Vesper

Fan View: I was a HUGE backer of the model until the summer window This is a big turnaround, let me explain why.... https://siphillipstalkschelsea.substack.com/p/fan-view-i-was-a-huge-backer-of-the A couple of fan view articles today written by myself but honing in on some very important comments written by community members on our site. Last season, one community member called Billy was always a very positive voice in the the fan base. I often had disagreements with him and I know many others did too. He was even positive throughout our really bad period after Christmas last season. I’m never here to tell people how to think and I will always welcome other opinions to my own. But for me at that point, I could only see gloom. I prefer to be more balanced myself but I will forever respect all views, especially on this site. Billy has done articles for this site before as well and he is someone I fully respect. Well, fast forward almost a year, and Billy’s views are changing - something I never thought I would see and something that the ownership should be VERY concerned about. Because when backers of the project, even those who had been backers through the toxic times, are now having more than doubts about it all, you have to be worried. Billy replied to a comment on the live blog yesterday… He said: “I was a huge backer of the model/project until this summer, I really really thought this summer would be different but it wasn’t. The hype around the club hadn’t been that high since we won the CL in 2021, we’re the current world champions. Chelsea needed to sign a few needle movers & depth but instead just reverted back to signing the same types of players & ultimately replacing players further along in their development with rawer/younger players - it’s like the directors constantly think we have to move backwards to move forwards - every summer feels like an overhaul & we’re going nowhere fast with the constant amount of business we do, especially when you’re not really improving the squad in terms of quality. Just feels like they’re constantly gambling... “How anyone can say with their chest they’re confident the likes of Gittens, Garnacho, Delap, Hato etc will still be here in a year or 2 years time I don’t know - will probably just be replaced with another player with potential. Whose making way for Quenda in the summer? Neto? Means he only managed 2 years before being shipped off... “I just want a bit of continuity in the squad, we have an entire new crop of attackers this summer so i’m not surprised we look blunt going forward.” Billy, I concur! I didn’t think I’d ever agree as much with a comment you have posted, but this is spot on and what I have always feared and doubted about this project. Whether it comes good or not, and I still think it will eventually, nobody can doubt what Billy and others are thinking with these points above, in my view. Why couldn’t we do both, the here, now, and the future? I’ll never understand it.

