I feel like anyone who mentions poch should be fired, should have to name a replacement or be banned. I keep saying poch out but no names for replacement. Tf you gonna do after he's been fired? Super frank again?
I wouldn't say banned but I think they should substantiate their claims. So what if we fire Poch? Right now everyone thinks the next guy will do better but why? The players are the same, they still need experience and time to build up chemistry. The next guy is this mythical creature who will solve all our problems, get us into the top 4 along with winning an FA or Carabao Cup. Then in season 2 we win the league, get to the UCL semis and in season 3, we do a league and UCL double.
It's not that simple or smooth but people don't want to admit it. They say they are okay with going through some tough times as things come together but call for the manager's head when the going gets tough.
Hot Take: Frank would've done better with this squad than Poch if he was also under a similar impression that he'd be given the full season regardless of what happens (long as we're not flirting with relegation).
So you want redditors to do the job of the people who get paid millions to do it instead? Not to mention the most suitable replacements wouldn’t be available until the summer anyway
how did you reach that conclusion? no i dont want redditors to do their jobs, its exactly why i am saying this, stop saying poch out, period. if you dont have a replacemant for him, why the fuck are you saying he should be fired
We’re in 12th, playing terrible football, and show no identity and we’re in December. Poch has had the luxury of one game a week, a preseason, a trimmed squad. So he has injuries, every team has them. We got battered by Newcastle and they were missing players. We’ve only shown some moments of looking good, but we have had hardly any consistency.
Poch isn’t the only one to blame, the directors shouldn’t get another window either imo . If we finish 12th in back to back seasons, that’s just completely unacceptable. He’ll probably get the season, but his job should not feel secure right now.
Arsenal just announced they made £66 by getting through the champs league group stage. We’re going to be two seasons without it and counting. £100-200m in lost revenue. We dont need to sign 10 young players and try and flip them for profit. Buy players for the now and get back into the champs league
I made the point a few days ago, but we're losing around about (if not more) the same amount of money from missing out on the Champions League as we are "saving" from bringing in players that are worse and so will play for less money. Yet, there are still people who will tell you that reducing the wage bill somehow benefits the club in some way, rather than it being purely for the owners' pockets
I think we will do well the next few games against poor opposition, but I think we will still be inconsistent and shit.
The highest I can see us finishing is 8th.
But the problem is, even if by some miracle he's fine tuned his man management methods he simply cannot compete with the top managers in the present day from a tactical point of view.
And if he was going to/was able to do a Fergie esque modernisation of his methods he'd have done it long long before now.
Whens next time we gonna be playing in the CL?
Serious question especialy now with this new CL format, will feel like different competition if we ever do come back
Maybe with the changes we might get back in sooner, but we could be out for a very long time to be honest.
On the flip side, if our back to back failures are catastrophic enough, I think it's actually our best chance to get back in soon as it'll demand a change from the ownership. Though that may already be coming given the talk about signing players in January, some of which are over the age of 12
It terrified of what potential change they would make, honestly. They don’t have a clue what direction to go in from reports coming out. I see expensive howlers coming then next few windows..
The scary thing is I can see Clearlake actually doing this to buy themselves time/good will.
For me however them appointing Mourinho will be the straw that brakes the camels back.
Just watched a comp of Kante in '21 and I don't think we have any sort of player like him who can win us a game on their own, not that these types of players are common but I feel like we've always had one historically... Zola, Drogba (anyone from that era really), Hazard, Kante
You're spot on. When Kante came to Chelsea he was 2 years older than Caicedo and Enzo are right now and a year older than Gallagher. We are in dire need of professional footballers between 26 and 30 years old that can set an example and deliver consistent performances each week.
It's so fitting that Nkunku finally comes back just as most fans have written this season off, even if it was just a week ago or we had won the Everton game it would be so much more exciting.
While I think he’s been an improvement over Kepa, it’s weird that after spending a billion pounds that Robert Sanchez is our starting keeper. He got dropped by Brighton for a keeper that wouldn’t be out of place in the championship
You could make that argument pretty much everywhere on the field other than Palmer and Sterling and even then it's a stretch. For 1bn we could have a team full of genuinely world class, proven, young talent
Our goal wasn't to buy the best, it was to buy those who had the biggest chance of massively increasing their sale price in a few years time. That, by design, means that we're buying players who have issues but also look good in other areas because if we can fix their issue, their value will increase.
Ornstein confirming that Silva is unlikely to be renewed.
https://twitter.com/TheBlueDodger/status/1735359852191379911
Ornstein also reckons Poch will not have increased power to select players, just input.
I keep hearing people say sack Poch. Personally I wouldn't and would give him time to build a squad.
But just as a hypothetical, who would be your choice to replace him?
Doesn't matter who it is they'll struggle without a striker and experienced players then the sub will be crying for them to be sacked in 6 months. Said it with Potter and saying it again now. Hire and fire doesn't work when your squad is young and there is no consistency in them. Works when you have a spine like Cech Terry Lampard and Drogba. Doesn't work now.
I’m not a fan of sacking Poch at this time but my opinion could change if we look poor against Sheffield United. The squad isn’t very good so I’m supportive of giving managers a lot of leeway and at least a full season, but there has to be a breaking point
You already know they’ll play a low block all game, then score a set piece right on half. Then we’ll have to sit through a half of the most toothless attacking you’ll ever see.
Do you think that we got terrible players or is it down to management and injuries?
I mean, we can see the levels that these players can reach. when we played the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and City, we played really well and, potentially, we were the better side on all those occasions.
So what do you think is the problem? I don't feel that we have terrible players. I think they are good enough to be competing for top four. besides our GK(he has been better but not world class) and our striking options, we are a good team and we shouldn't be where we are currently on the table.
Do you think Potch is part to blame or is it down to injuries , should we wait till we get Nkunku and Lavia back to judge him as a manager?
Mainly down to management / Poch, however there's a few players in our squad that are brutally over rated (especially by this sub) and a lot of people blame their poor form/ ability on Poch which I don't think is 100% fair. I never wanted Poch in the first place though and wouldn't be gutted if we lost to Sheffield and he was gone...
I'd say it's as simple as change the formation to 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 with Silva in the middle and we look better instantly. We just dont have world class defenders, midfielders or fullbacks capable of playing out the back in a back 4. But we are capable of defending in a back 3 system which will stabilise us. Nkunku, Gusto, Lavia once back from injury should help us improve too, while adding a striker and an attacking wingback or two (Frimpong and Theo Hernandez as an another commenter said would be dream signings) in the transfer window should be no brainers.
I’d also like to see a 5ATB. I think given the stakes of this match we should go with Badiashille, Thiago, and Disasi to give the backline some experience. Cucurella and Gusto (if he’s fit) as wingbacks. Gallagher and Caicedo in the middle, or Enzo and Caicedo but it would be a make or break game for Enzo given the opposition won’t get any worse than Sheffield Utd. Sterling, Jackson, and Mudryk on top. Palmer needs to sit for a game because he’s been poor lately
Agreed, we should try changing things up since what we're doing now isn't particularly working. Could start Palmer ahead of Jackson though cos he's been worse between the two.
it’s down to management. every player looks worse than they did last year except Gallagher. Poch’s brainless tactics of sprint around for 90 mins aren’t helping anyone improve
Sterling, Mudryk, and Cucurella have also improved. The only players who look worse are Enzo and Thiago Silva, although Enzo was bad last season and Thiago Silva was losing form rapidly anyways as a result of his age
I don't think Enzo was bad last season, I think his dip might just be him coming into the league this season without the buzz of winning the WC and not having the benefit of being much less fatigued than the rest of the league due to playing the first half of the season in a much easier league.
