The reality is these players have just about been good enough to scrap a top 4 spot, but with Arsenal, Man Utd stronger and the emergence of Newcastle falling out the top 4 this season is now a real possibility.

I feel we are at a bit of a crossroads, we either spend in January (probably overspend as well) to salvage a top 4 spot this season or we write this season off and then tear up this squad and re-invest in a new squad next summer.

IMO we also shouldn’t even think about new contracts for certain players until we see how this season pans out.

Edited October 29, 20223 yr by 2211

Why the hell is Potter using a system that got the last manager the sack? We won't beat Arsenal because 3 at the back doesn't work and a 4 at the back hasn't been stuck with early enough for our players to get used to.

This is just reality now, I fear. Roman gone was the end of an era. You could even argue we punched above our weight during latter Roman years as we lost a lot of our advantages (mainly financial) over other teams. We were riding the momentum of the early years.

And now? People say we’ll be lucky to be top 6. Well - yes, when you consider:

- End of Roman’s 20 year reign and the hole it left

- Tuchel gone a month or so into the season

- several clubs with more money than Chelsea

- Several clubs with more money that also have continuity (same manager/owners/setup) on their side.

In light of all this, top 6 may not be so shabby. I fear the many fans (I think the majority still and certainly those who didn’t know the pre-Roman era) that expect us to be challenging for titles etc may be setting themselves up for prolonged heartache. They need to lower their expectations to salvage any joy out of following Chelsea. There will be plenty to cheer for those who can. There’ll be good performances. But we are not winning the league or any major trophies again any time soon. 

I’m not a doom monger.  I’d absolutely love to be wrong too. I just think the Roman era was an anomaly, which some may have mistaken for a birthright. 

 

Just now, Dean said:

I’m not a doom monger.  I’d absolutely love to be wrong too. I just think the Roman era was an anomaly, which some may have mistaken for a birthright.

It was an anomaly. It makes no sense to continually fire managers and expect success but, somehow, it worked. I doubt we’ll see that ever happen again in modern football.

3 minutes ago, Lang7 said:

No, his downfall was his own arrogance and shoehorning players in to a rigid system that stifled any attacking flair. As I said in another post, the excuses for Mr. Tuchel seem endless.

Stifled attacking flair? Havertz, Timo, Mount, Pulisic, Ziyech all had good scoring chances almost every game with him in charge. It was clear from his actions on the touchlines and his interviews that he wants the team to move the ball quicker with more precision instead of sideways. 

The same problems persist now. Just this game alone had all our forwards in good positions to score. 

2 minutes ago, KonaKai Blue said:

Why the hell is Potter using a system that got the last manager the sack? We won't beat Arsenal because 3 at the back doesn't work and a 4 at the back hasn't been stuck with early enough for our players to get used to.

I believe it’s due to the squad deficiencies, particularly in midfield. Our midfield options are so limited in technical ability with the ball that we’re forced to adapt the rest of the team around them.
Has anyone ever tallied how many goals and assists our midfielders have contributed over the few last seasons? I wouldn’t be surprised if Lamps had more productive years than our current midfield combined.

2 minutes ago, Deino said:

Stifled attacking flair? Havertz, Timo, Mount, Pulisic, Ziyech all had good scoring chances almost every game with him in charge. It was clear from his actions on the touchlines and his interviews that he wants the team to move the ball quicker with more precision instead of sideways. 

The same problems persist now. Just this game alone had all our forwards in good positions to score. 

This is a bare faced lie. We were barely averaging 3 shots on target over the last 6 months of Tuchel’s run. You can’t be telling me our players were ignoring a “pass faster” instruction for that length of time. Stop the propaganda.

Lets hope with the new structure in place Chelsea's recruitement will get better. Our wingers are so bad that they make me miss Willian, Obi Mikel would do a better job in midfield than anyone else we have right now and i wont even talk about the striker position. Need more muscle as well, we are too soft too gentle we are not ruthless at all. Lets hope Potter get better as well, i get we have a lot of injuries right now in defence but im not too sure about the set up with the wingers as wing backs and cucurella at the back aint convince me so far. Really strange season so far and i cant wait till the world cup so i can stop being dissapointed everytime i watch Chelsea play.

