Would be interested to see what everyones squad for next season would look like, i'd like to see something like the following:

GK: Kepa / Slonina / Bettinelli (HG)

RB: Reece James (HG) / Malo Gusto

CB: Silva / Chalobah (HG) / Fofana / Colwill (youth) / Badiashile

LB: Chilwell (HG) / Hall (youth)

CM: Enzo / New signing / Caicedo / Chukwuemeka (youth) / Santos (youth) / Gallagher (HG)

RW: Sterling (HG) / Madueke (HG)

LW: Mudryk / Nkunku

ST: Jackson / Broja (HG) / D.Fofana

This is only 13 'foreign' players so we're well within the premier league rules. 25 man squad seems to be the sweet spot for a manager too. Not sure who the other CM signing would be but we're desperate for some experience there. Could quite easily see Cucurella staying on too which would free up a loan move for Hall or another CM and Hall stays as CM cover. 

Probably line up something like this:

Kepa

James  Fofana  Badiashile  Chilwell

Enzo Caicedo

Madueke  Nkunku  Sterling

Jackson

Good enough for top 4 imo. Can then push hard for an elite GK and striker next season if needed. 

Pretty close to what I'd go for ... only three "contentious" areas ... 🙂 

At GK, I think we will sign someone capable of being #1 right now. If Kepa gets injured then an unproven Slonina, and a 3rd keeper like Bettinelli looks a bit lightweight to me. Emi Martinez for me., and a decent loan for Slonina. Martinez/Kepa to slug it out for the #1 slot, with my money on Martinez.

Defence :  Agree

Midfield :  Sell Gallagher and promote Casadei in his place. Otherwise agree. A tall and proven DM for the other signing. 

Wingers : Agree

Forwards : your trio is a bit too inexperienced for me. I'd send David Fofana out on loan and try to bring in someone more PL proven like Mitrovic.

 

In terms of the starting line up, I think I like Colwill ahead of Badiashile in the first instance.

Well I am sure Cucurella will be in the squad and rightly so. I imagine there is a case to keep Casedi, who has Championship experience over Santos but   I haven't seen enough of Santos to know and actually I doubt if either will play that much. It seems very likely to me that Reece and Chiller will miss lots of games and I see Nukunku as more of a 10 

My team would 

 

                                           Kepa

Gusto/Trev/James   Fof  Badiashile/Colwill  Cucu/Hall/Chiller

            Caicedo  Enzo Chukwuemeka

                       

                    Nkunku                        Mudryk/Sterling

                                  Jackson/Broja       

I'm not really happy with the Jackson/Broja choice. To me that looks just about as weak or weaker than when Havertz was at 9.

 

7 minutes ago, ozboy said:

Well I am sure Cucurella will be in the squad and rightly so. I imagine there is a case to keep Casedi, who has Championship experience over Santos but   I haven't seen enough of Santos to know and actually I doubt if either will play that much. It seems very likely to me that Reece and Chiller will miss lots of games and I see Nukunku as more of a 10 

My team would 

 

                                           Kepa

Gusto/Trev/James   Fof  Badiashile/Colwill  Cucu/Hall/Chiller

            Caicedo  Enzo Chukwuemeka

                       

                    Nkunku                        Mudryk/Sterling

                                  Jackson/Broja       

I'm not really happy with the Jackson/Broja choice. To me that looks just about as weak or weaker than when Havertz was at 9.

 

Why rightly so out of interest? Looked an absolute disaster of a signing. 

3 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Why rightly so out of interest? Looked an absolute disaster of a signing. 

If Pochettino watched many of last seasons's games back on video, he will already have instructed the Club to get rid of Cucurella. He is a car crash of a signing, whose value has slipped to circa £35 million. If anybody actually offers that, I would rip their arm off !!

18 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

Pretty close to what I'd go for ... only three "contentious" areas ... 🙂 

At GK, I think we will sign someone capable of being #1 right now. If Kepa gets injured then an unproven Slonina, and a 3rd keeper like Bettinelli looks a bit lightweight to me. Emi Martinez for me., and a decent loan for Slonina. Martinez/Kepa to slug it out for the #1 slot, with my money on Martinez.

Defence :  Agree

Midfield :  Sell Gallagher and promote Casadei in his place. Otherwise agree. A tall and proven DM for the other signing. 

Wingers : Agree

Forwards : your trio is a bit too inexperienced for me. I'd send David Fofana out on loan and try to bring in someone more PL proven like Mitrovic.

 

In terms of the starting line up, I think I like Colwill ahead of Badiashile in the first instance.

Completely agree in regards GK, just don't want us rushing into signing someone for the sake of it and the GK market isn't amazing this summer. Onana would have been good but Inter seem like a nightmare to deal with.