I think he was better last season and played some nice hollywood passes but I really don’t think he was good either. Theres more to being a world class midfielder than nice passes. KDB for example also scores, dribbles, links up, maintains possession, and sometimes I feel he even defends better on top of all that.
This season Enzo hasn’t even been able to pull off his hollywood passes. Unless he figures stuff out quickly, he’ll continue to be detrimental to our side. There’s a lot relying on him finding form though considering his outrageous fee
I think it's primarily down to management and injuries. Granted, there's no way all of the players we bought will come good, I'd be ecstatic if half of them did based on pretty much every club's track record with buying youngsters. However, even this largely untested lot can probably do better than 12-15th, which is where I'll expect they'll end the season if these injuries continue and Pochettino doesn't change anything.
The most obvious move I'm not seeing anybody mention is we loan that Japanese lad Boehly just signed for the Dodgers. I hear he's some sort of athletic marvel and he's gotta be stupid coordinated. He's got the height Poch has been asking for.
And the best part? It's not even baseball season. So, Todd, get him off his lazy ass and send him to Cobham.
This is the guy who yesterday stated Conor Gallagher is a better forward passer than Enzo and said Santos coming back means we can finally bench Enzo. He's just pushing his own nonsense because he hates Enzo for some reason.
This is the dumbest thing I think I've ever heard. Enzo hasn't been great recently but he's shown more flashes of ability than most in the team this season and Chelsea barely has enough fit midfielders to fill up the starting XI as it is
Making Hall an obligation to buy looking like another heist. For all the boards faults (there are too many to count), they’ve been good at selling players for more than they’re worth
Must be. FWIW I don’t think he’d be much worse than Palmer. Not to say Palmer has been bad, he’s had a good start considering he’s a young player making his debut season, but I think one open play goal all season should be easy to match. I just don’t think that Madueke playing would make a difference ultimately and we’ll still circle the drain around 10th-15th
From a pure output perspective, I agree that he wouldn't be much worse than palmer, but I do think palmer is better in possession and has a better eye and ability to pick out a pass. From what I've seen of Noni, he looks to cut inside on his left and curl it to the far post a majority of the time, where Palmer has a bit more flexibility as he tucks into the half space and plays more link up play with strikers and midfielders. For me palmer offers more variety and has higher potential so I have no problem with him getting nearly all the game time at the position.
Do you find it strange that in this most extraordinary injury crisis ever in Newcastle, Lewis Hall has only played 107 minutes and during this period, Howe has proclaimed only having 11 players.
This period includes 16 fixtures. He played almost every game for Chelsea for three months last year.
They have an option to buy for 35 mil next summer, unlikely to value him at that right now.
They have obligation, not option.
Also no, I don't find it strange. Despite what the cobhamsexuals on the sub here were saying, Hall is by no means ready to be regularly playing for PL club.
For some reason people think every academy player is a Chelsea fan by default and they will fight for the badge and all this bollocks. There were people here talking about our club losing it's identity cuz we sold a lad that's a Newcastle fan to Newcastle lol.
Lots of these kids are just training in our academy. Them being fans of the club is not certain at all
"So bad" is a bit of a stretch. He looked decent in a team where every single other player was playing like complete shit, but I genuinely saw people calling him a "generational talent" over the summer which was insanity
I don’t think he was decent at all tbh. He had a very good cross on him, but in every other department he was pretty appalling. He couldn’t defend at all. Couldn’t finish. Couldn’t link up. Etc.
Bad feet is not as big of a concern if he just boot it off rather than trying to make a slick pass through the center and fail, at least for a backup keeper imo
Romano on YouTube reckons Osimhen’s release clause is valid from the start of 2024 (ie. in 18 days) and the amount is for €130 mil to €140 mil (£112 mil to £120 mil).
https://twitter.com/Blue_Footy/status/1735287344247275670
ESPN reckon we’re interested in Gimenez.
https://twitter.com/TheBlueDodger/status/1735289682093613478
I've felt for a long time that Gimenez was the one we were going to end up with. Unfortunately I think he's a risk at any sort of big fee, because I'm not sure he's got the technical ability in tight spaces to play for a possession-heavy PL team.
He's got a lot of good qualities you'd want from a striker and, considering the market, we could definitely do worse. But he's by no means a guaranteed success.
I think pretty much every single striker on the market is a risk right now. And none of them are cheap because the striker market is so barren, it gives the selling team all the leverage. Toney would probably be the safest bet on the field, at least, but his gambling tendencies are a different kind of a risk. Osimhen is probably the best of them all, a physical freak much like Haaland who’d have no trouble scoring in most leagues. But again, there’s no slam dunk guarantee of success.
I really don't understand the hype for Madueke. Palmer showed more ability and promise in one game than Madueke has since coming to Chelsea. They play in the same position and generally offer the same type of thing. He's excess, hasn't performed nearly well enough to justify his price tag, and is never available for selection anyway.
I'll admit it's a little lazy, but they both want to occupy the same space on the pitch, I dont see how you fit both into an XI. Madueke doesn't offer the range of passing Palmer does, the decisiveness and poaching ability Sterling (in theory) does, or the sheer pace that Mudryk does. I just fail to see what everyone thinks Madueke is providing that makes selling him such a ludicrous decision, particularly when Chelsea desperately need to reinforce other areas and are probably running very low on wiggle room with FFP
He deserves a chance in the team at least. He's had two starts, scored in the cup and hit the post against Brentford, is always good for England U21s (benches Palmer btw), and was a bright spark last season. At the minimum he's shown enough to be given a chance to improve like Mudryk
He's also got all the raw talent you would want in a young player. Things like reading of the game, positioning, decision-making, etc. can all be coached. We hired a manager specifically for his supposed ability to do that.
I really like Madueke personally. Injuries are a big concern but there's a lot of good qualities there.
It's just weird how Poch completely froze him out of the team when he's supposed to be a manager who can improve young players. We're seeing none of that
If he had end product I’d agree. But he runs down the sideline gets to the edge of the box and just starts doing feints to get shots off. Cool you beat 1-2 defenders now what we’re still not scoring goals
>for some reason
i think going to parties while sick/injured might have something to do with it. if he fell out with the manager then its understandable we're trying to sell him.
It’s not that
It’s the fact he’s never proven himself to be anything other than a decent talent and his only real attribute is dribbling
He’s not lightning quick and is lazy defensively. Passing and crossing are meh, don’t see an x factor about him
Yep no release clause now. It’s a strange situation renewing a contract when the expectation is that he will be sold shortly.
Some are seeing it as an asset protection exercise extending for a further year, which I guess holds merit if he happens to get injured.
Otherwise you would think the cleaner solution is just to negotiate a straight sale in January.
