Pizy

I think it’s smart not to go for another 80-100m range striker like Osimhen. It’s just too risky for a striker in particular who can take who knows how long to adjust to a brand new team and brand new league. And although I think his physique would suit the PL, from a technical POV I’m not 100% certain he’s a superstar if he joins us. And for the kind of money it would take you want certainty. Another mega expensive, Lukaku level flop of a striker would set us back years and years with the new financial rules. Sesko I’m not fussed about either. Rather Arse get him than Gyokeres or Isak. The ideal striker profile we should be after is someone who offers a similar skill set and work rate that Nico Jackson does but with much more clinical finishing. Who that is I have no idea.

Agreed. For me Tosin looks better than Trev, though. Much more physically imposing and MUCH better forward passer. Take sentiment out of it and Trev is merely a solid squad option for us. We need a beast of a CB to come in.

Not that o actually care that much about yet another teenager who may be years away from being first team ready, but I wonder what the deal is with Estevao. Thought it was a done deal and was supposed to be announced a week ago?

If Lavia is fully fit I guess I’m one of the few Chelsea fans who wouldn’t be all that sad if we sold Gallagher. Should he stay? I guess. But if Lavia, Enzo, and Caicedo are all fit I don’t see where CG plays. He’s not a DM like Lavia, he’s not a playmaker like Enzo, and Caicedo is an easy pick in any starting XI. Gallagher is kind of a victim of his own abilities in that he’s decent at a lot of things but not great at anything. He doesn’t have a specific position. Ideally, we line up match week 1 with Lavia at the base of midfield anchoring it with Enzo and Caicedo as “roaming 8’s.” We have Leslie what’s his name as well as Andrey Santos who was excellent on loan who can come in, too if we want. Gallagher is the sensible FFP sale if we need to do so. We’re very well set in CM between what we have here and what we have on loan.

I’m also not all that impressed with Sesko. And that’s even watching his YouTube highlights where almost anyone can be made to look amazing. Looks kinda clumsy. Still think the Swedish striker from Sporting would be the best fit for us.

I see one of the most commonly talked about areas that we are targeting is a new LB. But I’m hearing zero talk at all about Chilly or Cucu being moved on. So do we actually need a new LB? And if so, why not just bring back Maatsen?

I was all for us getting him a year ago but definitely think it’s not a risk worth taking now. I want us to target someone more technical and who can play more between the lines. As for Omari Hutchinson, I think he’s already as good or better than Sterling and Madueke based on all of their seasons we just saw. I really, really hope we don’t sell him permanently. Another great loan would do him well and benefit us in the long term. But this kid has the potential to catch the eye of all the big English clubs if he has another great season. We’d be kicking ourselves for years if we sell him only for him to end up at City/Liverpool/United or back at Arse two years from now.

Yeah, literally every quote I’ve seen from those who have worked with him say he’s great. I guess that’s promising. Let us now hope the club provide him with the last few tools we need to compete.

I can see Lavia being the lone DM sitting deep in a 3 man midfield with Enzo and Caicedo being the roaming #8’s that go box to box that people are saying Maresca likes. We know Caicedo can play well in a Pep-like system since he crushed it at Brighton under De Zerbi. Enzo is super technical too so should have no problem. Lavia will definitely be the wildcard but the guy is only 20 years old. His body should be able to get over the injuries after such a long period out and rehabbing. I have faith it isn’t a Fofana type of injury with a knee that’s always going to haunt him. It was more of a muscle issue with him, right? I can’t imagine he’s just a permanent crock.

I find the way Pep’s City play incredibly boring with their walk the ball around the pitch with 1000 passes style. But I’d take that any day of the week as long as we can perfect it like they have. Being able to completely dominate the ball and own most of the pitch territorially is how you stop small clubs like the ones we’ve struggled against for years from pulling shocking upsets against you. You can completely demoralize and wear down your opponent if they barely get a kick as we’ve seen from City for years now. We were halfway there under Sarri but were blunt up top. So obviously we’ll need a clinical new forward to make it work this time. I’d much rather us play like this even if it’s kinda boring than the way we’ve been playing where you can’t even depend on how we’ll look from match to match. The issue is whether Maresca can implement this style over the course of the preseason and if our players can take to it immediately. Thankfully, we’ve got a squad of players who are highly technical and should be able to quickly adapt. Except for keeper, that is.

