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Pedro Neto is a perfect wingback Such a frustrating player to watch https://siphillipstalkschelsea.substack.com/p/pedro-neto-is-a-perfect-wingback My unpopular opinion maybe? I believe that Pedro Neto would be a VERY good wingback. I was pleased when we signed Neto. I’ve always liked him for his traits, attitude, intensity, and the way he never gives up. But at Chelsea, he’s been very frustrating. I don’t think he’s a top winger, but I do think he’s a very useful player and good to have. Neto as a winger is very frustrating because he will do something very good, get near the box, and then waste the chance himself by either hitting a wild shot, making the wrong pass, hitting it right into a defender, or over-hitting a cross. Of course he is also capable of scoring or creating something from nothing, but largely, he just breaks down our own attacks by himself sometimes. He’s never going to be a top level winger. But I DO think he can be a top level wingback. For me, he looks like he would be a class left wingback. He has the energy to get up and down, the pace for counters and retreating. He is decent defensively, and is a strong and physical player, he can run with the ball, and he can contribute both in defence and attack. I guess with Liam Rosenior coming in and his adaptation on using a back three at times, perhaps there is going to be more moments where Neto actually might get deployed as a wingback? I honestly think it would be a very smart move to develop Neto as a wingback rather than a winger. For me, the wingers we have are very weak right now and it’s an area we badly need to improve after spending £100m on it in the summer. Sigh.

The context behind Danny's 'truth about the Chelsea project' article A few things need explaining, I feel https://siphillipstalkschelsea.substack.com/p/the-context-behind-dannys-truth-about I want to start this message by saying that if you saw some of the messages that Danny Windsor has sent recently and over the past couple of years, to people at the very top of our club, and the replies he’s had, you will fully know that he has had and still has many of the same concerns, questions, and feels the same anger, as all of us. I can assure you, he’s certainly had our backs! Danny’s ‘truth about the Chelsea project’ article was angled more positively and I completely understand some of the negative reactions to it. But also, I can assure you, all it is was Danny simply expressing what he feels and believes, following a meeting with Chelsea’s leadership team. I was also in this meeting too, and about a week after I went, I posted on X calling the owners incompetent. I think that makes my stance clear on everything. Danny has been FULL of rants in the past and recently, and his stance has not changed. He still has ALL the same concerns and questions as you all have. We challenged them on all the concerns you have. The meeting was mostly about letting them explain the project in their own words and taking it in so we could attempt to get an understanding of their thinking. Danny has been more positive than me off the back of the meeting, as has Luke, but I can assure you, none of us have changed our opinions on everything we believe that has been done wrong. We are not allowed to say exactly who it was that we spoken with on request of said person/people. So of course we have to respect that and keep our relationship with them, I’m sure you’ll agree that it is better to have an avenue to them so we can continue speaking to them? It’s been SO important for us to have this regular contact with those at the top of the club, and on a human level, we truly respect them and appreciate them for giving us time. This does not mean we have been turned on all things Chelsea. We are Chelsea through and through and will always put the club first. The club obviously did not pay us to ‘put our their PR’ and any suggestion they do is just ridiculous. I’d quite like to be paid by Chelsea and if I was, you wouldn’t be seeing me on here anymore 😂. I’m joking of course, but the reality is that if they were paying me/us, then I’d have lost that ‘contract’ already by calling them names on X last week! Also, this is the most important thing about the meeting. Initially, it was ALL in confidence. Danny approached them and asked whether some bits of it can be put out in an article, and they agreed. They never told us to put anything out and in fact, we also had a meeting with them LAST season and never put any of that out. So it’s not for PR on their side, it was simply to explain to a fan group who write and have a reach, what they are trying to do, in their own words. I don’t see anything wrong or bad about that. It was not them approaching us to put out their ‘briefings’ or PR. They don’t see us as journalists at all, they see us as passionate fans of the club. Now, you may not like what they have said and think it’s still PR, that’s totally fine. But is anyone really expecting them to tell us ‘yeah, we’ve been sh*t, we’ve made some crap signings and it’s all failing’!? They fully back what they are doing so they are behind it, believe in it, and are sticking to the plan. They were just defending what they believe they are doing. I don’t know what anyone was expecting them to say really. They are going to keep fighting their corner. I’ve read all the comments from the last couple of days and believe me, I agree with most of the things written. I’m not about to stop calling them out and challenging them, and they welcome that from us too. They expect it. Isn’t it just good that we have a route to them and can regularly speak with them? I’ve also seen people say they would have preferred to see quotes from them. We would to. But it wasn’t that kind of meeting, it wasn’t an interview. We weren’t recording what they said or taking notes. It was a confidential meeting, as was the last one. Only after did they say we could put some info out on our request. My plan now is to see if one of them will come on the Podcast with us and take questions sent in from you guys. Of course, if they don’t want to do this then I can understand and will respect their decision. But I will ask them to do this because I feel right now, with all the toxicity and ill feelings towards them from the fan base, this might be the only thing that could help to ease some tensions. Whether it will or not, I don’t know. But it could help. I hope that clears some of it up for you all. I personally think it’s a great thing that they give us time and also allowed us to relay some of what they said to the wider fan base. We will continue to raise concerns with them whilst also keeping a vital relationship going. As I’ve said, I actually found them very respectful, decent people, knowledgeable, and I appreciate them for always giving me time. That does NOT mean on a Chelsea level that I will stop voicing my concerns, my opinions, and calling them out. I don’t get swayed easily when Chelsea are concerned, I think most of you in this community will know that by now - I stay consistent with my opinions and it takes time for me to change my mind on anything. I will take A LOT of convincing that this project is positive and not failing right now - because I believe it is, and of course I tell them this regularly. They know this too and will never try to change my opinion, just only explain from their side what they are trying to do here. Simon Phillips

