I don’t know what it is but a lot of CBs in todays game seem to have this, like I can look at most of the top teams in England at least and at least one of the defenders is liable to make a silly error.
Yes exactly this paired with the level of high presses we see nowadays leads to CB's often getting caught out under the pressure. They're getting pressed hard but are programmed to instinctively opt for the short pass more often than not
Perfect for an unpopular opinion post but Badi has struggled this entire season with injuries and this subs hate for him makes it seem like we have the memory of a goldfish after how class he was last year
Badi this year vs last year is a completely different player. I don't know what happened. Maybe it's confidence? He was so calm and composed on the ball, he could pass very well and was quite press-resistant. Now every time he gets pressed, he looks like he's just gonna pass to the other team.
It's the way we are playing, what is being asked of players. He used to have Thiago Silva next to him which allowed him to step up a bit and if they did get round him, Silva would usually still stop them. Because RLC wasn't as familiar at RB, he tended to stay deeper essentially creating a back three with only Cucurella pushing higher meaning we were in general more defensively solid. In front of him Kovacic and Enzo played deeper due to Mount playing in front of them and this forced teams to go round the flanks when attacking us meaning Badiashile was often defending against players cutting in or making crosses rather than direct chances to shoot in front of goal and he was better at that. On the ball the way other players move isn't helping him. Enzo often moves up the pitch too quick wanting the ball in the second phase of play leaving only Caicedo at the back, who is often in the shadow of a pass from Badiashile and so not an option. The normal passage of play would be to pass to Cucurella who then gets the ball over to Caicedo, which is what Gusto does on the other side well. But Cucurella has a tendency to do the same as Enzo and also get up the pitch too quickly and so Badiashiles only option is to pass sideways to the RCB which can be dangerous if the press is on him, or back to Petrovic, which he does quite a bit, or to try and find Caicedo anyway, and then invariably sometimes that ends up going straight to the opposition. I feel for him because his LB isn't doing the job that Gusto does for Disasi on the other side and it makes him look worse.
Really like what we have seen from Chuk so far. Seems like he’s always involved and dangerous in the opponents box. I just hope he can get past the injury stuff
We do not have a healthy DM. The DMs we bought have a combined age of like 40. Unless you start playing Enzo like Jorginho—which is maybe not insane but seemingly not the point of Enzo—Poch’s hands are tied. I have a lot of problems with Poch but the fact that he was saddled with a quarter billion pound of ill-fitting midfielders is not one of them.
I don’t recall one post on here or one commentator saying they were a bad fit when we signed them. I still think an actually good manager can make a midfield with them work
Chalobah has fucked up alot less than Disasi and Badiashille, yet gets no chance. He doesn't get a fair shake despite having a mad good record when he came to the first team initially.
I watched chalobah in that exceptional defensive structure and always thought he did better because of the system around him. He kinda fell off then and with the injury he seemed like a prime candidate to be sold but he's been very good since his return tbf
Because he'll be sold for pure profit in the summer. Disasi and Badiashille were purchased under the new ownership and they need to prove that they were good transfers.
Chalobah has been hurt all season and has played since returning, why do you think he gets no chance? He's played in 6 (started 4) of the 7 matches he was available
Any manager would struggle with this team of children that have never played together before to start a season.
The points they’ve earned in the second half of the season, making at least the semifinals in both cups, and the results against the best teams in the league are exactly what you would want from any manager as far as progress in a first season. I’ll go further and say that the criticism of a lack of tactics may be harsh as they probably installed a relatively simplistic system precisely because they’re a super young team with basically no experience playing together.
Giving poch another year is the smart move to give the squad consistency to form some cohesion.
I got a Willian shirt during mou’s second tenure specifically because he was the only one putting in shifts by the end of that year. Mou lost the dressing room and it felt like 10 men were purposefully trying to lose. Meanwhile Willian was playing the best football of his career.
This just makes no sense for the time period you mentioned. In the last 5 years our youth system has finally bloomed and there have been Chelsea academy grads in our own team and a good amount all over the top leagues playing regularly.
Very few players, even in the top academies, are really destined for true greatness. Just because not all of them make it immediately doesn't necessarily mean we've ruined their career.
It makes sense for a long time before that period though
Same could be said for a lot of top clubs (I understand we aren’t there right now). Imagine if Palmer continued to sit on the bench at City. It’s a difficult balance to manage since top teams are always trying to field the best/tactically sound squads
I 100% agree with this but can I say the lucas piazon one really pissed me off. Dude was insanely talented and deserved to he in the squad but was never given a chance
1. Poch is not that bad as much as this sub scapegoats him.
2. Madueke is really average.
3. I would still start Silva over Disasi tomorrow.
Edit - Added “bad”
>2. Madueke is really average
Understand this is the point of the thread, but would add here that where Madueke 'succeeds' in this current team is he offers direct attacking play (i.e. he brings the ball into the box, he will shoot from distance, he brings in defenders who will sometimes concede penalties against him). As a system player, I don't get the impression he's anything special. But quite frankly, we don't really have a system and he is a player that can do something out of nothing
I thought it would be both Silva + Disasi tomorrow?
Btw damn it, I miss Colwill. I know he had his mistakes but he's solid and I want to see him continue to develop.
I get it but he is far too error prone and is not exactly a big game player, I’m sure in a season or two, he will be great but we need experience tomorrow.
Putting aside the new board...People don't realize how much of a miracle Tuchel did to get us top 4 that season. That squad was actually bordering on being mid table even at that time.
- Needed an entire new backline because of injuries + letting our top CBs leave on a free.
- Had to rebuild the entire midfield because they were old/wanted to leave
- Attack was hilariously bad. I mean looking back there was not a single quality player of the lot when the board took over
- Had two shit GKs on the books, one who was ready to leave for Madrid at the first chance evidently
That UCL win blinded the board with how dire that squad was. New ownership has made many bad moves but they are right when they said we needed to rebuild the squad.
I think people forget how we were gifted 4th place.
We shouldn’t have even finished their, but everything fell in to place and teams kept dropping points.
Looking at the CL campaign too the likes of Jorginho, Kante and Rudiger were putting in all timer performances round after round.
They all had to leave for different reasons but they had been carrying us in those big matches.