Chelsea are suffering from a very specific defensive tactic by their opponents https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6656268/2025/09/24/Chelsea-tactics-enzo-maresca-problem/ The sluggish start, followed by a second-half spark. Long throw-ins, pedestrian approach play, even the red and white stripes. Chelsea fans had seen this film before. An unconvincing 2-1 win over League One Lincoln City in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday presented some alarming similarities to a disappointing 2-2 draw with Brentford in the Premier League earlier this month, as Enzo Maresca once again tasked his young, second-string side to get the job done. He could have few complaints after a poor opening 45 minutes, comprehensively out-shot and out-fought by Michael Skubala’s third-tier side. Maresca accepted as much in his post-match press conference, claiming that he was “worried” about Lincoln’s set-pieces and aerial ability before the game. “We already knew exactly what to expect; long balls, free kicks, throws into the box. We struggled a bit in the first half.” But a more pressing concern will have emerged from ongoing issues in their in-possession shape, with Chelsea once again finding it difficult to navigate a recurring defensive ploy designed to block out their preferred route up the pitch. Much like at Brentford, where Igor Thiago followed Moises Caicedo across the pitch during build-up, Chelsea were faced with a towering centre-forward, Freddie Draper, man-marking their deepest midfielder when their centre-backs had the ball. Andrey Santos found himself in that No 6 role at Lincoln, and while the Brazilian did little wrong when the ball came his way, often keeping it moving as neatly as he could, he frequently found himself crowded out and unable to progress the ball effectively to his more advanced teammates. It required more movement into space from Facundo Buonanotte, Enzo Fernandez and Malo Gusto higher up the field. But they struggled for long periods of the first half to shake off their own markers, often wide centre-backs jumping from the Lincoln back five and applying pressure as the passes came in. “We had a 5-diamond-1, and we made sure Freddie looked after their holding midfielder,” confirmed Skubala after the game. “Our No 8s had to be really aggressive and when they jumped, our centre-backs did so at the same time.” It’s a template that teams are using repeatedly to frustrate Maresca’s team — Crystal Palace operated similarly in their 0-0 draw on the opening day of the Premier League season. It begs the question; what can Chelsea do differently to help them create space against compact, back-five sides? At Brentford, it was a raft of half-time substitutions that helped to turn the tide. In their maiden Premier League starts for the club, both Buonanotte and Jorrel Hato seemed hesitant to drift too far from their positions within Maresca’s structural framework in the first half, making it easy for the opposition to block the passes into them, as shown below. Marc Cucurella’s introduction at the break — a dynamic mover when he tucks into midfield, happy to dart out wide or stretch play with runs in behind — helped hugely. As did that of Cole Palmer, Chelsea’s talisman and best player when it comes to finding pockets of space. More adventurous off-ball movement will come with the likes of Hato and Buonanotte, as they grow in confidence and gain precious experience in their new roles against high-physicality sides. But for now, as Palmer grapples with a groin injury, and Maresca looks to keep the team fresh, Chelsea may continue to look a little stale against teams who man-mark the deep midfielder, simply due to some of their more inexperienced players needing time to find their feet in such demanding roles further up the pitch. Though Maresca did find a solution at Lincoln it remains to be seen if it can translate to the Premier League. Chasing the game, Chelsea took a risk and committed an extra man to midfield, pushing both Gusto — as they did in the first half — and Hato further forward during build-up. It left only two defenders back if Chelsea lost the ball, but against a lower-quality side, it was a chance that Maresca was willing to take. We can see the confusion it caused in the Lincoln press below. While in the first half, Draper simply had to stick to Santos while his teammate pushed on, he now needed to ask for support from his midfield with an extra player between the lines to pick up and no-one available to put pressure on the ball. In those moments of hesitation, Fernandez dropped into midfield to offer for the pass, before whipping a pass into the space created by the Lincoln midfielder pushing on. In the end, the solution was a logical one, as Maresca brought another player closer to the man-marked Santos to give the opposition more to think about between their defensive lines. That said, it did leave Maresca’s side even more vulnerable to the counter, and were it not for the game state — trailing in a contest that they ought to be winning — the manager may not have been so bold. Another solution for Chelsea to stretch the opposition is to ask their forward players to make more runs in behind the defensive line. With Liam Delap in the side, a strong, direct centre-forward who thrives when it comes to channel running and powerful off-ball movement, Chelsea can look longer and bypass the blocked-up midfield. Without him, there is Joao Pedro, who more often likes the ball to feet, while Tyrique George was unable to trouble the Lincoln centre-backs in the first half with any darts into the space in behind. It all leaves Maresca in a slightly vulnerable position going forward. With Palmer struggling for consistent minutes, and a supporting cast still needing time to familiarise themselves with the system, there is a pretty robust defensive blueprint to keep this Chelsea side at bay. Not every team will go about it in the same way — Fulham pressed more aggressively when they visited Stamford Bridge before the international break, often locking on man-to-man and cutting off that simple pass into the deepest midfielder with more aggression. However it happens, the point still stands: Chelsea will need to find some more creative routes through the opposition when their favourite supply line into Caicedo or Santos is blocked.

