22 hours ago, Argo said:

Am I the only one finding the situation a bit surreal?

I mean, in the past it didn't take me long to adapt to the likes of Pedro, Oli and Cesc as Chelsea players but I'm finding Sterling and Auba here with Potter as manager so odd.

Not in a bad way, I love Sterling so far, have nothing against Auba and Potter was my first pick once I heard Tuchel was gone but seeing all three of them on the highlights of the last game felt like an outer body experience, just can't get use to it.

I find it a little sad. The parting of an era, the success we could only have dreamed about 40 years ago is fading. Truth is that the club now feels to have lost its identity, a new owner who despite having our best interests at heart and spending a king's ransom has yet to ignite passion in the support, not having helped himself by the ludicrous decision to sack the coach days after parting with 260m on players. A huge sum of money which arguably hasn't improved us one bit! Tuchel whilst unlucky to lose his job so early on in the season wasn't entirely blameless, the football produced in 2022 has on the whole been very stagnant, and lacked excitement. He clearly failed to buy into the vision of the new owner and like in any job when there is a change of direction, you buy into it or walk. 

Potter would have been my choice too for the next coach, though I didn't envision it being so soon. He has a mammoth job on his hands. He inherits a team that lacks character and the spine of a jellyfish. We used to have leaders on the pitch, but today there isn't one player in the team you could rely on to galvanise the rest when the chips are down... each, in turn,.. looking to others.  There is still some quality, sadly though it comes from an aging Silva and an injury-prone Kante. James and Mount have youth on their side and are likely to step back up. Sterling I think will be a good investment, the rest though largely 'fair weather' players. Fingers crossed Potter can build a side to put the excitement back, it will take time and probably a lot more money. We have dropped a level since January.  Will the new owner be content with 6th place and give him the time required? The club is now at a very defined crossroads.

I saw some rumours going around that the club is having a behind closed doors friendly to help Potter instill what he started in midweek. Does anyone know the accuracy to this?

23 hours ago, Argo said:

Am I the only one finding the situation a bit surreal?

I mean, in the past it didn't take me long to adapt to the likes of Pedro, Oli and Cesc as Chelsea players but I'm finding Sterling and Auba here with Potter as manager so odd.

Not in a bad way, I love Sterling so far, have nothing against Auba and Potter was my first pick once I heard Tuchel was gone but seeing all three of them on the highlights of the last game felt like an outer body experience, just can't get use to it.

I have taken to Sterling surprisingly well, because I really disliked him at City and found him incredibly frustrating for England.

As for everything else, I have not taken to any of it. 

Everything around the club feels alien right now. So many changes, so many people with connections to the club and people the fans look at and feel a sense of identity, they've gone. Even if the performances under Tuchel weren't great, it felt like there was a connection there. Now that he is gone, it just feels like the life around the club has been sucked out of it, like there is no passion or excitement anymore.

I look at Chelsea now and I don't see that same club anymore, it's like everything that has happened in the past 6 months have finally sunk in. I never felt any of this when Abramovich took over, I was still pretty young at the time though so maybe I never thought much of it, but all I can say is that right now, I don't see Chelsea football club.

To be honest, I don't really care about top 4 or trophies right now, I just want to enjoy being a Chelsea fan again.

18 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

 

To be honest, I don't really care about top 4 or trophies right now, I just want to enjoy being a Chelsea fan again.

Me too Scott, me too

24 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

I have taken to Sterling surprisingly well, because I really disliked him at City and found him incredibly frustrating for England.

I’m very much the same with Sterling. I hated him a couple months ago and now he’s one of my favourites.

1 hour ago, Frankie8Lampard said:

I saw some rumours going around that the club is having a behind closed doors friendly to help Potter instill what he started in midweek. Does anyone know the accuracy to this?

I would be surprised if we weren't exploring this, but who would we play. Palace would make sense but imagine that would have been sorted by now with the players going away for int duty. 

3 hours ago, Frankie8Lampard said:

I saw some rumours going around that the club is having a behind closed doors friendly to help Potter instill what he started in midweek. Does anyone know the accuracy to this?

Read that too somewhere....haven't heard or seen anything since.

3 hours ago, Deino said:

Me too Scott, me too

Me three.

I just hope that Potter does give us a newer better identity.  I wanted us to create players and a style of our own, without the bling bling names that we normally get associated.  So maybe to get to that point we may feel a period of being adrift from our identity to date.

4 hours ago, bisright1 said:

I would be surprised if we weren't exploring this, but who would we play. Palace would make sense but imagine that would have been sorted by now with the players going away for int duty. 

 

1 hour ago, CFCCAN said:

Read that too somewhere....haven't heard or seen anything since.

Found out here. It was Brighton apparently.

 

I think this sums up the scale of the challenge Potter faces.

Going from Willian to Havertz, Pulisic and Ziyech is a generational downgrade and Willian was a solid piece of a top team not a superstar himself.

Willian got panned at Arsenal but even there he created twice as many chances for them and had over double the XA/90 as Pulisic has managed here.

we criticise our attacking options a lot but I don't think people grasp quite how bad they are.