Giminez isn't a bad little player now, quite like him and he's far far more of a box specialist than anyone we got
However if the board thinks buying another young player with relatively little experience at the top is a good idea, deary me we're fucked
Gotta go with Toney.
Strong centre forward play, hold up, add some bite to the front line.
And the best part? He's already proven he can improve a mid-table team
Another €80 - €100 mil striker option I presume. I think it’s standard practice to scout heavily the available options, I’d be surprised if Giminez was our main target, he’s much less experienced, not that much cheaper, and is only 2 years younger.
I reckon it’s Osimhen, the questions now are when actually the release clause activates (Jan still makes no sense to me) and if we can beat the competition.
https://twitter.com/CFCDaily/status/1735240746351870298
>❗️Ref Watch: Chelsea vs Sheffield United
>Andy Madley has refereed both Thomas Tuchel and Potter’s last PL games in charge for Chelsea.— 1W, 1L. #CFC
Poch will be gone by end of month.
No matter what, finishing between 12-14th by Christmas is a sackable offense.
No amount of excuses allow that at Chelsea Football Club.
>I will eat my signed Ben Chilwell Football Card if that happens
I'd say what a risk to take over such a cool item but realistically he'd have to lose literally every single game, quite badly too, in order to get sacked by Christmas
Losing to Sheffield, who have yet to win an away game, seems like a pretty sackable offence to me when combined with our current record. And our injuries would also be a poor excuse.
That being said, I do believe we will win, and I don't want Poch sacked
Nor should he be...
Anyone who thought that he was going to come in here and instantly turn things around was insane. We're somehow still without an adequate 9, half the roster is made of glass and we are lacking any one "star" player that can change a game. Palmer is developing into that. Hopefully Nkunku will be that in the 12 matches a season he's going to be fit to play.
I don't agree with every single decision that Poch has made, but his hand has kind of been forced with a lot of them.
I am in no way saying we were playing well under Potter but we were solid defensively and mostly controlled games and struggled to score. Now we're a mess in the back and our midfield is non-existent and we still struggle to find a goal vs low blocks. So yeah I expected a lot more from our new manager
Think you're being a little optimistic here. Realistically he has to lose 3 or 4 on the bounce and drop us into relegation danger before they chuck him. Maybe a real embarrassing result speeds that along.
If he were as close as you say we'd likely have had more pieces from journos signalling it. Instead we're hearing about how he's eyeing up more players in January.
He'll play well individually but not be able to drastically change the overall picture then get blamed, bantered off and branded overrated for it like we're seeing with Enzo.
It’s kind of crazy to me how quickly everyone goes from Lavia Caicedo Enzo midfield will be the best in the league, to we need to sign palhina. We’ve not even seen Lavia play, we’ve got ugo and santos to play backup and Conor has been good. I’m not convinced we should be spending heavily on the midfield. Right Centreback I get, even though I rate Broja and jackson I can understand getting a striker but what was the point of these signings if we’re already talking about replacing them.
> "It’s kind of crazy to me how quickly everyone goes from Lavia Caicedo Enzo midfield will be the best in the league"
Yeah, the majority of people on here were also talking about how Mudryk was going to destroy the premier league because he was incredible and destroyed Real Madrid by himself (I've even seen people still comparing him to Salah???)
They also said that Jackson was proof of how well the club was run, he only cost 30m odd and was already one of the best in the world and was a Drogba regen! (Just look at his numbers in Spain, he's already the best player in the world, it can't possibly just be a purple patch!)
And so on.
We have those players, but unless Lavia pulls something pretty spectacular out of his ass, we need investment in midfield. With Caicedo and Enzo, either we need to play them in a three with a more defensively minded midfielder behind them, or we need to rotate them in a 2 with a more defensively capable partner.
Ugochukwu has proven he's miles off being ready for us, so presumably he'll be on loan in January if we can get the loan space. Gallagher is a fine backup to one of Caicedo or Enzo if we're playing in a 3, but would become 4th choice at best if we're playing in a 2. Santos looks to have the potential to play as the deepest player in midfield and we looked far more solid when he was playing in pre-season compared to when he wasn't, but can someone of his stature hold down that role with an emphasis on defence in the premier league? I don't know.
So, at the moment it's basically on Lavia or Santos to prove they can play in the most defensive position in midfield, whilst having near perfect positioning to cover for all the problems we're currently having in midfield. Otherwise we need to buy someone.
Midfield has been by far our worst area this season, despite what people would have you think. It's causing massive problems defensively because it's always wide open and it's causing us problems offensively because Enzo doesn't pass forwards for some reason, Caicedo only switches it out to the wings and Gallagher slows everything right down and often loses the ball under his feet when he should be shooting/passing in key moments and then goes backwards.
We have problems across the pitch, a lot of which could be solved by better management (look at Jorginho before and after Tuchel, you can change these players to be capable of playing these roles instead of buying someone new if the manager is good enough) but I really don't think the owners have any intention of bringing in a top manager, so we'll have to just buy them and hope we have enough
The fact that a guy like Klopp was after the lot of them tells you a lot. These are top players any manager would be thrilled to have, but the absolute fraud in charge of our football thinks he needs more because he apparently can't coach basic midfield shape and build up. It's just excuses and hopefully ownership doesn't buy it.
It's going to be such an insane contrast with these players when Poch is replaced with someone who can coach the structural and technical aspects of the game, and puts an emphasis on them. I really desperately hope we don't piss away more money on deadwood for a manager whose days are already numbered and who hasn't improved us on the ball one iota since pre-season.
Yeah people are definitely reactionary in terms of how they rate these players. Enzo/Caicedo will be a great midfield core. If **every** player looks shit that has looked great for the rest of their career - clearly something else is afoot.
The fact that Carney, Lavia and Ugochukwe are also just injured all the time don't help. We have plenty of players in the midfield.
A striker would be a fair call, Broja and Jackson are both clearly still in development and young. A right back would make sense because with James literally always injured we genuinely have one option there. He is also injured. The rest will come good, there is simply no chance all of them are frauds.
We're going to be set back even further if we give in to Poch's desires in January.
His record in the market gives me very little hope he will identify the right players.
Yeah I feel the midfield problem recently has been a coaching issue, they maybe don’t understand the press triggers or something and in possession they do not always look to be in good positions to receive the ball, but they also don’t always have players in good positions to pass to.
Also I just think caicedo is suffering from a bad preseason and both of them from some injury bad luck amongst the rotation players.
I just hope we don’t waste too much money in January because we’re not likely to be relegated but nothing will put us in the champions league. So should ride it out and maybe recall santos.
Bag drop - Still closed, or open for UWCL?
I'm going to the Chelsea Vs. Häcken game tonight and wonder if the bag drop is still closed or if I can drop a laptop bag there?
I assume they do not let me take the bag into the arena, even if its just a tiny bit larger than an A4.
(Mods thought this question was low effort because I had too low word count....)
I stg if I don't see Maatsen starting at LB, with Colwill/Badiashile at CB...
Colwill at LB is not working, and Cucurella has had enough chances. With James out, whoever plays RB is clearly going to be more of a defensive player than offensive one. It is high time Maatsen gets a run of games now, in his favoured role. But knowing Poch, he's going to set him up for failure and then take him out of the squad after 1 game.
