10 hours ago, JM7 said:

Maresca unfortunately needs to get off to a good start, he won’t have long before fans start to turn. There are lots of warning signs that things could get nasty for him early on. 

It's ridiculous if fans turn on him . We need to give him a bit of  leeway surely, fans need to understand that we are not longer the elite team of the past. The owners have added to the fiasco there's no doubt.

But when it comes to our team, out on the pitch, we need to get behind them .

They might not be good enough , but as long as they are in blue, they get my support.

I absolutely hate any booing of our team by our own fans no matter how poor we might be.

 

11 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

Men's Profiles | Team | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club (chelseafc.com)

This is more accurate.

Not many players that will be included in the under 21's here. 

Goalkeepers = Sanchez, Jorgenssen, Bettinelli and maybe Beach for backup.

That means we need to get rid of Kepa, Petrovic and Bergstrom.

Defenders = Disasi, Cucurella, Tosin, Badiashile, Colwill, Chilwell, James, Gusto, Fofana, Humphreys, Anselmino (just signed, not added to the club website yet)

We're (stupidly) looking to sell Chalobah. Acheampong will probably stick around with the youth team. Wiley, loan? maybe.

Midfielders = Enzo, Ugochukwu, Chukwuemeka, Dewsbury-Hall, Caicedo, Veiga, Lavia, Palmer.

Need to sell Anjorin. Casadei and Kellyman sent out on loan.

Wingers = Sterling, Mudryk, Madueke, George, Nkunku (not sure where he will play yet)

Angelo, probably a loan. 

Strikers = Jackson, Omorodion, Guiu.

Lukaku (desperately) needs to be sold. Looking to sell Broja and Fofana. Washington, loan.

I've managed to get the squad down to 31 players and there are players not included on the club website like Moreira, Matos, Burstow and Slonina.

 

I think that is 48 players in total, and 17 need to be sold or loaned out in a month..........it's messy, very messy.

 

Add Mike Penders to the list now. That is 49 players. Gabriel Mec could be the next one too to take it up to 50.

These owners are ridiculous.

Edited August 8, 20241 yr by Scott Harris

5 minutes ago, forbzy said:

I read FIFA's rule changes and if players are under 21, or club trained, then they are exempt. So I believe that means a number of our potential loanees would not count towards the 6. That being said there are also maximums between 2 clubs to consider. We can only loan 3 out to Strasbourg I think.

So assuming my interpretation is correct, then so far only Petrovic would count towards the 6. Santos is 20 and would still be exempt. Moreira was recalled because of the max 3 in one club I suspect.

The loan caps will still be a challenge, and this will only increase in the years ahead.

My interpretation of the rule was Under 21 AND club trained. It wouldn't make much sense as a restriction otherwise as clubs would just stock up on under 21 players?

Moreira was on loan at Lyon, not Strasbourg so I don't believe that was the reason. If your interpretation is correct we should have been able to loan Santos out without cancelling Moireira loan. 

9 hours ago, bluehaze said:

Fans like @Zeta who say they won't watch an illegal stream anymore or match going fans who have seen heart ripped out of the club who turned up when we were under sanctions. If you don't go to Chelsea or don't know anyone who does I'm sorry but an online forum is not the place to make judgements on how Chelsea fans feel. 

The modern football fan talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk if you want the epitome of a Chelsea fan look no further than Cathy who has missed something like 2 Chelsea games iin 40 years and I mean every game pre season friendlies, Simod Cup games in front of 3,000 she's in the States at the moment they are the sort of people who count not an internet fan who can't accept that Chelsea aren't dominating football.

I can't believe she's admitted to missing a couple of games !

@forbzy

I've just checked; FIFA to introduce new loan regulations 

Relevant part;  "Players aged 21 and younger and club-trained players will be exempt from these limitations."

It's a bit ambigious the wording to be honest but looking at it logically it can't be any other way than what I said above, the fact they had to cancel Moreir's loan as well backs it up.

So we are kinda f**ked loan wise, even if we land a few prem loans for these guys it's very unlikely they will get the amount game time required. I guess the club knows best though? 

34 minutes ago, Remodez said:

My interpretation of the rule was Under 21 AND club trained. It wouldn't make much sense as a restriction otherwise as clubs would just stock up on under 21 players?

Moreira was on loan at Lyon, not Strasbourg so I don't believe that was the reason. If your interpretation is correct we should have been able to loan Santos out without cancelling Moireira loan. 

You could be right. I got this from the FIFA site, which to me implies that players just need to be in either category to be exempt. But it could have been written clearer.

