5 minutes ago, timetowaste said:

Can't help but think that the media are starting to make stuff up, we've had virtually no leaks all season and now all of a sudden every journo and their dog knows what private conversations players are having with their agent, what players are for sale and what positions Poch has told the board we need to strengthen in January.

Normally I’d agree but those two are apparently reliable sources. 

Looking at the managers under the new regime. Tuchel sacked for not being a good team player but just focus on his job, Potter was Mr nice guy to everyone and still got sacked. Poch will get sacked anyway now he's under pressure, may as well have his say and hopefully the boss listened. What's the worst could happen? Sacked after 6 months, join the long list of ex-Chelsea managers.

Queue Matt Law’s unasked take. 
 

 

31 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Ugh

 

8 year deals. Is Enzo I am sure he will be one who wants out.

Some interesting things coming out today.

Poch want a centre back, a centre midfielder and a striker. 

A striker I get, but why on earth would we be in for another centre midfielder? £300m spent in 2023 on Enzo, Caicedo, Lavia, and Ugochukwu. Its utterly mind boggling. Surely Poch can make those options work? Caicedo played in a 2 with MacAllister at Brighton for large parts last season, not sure why it is a major issue pairing him with Enzo. That is squarely on Poch for me. 

Centre back, again is a pretty strange one, who is available in January that wasnt available in the summer? We signed Disasi, which seemed a bit of reactionary panic buy, now it definitely looks that way. Colwill, Badiashille, Disasi, Fofana. Chalobah will definitely go, and Silva will too in the summer. Still leaves us bloated though, as none the other 4 will be going anywhere yet.

9 minutes ago, big blue said:

Some interesting things coming out today.

Poch want a centre back, a centre midfielder and a striker. 

A striker I get, but why on earth would we be in for another centre midfielder? £300m spent in 2023 on Enzo, Caicedo, Lavia, and Ugochukwu. Its utterly mind boggling. Surely Poch can make those options work?

Not one of those midfielders can buy a goal.

We've had that issue for years which is why it's so bemueing we spent so much on replacing Jorginho, Kovacic and Kante with less talented young players with the exact same flaws.

Just now, Whats_The_Mata? said:

Not one of those midfielders can buy a goal.

We've had that issue for years which is why it's so bemueing we spent so much on replacing Jorginho, Kovacic and Kante with less talented young players with the exact same flaws.

Enzo had a decent record at his previous clubs, but his shooting technique is really frustrating, he or puts is foot through it, just trying that same curler which the keeper either catches or he doesnt hit the target.

I dont think we need an abundance of goals from those players if we play 4231, and there are 4 attacking players in front of them. It only becomes an issue in 433, if they make up a 3 man midfield. It's like having Makelele, Essien, and Mikel! Hopefully only 2 of the 4 are ever playing together,and then the 3rd one needs to be a goal threat, which is something Gallagher hasnt been to step up to, and Poch seems to be constantly tinkering with the roles of Connor and Enzo.

We need a Lampard/ Ballack, or a 10. Maybe Nkunku will step up there.

Sounds like he simply wants a tall DM, which is understandable. 

Edited December 11, 20232 yr by Sconnie Blue

We do need a striker. We don't need a left back but WE DO NEED A RIGHT BACK

FFS Poch played cucu and disasi at right back but wants to buy a left back. Reece James cannot be relied on. You can't have a team without some reliable players talented or not. Reece is pretty much finished if i was in charge. Great talent but useless because always injured. I don't know how bad Gusto's injury is but he has missed as much of the last two seasons as Reece. Maybe he will recover. Even if Gusto is fit we still need a right back as back up. Unless you want to use caicedo there.

 

Poch is f*** in the head.

5 minutes ago, ozboy said:

We do need a striker. We don't need a left back but WE DO NEED A RIGHT BACK

FFS Poch played cucu and disasi at right back but wants to buy a left back. Reece James cannot be relied on. You can't have a team without some reliable players talented or not. Reece is pretty much finished if i was in charge. Great talent but useless because always injured. I don't know how bad Gusto's injury is but he has missed as much of the last two seasons as Reece. Maybe he will recover. Even if Gusto is fit we still need a right back as back up. Unless you want to use caicedo there.

 

Poch is f*** in the head.

or alternatively, he doesn't like what he has seen at LB from any of Cucurella, Chilwell or Maatsen, and would rather not have to play Colwill there either ... 

15 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

or alternatively, he doesn't like what he has seen at LB from any of Cucurella, Chilwell or Maatsen, and would rather not have to play Colwill there either ... 

Yeah he may not like it but I dont like seeing cucu or disasi at right back far more. And since Maatsen has never played left back hard to know what Poch thinks of him.
And we might not need a striker so much if we played Palmer or someone at 10 and had more attackers.