Some bits on Liam Rosenior Of course I have big concerns, but there's many bits to like - a bit of a coaching profile here https://siphillipstalkschelsea.substack.com/p/some-bits-on-liam-rosenior I’m certainly not going to start saying that I’m buzzing to have appointed Liam Rosenior as our new head coach or pretend that it’s some incredible appointment. It’s underwhelming, it was obvious, and it was very easy to do. Rosenior had been primed for a future role as Chelsea boss for some time now. But as I’ve said, I will be fully backing him and supporting him as our new manager. I'll get behind any Chelsea manager until they give me reason not to. Club over anything else. Chelsea FC comes first and is way more than staff, owners, players - who all come and go. But at the same time, there is a lot to like about Liam and some very positive signs as well. You can also not blame him for wanting to take this job - you can clearly see that he sees this as a dream opportunity. I have no doubt at all that he will take this fully seriously and put literally every inch of what he’s got into it and trying to make us succeed again. He also has a connection to the club, having spent some time in the academy as a player. I’m not saying he’s Chelsea born and bred, but he will have some affiliation through that. Playing-wise, he was a pretty decent full back, making 7 appearances for the England U21 team. He never really got to dizzy heights in his playing career, but he did get a lot of experience playing for clubs such as Fulham, Reading, and Hull City. Where did he end his playing career? Yep, that’s right, Brighton. It just HAD to be Brighton, right? You cannot make it up! He then joined Wayne Rooney’s coaching staff at Derby County after a short time under Philip Cocu, and as you would have seen this week, the former England striker was literally raving about Rosenior and he really rates him. Liam then became the interim manager of Derby when Rooney was sacked. Liam then went on to manage Hull City and then Strasbourg, doing two years at each club. He’s been coaching as a first manager since 2022. From what I have seen and heard this week, he has a lot about him. He is very firm, but very fair. He speaks well and is super intelligent, emotionally and academically. He’s certainly no walk over either. In modern football, you need to be able to put an arm around a shoulder at the right time, to be able to read different personalities and realise every player needs to be approached differently, but to also be able to drop the hammer when you need to. I have no doubt that Liam is very good at all of that. I believe the players at Chelsea will grow to like him a lot as a person, and when a player likes a manager as a person, it can help to go a long way to building togetherness and have them not only working hard for themselves and for the fans, but for their manager too. Liam puts a big emphasis on strong mentalities and he sees that as more important than tactics, something that I have spoken about recently and agree with. You can be the most skilful player in the world, but if you have a bad attitude and lack confidence, belief, and a strong mentality, you can often just fade away or ghost games. Tactically, I guess he can be described as a modern day coach who likes to keep control and have the majority of possession - this is what Chelsea as a club wants and why they would have only hire a manager who focuses primarily on that. But I’ve also heard he is a flexible coach too, one who can switch to a Plan B and a Plan C if needed, and this is a good thing for sure. After he retired from playing at Brighton in 2018, Liam joined the Seagulls' under-23 setup as an assistant coach. At the same time, he worked as a pundit on Sky Sports' coverage of the Football League. I remember seeing him on there and also seeing clips since then and thinking that he was a superb pundit and spoke with great football knowledge and intelligence, something that is actually kind of rare amongst former players. In his first season as Strasbourg boss, Liam got a seventh-place finish and secured a spot in the UEFA Conference League, the first time Strasbourg had qualified for Europe in 19 years. Rosenior is known for an attacking, high-possession brand of football. His Strasbourg team played the fewest long passes in Europe’s top-five leagues last season. Personally, I’m not sure that’s a good thing, but anyway…. In an interview with BBC Football Focus, Rosenior cited Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola as a key stylistic influence. “Pep Guardiola is the ultimate, for me, in terms of how he’s changed the game, how brave he’s been, how he’s inspired the next generation of goals,” he said. “For me, he’s the ultimate.” Rosenior has claimed that his coaching has been informed by his work in the media, and also cites both NFL legend Bill Belichick and Wayne Rooney as key influences. Rosenior employs a fluid formation which often moves from 3-2-5 in possession and 4-3-3 out of it, with a high press, although there are variations depending upon the opponent. Media-savvy, articulate and already well versed in the complexities around BlueCo’s multi-club ownership, you can see why Chelsea have turned to him in this moment where they needed a quick turnaround. But I’ve also heard that they see him as being much smarter in front of the cameras and in public. Rosenior gained his pro-licence aged just 32 and has always seen himself as a student of the game. As a player, if he was ever injured or out of the team, he would often watch the game from the mouth of the tunnel, so he could practise making snapshot decisions from the touchline. One of the most striking themes in Rosenior’s coaching philosophy is his belief that management is fundamentally about human relationships. As