Chelsea Discussion

[OrangeKhrush]

Chelsea look like a football paella.   little bit of different managers, no real plan or identity, Hollywood FC

Kepa had a stinker but I'll let him off and mendy are fine

oldmanpulqueta and Silva should be in a retirement home.   koulibaly made sense 3 years ago but signing a twilight defender to a rebuild team is just madness.   Wesley Fofana is going to be an unmitigated disaster, the guy looks petrified in any 50-50 and is now injured again.

James and chilwel are fine, Cucarella may end up fine but buying one season players is usually a risk, 62m makes it a big risk if it goes bust.

kovecic and kante good but aging, McGregor not Chelsea caliber, LoftusCheek meh, pulisic meh.   

auba a Chernobyl level toxic player passed his best to replace a younger player in lukaku who could have just needed a better manager.

paella FC, lots of seafood mix in there that can leave you with dihorea

[True Blue]

23 hours ago, Cicero said:

Brighton should’ve won 6-1 in all honesty. 
 

One of the worst team effort performances and management I’ve seen in a long, long time. The first 20-30 minutes were unforgivable. 

Not saying we did well but we had more than enough chances to score more goals. Also two of the four goals were own goals easily both avoidable. Oh we definitely had worse games performance and management wise even this season, just for example Leeds away.

[Cicero]

Leeds we had chances too but that was more of of individual errors and players not giving in arse. 

Brighton was a combination of that and the Potter's bizarre tactics. 

[True Blue]

14 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Leeds we had chances too but that was more of of individual errors and players not giving in arse. 

Brighton was a combination of that and the Potter's bizarre tactics. 

I can understand he is trying things out and rotating ahead of a busy schedule but i am praying he ditches the 343 it doesn't suit anyone apart from the defence. Sterling at wing back is so wasteful, he can't get into scoring positions and it brings nothing to the team as he can't defend. 

[Cicero]

2 minutes ago, True Blue said:

I can understand he is trying things out and rotating ahead of a busy schedule but i am praying he ditches the 343 it doesn't suit anyone apart from the defence. Sterling at wing back is so wasteful, he can't get into scoring positions and it brings nothing to the team as he can't defend. 

Potter gets a free pass given how unbalanced our squad is with players and players not up to scratch quality wise. But management decisions like last week against Brighton, need to end. 

[True Blue]

Just now, Cicero said:

Potter gets a free pass given how unbalanced our squad is with players and players not up to scratch quality wise. But management decisions like last week against Brighton, need to end. 

He will definitely be given untl the end of the season regardless how it ends. We won't drop to managers in a season. He doesn't look like a stupid manager and i am sure he can learn from his mistakes.

[OrangeKhrush]

Potter is inheriting the product of years of incompetent handling,  sadly Boehly hasn't exactly shown to be much of an improvement. 

[Gunnersaurus]

I think Chelsea are the only top 6 team to have dropped points at home against another top 6 team. Is that a worry? @Bluewolf @Cicero

[Bluewolf]

55 minutes ago, Gunnersaurus said:

I think Chelsea are the only top 6 team to have dropped points at home against another top 6 team. Is that a worry? @Bluewolf @Cicero

Not so much this season.. Although on paper we have a side that should be comfortable for a top 4 finish the levels we are currently performing at we would be lucky to finish top 6 come the end of the season.. not really surprised given everything that has gone on 

[Spike]

5 hours ago, OrangeKhrush said:

Potter is inheriting the product of years of incompetent handling,  sadly Boehly hasn't exactly shown to be much of an improvement. 

They won the CL last year FFS

[Gunnersaurus]

10 minutes ago, Bluewolf said:

Not so much this season.. Although on paper we have a side that should be comfortable for a top 4 finish the levels we are currently performing at we would be lucky to finish top 6 come the end of the season.. not really surprised given everything that has gone on 

I'm not sure if top 4 is easy for anyone this season except for man city. The other top 5 are all around a similar level  I think. Then you have Newcastle doing well as well 

[OrangeKhrush]

1 minute ago, Spike said:

They won the CL last year FFS

a cup competition based on knock out rules is a crapshoot much like a world series run, the best team often doesn't win. 

it doesn't change the fact that Chelsea haven't looked like a championship winning team since 16/17.   Since Conte they have had Sarri, Lampard and Tuchel not much stability or planning, this past off season was a mess

 

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

7 minutes ago, OrangeKhrush said:

a cup competition based on knock out rules is a crapshoot much like a world series run, the best team often doesn't win. 

it doesn't change the fact that Chelsea haven't looked like a championship winning team since 16/17.   Since Conte they have had Sarri, Lampard and Tuchel not much stability or planning, this past off season was a mess

 

 

Tbf Chelsea haven't really operated the way most clubs do in a very long time - I think it's sort of become part of the club culture to not have much stability or long term planning. I think that's not going to change quickly.

[Bluewolf]

1 minute ago, Gunnersaurus said:

I'm not sure if top 4 is easy for anyone this season except for man city. The other top 5 are all around a similar level  I think. Then you have Newcastle doing well as well 

With regard to outlay/players and squad depth top 4 should the bare minimum requirement for us and on paper should be achievable. Sides like Arsenal/Spurs normally have pretty good runs but then fade away a bit as the season goes on but even I thought Spurs would finish above us this season, I don't know how long Arsenal can keep up the current levels of performance or if they will drop down a bit at a later stage, City obviously are in for a shout for the title every season and we might have expected Liverpool to have been close behind but not so far.. Newcastle are currently that one unexpected side that performs above average and surprises everyone, and you have a team like that every season.. 

This season is going to be harder than normal for everyone and the World Cup is going to take it's toll on the bigger clubs players for sure so anything could happen... 