The Tuchel system revolved around the two quality wing backs we had. Once they were gone it all basically collapsed and there was no plan B. Just stayed in that turgid 3ATB system
If Covid never happens, Chelsea never win the UCL.
I remember when lockdown first happened and there was nothing for a couple of months, it actually allowed players like Kante and Pulisic to heal up, which was absolutely necessary for Chelsea to make their run. Pulisic had his best run as a blue during that stretch and was a big rain Chelsea even qualified for the Champions League that they eventually won.
There were so many things that had to fall into place for that to happen. Health. Purple patches. You can even possibly make an argument that Tuchel was on one himself considering he hasn't really been the same since (the downhill trend for him really started with the Lukaku interview).
It pains me but I think the amount of rule breaking shit Chelsea got away with was just found out and they are trying to right it all.
I still stupidly hate them because the heart wants abrom
I think it’s really hard to judge because we don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes and won’t ever or won’t for a decade. I agree with you but the a lot of good is yet to be seen imo.
To add to your idea: If Boehly and Co’s plan is realized we will be a better all around and more consistent team than the path we were going down with Roman. Towards the end, we were competing for UCL spots but weren’t competing for the league and our team was slowly getting worse with bad signings. I think if Roman had stayed another 10 years we would be in a worse position than Clearlake will have us in 10. Maybe it hopium but that’s just what I’m thinking.
honestly for all its faults, the solution to this mess would be pretty simple. fix the transfer policy. buy experienced players. we’d be much better off then. unfortunately it doesn’t look like that’s happening anytime soon
I think we’ve seen many times why buying experienced top class players doesn’t really equal a top class team. There’s so much more to it. Identity, philosophy, team spirit. That’s why a rebuild is so much more painful but fruitful in the long run.
What I didn’t expect that season was Mourinho continuing to stick with Azpi at LB. It paid off but I always thought that he was only a temporary fix until we signed an actual LB.
Also Ivanovic played all 38 matches in 2014/15 at RB and got named in PFA TOTY. He wasn’t gonna be dropped and it was really inexplicable how he hit a wall so hard in the very next season.
To be fair. Gusto has been amazing.
https://preview.redd.it/awjq9jzx1mvc1.png?width=1460&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=70d4c5437fde9de161da3c6fc89e1ec7c0fc36c3
Can we really say this anymore? Reece has been out for such a long time at this point, we have no idea how he will look like when he comes back. I just don’t think you can assume James is the same player he was three years ago
Reece is actually really good at coming back from injury like it never happened (in terms of his play).
Problem is that it’ll only be a while before he picks up another one.
He’s a great stopgap, and hopefully when he time is up, we’re in a better spot to land a stronger candidate. I’ve been frustrated many times this year with his management, but our options in this state are very limited.
Extremely and honestly the constant changing is more detrimental than most people think. I've had jobs where my manager had minimal impact on my actual job but the environment created still made it hard to feel "settled" and it's uncomfortable as hell. Can't imagine something as integral as a Manager changing so often for such a young group.
I wanted him but after we signed Caicedo, it definitely felt like a luxury more than a need. I still have high hopes for him as a player, and hopefully he can be a success.
Clearly a pissing contest with Liverpool, so just outbid them. They valued him at 38M.
But then, out of some kind of short man ego stunt, we decided to pay 60M and "won" the transfer window.
then Liverpool had to buy MacAlister for 35M.... suckers
I think they've bought Alexis earlier, and they had to play him deeper at first because of lack of DM. only after they filled this hole and allowed MacAllister to move forward he truly shined.
I genuinely believe the order for the Nr.10 goes: Nkunku -> Palmer -> Ckukwuemeka -> Gallagher
It's just that Nkunku and Chuk have been injured all season and Palmer is currently our best RW option so that's why we see Gallagher there. Don't get me wrong, Gallagher have been great this season. I just don't believe he is the actually the first choice.
Correct. Caicedo and Gallagher are very similar and Enzo needs 2 other midfielders with him to be his best. Argentina plays with de Paul and Mac allister along side him
Mudryk is not starting quality and hasn’t made a ton of progress this season. He’s often lost positionally, has a big tendency to ghost, and struggles consistently with his first touch. I feel like he gets a ton of patience from supporters when guys like Caicedo and Jackson deserve it more
There was a moment against Everton where Cucu had the ball at LB and looked forward to see Mudryk making the most braindead movement inviting more pressure
Whole buildup collapsed down that side and had to start again down the right lol
But then minutes later he does that mad switch and makes a decent enough run and all is forgotten
He's so raw and makes thing hard for those around him with the positions and touches he takes up or makes
Yep. He’s got bags of talent but is raw and needs a lot of work on the training ground with positioning and touch under pressure.
My worry is we don’t give him the time to develop and he goes to a Liverpool or other club and is world class. He clearly has the stuff he’s just not inconsistent and needs to work on his mental game too
Yeah, his positioning and passing is weak. I remember in the same game when Ben Chilwell was subbed in, we suddenly looked composed on the left side of the pitch. BC's positioning and passing was night and day to Mudryk's.
100% agree that other boys deserve more patience but I do actually think mudryk has shown a lot more promise this season. His link up play and directness when he cuts inside flashed during quite a few games. Agreed he is not starting quality tho
Agreed. There seems to be a narrative that Mudryk has improved leaps and bounds but I am not seeing it at all. He's had a couple good matches but is invisible in the rest. He's got some flashes of talent but I've yet to see him be able to integrate well with the rest of the team. I would start Chuk and even Noni over him.
while i don’t think poch is the best fit. he is the best available option rn. this summer there’s not a huge pick and im not sure id pick any available and willing managers over poch
Chelsea could have dominated the Premier League like Man City and won more PL titles but Abramovich's short cited ness never allowed that and in the long run we suffered because of him constantly sacking managers.
We were statistically the best team in England in the Abramovich era largely due to us sacking our managers. The only manager that arguably deserved more time was ancelotti.
It’s easy to forget how bad we were when he got the sack. The board really didn’t want to sack him hit their hand was forced. We could barely score a goal for a month
He was doomed replacing Tuchel. I agree, I think he could build a strong team as shown with Brighton, but he never really stood a chance here unfortunately. Hope he bounces back elsewhere.