Players aged 21 and younger and club-trained players will be exempt from these limitations

 

1 hour ago, Remodez said:

@forbzy

I've just checked; FIFA to introduce new loan regulations 

Relevant part;  "Players aged 21 and younger and club-trained players will be exempt from these limitations."

It's a bit ambigious the wording to be honest but looking at it logically it can't be any other way than what I said above, the fact they had to cancel Moreir's loan as well backs it up.

So we are kinda f**ked loan wise, even if we land a few prem loans for these guys it's very unlikely they will get the amount game time required. I guess the club knows best though? 

Looks like you are right unfortunately. Last season the cap was 7 and we had exactly 7 non-academy players out on loan (outside English league). So based on that I have no idea how we will accomodate the latest stockpile. Will be even tougher once the FA falls into line with FIFA loan rules.

7 hours ago, bluehaze said:

Why would you feel sorry for her you don't know her, she's married to a bloke called Bob a well known Chelsea fan as well she has a steady job I don't know if she has any kids is respected by all Chelsea fans who know her and beyond I hope that puts your mind at rest. Define supporter, fan, follower it doesn't make you a better person to go to Chelsea regularly  but it does make you a better fan if you spend your money in a cost of living crisis following whatever team you support rather then sniping from the sidelines especially someone like @Zeta who started supporting Chelsea in his mid 20's and although he will deny it said he would have no problem betting against Chelsea and has done it several times.

She turned up about 15 mins from the end of our game at the Riverside. Just to avoid another missed game on her record, it's an obsession, but harmless really 

 

Everyone knows her, on her twitter account once she said she worked with some Italian girls ..." Italian girls have no dress sense" she said !!!

 

 

 

9 hours ago, bluehaze said:

Why would you feel sorry for her you don't know her, she's married to a bloke called Bob a well known Chelsea fan as well she has a steady job I don't know if she has any kids is respected by all Chelsea fans who know her and beyond I hope that puts your mind at rest. Define supporter, fan, follower it doesn't make you a better person to go to Chelsea regularly  but it does make you a better fan if you spend your money in a cost of living crisis following whatever team you support rather then sniping from the sidelines especially someone like @Zeta who started supporting Chelsea in his mid 20's and although he will deny it said he would have no problem betting against Chelsea and has done it several times.

The f**k you talking about? I've supported Chelsea since I was a child. My family support Chelsea. Don't talk about me like you know me.

 

3 hours ago, Remodez said:

@forbzy

I've just checked; FIFA to introduce new loan regulations 

Relevant part;  "Players aged 21 and younger and club-trained players will be exempt from these limitations."

It's a bit ambigious the wording to be honest but looking at it logically it can't be any other way than what I said above, the fact they had to cancel Moreir's loan as well backs it up.

So we are kinda f**ked loan wise, even if we land a few prem loans for these guys it's very unlikely they will get the amount game time required. I guess the club knows best though? 

Strasbourg want petrovic but so do fiorentina. But caleb wiley (?) Will be going Strasbourg tomorrow according to the beeb. Fk knows if any of it is true. Lol

Also the way I read it is players 21 or under, or club trained players...so doesn't matter which as long as they fall under one category. Anselmino is also being loaned back and joining us in 2025-26.

Saying that and reading the previous posts...I still haven't got a fkn clue of our actual squad this year and probably won't for a while. There's soo much noise on transfers and loans going on with Chels. I read at least 10 rumours all involving different players that are still "in process".

I'm also exhausted in googling players...so fk it. I'm just going to wait till transfer market is closed then start googling the ones I haven't got a clue on. Oh fk...I just remembered the caleb wiley bloke above! Lol

10 hours ago, bluehaze said:

Why would you feel sorry for her you don't know her, she's married to a bloke called Bob a well known Chelsea fan as well she has a steady job I don't know if she has any kids is respected by all Chelsea fans who know her and beyond I hope that puts your mind at rest. Define supporter, fan, follower it doesn't make you a better person to go to Chelsea regularly  but it does make you a better fan if you spend your money in a cost of living crisis following whatever team you support rather then sniping from the sidelines especially someone like @Zeta who started supporting Chelsea in his mid 20's and although he will deny it said he would have no problem betting against Chelsea and has done it several times.

No it doesn't. Having more money to spend to watch Chelsea makes you no more of a fan than somebody who may only be able to go watch their team once in their lifetime. Circumstances may mean it's impossible for them to do it. Physical problems are one, mental issues another, maybe they don't have the transport options available to them, maybe they have other hobbies and interests, maybe they live in a different country, or maybe they just don't have the money. Or maybe they just work on days when Chelsea play which makes it impossible for them to go. 

