Watching the training in the Chelsea app.. 

It looks really really boring. 

No wonder the players are so unenthusiastic when we watch them play lately  🙄

1 minute ago, dansubrosa said:

This is a really good summer for us so far, signing top caliber players. I remember that summer we signed Diego Costa and Fabregas, we don’t really have summers like that, fingers crossed this will be the new normality.

Now a signing on a par with Cesc would be the cherry on the top.

On 21/07/2022 at 23:10, charierre said:

https://thenyledger.com/companies/new-chelsea-fc-owners-raise-800mn-of-debt-to-reshape-club/

So basically, we're Barcelona but without the €1bn revenue...?

3 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

So basically, we're Barcelona but without the €1bn revenue...?

We need that money to begin construction for Stamford Bridge, how else would the new owners fund the stadium rebuilding process? 

On 19/07/2022 at 19:10, axman2526 said:

According to Google we can let the following leave on a free next summer:

Ross barkley 

Michy Batshuayi 

Kenedy

Emerson Pallmeri

Baba Rahman

Matt Maizga

 

The following in the summer of 2024

Timoue Bakayoko 

 

The following in the summer of 2025

Malang Sarr

Kepa

We are the worst in world football for this, just unbelievable. Worst thing of all is with FFP, new-rich clubs like Newcastle are ‘smart’ with money and sign proper directors of football to identify the right moves, so we can’t even pull the wool over peoples eyes like you could do 10-15 years ago. And the same with binning them off to China, with the CCP restricting the league and stopping foreign imports, just nowhere to go and no ‘tricks’ anymore. 

So far not so impressed with Todd and co. For me it seems they are using way more of Tommy's time, time he doesn't really have. Koulibaly for me is a great buy but it seems Jorginho and Mendy are catalyst for that. 

I feel our season will be of two halves, struggling at first, finding form later on. League could be settled for us as soon as November. 

No way I am disappointed, just shows Todd just can't come in marching into football and expect everything go like a song. In Europe money is not the only currency you have.

Anyway I wish them masses of luck in the quest of assembling a side that can really compete. I feel we need tons of luck....

Did he end up going to Portugal to take Monchi for lunch?

It has been obvious for several days now we are wasting our time with Kounde.

We need defenders, we lost 2 and 2 more want to leave.

We need midfielders as we have 0 quality Makalele like players and 0 players in the Cesc mood or even someone capable of short and long range defence splitting passes like Lamps or Ballack could do.

We need forwards who can score goals.

If Todd and Co don't pull their finger out they will be losing quite a bit of CL TV money. I doubt Clearlake and Wyss will appreciate that.

47 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

It has been obvious for several days now we are wasting our time with Kounde.

We need defenders, we lost 2 and 2 more want to leave.

We need midfielders as we have 0 quality Makalele like players and 0 players in the Cesc mood or even someone capable of short and long range defence splitting passes like Lamps or Ballack could do.

We need forwards who can score goals.

If Todd and Co don't pull their finger out they will be losing quite a bit of CL TV money. I doubt Clearlake and Wyss will appreciate that.

The thing is we don't have the clout that is needed. Gvardiol, possibly another. Locatelli as DM, someone like Demarai Gray on the wing and Osimhen up front. Defence, defensive screen, keep our young midfielders but have pace in the flanks and a CF that scores goals.

Will never happen

This will be a learning curve in running a PL club for the owners, a steep one and they seem ill prepared for it so far.

If the window closed tonight I would say we are no better off and all our rivals are strengthening, so I would not expect top 4 with the squad as it is right now. That would hit them in the pocket and we would see what they would do in response.

1 hour ago, axman2526 said:

This will be a learning curve in running a PL club for the owners, a steep one and they seem ill prepared for it so far.

If the window closed tonight I would say we are no better off and all our rivals are strengthening, so I would not expect top 4 with the squad as it is right now. That would hit them in the pocket and we would see what they would do in response.

Comments are not unfair, but I do think we have to give it time. We're probably going through the largest restructuring in our history, on and off the field.  Could easily be 2-3 years before we settle and move on much of the deadwood.  I agree with you that top 4 is a stretch this coming season.

Many factors driving this sentiment.  Raphinha, De Ligt and Kounde leave a sour taste, and the preseason results and performances have been dismal.  Stepping back though, we've been this poor since Feb, maybe earlier.  TT is not playing enough attacking football for me.  I believe he can fix this, but there are big gaps that the CL win is still papering over.

On a positive note, Sterling and Koulibaly look great business.  If that is the model Boehly follows then I'm good with it - just need to get our targets across the line.

