quickpassnmove

I wish CFC could get rid of the turf around the grass on the SB pitch. Every new season I cannot imagine how the club spends millions on players who need to slow down so rapidly at the touchlines and endlines to avoid groin injuries or other injuries. Wide players need another two yards outside the touchlines just to play the ball, make runs and defend. I remember seeing so many players like Hazard playing on the touchline and having to balance awkwardly on that turf or nearly slide and use extra (groin) muscles to prevent falling. Cringeworthy every season and it can depress attacks at the edge. Why is this unchanged at SB since 2004 or Roman’s takeover?

The site is still alive in the age of apps, social media and phones, 2023. One might think that browser-based forums could go the way to BBS/IRC. Good to see people are still here. More in ASAP: CM, CF summer: Enzo? RB? out ASAP: Pulisic and some of our midfielders (eg. Jorginho). probably Khoulibaly too. probably Ziyech, but maybe Potter helps turn it around for him(?)

Good win, but disjointed and a weak centre midfield getting over-run again. also: no way Sarr stays at Chelsea.

Lukaku was never a big match or high pressure situation winner IMO. B/C he returned last summer, I could only hope, but the history is already there in the Prem. The rest of the attackers we currently have: I would be willing to sell all of them just to make sure we keep Borja and Ziyech for our future squad. We need better attackers.

Ideas: Dump the Jorginho MF setup, play forward faster w/o fear of losing the ball.... etc. etc. Our centre midfield has options other than Jorginho, but not much strength except in Barkley and RLC. Ideas: Tuchel plays an imitation of the Barca way with inferior squads and no Messi. Why does he keep doing this and why does he not try something else 100% instead of half-ass attempts to deviate from the possession-based gameplay? Every variation/deviation/change is only ever partial and never ventures to interplay/attacking that abandons obsession with possession. There are too many variables at-play in CFC's predicament. The manager and the squad are not where they need to be. So, if we lay the blame at the feet of playing around Jorginho's MF, who just won the Euro Cup last summer and NOT having a good alternative setup.... I am not so sure this is all a good excuse. An excuse for WHAT? How about the fact that our squad has shown ZERO development this season under Tuchel? Where does this leave us? Muddling through more months of this? Personally, I value Conor Gallagher, Armando Broja, Hakim Ziyech and the potential of some of the other players in our squad more than I value the current manager staying at our club. Are we going to change our centre midfield under Tuchel by selling Jorginho and acquiring CMs that can physically dominate matches? Does this solve the attacking problems?

Chelsea, the team that cannot score since Drogba and Costa. Again and again, months and months. I've lost interest.

I agree. Yes, Werner is a big name, but not a big body for every kind of matchup or circumstance. I like Werner. But, am posting b/c I know that we need a natural goalscoring big body option with power and aggression and some speed for that CF spot also in our future.

When do we get a serious CF along with the power in CM (like Declan)? Anyone know who the next big name might be out there? We won't win anything with the kind of big CFs we now have.

The home shirt looks great and it fits me perfectly: not too tight, not too roomy. Highly recommend the home shirt. This guy wears a lot of the product line during his videos right now and shows you how well the shirts fit an average-built guy: The shirt I just got from UKSoccershop today:

I can understand being pissed that CFC did not acquire Allison, I suppose, but why bother dwelling on that now? Kepa has been a good goalkeeper for us so far in his time here and our club has been quite unsettled all-around. Lastly, that Italian kid from Milan --Cutrone, is a monstrous man-child. I don't think any defender will handle him well and he could be scoring goals like a Diego Costa if he gets the ball enough in the box during his time the Premier League. His build is more powerful than Diego. So, if anyone among our defenders or our GK were stunned by his presence, I wouldn't count that against them right now. Shit happens.

They do have a dangerous squad though. Lots of potential; let's see if the manager can adapt to the Prem this season. Seems like the striker from Milan was a steal. The guy looks like he fed well as a child and can run defenders over.

Enjoyed the goals, confident in the 2nd half except that I felt Alonso was getting cover from the referee in the 1st half. Jorginho had a tough time the first 25 minutes or so, giving the ball away, but he has fought through with Kovacic's help. FTW!

meh, don't worry about the manager this season and I disagree with you (for once); you should be feeling abnormally hopeful with Chelsea IMO. Maybe things won't go so well in the next couple years, but for once since about 2007, I personally feel more hopeful about Chelsea's future even if the current squad is young, we're banned on transfers and Frank is an inexperienced coach.