he put it in an interview with the EFL back in 2023, “For me, being a manager is mainly about people skills.” He consistently emphasises honesty, integrity and care as the foundations of any successful team environment, adding: "If you’re honest, if you have integrity and if you care about one another, I think you can go a really long way." Some tactical snippets from Chelsea analyst Conor Holden: Final third pace injection Despite playing slowly in the first phase, looking to bait the press and patiently wait for openings, Rosenior wants his side to turn the speed dial once they find the initial final third entry 🔹Builders ~ whether it be within the most common 3-2 base shape or if it takes shape of a 3-1 with another midfielder looking to play behind the opposition midfield line, this unit will often drop below the first line of pressure to bait with a high volume of touches & passes 🔹Creators ~ the unit looking to play behind the opposition midfield lines have the freedom to move and offer passing angles, and license to find solutions once the ball comes through ~ connections are key 🔹Arrivals ~ by often splitting the two units, it allows space in between for give and goes, drop and go movements and opportunities for players to arrive with separation from their marker in this “between” phase Interactivity One aspect that Chelsea fans could enjoy under Rosenior, and something that could inspire some lovely patterns of play, is the interactivity down the sides ▫️Enciso (right inside forward/RHS) ~ comes all the way over towards the ball, looking to combine in close proximity ▫️Outarra (LHS) is already close with Moreira (LW) ~ crossover movements ▫️Chilwell (LB/LCB) ~ offering below, but can also run beyond Estevao & Palmer both drifting ball side 🤝 connections Defensive principles Rosenior himself has stated he “used to be a zonal guy”, but he now favours a man oriented approach 🔹Whether it’s a winger tucking into a back five or a back five on paper ~ Rosenior will match up against five forwards with five in the last line 🔹5-2-3/5-4-1 block ~ wide CBs in the line of five stepping into the half space (aggressive & proactive) 🔹Profiles matter ~ Outarra used to protect half spaces in certain games, inside & outside profiles Profiling will be one of the most interesting things to see early doors from Rosenior Against PSG, Outarra (LWB) inverted on the ball, with Diego Moreira playing as the left inside forward on paper, but actually holding the width Panichelli (ST) holding width on the right in the first phase ~ moving central as play progresses ~ Guela Doue moving up to hold width on the right (Note ~ this is just one example, profiles decide who goes where) Chelsea? 🔹Delap RW outlet -> CF 🔹Pedro Neto and/or Gusto holding width? 🔹Cole & Estevao central together in possession? Build up influence Watching back LOADS of Strasbourg the past few days for work, and while Rosenior has spoke about the influence of Roberto De Zerbi before, there’s something giving me a hint of Unai Emery here too A few numbers: ▫️Strasbourg average 228.1 touches in the defensive third per 90 this season (4th highest in European top 5 leagues) ▫️Strasbourg average 3.4 through balls per 90 (3rd in European T5) ▫️Strasbourg average 52.8 long balls attempted per 90 (2nd FEWEST in European T5 ~ only Barcelona with fewer) ▫️Strasbourg average 11.0 shots per 90 (70th in European T5) ▫️Strasbourg average 0.14 npxG per 90 this season (joint 1st with Bayern in European T5) Rosenior wants to… 🔹Bait pressure with his build up ~ wants his team to show bravery in the first phase 🔹Exploit and take the space that opens 🔹Create high xG chances rather than high volume (intrigued to see how much changes with a better squad and more demands) Strasbourg being in and around 7th is a similar story to Villa being on the outskirts of the “big six” when it comes to expectations ~ a draw isn’t enough, you have to take initiative. Conor will have a full video out soon that I will try to remember to share, it will be well worth the watch. Bad points Of course, there will be negatives and major question marks. As with Enzo Maresca, there will be a section of Chelsea fans who will be frustrated with this style of football, find it too slow, or too boring. I think that will be inevitable. But if results come, I’m not sure that style of play will matter too much, it’s all about results. Will Rosenior get annoyed with outside influence, lack of backing in the market? Well, you’d hope he will be fully aware of what could happen here now and just expect it. But he is certainly not someone who is afraid to speak his mind. I could foresee a clash to be honest, that does concern me. Is the job too big? Stepping up brings so much pressure and is intense. Rosenior has to win and he has to win from the start. There’s no time for any ‘bedding in’ and hopefully he will know this (he will). We need results. We need to at least qualify for the Champions League this season. There is a lot of pressure coming with this big step up, only time will tell if he is built for it. My instincts is that he is and it would take a lot to bring him down, but this is certainly another big concern for me. We all see what happens when fans turn if results and performances aren’t good enough. There is rightfully an expectation at Chelsea and there always will be. We must never let standards slip. But all in all, I like Liam as a person and as a coach he does intrigue me. Time will tell, but of course I’ll be fully behind him from the moment he takes charge of his first game on Saturday night. I’m not going to pretend I’m full of excitement or too much hope for the future, because I’m really not. But I am willing Liam to do well and to get us back to where we need to be. I think this is a make or break moment now for our owners.

