It’s much to early to be able to assess the impact of  24/25 incomings or come to that really take a view as to the impact that those that left have at their new clubs.

But on the point of those that left in 22/3& 23/25 how would you assess the players that arrived under RA and the outcome of  them to leaving. Even then for a couple of players that did leave there wasn’t much that the new owners could do to stop them.

First players that the sanctions took the decision out of Chelsea’s hands . 

Rudiger

Christensen

Sad to see them both go but realistically nothing Clearlake could have done.

Next players that were allowed to leave for a fee, sold as they entered the last year of their contract or given a free transfer.

Werner. Promised so much but delivered little 

Emerson. Squad player at best . 

Gilmour. Has he developed ?

Batshayi. See Werner

Kennedy. See Batshayi

Alonso. At the time he left close  to or past his sell by date

Ampadu. So much promise but couldn’t take the step to become a PL regular

Rahman. Just not the level required

Barkley. Had a very good season for Luton but showed next to nothing when at CFC

Drinkwater. Terrible signing 

Bakayoko. See Drinkwater.

Havertyz. Everyone will see things differently re him. I personally think we got good money for him . Glad to see him gone

Mount. Did the club know something re his physical fitness? As a PL /International player gone backwards since leaving 

Pulsic. See Kennedy.

RLC. Had everything except for a body that can stand up to the rigours of The PL

Mendy. Not quite was a better GK than Kepa but not sure he would be judged a better keeper than Sanchez .

CHO. Had a good season at Forest but was a gamble to keep him with his injury record.

Hall. Clearly wanted to go back “home” may well develop into a top player but too early to judge.

Kante. Had been plagued by injuries. Had a great Euros but far from convinced he would have played enough games to justify a new contract.

Dave. Sadly was definitely a player in decline.

Jorginho. I too would have snapped Arsenals hand off at his age and contract state was an offer too good to refuse.

Kovacic. Sad this one but had , it seems, told the club that he wouldn’t sign a new deal at.CFC 

Thoughts ?

 

 

 

I agree with basically everything bar Mendy. To replace him with Sanchez has done no favours to the club, but clearly our GK situation is total mayhem until we hit the jackpot with one of our gambles. 

How we've done it and how quick is very much open to criticism, that we needed an overhaul shouldn't really be debatable.

Werner - I would have kept him personally. He's a great team player and would still offer us a lot, not goals but a lot of assists for sure.

Emerson - Nothing special, bit of an idiot after recent matches against West Ham.

Gilmour - I wish he was still here. He's a really unique midfielder and offers something different. He would be a fantastic squad player to have.

Batshuayi - Mediocre at best.

Kennedy - Decent squad player, very versatile. If depth was a problem I would have kept him.

Alonso - Yeah, no good anymore. Fantastic memories though.

Ampadu - Couldn't make the step up, Leeds is about his level.

Rahman - Waste of money.

Barkley - Can't fault the signing, it was worth a gamble in case he replicated his early Everton form.

Drinkwater - Less said the better. 40m. lol.

Bakayoko - 🖕

Havertz - Infuriating player, so glad we got rid.

Mount - I loved him. He was the face of Chelsea for me and I really, really wanted him to become the next Frank Lampard. I'm still sad he left.

Pulisic - He had so much potential and he wasn't far off reaching a level below Hazard but he couldn't sustain his purple patches which didn't last very long. His injuries have ruined him.

RLC - I really thought he was going to become a superstar and I thought 'Finally he got there' under Sarri but that stupid dumb yank friendly. *sigh*

Mendy - He was amazing that season, that game against Brentford sticks out. IMMENSE. Sad he can't keep it up but thanks for the memories.

CHO - Damn he was so exciting when he first broke through, but he couldn't quite make the next step and then injuries kind of ruined his chances of becoming a starter. I wish him the best.

Hall - He's a brilliant player, I would have loved to keep him. His maturity is incredible for his age.

Kante - He should have stayed for bit longer really, even as bit part player. He is genuinely world class and the fact he's still a starter for France says it all really.