I would love to go to as many games as possible, but a mix of most of the above makes it impossible for me.

22 minutes ago, Zeta said:

The f**k you talking about? I've supported Chelsea since I was a child. My family support Chelsea. Don't talk about me like you know me.

At least once a year we get people taking jabs at others for how much more of a fan they are of the club and how bad others are according to them, it's that time of the year again. 

I think we will be slow to get going. Also load management will play a part as I’m sure the coaching staff are keen to not push the players too hard & have a similar injury record to last season. 

I think Maresca will heavily change his line ups for the Conference games which should allow a lot of our squad to get games they otherwise wouldn’t get. Our second string should be good enough to qualify from the group comfortably.

The stockpiling of players is harming us big time though and it’s going to harm at least half of the players we’ve signed. It sets us up for more Salah’s and KDB situations where we don’t give potentially great players a chance.

We might get lucky and one of them turns into the next Messi but we are just as likely to sell him on before he gets a chance.

We are footballs equivalent of a f**king puppy farm.

On 08/08/2024 at 03:16, timetowaste said:

 Enzo has basically insinuated that our defensive issues are down to bad habits instilled in the players by Poch.

But this make 0 sense. 

We didn't play highline under Poch. It was more of medium block. Actually the team that played highline last season was Leicester. 

 

25 minutes ago, Bob stark said:

But this make 0 sense. 

We didn't play highline under Poch. It was more of medium block. Actually the team that played highline last season was Leicester. 

 

He actually said "I don't know if it's from last year, or from years ago" but social media leapt exaggerated it as a criticism of Pochettino. In fact, he specifically says that they haven't yet worked on defensive tactics as tactical training will come in the next couple of weeks. 

Maresca actually suggests the issue isn't a "high" line as much as it being inconsistent across the pitch. The whole point of a higher defensive line is to compress the pitch so your midfield/forwards can press the ball player. The second goal for Real Madrid is a perfect example of that, where Madueke loses Rodrigo and Reece James is slow to react, giving Rodrigo a very easy reverse pass to put his teammates through. Maresca is saying that the team either needs to be all deep, or all high, and lose the tendency to drift in-between which is absolutely what we saw under Pochettino for much of last season. 

1 minute ago, SydneyChelsea said:

He actually said "I don't know if it's from last year, or from years ago" but social media leapt exaggerated it as a criticism of Pochettino. In fact, he specifically says that they haven't yet worked on defensive tactics as tactical training will come in the next couple of weeks. 

Maresca actually suggests the issue isn't a "high" line as much as it being inconsistent across the pitch. The whole point of a higher defensive line is to compress the pitch so your midfield/forwards can press the ball player. The second goal for Real Madrid is a perfect example of that, where Madueke loses Rodrigo and Reece James is slow to react, giving Rodrigo a very easy reverse pass to put his teammates through. Maresca is saying that the team either needs to be all deep, or all high, and lose the tendency to drift in-between which is absolutely what we saw under Pochettino for much of last season. 

This.

I understood the same thing from his interviews. Especially the part about not working on tactics yet. Also because of that they don't know when to push, pass, sit back, etc. They only had the one (-ish) week of tactics before the USA tour and now back at Cobham it will be mostly tactical work till the season starts.

The USA tour was all about fitness basically...

Since he's said that I've tried to be less critical about the preseason games and trying to persuade myself he still has a clean slate when it comes to game/tactical management.

Didn't he also say the first half against man city was placing players in different positions to see how they adapt? That's maddness but if the primary goal was just fitness, tbh I didn't mind that approach, what's to lose?, I just wish he made it more clear and stated it before the game. I may have not abused him so much when shouting at the screen. Lol

The fitness thing is important. Doing tactical work means the fitness coaches can increase load coming into the start of the season, which is a common injury-prevention periodisation scheme (basically ensuring players are peaking physically at the right time). Players can back off the gym work a little but train more intensely during the coaching work.

Tactical work isn't just video sessions and analysis, it's more likely to be stuff like small-sided games and set piece drills etc.

 

Edited August 9, 20241 yr by SydneyChelsea

1 hour ago, SydneyChelsea said:

He actually said "I don't know if it's from last year, or from years ago" but social media leapt exaggerated it as a criticism of Pochettino. In fact, he specifically says that they haven't yet worked on defensive tactics as tactical training will come in the next couple of weeks. 