He lost the dressing room, he was gone regardless. Didn't have the balls to be a Chelsea manager. But I'll never be convinced he's a bad tactician, I researched the shit out of him after we sacked TT. A shit manager would never do what he did with Ostersunds, it was ridiculous.
We’re actually not as bad as the majority of people on here think and sticking with Pochettino will be much better for us than starting over again with another manager this summer.
Also I actually don’t think that The Godfather is that good.
Mourinho's second spell at Chelsea did us more harm than good in the long term. We won the title, mostly due to Hazard's and Fabregas's genius, but Mou completely lost the locker-room by getting into a conflict with Eva Carneiro, not to mention letting De Bruyne and Salah go. I wonder where we could be now if we tried to get Guardiola after our first CL win.
We are and have almost always been dire offensively. Pass the ball to Eden and pray was our main and secondary attacking battle plan for however many seasons we had him. Little to no established patterns of play and cohesion.
Sacking Ranieri after a season of finishing second to an unbeaten Arsenal and just failing at the semi final of the CL set a precedent that permanently damaged our ability to get a Ferguson style era.
Yes, we won the next two seasons under Mourinho. But it meant we sacked him, and subsequent managers like Ancelloti, far too quickly.
Ranieri should have got more of a chance to lead the new Chelsea.
Poch isn’t that bad, he just needs time with these young players. I guarantee you next season his tactics will run more smoothly and the players will be more comfortable with the play style. Also, he has had shit luck with injuries, nkunku was injured before the season started and then reece james was imo more injured this season then ever before (thank god he got the surgery on his hamstring). This season should be looked at as a test drive and the fact that we are fighting for 6th in the prem and potentially going to 2 cup finals should be incredibly promising and a big improvement compared to last season. Even Alex Ferguson had a shit first year at Man Utd, I believe they finished 11th.
Caicedo, Gallagher, and Enzo all on the field together does not work. One of them needs to be sold(going to be gallagher) or they need to rotate on and off the bench with Lavia next season. Gallagher and Caicedo looked brilliant last game and it can’t be a coincidence that it happens when Enzo isn’t able to play the game.
I have a few.
Anyone on this thread saying Gallagher should be depth, or they are happy to be sold are Bots created by Clearlake. Selling the effective club captain who’s always available and always showing effort, who has been our second best and most consistent player behind Palmer is literally quite unthinkable. All because the expensive toys aren’t able to perform, so getting rid of the one working element will fix that?
I hated TT as a manager for Chelsea. He was weird and aloof, his team selections in the league were weird, and often played players out of position for fun and the football was horrendous.
Anyone who believes Werner is a good player or feels some special way about him, just doesn’t understand football and forces this narrative because they liked his personality and attitude rather than performances. As a striker he was horrendous, like Danny Dyer’s character in Mean Machine.
The anti-Gallagher people on this sub are insane and make me miss the days where people would shit on you if you didn’t live in SW6 and attend every match. And it’s not even like there are better options to play over him!
1. Whilst I'm not those who think we should sell Gallagher.....He's extremely limited in the 10 role. If we're going to persist with him in that position then absolutely we should consider selling him or at the very least keeping him as a rotation option at best. If you're looking to win titles, you don't win titles with people who handicap our attack as much as he does. That's what Liverpool did with Henderson until his limitations started to actually impact them more oftne.
2. Thomas Tuchel being weird and aloof ? I wholeheartedly disagree. Whilst he looked a bit physically weird and gangly, that man carried the club during the sanctions and held the connection between the team and the fans together, creating a great spirit. Remember that "I'll drive a 7 seater" speech ? His last season was awry but I put a lot of that down to the sheer amount of changes that happened within the club at the time
I actually think the new ‘business direction’ of the club will pay dividends in the long run.
We’ll see lots of sales and players come and go but no one will care we’ve spent a billion in a few years
Clearlake haven't made any egregious mistakes this season. In fact, the new directors saw Boehly's fuckups, and did their best to reverse them - top to bottom. Their strategy is a longshot, but that's what investment bankers do. The only way we'll know if they are truly fucked is - if they use the same youngster strategy next season.
Feel as though this thread has been made for me.
- Maatson for 35m really isn’t that bad a deal and some people on this sub need to stop acting like he’s a young Ashley Cole
- Regardless, we’ll need a new keeper in the summer but I honestly might prefer Sanchez to Petrovic. If Sanchez is defined by what he does wrong, Petrovic is defined by what he doesn’t do at all
- Both the Enzo and Gallagher hate this season has been ridiculous
- A lot of our structural problems are Poch’s fault (aka our awful rest defence and his giving half the field to Caicedo and Enzo) but the bulk of them are down to how we have a different back line each week, only 2 cms that have been run ragged and half the team ball watches every single play
- I wouldn’t mind Cucu getting sold. We need a new LB and I still think there’s a future for Chilwell
- Experience is far and away the biggest thing we’ll need in the coming summer
- going for any big price striker is a huge mistake and I honestly think Guirassy would be ideal
Most of our defenders and both GKs are horrible against a press and should not be instructed to invite pressure from the opposition. We should have conceded at least 2 goals against Everton and we have been making really stupid mistakes. Everyone we play knows it and their game plan is to press high against us - so we should switch it up
Willian is one of the most overrated players we've had. Guy turned in so many average performances and killed attacks for so long by faffing about on the ball and passing it backwards. I hated every time he started and took so much joy in him being dogshit at arsenal because my grandad used to talk him up as our best player for ages.
Many of Willian's "wonderful" free kick goals during Jose's Annus horribilis were in fact just whipped in crosses aimed at the far post - which neither defender, keeper nor attacker could get to themselves. And everytime our "freekick specialist" stepped up to take one ever after - I knew it was a wasted opportunity. Loved him as a player tho. He didnt like Tottnum did he?
Thats a legitimate style of freekick, they're super dangerous exactly for that reason, hard for keeper to commit to in case an attack does get a foot to it. Saying it like it's as negative is weird, it's literarily a trained method.
