Blue Armour

Yeah., it's likely going to happen. And tbh, having more quality managers will make the league more enjoyable. Just like the Ferguson-Mourinho-Wenger-Benitez era, an influx of great managers is what makes the league as good as it is, more than superstar player imports. Leads to more competition., and more exciting fixtures.

Hack media is still perpetuating that story. Some journalists are truly scum of the earth.

Clownlake FC

They're turning Chelsea into another post-2004 Wenger era Arsenal. The only difference like you said, is that Chelsea is overpaying like crazy to acquire all this youth talent.

This article states exactly what I've been saying when those FFP charges came up last year. We are in more danger of violating FFP (or the PL equivalent of it) under the current regime, as opposed to the previous one under Roman. With each year outside Europe, we're losing ~ 80m pounds of revenue. And we are at risk of doing that again. That's why I don't really buy that argument from @Thor about making do with a mediocre season for a year or two to reap the rewards later. It's just too much of a slippery slope. The more the team underperforms and finishes lower in the table, the less we'll have available to re-invest and fix the squad. IMO, taking a top 4 team into midtable just to 'fix' it is just counter productive. Especially for the money that was spent. If the squad doesn't somehow click in the coming months (be it this season or next), that's it for the club. Why Chelsea HAVEN'T been charged over Financial Fair Play rules despite Todd Boehly spending £1BILLION and paying-off two managers... but trouble looks on the horizon next year https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-12968471/Chelsea-billion-players-Todd-Boehly-two-sacked-managers-broken-Premier-League-financial-rules-Everton-Forest.html

At face value, decent goals and assist stats but that's from ONE bloody half season (this season) in the Portuguese league. Plus he seems to be a technical player, rather than one with physicality. In the PL, you need to be REALLY skilled to succeed as a technical attacker. On the flip side, what's the point of this shiny new recruitment team of ours, if all our targets end up being overpriced like this one?

One of those kits that looks better on the player. Well, like most kits. Would be nice to see the entire kit.

Lol,..this article is advocating Poch to move away from a double pivot and play a typical 433 with Enzo and Gallagher further forward of Caicedo. IMO, not sure if I agree with this. I think Enzo and Caicedo play too far apart., to even function as a pivot. Caicedo is no Makelele to play the deep lying role on his own. Not yet, at least. But who knows 🤷‍♂️

Either that or Enzo and Caicedo need to play closer to each other, like a staggered double pivot. Not sure if the fault is due to Poch's tactics, or the players inexperience. Probably both.

Playing Enzo as an 8 is an odd decision. He's not good enough to directly contribute in goal scoring, and he doesn't have the pace to track back quickly enough when we lose the ball. And to top it off, Caicedo is not capable enough to play in the lone CDM role. The last 15 minutes of yesterday's game were mess because of this. There were situations s where Caicedo got the ball and had no clue on where to pass because Enzo decided to rocket up the pitch (along with Gallagher). Inexperienced midfield following shite tactics.

Also, Caicedo and Enzo play so far apart from each other it's a bit ridiculous at times. As a double pivot, the 2 CMs should be staggered of course, with one midfielder holding back, but they play so disjointed. In fact, it's not clear to me whether they are even a true double pivot. Caicedo sometime positions himself as the lone CDM (which he isn't),. and Enzo rockets so far up the pitch, sometimes ahead of Gallagher. And we know Enzo can't score., so that's useless. This team needs a Viera or Keane type to whip these two into shape and start playing proper formations. No wonder we lose control so easily in matches.

Tha lack of control over a game is not anything new, though. It's been the case in nearly every game. That's why the team is midtable. Chances of getting a positive result is like almost like a coin toss., with this team.

We played the same as we typically play. Nice chances, but no real killer instinct. And no real control of the game, because our central midfield doesnt know how to do that. It could have easily ended in a draw. But no complaints. This is just how it's going to be this season.

Apparently Kante hasn't had a significant injury since moving to Saudi.

It's not just one clown. We have a whole circus.

That's the problem isn't it? What would Clownlake's next move be. Considering how long they took to appoint a full time manager., there won't be anything to look forward to in terms of an interim appointment.

He needs to stop this obsession of round pegs in square holes. Make players play in positions they are meant to play in. Not saying that Cole Palmer cant do a decent job as false 9, and 1-2 players out of position to cover up for squad deficiency is okay, but anything more than that for several games is a bit much.

And Nkunku's new hip injury happened in training. FfS, there are more players getting injured in training than in actual matches. Wonder how long he's going to be out. And without Jackson., it's just Broja atm. Not a good look for upcoming PL matches.

Why wouldn't they? They sold Jorginho and Havertz to Arsenal. Once they smell a profit, it doesn't take much to get them going. Selling Cobham products is pure profit.

Tbf., we never really controlled the game at any stage. Even at 3 up. Our central midfield is too inexperienced. I'm not dissing on the individual players, necessarily. But as a whole, they are inexperienced and quite frankly, suck. Not good at breaking up play, not good at deciding when to keep the ball or when to move it forward

Would be nice to know if there's a stat that shows the amount of goals we've conceded versus the chances we've conceded. I bet that's high too. And going by conceded goals xG, versus the goals conceded (29) so far., there's a good indicator. Points to a team that easily loses control in key moments.

Yes, there was an article a while back about Gallagher being reluctant to sign a new contract because of the length of the terns. Not everyone wants to sign a long term deal and lock their salary

Gotta make that Cobham money. Wyss seeing dollar signs. Old scavenger. I don't care how limited Gallagher is as a player. There is such a thing as team chemistry, and taking away a player that is one of the only consistent pieces of the team in the middle of the season would only typify how moronic this new administration can be. This is their way of retribution because Gallagher didn't sign their ridiculous long term contract.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-12905533/John-Terry-tips-Alfie-Gilchrist-20-academy-star-impact-Chelsea-team-defender-makes-Blues-debut-2-1-win-Crystal-Palace.html John Terry tips Alfie Gilchrist, 20, to become the next academy star to impact Chelsea first-team... before the defender makes his Blues debut during 2-1 win over Crystal Palace