20 minutes ago, The Boehly Babes said:

Who’s pissed on your cornflakes recently?

the chelsea board and players. It's the lack of any understanding from the top to pitch that actually people care, We're singing players who dont improve us, managers who are rubbish, we're overpaying for players that are worse than what we are letting go.

Honestly, I want them to stop signing young talent. there is this idea that young latin talent comes here and does well and its a mixed bag of success...

Garnacho, hasnt really performed since arriving in EPL. Santos has struggled this season after impressing in France, we have a history (Di Santo among others) who have failed to settle, also Big Hernan crespo (wife), Veron, Oscar... the league is littered with players like this.

At this stage, i'd rather a Lampard style move whereby we spend a season developing a core of Academy players who can compete in the league. It would save us hundreds of millions.

On 07/05/2026 at 18:06, VascoRF92 said:

i'll leave 2 compilations of the two games he played, his debut against Olimpia in the Copa Sudamericana and yesterday's game where he played for 45 minutes, also in the Copa Sudamericana.

ÓTIMA ESTRÉIA DO CRIA RAMON RIQUE NO VASCO #vasco OLIMPIA

RAMON RIQUE ENTROU NO INTERVALO E MUDOU O MEIO CAMPO DO VASCO - RAMON RIQUE X AUDAX #vasco AUDAX

PS: In the game against Olimpia, he was put in the starting lineup at the last minute because the starter (who is terrible) got sick. Now everyone wants the kid as a starter, but of course, his development will be gradual; he's only 18 years old.

I follow many of Vasco da Gama's youth team games, this kid has a lot of quality, what he showed by being a starter in an important cup game at only 18 years old was magnificent.

Not a question about Chelsea or Santos, but are you surprised how good Rayan has been at Bournemouth? He's adapted to the premier league so quickly and looks quality.

10 minutes ago, bluelightening said:

the chelsea board and players. It's the lack of any understanding from the top to pitch that actually people care, We're singing players who dont improve us, managers who are rubbish, we're overpaying for players that are worse than what we are letting go.

Honestly, I want them to stop signing young talent. there is this idea that young latin talent comes here and does well and its a mixed bag of success...

Garnacho, hasnt really performed since arriving in EPL. Santos has struggled this season after impressing in France, we have a history (Di Santo among others) who have failed to settle, also Big Hernan crespo (wife), Veron, Oscar... the league is littered with players like this.

At this stage, i'd rather a Lampard style move whereby we spend a season developing a core of Academy players who can compete in the league. It would save us hundreds of millions.

Lampard brought in Mount and Reece James and Tammy. All three of them had been very successful on loan at big clubs. They were ready for the step up.

Who are you promoting? As I can't think of a single Academy player we could integrate next season on the same level as those three.

A smarter play would just be going out and actually signing players everyone agrees are top level instead of hunting in the bargain bin for players that happen to be 21 adn have something wrong with them so only cost 35m and will be happy with our wage structure. Adam Wharton, Anderson, Rodgers, even Gibbs White potentially.

11 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

Lampard brought in Mount and Reece James and Tammy. All three of them had been very successful on loan at big clubs. They were ready for the step up.

Who are you promoting? As I can't think of a single Academy player we could integrate next season on the same level as those three.

A smarter play would just be going out and actually signing players everyone agrees are top level instead of hunting in the bargain bin for players that happen to be 21 adn have something wrong with them so only cost 35m and will be happy with our wage structure. Adam Wharton, Anderson, Rodgers, even Gibbs White potentially.

I like both gibbs white and Anderson also Murillo too.. they are all leaving forrest this summer as theyve done all they can for that club but those 3 will cost how many hundreds of millions. 200 million? Anderson is an absolute rolls royce of a midfielder, I'd love him at our club... but here's the thing, he was available two seasons ago for 15 million when he had to be sold by Newcastle.

Have Wharton/ Rodgers done enough to come here and make a difference for the 60 million pound fee they will command? Not so sure. What is it in their game that youve seen that would improve us at the bridge?