Why Raheem Sterling didn’t leave Chelsea – and what’s happening now https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6651696/2025/09/25/raheem-sterling-Chelsea-where-what-transfer/ A picture on social media goes viral. The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) gets involved. Enzo Maresca talks about his father’s career as a fisherman. Raheem Sterling’s situation at Chelsea has certainly been getting a lot of attention lately. When the transfer window shut in England on September 1, Sterling was still a Chelsea player. This remained the case after deadline days in the Netherlands (September 2), Turkey and Mexico (September 12) and Portugal (September 15). A final possible option — the Saudi Pro League — ended when its window closed yesterday. It did not come as a surprise to either party. Neither the club nor Sterling wanted it to come to this. Yet the 30-year-old is now facing over three months of training away from the first team at Cobham. Centre-back Axel Disasi is going through the same thing. A further sign, if needed, of just how far out of the picture Sterling (and Disasi) is came on Wednesday when the club published their official squad photograph for the 2025-26 season on their official website/app and he was not in it. Understandably, the focus is centred on Sterling. This was Chelsea’s ‘marquee’ signing of the 2022 summer window, bought from Manchester City for £47.5million (then $57m) and made the highest-paid player at the club with a salary in excess of £300,000 a week. Not so long ago, he was one of the biggest names in English football, having won 10 major honours at Manchester City. He was also probably England’s best player as they reached the final of Euro 2020 (played in 2021 because of Covid-19 restrictions) and voted Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year in 2019. Another measure of his impact came four years ago, when he was awarded an MBE for his work to promote racial equality in sport. Sterling was the marquee signing when he arrived in summer 2022 (Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images) So what is going on? Let’s start with Sterling posting a picture on his official Instagram account of the training ground and writing ‘20.21’ (using the 24-hour clock) as a caption to indicate what time he was there. Within a few days, reports then emerged that the players union, the Professional Footballers’ Association, had contacted Chelsea about how Sterling and Disasi were being treated. This is not an unusual step for the PFA to take when players find themselves on the periphery at a football club. It is actually a very common occurrence with the PFA representing players in the Premier League, EFL and the Women’s Super League. But when a player as big as Sterling is involved at such a newsworthy club as Chelsea, it inevitably gets much bigger attention. Nor is the PFA interaction very confrontational. Conversations are cordial, and if anything, the PFA sees its role as just being there to advise on the regulations and check clubs are staying on the right side of them as far as player care is concerned. As Chelsea were providing the duo with coaching sessions and access to facilities at the club’s training ground, there were no major concerns in this department. Perhaps the most significant thing that has taken place since then is that the duo have had a few training sessions with the under-21s. Sources speaking anonymously to The Athletic to protect relationships say that this is all part of a plan put in place to keep the players in shape before trying to secure them a move in January. Chelsea head coach Maresca then had his say on the situation last Friday, saying that real strife was his dad working long hours as a fisherman. While you can understand the point he was trying to make — and there will be fans who will not have too much sympathy for what Sterling and Disasi are going through, given the riches they earn — it did not help defuse the situation. Sterling has been here before. He was part of the fringe group last year, too, after Maresca decided the winger was not part of his plans following the 2024 pre-season tour of the United States. On both occasions, he had to train away from the senior squad along with others who were up for sale or loan. This summer, the group was overseen by loan technical coach Carlo Cudicini, with former under-18s youth coach Ed Brand taking the sessions themselves. Sources speaking anonymously to protect relationships say many of those involved felt there was a better setup to help this time compared to 2024. Many internationals, including Joao Felix, Ben Chilwell, Renato Veiga and Armando Broja, were involved, so standards were high. But that group has since been sold. It was always going to be harder for the individuals left behind. In saying that, Sterling is continuing to work with his own team, as he has done for many years. This includes England’s former lead physical performance coach Ben Rosenblatt. They concentrate on strength and conditioning, ball work and fitness. Sterling has facilities at his London home to do various exercises as well. The extra spare time on his hands means he can be around his children a lot more, watch his eight-year-old son, Thiago, at Arsenal’s academy, and attend the academy sessions at the RS7 Academy that he has set up for young players aged six to 11 in Tolworth. Still, the obvious query football fans will have is why the club or Sterling have not been able to come to a solution to avoid all this. Well, it was never going to be straightforward. The cost is one reason. Even if Chelsea pay a proportion of Sterling’s wages for a loan, like they did at Arsenal last season, it would still be an expense that would put off teams. Indeed, Sterling is one of the reasons the Todd Boehly-Clearlake consortium soon changed to offering incentivised rather than guaranteed contracts. What You Should Read Next The BookKeeper: Projecting how close Premier League teams are to UEFA’s spending limits Nine Premier League teams are playing in Europe this season which means they must adhere to UEFA's rules or face fines or even a ban Sources close to Sterling, kept anonymous to protect relationships, say the forward did not want a repeat of last summer, when a season-long loan to Arsenal was organised in the final 48 hours before the deadline. There was little time to speak to head coach Mikel Arteta about how he would be used. Of the 28 appearances he made, totalling a mere 1,143 minutes, only 13 were from the start. His form was not great, as a tally of one goal and five assists suggests, yet he did not play consistently. Some European clubs did come in for Sterling earlier in the recent window, although mainly over a season-long loan. But sources close to Sterling say the biggest factor was that he wanted to remain in London, where his family live. Bayern Munich made a late attempt to convince Sterling to join them. It is perhaps not that surprising, given another former Manchester City team-mate — Vincent Kompany — is the head coach. A move for Sterling was raised during discussions with Chelsea over the loan deal for Nicolas Jackson. Some will inevitably question how Sterling can say no to a club that will provide a great opportunity to compete for major honours. But the sources close to Sterling point out that he was reluctant to move his family to Germany, or be away from them, for what could be nine months, especially with little guarantee of featuring regularly. He had a good relationship with Arteta (who worked as Pep Guardiola’s assistant from 2016-2019) from their time together at the Etihad Stadium, yet that did not make a difference regarding game time while at Arsenal. As for a switch to another team in London, there was interest over a loan at various points, but it was never close to formal discussions. Raheem Sterling struggled for game time with Arsenal (Alex Davidson/Getty Images) Sterling will feel he has done nothing wrong because a club that suited his circumstances never materialised. Chelsea will believe they are not the bad guys either, with Sterling having the possibility to join some big clubs and turning them down. So what now? Given that Sterling turns 31 in December and will have gone seven months without a competitive game when the January window opens, the possibility of getting a move then certainly will not be any easier. One option, of course, would be to reach a settlement over his contract, which expires in 2027. The problem here is that Sterling is not going to walk away from around £30m he is due to earn in wages. Who would? That is money that can benefit Sterling’s family for generations. Chelsea are not going to pay him off in full to get rid of him, either, just so he can join someone as a free agent — and benefit from another contract. What club would? Clearly, a compromise has to be reached for that to happen. This is a scenario where neither is the victim nor the villain. Until a resolution is found, there are no winners either.