Hard to expect any manager to finish in the top 4 with attacking options that don't start for a single other team in the league.

Edited September 18, 20223 yr by HazardousChoice

its interesting if Potter is going to play 3 at the back with 1 CB. I was kind of hoping for this tbh but was not sure when we started signing CBs. maybe we could rotate Thiago and KK and give Fofana odd game in cup or something until he can replace Thiago (probably after WC). I do not want FBs to play wide in a 5 and play 4 mids in a box formation and 3 guys up top. Reece and Cuc or Chilwell can go forward with 2 CMs and you will have 7 attackers. This will over power liverpools and city who over rely on WBs and if done with Kante and Jorginho could have enough support.

1 hour ago, stafalan5 said:

its interesting if Potter is going to play 3 at the back with 1 CB. I was kind of hoping for this tbh but was not sure when we started signing CBs. maybe we could rotate Thiago and KK and give Fofana odd game in cup or something until he can replace Thiago (probably after WC). I do not want FBs to play wide in a 5 and play 4 mids in a box formation and 3 guys up top. Reece and Cuc or Chilwell can go forward with 2 CMs and you will have 7 attackers. This will over power liverpools and city who over rely on WBs and if done with Kante and Jorginho could have enough support.

Surely it wouldn't be acceptable to give Fofana the odd cup game.  The man should be the foundation of Chelsea for years to come, and bar leadership and experience, excels in every aspect vs. picking Dave (which I understand for first game).

1 hour ago, PhilH930 said:

Surely it wouldn't be acceptable to give Fofana the odd cup game.  The man should be the foundation of Chelsea for years to come, and bar leadership and experience, excels in every aspect vs. picking Dave (which I understand for first game).

yeh i know fofana is ace but was just thinking how to manage a team with 1 true CB if its the way GP goes. you would have to sacrifice someone and plan would be to have Fofana as the future CB. If Thiago leaves soon, he would rotate with KK. Seems like a good deal and he would play a decent amount but hes not even 22 so dont have to expect so much so soon.

I have a feeling Potter will give chances to some of the young players to create competition and to wake up some of the more senior figures. 

Basically James and Sterling playing on their level and every other player is underperforming.

 

43 minutes ago, evissy said:

I have a feeling Potter will give chances to some of the young players to create competition and to wake up some of the more senior figures. 

Basically James and Sterling playing on their level and every other player is underperforming.

 

Sterling is so much quality for us that he has played pretty much every single match so far...

On 17/09/2022 at 15:31, Scott Harris said:

I have taken to Sterling surprisingly well, because I really disliked him at City and found him incredibly frustrating for England.

As for everything else, I have not taken to any of it. 

Everything around the club feels alien right now. So many changes, so many people with connections to the club and people the fans look at and feel a sense of identity, they've gone. Even if the performances under Tuchel weren't great, it felt like there was a connection there. Now that he is gone, it just feels like the life around the club has been sucked out of it, like there is no passion or excitement anymore.

I look at Chelsea now and I don't see that same club anymore, it's like everything that has happened in the past 6 months have finally sunk in. I never felt any of this when Abramovich took over, I was still pretty young at the time though so maybe I never thought much of it, but all I can say is that right now, I don't see Chelsea football club.

To be honest, I don't really care about top 4 or trophies right now, I just want to enjoy being a Chelsea fan again.

I agree to some extent but not others.

I'm actually quite positive with the direction we're heading in in the long run. Boehly doesn't look equipped for the day to day himself but thankfully he's realised that and is getting in a proven expert to do that bit (the one thing Roman didn't do that people wanted him to do) and bar Auba all our signings fit our style or atleast the one we aim to play going forward.

Appointing the manager who's the closest to Tuchel stylistically shows that we atleast aimed for the continuity in that sense as opposed to appointing Zidane or going after Simeone lets say.

I do however agree about enjoying watching the games again.

I have to agree that things feel a little surreal as a fan right now. Obviously we're in a new era with new ownership, but the sacking of Tuchel hasn't helped. He won us the Champions League and was there with us through some dark days for the club, always leading the way with a combination of dignity and passion and had built a strong bond with the fans because of all that. He was backed in the transfer market and then, a half dozen games in, he's gone - even quicker than we'd have expected Roman to act! Even for a fanbase numb to the managerial revolving door it was a shock. Seeing so many fellow fans I know on social media sharing heartfelt messages, including from an ex-colleague of mine who worked with him at Chelsea, brought it home how much emotional attachment there was to the man.

It also doesn't help that we don't really have a squad of experienced winners and leaders who can help compensate until the manager finds their feet. I do believe that Potter was probably the best call at the time with an eye on getting us to be a bit more direct and another eye on the future and building something, and I also believe we have several players who could go on to form a strong spine, but it also feels like these are unprecedented times and there's a very real possibility things could fall to a new low before any of that comes to be!