Derby a big club? Mount and Tomori went there with Lamps, Tammy was at villa when they were in the championship/ Bristol city popped into my mind too after writing this, if memory serves me right. IMO, we should be moving the academy youngsters in at pace to the senior side and reducing the "senior youngsters" we've signed who quite simply have failed to perform and develop into top four players, this is season 4 of the project. The academy players cannot be any worse than what we sign and dont forget the owners spending has been bankrolled by the sale of our youngsters.

For example, is Garnacho, Neto, Gittens, Madueke, Mudryk, (even Estevao looks like he strugles in the EPL at times) but are they any better than Omari Hutchinson/ CHO for example - I'd have these two over any of the former listed/ not so much over Stevo.

Is Cucarella/Hato better than Ian Maatsen, Livermore, Hall? all much of a muchness

Is Lavia, Fernandez, Santos better than Gallagher?

Is Pedro better than Jackson for double the money we spent for 1 league goal more.

I think these are the questions the board need to ask themselves because they keep getting it wrong and it will eventually bankrupt the club.

The only players purchased by the owners I rate are Caicedo/ Palmer.

footnote: I expect Quenda to struggle to adapt and gone within 6 months on loan. Is he gping to start ahead of Palmer, Stevo, Neto? we've committed to spending nearly 44 million on a 19 year old. The numbers are bonkers... absolutely staggering... and his playing numbers are really average.. 62 million including Eussago... who? exactly, a player who's been out since arriving for us. 62 million on two players who havent played for us more than 3 times. If this isnt a oxford dictionary's new definition of insanity, I dont know what will be.

edit edit: more bonkers spending...

Camden Schaper is a highly touted 13-year-old South African youth footballer from Benoni who made headlines in 2025 for a reported record-breaking \(\pounds700,000\)

Edited May 11May 11 by bluelightening

15 minutes ago, bluelightening said:

I like both gibbs white and Anderson also Murillo too.. they are all leaving forrest this summer as theyve done all they can for that club but those 3 will cost how many hundreds of millions. 200 million? Anderson is an absolute rolls royce of a midfielder, I'd love him at our club... but here's the thing, he was available two seasons ago for 15 million when he had to be sold by Newcastle.

Have Wharton/ Rodgers done enough to come here and make a difference for the 60 million pound fee they will command? Not so sure. What is it in their game that youve seen that would improve us at the bridge?

Derby a big club? Mount and Tomori went there with Lamps, Tammy was at villa when they were in the championship/ Bristol city popped into my mind too after writing this, if memory serves me right. IMO, we should be moving the academy youngsters in at pace to the senior side and reducing the "senior youngsters" we've signed who quite simply have failed to perform and develop into top four players, this is season 4 of the project. The academy players cannot be any worse than what we sign and dont forget the owners spending has been bankrolled by the sale of our youngsters.

For example, is Garnacho, Neto, Gittens, Madueke, Mudryk, (even Estevao looks like he strugles in the EPL at times) but are they any better than Omari Hutchinson/ CHO for example - I'd have these two over any of the former listed/ not so much over Stevo.

Is Cucarella/Hato better than Ian Maatsen, Livermore, Hall? all much of a muchness

Is Lavia, Fernandez, Santos better than Gallagher?

Is Pedro better than Jackson for double the money we spent for 1 league goal more.

I think these are the questions the board need to ask themselves because they keep getting it wrong and it will eventually bankrupt the club.

The only players purchased by the owners I rate are Caicedo/ Palmer.

footnote: I expect Quenda to struggle to adapt and gone within 6 months on loan. Is he gping to start ahead of Palmer, Stevo, Neto? we've committed to spending nearly 44 million on a 19 year old. The numbers are bonkers... absolutely staggering... and his playing numbers are really average.. 62 million including Eussago... who? exactly, a player who's been out since arriving for us. 62 million on two players who havent played for us more than 3 times. If this isnt a oxford dictionary's new definition of insanity, I dont know what will be.

edit edit: more bonkers spending...

Camden Schaper is a highly touted 13-year-old South African youth footballer from Benoni who made headlines in 2025 for a reported record-breaking \(\pounds700,000\)

Im happy to agree we shouldn't have our policy of relying on young untested foreign talent. I just don't see how that's different to young untested academy talent?
Mount / Tammy / James were all tested and shown to be doing great at their clubs, but even then Tammy is not better than Joao Pedro, he's on Jackson levels for me.

