27 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

Why is it that there has to be so much drama. Why is it that people on social media are already trying to cultivate an underlying narrative of Alonso being undermined.

Not a single player in Alonso's Leverkusen team would have been deemed good enough for Chelsea despite the fact that over the last three years we haven't put out a single side in any match that would have matched up to them.

We have said all season that our players are mediocre and they proved it by finishing dead middle of the league, the definition of average. I liked Cucurella. I liked that he scored some important goals for us. I liked that he was committed to us and I liked that he had the front to speak honestly when questioned.

But he's just a player in a very average team. I want to see Alonso develop a team ethic and a camaraderie where the team is greater than its individual parts. To do that the players need to play for him and I don't really care who the individuals are. For all the Florian Wirtz, Frimpongs and Xhaka, he also had Nathan Tella and Andrich.

We have to reduce the squad and at the same time create a team and style with the main stock of players that we have, because we are going to struggle to sell a lot of these players.

I am not listening to the bullsh*t and negativity, I have enough of that baggage already. I am going to trust Alonso to develop our technical football, regardless of who the players are.

All this"oh my God they've lied to Alonso already" bush*t is getting very boring very quickly isnt it, its complete f**king nonsense and I wish our fans would pack it in.

2 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

He has been one of our better players, in a limited team that has been very inconsistent. In the grand timeline of chelsea fc, he will not be missed.

In my list of Chelsea left backs he’s somewhere between Aisier del Horno and Tommy Boyd.

3 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

Hato, as good as he may be, will make mistakes. It's inevitable for somebody at his age. We can't afford that though, we need players who are going to be good enough right now. Also, throwing Hato into that disaster of a defence is asking for trouble.

I just don’t understand the train of thought that we shouldn’t take advantage of having a season with no Europe and instead bet on our young players to be consistent in a 38 game season when it’s never worked under this ownership.

We finally have a top manager but we want to continue giving him the shackles and restraints the managers before him had.

11 minutes ago, Snedger said:

In my list of Chelsea left backs he’s somewhere between Aisier del Horno and Tommy Boyd.

On par with Baba Rahman imo.

Just now, GarnachoCheese said:

On par with Baba Rahman imo.

Is he still out on loan someone?

Just now, Snedger said:

Is he still out on loan someone?

Just had to check and we kept him for 8 years!

1 minute ago, GarnachoCheese said:

Just had to check and we kept him for 8 years!

Really, that long? Not quite Bogarde madness, but not far off.

9 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

I just don’t understand the train of thought that we shouldn’t take advantage of having a season with no Europe and instead bet on our young players to be consistent in a 38 game season when it’s never worked under this ownership.

We finally have a top manager but we want to continue giving him the shackles and restraints the managers before him had.

But we're not allowed bomb squads anymore, there are only 6 international loan spots, we have 30 players in our squad with a further 2-3 coming back from loans abd three already committed to coming in. The Saudis are cooling their interest in the transfer market, a market that consists of only about 8 credible clubs in the whole of Europe.

It's all well and good the press briefings giving it large that Alonso wants an experienced CB, but somebody explain to me who is buying the 5 or 6 dross CBs that we've already got.

All this talk of experience, once we sell Enzo as well as Cucu we’d have lost two of our most experienced players.

So does this Quenda lad mind playing left wing back?

1 minute ago, WhiteWall said:

But we're not allowed bomb squads anymore, there are only 6 international loan spots, we have 30 players in our squad with a further 2-3 coming back from loans abd three already committed to coming in. The Saudis are cooling their interest in the transfer market, a market that consists of only about 8 credible clubs in the whole of Europe.

It's all well and good the press briefings giving it large that Alonso wants an experienced CB, but somebody explain to me who is buying the 5 or 6 dross CBs that we've already got.

Boils down to what I said when Alonso was appointed. It’s only half the battle.

His appointment lost a tremendous amount of optimism when it was revealed McFarlane, Roberts and Cueva have slimed their way into the back room staff.

I honestly hope Milan are a success in the next couple years as they will be the perfect example of what happens when you clean the rot.

12 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

But we're not allowed bomb squads anymore, there are only 6 international loan spots, we have 30 players in our squad with a further 2-3 coming back from loans abd three already committed to coming in. The Saudis are cooling their interest in the transfer market, a market that consists of only about 8 credible clubs in the whole of Europe.

It's all well and good the press briefings giving it large that Alonso wants an experienced CB, but somebody explain to me who is buying the 5 or 6 dross CBs that we've already got.