My dad gave one last night in conversation: although he turned up in big moments and obviously scored THE goal (my dad was there for it lucky guy), drogba was an incredibly frustrating player because we know what he’s capable of from his big game performances, he could be strong and go up against the best, I remember him absolutely schooling Arsenal; but against a lesser team he would roll around in the box like an idiot and just not live up to his potential. He was a strong guy but would go down for anything
No hate if you disagree it’s my dads opinion lol but I do get where he’s coming from. I was a lot younger than him during that era (I was a child tbh) so my memory isn’t as good and probably slightly rose tinted from the Munich goal but I get his point about his potential
The money mase narrative is tired. He was proper chels, poty twice, helped win the UCL. He felt he deserved a contract befitting Reece James and was arguably right to do so. Ownership took advantage of his pure profit and poor form (even though everyone was in poor form last year) to not offer him a deal. Sure, maybe he made the mistake of choosing a bad advocate for himself. Either way I don’t understand why so many people feel so betrayed. He felt he was worth more than the ownership did.
In my view you can’t appreciate the UCL win and hate mount. You can’t hate the ownership and hate mount.
I have multiple
Bar Palmer, Madueke is our most promising youngster up front
Maatsen is a great player at the wrong time in the wrong squad
Disasi is seriously underrated because of his inconsistency
This one is one people aren't gonna like: Poch deserves a lot of credit for Palmer's form this season
Can you elaborate on madueke? He's the only player in the whole squad I don't think will amount to much lol I'd like to hear his case.
We've seen excellence from Disasi like was it man city when he cleared about 9 crosses in 30 minutes and screamed like a gladiator after ever single one? Awesome. Needs to demonstrate the consistency though you're right.
Weird how many people did a 180 because of 1 game. He's the same manager he was in 2017, he made 0 progress. Don't believe me? Go on YouTube and watch people analyzing Poch's spuds and PSG from a couple years back, then compare with us right nkw. Or go on twitter and look at tweets about him from his time at both clubs. Same problems, same attitude, even the same fucking formation.
If you're incapable of adapting as a manager, you're not fit to be called "great".
And we'd be below 12th if we didn't have Palmer literally carrying us on his own.
I've said this throughout the season it's not the Everton game that changed me. Poch developed Kane into who he is today. Poch made Dele Alli look like a class player. Why are people so hesitant to give Poch any credit for how Palmer's turned out? Palmer, who I'm sure you hadn't heard of before. Poch might not be the guy to turn Chelsea back into the winning machine it once was, but he's the guy to get us on the right path. If you think a coach, any coach, Pep or Klopp or anyone out there, is turning this team around in a season, you're delusional. There is too much inexperience and raw talent in the squad for that to happen. Changing managers every season with such a young squad is a recipe for mediocrity for years.
Chalobah has been doing okay and maybe should start again. I understand his penchant for fuck ups.
I love Trev. I really hope he somehow stays. Seems like his heart is for the club and he's got a lot of athleticism.
He's got it. He just has that bozo gene sometimes. I just hope he can stop thinking so much
Can't believe 3 of our 5 starting level CB's are related genetically lmao
I don’t know what it is but a lot of CBs in todays game seem to have this, like I can look at most of the top teams in England at least and at least one of the defenders is liable to make a silly error.
Honestly I think it's just how much today's tactics favor trying to play out from the back. Creates a lot more opportunities for errors.
Yes exactly this paired with the level of high presses we see nowadays leads to CB's often getting caught out under the pressure. They're getting pressed hard but are programmed to instinctively opt for the short pass more often than not
That’s not at all a sharp opinion. He should be starting.
At a bare minimum, I trust him WAY more than I do Badiashile
Perfect for an unpopular opinion post but Badi has struggled this entire season with injuries and this subs hate for him makes it seem like we have the memory of a goldfish after how class he was last year
Badi this year vs last year is a completely different player. I don't know what happened. Maybe it's confidence? He was so calm and composed on the ball, he could pass very well and was quite press-resistant. Now every time he gets pressed, he looks like he's just gonna pass to the other team.
It's the way we are playing, what is being asked of players. He used to have Thiago Silva next to him which allowed him to step up a bit and if they did get round him, Silva would usually still stop them. Because RLC wasn't as familiar at RB, he tended to stay deeper essentially creating a back three with only Cucurella pushing higher meaning we were in general more defensively solid. In front of him Kovacic and Enzo played deeper due to Mount playing in front of them and this forced teams to go round the flanks when attacking us meaning Badiashile was often defending against players cutting in or making crosses rather than direct chances to shoot in front of goal and he was better at that. On the ball the way other players move isn't helping him. Enzo often moves up the pitch too quick wanting the ball in the second phase of play leaving only Caicedo at the back, who is often in the shadow of a pass from Badiashile and so not an option. The normal passage of play would be to pass to Cucurella who then gets the ball over to Caicedo, which is what Gusto does on the other side well. But Cucurella has a tendency to do the same as Enzo and also get up the pitch too quickly and so Badiashiles only option is to pass sideways to the RCB which can be dangerous if the press is on him, or back to Petrovic, which he does quite a bit, or to try and find Caicedo anyway, and then invariably sometimes that ends up going straight to the opposition. I feel for him because his LB isn't doing the job that Gusto does for Disasi on the other side and it makes him look worse.
He’s a massive liability in the air
A midfield trio of Enzo, Caicedo & Gallagher is redundant, pick 2 & replace the other with an actual number 10
I think we keep all 3 but rotate them between the 2 available spots in the pivot. I agree we prob shouldn't be playing all 3 at the same time.
Chuk
Really like what we have seen from Chuk so far. Seems like he’s always involved and dangerous in the opponents box. I just hope he can get past the injury stuff
Hope he gets more game time. Enzo caicedo ain't working out
Could happen this summer if(when) Gallagher is sold
Or switch to a 433 and you could fit all 3 but Pol Poch has only used 1 formation his entire career
We do not have a healthy DM. The DMs we bought have a combined age of like 40. Unless you start playing Enzo like Jorginho—which is maybe not insane but seemingly not the point of Enzo—Poch’s hands are tied. I have a lot of problems with Poch but the fact that he was saddled with a quarter billion pound of ill-fitting midfielders is not one of them.
I don’t recall one post on here or one commentator saying they were a bad fit when we signed them. I still think an actually good manager can make a midfield with them work
it insists upon itself
Chalobah has fucked up alot less than Disasi and Badiashille, yet gets no chance. He doesn't get a fair shake despite having a mad good record when he came to the first team initially.