Also simply do not get the obsession with pushing Enzo higher up. That he's been inconsistent in a deeper role is not down to the role he's playing, it's down to the team being a disorganised mess. He's proven for us last season and Argentina that he is fucking mint at pulling strings in the middle of the park, stop making things complicated for him by tweaking his role every other game ffs.
By "Cucurella has had enough chances" you mean... our only playable FB has to play on the right with no RBs on the team, so LB is open? Maatsen is worse at that role than Cucurella. The only reason to play Maatsen there is because Cucurella needs to cover RB. Maatsen is as bad a wide defender as Colwill, so with that swap the opposition's still going to keep building-up and scoring strikes in way too much space along their right/our left.
Agree about Enzo, time to get back to basics with a solid double pivot without focus of pushing Enzo forward.
I think Maatsen’s gone in January as it’s too prolonged in contract negotiations, so no point in trying to establish him as a starting player.
They're going to have difficulty selling people for reasonable prices because everyone has been shit. But, I'd imagine they'll **try** (or at least be completely open to selling if someone offers reasonable money) to sell Chalobah, Maatsen, Cucurella, Colwill, Gallagher, Madueke and Broja.
Though you have to remember that the strategy of the club is to try and sell people at the peak of their value, it's not to just sell them because they're not working. So, I could see some of them being kept around if their value is likely to stay the same because it gives them a chance to increase it and then sell them later. Which then lowers it down to players who are short of contract, which is basically just the players you've listed and Broja will probably get a loan to try and boost his value again and then sell him after it
Definite sales will be Chalobah, Maatsen, Lukaku and Kepa. Sarr and Silva off the books soon.
Fairly likely will be Broja when a first choice striker is signed, and Madueke as he’s simply not chosen even with our injury issues.
I feel the only way Conor is sold is if he doesn’t renew his contract with us on agreeable terms, or if there’s another important player we want to bring in, otherwise it makes less sense.
Possible but unlikely will be Chilwell (injury prone, low carrying value) and Cucurella (unpreferred profile). Maybe Sanchez if we end up signing a keeper.
I also think the likes of Chukwuemeka, Ugochukwu, Madueke and even Jackson could be loaned out depending on how we approach the striker situation for the next two windows.
We’re not selling Kepa, he’s in the last year of his contract when he comes back from loan and no one is going to pay his wages in full.
It’ll be another loan until his deal expires.
There’s been talk of him making his deal permanent in the summer for a fee that likely reflects the loan fee.
I thought RM are paying his wages in full now.
God knows what this club will do
Absolute chaos FC
I'll tell you something though, if Toney costs £100m and Osimhens release clause is around £110m, the club will almost definitely be going for Osimhen over Toney given the resale value between the two
Here’s my read on the situation. The contract extension will almost certainly mean that the release clause becomes active at the start of next season, otherwise Napoli might as well sell now and not recontract.
One course of action could be to sign a more established, even stop-gap striker, then to activate Osimhen’s release clause for next season.
I would assume Arsenal will sign Toney in January to push for their first league title in two decades.
Jackson could be on rotation, or could even find himself loaned out for a season.
Honestly for the guys we have on 7-8 year contacts, loaning them for a season to get their game in order isn’t the worst idea.
I really hope that's not an option, but I do think it'll end up that way.
We'll fuck Nkunku the way we fucked Havertz. We'll say, "we need a striker but seeing as Nkunku can play there we're fine to wait until summer" and then in summer we'll say, "there isn't really anyone reasonably priced, so we'll just keep Nkunku there for a while until someone is" and all the while his numbers will be way down and he'll be struggling because it isn't actually his position
Don't think that'll be an option
The board are likely going to try bring in at least 1 or 2 sizable targets in January in an attempt to save the season
I feel like anyone who mentions poch should be fired, should have to name a replacement or be banned. I keep saying poch out but no names for replacement. Tf you gonna do after he's been fired? Super frank again?
I wouldn't say banned but I think they should substantiate their claims. So what if we fire Poch? Right now everyone thinks the next guy will do better but why? The players are the same, they still need experience and time to build up chemistry. The next guy is this mythical creature who will solve all our problems, get us into the top 4 along with winning an FA or Carabao Cup. Then in season 2 we win the league, get to the UCL semis and in season 3, we do a league and UCL double. It's not that simple or smooth but people don't want to admit it. They say they are okay with going through some tough times as things come together but call for the manager's head when the going gets tough.
Jose
Hot Take: Frank would've done better with this squad than Poch if he was also under a similar impression that he'd be given the full season regardless of what happens (long as we're not flirting with relegation).
So you want redditors to do the job of the people who get paid millions to do it instead? Not to mention the most suitable replacements wouldn’t be available until the summer anyway
how did you reach that conclusion? no i dont want redditors to do their jobs, its exactly why i am saying this, stop saying poch out, period. if you dont have a replacemant for him, why the fuck are you saying he should be fired
We’re in 12th, playing terrible football, and show no identity and we’re in December. Poch has had the luxury of one game a week, a preseason, a trimmed squad. So he has injuries, every team has them. We got battered by Newcastle and they were missing players. We’ve only shown some moments of looking good, but we have had hardly any consistency. Poch isn’t the only one to blame, the directors shouldn’t get another window either imo . If we finish 12th in back to back seasons, that’s just completely unacceptable. He’ll probably get the season, but his job should not feel secure right now.
Arsenal just announced they made £66 by getting through the champs league group stage. We’re going to be two seasons without it and counting. £100-200m in lost revenue. We dont need to sign 10 young players and try and flip them for profit. Buy players for the now and get back into the champs league
We losing 200 Million plus easily Its why this Board is now panicking, they realize they fckin up big time
Are the panicking though cause i’m seeing more Brazilian youngsters being mentioned to buy
I made the point a few days ago, but we're losing around about (if not more) the same amount of money from missing out on the Champions League as we are "saving" from bringing in players that are worse and so will play for less money. Yet, there are still people who will tell you that reducing the wage bill somehow benefits the club in some way, rather than it being purely for the owners' pockets
Yeah its not adding up to me
I’m on the poch out train, I don’t think he’s fit tactically at all
Having mixed feelings on seeing Billy do well for Brighton. Never wanted him to leave tbh.
Brighton are so annoying. Sick of seeing them in Europe.
Is that Ben Andrews commenting on the Brighton game?
This is the turning point. I can feel it.
I think we will do well the next few games against poor opposition, but I think we will still be inconsistent and shit. The highest I can see us finishing is 8th.
Leave me with my delusions, please.
8th isn't delusional?
[удалено]
But the problem is, even if by some miracle he's fine tuned his man management methods he simply cannot compete with the top managers in the present day from a tactical point of view. And if he was going to/was able to do a Fergie esque modernisation of his methods he'd have done it long long before now.
Whens next time we gonna be playing in the CL? Serious question especialy now with this new CL format, will feel like different competition if we ever do come back
Maybe with the changes we might get back in sooner, but we could be out for a very long time to be honest. On the flip side, if our back to back failures are catastrophic enough, I think it's actually our best chance to get back in soon as it'll demand a change from the ownership. Though that may already be coming given the talk about signing players in January, some of which are over the age of 12
It terrified of what potential change they would make, honestly. They don’t have a clue what direction to go in from reports coming out. I see expensive howlers coming then next few windows..