It is to keep another club from trying to take him if he does really well with us. Not sure it was really necessary, he has to show it first. I hope Rosenior plays the type of progressive football he says he wants to transition the team to playing. I enjoyed the hardware that Maresca brought. I was not enjoying his version of tiki taka football.

I think if we had a decent owner not the bunch of clowns now and it was dealt with correctly we would be in a good position but in my opinion…. Roman shouldn’t have been forced to sell us and I think the new owners are using us as a training club for their French one.

would never happen with our squad even against a vanarama team

Debrief Chelsea lose 2-1 to Fulham after Marc Cucurella gets himself sent off for a brain dead moment.…View the full article

the moment Abramovich left the club it all went downhill

Only won 8 games so far..lost 6..drew 7...

Hypothetically though, nobody would be digging him out. Or any of the others for playing poorly. You don’t see teams get this many stupid red & yellows throughout a season. Maresca passed the buck regarding discipline earlier in the season (& last as well or was it just this one?) & Poch had also mentioned it with certain players too. Players clearly not that arsed about it either. The 2/3 bookings after that red were bullshit and all avoidable. I get certain players may pick up cards for fouls like Cucureulla or Caicedo due to the nature of their game but for guys to get bookings for dissent every other week is poor.

Cucurella doesn't need digging out, and I'd normally say it probably cost us the game, in the cold light of day it probably wouldn't have changed a thing because even with 11 we are playing shite. I want to see Neto out the side for the foreseeable, he was fucking tragic last night and it's time to start Estevao

Aye thats a huge part but their manager & players have got a lot of experience too. We could’ve played at the Bridge & the result would’ve been the same, they’d have just taken the sting out of first 10-15 minutes, silenced the crowd then kicked on and done the exact same. Not that it would’ve been difficult for them, they looked far more comfortable than we did. I mean everyone was raving about Tosin, Fernandez & Reece’s influence with the group after the Maresca scenario & the players getting up for the game v Man City but fuck sake, you shouldn’t need to play a big team to get up for a game of football. That is the ultimate small club mentality. Get up for every game. Regardless of opposition. We should know what to expect, we are struggling, obviously to have half a chance for any team, you need to do the basics very well. Don’t have to play well every week but get up for it, bit of know how to get through tough moments and then show some quality. A struggle to do this is clear as day signs that we have poor standards, lack of experience & leadership throughout this squad. Do you really think the likes of Reece, Enzo, Tosin are going in & digging out Cole Palmer for instance after his performance last night? Or someone is digging out Enzo Fernandez? Or Cucurella? Are they fuck. They are all soft & too nice. Oh it’ll be fine we’ll get a chance next week. New head coach comes in he’ll solve all the issues. If we had 3 or 4 top, senior players in that group it would be a different proposition. Regardless of quality.