On top of that Enzo and Cucu are 2 positions we didn’t need to touch. Just creating more transfer mayhem. Instead of concentrating selling and buying centre backs and a left winger we’ll be wasting time covering spots we already have sorted. A problem created by a badly managed club .

It will be a miracle to find a suitable replacement for Marc without paying more than we got for him.

Pleased with this sale.

On paper, selling a 27 international in his prime contradicts the need for experience, stability and leadership in the team. And all we’ve read on Alonso you’d have thought this was the type of player we needed.

But reality is, game is not played on paper and he was a liability. Immature and petulant for his experience, often out of position and confuses looking busy with being effective.

Hato has had some time to settle now and second half of the season he grew each game. Best player alongside Pedro in most matches toward end of season. Some wise comments about too much too soon, but I think he’s up to it.

Do Madrid want Gusto also?

Cucurella wouldn't be a regular for probably one of the best national teams in the world right now if he was as useless as some comments on here say he is. .

14 minutes ago, DarkMata said:

On top of that Enzo and Cucu are 2 positions we didn’t need to touch. Just creating more transfer mayhem. Instead of concentrating selling and buying centre backs and a left winger we’ll be wasting time covering spots we already have sorted. A problem created by a badly managed club .

It will be a miracle to find a suitable replacement for Marc without paying more than we got for him.

I’d even be open to Grimaldo for 2-3 seasons until Hato is ready.

We shouldn’t be “restarting” any position right now in such pivotal season.

3 minutes ago, The Rising Sun said:

Cucurella wouldn't be a regular for probably one of the best national teams in the world right now if he was as useless as some comments on here say he is. .

That’s an interesting point. Gusto is another who regularly plays/starts for his very good national side, yet is generally regarded as a terrible footballer at Stamford Bridge. But those two along with World Cup winner Enzo, and others, have more than played their parts in finishing tenth. Or does the blame lay 100% with Rosenior’s brief tenure?

As long as Xabi's on board with him leaving I don't really care

If the board are going over his head already that's a very bad sign though

1 hour ago, Snedger said:

That’s an interesting point. Gusto is another who regularly plays/starts for his very good national side, yet is generally regarded as a terrible footballer at Stamford Bridge. But those two along with World Cup winner Enzo, and others, have more than played their parts in finishing tenth. Or does the blame lay 100% with Rosenior’s brief tenure?

The gulf between international football and club football is a chasm. Championship-level at best, coaching and intensity are appalling these days and have been for over a decade at this point.

Glad Cucurella is gone. His best form came at the expense of the team when he was playing de facto midfield positions and leaving gaping defensive holes, largely covered by the unreal form that Caicedo was in.

43 minutes ago, mojo said:

I think that is bo**ocks. I've been seeing a lot of these fake quotes go around of late.

2 hours ago, The Rising Sun said:

Cucurella wouldn't be a regular for probably one of the best national teams in the world right now if he was as useless as some comments on here say he is. .

International football is less transitiony than PL. In international tourney, you can play Enzo or even jorgi as dm and it won't be a big problem

25 minutes ago, Bob stark said:

International football is less transitiony than PL. In international tourney, you can play Enzo or even jorgi as dm and it won't be a big problem

Both players will see Real Madrid as an upgrade like they’re moving up and leaving the sh*t show. Whos really the useless ones?

Selling Cucurella is normal stuff. Pool sold diaz last season. We sold Matic a while ago.

You don't want to sell starter however if the player is close to 30, you need to make a decision because there won't be another chance to cash in.

I get that we want 'experienced' players but we also have to accept that some of our 'experienced' players are not good enough at this level. A big part of our current problem is that we accept players like Enzo Fernandez, Marc Cucurella and Pedro Neto as the pinnacle of team performance. Experience means nothing if the experienced players aren't among the best players on the park every single time they play, and that isn't and will never be the case with those three. Sell now while there is a market.

I've got no issue in moving them on and building around Palmer, James, Caicedo and Colwill.

3 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

I’d even be open to Grimaldo for 2-3 seasons until Hato is ready.

We shouldn’t be “restarting” any position right now in such pivotal season.

A 30yr old LB coming into the most intense league in Europe, what could go wrong? Grimaldo has “bust” written all over him. He is Serie A bound.

I'm pretty indifferent about this transfer.

As long as this sale has the backing of Alonso, I'm happy to go with it.