Mhueka and Derry are both good players, but I would feel a lot more comfortable if both spend next season on loan at a Championship club with the remit to go and dominate there and come back in 12 months into the first team fold. That's what happened in the Lampard era.

I think Wharton and Rogers both dominate for their clubs, they are the lynchpins, they have PL experience. I'd be very happy with both.

34 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

Im happy to agree we shouldn't have our policy of relying on young untested foreign talent. I just don't see how that's different to young untested academy talent?
Mount / Tammy / James were all tested and shown to be doing great at their clubs, but even then Tammy is not better than Joao Pedro, he's on Jackson levels for me.

Mhueka and Derry are both good players, but I would feel a lot more comfortable if both spend next season on loan at a Championship club with the remit to go and dominate there and come back in 12 months into the first team fold. That's what happened in the Lampard era.

I think Wharton and Rogers both dominate for their clubs, they are the lynchpins, they have PL experience. I'd be very happy with both.

Rogers is too hit or miss for me, a bit streaky, having said that he is probably going to world cup ahead of palmer. Wharton is interesting as a signing, but again, chelsea premium applies and there has to be someone out there who will cost half his fee and is comparable.

I think this is where the club need to start with the loanees of the youngsters. We need to get them out and playing and getting confidence over two seasons, then ones who perform get put into the first team, for a run out. some will make the grade others wont but with prem experience you can shop them out for 20 million each. Chelsea could only sell mount, tomori, tammy BECAUSE they were playing regularly. How we got 60 million for mount only the great train robbers will know how... but its easier to turn profit on players if you've not spent 60 million on them.

Tammy was a flat track bully scoring aginst the lower positioned clubs, wasnt good enough for us back then, wouldnt be for us now, good for rotation but not a starting birth.

Also dont forget, if youve been brought up in the Chelsea academy, there is an expectation of you being good. Our academy is right up there in producing talent for 10/15 years now, most players go on and have a career in the top divisions. Most of the youngsters weve signed wont move to big clubs after us. Youngsters who have grown up in the UK with the conditions and lifestyle tend to be settled and play better, that's why id take an academy player over a foreign signed one at similar age groups.

Edited May 11May 11 by bluelightening

23 minutes ago, bluelightening said:

Rogers is too hit or miss for me, a bit streaky, having said that he is probably going to world cup ahead of palmer. Wharton is interesting as a signing, but again, chelsea premium applies and there has to be someone out there who will cost half his fee and is comparable.

I think this is where the club need to start with the loanees of the youngsters. We need to get them out and playing and getting confidence over two seasons, then ones who perform get put into the first team, for a run out. some will make the grade others wont but with prem experience you can shop them out for 20 million each. Chelsea could only sell mount, tomori, tammy BECAUSE they were playing regularly. How we got 60 million for mount only the great train robbers will know how... but its easier to turn profit on players if you've not spent 60 million on them.

Tammy was a flat track bully scoring aginst the lower positioned clubs, wasnt good enough for us back then, wouldnt be for us now, good for rotation but not a starting birth.

Also dont forget, if youve been brought up in the Chelsea academy, there is an expectation of you being good. Our academy is right up there in producing talent for 10/15 years now, most players go on and have a career in the top divisions. Most of the youngsters weve signed wont move to big clubs after us. Youngsters who have grown up in the UK with the conditions and lifestyle tend to be settled and play better, that's why id take an academy player over a foreign signed one at similar age groups.

Rogers is a curious one. Don't often see him play as well for Villa as he has for England.

2 hours ago, bisright1 said:

Lampard brought in Mount and Reece James and Tammy. All three of them had been very successful on loan at big clubs. They were ready for the step up.

Who are you promoting? As I can't think of a single Academy player we could integrate next season on the same level as those three.

A smarter play would just be going out and actually signing players everyone agrees are top level instead of hunting in the bargain bin for players that happen to be 21 adn have something wrong with them so only cost 35m and will be happy with our wage structure. Adam Wharton, Anderson, Rodgers, even Gibbs White potentially.