Just now, Lang7 said:

This is a bare faced lie. We were barely averaging 3 shots on target over the last 6 months of Tuchel’s run. You can’t be telling me our players were ignoring a “pass faster” instruction for that length of time. Stop the propaganda.

Yeah sure, propaganda 🙄. Please, come end of the season we'd be wishing the players stuck by him.

Missed the game was at work, remembered to check the score and just seen....can anyone give a summary as objective as possible please so I don't have to watch the highlights 😂

50 minutes ago, Lang7 said:

You’re stuck 2 years in the past, clearly. One of the most expensive squads ever assembled in PSG, of course they should’ve been pushing for a CL.

I’ll give him his due, he had us completely solid for 4 months when we won the CL. Now how do you explain the other 12 months? Spent £250M on players he hand picked and somehow made us worse than when he arrived.

I can't believe you even have to ask that, have you forgotten the chaos that has surrounded the club in the past year?

The two best periods of Tuchel's time as Chelsea coach came from the Champions League run and the start of last season. The reason why it went so well was because we had a settled squad without too many injuries. The attack was still sh*t, but he made us incredibly difficult to beat

November last year is when it started going wrong and it's clear to see why. Chilwell got injured which really hurt us because he was in the form of his life. Then James got injured and that completely knocked the stuffing out of us. They were our best performing players at that point in the season and were the biggest reason why we were sitting on top of the table. It also helped that Kovacic was playing better than ever, but guess what, he got injured too. The injuries never stopped from this point. Tell me one squad that wouldn't fall off when their 3 best performing players get injured? Just look at how Liverpool fall off when they get a few injuries. We could barely go a game without picking up a new injury last season. It also didn't help that we had the massive ego that is Lukaku speaking out against Tuchel and telling everybody that he still loves Inter, practically begging them to take him back.

February arrives and 2 weeks after we win the Club World Cup, Russia invades Ukraine. All of a sudden, the clubs entire existence is in jeopardy. With everything going on, we still turned up to the League Cup final and outperformed Liverpool on the day, only to lose to poor finishing once again from the attack. Soon after, Roman Abramovich is santioned and nobody knows what the future held for Chelsea football club. I don't think people realise how important Tuchel was in this period. He kept the squad as focused as he could and most important of all, he gave the fans a sense of assurance that we would come out of this. We dragged ourselves over the line to finish 4th and reached the F.A Cup final, only to lose again to Liverpool on penalties, once again due to poor finishing.

As for the money spent, he was sacked before he could even make use of it! He was never given the opportunity to build his own team. After everything we had just been through, it disgusts me that he was just thrown out like that. 

I know Tuchel wasn't perfect, the football we were playing for so long was terrible, but we also saw how good it could be when things clicked. I see no reason why we couldn't have gotten back to that if we had just backed Tuchel, sorted out the injury issues that has plagued the club for the past 2-3 seasons and bought in some attackers that could consistently perform. Only now that he is gone will we truly see how bad this squad can be when it's in the hands of an inferior coach.

Edited October 29, 20223 yr by Scott Harris

I awoke just before 7am PST watched the opening shambles and the first goal my gut told me to turn it off and return to slumber. Which I did luckily no time for a 💩 show 1st thing Saturday morning. Can’t comment on performance but the score line says it all. 2 farkin Bob !!

 

Edited October 29, 20223 yr by General
Bad spelling

57 minutes ago, JPH said:

There is absolutely no chance we end up in top four. Spurs won today, Newcastle are improving and so are ManU. We are regressing all the time. We'll end up somewhere between 6 and 9 this season.

The rate we’re going we’ll be relegated in a couple seasons. Spurs won a f**king game against bournemouth. Big deal. You guys seem to ignore any games we win and put any game we don’t under the microscope and make it seem like that’s all that happens. 

