MoroccanBlue

I for one am not fickle enough to believe our season went to shit because we lost Chilwell and James for the majority of it. Issues were there from the get go. Our system is entirely depended on the wingbacks being 100%. That in itself shows you how unsustainable it is. Again, you can blame our attackers all you want but it doesn't dispute the fact all of them were prolific at other clubs. The football we play is far too pragmatic and slow for any attacker to shine here. By the time an attacker gets the ball, two defenders are on him. I really hate doing this but I am keeping receipts on the members who feel there isn't an issue going into next season with the same midfield. They are well in for a massive, massive disappointment.

RLC being promoted to a utility player despite looking shocking 90% of the time isn't enough evidence for me to suggest Gilmour and Ampadu can successfully be the DM we are looking for. Particularly when one can't get into a Norwich midfield and the other is extremely limited as midfielder. Fact of the matter we suffered immensely this season because of our midfield. Wingbacks played a part, but I will not pretend our midfield wasn't incredibly unreliable for the majority of the season, whether it was performance related or injuries. Kante is blatantly losing his athleticism, Kovacic is injury prone and Gallagher doesn't work in a midfield two. To add to that, I just saw De Paul and Paredes run circles around Jorginho last week with no effort. It was embarrassing. I don't want Rice. Tchouameni was the answer and its sickening we missed out on him when he was genuinely in our hands. Best we can hope is a mysterious quality DM is available we don't know about or we will go into next season experiencing the exact same problems as last. Doesn't matter what attacker comes in. Unless the midfield is sorted we will experience the same inconsistency and dull football.

What notable role was that? Don't be as shit as Saul? 😂 I really hate to take over Mana's pessimistic mantle but you can quote me. We stick with the midfield we have we aren't finishing Top 4.

I would hope not. Massive limitations as a midfielder which is why he played CB at both Sheffield and Venezia, to which he contributed to both of their relegations.

It was disastrous this season, why wouldn't it be next? Kovacic is injury prone, Kante is losing his athleticism + is injury prone, we've gone about as far as we can with Jorginho and the best of Gallagher isn't suited in a 2 man midfield.

Against low blocks, the problem is the set up. - Ball swings out wide to to the wingback (James/Alonso). What are the options? - Havertz is double marked in the middle and the attacking wingers are marked out wide. - Jorginho is pragmatic in his position to prevent the counter, which leaves just one option through the middle (either Kovacic or Kante). Either can be easily taken out of the game with a body constantly on them. - With no options, the wingback (James/Alonso) recycles back to the CB to try the other side. - Rinse and repeat. Time and time again this scenario happens. Add the slow and tedious way we move the ball, its genuinely no wonder why we've dropped so many points at home and why our attackers continue to struggle. It's easy to defend against. The fact all rumors suggest Tuchel wants to continue this set up, peak Lionel Messi himself wouldn't thrive here.

Do you believe there is a risk going into the season with Kante, Jorginho, Gallagher, and Kovacic?

I'm still very skeptical on Gallagher in a midfield two. It was evident Gallagher thrived under Vieira as he was allowed complete freedom to press with Kouyate and Hughes covering the space he left. The two central midfielders in our system are very disciplined in their roles. Giving this discipline to Gallagher nullifies him completely and I ask what is the point of him then? Put him in attack and have yet another player who isn't prolific in the final third? Or do we play a 433 with no recognizable DM? (please don't say Gilmour or Ampadu) I really don't see the logic in waiting another season for a DM when we have been crying out for one all of last season. If we are to yet again to endure a system (5 at the back) that doesn't get the best out of our attackers because we have an unbalanced midfield we may as well kiss our Top 4 hopes goodbye. We've gone as far as we can with Jorginho. Kovacic is injury prone. Kante is losing his athleticism + is injury prone. Gallagher doesn't fit the set up.

The Athletic already claimed Boehly isn't going after Rice given the price. Other than Bissouma (who isn't even a DM) we have hardly been linked to any defensive midfielders which is worrying as I firmly believe our system is the reason we aren't getting the best out of our attackers. Dembele, Nkunku, Gnabry, etc will struggle here too as things stand.

Who are the DM's we are linked with? (ignoring that PSV bloke who is Bakayoko 2.0)

Dembele + Gnabry would be fantastic. Can only see this happening with Lukaku + one more out.

No Tchouameni No Dembele Kounde for what ever reason still not finalised. Lost out to Slonina Not a good start for Boehly and co.

Keep Alonso and Lukaku. What a laugh.

A reason why De Jong has done poorly at Barca is being played out of position to accommodate Busquets.

Hope not. People were worried that Tchouameni would be the next Bakayoko. I believe Sangare is absolutely nailed on to.

Gallagher would only work in a pivot if we have a sitting DM.

🚨A deal for French international Ousmane Dembélé has progressed in recent hours after contact was made with the player’s agent. Chelsea look to close the deal in the coming 48 hours. ( Nizaar Kinzella - GOAL 🥇 )

Shit ever since Renard left.

Jorginho’s lobbed attempts are horrific. There’s a reason he rarely does it.

Particularly compared to our competition... Salah - 51% Mane - 45% Jota - 44% Diaz - 40% Firmino - 38% https://one-versus-one.com/ I stand by saying we need two in and three out.

I think its bold claiming he has looked significantly better this season. He's better no doubt but still as inconsistent as last season. Virtually no excuses this next season.

The only thing that's concerning for me is when Tuchel publicly states he doesn't train the players in attacking phases. You can see it ever so blatantly when we look clueless up top and always force to recycle. With Liverpool and City, you can clearly see patterns of play and specific instructions the wide and middle players are doing.

Can anyone confirm if we were closer to City/Liverpool in chance creation under Lampard? Still think 5 defenders and two conservative central midfielders primarily the reason.

I like Martinez but not sure if he can cope well in the Prem. Doubt Inter will even consider selling him either way.

He struggled dealing with the physicality of Lukaku and Giroud, imagine peak Drogba. Vidic and Rio had to both be 100% to make sure Drogba didn't score, and even that wasn't enough given Drogba's hold up play.