8 minutes ago, PhilH930 said:

Comments are not unfair, but I do think we have to give it time. We're probably going through the largest restructuring in our history, on and off the field.  Could easily be 2-3 years before we settle and move on much of the deadwood.  I agree with you that top 4 is a stretch this coming season.

Many factors driving this sentiment.  Raphinha, De Ligt and Kounde leave a sour taste, and the preseason results and performances have been dismal.  Stepping back though, we've been this poor since Feb, maybe earlier.  TT is not playing enough attacking football for me.  I believe he can fix this, but there are big gaps that the CL win is still papering over.

On a positive note, Sterling and Koulibaly look great business.  If that is the model Boehly follows then I'm good with it - just need to get our targets across the line.

Indeed we need to give it time, we also have no choice but to do so they own the club now.

The window is not closed yet, still time to add some additions to strengthen our cause, they have all of August to do so and I imagine it will be a priority and, in theory, Todd now has more time because we now have Tom Glick on board as CEO, or rather president of business. So that takes one job off Todd and I imagine his full efforts will now be only working with TT on the squad rebuild while Glick takes the other stuff on board.

I more meant so far we are weaker that last season, no AC or Toni and only Koulibaly in from a foreign league. So if the window ended where we are now, that would be trouble.

Edited July 25, 20223 yr by axman2526

I have never seen a top club being humiliated like this in a transfer window. And most of the blame lies with our management. The end result will be the team suffering on the pitch and the coach paying with his job. It's difficult to see us getting top 6 with this squad.

Got to admit I’m a bit concerned about the clubs performance in this window 

surely marina should of stayed on to help Todd ? She has all the contacts he has none. 
kounde is a case in point. Should of been over the line straight away and move on to other targets asap. 
seems to me that Todd is struggling to get to grips in an unfamiliar job and market. 
Obviously needs help 

2 hours ago, Nick05 said:

I have never seen a top club being humiliated like this in a transfer window. And most of the blame lies with our management. The end result will be the team suffering on the pitch and the coach paying with his job. It's difficult to see us getting top 6 with this squad.

Well this squad is better than the one Lampard got top four with. So if he is struggling for top 6 then I'd wager he should be paying with his job.

I think Todd overestimated his own ability to close deals and underestimated the complexity of the transfer market negotiations. Getting rid of the old regime was a bold move but it may have backfired. 

Also I wonder if it was at all possible to conduct talks with potential sporting director candidates while the ownership saga was still going on  so that we would waste no time once the deal became official. We all know Man City were stocking up players on Pep's recommendations long before he got there, that sort of forward planning would have been a great help in our case too. I'd understand his logic if Boehly said I got my own team in place already working on those deals for a while, I don't need Marina and her vast experience/connections but he seemingly just decided to take over the transfer business out of sheer arrogance. Now we're looking like a bunch of amateurs going after every shiny target and get rejected at every turn.

Edited July 25, 20223 yr by abramovich

33 minutes ago, Andy2461 said:

surely marina should of stayed on to help Todd ? She has all the contacts he has none. 
kounde is a case in point.

She couldn't land Kounde last summer when we were the only club in for him. There is nothing to suggest she would have been helpful.

This year we have by all accounts come to an agreement with Sevilla at least but now the player prefers Barcelona to us and there is not a whole lot Boehly can do about that.

By bringing in Koulibaly & Sterling for about £80 million Boehly is already doing far better than the old regime in my opinion. We need a lot more but at least there is a shrewdness to us now instead of wasting a fortune on for example Lukaku.

 

6 hours ago, axman2526 said:

This will be a learning curve in running a PL club for the owners, a steep one and they seem ill prepared for it so far.

If the window closed tonight I would say we are no better off and all our rivals are strengthening, so I would not expect top 4 with the squad as it is right now. That would hit them in the pocket and we would see what they would do in response.

It doesnt help when your manager throws the squad under a bus publicly, and openly questions recruitment.

2 hours ago, Nick05 said:

I have never seen a top club being humiliated like this in a transfer window. And most of the blame lies with our management. The end result will be the team suffering on the pitch and the coach paying with his job. It's difficult to see us getting top 6 with this squad.

Top 6? 

If you can't get top 6 with this squad, you deserve to get sacked. 

First of all I don't buy this narrative of 'This window has been a disaster'. We can't do much about clubs rejecting us for other teams if we are having bids accepted and agreeing personal terms, only for players to have their head turned. Maybe we could spend less time chasing these targets but who knows. We have also signed two top quality players who hopefully will help improve us. There is still just over a month to go and hopefully more signings to follow. I do think Boehly was perhaps a tad naive moving Marina and Cech on without him having any direct football experience, but he is his own man and wants to do things his own way.

