15 minutes ago, forbzy said:

Caicedo has been poor recently. I don't know whether he is coasting a bit with one eye on the World Cup, or perhaps he is fed up with the project. But he hasn't been right in a while. I won't be surprised if he is one of several players who puts in a transfer request at the end of the season.

To where? We overpaid by £30-£40m, no one is paying anything close to £100m for him

57 minutes ago, forbzy said:

Caicedo has been poor recently. I don't know whether he is coasting a bit with one eye on the World Cup, or perhaps he is fed up with the project. But he hasn't been right in a while. I won't be surprised if he is one of several players who puts in a transfer request at the end of the season.

Disconnected because of the World Cup. Like most of the squad. Mentally they are not here anymore. We only get a part of the story through newspapers and social media, but surely there is another part that involves the players and how they feel about this project that can only be heard behind closed doors and in small private circles.

Every fan can see this team lacks experience in key areas and players like Caicedo, Palmer, Fernandez, Cucurella, James can feel it, too. A joke of a GK, buffoons in central defence, no top partner for Caicedo in midfield, bang average wingers. I feel that we missed an incredibly good opportunity after the Club World Cup. Chelsea was on the up at that moment and able to attract important players, yet the board again spent over 200M on bang average young players.

The 3-0 Barcelona win was another moment we did not take advantage of. Again the club was on the up and the vibes were good and then everything fell into pieces.

This board simply can't stop interfering with everything. They are obsessed with it. And if the owners decide to shake things up a little bit in terms of transfers, they will have the same sporting director clowns in charge of dealing with everything...

1 hour ago, markpitts said:

To where? We overpaid by £30-£40m, no one is paying anything close to £100m for him

Real Madrid are desperate for a DM and they'd happily spend that either in cash or via player exchange knowing that Winstanley and Stewart would eat their hand off for the chance at an overvalued Mastantuono or Gonzalo Garcia.

Caicedo has, for nigh on two years, been the best DM in the world, and we shouldn't let a rough few months diminish that. In fact, it does a massive disservice if we fail to recognise just how much his excellence has held together a rubbish defence and system under both Maresca and Rosenior.

Edited April 13Apr 13 by SydneyChelsea

1 hour ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Real Madrid are desperate for a DM and they'd happily spend that either in cash or via player exchange knowing that Winstanley and Stewart would eat their hand off for the chance at an overvalued Mastantuono or Gonzalo Garcia.

Real(Perez) doesn't splash big on DMs that don't contribute to the attacking phase of the game.

9 minutes ago, Deino said:

Real(Perez) doesn't splash big on DMs that don't contribute to the attacking phase of the game.

Which is why they would spend big on someone like Caicedo, who has for two years been almost our sole transition outlet.

Of course if Newcastle's financial situation is accurate then they'd probably go for Bruno Guimaraes for cheaper.

Just now, SydneyChelsea said:

Which is why they would spend big on someone like Caicedo, who has for two years been almost our sole transition outlet.

No they won't, he already spent €80M on Tchouameni who does that job. I'd assume he won't buy someone else of the same type for €100M++ with Camavinga on the bench

1 hour ago, Deino said:

No they won't, he already spent €80M on Tchouameni who does that job. I'd assume he won't buy someone else of the same type for €100M++ with Camavinga on the bench

They actually have 3 players in Valverde, Tchouameni & Camavinga who are better than him. What they are after is a Kroos & a Modric replacement. This whole idea he is world class is a Chelsea fan base construct.

When Caicedo first signed from Brighton he was poor. Then he had a period where he was superb - more often than not MOTM. Many were saying he looked one of the best and we did well to sign him rather than Rice.

But now he is struggling again. Just a blip in form? Too many games? Disillusioned (like all of us) with the project? Who knows, but might be best for him to be rested for a bit and let Lavia and Essugo play a bit more.

1 hour ago, Nibs said:

When Caicedo first signed from Brighton he was poor. Then he had a period where he was superb - more often than not MOTM. Many were saying he looked one of the best and we did well to sign him rather than Rice.

But now he is struggling again. Just a blip in form? Too many games? Disillusioned (like all of us) with the project? Who knows, but might be best for him to be rested for a bit and let Lavia and Essugo play a bit more.

Latter had lead to the former and a loss of confidence. Treads a fine line with his tackling and has been crossing that line too often. Though, on occasion, refs have had a preconceived idea of his methods and punished him for nothing.

So the worse you play the more you get rewarded? He’s been absolute gash the second half of this season and the logical conclusion to that is to extend him?

This ownership!

1 hour ago, The Boehly Babes said:

So the worse you play the more you get rewarded? He’s been absolute gash the second half of this season and the logical conclusion to that is to extend him?

This ownership!

Overplayed + under a bang average manager.

Caicedo from Jan 2024 to Jan 2026 was arguably the best CM in the league.

Caps Lock will be raging at this seeing as he told everyone Caicedo would ask to leave

1 hour ago, 19seventyone said:

Caps Lock will be raging at this seeing as he told everyone Caicedo would ask to leave

Too busy unjamming his shift key.

3 hours ago, The Boehly Babes said:

So the worse you play the more you get rewarded? He’s been absolute gash the second half of this season and the logical conclusion to that is to extend him?

This ownership!

What tosh. He has been flogged.

5 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Overplayed + under a bang average manager.

Caicedo from Jan 2024 to Jan 2026 was arguably the best CM in the league.

Agreed. Not just overplayed by us but by the Ecuador national team. It is encouraging to see him extend his deal

Good for us and him but his form has been horrible.

Hope the new contract gives him better motivation

5 minutes ago, Deino said:

Good for us and him but his form has been horrible.

Hope the new contract gives him better motivation

I wonder how much the WC is in the back of players minds these days. He's not my fav type of DM, but he's been a lot better for sure.

Just now, acaeus said:

I wonder how much the WC is in the back of players minds these days. He's not my fav type of DM, but he's been a lot better for sure.

It's still the biggest trophy in football, players still need to keep fitness levels and form sharp.

It would be stupid imo for players to down tools this close to the tournament when form is the most important part of the tournament

3 hours ago, Deino said:

Good for us and him but his form has been horrible.

Hope the new contract gives him better motivation

Usually you play your best before/during contract negotiation not after

This club is so weird these days.

14 hours ago, Deino said:

It's still the biggest trophy in football, players still need to keep fitness levels and form sharp.

It would be stupid imo for players to down tools this close to the tournament when form is the most important part of the tournament

Sure, but some of the players are already guaranteed to play in the WC. So, even subconsciously they may try to avoid a super risky 50/50 dunno. It's a strange time just before the WC. Players who would be going and are picking up injures now all look miserable.

It's really strange to hear a manager address a player as MR, guess that's just the strange place the club is at. Happy he's signed up for another extension, but is this really the priority right now, or just a layer of protection to protect club asset?

Oh Mois

15 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Oh Mois

Not a single player is coming out and saying it's unacceptable, it's all just delusional fake hope of reaching a position that isn't going to happen. They give off the impression that they think they are close to getting there, but they're not, they're so far off that it's pathetic. The performances are sh*t, the football is sh*t, the mentality is weak. They don't even adjust anything to try and get a result, they just stick to the exact same plan throughout 90+ minutes. Nothing changes, they just do the exact same things from minute 1 to minute 90 in every single game thinking that something good will happen.

Everything we are seeing from these players is 3 years of conditioning and not having anybody with football experience around them to set any kind of standards of what is acceptable. They're learning nothing because they have nobody around them to learn from.