Games like this we simply do not control and get dragged into a complete slog fest We are forever getting dominated but the simple reason why is, teams like Fulham are a team full absolute grafters, no top class players just simply players who don't give a fuck who they are playing against, they role up their sleeves and get on with it. You watch the performances of Palmer last night and I select him randomly but he's expecting something to happen instead of trying to make it happen. Body language absolutely pathetic, giving nowhere near enough on the pitch and it's effectively like playing with ten men The project puppet has a huge task on his hands to not just get this lot winning again but getting fucking players working hard

We absolutely did not have title aspirations what gives you that idea? BlueCo’s PR machine saying they want to win the CL after winning the Conference League (surprised if they even knew it was the third tier of European competition)? A glorified pre-season tournament? 😂 There is no evidence anywhere that we had geared up for that either in the transfer market too. But yes we will be lucky to finish top 4. The league position at the beginning of December was a false position performance wise. This group is nowhere near ready to be regulars in the CL, mentally, technically & physically miles off it. No guts or gumption. Not one of these guys has anything about them to drag us up, the only one who could do something (Palmer) signed a new 9 year deal and has been near abysmal ever since but there are so many average players signed for big money that need to be replaced. Big job on Rosenoirs hands, which he is probably ill equipped for.

I hope the fans keep singing and displaying banners against these absolute melts

He will have to get used to it. There is definitely minimal/no tolerance for BlueCo now, how it has taken this long is beyond me as this has been a long time coming & the direction/strategy has been obvious to see from the first full year. I think if Rosenoir does well, it papers over the cracks but if he doesn’t do well, it will just get more & more uncomfortable for these charlatan owners. As it should.

The project puppet has got a real task on his hands sorting this shite out

Actually, that is the problem. Our squad isn't MILES better. Caicedo, James, Cucurella, Enzo (when he feels like it), Palmer and Estevao are the only ones with quality. Half the squad would struggle to make the starting XI of other sides fighting for UCL... Just because we drew with Arsenal and City and beat Liverpool in injury time doesn't mean we are "GOOD", that just means the players can get up for strong opposition but what about the rubbish results like losing to Sunderland, Leeds, Fulham, Brighton and many others this season.

Won't matter anyway, our form under Maresca was pretty poor and we were already sliding out of the UCL places. Having a decent midfield won't matter against most PL sides as our attack is horrific when Palmer isn't in form. Neto, Garnacho, Delap and Pedro aren't exactly regular goalscorers.

Liam Rosenior might have felt a little uncomfortable in his seat next to Behdad Eghbali, as Chelsea’s visiting supporters turned on the club’s co-controlling owner. Chelsea’s new head coach could not have failed to hear the chants of “fuck off Eghbali, you’re not wanted here” as his new squad made it just one win in nine. Eghbali was targeted personally by the Chelsea fans, along with his private equity firm Clearlake Capital, who are co-owners of the club. There were also “BlueCo Out” banners displayed and chants of ''We want our Chelsea back''

There would have to be a legal definition of real owners, which there isn't at the moment The 'fit and proper persons' definition set by the FA seems to mean 'any dodgy billionaire thats been listening to Dark Side of the Moon ''think I'll buy me a football team''

Well the question is why are we spending so much on hoarding players in a certain age bracket? All low risk signings that can potentially improve or fetch a decent fee in a few years. Why are there so few or no quality signings being made the 26+ age bracket? Tosin and Disasi dont qualify in this category. They are both mediocre. And Tosin came on a free. Maybe the justification provided is the fact that they've been burned by the likes of Sterling & Koulibaly, but boy, have they certainly tried to course correct in the most extreme direction.

Tosin will see more appearances. We will continue rotating the squad under Liam as well. Maybe then fans will come to realize that it wasn't Maresca calling all the shots.

MILES??? I don’t think it is. Our squad is seriously average at best. Soo many of our players lack the fundamentals of football. I’m yet to see ANY of them play an intelligent line splitting pass to an attacker making a clever run. Neither parts to that scenario exist. The general ability of our attack is not that good at all. It’s extremely worrying.

Can the CPO revoke their rights to our club name if they don’t sell our club to real owners?