Dave - Yeah we definitely sold him at right time, he was heading down the Ivanovic route.

Jorginho - Should have kept him for one season at least purely for his experience. 

Kovacic - Shouldn't have sold him. He offers experience and first team quality, it was stupid to let him go.

Agree with all of that @dansubrosa other than Alonso, attacking that wing won us games during the start of the downfall! I think we got rid of him too early again!

Would have kept Kante and Gilmour.

Would be interesting to do the same thing with all the Clearlake signings and see who is deemed a good buy or a good bye.

1 minute ago, just said:

Would have kept Kante and Gilmour.

Would be interesting to do the same thing with all the Clearlake signings and see who is deemed a good buy or a good bye.

Go on then... Better do it on a scroll.

8 minutes ago, Mod said:

Agree with all of that @dansubrosa other than Alonso, attacking that wing won us games during the start of the downfall! I think we got rid of him too early again!

No way, do you remember how bad he was at defending... I think it was against A**x he was completely all over the place and got subbed at HT. I've never seen such a bad performance 

Aj@x. Not sure why it got censored... 

2 minutes ago, dansubrosa said:

Go on then... Better do it on a scroll.

Would have kept Aubameyang and Sterling. 

1 hour ago, dansubrosa said:

No way, do you remember how bad he was at defending... I think it was against A**x he was completely all over the place and got subbed at HT. I've never seen such a bad performance 

He had some bad games, but so did JT and Leboeuf! Alonso dug us out often towards his end, and should have stayed around a bit longer for some experience! He is elite level compared to some of the sh*t we signed since!

3 hours ago, Mod said:

He had some bad games, but so did JT and Leboeuf! Alonso dug us out often towards his end, and should have stayed around a bit longer for some experience! He is elite level compared to some of the sh*t we signed since!

He was great as an attacking fullback. I believe I once or more joked to put him up top as a striker.

 

I agree with a lot of those...but I would have kept Kovacic and jorginho if possible.

For the love of God we could do with some maturity and experience on and off the pitch. They could mentor and prepare them in training and in the changing rooms, and guide them on the pitch and lead the way on controlling games. 

I actually think we could be a top squad if we just kept 2 or 3 older more mature and experienced players.

 

*Oh, the ones that hurt are rudiger and christensen. Rudiger especially, oh he would kick these kids arses and keep them in line. Him, Kovacic and jorginho would do.

Edited September 7, 20241 yr by Simplymo

Only players I regret leaving are Kai and Livramento. And chalobah to an extent - who I continue to think is better than Disasi and baddy.

Mendy would have been a fine understudy - but was a liability with the ball at his feet.

Timo - I obviously loved - but he was poor towards the end and it was the right decision to move him on. 
 

Mount is an odd one. 

 

Mendy was the puzzler. Looked the goods in just about all departments. Seemed to suffer a crisis of confidence and he fell off a cliff. No idea what happened.

Havertz was at the wrong club at the wrong time. Played as an out and out striker, which he's not and never has been, due to our lack of a striker. Arteta is getting the most out of him by letting him play the game he did in the BL. 

Kovacic I miss. Great team man, played most of his last season carrying leg injuries. Our loss, MC's gain.

8 hours ago, Simplymo said:

He was great as an attacking fullback. I believe I once or more joked to put him up top as a striker.

 

I agree with a lot of those...but I would have kept Kovacic and jorginho if possible.

For the love of God we could do with some maturity and experience on and off the pitch. They could mentor and prepare them in training and in the changing rooms, and guide them on the pitch and lead the way on controlling games. 

I actually think we could be a top squad if we just kept 2 or 3 older more mature and experienced players.

 

*Oh, the ones that hurt are rudiger and christensen. Rudiger especially, oh he would kick these kids arses and keep them in line. Him, Kovacic and jorginho would do.

In one sense I feel keeping Jorginho as a rotation option would have been ideal, but then I remember who our manager was last season and how he'd have utlisized him.