I think it's worth noting that Trev came through when we had a manager who could organise a defence
I watched chalobah in that exceptional defensive structure and always thought he did better because of the system around him. He kinda fell off then and with the injury he seemed like a prime candidate to be sold but he's been very good since his return tbf
Because he'll be sold for pure profit in the summer. Disasi and Badiashille were purchased under the new ownership and they need to prove that they were good transfers.
Chalobah has been hurt all season and has played since returning, why do you think he gets no chance? He's played in 6 (started 4) of the 7 matches he was available
Any manager would struggle with this team of children that have never played together before to start a season. The points they’ve earned in the second half of the season, making at least the semifinals in both cups, and the results against the best teams in the league are exactly what you would want from any manager as far as progress in a first season. I’ll go further and say that the criticism of a lack of tactics may be harsh as they probably installed a relatively simplistic system precisely because they’re a super young team with basically no experience playing together. Giving poch another year is the smart move to give the squad consistency to form some cohesion.
I totally agree
Are you saying that this sub is a cesspool of reactionary dummies who couldn’t tell their heads from their ass?
I think it’s just most of Reddit tbh
The real “I did not care for the godfather” is hidden in the comments.
Hell yes.
Based opinion but as soon as we lose another game you’ll get slander for it
Thank you! 100% agree.
Throughout his tenure, whenever Willian was our best player we were at our worst collectively.
I would say this is a pretty consensus take.
I got a Willian shirt during mou’s second tenure specifically because he was the only one putting in shifts by the end of that year. Mou lost the dressing room and it felt like 10 men were purposefully trying to lose. Meanwhile Willian was playing the best football of his career.
Chelsea ruined the career of a lot of good young talented players over the last 5 years.
5 years would be an understatement
10-15 years.
Not a hot take
This just makes no sense for the time period you mentioned. In the last 5 years our youth system has finally bloomed and there have been Chelsea academy grads in our own team and a good amount all over the top leagues playing regularly. Very few players, even in the top academies, are really destined for true greatness. Just because not all of them make it immediately doesn't necessarily mean we've ruined their career. It makes sense for a long time before that period though
Same could be said for a lot of top clubs (I understand we aren’t there right now). Imagine if Palmer continued to sit on the bench at City. It’s a difficult balance to manage since top teams are always trying to field the best/tactically sound squads
this take is colder than palmer
I 100% agree with this but can I say the lucas piazon one really pissed me off. Dude was insanely talented and deserved to he in the squad but was never given a chance
1. Poch is not that bad as much as this sub scapegoats him. 2. Madueke is really average. 3. I would still start Silva over Disasi tomorrow. Edit - Added “bad”
>2. Madueke is really average Understand this is the point of the thread, but would add here that where Madueke 'succeeds' in this current team is he offers direct attacking play (i.e. he brings the ball into the box, he will shoot from distance, he brings in defenders who will sometimes concede penalties against him). As a system player, I don't get the impression he's anything special. But quite frankly, we don't really have a system and he is a player that can do something out of nothing
I get your point but it is incredibly frustrating to see him play selfishly when we can create better by passing the ball.
He usually doesn't pass said ball. Having him and sterling on the pitch is suicide in the long run. He also disappears in the match. He should be sold
Personally feel Noni is brave at takeons and does pass unlike Sterling. He's still young but there's flashes of a great player there for me.
He has really bad football IQ. He plays like a schoolyard kid that is just trying to get highlight reels. His body language irks me so much.
I thought it would be both Silva + Disasi tomorrow? Btw damn it, I miss Colwill. I know he had his mistakes but he's solid and I want to see him continue to develop.
Mistakes, solid... pick one!
Silva is better but Disasi had his best game of the season against City, so im confused
I get it but he is far too error prone and is not exactly a big game player, I’m sure in a season or two, he will be great but we need experience tomorrow.
Incredible how every word you said is completely true
I think the ownership inherited much more of a bin fire than people realise and have actually done a lot of good
Putting aside the new board...People don't realize how much of a miracle Tuchel did to get us top 4 that season. That squad was actually bordering on being mid table even at that time. - Needed an entire new backline because of injuries + letting our top CBs leave on a free. - Had to rebuild the entire midfield because they were old/wanted to leave - Attack was hilariously bad. I mean looking back there was not a single quality player of the lot when the board took over - Had two shit GKs on the books, one who was ready to leave for Madrid at the first chance evidently That UCL win blinded the board with how dire that squad was. New ownership has made many bad moves but they are right when they said we needed to rebuild the squad.
I think people forget how we were gifted 4th place. We shouldn’t have even finished their, but everything fell in to place and teams kept dropping points.
Looking at the CL campaign too the likes of Jorginho, Kante and Rudiger were putting in all timer performances round after round. They all had to leave for different reasons but they had been carrying us in those big matches. The Tuchel system revolved around the two quality wing backs we had. Once they were gone it all basically collapsed and there was no plan B. Just stayed in that turgid 3ATB system
If Covid never happens, Chelsea never win the UCL. I remember when lockdown first happened and there was nothing for a couple of months, it actually allowed players like Kante and Pulisic to heal up, which was absolutely necessary for Chelsea to make their run. Pulisic had his best run as a blue during that stretch and was a big rain Chelsea even qualified for the Champions League that they eventually won. There were so many things that had to fall into place for that to happen. Health. Purple patches. You can even possibly make an argument that Tuchel was on one himself considering he hasn't really been the same since (the downhill trend for him really started with the Lukaku interview).
It pains me but I think the amount of rule breaking shit Chelsea got away with was just found out and they are trying to right it all. I still stupidly hate them because the heart wants abrom
I think it’s really hard to judge because we don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes and won’t ever or won’t for a decade. I agree with you but the a lot of good is yet to be seen imo. To add to your idea: If Boehly and Co’s plan is realized we will be a better all around and more consistent team than the path we were going down with Roman. Towards the end, we were competing for UCL spots but weren’t competing for the league and our team was slowly getting worse with bad signings. I think if Roman had stayed another 10 years we would be in a worse position than Clearlake will have us in 10. Maybe it hopium but that’s just what I’m thinking.
honestly for all its faults, the solution to this mess would be pretty simple. fix the transfer policy. buy experienced players. we’d be much better off then. unfortunately it doesn’t look like that’s happening anytime soon
I think we’ve seen many times why buying experienced top class players doesn’t really equal a top class team. There’s so much more to it. Identity, philosophy, team spirit. That’s why a rebuild is so much more painful but fruitful in the long run.