Genesis Antwi instead of Gusto. In fact i would pick Calum Macfarlane at RB over Gusto to be fair, if we are promoting from the Academy straight to the first team.

3 hours ago, timetowaste said:

Not a question about Chelsea or Santos, but are you surprised how good Rayan has been at Bournemouth? He's adapted to the premier league so quickly and looks quality.

Not a single time, i've followed Rayan since he was still playing futsal in Vasco's youth teams. Here at Vasco, our youth players usually spend 3 or 4 years in futsal, and then those who stand out move on to the field.

The thing is, Rayan has won many titles with Vasco throughout his youth career, and in addition, he was called up to every Brazilian youth national team, at all ages, and won championships there as well.

Rayan has over 100 goals in Vasco's youth categories, he's only 18 years old, with a privileged physique, strength, speed, a shot that's like a missile, and he's good at heading the ball. He's a complete striker. In Brazil, Rayan is compared to Endrick in his generation, each with their distinct characteristics.

Vasco is developing another great striker (center forward), and this midfielder I mentioned here on the forum (Ramon Rique), you can be sure they will also shine in Europe. But Rayan is the kind of player who's like a rare diamond in a mountain of gold.

He wins games, he'll score that goal you don't expect to happen. He might be somewhat "missing" the whole game, but suddenly he'll get the ball and shoot to score, or he'll dribble past defenders, they'll try to stop him, and he'll provide an assist.

He's a world-class player, I have no doubt. The moment he gets a great coach who understands that he, as a "false 9," will destroy defenses, then he'll reach even higher.

But remember to keep an eye on those two names I mentioned, "Ramon Rique" and "Andrey Fernandes."

5 hours ago, bluelightening said:

No more latest big things from Latin america. Its why were in our falling position, We're still waiting on Estevao to come good.

As if Chelsea's current situation is entirely the players' fault, right?

It's not that Chelsea's management thinks Chelsea is a church where you go in, say three Hail Marys, and ask God for everything to go right. There's no planning; they hire coaches like they're buying fruit at the market. There's no clear understanding of football for the medium to long term.

Estevão is a ridiculous case of how they treated a boy who left Brazil without any injuries and arrived in England to be treated like the Hulk, even though his body didn't even have time to physically adapt to the training they did.

Andrey Santos is the same thing; he'll be a player who leaves Chelsea and does very well at another big club.

Brazilians and players aren't the problem; problems are created by those who have the pen and paper in their hands inside a room with glass windows and air conditioning.

Cheers.

Edited May 11May 11 by VascoRF92

On 07/05/2026 at 05:45, TheCeleryKing said:

Can he tackle? We really seem to lack players with the ability to tackle.

And I struggle to understand why. We’ve got one midfielder who’s a jack-of-all-trades, and then four deep-lying ball-winners.

I don’t see the best teams focusing on tackling anymore — maybe Real Madrid to some degree — but most top sides want to dominate the ball through movement, positioning, and technical quality.

The weirdest thing to me is that the last very successful midfield we had didn’t even rely on dedicated tacklers. Kante could tackle, sure, but his real strength was using his speed and anticipation to win the ball cleanly. Jorginho rarely tackled, but he could retain possession as well as almost anyone. Kovacic was similar, while also offering dribbling. I’d also include Mount — even though he was often used wide, he functioned as a winger/midfielder hybrid that helped balance the team.

So, I just don’t understand the midfield recruitment at this club. To be fair, I don’t really understand the recruitment strategy in general, but the midfield decisions especially make very little sense to me. Then people are surprised when every manager employs Reece in midfield at some point... or why Enzo always plays...

I'm not really sure about Andrey's potential anymore; I'm beginning to think he's going to become a good/solid mid in the future, but not the all-rounder elite player I once thought he could be.

15 hours ago, VascoRF92 said:

As if Chelsea's current situation is entirely the players' fault, right?

It's not that Chelsea's management thinks Chelsea is a church where you go in, say three Hail Marys, and ask God for everything to go right. There's no planning; they hire coaches like they're buying fruit at the market. There's no clear understanding of football for the medium to long term.