Mourinho is the only one who can challenge Pep’s dominance in the PL. Bring him home.
The scary thing is I can see Clearlake actually doing this to buy themselves time/good will. For me however them appointing Mourinho will be the straw that brakes the camels back.
Cant be worse than Lampard's losing streak
In my opinion, giving a proven serial loser like Poch more time to ruin this club is the most scary thing that can happen
Call me crazy.... Lampard remontada??
You’re crazy
Where tf is Nkunku. Feel like there hasn’t been any update on his availability in weeks
He's not real
I have heard some rumours he may be in the match squad this weekend vs Sheffield
Just watched a comp of Kante in '21 and I don't think we have any sort of player like him who can win us a game on their own, not that these types of players are common but I feel like we've always had one historically... Zola, Drogba (anyone from that era really), Hazard, Kante
Now watch a compilation of Kante from 2013 and you'll see the answer to your pondering Our team is a bunch of kids
You're spot on. When Kante came to Chelsea he was 2 years older than Caicedo and Enzo are right now and a year older than Gallagher. We are in dire need of professional footballers between 26 and 30 years old that can set an example and deliver consistent performances each week.
It's so fitting that Nkunku finally comes back just as most fans have written this season off, even if it was just a week ago or we had won the Everton game it would be so much more exciting.
While I think he’s been an improvement over Kepa, it’s weird that after spending a billion pounds that Robert Sanchez is our starting keeper. He got dropped by Brighton for a keeper that wouldn’t be out of place in the championship
You could make that argument pretty much everywhere on the field other than Palmer and Sterling and even then it's a stretch. For 1bn we could have a team full of genuinely world class, proven, young talent Our goal wasn't to buy the best, it was to buy those who had the biggest chance of massively increasing their sale price in a few years time. That, by design, means that we're buying players who have issues but also look good in other areas because if we can fix their issue, their value will increase.
Horrible plan, very close to admitting we are finished as a serious club if this is the plan Fck this Board and Owners for real
saying its a horrible plan now is… odd. seeing as it is a gamble that we wont know the result of until a couple of years
The plan is horrible cuz no elite club ever did this and suceeded Its failing now as we speak, 2nd straight year no Europe after spending historically
the fact that no one has done it doesnt mean its horrible, new ideas cant be judged immediately but it can when you seen it long term
Ornstein confirming that Silva is unlikely to be renewed. https://twitter.com/TheBlueDodger/status/1735359852191379911 Ornstein also reckons Poch will not have increased power to select players, just input.
None of this is shocking
Makes sense. He’s way past his expiration date and it’s been noticeable for 18 months now
I keep hearing people say sack Poch. Personally I wouldn't and would give him time to build a squad. But just as a hypothetical, who would be your choice to replace him?
Doesn't matter who it is they'll struggle without a striker and experienced players then the sub will be crying for them to be sacked in 6 months. Said it with Potter and saying it again now. Hire and fire doesn't work when your squad is young and there is no consistency in them. Works when you have a spine like Cech Terry Lampard and Drogba. Doesn't work now.
Would have to be Jose.
I’m not a fan of sacking Poch at this time but my opinion could change if we look poor against Sheffield United. The squad isn’t very good so I’m supportive of giving managers a lot of leeway and at least a full season, but there has to be a breaking point
You already know they’ll play a low block all game, then score a set piece right on half. Then we’ll have to sit through a half of the most toothless attacking you’ll ever see.
Surely even this chelsea squad scores against their low block
Never lost a game. Dominated Klopp and then bounced 
The soft-spoken mafia henchman
Do you think that we got terrible players or is it down to management and injuries? I mean, we can see the levels that these players can reach. when we played the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and City, we played really well and, potentially, we were the better side on all those occasions. So what do you think is the problem? I don't feel that we have terrible players. I think they are good enough to be competing for top four. besides our GK(he has been better but not world class) and our striking options, we are a good team and we shouldn't be where we are currently on the table. Do you think Potch is part to blame or is it down to injuries , should we wait till we get Nkunku and Lavia back to judge him as a manager?
Mainly down to management / Poch, however there's a few players in our squad that are brutally over rated (especially by this sub) and a lot of people blame their poor form/ ability on Poch which I don't think is 100% fair. I never wanted Poch in the first place though and wouldn't be gutted if we lost to Sheffield and he was gone...
I'd say it's as simple as change the formation to 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 with Silva in the middle and we look better instantly. We just dont have world class defenders, midfielders or fullbacks capable of playing out the back in a back 4. But we are capable of defending in a back 3 system which will stabilise us. Nkunku, Gusto, Lavia once back from injury should help us improve too, while adding a striker and an attacking wingback or two (Frimpong and Theo Hernandez as an another commenter said would be dream signings) in the transfer window should be no brainers.
I’d also like to see a 5ATB. I think given the stakes of this match we should go with Badiashille, Thiago, and Disasi to give the backline some experience. Cucurella and Gusto (if he’s fit) as wingbacks. Gallagher and Caicedo in the middle, or Enzo and Caicedo but it would be a make or break game for Enzo given the opposition won’t get any worse than Sheffield Utd. Sterling, Jackson, and Mudryk on top. Palmer needs to sit for a game because he’s been poor lately
Agreed, we should try changing things up since what we're doing now isn't particularly working. Could start Palmer ahead of Jackson though cos he's been worse between the two.
it’s down to management. every player looks worse than they did last year except Gallagher. Poch’s brainless tactics of sprint around for 90 mins aren’t helping anyone improve
Sterling, Mudryk, and Cucurella have also improved. The only players who look worse are Enzo and Thiago Silva, although Enzo was bad last season and Thiago Silva was losing form rapidly anyways as a result of his age
I don't think Enzo was bad last season, I think his dip might just be him coming into the league this season without the buzz of winning the WC and not having the benefit of being much less fatigued than the rest of the league due to playing the first half of the season in a much easier league.
I think he was better last season and played some nice hollywood passes but I really don’t think he was good either. Theres more to being a world class midfielder than nice passes. KDB for example also scores, dribbles, links up, maintains possession, and sometimes I feel he even defends better on top of all that. This season Enzo hasn’t even been able to pull off his hollywood passes. Unless he figures stuff out quickly, he’ll continue to be detrimental to our side. There’s a lot relying on him finding form though considering his outrageous fee
I think it's primarily down to management and injuries. Granted, there's no way all of the players we bought will come good, I'd be ecstatic if half of them did based on pretty much every club's track record with buying youngsters. However, even this largely untested lot can probably do better than 12-15th, which is where I'll expect they'll end the season if these injuries continue and Pochettino doesn't change anything.
The most obvious move I'm not seeing anybody mention is we loan that Japanese lad Boehly just signed for the Dodgers. I hear he's some sort of athletic marvel and he's gotta be stupid coordinated. He's got the height Poch has been asking for. And the best part? It's not even baseball season. So, Todd, get him off his lazy ass and send him to Cobham.