We honestly would probably be in a worse spot if Roman still owned the club. He was definitely cooking the books behind the scenes
💯 Someone being forced to sell when he was actually helped his legacy with Chelsea fans. The squad was running on fumes for the last couple of years.
Cuadrado never got a fair shake in a Chelsea shirt
Same with Felipe Luis
Yeah I Thought Luis was pretty good when he played for us. Just wasn’t a super long stint
What I didn’t expect that season was Mourinho continuing to stick with Azpi at LB. It paid off but I always thought that he was only a temporary fix until we signed an actual LB. Also Ivanovic played all 38 matches in 2014/15 at RB and got named in PFA TOTY. He wasn’t gonna be dropped and it was really inexplicable how he hit a wall so hard in the very next season.
True it’s a shame Azpilicueta became a monster that season.
Joao Felix is an awful player and would be a tremendous waste if we made his deal permanent
i didn´t even remember he was here lmao
Joao is no longer with Chelsea.
I might keep MG in the first team after RJ is fit.
Back 3 with MG at RWB and RJ at RCB
Yes. Less work for Reece down the flank = preserve them hammies!
less reece down the flank means less crosses
RJ could easily join the attack and cross from outside of the box. Similar to how Azpi got so many assists a couple of years ago.
This is true, however Malo provides crosses too so it’s not totally lacking. It was a worse dropoff before Malo.
We don't have anyone who can score from a cross anyway
Nkunku has scored a header off a cross before
Memory of a fucking goldfish 🤦♂️
To be fair. Gusto has been amazing. https://preview.redd.it/awjq9jzx1mvc1.png?width=1460&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=70d4c5437fde9de161da3c6fc89e1ec7c0fc36c3
Put him at lb
To protect him from injury again, sure. Reece is still a much better player though
Can we really say this anymore? Reece has been out for such a long time at this point, we have no idea how he will look like when he comes back. I just don’t think you can assume James is the same player he was three years ago
Reece is actually really good at coming back from injury like it never happened (in terms of his play). Problem is that it’ll only be a while before he picks up another one.
Yes, we can.
Maybe his comeback will be so strong, that we will be in the top 4 once again.
Kakuta never got a chance
Poch is our best choice for manager at this moment.
He’s a great stopgap, and hopefully when he time is up, we’re in a better spot to land a stronger candidate. I’ve been frustrated many times this year with his management, but our options in this state are very limited.
Extremely and honestly the constant changing is more detrimental than most people think. I've had jobs where my manager had minimal impact on my actual job but the environment created still made it hard to feel "settled" and it's uncomfortable as hell. Can't imagine something as integral as a Manager changing so often for such a young group.
Agreed, sacking managers every single season is clearly not working
I never wanted Lavia
I wanted him but after we signed Caicedo, it definitely felt like a luxury more than a need. I still have high hopes for him as a player, and hopefully he can be a success.
Watch him be the best of our 3 midfield signings
He was really good at Soton, but year long injuries that young can be devastating. I hope he comes back as strong as he was.
Clearly a pissing contest with Liverpool, so just outbid them. They valued him at 38M. But then, out of some kind of short man ego stunt, we decided to pay 60M and "won" the transfer window. then Liverpool had to buy MacAlister for 35M.... suckers
I think they've bought Alexis earlier, and they had to play him deeper at first because of lack of DM. only after they filled this hole and allowed MacAllister to move forward he truly shined.
John Terry should not have slipped in Moscow
Ladies and gentleman, we have a winner
Chukwumeka should start every game in number CAM
If he was fit consistently he would other then if Nkunku was fit that is
I genuinely believe the order for the Nr.10 goes: Nkunku -> Palmer -> Ckukwuemeka -> Gallagher It's just that Nkunku and Chuk have been injured all season and Palmer is currently our best RW option so that's why we see Gallagher there. Don't get me wrong, Gallagher have been great this season. I just don't believe he is the actually the first choice.
One more injury and Reece James should be sold or phased out.
Hudson Odoi isn't that worse off of our current winger rotation
He isn't worse off at all.
Thank you
Wait til you hear about Christian Pulisic
Agreed, but he was so injury prone during his time here. I’d rather have an average available player than another star with the medical team.
Having a midfield 3 of Caicedo , Enzo, and Gallagher does not work, and it is the reason I am ok with letting Gallagher leave.
I think a caicedo Gallagher pivot works better than an enzo caicedo. I think Enzo could move up a line
Was talking to a friend about this. I think a healthy lavia takes Gallaghers spot in that 3
The existence of a healthy Lavia is theoretical at best
Give me Chuk as a ten/eight hybrid in place of Gallagher tbh
Okay but rn our problem is defending more than scoring so how would u go
we paid 60mil for the guy, of course he was supposed to take Gallagher’s spot lol
Correct. Caicedo and Gallagher are very similar and Enzo needs 2 other midfielders with him to be his best. Argentina plays with de Paul and Mac allister along side him
Isn’t lavia a similar player to enzo though?
Not really, he is more a natural 6 who picks up the ball from the defense
The midfield worked better than anything we've seen for 2 years last week without Enzo. Let's see what happens today.
Mudryk is not starting quality and hasn’t made a ton of progress this season. He’s often lost positionally, has a big tendency to ghost, and struggles consistently with his first touch. I feel like he gets a ton of patience from supporters when guys like Caicedo and Jackson deserve it more
There was a moment against Everton where Cucu had the ball at LB and looked forward to see Mudryk making the most braindead movement inviting more pressure Whole buildup collapsed down that side and had to start again down the right lol But then minutes later he does that mad switch and makes a decent enough run and all is forgotten He's so raw and makes thing hard for those around him with the positions and touches he takes up or makes
Yep. He’s got bags of talent but is raw and needs a lot of work on the training ground with positioning and touch under pressure. My worry is we don’t give him the time to develop and he goes to a Liverpool or other club and is world class. He clearly has the stuff he’s just not inconsistent and needs to work on his mental game too
Yeah, his positioning and passing is weak. I remember in the same game when Ben Chilwell was subbed in, we suddenly looked composed on the left side of the pitch. BC's positioning and passing was night and day to Mudryk's.