Estevão is a ridiculous case of how they treated a boy who left Brazil without any injuries and arrived in England to be treated like the Hulk, even though his body didn't even have time to physically adapt to the training they did.

Andrey Santos is the same thing; he'll be a player who leaves Chelsea and does very well at another big club.

Brazilians and players aren't the problem; problems are created by those who have the pen and paper in their hands inside a room with glass windows and air conditioning.

Cheers.

TBH, it is the players If they cant adapt to the league they moving to... Chelsea and Premier League clubs, and top clubs have teams of people working with players to help them settle.. From drivers, to translators, to people who pay their gas bills. Clubs even pick up private tuition school fees for players children. Everything is catered for. Everything.....

But life in the Uk is cold, wet and unforgiving. It isnt like southern Europe and the game is played 100 MPH. Only league that comes close is the Bundesliga.

Stevo had 12 months to prepare and adapt for his arrival at the bridge and there are literally top players careers resting in graves up and down the M1 & M6. Latin players and the UK... just never works out as we all hope and I hope Stevo finds form for us next season, i really do... But La Liga and Serie A is where players go who want the football lifestyle mix.

And I dont know if you followed us closely this season, but im laying the blame firmly at the players feet for the attrocious season. Manager or not, the indiscipline in the squad, the abysmal performances from players who just dont care about the club, to players hiding through injury and lack of form, ive not seen a worse season from a group of players... possibly except for Jose's second spell where we finished off the relegation.

As much as I hate the board, they have put together a side of weak minded little sh*ts who dont want to fight for anything and who have questionable attitudes.

Edited May 12May 12 by bluelightening

22 hours ago, bisright1 said:

Lampard brought in Mount and Reece James and Tammy. All three of them had been very successful on loan at big clubs. They were ready for the step up.

Who are you promoting? As I can't think of a single Academy player we could integrate next season on the same level as those three.

A smarter play would just be going out and actually signing players everyone agrees are top level instead of hunting in the bargain bin for players that happen to be 21 adn have something wrong with them so only cost 35m and will be happy with our wage structure. Adam Wharton, Anderson, Rodgers, even Gibbs White potentially.

Lampard faced a transfer ban so had to look hard at the youngsters and it certainly helped they had played regularly at a competitive level.

It might suggest we need to loan out more to see who does well when getting regular minutes, though it does not always work well.

On 11/05/2026 at 22:30, bisright1 said:

A smarter play would just be going out and actually signing players everyone agrees are top level instead of hunting in the bargain bin for players that happen to be 21 adn have something wrong with them so only cost 35m and will be happy with our wage structure.

It is this simple

6 hours ago, Bob stark said:

It is this simple

Funny thing is when they have this attitude, they get good players.

When they've spent over £50m
- Neto, Nkunku, Lavia, Joao Pedro, Cucurella, Mudryk, Fofana, Caicedo, Enzo.

Mudryk is the only dud on that list who you can't blame injuries on, the rest have all made an impact (yes even Neto) or were just significantly disrupted by injuries.

We cut out the guff, and go and get players like Olise, Wharton, etc. we'd be in a much healthier state.

This vs the Roman era
Lukaku, Havertz, Kepa, Morata, Pulisic, Torres. Not a single plus.

14 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

Funny thing is when they have this attitude, they get good players.

When they've spent over £50m
- Neto, Nkunku, Lavia, Joao Pedro, Cucurella, Mudryk, Fofana, Caicedo, Enzo.

Mudryk is the only dud on that list who you can't blame injuries on, the rest have all made an impact (yes even Neto) or were just significantly disrupted by injuries.

We cut out the guff, and go and get players like Olise, Wharton, etc. we'd be in a much healthier state.

This vs the Roman era
Lukaku, Havertz, Kepa, Morata, Pulisic, Torres. Not a single plus.

These player are what I called 1 step away player, and these are usually the market that big team shop.

But there is a problem with this market, they are more expensive and more importantly they demand more salary.

This mean they are far harder to move. We tried to sell Madueke 2 summer ago not mudryk.