All in all, I'm trying to see the positives and believe that the groundwork is being laid for a future just as full of success, albeit achieved in a different way. A performance and result from the next game will certainly go some way to calming me down, so hopefully the club take full advantage of this break to have a bit of a reset and kick off this new era properly. I started supporting the club at a time when I was never involved in any playground arguments about who was going to win the league etc. that season, surrounded by Arsenal and southern United fans. I wasn't even guaranteed bragging rights against the West Ham fan, so I'm trying to remain level-headed and not take success for granted or like some sort of right.

On 19/09/2022 at 10:25, evissy said:

I have a feeling Potter will give chances to some of the young players to create competition and to wake up some of the more senior figures

Something like this might be an interesting watch.

The most natural DM in the squad in his natural position, two young central midfielders ahead of him who both know where the onion bag is, Cucurella to set the "Potter" tempo from the back, alongside two tall ball-playing centre backs to balance his lack of height, with Fofana in charge in the centre. James and Chilwell as the wing backs to do their normal stuff, and Sterling up front with Broja. Goalkeeper was a coin toss. I went with Kepa for his superior footwork.

On 18/09/2022 at 19:16, stafalan5 said:

its interesting if Potter is going to play 3 at the back with 1 CB. I was kind of hoping for this tbh but was not sure when we started signing CBs. maybe we could rotate Thiago and KK and give Fofana odd game in cup or something until he can replace Thiago (probably after WC). I do not want FBs to play wide in a 5 and play 4 mids in a box formation and 3 guys up top. Reece and Cuc or Chilwell can go forward with 2 CMs and you will have 7 attackers. This will over power liverpools and city who over rely on WBs and if done with Kante and Jorginho could have enough support.

I think the 1 CB is just a one-off in an open CL game, he isn’t crazy enough to try that in a PL game. If we had won the game 3-0, he would have been hailed a genius, no one is really saying much because it was a draw in his 1st game. If he had lost match the knives would have been out, and he would have been called clueless.

Not a fan of the hipster back 3/back 5 formation, and I can’t remember ever seeing Sterling that wide trying to put in crosses. Not sure it is something I would like to see going forward, his biggest strength is ghosting into the box not hugging the touch line. 

 

I have been absent a bit because I’ve been back on the fm addiction horse 🐎 

2 hours ago, ducavis said:

I think the 1 CB is just a one-off in an open CL game, he isn’t crazy enough to try that in a PL game. If we had won the game 3-0, he would have been hailed a genius, no one is really saying much because it was a draw in his 1st game. If he had lost match the knives would have been out, and he would have been called clueless.

Not a fan of the hipster back 3/back 5 formation, and I can’t remember ever seeing Sterling that wide trying to put in crosses. Not sure it is something I would like to see going forward, his biggest strength is ghosting into the box not hugging the touch line. 

Not sure back 3/5 is the problem, it kinda suit our squad. For me I like the 343/442 hybrid that Tuchel use. The problem is when we play more offensive lineup, our club slogan change from Kante no midfield into no Kante = suicidal football. 

 

5 hours ago, azpi28 said:

 

I have been absent a bit because I’ve been back on the fm addiction horse 🐎 

We should just sign Trossard given that we had to play Kepa, Kova and Sterling to fill the role Trossard played!

Just think we've only played relegation fodder so far. And a team we usually beat regardless. But didnt.

On 15/09/2022 at 23:46, ozboy said:

The team selection made sense. you play the old guys first. The younger ones (although obviously Koulibally is young only relative to Silva) then know they have to perform to get in the team and when the old guys are relegated to the bench its with the knowledge they were given the chance.

Although the performance wasn't great the Xg was over 1.9 but the attackers lacked confidence which means they either play it too safe or try too hard. Giving the attackers confidence is one job the coach can do but it isn't an easy one.

To make the team work at the level required to at a minimum get to the top 4 and hopefully win a cup requires moving some of the older players out. That includes Kante, Azpi and Silva it means getting skilful hard runners into the midfield. Top professionals are expected to be fitter as well as have better technical ability. Kova should only be playing for an hour anyway. He is always best that way.

The formation was good in the sense that Mount and then Gallagher get a chance to play in their best positions which is attacking mid.  Havertz was also in his best position but just doesn't have the confidence right now. 

Auba has done nothing much but you have to give him of all the new players a bit of time to make it work in his third team in 12 months.

Every team we play has a low block and we are pretty much forced to play possession football agains them and so we have to (1) learn how to score against that and (2) have defenders that are fast enough to cover the inevitable fast breaks against us. So Fofana and I think ultimately Chillwell (quicker than Cucu) will have to play and we will need one of the midfielders to be a hard working, fast moving, positionally aware defender.

Many a great coach has taken a couple of games to make the system work but generally its the younger players that respond best to a new coach and new opportunities and it likely wont be until Potter works 1,2 of them into the midfield that things will look up.

I'd be bringing on Carney to replace Kova after an hour, Gallagher for Mount and someone for Jorginho. The key to this Chelsea side is making the midfield and defence work as an efficient machine. The forwards can play together most of the game and work it out for themselves.

 

Not so. Cucurella 33kph. Chilwell 31.9kph.

11 hours ago, Br0wser said:

Not so. Cucurella 33kph. Chilwell 31.9kph.

Thanks. I stand corrected. Both are pacy.