When Emery took over Villa they were in a relegation fight. With now largely the same group of players they are in the top 4 and look like they belong. There are several schools of thought here, the players are not good enough or the coach is not good enough. A third group of people blame management. 

There is a lot of blame to go round. We cant change the owners, most of the players are locked in but we can change the coach. So in the end that's what it will come down to.

54 minutes ago, ozboy said:

We do need a striker. We don't need a left back but WE DO NEED A RIGHT BACK

FFS Poch played cucu and disasi at right back but wants to buy a left back. Reece James cannot be relied on. You can't have a team without some reliable players talented or not. Reece is pretty much finished if i was in charge. Great talent but useless because always injured. I don't know how bad Gusto's injury is but he has missed as much of the last two seasons as Reece. Maybe he will recover. Even if Gusto is fit we still need a right back as back up. Unless you want to use caicedo there.

 

Poch is f*** in the head.

He's playing a CB at LB, ofc he needs a bloody left back. 

Cucu is not good enough and never will be, he's a liability. The fact that Colwill is taking his place says it all, and Colwill isn't doing well there either. And Chilwell has the same problems as Reece James. 

An LB should be a priority. 

1 hour ago, Victor90 said:

He's playing a CB at LB, ofc he needs a bloody left back. 

Cucu is not good enough and never will be, he's a liability. The fact that Colwill is taking his place says it all, and Colwill isn't doing well there either. And Chilwell has the same problems as Reece James. 

An LB should be a priority. 

But less of a priority than a right back. and actually Colwill only played  left back because cucu was needed at right back. Ive seen a lot better left backs than cucu but also a lot worse. We could live with him. 

Go back to a couple of weeks before Tuchel was appointed - it was the same narrative. The squad is dog sh*te, completely hopeless. Certain players were called clowns and the overall atmosphere was similar to the one in a cemetery. 

Tuchel came in, changed to a 3-4-3, turned Rudiger into a monster, made Chelsea look electric, played 30 matches until the end of the season and only lost 5 and in the end went on to win the Champions League. Just remember the newspapers all over Europe raving about Chelsea before every Champions League match. I used to translate every news regarding Chelsea coming from the biggest newspapers around Europe and it was just a joy to read all the articles talking about Chelsea like our club was this seven headed monster coming for all the clubs left in the Champions League final stages.

This is what differentiates world class managers from normal ones. Pochettino is not a world class one. 

Bring a new world class manager in and he will turn the season around.

Boehly and Eghbali did not make any mistakes in assembling the squad. Nor appointing all the sporting directors. Their THREE BIGGEST MISTAKES were the sacking of Tuchel, the appointment of Potter and the appointment of Pochettino. 

They are clever enough and should be ruthless and act fast. Sack Pochettino, get De Zerbi in and give him the second half of this season and the full summer and Chelsea will be ready for big things next season. 

Just now, petre ispirescu said:

Go back to a couple of weeks before Tuchel was appointed - it was the same narrative. The squad is dog sh*te, completely hopeless. Certain players were called clowns and the overall atmosphere was similar to the one in a cemetery. 

Tuchel came in, changed to a 3-4-3, turned Rudiger into a monster, made Chelsea look electric, played 30 matches until the end of the season and only lost 5 and in the end went on to win the Champions League. Just remember the newspapers all over Europe raving about Chelsea before every Champions League match. I used to translate every news regarding Chelsea coming from the biggest newspapers around Europe and it was just a joy to read all the articles talking about Chelsea like our club was this seven headed monster coming for all the clubs left in the Champions League final stages.

This is what differentiates world class managers from normal ones. Pochettino is not a world class one. 

Bring a new world class manager in and he will turn the season around.

Boehly and Eghbali did not make any mistakes in assembling the squad. Nor appointing all the sporting directors. Their THREE BIGGEST MISTAKES were the sacking of Tuchel, the appointment of Potter and the appointment of Pochettino. 

They are clever enough and should be ruthless and act fast. Sack Pochettino, get De Zerbi in and give him the second half of this season and the full summer and Chelsea will be ready for big things next season. 

Is this the same manager who brought jorgi and Azpi back as key players? Two players that we needed to phase out. 

It is bizzare that people want TT back. TT is imo the best x n o manager in the world. 

However, that is not what we need. The board wanted a manager that they can work with aka I signed this expensive player, please play and develop them. We had 200 attackers under TT and he played 343.

343 is an interesting system for our team. But as I said before you basically say to your boss "BTW boss your 100m winger, he can't play in my system" 

This summer clearly Poch had very little input in the transfer market. If it was Tuchel, he would spend the whole season complaining about transfer 😂😂😂 

Edited December 12, 20232 yr by Bob stark

5 hours ago, axman2526 said:

8 year deals. Is Enzo I am sure he will be one who wants out.

I am not sure what top clubs will take him with this form.. apart from Liverpool and a few games here and there no where near good enough this season. His cross field balls are gone which used to open up defences - he is playing much higher up the field than required and is pretty ineffective their.. 