I wouldn't be against Gallagher going either but not sure who's signing him unless we include him in the Caicedo deal? It was a flip of the coin for Santos and Casadei, one should stay and the other loaned out imo. Someone like Paulinha from Fulham would be a good signing in the middle but i'm sure Fulham would want £50m for him.

Forwards is another area i don't want to rush unless there is a player that Pochettino has his heart set on, Martinez maybe? Once again means dealing with Inter though which i don't particularly want to do after the Lukaku haggling and being so abrupt with Onana's valuation. 

I imagine Colwill starts most games for us this season, but think Badiashile gets the nod to start off with. Colwill still has to earn his place, which shouldn't be difficult with his ability. 

4 minutes ago, coombsie said:

If Pochettino watched many of last seasons's games back on video, he will already have instructed the Club to get rid of Cucurella. He is a car crash of a signing, whose value has slipped to circa £35 million. If anybody actually offers that, I would rip their arm off !!

Rather give a squad number to Baba Rahman than Cucurella

5 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Rather give a squad number to Baba Rahman than Cucurella

Or keep Dave as our back up left back LOL.

Be interesting if they think Maatsen is ready. Don't think Hall is a long term option at left back. 

I'd actually like to see us try the City formation 3-2-4-1 in pre-season as, aside from parking all the wing backs, I  think that might suit our personnel quite well. Colwill or Badiashile at left centre back,  Silva or Fofana in the middle, and James, Fofana or Trev at right centre back. James could even be the DM alongside Enzo or Caicedo in the pivot. 

10 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Rather give a squad number to Baba Rahman than Cucurella

Ok here's a tough one .... Malang Sarr or Cucurella ... ? Haha

31 minutes ago, coombsie said:

If Pochettino watched many of last seasons's games back on video, he will already have instructed the Club to get rid of Cucurella. He is a car crash of a signing, whose value has slipped to circa £35 million. If anybody actually offers that, I would rip their arm off !!

I don't think he's been great but don't you think that alot of form could be down to the season and not the player.

If we went off last seasons form alone there is a case for at least everyone to be sold apart from 1 or 2 players.

1 hour ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Would be interested to see what everyones squad for next season would look like, i'd like to see something like the following:

GK: Kepa / Slonina / Bettinelli (HG)

RB: Reece James (HG) / Malo Gusto

CB: Silva / Chalobah (HG) / Fofana / Colwill (youth) / Badiashile

LB: Chilwell (HG) / Hall (youth)

CM: Enzo / New signing / Caicedo / Chukwuemeka (youth) / Santos (youth) / Gallagher (HG)

RW: Sterling (HG) / Madueke (HG)

LW: Mudryk / Nkunku

ST: Jackson / Broja (HG) / D.Fofana

This is only 13 'foreign' players so we're well within the premier league rules. 25 man squad seems to be the sweet spot for a manager too. Not sure who the other CM signing would be but we're desperate for some experience there. Could quite easily see Cucurella staying on too which would free up a loan move for Hall or another CM and Hall stays as CM cover. 

Probably line up something like this:

Kepa

James  Fofana  Badiashile  Chilwell

Enzo Caicedo

Madueke  Nkunku  Sterling

Jackson

Good enough for top 4 imo. Can then push hard for an elite GK and striker next season if needed. 

I would be very close to this selection, but think we do need a new Keeper, who can command at the back. Onana would be my choice but it doesn't sound as though Chelsea is on his radar. So possibly Martinez from Villa ?? We still desperately need the Midfield Leader/Enforcer, so I pray we can sign Caicedo and keep Mount (how about we offer him the £220k per week and the Captain's armband ?? and finally a Decent finisher. I know nothing about Jackson and would personally go for someone like Mitrovic who I believe can do the job, or Osimhen who is a super player. Finally, I think Gallagher is almost gone, so would replace him with Casadei who has been doing great things (apart from the Final) in the U20 World Cup

11 minutes ago, Sheva said:

I don't think he's been great but don't you think that alot of form could be down to the season and not the player.

If we went off last seasons form alone there is a case for at least everyone to be sold apart from 1 or 2 players.

Very fair point, but I think Cucurella was easily the worst of a very bad bunch 

29 minutes ago, coombsie said:

I would be very close to this selection, but think we do need a new Keeper, who can command at the back. Onana would be my choice but it doesn't sound as though Chelsea is on his radar. So possibly Martinez from Villa ?? We still desperately need the Midfield Leader/Enforcer, so I pray we can sign Caicedo and keep Mount (how about we offer him the £220k per week and the Captain's armband ?? and finally a Decent finisher. I know nothing about Jackson and would personally go for someone like Mitrovic who I believe can do the job, or Osimhen who is a super player. Finally, I think Gallagher is almost gone, so would replace him with Casadei who has been doing great things (apart from the Final) in the U20 World Cup

I actually quite like the club pursuing someone like Jackson rather than Osimhen. Fed up of the club spending big on strikers for them to fail (Lukaku, Morata, Torres). Jackson falls into the £30-35m Chelsea golden value of players like Drogba, Essien, Hazard etc. that turned out to be amazing. 