Reporter from Sky says we’ve made a contract offer to that Fulham CB Tosin who’s a free agent. This guy genuinely looks amazing. An absolute TANK who is also smooth as hell on the ball. A Rolls Royce of a CB. Would be a mega smart deal if he chooses to come here. Perfect Thiago Silva replacement.

Same stupid thing they did with Potter, isn’t it? They really must be convinced this dude is the next Pep.

The owners will probably have a couple of big transfers ready to push through early this summer to placate the angry fans after this silly appointment. In fact, they probably kinda need to before some average players light it up at the Euro’s and we dramatically overpay for them on the back of 2 good games. 🤣🤣🤣

I will be absolutely STUNNED if we go and spend another big amount on a keeper after just buying Sanchez and Petro within a year. Who would even take Sanchez? We’d have to basically give him away after spending a silly amount on him. I think Petrovic will remain the starter.

There are rumors that Ederson wants out at City. Maresca has worked with him… Can’t imagine City will sell him here, though.

I mean, he seems like a good coach in the same way that McKenna seems like a good coach. But it feels like both are at good clubs and should stay where they are. If they performed well over this entire upcoming PL season then they’re probably ready for a massive job like Chelsea. Big time risk, this. A Potter level risk.

Guess we’re gonna be linked with like 5 Leicester players soon… 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Watch us pass on De Zerbi when we’ve got a free run at him and he then goes on to replace Pep… Or United replace ETH with him and gets them playing dominant football.

Ornstein names only Maresca and Thomas Frank. No De Zerbi… What a fucking disaster if we choose Frank. His Brentford team are basically the modern day Stoke with the way they play. By far the worst name I’ve seen us linked with. I feel like there will be a supporter revolt if we’ve actually sacked Poch for Thomas Frank.

I’ll be genuinely excited if it’s De Zerbi. If he can get our players playing exactly as he had Brighton playing in terms of patterns, comfort on he ball, popping it around quickly, and completely dominating possession then I think we can take off to a new level. This is the sort of football a club of our size should be playing and a style players enjoy. Not counter attacking and “improv football/wait for a star player to create a moment of magic.” know a lot of our fans are down on him after a poor season but the context is key. Losing his two best midfielders in the same summer is often forgotten.

Crystal Palace are/will be a bitch to deal with in a similar way that Brighton always are if we are indeed still interested in Olise. Which again I don’t think we should be as a priority. And even if he’s got a new release clause in that new contract of his what’s to say he won’t reject us like he did last summer? For me that should’ve ended any chance that we ever go after him again. You want guys who would jump at the chance to come to Chelsea. He just has summer long transfer saga written all over him. And if multiple clubs trigger his supposed release clause I can imagine our dumbass board offering something silly like £80m to make sure Palace chooses our offer instead of anyone else’s.

Disagree. They’ve had a more successful season than us thanks to a trophy on the very last day but they absolutely haven’t had a better season than us in totality. Both clubs had horrendous injury lists that they can point to but the expectations vs where each club ended up are much different. They were coming off a 3rd place finish, had a coach well settled in, and a pretty settled squad and then proceeded to play turgid football all season, crash out of the UCL, and finish 8th with a negative goal difference. They were expected to compete with Arse & Liverpool for 2nd/3rd. We have played much better football than they have over the course of the season.

So can you ACTUALLY ask to drop out of the Conference League or is that just some rubbish people made up? Is there a verified rule stating that you can decline? If not we should be playing a full youth team in that competition.

May genuinely be a blessing in disguise if we have only the PL to focus on with a new manager. And a curse for United to be in Europa and splitting their focus.

How does this work? Do we really think our ownership will turn it down?