10 minutes ago, LongtimerLurker said:

Missed the game was at work, remembered to check the score and just seen....can anyone give a summary as objective as possible please so I don't have to watch the highlights 😂

Objectively

11 minutes ago, LongtimerLurker said:

Missed the game was at work, remembered to check the score and just seen....can anyone give a summary as objective as possible please so I don't have to watch the highlights 😂

We started slowly not for the first time

Could have conceded 3 in 1st 5 mins

Missed chances

Poor defending of corner 

Missed chances and poor attacking decisions lead to transitions

Another OG on the break after Sterling f**ks up again

Mendy comes on and quickly shows he still can’t pass out of defence

Good Havertz goal

Missed chances and opportunities 

Having weathered the storm time to show us how to finish again

 

We we’re sh*t avoid MOTD  tonight

 

5 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

Objectively

It's been a long day 😂😂

22 minutes ago, BedfordBlue said:

The rate we’re going we’ll be relegated in a couple seasons. Spurs won a f**king game against bournemouth. Big deal. You guys seem to ignore any games we win and put any game we don’t under the microscope and make it seem like that’s all that happens. 

It is not about one lost game. The fact is we are playing worse and worse.

It feels like we have gone from being a side that no-one wants to play, to being a side that everyone wants to play ... 😞 

43 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

I can't believe you even have to ask that, have you forgotten the chaos that has surrounded the club in the past year?

The two best periods of Tuchel's time as Chelsea coach came from the Champions League run and the start of last season. The reason why it went so well was because we had a settled squad without too many injuries. The attack was still sh*t, but he made us incredibly difficult to beat

November last year is when it started going wrong and it's clear to see why. Chilwell got injured which really hurt us because he was in the form of his life. Then James got injured and that completely knocked the stuffing out of us. They were our best performing players at that point in the season and were the biggest reason why we were sitting on top of the table. It also helped that Kovacic was playing better than ever, but guess what, he got injured too. The injuries never stopped from this point. Tell me one squad that wouldn't fall off when their 3 best performing players get injured? Just look at how Liverpool fall off when they get a few injuries. We could barely go a game without picking up a new injury last season. It also didn't help that we had the massive ego that is Lukaku speaking out against Tuchel and telling everybody that he still loves Inter, practically begging them to take him back.

February arrives and 2 weeks after we win the Club World Cup, Russia invades Ukraine. All of a sudden, the clubs entire existence is in jeopardy. With everything going on, we still turned up to the League Cup final and outperformed Liverpool on the day, only to lose to poor finishing once again from the attack. Soon after, Roman Abramovich is santioned and nobody knows what the future held for Chelsea football club. I don't think people realise how important Tuchel was in this period. He kept the squad as focused as he could and most important of all, he gave the fans a sense of assurance that we would come out of this. We dragged ourselves over the line to finish 4th and reached the F.A Cup final, only to lose again to Liverpool on penalties, once again due to poor finishing.

As for the money spent, he was sacked before he could even make use of it! He was never given the opportunity to build his own team. After everything we had just been through, it disgusts me that he was just thrown out like that. 

I know Tuchel wasn't perfect, the football we were playing for so long was terrible, but we also saw how good it could be when things clicked. I see no reason why we couldn't have gotten back to that if we had just backed Tuchel, sorted out the injury issues that has plagued the club for the past 2-3 seasons and bought in some attackers that could consistently perform. Only now that he is gone will we truly see how bad this squad can be when it's in the hands of an inferior coach.

Some people think being a manager is just about tactics and stats. Tuchel was the only rock keeping the club together at the time and still people think it's just an excuse for underperformance 

I can’t believe I’m saying this but did we miss Jorgi? Also, how do we stand a chance against any team with just three defenders? Three! Also, how many of our current squad would play regularly for another top team? Reece - definitely, Mount - possibly …. and …..

G.Potter has taken the term 'Tinkerman' to another level.  Clueless in team selection for the last several weeks and if he hasn't worked out yet that he mugged himself off by selling CC to us.  If this sh*te continues I don't see us picking up any points in our next 3 or 4 games.

2 hours ago, Nick05 said:

Because half our squad is suited to a back 3 and other half is suited for back 4.

play a back 7 then..

It's been obvious for a long time now, we pay way over the top on sh*t transfers, pay them way over the top wages and get back even more sh*t.

 

Up next:

Zagreb H

City A 

Arsenal H

Newcastle A

That is one mega tough run. Struggling to see  how we win against City, Arsenal and Newcastle. Potter better get it together. He needs to Get through these games unscathed and wait for the WC to be over and have a full squad again. 

We definitely look like the weakest of the top 6 teams. I can’t see us finishing top 4 at all.