2 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Would be interested to see what everyones squad for next season would look like, i'd like to see something like the following:

GK: Kepa / Slonina / Bettinelli (HG)

RB: Reece James (HG) / Malo Gusto

CB: Silva / Chalobah (HG) / Fofana / Colwill (youth) / Badiashile

LB: Chilwell (HG) / Hall (youth)

CM: Enzo / New signing / Caicedo / Chukwuemeka (youth) / Santos (youth) / Gallagher (HG)

RW: Sterling (HG) / Madueke (HG)

LW: Mudryk / Nkunku

ST: Jackson / Broja (HG) / D.Fofana

This is only 13 'foreign' players so we're well within the premier league rules. 25 man squad seems to be the sweet spot for a manager too. Not sure who the other CM signing would be but we're desperate for some experience there. Could quite easily see Cucurella staying on too which would free up a loan move for Hall or another CM and Hall stays as CM cover. 

Probably line up something like this:

Kepa

James  Fofana  Badiashile  Chilwell

Enzo Caicedo

Madueke  Nkunku  Sterling

Jackson

Good enough for top 4 imo. Can then push hard for an elite GK and striker next season if needed. 

Pretty much agree with most of this and the only thing I would change is getting a more experienced head in midfield and upfront.

We're selling most of our experienced players and It worries me that our transfer policy is very youth orientated, it's not a bad thing investing in talent but you need someone to guide them.

I'd like us to look at Barella for the midfield as there's a chance he's available and he's a big game player in his prime.

I have no idea for striker because it's the hardest position to sign for right now, it's a rare breed. We would be silly spending big money on an Oshimen because history shows us that does not work.

Ideally i'd like to clone someone like Giroud and take a couple of years off him.

Edited June 19, 20233 yr by Sheva

1 hour ago, RIP Mourinho said:

I actually quite like the club pursuing someone like Jackson rather than Osimhen. Fed up of the club spending big on strikers for them to fail (Lukaku, Morata, Torres). Jackson falls into the £30-35m Chelsea golden value of players like Drogba, Essien, Hazard etc. that turned out to be amazing. 

He also falls into the awesome young Chelsea strikers category which includes Batshuayi, Lukaku (yeah we bought him twice), Sturridge, Mutu and Kezman etc.  Osimhen would be a better bet but a more expensive failure.  I think we are forever condemned to never having a competent striker for all of time.

Already created a thread for this, but ill give an updated squad list

 

 

 

As per the FA rules, we are only allowed a maximum of 17 non-homegrown players in the team. In a 23 man squad, we can use 6 homegrown players, or in a 25 man team we'll need 8. We are already planning on a mass exodus in the summer to cut down on this huge squad size but who do you think makes the cut and adheres to the premier league and UEFA rules of only having 17 non-homegrown players? And who of the current squad are we selling as well to help with FFP? 

Keepers - Kepa, Slolina, Bettinelli

Defenders - Badiashille, Silva, Chilwell, James, Colwill, Cucurella, Fofana, Gusto

Midfielders - Enzo, Caicedo , Carney, Hall, Santos, another new midfielder? 

Forwards - Felix, Nkunku, Mudryk, Sterling, Madueke, Jackson

Players to loan: D Fofana, Casadei, Hutchinson, 

 

Sell: Mendy(10m), Bettinelli(Free), Chalobah(30m), Azpi(5m), Kante(Free), RLC(5m), Mount(50m), Gallagher(40m), Zakaria(loan return), Auba(5m), Pulisic(30m), Broja(30m), Ziyech(20m), Koulibaly(25m), Kovacic(25m). Havertz(60m)

Total: Around 300m (haven't even taken into account loaned players like Lukaku, Sarr, Ampadu etc which can raise total even higher) 

This is just a rough draft, assuming we sign a new midfielders as well. 17 homegrown players and 8 homegrowns in there. Seems we can quite easily meet the quotas as long we are heavy on the selling of players and get rid of all the deadwood. We are also in a good position to sell a lot of homegrown talent that won't make it here, and they go down as pure profit in terms of FFP which helps us massively.

Looking at the way the squad is currently, I think we are very close to having an elite squad that can compete on all fronts!