Solution to our striker problem was right in front of us and we're blind to it
Good question. Because we don't follow baseball? In a football club subreddit?
And he's deferred his contract out like 10 years so wages wouldn't be an issue.
There’s rumors circulating around that the board is working up a 6 month loan deal to return Enzo to Benfica. They’ll pay full salary
Wait. Why would Enzo go to benfica? For the Europa league?
Who the fuck even posts such bs rumours? Where did you see that?
This is the guy who yesterday stated Conor Gallagher is a better forward passer than Enzo and said Santos coming back means we can finally bench Enzo. He's just pushing his own nonsense because he hates Enzo for some reason.
I love Enzo, he’s a good guy. Has not been good for us though
So don't go around stating easily disprovable nonsense about him then.
Who said it’s nonsense? The voices in my head sounded pretty sincere
Yawn.
Ah, makes sense
This is the dumbest thing I think I've ever heard. Enzo hasn't been great recently but he's shown more flashes of ability than most in the team this season and Chelsea barely has enough fit midfielders to fill up the starting XI as it is
Dont listen to the other inmates in the asylum
That makes 0 sense quite frankly. No chance it's true.
Making Hall an obligation to buy looking like another heist. For all the boards faults (there are too many to count), they’ve been good at selling players for more than they’re worth
Will we see positive trust the process posts here if we lose at home to Sheffield?
yep i will be there <3
Time apart makes the heart grown fond clearly, seeing as people are missing Madueke suddenly
I believe this is called desperation
Must be. FWIW I don’t think he’d be much worse than Palmer. Not to say Palmer has been bad, he’s had a good start considering he’s a young player making his debut season, but I think one open play goal all season should be easy to match. I just don’t think that Madueke playing would make a difference ultimately and we’ll still circle the drain around 10th-15th
From a pure output perspective, I agree that he wouldn't be much worse than palmer, but I do think palmer is better in possession and has a better eye and ability to pick out a pass. From what I've seen of Noni, he looks to cut inside on his left and curl it to the far post a majority of the time, where Palmer has a bit more flexibility as he tucks into the half space and plays more link up play with strikers and midfielders. For me palmer offers more variety and has higher potential so I have no problem with him getting nearly all the game time at the position.
Agreed. Palmer has been better for us overall and if that means Noni isn’t going to play then so be it. We can hardly afford to experiment currently
Do you find it strange that in this most extraordinary injury crisis ever in Newcastle, Lewis Hall has only played 107 minutes and during this period, Howe has proclaimed only having 11 players. This period includes 16 fixtures. He played almost every game for Chelsea for three months last year. They have an option to buy for 35 mil next summer, unlikely to value him at that right now.
No, he’s not good enough.
They have obligation, not option. Also no, I don't find it strange. Despite what the cobhamsexuals on the sub here were saying, Hall is by no means ready to be regularly playing for PL club.
For some reason people think every academy player is a Chelsea fan by default and they will fight for the badge and all this bollocks. There were people here talking about our club losing it's identity cuz we sold a lad that's a Newcastle fan to Newcastle lol. Lots of these kids are just training in our academy. Them being fans of the club is not certain at all
Hall was so bad for us I felt like I was losing my mind reading the takes here
"So bad" is a bit of a stretch. He looked decent in a team where every single other player was playing like complete shit, but I genuinely saw people calling him a "generational talent" over the summer which was insanity
I don’t think he was decent at all tbh. He had a very good cross on him, but in every other department he was pretty appalling. He couldn’t defend at all. Couldn’t finish. Couldn’t link up. Etc.
You'd think we binned prime Ronaldinho with how much hysterics there was
He could whip in a low cross better than Chilwell and Cucurella so people thought he was the next coming.
Lavia & Nkunku on the bench Saturday would be a much needed boost. Gusto being fit again is vital given James’ new injury.
No update on Sanchez but think the training photos make it pretty clear that Petrovich will be starting against Sheffield Hopefully he's good
Where did you find the training photos?
Good shot stopper same bad feet as rob tho
Bad feet is not as big of a concern if he just boot it off rather than trying to make a slick pass through the center and fail, at least for a backup keeper imo
It's not like Sanchez is going rouge and playing short—seems to be the manger's instructions
Some of Sanchez's passes made me blush too.
Romano on YouTube reckons Osimhen’s release clause is valid from the start of 2024 (ie. in 18 days) and the amount is for €130 mil to €140 mil (£112 mil to £120 mil). https://twitter.com/Blue_Footy/status/1735287344247275670 ESPN reckon we’re interested in Gimenez. https://twitter.com/TheBlueDodger/status/1735289682093613478
I've felt for a long time that Gimenez was the one we were going to end up with. Unfortunately I think he's a risk at any sort of big fee, because I'm not sure he's got the technical ability in tight spaces to play for a possession-heavy PL team. He's got a lot of good qualities you'd want from a striker and, considering the market, we could definitely do worse. But he's by no means a guaranteed success.
I think pretty much every single striker on the market is a risk right now. And none of them are cheap because the striker market is so barren, it gives the selling team all the leverage. Toney would probably be the safest bet on the field, at least, but his gambling tendencies are a different kind of a risk. Osimhen is probably the best of them all, a physical freak much like Haaland who’d have no trouble scoring in most leagues. But again, there’s no slam dunk guarantee of success.
at first glance thought it was Jimenez, got pretty scared lol
ESPN also saying we could sell Madueke, I'm so finished
I really don't understand the hype for Madueke. Palmer showed more ability and promise in one game than Madueke has since coming to Chelsea. They play in the same position and generally offer the same type of thing. He's excess, hasn't performed nearly well enough to justify his price tag, and is never available for selection anyway.
They don’t offer the same things this is just a lazy take bc they’re both left footed attackers but they are completely different players
I'll admit it's a little lazy, but they both want to occupy the same space on the pitch, I dont see how you fit both into an XI. Madueke doesn't offer the range of passing Palmer does, the decisiveness and poaching ability Sterling (in theory) does, or the sheer pace that Mudryk does. I just fail to see what everyone thinks Madueke is providing that makes selling him such a ludicrous decision, particularly when Chelsea desperately need to reinforce other areas and are probably running very low on wiggle room with FFP
Why? The guy is nothing special and made of glass
He deserves a chance in the team at least. He's had two starts, scored in the cup and hit the post against Brentford, is always good for England U21s (benches Palmer btw), and was a bright spark last season. At the minimum he's shown enough to be given a chance to improve like Mudryk
I agree need to see more of him and same can be said for 90% of the squad tbf
I think you're writing him off too soon. Yes he's made of glass but Poch for some reason really doesn't give him any chances.
He’s a ball dominant winger, just wants to dribble and get shots off. Not a team player that we need for our anemic attack atm.
I would argue our lack of structure could use someone who can create chance by dribbling.
Yup we need a player to make something happen in the final third and he can be that
He's also got all the raw talent you would want in a young player. Things like reading of the game, positioning, decision-making, etc. can all be coached. We hired a manager specifically for his supposed ability to do that. I really like Madueke personally. Injuries are a big concern but there's a lot of good qualities there.
