.

Edited May 7, 20233 yr by OriginalS

18 hours ago, Argo said:

I cited selling KDB/Salah for the short term title as the start of the chain of events that led to this moment but after a long chat about it with a friend the other day I think the start was actually in 2008/2009.

The clear warning signs that we needed to refresh the squad and bring the average age down was there, Hiddink even said so, and while we did remain one of the best around (and won the league) for a couple of years boy did it come home to roost in Carlo's second season.

If you think about it we've been playing catch up ever since, we tried to belatedly compensate for letting our squad grow too old to compete consistently by investing in young players who we then sold to fund Mourinho's quick title where some of the players (Ivan, Matic, Cesc, Terry) were worked so hard getting over the line they were never the same again, while also Hazard injured in his hip in the run in and we know how that f**ked him in 15/16. Then Conte came in with the ultimate sticky plaster system but when that got found it we found ourselves as far away from the top of the league as ever (although the winning mentality around the club kept us winning/competing in the cups). Then we tried to get a Pep like style of manager in to give us a much needed change to more modern tactics, who was hounded out and replaced with Lampard, then we got Tuchel in who found a way to construct an elite system of pressing, interplay and movement and thought adding a player who is the athesis of all of those things to it was a good idea, then ofcourse there's last summer.

Maybe in some way having Hazard (and then Tuchel) papering over the cracks for years was a detriment, if we didn't have such a safety net maybe we'd have been forced into getting our house in order sooner.

Absolutely. 

It does really seem like Conte and Tuchel papered over the cracks, we were actually terrible under Conte until he reverted to the 3 at the back system when Arsenal spanked us and teams just couldn't play against us. 

But our recruitment for some time has been piss poor, it's always reactive instead of proactive. City already had replacements for the likes of David Silva and they will for KDB. At Chelsea we seem to always react when it's too late then we need more seasons for building. After Carlo's 2nd season, we still kept playing the same old players. Fair enough, we won the big one, but the season after we splashed the cash and got all these new attackers in when it should've been done years prior a season at a time. 

I think the biggest issue though is our recruitment including managerial. We should find a good manager to lay the foundations and keep playing a certain way. I've criticised the way we hug the ball and try to walk it into the goal for the last 4-5 seasons but it's mostly because we can't play it correctly and again we still keep signing players who are not tailored for that system. Why are we signing players like Lukaku, Werner, and Havertz who don't fit that system? It just seems like the recruitment team and the managerial team don't work together properly. I still don't know if Tuchel wanted Lukaku specifically, if so I have to seriously question why. Why did he think Lukaku could work in that system, or why didn't he change the way we play to get the best out of Lukaku's abilities like he did for Werner, Pulisic, Ziyech, and Havertz? There are so many questions and sadly we don't know the real answer for it.

But what we can say is that there is a clear misunderstanding going on behind the scenes. I'm hoping when Pochettino comes in we actually find the right players for his system, but also tell him no if he wants to sign someone who clearly won't work under the current system. 

1 hour ago, Victor90 said:

Absolutely. 

It does really seem like Conte and Tuchel papered over the cracks, we were actually terrible under Conte until he reverted to the 3 at the back system when Arsenal spanked us and teams just couldn't play against us. 

But our recruitment for some time has been piss poor, it's always reactive instead of proactive. City already had replacements for the likes of David Silva and they will for KDB. At Chelsea we seem to always react when it's too late then we need more seasons for building. After Carlo's 2nd season, we still kept playing the same old players. Fair enough, we won the big one, but the season after we splashed the cash and got all these new attackers in when it should've been done years prior a season at a time. 

I think the biggest issue though is our recruitment including managerial. We should find a good manager to lay the foundations and keep playing a certain way. I've criticised the way we hug the ball and try to walk it into the goal for the last 4-5 seasons but it's mostly because we can't play it correctly and again we still keep signing players who are not tailored for that system. Why are we signing players like Lukaku, Werner, and Havertz who don't fit that system? It just seems like the recruitment team and the managerial team don't work together properly. I still don't know if Tuchel wanted Lukaku specifically, if so I have to seriously question why. Why did he think Lukaku could work in that system, or why didn't he change the way we play to get the best out of Lukaku's abilities like he did for Werner, Pulisic, Ziyech, and Havertz? There are so many questions and sadly we don't know the real answer for it.