[Bluewolf]

Just now, Dr. Gonzo said:

Tbf Chelsea haven't really operated the way most clubs do in a very long time - I think it's sort of become part of the club culture to not have much stability or long term planning. I think that's not going to change quickly.

In fairness to that policy it has kept us successful even though it kept giving us a manager merry go round  

[Spike]

9 minutes ago, OrangeKhrush said:

a cup competition based on knock out rules is a crapshoot much like a world series run, the best team often doesn't win. 

it doesn't change the fact that Chelsea haven't looked like a championship winning team since 16/17.   Since Conte they have had Sarri, Lampard and Tuchel not much stability or planning, this past off season was a mess

 

 

Crapshoot Mate, that is the strangest thing I've read in this thread and half the posts in here are by The Liquidator. Any team that wins the CL is the highest percentile of teams in the world, it doesn't happen by chance.

Regarding the World Series, it's a false dichotomy due to the nature of baseball. The 'best team' might not even have the best record because of how long the season is and how many changes the line-ups go through.

[Gunnersaurus]

5 minutes ago, Bluewolf said:

With regard to outlay/players and squad depth top 4 should the bare minimum requirement for us and on paper should be achievable. Sides like Arsenal/Spurs normally have pretty good runs but then fade away a bit as the season goes on but even I thought Spurs would finish above us this season, I don't know how long Arsenal can keep up the current levels of performance or if they will drop down a bit at a later stage, City obviously are in for a shout for the title every season and we might have expected Liverpool to have been close behind but not so far.. Newcastle are currently that one unexpected side that performs above average and surprises everyone, and you have a team like that every season.. 

This season is going to be harder than normal for everyone and the World Cup is going to take it's toll on the bigger clubs players for sure so anything could happen... 

I'd be surprised if you finish above us this season. A ten point gap will be hard to make up

[Dr. Gonzo]

2 minutes ago, Bluewolf said:

In fairness to that policy it has kept us successful even though it kept giving us a manager merry go round  

Yeah, I think it worked better before there was another oil club in the league though. It's a bit harder when you've got the likes of City that have a similar nearly endless pit of money, the same desire to get results right away, but also have the stability that Chelsea don't have.

It's not been unsuccessful since you've had another financial competitor... but it's been much less successful and I don't think it's coincidental. I think Chelsea would be an absolute force if they found that same balance City have.

Granted, it's tough to say "just go get that balance" because you've got to get some sort of incredible manager like Pep and you have a shitload of money, but not the same unending pit of money that City have.

[Bluewolf]

2 minutes ago, Gunnersaurus said:

I'd be surprised if you finish above us this season. A ten point gap will be hard to make up

That's what I am saying.. I don't think we will finish in the top 4

[OrangeKhrush]

it's fair to say Potter has inherited  side that doesn't fit his style, the problem being is many are newish players that Tuchel/Boehly bought.   

 

[Gunnersaurus]

2 minutes ago, Bluewolf said:

That's what I am saying.. I don't think we will finish in the top 4

I think sometimes it isn't as always simple as saying who has the strongest squad. Players have to gel then you have strength in depth, certain players not on form etc. Remember that real madrid side in the early 00's. Had the best players in the world but couldn't win back to back la liga titles. 

[Gunnersaurus]

7 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Yeah, I think it worked better before there was another oil club in the league though. It's a bit harder when you've got the likes of City that have a similar nearly endless pit of money, the same desire to get results right away, but also have the stability that Chelsea don't have.

It's not been unsuccessful since you've had another financial competitor... but it's been much less successful and I don't think it's coincidental. I think Chelsea would be an absolute force if they found that same balance City have.

Granted, it's tough to say "just go get that balance" because you've got to get some sort of incredible manager like Pep and you have a shitload of money, but not the same unending pit of money that City have.

To be fair though Chelsea lost that financial muscle with the massive inflation of transfer fees. When Abramovich first came he had enough money to make Chelsea richer than everyone but as football inflated his money wasnt enough and other clubs could outspend them. These American owners don't seem to understand football that well. I think the Chelsea era may be over.

[True Blue]

2 minutes ago, Gunnersaurus said:

To be fair though Chelsea lost that financial muscle with the massive inflation of transfer fees. When Abramovich first came he had enough money to make Chelsea richer than everyone but as football inflated his money wasnt enough and other clubs could outspend them. These American owners don't seem to understand football that well. I think the Chelsea era may be over.

I am ready for the Championship mate

[Gunnersaurus]

2 minutes ago, True Blue said:

I am ready for the Championship mate

I wouldn't go that far mate. The thing is with Abramovich was even when you weren't outstanding other clubs you still did well. He wanted Chelsea to succeed. Maybe for the wrong reasons but neverless he did. I think your new owners just want to make money. They will only invest when it means they will make more money. So they may invest to get you in the champions league but not invest to take you to the next level. Similar to our owners. Unfortunately bad ownership is a part of modern football

[True Blue]

Just now, Gunnersaurus said:

I wouldn't go that far mate. The thing is with Abramovich was even when you weren't outstanding other clubs you still did well. He wanted Chelsea to succeed. Maybe for the wrong reasons but neverless he did. I think your new owners just want to make money. They will only invest when it means they will make more money. So they may invest to get you in the champions league but not invest to take you to the next level. Similar to our owners. Unfortunately bad ownership is a part of modern football

I know mate i was just joking. I don't think we actually ever had a era League wise, five league titles in what Romans 1' years? However we won a lot of different trophies but we never dominated the League liem for example United under Fergie. Think City might just be able to do that in the league under Pep. In the last decade they won 5 and looking so to do it again this season no discrediting Arsenal's chances but i don't think they have the depth for such a long season.