2 hours ago, dermott said:

 

Kovacic I miss. Great team man, played most of his last season carrying leg injuries. Our loss, MC's gain.

I miss him too. He has Aura.

Werner - Always offered an outlet but never turned into the ‘superstar’ I envisioned, career has petered out hence why he’s now at a small club.

Emerson - Weird signing at the time, at his level at them.

Gilmour - Probably better than Enzo in all fairness, should’ve kept hold.

Batshuayi - Awful to be polite, on par with Jackson that we now have.

Kennedy - Never saw enough of him to judge but always felt like untapped potential.

Alonso - Has to go down as one of our greatest signings. Worth keeping just for playing against Spurs

Rahman - I’d forgot we ever signed him.

Barkley - Can't cut it at a big club. Harry Kane syndrome.

Drinkwater - 😂

Bakayoko - 😂😂

Havertz - I loved him, hate to see how well he’s doing at Arsenal should’ve kept him.

Mount - He’s essentially Dele Alli with a Dad

Pulisic - Signed him to sell shirts, one good game every 10. Should’ve gone for Sancho instead 

RLC - Really wish we’d kept him, unbelievable player to watch and could’ve been a Superstar by now if not for that friendly 

Mendy - Needs drug testing for that CL season cos the fall of was DRAMATIC.

CHO - Should’ve sold to Bayern when we had the chance

Hall - Never saw enough when he played for us to warrant keeping but also we haven’t signed better so…

Kante - Injuries + Wages made it make sense to move on

Dave - Iconic but borderline suspect by the end

Jorginho - Should’ve sold him when we sacked Sarri. Boring.

Kovacic - What does he do? I’ve never understood the player?

9 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

Only players I regret leaving are Kai and Livramento. And chalobah to an extent - who I continue to think is better than Disasi and baddy.

Mendy would have been a fine understudy - but was a liability with the ball at his feet.

Timo - I obviously loved - but he was poor towards the end and it was the right decision to move him on. 
 

Mount is an odd one. 

 

Oohhh I forgot about Livarmento, I was on the line with him. We had reece, him and another player (name escapes me atm) and we kept reece. Could/should maybe have kept him as well and gave him some game time but reece was flying then. 

 

Kai, I actually really like and think if we played him properly he would have been amazing. He was still young and learning and I feel we may have fkd his progress.

He's still trying to get back to his potential but I feel it won't reach the heights he could have gone.

The only player from that list I regret to see leave was Rudiger. He would have been invaluable to us these days considering how shaky we look at the back. Some would probably mention Christensen too, but he was too injury prone and got dominated by physically imposing forwards on a regular basis. Jorginho/Kovacic could have been decent squad options due to their experience but they are no difference makers and past their prime, anyway, so not too fussed about them leaving. It's the fact that we never replaced them with established experienced midfielders to help out Enzo, Caicedo etc is the real issue.

The rest of the list I couldn't give a f**k about. Havertz looks good at Arse because they're much more stable side and he feels more confident playing in a system. We got good money for him and he did f**k all (bar that goal) in three seasons, so who cares. 

The one who wasn't mentioned and who I'd go for is Guehi. He refused to extend with us and left for Palace because he had the likes of Rudiger, Christensen and Silva ahead of him in a pecking order and since then he's developed into a very promising centreback. Granted, he wouldn't be the player he is now if he didn't leave back then and wasn't allowed to play regularly at Palace, but as long as we reminisce about those that left, he'd be my choice to bring back.

On 07/09/2024 at 16:44, Simplymo said:

Kai, I actually really like and think if we played him properly he would have been amazing. He was still young and learning and I feel we may have fkd his progress.

He's still trying to get back to his potential but I feel it won't reach the heights he could have gone.

Please elaborate.

We played him as a lone 9, second striker, a free roaming 10, one of two 10's, an 8 and on the wing. He was f**king pants in all of them, how on earth could we have played him properly? His failure is his own.  

Twist