But what we can say is that there is a clear misunderstanding going on behind the scenes. I'm hoping when Pochettino comes in we actually find the right players for his system, but also tell him no if he wants to sign someone who clearly won't work under the current system. 

If I'm honest I do have worries about Pochettino in the market which is why I hope we don't give him that big a control. Although Levy isn't the most generous chairman in the world Pochettino spunked most of the money he did get up the wall (his last window getting in Ndombele, Sessengon and Lo Celso especially makes for brutual reading). It was also one of the reasons I stayed on the fence with Potter as he has a good record in they regard and I include our January deals in that.

I hope we take the Lukaku and Felix decisions out of his hands aswell because the main two reason's I am confident/hopeful he will work out is his coaching of raw players and how well he gets his teams pressing, we will lose almost all our ability to do the latter with one of those two in this team let alone both.

Edited May 7, 20233 yr by Argo

On 05/05/2023 at 14:29, axman2526 said:

Todd and cos first signing the latest to, indirectly, criticize them:

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12873885/raheem-sterling-exclusive-chelsea-forward-says-season-has-been-one-of-the-lowest-points-of-his-career

 

Tuchel wanted Sterling, Boehly wanted Ronaldo, we need to call a spade a spade

Thomas Tuchel makes contact with Raheem Sterling ahead of Chelsea bid for City forward (telegraph.co.uk)

Edited May 7, 20233 yr by Frankie8Lampard

13 minutes ago, Argo said:

If I'm honest I do have worries about Pochettino in the market which is why I hope we don't give him that big a control. Although Levy isn't the most generous chairman in the world Pochettino spunked most of the money he did get up the wall (his last window getting in Ndombele, Sessengon and Lo Celso especially makes for brutual reading). It was also one of the reasons I stayed on the fence with Potter as he has a good record in they regard and I include our January deals in that.

I hope we take the Lukaku and Felix decisions out of his hands aswell because the main two reason's I am confident/hopeful he will work out is his coaching of raw players and how well he gets his teams pressing, we will lose almost all our ability to do the latter with one of those two in this team let alone both.

Best cheer for Rom to win the CL for Inter then mate. 

18 hours ago, RMH said:

I guess that now that Marina is gone you need another scapegoat to complain about Chelsea.

Scapegoat? I was critical of her work for her last five years at the club (17-22) as I thought it was quite obvious it hurt the club as a whole.

Now that seems to be the popular opinion but damn me for seeing it before everyone else I guess! The fact that Boehly is even worse doesn't absolve her.

1 hour ago, OriginalS said:

Scapegoat? I was critical of her work for her last five years at the club (17-22) as I thought it was quite obvious it hurt the club as a whole.

Now that seems to be the popular opinion but damn me for seeing it before everyone else I guess! The fact that Boehly is even worse doesn't absolve her.

You’ve only been a part on this forum less than 6 months. Where you here as a different name before?

2 hours ago, goose said:

You’ve only been a part on this forum less than 6 months. Where you here as a different name before?

Sindre i thought

Just now, WhiteWall said:

Sindre i thought

Yes that's what I think.

1 minute ago, WhiteWall said:

Sindre i thought

What happened to him?

If we hire Pochettino 

- 4-2-3-1

- Get Rice if possible

- Get a replacement for Auba

- Sell: Ruben, Pulisic, Ziyech, Mendy, Chalobah, Sterling, CHO, Ampadu, Sarr

- Let go: Felix, Zakaria

GK Kepa, Slonina, Bettinelli

RB James, Gusto

LB Chilwell, Cucurella

RCB Silva, Koulibaly 

LCB Fofana, Badiashile

DM Rice, Kante

DLP Enzo, Kovacic

LMF Mount, Mudryk, Chukwuemeka

RMF Madueke, Gallagher

"10" Nkunku, Havertz 

"9" (Striker), Broja, DD Fofana

That striker could well be Lukaku. 