https://archive.ph/CeiJr

Hell NO!

He should be! BlueCo have ratfucked him hard.

ugly win

Jørgensen is shit in the air shambolic

never seen a player with a higher pecentage of moon-shots than Gusto

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee again 1 2

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

boooooooooooooooooooooooo we may lose this

we are a joke on these corners and crosses

we are playing like shite so depressing

we are absolutely fucked at CB

shitshow start

Men’s Ballon d’Or top 30 1. Ousmane Dembele (PSG & France) 2. Lamine Yamal (Barcelona & Spain) 3. Vitinha (PSG & Portugal) 4. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool & Egypt) 5. Raphinha (Barcelona & Brazil) 6. Achraf Hakimi (PSG & Monaco) 7. Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid & France) 8. Cole Palmer (Chelsea & England) 9. Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City & Italy) 10. Nuno Mendes (PSG & Portugal) 11. Pedri (Barcelona & Spain) 12. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (PSG & Georgia) 13. Harry Kane (Bayern & England) 14. Desire Doue (PSG & France) 15. Viktor Gyokeres (Arsenal & Sweden) 16. Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid & Brazil) 17. Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona & Poland) 18. Scott McTominay (Napoli & Scotland) 19. Joao Neves (PSG & Portugal) 20. Lautaro Martinez (Inter & Argentina) 21. Serhou Guirassy (Borussia Dortmund & Guinea) 22. Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool & Argentina) 23. Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid & England) 24. Fabian Ruiz (PSG & Spain) 25. Denzel Dumfries (Inter & Netherlands) 26. Erling Haaland (Man City & Norway) 27. Declan Rice (Arsenal & England) 28. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool & Netherlands) 29. Florian Wirtz (Liverpool & Germany) 30. Michael Olise (Bayern & France) Women’s Ballon d’Or top 30 1. Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona & Spain) 2. Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal & Spain) 3. Alessia Russo (Arsenal & England) 4. Alexia Putellas (Barcelona & Spain) 5. Chloe Kelly (Arsenal & England) 6. Patricia Guijarro (Barcelona & Spain) 7. Leah Williamson (Arsenal & England) 8. Ewa Pajor (Barcelona & Poland) 9. Lucy Bronze (Chelsea & England) 10. Hannah Hampton (Chelsea & England) 11. Claudia Pina (Barcelona & Spain) 12. Marta (Orlando Pride & Brazil) 13. Caroline Graham Hansen (Barcelona & Norway) 14. Barbra Banda (Orlando Pride & Zambia) 15. Sandy Baltimore (Chelsea & France) 16. Cristiana Girelli (Juventus & Italy) 17. Temwa Chawinga (Kansas City Current & Malawi) 18. Melchie Dumornay (OL Lyonnes & Haiti) 19. Klara Buhl (Bayern & Germany) 20. Pernille Harder (Bayern & Denmark) 21. Amanda Gutierres (Palmeiras & Brazil) 22. Esther Gonzalez (Gotham FC & Spain) 23. Johanna Rytting Kaneryd (Chelsea & Sweden) 24. Sofia Cantore (Washington Spirit & Italy) 25. Emily Fox (Arsenal & USWNT) 26. Lindsey Heaps (OL Lyonnes & USWNT) 27 (tied). Frida Maanum (Arsenal & Norway) 27 (tied). Clara Mateo (Paris FC & England) 29. Steph Catley (Arsenal & Australia) 30. Caroline Weir (Real Madrid & Scotland)

