30 minutes ago, Remodez said:

Sorry but I do not see us being title challengers.

City and Pool are constantly strengthening, Arsenal seem to be addressing their squad depth and striker issue, for me a comfortable 4th place finish is what I am expecting. At the very most would be 3rd place ahead of Arsenal.

We will need another season at least before I can think of us as title contenders, there's still quite a few question marks on players for me to be confident of a title challenge just yet.

You think City, who finished 2 points above us, have strengthened better than us?

3 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

You think City, who finished 2 points above us, have strengthened better than us?

Yes.

Our signings may be better in the long run but it certainly won't be this season unless all the stars align perfectly.

Maresca has to raise the bar this season. The highs and lows of last season were expected with a new manager and young team, but the Dec-Mar slump was inexcusable. That has to be eradicated from our team.

Success would be not settling for top 4, but being a "top 3" side, so to speak, meaning CL qualification does not go to the last day of the season. We should be stronger, more assertive, more clinical, and determined, with a league position reflecting that growth. We should target domestic cup runs, and it would be good to win again at Wembley for this group. CL is tough, but QF would be a minimum target for me.

Beyond that, I'd like Maresca to take a more confident, assertive position. He does not need to talk us down to protect players, but rather with a quiet, assured confidence, put us amongst the elite. Players know when signing for Chelsea, for 30-100M, it comes with an expectation to deliver. There is no hiding from that, and Maresca saying we are not in the mix does not remove that - he needs to own it a little more.

I just want to see better performances on the pitch and results to go along with it.

Of course we can have bad games, bad results, not expecting miracles. But what we saw from December to May was just tragic, awful football, sh*t results, terrible decisions. Players who looked good last season declining this season.

We don't want any of that. Credit to the manager for winning two trophies, but it won't overshadow anything if we go into next season playing like we have done for the majority of this year. And I'm still not convinced on some of our signings like Gittens. Pedro looked brilliant in the tournament, but I'm still giving him time first before I'm convinced he's worth the price tag we paid.

One of our owners expects us to be " Consistently winning or contending for the Premier League. 😂😂😂🏆😂

6 hours ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

You think City, who finished 2 points above us, have strengthened better than us?

Probably no, but do you trust Maresca to take us above Guardiola? Just because Palmer decided to take the game into his hands in the ECL final or Forest game, and just because the CWC final was perfect, it doesn’t mean that he’s suddenly become a good coach. With a top coach? Definitely we’d be contesting, with Maresca? I don’t think so.

Seems like the CWC has clouded peoples minds. We were dog poo for the second half of last season after being 3 points off top. we struggled to make top four.

Not overly convinced we've strengthened but added more competition up front, take your pick from 3 strikers with 10/15 goals each in them a season. Does that make this side as competitive with Liverpool's Salah who produced 47 G/A contributions last year? Or the honey monster at city who is eating up premier league goal records?

38 games to find out but given last seasons first half there's no reason why we cant have a title run this season - caveat - injuries or Maresca stuffing up the easy opening fixtures will decide his fate.

20 hours ago, Remodez said:

Yes.

Our signings may be better in the long run but it certainly won't be this season unless all the stars align perfectly.

I’m not even sure City have strengthened, whereas we’ve issued glaring issues in the squad.

14 hours ago, RMH said:

Probably no, but do you trust Maresca to take us above Guardiola? Just because Palmer decided to take the game into his hands in the ECL final or Forest game, and just because the CWC final was perfect, it doesn’t mean that he’s suddenly become a good coach. With a top coach? Definitely we’d be contesting, with Maresca? I don’t think so.

I agree, but that’s an issue with management and not the squad. The squad have proved their level and if the manager can’t consistently get the best from them then he should be replaced.

13 hours ago, bluelightening said:

Seems like the CWC has clouded peoples minds. We were dog poo for the second half of last season after being 3 points off top. we struggled to make top four.

Not overly convinced we've strengthened but added more competition up front, take your pick from 3 strikers with 10/15 goals each in them a season. Does that make this side as competitive with Liverpool's Salah who produced 47 G/A contributions last year? Or the honey monster at city who is eating up premier league goal records?

38 games to find out but given last seasons first half there's no reason why we cant have a title run this season - caveat - injuries or Maresca stuffing up the easy opening fixtures will decide his fate.

Or maybe the fact that our top striker from last year became our 3rd choice option at the Club World Cup, and maybe Maresca is better than we thought, he just didn't have enough up top to compete.

5 minutes ago, Wearyourblue said:

Or maybe the fact that our top striker from last year became our 3rd choice option at the Club World Cup, and maybe Maresca is better than we thought, he just didn't have enough up top to compete.

Let’s hope it’s this 🙏

Good first season but plenty to work on too. Should be hitting in and around 80 points and competitive in a chanpions league QF/Sf as a minimum target.

A cup would be a nice bonus but having won 2 last season takes a bit of the pressure off him there. Ultimately I think he needs to deliver a league and/or a champions league by 2027.