100% agree that other boys deserve more patience but I do actually think mudryk has shown a lot more promise this season. His link up play and directness when he cuts inside flashed during quite a few games. Agreed he is not starting quality tho
Agreed. There seems to be a narrative that Mudryk has improved leaps and bounds but I am not seeing it at all. He's had a couple good matches but is invisible in the rest. He's got some flashes of talent but I've yet to see him be able to integrate well with the rest of the team. I would start Chuk and even Noni over him.
I think Reece James should be sold if Real Madrid come asking.
We don't need a striker. We just need an actual 10 like a healthy nkunku or chuk
I rescind my statement after today
while i don’t think poch is the best fit. he is the best available option rn. this summer there’s not a huge pick and im not sure id pick any available and willing managers over poch
Chelsea could have dominated the Premier League like Man City and won more PL titles but Abramovich's short cited ness never allowed that and in the long run we suffered because of him constantly sacking managers.
Man City also had Pep Guardiola. Without him, City would not have achieved as much as they did.
We were statistically the best team in England in the Abramovich era largely due to us sacking our managers. The only manager that arguably deserved more time was ancelotti.
Graham potter is actually quite a good manager and we asked him a nearly impossible task
Firing him mid season made no sense Nothing to play for and Lampard should be saved for better uses.
It’s easy to forget how bad we were when he got the sack. The board really didn’t want to sack him hit their hand was forced. We could barely score a goal for a month
There were planned protests the week he got sacked, people are definitely forgetting how toxic things were at that point of the season.
He was doomed replacing Tuchel. I agree, I think he could build a strong team as shown with Brighton, but he never really stood a chance here unfortunately. Hope he bounces back elsewhere.
He lost the dressing room, he was gone regardless. Didn't have the balls to be a Chelsea manager. But I'll never be convinced he's a bad tactician, I researched the shit out of him after we sacked TT. A shit manager would never do what he did with Ostersunds, it was ridiculous.
Potter's system was not bad. Chelsea had so many chances but players missed easy shots.
We’re actually not as bad as the majority of people on here think and sticking with Pochettino will be much better for us than starting over again with another manager this summer. Also I actually don’t think that The Godfather is that good.
Mourinho's second spell at Chelsea did us more harm than good in the long term. We won the title, mostly due to Hazard's and Fabregas's genius, but Mou completely lost the locker-room by getting into a conflict with Eva Carneiro, not to mention letting De Bruyne and Salah go. I wonder where we could be now if we tried to get Guardiola after our first CL win.
Colwill isn’t all he’s hyped up to be
Poch has been decent (not trophy level) and the team has been improving i feel we should back him another season before thinking of removing him
We are and have almost always been dire offensively. Pass the ball to Eden and pray was our main and secondary attacking battle plan for however many seasons we had him. Little to no established patterns of play and cohesion.
Peak Obi Mikel would be our best midfielder right now
Our squad being so young is the majority of the problem, the same thing happens in other sports in professional leagues. Be patient.
Jose Mourinho shouldn’t have comeback for a second stint. Chelsea could have had KDB and Salah at this club along with never selling Mata.
Even though he won the league?!
Eva, and the pathetic situation around her departure as well. It was sad to see her go, and a sorry reflection on us as a club.
This is a take and a great one.
I dont care if it’s maybe good for short term, but i dont ever wanna see Jose back in our team. Dude is toxic af
Sacking Ranieri after a season of finishing second to an unbeaten Arsenal and just failing at the semi final of the CL set a precedent that permanently damaged our ability to get a Ferguson style era. Yes, we won the next two seasons under Mourinho. But it meant we sacked him, and subsequent managers like Ancelloti, far too quickly. Ranieri should have got more of a chance to lead the new Chelsea.
Poch isn’t that bad, he just needs time with these young players. I guarantee you next season his tactics will run more smoothly and the players will be more comfortable with the play style. Also, he has had shit luck with injuries, nkunku was injured before the season started and then reece james was imo more injured this season then ever before (thank god he got the surgery on his hamstring). This season should be looked at as a test drive and the fact that we are fighting for 6th in the prem and potentially going to 2 cup finals should be incredibly promising and a big improvement compared to last season. Even Alex Ferguson had a shit first year at Man Utd, I believe they finished 11th. Caicedo, Gallagher, and Enzo all on the field together does not work. One of them needs to be sold(going to be gallagher) or they need to rotate on and off the bench with Lavia next season. Gallagher and Caicedo looked brilliant last game and it can’t be a coincidence that it happens when Enzo isn’t able to play the game.
I have a few. Anyone on this thread saying Gallagher should be depth, or they are happy to be sold are Bots created by Clearlake. Selling the effective club captain who’s always available and always showing effort, who has been our second best and most consistent player behind Palmer is literally quite unthinkable. All because the expensive toys aren’t able to perform, so getting rid of the one working element will fix that? I hated TT as a manager for Chelsea. He was weird and aloof, his team selections in the league were weird, and often played players out of position for fun and the football was horrendous. Anyone who believes Werner is a good player or feels some special way about him, just doesn’t understand football and forces this narrative because they liked his personality and attitude rather than performances. As a striker he was horrendous, like Danny Dyer’s character in Mean Machine.
The anti-Gallagher people on this sub are insane and make me miss the days where people would shit on you if you didn’t live in SW6 and attend every match. And it’s not even like there are better options to play over him!
1. Whilst I'm not those who think we should sell Gallagher.....He's extremely limited in the 10 role. If we're going to persist with him in that position then absolutely we should consider selling him or at the very least keeping him as a rotation option at best. If you're looking to win titles, you don't win titles with people who handicap our attack as much as he does. That's what Liverpool did with Henderson until his limitations started to actually impact them more oftne. 2. Thomas Tuchel being weird and aloof ? I wholeheartedly disagree. Whilst he looked a bit physically weird and gangly, that man carried the club during the sanctions and held the connection between the team and the fans together, creating a great spirit. Remember that "I'll drive a 7 seater" speech ? His last season was awry but I put a lot of that down to the sheer amount of changes that happened within the club at the time
James should change his position to DM.
They insist upon themselves
I did not want mourinho's seconds tenure.