Barcelona confirm double injury blow to Gavi, Fermín López https://www.espn.co.uk/football/story/_/id/46345202/barcelona-confirm-double-injury-blow-gavi-fermin-lopez

“That is insane” – Frank Leboeuf slams Enzo Maresca decision in Man United defeat https://Chelsea.news/2025/09/frank-leboeuf-enzo-maresca-criticism/ Frank Leboeuf has labelled one decision Enzo Maresca made during Chelsea’s game against Manchester United as “insane.” Chelsea slumped to a 2-1 defeat against United at Old Trafford on Saturday evening, as their wait for a first win at the famous ground since 2013 continues. It was Chelsea’s first defeat of the Premier League season and it leaves them on eight points from five games, and already seven points behind leaders Liverpool at this early stage. Frank Leboeuf not impressed with Enzo Maresca Maresca made two changes from the side which lost to Bayern on Wednesday, with Estevao Willian and Wesley Fofana coming in. In terrible conditions in Manchester, the Blues made an awful start to the game and were all over the place in the opening minutes. The poor start culminated in Robert Sanchez being sent off after just four minutes for taking out United forward Bryan Mbeumo. Maresca reacted by taking off Estevao, and then also took off Pedro Neto and went to a back five, a system Chelsea don’t play. Thing got even worse as Cole Palmer was taken off injured after just 20 minutes, and Maresca confirmed after the game the 23-year-old wasn’t 100% fit. Palmer was given a late fitness test ahead of the game, and Leboeuf has labelled the decision not to take him off instead of Neto as insane. “If you have to sacrifice another forward player, you take off Cole Palmer first [who wasn’t at 100% anyway], not Pedro Neto,” he said as quoted on X.com. “That is insane from Enzo Maresca.” Rough afternoon for Chelsea It was a miserable afternoon for the Blues and Maresca, who left many baffled with his choice of substitutions throughout the game. In the second half with the Blues chasing the game, he opted to bring on Tyrique George and Malo Gusto, with summer signings Jamie Gittens and Alejandro Garnacho left on the bench. It was yet another game in which Marc Guiu was unused, and Chelsea will need a response and a return to winning ways against Lincoln in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.

Josh Acheampong or GTFO

https://www.thechelseachronicle.com/news/wayne-rooney-suggests-54m-man-could-have-made-the-difference-for-Chelsea-in-manchester-united-loss/ Wayne Rooney disagrees with Pedro Neto sub Maresca had to take off at least one attacker so that another goalkeeper could replace Sanchez, but Rooney did not agree with the Chelsea boss‘ decision to substitute Neto after Estevao had already been sacrificed. The United legend thinks the 25-year-old would have brought creativity to this Chelsea side, even with 10 men. Speaking on Match of the Day, Rooney said: “They had no imagination on the pitch, did they? I felt that’s what was missing for Chelsea. “They had a lot of possession going side-to-side second half, but they missed that creativity, which a Cole Palmer or a Neto could bring them. So I think the change was strange, but thankfully, it helped United.”

Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi, 25, has informed his advisors he would prefer to join Real Madrid after his summer move to Liverpool collapsed. (Mirror)