I think we should realistically reduce the gap from 15 points and be thereabouts. I’d like to think we are at the point where we can swap players into the team and nothing change (bar of course getting rid of Nkunku, Badiashile, etc).

It’s going to be a test for Maresca. Still adamant we need to be with City/Arsenal and the only gap should be ourselves and Newcastle/Villa. No more final day bo**ocks.

1 hour ago, Wearyourblue said:

Or maybe the fact that our top striker from last year became our 3rd choice option at the Club World Cup, and maybe Maresca is better than we thought, he just didn't have enough up top to compete.

Cant say he doesnt have options this season. just hope he doesnt have a post-CWC injury crisis to deal with. Lots of football been played in serious heat following a long season. Player burn out/ fatigue/ injury might be a thing for all the teams that took part but I hope its not an excuse for a slow start to the season. honestly think managing that will be key to the new season.

2 hours ago, Wearyourblue said:

Or maybe the fact that our top striker from last year became our 3rd choice option at the Club World Cup, and maybe Maresca is better than we thought, he just didn't have enough up top to compete.

Maybe

Let's not forget, fantastic as winning the CWC was , there is only ONE reason why we were eligible to be competing in it.

And it was NOTHING to do withTodd/ClearLake.

I think Maresca has proved that he can do it in a one off game. The challenge now is for him to do it across the course of a season.

Only have to look at Villa this season to see their drop off after a mid week CL game. They couldn’t maintain the same intensity and ultimately it cost them top 5.

6 hours ago, The Rising Sun said:

Let's not forget, fantastic as winning the CWC was , there is only ONE reason why we were eligible to be competing in it.

And it was NOTHING to do withTodd/ClearLake.

You said a whole lot of nothing here.

We can only accomplish what is in front of us. Does not matter if we won the CWC due to the time Roman owned the club. We are World Champions because of this team and these current owners.

As others have stated, no more final day for top 4. Only the top 3 have been in the CL year in year out. The likes of Villa and Newcastle can't manage the schedule. We are Chelsea and should aim to comfortably make CL Qualification.

Champions League, we should have the expectation and belief to win the whole thing.

On 19/07/2025 at 21:43, JM7 said:

I think Maresca has proved that he can do it in a one off game. The challenge now is for him to do it across the course of a season.

Only have to look at Villa this season to see their drop off after a mid week CL game. They couldn’t maintain the same intensity and ultimately it cost them top 5.

This is my main concern - that and injuries.

If we're able to manage energy levels after our CL games, grind out those wins against mid-table teams, then there's no reason why we don't have a good run at the title. Much easier said than done, mind.

And it would be naive to think city will have another dud season. I think it will be a much more competitive title challenge this year.

Next season is all about fine tuning imo.

I am happy with either a League Cup or FA Cup (preferably both), QF of CL and top 3 or comfortable 4th place finish.

All I ask is fans not expecting us to win the PL after like 4 win streaks.

I hope we overachieve but that's my hopes for the next season.

On 19/07/2025 at 21:45, Clown Lake said:

You said a whole lot of nothing here.

We can only accomplish what is in front of us. Does not matter if we won the CWC due to the time Roman owned the club. We are World Champions because of this team and these current owners.

We were given the opportunity to become World Club Champions because of our previous team, and our previous European triumph under Roman. You reckon we could have won the Champions League in 2021 if Todd and Co were our owners ?

Edited July 21, 2025Jul 21 by The Rising Sun
Info

52 minutes ago, The Rising Sun said:

We were given the opportunity to become World Club Champions because of our previous team, and our previous European triumph under Roman. You reckon we could have won the Champions League in 2021 if Todd and Co were our owners ?

Not with our 2024/25 team and coach. Although I'm extremely happy we won the CWC and with how we got the better of PSG, it was a bit of a fluke how we got into the better part of the draw (with hindsight) by losing a group stage match.

I don't want to take anything away from the end result, mind you 🙂

7 hours ago, The Rising Sun said:

We were given the opportunity to become World Club Champions because of our previous team, and our previous European triumph under Roman. You reckon we could have won the Champions League in 2021 if Todd and Co were our owners ?

From what I am seeing, yes I do believe so. Their way was unorthodox, however we have won a World Cup and a European trophy already. Do we forget how much bashing we received when Roman initially arrived? He was called scatter gun and incompetent. Do we have a lack of memory on here?!?!

Todd & Co bought us under duress, they obviously did not know what they were doing initially. However, unlike the Floridian Swamp at Old Trafford, our owners actually care and are trying their absolute best in making us a powerhouse in world football. We could have had leeches like the Glazer's family, instead we have Todd who wants an empire and a hyperactive Eghbali who wants the best team in the world for the next 10+ years. Sure, unorthodox method of getting there initially but as long as the plan is blossoming we should be happy. We could have been MUCH WORSE OFF.

Edited July 22, 2025Jul 22 by Clown Lake

Genuinely thought they had super imposed Pep at the end of this video...

this trophy should be used to prop open the entrance to the trophy room.

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