I think longer term the club needs to evaluate the scouting and restructure the department entirely. City and Liverpool are the perfect examples to follow. Their board, sporting director/ director of football will discuss with the manager potential transfer targets. The manager will have a clear style of play and an idea of players who can fit into their side with minimal issues. Luis Diaz being a perfect recent example of this. The scouting team will then go away and search for players who fit the criteria, rather than trying to force square pegs into round holes, which is something I think we have been guilty of for a few years.

Prior to this window Tuchel recieved two signings, both of which are no longer at the club. This is still very much a squad with key players and big signings that has been cobbled together by various different managers (Conte, Sarri, Lampard, Tuchel) and therefore will take a long time for the squad to be exactly where Tuchel wants it to be. Some of the players we have are good enough for Chelsea, some are not. That's the reality of it but fixing that will not be done overnight. 

I hope once a sporting director/ DOF is appointed then we can be a bit more aggressive in the transfer window and target players that 1) We know are attainable and want to play for Chelsea, and 2) that they fit into how the club and manager want to play.

We are crying out for a bit of stability at the moment so I hope that Tuchel is given a chance to redevelop the squad over a few windows and make the squad his own. If the board decide Tuchel isn't the right man then whoever the next manager is needs to be given time, otherwise we will be in the same cycle we have been for the last 20 years - going from manager to manager without ever really developing an identity and having squads cobbled together to suit various different managers. In my opinion the last time we had any real identity to the club was under Carlo, and he left 11 years ago! I know in this period we have gone from manager to manager and still been successful and won trophies, but I think we are at a point now where giving a manager a good few years and building success that way is more important.

Finally, I'm really glad none of you lot are in charge of Chelsea's transfers, given some of the names I have seen thrown around on here the last few days!

 

1 hour ago, Sindre said:

She couldn't land Kounde last summer when we were the only club in for him. There is nothing to suggest she would have been helpful.

That's not true. Rightly or wrongly we worked on Lukaku and probably Haaland, and Sevilla simply reneged on their deal. These things happen. Given we've bid the exact same amount again, it's clear we've had a ceiling for how much we value/prioritise him.

 

1 hour ago, Sindre said:

This year we have by all accounts come to an agreement with Sevilla at least but now the player prefers Barcelona to us and there is not a whole lot Boehly can do about that.

 

It was widely reported that Kounde was the prior board's target, and Boehly decided to pursue his own targets instead of Kounde. Boehly & Co have very publicly communicated to Kounde that he was a lesser priority the moment De Ligt signalled his availability. Unfortunately our previous policy of transfer silence appears to have been foregone for publicity.

Boehly made a strategic decision to pursue De Ligt, Kimpembe and Koulibaly over Kounde. It seems that was Tuchel's choice too.

Time will tell whether that was the correct strategy but to be fair to Boehly, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, especially when dealing with Sevilla. 

20 minutes ago, SydneyChelsea said:

That's not true. Rightly or wrongly we worked on Lukaku and probably Haaland, and Sevilla simply reneged on their deal. These things happen. Given we've bid the exact same amount again, it's clear we've had a ceiling for how much we value/prioritise him.

 

It was widely reported that Kounde was the prior board's target, and Boehly decided to pursue his own targets instead of Kounde. Boehly & Co have very publicly communicated to Kounde that he was a lesser priority the moment De Ligt signalled his availability. Unfortunately our previous policy of transfer silence appears to have been foregone for publicity.

Boehly made a strategic decision to pursue De Ligt, Kimpembe and Koulibaly over Kounde. It seems that was Tuchel's choice too.

Time will tell whether that was the correct strategy but to be fair to Boehly, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, especially when dealing with Sevilla. 

Yup it looks like this is the case with Kounde.

I am not overly fussed with not getting Kounde It will force Tuchel hand to play Ampadu or Colwill more and it looks like Azpi will stay. So number wise we are still ok. 

2 hours ago, Argo said:

Well this squad is better than the one Lampard got top four with. So if he is struggling for top 6 then I'd wager he should be paying with his job.

We've got to factor in the competition as well. Lamps got top 4 in a COVID affected season with a points total of 66. Since 14-15 season, only other instance of a team securing top 4 with 66 points was City in the year Leicester won the title. If you expect the competition to be that mediocre next season then you're likely to be disappointed.

2 hours ago, Bob stark said:

Top 6? 

If you can't get top 6 with this squad, you deserve to get sacked. 

Arsenal and Spurs are expected to be stronger and let's not forget we finished behind a Man Utd team coached by OGS in his 2 full seasons. You expect them to be better under Ten Hag. And if you factor in Newcastle and West Ham then it's going to be a tough fight.

Love the knee jerk reactions, season starts is still 2 weeks away and some already written it off as a top 6 finish ( or worse). Just sell all the players, sack the manager, sell the club and do another reboot 🤔