 

Thank god the Saudi's are saving us by taking some of our unwanted players, hopefully there's a bit more to come.

With Inter always wanting loan deals and not paying, we can call their bluff and say Onona swap for Lukaku and see what happens 

10 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

 

Kepa

James  Fofana  Badiashile  Chilwell

Enzo Caicedo

Madueke  Nkunku  Sterling

Jackson

 

This for me is an issue, as Pochettino has a big task on his hands to make this midfield/attack have a structured and organized approach when pressing and in the defensive transition. 

With Caicedo liking to win the ball forward, Enzo's lack of pace and Nkunku's defensive contributions being up in the air, I wouldn't be surprised if Nkunku is moved in to replace Madueke and we add another CM in a 433. 

11 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

This for me is an issue, as Pochettino has a big task on his hands to make this midfield/attack have a structured and organized approach when pressing and in the defensive transition. 

With Caicedo liking to win the ball forward, Enzo's lack of pace and Nkunku's defensive contributions being up in the air, I wouldn't be surprised if Nkunku is moved in to replace Madueke and we add another CM in a 433. 

Caicedo is young enough to be moulded, we've seen him play the second half of the season as a RB that can transition in the middle of the park. I think he'd do well next to Enzo but wouldn't be against a more defensive signing as well for games we need to lock out the middle. 

GK: Kepa, Sanchez, Bettinelli
FB/WB: James, Gusto, W Fofana, Chalobah, Chilwell, Colwill, Hall
CB: Silva, W Fofana, Badiashile, Colwill, Chalobah
CM: Brozovic, Enzo, Chukwuemeka, Santos
AM: Mount, Gallagher, Madueke, Mudryk
FW: Vlahovic, Nkunku, Sterling, Jackson, Broja

4-3-1-2
                                                     Kepa/Sanchez
James/Gusto/W Fofana - Silva/W Fofana - Badiashile/Colwill - Chilwell/Colwill/Hall
        Mount/Gallagher/Santos - Brozovic/Enzo - Enzo/Chukwuemeka/Mount
                                                   Nkunku/Mount
                                   Vlahovic/Broja - Sterling/Jackson

On 20/06/2023 at 03:18, RIP Mourinho said:

Caicedo is young enough to be moulded, we've seen him play the second half of the season as a RB that can transition in the middle of the park. I think he'd do well next to Enzo but wouldn't be against a more defensive signing as well for games we need to lock out the middle. 

I don't think he should be moulded. He's excellent at what he does. We tried Essien at DM but he too loved to get forward alongside Ballack/Deco and Lampard. 

In matches where we do need to play a 4231 (or more attacking lineup) there needs to be an inverted fullback/CB somewhere. 

New GK (Kepa)

James (Gusto)  Fofana (Silva)  Colwill (Badiashile)  Chilwell (Hall)

New DM (Ampadu)

New CM (Carney)     Enzo (Santos)

Sterling (Madueke)       Nkunku (Mudryk)

Jackson (Broja)

 

 

I would be amazed if we went into the season with just Jackson and Broja as our striker choices. We don't have the fall back option of pushing Havertz into that role now and I really hope we don't do the same with Nkunku.

Who else is even out there? There's a huge striker shortage in Europe.

 

 

9 minutes ago, Sheva said:

I would be amazed if we went into the season with just Jackson and Broja as our striker choices. We don't have the fall back option of pushing Havertz into that role now and I really hope we don't do the same with Nkunku.

Who else is even out there? There's a huge striker shortage in Europe.

 

 

Nkunku is probably best suited as that 3rd ST if needed. 

Oshimen ain't happening. Kane, forget about it. Muani would be over 100m.

I would vomit if we get Vlahovic. Morata regen. 

On 21/06/2023 at 19:10, the special one said:

GK: Kepa, Sanchez, Bettinelli
FB/WB: James, Gusto, W Fofana, Chalobah, Chilwell, Colwill, Hall
CB: Silva, W Fofana, Badiashile, Colwill, Chalobah
CM: Brozovic, Enzo, Chukwuemeka, Santos
AM: Mount, Gallagher, Madueke, Mudryk
FW: Vlahovic, Nkunku, Sterling, Jackson, Broja

4-3-1-2
                                                     Kepa/Sanchez
James/Gusto/W Fofana - Silva/W Fofana - Badiashile/Colwill - Chilwell/Colwill/Hall
        Mount/Gallagher/Santos - Brozovic/Enzo - Enzo/Chukwuemeka/Mount
                                                   Nkunku/Mount
                                   Vlahovic/Broja - Sterling/Jackson

Brozovic would be a good signing for a few years, just seen Al-Nassr have bid 22M euros for him. Got to be worth a punt.