Mhsc

Personally I think we are in a new era where getting CL is far more important and a much bigger accomplishment than it used to be. Used to be 4 clubs basically nailed on for it, then we had the big 6 concept, now its basically an elite top 8 and then another 4 clubs or so that are pretty damn good too. When any club in that pack gets raided for their top players they buy new top players and maintain their status more or less, maybe even knock on and improve through good investment. Then beneath that you've got Man Utd and Spurs. Spurs are 17th and won Europe's second highest competition and will play in CL next year. I mean the league is really mad if you think about it, most clubs now have elite recruitment departments that use the best data and scouting networks, and the general standard of management is far higher than it used to be - the "managers" are now really just head coaches for the most part, and subsequently they're much better across the board at tactics/strategy while maybe being a bit less interesting in press conferences. All established PL clubs spend reasonable sums of money on individual players they feel they need, we've even got Brighton offering £30m+ for 17 year olds. My belief on all of this is also why I am more forgiving than most about our bad results this year, because when you look around basically only Liverpool could consistently win in this league in its current state - and personally I doubt they'll do it again next year.

Great performance, our players have matured so much in terms of game management it’s insane. They don’t play like the youngest squad in the league anymore. I assume that’s a wrap for some of our players, don’t expect to see them play for us again in PL if at all, but thank you for what you did to get us back where we belong. Hopefully this lifts the fan base for next year especially if we make a couple of really strong signings to blend into XI

Colwill sleeping as usual Just not a CB, never will be

Feel almost as tense as I did before our CL finals Can't imagine how the players feel. Hopefully even worse for Nottingham Forest players, for whom this is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Its more important IMO You have to be a sensational, almost generationally good attacking team to get away with having poor GK/CB at this level. Adding just 1 striker will not turn us into that team, as in truth our wingers are hardly sensational either. We can however become a normal, slightly underwhelming not truly elite but consistently in the mix top side by sorting out GK/CB and just being bloody hard to beat. If we add that to this squad with this age profile we are a consistent CL side for a decade or so at least.

Osimhen is in many ways a terrible, ultra high risk, make or break signing - but at this point I'll take anything that will create a good mood in the fanbase We should just go and get him

The good news is that successful teams have a tendency to get completely shit out of the blue in an unpredictable fashion They might be awful next year

Last summer it turned out we were in discussions with Duran and Samu who pretty much no one had heard of (I had not). Curious what random names we're talking to now that could turn out to be pretty good despite a lack of fame at the mo. Bit worried what the fan reaction will be though given how toxic everything is these last years. The plus side this year at least with sticking with Maresca is that for the first time we're entering a summer transfer window with the same manager and sporting directors who worked together all year, and now they can try to get precisely the players we need after learning exactly the limitations of the current group and seeing where we are weak. Hopefully we'll sign some players that slot immediately in because they're perfect for the system and Maresca actually rates and wants them here (unlike Felix etc).

Blimey, would be pretty happy if we got £40m with a decent sell on %, £50m or something with no sell on would be amazing, can't picture anyone spending £70m on him but if they did would snap their hands off with no terms added at all Maybe I'm too much of a Colwill hater to see the value Been the biggest liability in our team consistently for 2 years imo

Sell him imo Need the cash more than we need a CB that can't play at CB (or in any clear position). Obviously has talent and there will be buyers. Maybe in 5 years we'll regret it but in the near term its the right move. Stick in a big sell on clause and move on.

Tbh if we have constrained budget (due to years of horrendous misspending) I would spend every penny on GK and 2 CBs and just try to get by with what we have otherwise, as grim as it would be Arsenal (and various other clubs historically, including us) have shown you can do a fair bit with boring football and a good setup at the back CF would be amazing but for me would be the one we could delay if we have no choice Think we are a little conditioned to expect to have our cake and eat it too at this point we may have to just prioritise and try to get by

𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆: Real Madrid-Bournemouth have reached club to club agreement for Dean Huijsen, £50m clause to be paid by end of 2026 Fabrizio Romano Shame for sure, but he's not the only decent CB in the world. We have to move earlier to buy and lock down players like that (in January perhaps, like we did with Enzo before the other clubs circulated).

After predicting a comfortable win vs Newcastle and seeing us get a red card and suffer a crushing defeat I predict a 6-0 loss

I think they did want it, but they blew their money on junk. Now, aside from the fact they themselves have exhausted the cash injected into the club, we no longer have scope in financial rules to buy players on top wages and in fact need to continue to lower them by getting rid of high earners on the books at the mo Only way back is to get back into and stay in CL, get some proper sponsorship deals on the go, continue to cash in on players when we can and eventually get a stadium sorted. Maybe in 5 years we'll be in a good position as a top club with top players on top wages, best case. Most likely is 10 years+ or just never returning to that level. Too many years of being run into the ground already behind us. That or we start to cheat like City did, which I hope we do not.

And this is why I do not bet on football :)

Hell yes. The thing about all of our bad results is, the same shit has been happening to all of our competition all year as well - except for Liverpool. We're all really bad together or maybe the league is just really hard these days.

Can still make CL, but gonna be a lot harder now Can't get away with things like that in VAR era - bit soft but fair red overall. Costa could never have been a top player in this era, which is sad in itself, personally I always liked that aggressive part of the game as long as it wasn't taken too far.

Can't wait to sell Sanchez

They're already time wasting lol

Why do we even have CBs? They may as well just leave that space open because these guys just stand in those spaces and act like they're gonna do something but every ball goes by them like they're not even there

Osimhen would be perfect for them, and they don't seem shy about spending huge on wages (given the stupid money they gave Kai), something like that wouldn't surprise me at all other than for some reason they seem super shy about signing conventional / obvious attackers and prefer to do weird things like buy Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus etc to be "quirky" up front. They could definitely win the title with that team if they all stay fit.

Maybe if we get top 5 they can put something like this out about us - "FULL-TIME - Chelsea NOT SO BAD AFTER ALL" Edit: what the hell if you write Chelsea all caps it gets automatically edited when you post lol

On the other hand, Rice is the only sort of elite player in that midfield and having two (perhaps) elite CMs is usually what the really great sides have. Far more reliable that way if you want to stay strong for a whole league campaign. If they also get an elite CF finally it will be a genuinely generational team for them that they have been waiting for in last 20 years.

Gonna embarrass myself here but... I reckon we win. Comfortably.

Agreed, he got a great loan deal in with some fantastic experience at a top club, time to bring him home The only thing with him versatility wise is that Maresca said in an interview that Veiga is very insistent on only wanting to play CB and the loan move was to get time at CB to try to get and hold down an international spot there. And he plays left CB. Personally I doubt he is worse than Colwill who cannot defend but does have other qualities.