On loan: Hall, Huchinson, Santos, Colwill, Maatsen, Casadei

Rice looks Arsenal bound according to reports

18 minutes ago, Frankie8Lampard said:

Rice looks Arsenal bound according to reports

Arsenal want Zubamendi. 

Anyone else open this thread in the hope of seeing Boehly agreeing to sell Chelsea?

On 09/05/2023 at 03:49, SydneyChelsea said:

Anyone else open this thread in the hope of seeing Boehly agreeing to sell Chelsea?

Not before he's finished his tome - "How To Depreciate An Asset: 101" - which will be widely available in all remainder bins.

I hope Boehly knows Chat GPT..

On 07/05/2023 at 19:41, Argo said:

If I'm honest I do have worries about Pochettino in the market which is why I hope we don't give him that big a control. Although Levy isn't the most generous chairman in the world Pochettino spunked most of the money he did get up the wall (his last window getting in Ndombele, Sessengon and Lo Celso especially makes for brutual reading). It was also one of the reasons I stayed on the fence with Potter as he has a good record in they regard and I include our January deals in that.

I hope we take the Lukaku and Felix decisions out of his hands aswell because the main two reason's I am confident/hopeful he will work out is his coaching of raw players and how well he gets his teams pressing, we will lose almost all our ability to do the latter with one of those two in this team let alone both.

Pochettino never signs players though, he has always worked with a Sporting director. Steve Hitchen was the one responsible for signing Ndombele, Lo Celso & Moura

On 08/05/2023 at 16:23, Frankie8Lampard said:

Rice looks Arsenal bound according to reports

Arsenal are never paying anything close to the £120m fee demanded by West Ham on one player. They operate in a smarter way. 

On 08/05/2023 at 14:30, OriginalS said:

Scapegoat? I was critical of her work for her last five years at the club (17-22) as I thought it was quite obvious it hurt the club as a whole.

Now that seems to be the popular opinion but damn me for seeing it before everyone else I guess! The fact that Boehly is even worse doesn't absolve her.

I agree with this view.. I think Marina was good at negotiating and if that was her role would have been good..I don’t think we did a particularly good job of identifying talent for our system pretty much going after the flavour of the season. The worst part is in most cases we would not be able to get them Sandro .. KK.. Lukaku(Morata) .. Hakimi.. Deligt come to mind immediately.

3 hours ago, ducavis said:

Arsenal are never paying anything close to the £120m fee demanded by West Ham on one player. They operate in a smarter way. 

They paid 72mill for Pepe.

On 08/05/2023 at 16:23, Frankie8Lampard said:

Rice looks Arsenal bound according to reports

No way will Arsenal pay in excess of £100 million. They have a ceiling they wont break,  think of Mudryk, Caicedo. They will offer something like £40m plus add ons

On 08/05/2023 at 10:00, OriginalS said:

Scapegoat? I was critical of her work for her last five years at the club (17-22) as I thought it was quite obvious it hurt the club as a whole.

Now that seems to be the popular opinion but damn me for seeing it before everyone else I guess! The fact that Boehly is even worse doesn't absolve her.

Spot on mate, I've always said she was useless and overated. Her transfers go to show that.

3 hours ago, axman2526 said:

They paid 72mill for Pepe.

And have learned the error of their ways.

4 hours ago, Jangz said:

I agree with this view.. I think Marina was good at negotiating and if that was her role would have been good..I don’t think we did a particularly good job of identifying talent for our system pretty much going after the flavour of the season. The worst part is in most cases we would not be able to get them Sandro .. KK.. Lukaku(Morata) .. Hakimi.. Deligt come to mind immediately.

that was her role, negotiating sales and purchases. We have/had scouts to identify targets.

On 08/05/2023 at 13:19, dansubrosa said:

What happened to him?

lack of credibility so reinvented himself as OriginalS for elite ball knowledge opinions