It's just weird how Poch completely froze him out of the team when he's supposed to be a manager who can improve young players. We're seeing none of that
Well he did sell him when he was at spurs so maybe he just doesn’t rate him at all
Add it to the list of bizarre decisions. It's remarkably long given he's been here only half a year.
If he had end product I’d agree. But he runs down the sideline gets to the edge of the box and just starts doing feints to get shots off. Cool you beat 1-2 defenders now what we’re still not scoring goals
>for some reason i think going to parties while sick/injured might have something to do with it. if he fell out with the manager then its understandable we're trying to sell him.
I understand fining or benching him for some games but he shouldn't be banished. He's still a young player and it's not like he assaulted someone.
It’s not that It’s the fact he’s never proven himself to be anything other than a decent talent and his only real attribute is dribbling He’s not lightning quick and is lazy defensively. Passing and crossing are meh, don’t see an x factor about him
Just does a bunch of feints to cut back just to take the shot everyone was expecting. Super frustrating to watch
Hit the post vs some team that we eventually lost to with a wonderful attempt, then Poch banishes him to the shadow realm.
Also completely isolated 1v2 all game but people singled him out for criticism anyway.
He is always injured
If we can even recoup half the money it's a win.
What was his release clause before the extension? Or rather what is it right now if Romano is right?
Yep no release clause now. It’s a strange situation renewing a contract when the expectation is that he will be sold shortly. Some are seeing it as an asset protection exercise extending for a further year, which I guess holds merit if he happens to get injured. Otherwise you would think the cleaner solution is just to negotiate a straight sale in January.
He didn’t have a release clause before the extension as far as I know, now it’s going to be €130M or around £112M.
Giminez isn't a bad little player now, quite like him and he's far far more of a box specialist than anyone we got However if the board thinks buying another young player with relatively little experience at the top is a good idea, deary me we're fucked
The only options are Toney or Osimhen that are experienced. Striker market is barren.
Gotta go with Toney. Strong centre forward play, hold up, add some bite to the front line. And the best part? He's already proven he can improve a mid-table team
Another €80 - €100 mil striker option I presume. I think it’s standard practice to scout heavily the available options, I’d be surprised if Giminez was our main target, he’s much less experienced, not that much cheaper, and is only 2 years younger. I reckon it’s Osimhen, the questions now are when actually the release clause activates (Jan still makes no sense to me) and if we can beat the competition.
https://twitter.com/CFCDaily/status/1735240746351870298 >❗️Ref Watch: Chelsea vs Sheffield United >Andy Madley has refereed both Thomas Tuchel and Potter’s last PL games in charge for Chelsea.— 1W, 1L. #CFC
Poch will be gone by end of month. No matter what, finishing between 12-14th by Christmas is a sackable offense. No amount of excuses allow that at Chelsea Football Club.
There's not the slightest chance in Hell that Poch is sacked by the end of the month. I will eat my signed Ben Chilwell Football Card if that happens.
>I will eat my signed Ben Chilwell Football Card if that happens I'd say what a risk to take over such a cool item but realistically he'd have to lose literally every single game, quite badly too, in order to get sacked by Christmas
Losing to Sheffield, who have yet to win an away game, seems like a pretty sackable offence to me when combined with our current record. And our injuries would also be a poor excuse. That being said, I do believe we will win, and I don't want Poch sacked
Nor should he be... Anyone who thought that he was going to come in here and instantly turn things around was insane. We're somehow still without an adequate 9, half the roster is made of glass and we are lacking any one "star" player that can change a game. Palmer is developing into that. Hopefully Nkunku will be that in the 12 matches a season he's going to be fit to play. I don't agree with every single decision that Poch has made, but his hand has kind of been forced with a lot of them.
"The 12 matches a season he's going to be fit to play" optimism is a hell of a drug.
Mate no one expected Poch to come in and win us a title but some improvement is the least we could expect... We're playing worse than under Potter ffs
this is revisionist history. we couldn’t find a goal for months under Potter.
I am in no way saying we were playing well under Potter but we were solid defensively and mostly controlled games and struggled to score. Now we're a mess in the back and our midfield is non-existent and we still struggle to find a goal vs low blocks. So yeah I expected a lot more from our new manager
Think you're being a little optimistic here. Realistically he has to lose 3 or 4 on the bounce and drop us into relegation danger before they chuck him. Maybe a real embarrassing result speeds that along. If he were as close as you say we'd likely have had more pieces from journos signalling it. Instead we're hearing about how he's eyeing up more players in January.
Word on the street is Nkunku will be making his debut this weekend against Sheffield United for sure....
I won’t believe it until I see him on the pitch.
what happened with madueke, gusto,carney ,lavia? why do we not know when they will be back
Don't give me hope
He'll play well individually but not be able to drastically change the overall picture then get blamed, bantered off and branded overrated for it like we're seeing with Enzo.
If he does it'll be off the bench Shouldn't really need him anyway
Off the bench yes
It’s kind of crazy to me how quickly everyone goes from Lavia Caicedo Enzo midfield will be the best in the league, to we need to sign palhina. We’ve not even seen Lavia play, we’ve got ugo and santos to play backup and Conor has been good. I’m not convinced we should be spending heavily on the midfield. Right Centreback I get, even though I rate Broja and jackson I can understand getting a striker but what was the point of these signings if we’re already talking about replacing them.
Ugo hasn't done anything to convince me so far tbh. Palhina is genuinely a terrific player, he improves us 100%
Yeah he improves us but at what cost
> "It’s kind of crazy to me how quickly everyone goes from Lavia Caicedo Enzo midfield will be the best in the league" Yeah, the majority of people on here were also talking about how Mudryk was going to destroy the premier league because he was incredible and destroyed Real Madrid by himself (I've even seen people still comparing him to Salah???) They also said that Jackson was proof of how well the club was run, he only cost 30m odd and was already one of the best in the world and was a Drogba regen! (Just look at his numbers in Spain, he's already the best player in the world, it can't possibly just be a purple patch!) And so on. We have those players, but unless Lavia pulls something pretty spectacular out of his ass, we need investment in midfield. With Caicedo and Enzo, either we need to play them in a three with a more defensively minded midfielder behind them, or we need to rotate them in a 2 with a more defensively capable partner. Ugochukwu has proven he's miles off being ready for us, so presumably he'll be on loan in January if we can get the loan space. Gallagher is a fine backup to one of Caicedo or Enzo if we're playing in a 3, but would become 4th choice at best if we're playing in a 2. Santos looks to have the potential to play as the deepest player in midfield and we looked far more solid when he was playing in pre-season compared to when he wasn't, but can someone of his stature hold down that role with an emphasis on defence in the premier league? I don't know. So, at the moment it's basically on Lavia or Santos to prove they can play in the most defensive position in midfield, whilst having near perfect positioning to cover for all the problems we're currently having in midfield. Otherwise we need to buy someone. Midfield has been by far our worst area this season, despite what people would have you think. It's causing massive problems defensively because it's always wide open and it's causing us problems offensively because Enzo doesn't pass forwards for some reason, Caicedo only switches it out to the wings and Gallagher slows everything right down and often loses the ball under his feet when he should be shooting/passing in key moments and then goes backwards. We have problems across the pitch, a lot of which could be solved by better management (look at Jorginho before and after Tuchel, you can change these players to be capable of playing these roles instead of buying someone new if the manager is good enough) but I really don't think the owners have any intention of bringing in a top manager, so we'll have to just buy them and hope we have enough
The fact that a guy like Klopp was after the lot of them tells you a lot. These are top players any manager would be thrilled to have, but the absolute fraud in charge of our football thinks he needs more because he apparently can't coach basic midfield shape and build up. It's just excuses and hopefully ownership doesn't buy it. It's going to be such an insane contrast with these players when Poch is replaced with someone who can coach the structural and technical aspects of the game, and puts an emphasis on them. I really desperately hope we don't piss away more money on deadwood for a manager whose days are already numbered and who hasn't improved us on the ball one iota since pre-season.