9 hours ago, bisright1 said:

Funny thing is when they have this attitude, they get good players.

When they've spent over £50m
- Neto, Nkunku, Lavia, Joao Pedro, Cucurella, Mudryk, Fofana, Caicedo, Enzo.

Mudryk is the only dud on that list who you can't blame injuries on, the rest have all made an impact (yes even Neto) or were just significantly disrupted by injuries.

We cut out the guff, and go and get players like Olise, Wharton, etc. we'd be in a much healthier state.

This vs the Roman era
Lukaku, Havertz, Kepa, Morata, Pulisic, Torres. Not a single plus.

I don’t remember Neto getting injured?

Andrey did not make the WC list for Brazil.

I'm not surprised he did not make it, tbh.

I am more surprised about Joao Pedro missing out so that Neymar can go. :/

Outstanding last night, with an out of form Caicedo struggling I think its good to see Santos step it up and take control of the midfield like he has. Would be insane to even consider selling him.

3 hours ago, dkw said:

Outstanding last night, with an out of form Caicedo struggling I think its good to see Santos step it up and take control of the midfield like he has. Would be insane to even consider selling him.

Yeah it would, he's at the age where the next season he could really propel.

53 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

Yeah it would, he's at the age where the next season he could really propel.

Especially as Lavia is a complete write-off*, sadly. And Essugo needs to prove he can stay injury free for more than five minutes too.

I don't think we can even sell Lavia. It would be like the Monty Python dead parrot sketch.

Could be a very important season for him.

Ticks a lot of boxes for that deep orchestrator Alonso likes to implement.

On 13/05/2026 at 09:57, bisright1 said:

Funny thing is when they have this attitude, they get good players.

When they've spent over £50m
- Neto, Nkunku, Lavia, Joao Pedro, Cucurella, Mudryk, Fofana, Caicedo, Enzo.

Mudryk is the only dud on that list who you can't blame injuries on, the rest have all made an impact (yes even Neto) or were just significantly disrupted by injuries.

We cut out the guff, and go and get players like Olise, Wharton, etc. we'd be in a much healthier state.

This vs the Roman era
Lukaku, Havertz, Kepa, Morata, Pulisic, Torres. Not a single plus.

There weren't any good £50 million plus players in the Roman era?!And yet all bar 1 in this era have been a success?

Or have I misunderstood the point you were making?? BTW agree with cutting out the guff and getting the likes of Olise and Wharton etc

👍

Edited May 20May 20 by The Rising Sun
Info

Just now, The Rising Sun said:

There weren't any good £50 million plus players in the Roman era?!And yet all bar 1 in this era have been a success?

Or have I misunderstood the point you were making??

"There weren't any 50m+ players in the Roman era?"
Correct - Lukaku, Havertz, Kepa, Morata, Pulisic, Torres. I do not like a single one of these players.

"All bar 1 in this era have been a success?"
Not quite
Neto, Joao Pedro, Cucurealla, Caicedo, Enzo = success (Neto borderline, but he's been a better success for me than anyone on the Roman list)
Nkunku, Lavia, Fofana, = flops, but can imagine injuries had a part to play. I think Nkunku would have been a flop regardless though. And probably Fofana too as he's absolutely braindead.
Mudryk, = flop.

29 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

"There weren't any 50m+ players in the Roman era?"
Correct - Lukaku, Havertz, Kepa, Morata, Pulisic, Torres. I do not like a single one of these players.

"All bar 1 in this era have been a success?"
Not quite
Neto, Joao Pedro, Cucurealla, Caicedo, Enzo = success (Neto borderline, but he's been a better success for me than anyone on the Roman list)
Nkunku, Lavia, Fofana, = flops, but can imagine injuries had a part to play. I think Nkunku would have been a flop regardless though. And probably Fofana too as he's absolutely braindead.
Mudryk, = flop.

Ah, gotcha. I hadn't realised that the players you listed were the total of our over £50 million signings under Roman, quite an eye opener that they were all more or less duds

Mind you, we signed plenty of GREAT players for less than £50 million under Abramovich, granted it was a while back now..