enough of them to feel they can do the same sort of job as the youngsters last year.

I Just hope Hazard is back ASAP.

7 minutes ago, Nibs said:

I think last season showed we had an excellent first 11 and thankfully most of our key players missed very few games - Hazard, Kante, Luiz, Azpi etc. Our depth came in the back up players like Ake, Chalobah, Zouma and RLC. All did a decent job when called upon. Now none of those are available and the youngsters who have been given squad places have almost no experience so it does make you a little fearful but hopefully Conte has seen enough of them to feel they can do the same sort of job as the youngsters last year.

I Just hope Hazard is back ASAP.

One big difference being that we have a lot more games and a tougher schedule this season. Now we have to deal with midweek games and often just two-three days between CL-football and important league games. League wise we had a huge advantage last season when we didn't have to worry about midweek games. Now we do and our squad is a lot smaller then it was when the season ended. That is actually incredibly poor work from the club. Almost unforgivable.

We have about 14 senior outfield players, two of which are injured at the start of a season where Conte wanted to compete on all four fronts. It's ovbiously not going to work very well.

Edited August 7, 20178 yr by Sindre

From Conte himself

 

“I think now is not the right moment for Chelsea to spend so much money on one player because we need many players. It’s important to divide this amount of money to buy many players.

“I think only one player is not enough to improve our team, we need more players, not of top level like Neymar, but more players to improve our squad, our quality, and our numerical aspect, now we are a few players [short].”

10 minutes ago, SydneyChelsea said:

However where I disagree with most people is that depth appears to be something built up over time. I don't think it is something that you can buy in a single window like some appear to be suggesting. I'm trying to think of a top team who did that and I can't, in fact it seems Barcelona's attempt last year (signing 'depth' with Gomes and Alcacer etc) failed when they needed it most. As I pointed out before Real Madrid's success appears to be due to depth cultivated over a number of seasons, same for other clubs like Bayern as well.

I agree to an extent that it's easier said then done to buy players to full fill the role of "depth". 

I'm just left slightly bemused that we've been quite quick to sell off players who would give us depth and experience such as Terry, Ivanovic, Mikel, Oscar Matic, Chalobah, Ake and have also loaned out players such as RLC, Zouma who have been in and around the team for a couple of years now. The quality of those players is open to debate but that's a lot of cover and experience let go within a relatively short space of time. 

What I'm struggling to understand is what our transfer strategy is? Rudiger, Bakayoko and Morata are arguably replacements for Terry, Matic and (the yet to be sold) Costa. So that leaves Ivanovic, Mikel, Oscar, Chalobah, RLC and Zouma who haven't been replaced (yet). We've been quite quick to let players go but much slower to replace them, given the general lack of numbers of senior first team players I'm not sure why we've sold before we've bought in nearly every transfer with perhaps the exception of Costa. 

Let's wait and see if the board listen to Conte and bring in the sufficient amount of players, to build the squad, if not then I will panic. However, regardless of what happens this season, I think Conte will be gone at the end of it, he seems frustrated and angry with the board, selling Matic wasn't his decision, you have to wonder just how much control he does have, it doesn't seem like much. The club are going to start alienating the fan base, if they're not careful. 

We look about four squad players short, problem is integrating that number and keeping the squad cohesive. The number allowed to leave cannot be good for dressing room morale,players take time to bond and form friendship and alliances both on and off the field. The next two weeks will decide the season, a couple of decent signings and a good result against Spurs and others the mood will change.It is important to keep the squad depth strong a bad summer window can take years to repair especially with six teams now chasing four slots. I think its natural for many to be cautious, I always think of half empty side myself, 40 pts still being the requisite target and I would never ever bet on us to win for fear of jinxing them. Others of course are the complete opposite it just makes the forum interesting.

We should have bring this 4-5-6 players we speak off a lot earlier, so they have time to adapt, to get in shape,as well. See for how much time we have Morata, and he is not fit yet, and not even close to understand our style/tactics/system. Same goes for Bakayoko, tho he have an injury last season.

But it`s stand. It`s idiotic to put the manager in such situation. He won`t know untill the very last day on what players he can rely. And we will start the games with zero depth. We already lose 1 cup, no matter if its important or not it was good to win that match.
No matter how you look at, the board fu*** hard. They piss Conte and he won`t be 100% in the upcoming season. This is the main problem.
And by the type of his action, he is very angry with them and i don`t see how he will stay with us after the end of this season.
So yeah, whatever you look at it, they ff****** hard.
Even if they get 6 more players now.

Lampard and Gerrard said there is a problem and the squad is too thin.

Now even Cahill speak of it.

 

Edited August 7, 20178 yr by brakeit

I think I heard the commentators say that next season the transfer window is closing before the opening game. Is that correct? If so, our board are going to have to get their act together.

1 hour ago, Zeta said:

I think I heard the commentators say that next season the transfer window is closing before the opening game. Is that correct? If so, our board are going to have to get their act together.

Yeah i heard that too. The board are fine when we don't win the league its when we win the league they like to piss about. This is the 3rd time now i can remember.

Ancelotti after the double, Mourinho 2 seasons ago and now with Conte.