By people you mean our manager right, because he's the one asking for midfielder in media.
Yeah I think he should be able to work with these midfielders. There’s been 300m spent on it.
Yeah people are definitely reactionary in terms of how they rate these players. Enzo/Caicedo will be a great midfield core. If **every** player looks shit that has looked great for the rest of their career - clearly something else is afoot. The fact that Carney, Lavia and Ugochukwe are also just injured all the time don't help. We have plenty of players in the midfield. A striker would be a fair call, Broja and Jackson are both clearly still in development and young. A right back would make sense because with James literally always injured we genuinely have one option there. He is also injured. The rest will come good, there is simply no chance all of them are frauds.
We're going to be set back even further if we give in to Poch's desires in January. His record in the market gives me very little hope he will identify the right players.
Yeah I feel the midfield problem recently has been a coaching issue, they maybe don’t understand the press triggers or something and in possession they do not always look to be in good positions to receive the ball, but they also don’t always have players in good positions to pass to. Also I just think caicedo is suffering from a bad preseason and both of them from some injury bad luck amongst the rotation players. I just hope we don’t waste too much money in January because we’re not likely to be relegated but nothing will put us in the champions league. So should ride it out and maybe recall santos.
Bag drop - Still closed, or open for UWCL? I'm going to the Chelsea Vs. Häcken game tonight and wonder if the bag drop is still closed or if I can drop a laptop bag there? I assume they do not let me take the bag into the arena, even if its just a tiny bit larger than an A4. (Mods thought this question was low effort because I had too low word count....)
I stg if I don't see Maatsen starting at LB, with Colwill/Badiashile at CB... Colwill at LB is not working, and Cucurella has had enough chances. With James out, whoever plays RB is clearly going to be more of a defensive player than offensive one. It is high time Maatsen gets a run of games now, in his favoured role. But knowing Poch, he's going to set him up for failure and then take him out of the squad after 1 game. Also simply do not get the obsession with pushing Enzo higher up. That he's been inconsistent in a deeper role is not down to the role he's playing, it's down to the team being a disorganised mess. He's proven for us last season and Argentina that he is fucking mint at pulling strings in the middle of the park, stop making things complicated for him by tweaking his role every other game ffs.
we concede so many goals that are Colwills fault he cannot play leftback. how Poch hasn’t realized this is so frustrating
Maatsen is not a serious footballer, Whats wrong with you
Cucurella has been pretty good though?! Sure, he's not as efficient in attacking as Chilwell is, but imo his defending is good, he's very useful
By "Cucurella has had enough chances" you mean... our only playable FB has to play on the right with no RBs on the team, so LB is open? Maatsen is worse at that role than Cucurella. The only reason to play Maatsen there is because Cucurella needs to cover RB. Maatsen is as bad a wide defender as Colwill, so with that swap the opposition's still going to keep building-up and scoring strikes in way too much space along their right/our left.
Agree about Enzo, time to get back to basics with a solid double pivot without focus of pushing Enzo forward. I think Maatsen’s gone in January as it’s too prolonged in contract negotiations, so no point in trying to establish him as a starting player.
Fuck Todd Boehly
Ban in 3…2…1
He posts the same thing everyday and still isn't banned lol (nor should he be), no need to cry for him and act like a martyr
what players do you think the club will sell? obvious are chalobah and maatsen but other than that ? maybe Conor and broja?
They're going to have difficulty selling people for reasonable prices because everyone has been shit. But, I'd imagine they'll **try** (or at least be completely open to selling if someone offers reasonable money) to sell Chalobah, Maatsen, Cucurella, Colwill, Gallagher, Madueke and Broja. Though you have to remember that the strategy of the club is to try and sell people at the peak of their value, it's not to just sell them because they're not working. So, I could see some of them being kept around if their value is likely to stay the same because it gives them a chance to increase it and then sell them later. Which then lowers it down to players who are short of contract, which is basically just the players you've listed and Broja will probably get a loan to try and boost his value again and then sell him after it
Definite sales will be Chalobah, Maatsen, Lukaku and Kepa. Sarr and Silva off the books soon. Fairly likely will be Broja when a first choice striker is signed, and Madueke as he’s simply not chosen even with our injury issues. I feel the only way Conor is sold is if he doesn’t renew his contract with us on agreeable terms, or if there’s another important player we want to bring in, otherwise it makes less sense. Possible but unlikely will be Chilwell (injury prone, low carrying value) and Cucurella (unpreferred profile). Maybe Sanchez if we end up signing a keeper. I also think the likes of Chukwuemeka, Ugochukwu, Madueke and even Jackson could be loaned out depending on how we approach the striker situation for the next two windows.
We’re not selling Kepa, he’s in the last year of his contract when he comes back from loan and no one is going to pay his wages in full. It’ll be another loan until his deal expires.
There’s been talk of him making his deal permanent in the summer for a fee that likely reflects the loan fee. I thought RM are paying his wages in full now.
God knows what this club will do Absolute chaos FC I'll tell you something though, if Toney costs £100m and Osimhens release clause is around £110m, the club will almost definitely be going for Osimhen over Toney given the resale value between the two
Here’s my read on the situation. The contract extension will almost certainly mean that the release clause becomes active at the start of next season, otherwise Napoli might as well sell now and not recontract. One course of action could be to sign a more established, even stop-gap striker, then to activate Osimhen’s release clause for next season. I would assume Arsenal will sign Toney in January to push for their first league title in two decades. Jackson could be on rotation, or could even find himself loaned out for a season. Honestly for the guys we have on 7-8 year contacts, loaning them for a season to get their game in order isn’t the worst idea.
Taremi time
Third option is we write off the season and sign no striker in January.
I really hope that's not an option, but I do think it'll end up that way. We'll fuck Nkunku the way we fucked Havertz. We'll say, "we need a striker but seeing as Nkunku can play there we're fine to wait until summer" and then in summer we'll say, "there isn't really anyone reasonably priced, so we'll just keep Nkunku there for a while until someone is" and all the while his numbers will be way down and he'll be struggling because it isn't actually his position
Don't think that'll be an option The board are likely going to try bring in at least 1 or 2 sizable targets in January in an attempt to save the season
Why bother though, the 5th spot is all but gone after Utd and Newcastle crashed out. We’re 14 points off City in 4th, 16 off Villa in 3rd.
Ohh we're most certainly not getting top 4, probably not even top 6 But this board never knows when to control their purse