34 minutes ago, petre ispirescu said:

Go back to a couple of weeks before Tuchel was appointed - it was the same narrative. The squad is dog sh*te, completely hopeless. Certain players were called clowns and the overall atmosphere was similar to the one in a cemetery. 

Tuchel came in, changed to a 3-4-3, turned Rudiger into a monster, made Chelsea look electric, played 30 matches until the end of the season and only lost 5 and in the end went on to win the Champions League. Just remember the newspapers all over Europe raving about Chelsea before every Champions League match. I used to translate every news regarding Chelsea coming from the biggest newspapers around Europe and it was just a joy to read all the articles talking about Chelsea like our club was this seven headed monster coming for all the clubs left in the Champions League final stages.

This is what differentiates world class managers from normal ones. Pochettino is not a world class one. 

Bring a new world class manager in and he will turn the season around.

Boehly and Eghbali did not make any mistakes in assembling the squad. Nor appointing all the sporting directors. Their THREE BIGGEST MISTAKES were the sacking of Tuchel, the appointment of Potter and the appointment of Pochettino. 

They are clever enough and should be ruthless and act fast. Sack Pochettino, get De Zerbi in and give him the second half of this season and the full summer and Chelsea will be ready for big things next season. 

Sorry  .. TT’s biggest strength were - Giroud ( striker that had some skill) , A fit younger Silva (just played a UCL final), Kante, James and Chilwell - throw in inform attacking mids in mount and havertz.. but specially giroud Kante James and chilwell were immense for me.

No surprise that our worst performances have come when we don’t have any fullbacks on the team. For a year we have seen makeshift or piss poor fullbacks in Chalobah/CHO/CC/Disasi on the right and Colwill/ CC/ Malang Sarr etc..

Add to this such poor quality upfront where nothing sticks and you have this disaster class.

44 minutes ago, petre ispirescu said:

Bring a new world class manager in and he will turn the season around.

Boehly and Eghbali did not make any mistakes in assembling the squad. Nor appointing all the sporting directors. Their THREE BIGGEST MISTAKES were the sacking of Tuchel, the appointment of Potter and the appointment of Pochettino. 

They are clever enough and should be ruthless and act fast. Sack Pochettino, get De Zerbi in and give him the second half of this season and the full summer and Chelsea will be ready for big things next season. 

Isn't it strange to once again turn to the Brighton manager as being the solution?

Potter proved to be a terrible manager for us already so even if De Zerbi is a better manager, exactly how much better is he?

It's ironic after getting rid of manager X, Y, Z in about 18 months, some are still holding out hopes there are realistically better options out there. I mean even Potter was better than decent when we hired him, now some are pinning hopes on a ruthless sacking of Poch and hopefully someone decent walks in and sort out this sh1t 😅 Just get Poch the players he wants, if it fails at least Boehly could wipe his hands and said I tried, that that guy sucks. Sack Poch now, that's chapter 3 written for the  book' how to spent billion dollars and fark up a football club'

47 minutes ago, icecoolguy22 said:

It's ironic after getting rid of manager X, Y, Z in about 18 months, some are still holding out hopes there are realistically better options out there. I mean even Potter was better than decent when we hired him, now some are pinning hopes on a ruthless sacking of Poch and hopefully someone decent walks in and sort out this sh1t 😅 Just get Poch the players he wants, if it fails at least Boehly could wipe his hands and said I tried, that that guy sucks. Sack Poch now, that's chapter 3 written for the  book' how to spent billion dollars and fark up a football club'

Dont agree with that. What about Lee Carsley?

6 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

or alternatively, he doesn't like what he has seen at LB from any of Cucurella, Chilwell or Maatsen, and would rather not have to play Colwill there either ... 

But whether he likes them or not, we do currently have a number qualified to play that role as they are all LBs. We genuinely do not have a RB that we can consistently rely upon. I suspect that the dat is well and truly out of the bag with James and tens of millions drop off of his value every time he is back for two games and then injured again.

2 hours ago, WhiteWall said:

But whether he likes them or not, we do currently have a number qualified to play that role as they are all LBs. We genuinely do not have a RB that we can consistently rely upon. I suspect that the dat is well and truly out of the bag with James and tens of millions drop off of his value every time he is back for two games and then injured again.

Yep should have leaked some made  up some BS about him being unhappy and Real interested before the start of the season and then sent him off to train on his own and not played him.  Then he would have looked fit and we could have sold him. See eg Fofana.

9 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Sounds like he simply wants a tall DM, which is understandable. 

Is it? Have we even been that poor in that respect?

Ugochukwu is a tall dm. 

This is something that couldve easily been foreseen. 

Why not go for Alvarez instead of Ugochukwu? 

Why not go for Rice instead of Caicedo?

Baffling squad building and decision making if after spending £300m on centre midfielders, that we still need a tall one.