Well, they should have used that nice orange and black collar edge in a complete circle or V, but for me, I am NOT complaining about the new kits because Nike are giving us ORIGINAL designs FOR Chelsea Football Club instead of Adidas giving us hand-me-down designs from Germany/AC Milan/Madrid/Mexico/Spain/Bayern etc. We have our own kits now. I think this year's blue shirt is great; it's better than (probably) all the adidas shirts we had going back to Umbro. Adidas did annoying shit with curved seams and other curved lines. I'm glad we have Nike shirts now.

CHO being healthy all season with Mount and a 3rd player means Barkley probably won't be starting. Despite Pulisic's shortcomings and physical weakness, Christian probably offers more in the box while we do still have Pedro. Barkley is going to end up outside the PL IMO. Moving downward.

Weakest players in this squad are probably Willian, Zouma, Barkley, Alonso, Batshuayi, and maybe Pulisic. Sure, Barkley will get more opportunities this season and we will see about Pulisic too, but I think Zouma is just going to be an incessant liability (he has always looked shaky and injury-prone to me since he joined us, nevermind the OG). Willian will continue to be ineffective against any strong side. I would predict that Willian, Alonso, Zouma, Bats, and Barkley will be on the way when this club are ready to make buys ahead of next summer's window. Tomori looks good and Kovacic is looking great.

One question: who is buying James Maddison? Or, will he remain at Leicester? I am sure, while staying healthy, he will be a better player than Pulisic, but I guess he won't sell shirts in N. America. I hope Chelsea are after fullbacks, one winger and one striker if the transfer ban is delayed this summer. Kind of the same situation as last summer except that we instead got a better goalkeeper and a decent CM who was played in the wrong way by Sarri.

Absolutely not. He's already 22 and showed himself repeatedly as the worst of Ajax's starters IMO. Does NOT know what to with the ball in and around the box and I bet that does not change. Would be another Willian: good dribbler, retains ball, produces nothing great with possession against strong sides but MIGHT against weaker opponents. Waste of money and time.

meh, they were just ineffective up top and Shaw made mistakes. Fred and McTominey both played well along with Young. United's forward line has been questionable or ineffective for a while --esp. centre forward. Barca has decent enough cohesion and experience to prevent disasters at the back --even though they really could have blown it a few times in that match. Pogba, Dalot, and Lukaku weren't good enough to make United dangerous yesterday. Rashford is inconsistent.

I really don't know what to think about the prospect of keeping Sarri. The squad isn't great, esp. up top and in fullback, but Sarri has continuously compounded the squad's shortcomings with a shitty centre midfield setup this season. I can kind of excuse him for his willingness to stick with the original idea of Jorginho sitting deep, but also I ridicule the decision to do so because Jorginho is weak, a lesser passer than Fabregas was, not that quick, and redundant when he is incapable of creating forward momentum while we have two centre backs capable of passing AND dribbling from the roughly the same area where Jorginho resides. Sarri should have tried something else by now, esp. given that Jorginho is not a bad shooter either. I know Jorginho can shoot from his time before Napoli too. But, here we are again with a manager that refuses to be adventurous with the options the squad provided for him this season. Five matches to go and CHO has just ONE PL start??? Willian perpetually ineffective around the box unless it's a weak opponent. None of this makes sense from a tactical POV regardless of our shortcomings in CF. So, what's the decision then? Chelsea are a mess with some good young talent ready to take up the banner. Good future potential, but the squad needs more still. This manager COULD evolve, but I think he has demonstrated little nous this season for the PL. I'd like to see Marina and Maurizio gone if I am forced to make a decision right now. Stupid after stupid after stupid.

With FOUR ENGLISH clubs in the CL quarterfinals, Roman's Chelsea has never felt so damn mediocre as this moment.

despite lacking some quality in fullback, centre back, wing, striker etc., this ban could be a blessing. Sarri ain't going to cut it and Jorginho was a waste of transfer money from the moment he became the hub of our lineup. The former man behind Sevilla's scouting mastery might be Chelsea's chance to catch up to Manchester's clubs ITF. Wake me up in 18 months.

It will require changes in the offices and probably in ownership.

I turned the match off pretty quickly and went to sleep, but, I expect this stuff. I draw a direct line from the moment AVB spoke something that resembled the truth years ago. Chelsea don't have an identity, not a leadership group in the offices with vision. These facts were previously made unclear by the talent and leadership we had on the pitch. I have a vision though: CFC are headed for full-fledged mediocrity as long as Abramovich and the Chelsea offices remain as they are. Furthermore, Pep's entrance into the Prem has made things a little bit more clear. Chelsea won recent titles because other clubs were weak. Not so anymore.