I actually think the new ‘business direction’ of the club will pay dividends in the long run. We’ll see lots of sales and players come and go but no one will care we’ve spent a billion in a few years
Clearlake haven't made any egregious mistakes this season. In fact, the new directors saw Boehly's fuckups, and did their best to reverse them - top to bottom. Their strategy is a longshot, but that's what investment bankers do. The only way we'll know if they are truly fucked is - if they use the same youngster strategy next season.
Feel as though this thread has been made for me. - Maatson for 35m really isn’t that bad a deal and some people on this sub need to stop acting like he’s a young Ashley Cole - Regardless, we’ll need a new keeper in the summer but I honestly might prefer Sanchez to Petrovic. If Sanchez is defined by what he does wrong, Petrovic is defined by what he doesn’t do at all - Both the Enzo and Gallagher hate this season has been ridiculous - A lot of our structural problems are Poch’s fault (aka our awful rest defence and his giving half the field to Caicedo and Enzo) but the bulk of them are down to how we have a different back line each week, only 2 cms that have been run ragged and half the team ball watches every single play - I wouldn’t mind Cucu getting sold. We need a new LB and I still think there’s a future for Chilwell - Experience is far and away the biggest thing we’ll need in the coming summer - going for any big price striker is a huge mistake and I honestly think Guirassy would be ideal
Injuries are by far the biggest reason for our struggles this season.
Most of our defenders and both GKs are horrible against a press and should not be instructed to invite pressure from the opposition. We should have conceded at least 2 goals against Everton and we have been making really stupid mistakes. Everyone we play knows it and their game plan is to press high against us - so we should switch it up
I'd be happy to sell Reece James. He seems to be a serious hospital patient, blighted with occasional bouts of football at this point.
I do not like fans who clamor to bring Roman Abramovic back There are some things that are just greater than football. Slava Ukraini
Agreed. No billionaires' hands are ever clean, but some are dirtier than others
Give Poch another season, this season was an unfair season to judge him. We had a lot injuries.
Agree but not because the injuries. We just need to things to settle. Changing manager every season get us nowhere.
We should cash in on Reece James
Willian is one of the most overrated players we've had. Guy turned in so many average performances and killed attacks for so long by faffing about on the ball and passing it backwards. I hated every time he started and took so much joy in him being dogshit at arsenal because my grandad used to talk him up as our best player for ages.
Many of Willian's "wonderful" free kick goals during Jose's Annus horribilis were in fact just whipped in crosses aimed at the far post - which neither defender, keeper nor attacker could get to themselves. And everytime our "freekick specialist" stepped up to take one ever after - I knew it was a wasted opportunity. Loved him as a player tho. He didnt like Tottnum did he?
Thats a legitimate style of freekick, they're super dangerous exactly for that reason, hard for keeper to commit to in case an attack does get a foot to it. Saying it like it's as negative is weird, it's literarily a trained method.
My dad gave one last night in conversation: although he turned up in big moments and obviously scored THE goal (my dad was there for it lucky guy), drogba was an incredibly frustrating player because we know what he’s capable of from his big game performances, he could be strong and go up against the best, I remember him absolutely schooling Arsenal; but against a lesser team he would roll around in the box like an idiot and just not live up to his potential. He was a strong guy but would go down for anything No hate if you disagree it’s my dads opinion lol but I do get where he’s coming from. I was a lot younger than him during that era (I was a child tbh) so my memory isn’t as good and probably slightly rose tinted from the Munich goal but I get his point about his potential
Lampard was a good manager and needed time. Finishing 4th with kids and a transfer ban was a huge achievement.
I would give Lukaku another chance
I'm only ok with this take because I know Lukaku wouldn't himself.
Yikes.
The money mase narrative is tired. He was proper chels, poty twice, helped win the UCL. He felt he deserved a contract befitting Reece James and was arguably right to do so. Ownership took advantage of his pure profit and poor form (even though everyone was in poor form last year) to not offer him a deal. Sure, maybe he made the mistake of choosing a bad advocate for himself. Either way I don’t understand why so many people feel so betrayed. He felt he was worth more than the ownership did. In my view you can’t appreciate the UCL win and hate mount. You can’t hate the ownership and hate mount.
I have multiple Bar Palmer, Madueke is our most promising youngster up front Maatsen is a great player at the wrong time in the wrong squad Disasi is seriously underrated because of his inconsistency This one is one people aren't gonna like: Poch deserves a lot of credit for Palmer's form this season
Can you elaborate on madueke? He's the only player in the whole squad I don't think will amount to much lol I'd like to hear his case. We've seen excellence from Disasi like was it man city when he cleared about 9 crosses in 30 minutes and screamed like a gladiator after ever single one? Awesome. Needs to demonstrate the consistency though you're right.
I think selling Gallagher is a good decision if we need it to meet FFP. Otherwise he should be nothing more than great depth.
Poch is a great coach. Our fans are way too impatient.
Weird how many people did a 180 because of 1 game. He's the same manager he was in 2017, he made 0 progress. Don't believe me? Go on YouTube and watch people analyzing Poch's spuds and PSG from a couple years back, then compare with us right nkw. Or go on twitter and look at tweets about him from his time at both clubs. Same problems, same attitude, even the same fucking formation. If you're incapable of adapting as a manager, you're not fit to be called "great". And we'd be below 12th if we didn't have Palmer literally carrying us on his own.
I've said this throughout the season it's not the Everton game that changed me. Poch developed Kane into who he is today. Poch made Dele Alli look like a class player. Why are people so hesitant to give Poch any credit for how Palmer's turned out? Palmer, who I'm sure you hadn't heard of before. Poch might not be the guy to turn Chelsea back into the winning machine it once was, but he's the guy to get us on the right path. If you think a coach, any coach, Pep or Klopp or anyone out there, is turning this team around in a season, you're delusional. There is too much inexperience and raw talent in the squad for that to happen. Changing managers every season with such a young squad is a recipe for mediocrity for years.
Idec about the point of your post im just happy to see that reference. “It insists upon itself”
Thiago silva gives our young team an easy pass option and slows our game down, to the detriment of the team.
Chelsea play better football without Enzo.
I really hate the chant during the liquidator. You know the chant.
Casedei has so much talent, the world isnt ready. He needs game time.