Maresca actually suggests the issue isn't a "high" line as much as it being inconsistent across the pitch. The whole point of a higher defensive line is to compress the pitch so your midfield/forwards can press the ball player. The second goal for Real Madrid is a perfect example of that, where Madueke loses Rodrigo and Reece James is slow to react, giving Rodrigo a very easy reverse pass to put his teammates through. Maresca is saying that the team either needs to be all deep, or all high, and lose the tendency to drift in-between which is absolutely what we saw under Pochettino for much of last season. 

Not really winger not tracking back, set pieces, far post crosses, keeping the ball high were our problem. 

So far in this pre season it is a completely different problem. The way we defend is actually very similar to the way Leicester defend last year. High line, man to man.

The difference so far with our team is there is no pressure up top. So our defender has to defend 1 v 1 or even more with big space behind them with free runner in front of them, it is crazy. 

 

 

34 minutes ago, Bob stark said:

Not really winger not tracking back, set pieces, far post crosses, keeping the ball high were our problem. 

So far in this pre season it is a completely different problem. The way we defend is actually very similar to the way Leicester defend last year. High line, man to man.

The difference so far with our team is there is no pressure up top. So our defender has to defend 1 v 1 or even more with big space behind them with free runner in front of them, it is crazy. 

 

 

Not just crazy Bob it's f**king suicidal!!!....

15 hours ago, dermott said:

Our friend and colleague @POCH OUT is only four keystrokes away from something similar.

Yeah, I heard he's a proper stroker...

43 minutes ago, Womble said:

Not just crazy Bob it's f**king suicidal!!!....

I see a lot fans saying we need this or that defender. If this is how we defend, it doesn't matter who our defender is, all of the will look terrible. 

This is not a shot at Maresca. I am curious to see how aggressive man marking can work PL but in order to make it at least look usable he need to get his attacker to press. 

 

 

 

Edited August 9, 20241 yr by Bob stark

2 minutes ago, Bob stark said:

I see a lot fans saying we need this or that defender. If this is how we defend, it doesn't matter who our defender is, all of the will look terrible. 

This is not a shot at Maresca. I am curious to see how aggressive man marking can work PL but in order to at least look usable he need to get his attacker to press. 

 

 

 

It was the cornerstone of Bielsa's tactics at Leeds. When it works, okay. When it doesn't ...

18 minutes ago, dermott said:

It was the cornerstone of Bielsa's tactics at Leeds. When it works, okay. When it doesn't ...

Bielsa is a good shout. 

 

Does anyone remember seeing our CBs tracking forwards all the way into the opposition half in our pre-season games and wondered what the hell is going on? Well listen to this and you will see it’s Enzo telling defenders to do so🤦🏾‍♂️

This will be catastrophic in the PL.

Watch from 5:45 Marc Albrighton explaining this.

https://youtu.be/fZQ2lByAYyg?si=FJwDy0Lt71ULN9qm

Edited August 9, 20241 yr by El regreso

10 hours ago, Simplymo said:

 

Strasbourg want petrovic but so do fiorentina. But caleb wiley (?) Will be going Strasbourg tomorrow according to the beeb. Fk knows if any of it is true. Lol

Also the way I read it is players 21 or under, or club trained players...so doesn't matter which as long as they fall under one category. Anselmino is also being loaned back and joining us in 2025-26.

Saying that and reading the previous posts...I still haven't got a fkn clue of our actual squad this year and probably won't for a while. There's soo much noise on transfers and loans going on with Chels. I read at least 10 rumours all involving different players that are still "in process".

I'm also exhausted in googling players...so fk it. I'm just going to wait till transfer market is closed then start googling the ones I haven't got a clue on. Oh fk...I just remembered the caleb wiley bloke above! Lol

I mean I guess we will find out come the end of the transfer window but it simply can't be that way for reasons I've already said. It makes zero sense as a restriction and we wouldn't have cancelled Moreira's loan before we could send Santos out. 

The ones that pretty much have to go out on loan internationally are Washington, Lesley, Angelo, Solina, Petrovic, Belgium GK guy, Casesdi, Wiley and one of Kepa or Lukaku as I highly doubt we can sell both. I would actually add Kellyman as well as he was already playing PL football so makes no sense to demote him to championship football. There's a real chance we could also loan out Carney too cause he's been out for so loan and even missed pre season. 

So that's 10 or so players that need a foreign loan and we've already taken up 2 spots out of the 6. That loan manager we got from Swansea is going to have his work cut out for him sorting out these loans.