Blue Armour

Should have got him in this past window itself.

Why did we buy Madueke?

Our best performance so far this season has come against the current league leaders. Would be ironic if we again turn up against a high flying team, but stranger things have happened.

There are a lot of football fans hurting after that decade of dominance by Chelsea & Man Utd. This is their time to gloat.

It's getting increasingly clear they followed the Dodgers strategy here. Outspend and stock up on all the nascent talent in the world. The difference is that in baseball, team chemistry, experience and on the pitch leaders are less of a concern when compared to football. They were able to bulldoze their way over there, but here it's far from the case.

Solid. If not spectacular.

Blaming Pochettino is so short sighted. Maybe he can do better. But in less than two years we have gone from a top 4 team to below midtable. That's not down to Poch.

That's my biggest worry if the season ends up being mediocre. The one positive is that all our top players James, Enzo are on long term contracts, so they will have less negotiating power to jump ship.

The pressure on a young player like Jackson, and others in the starting 11 is too much. Youngsters like Haaland or Mbappe are the exception, not the rule. They're all too soft, with good guy mentalities. Maybe a coach like Mourinho was what this young group needed, BUT that would have meant shitty football, even if results improved. This is all down to the brute force approach this management has taken in the past two years. Chelsea had a top 4 team. Instead of just revitalizing the squad, they opted for massive surgery and this is what we have. First they gave the squad to mediocre managers, and now they've given a very young squad to a decent manager.

The lack of leadership in the starting 11 is harming us big time at the moment. My only hope is James makes a return soon, and we can build a foundation at the back with him and Enzo, and power through the fixtures until Nkunku returns.

Yep, and they didn't even have to go through a period of transition. Poor Chelsea, having to start from scratch and build from the ground up after being recently promoted to the league.

Would have made far more sense and cost far less to allocate money for a stronger away game support than dump more millions into the another youth talent that might never play for the first team. Especially when Chelsea has had one of strongest away support in the country. Hopefully they'll come to their senses and reverse this decision.

Yep - I've had that feeling of numbness in the legs. Especially the first time. It feels like everyone's watching your every move - which to be fair, is exactly what happens when you're on the ball. I've often thought about how professional players manage it, but I'd go back to a quote from Michael Essien. He said that in the most games, they pretty much blank out the crowds and don't even feel they're there - such is their focus on the game. But players like Drogba & Essien are among the topmost of professionals. I think younger players would feel the weight of the crowds even more. Especially when they have a lot more to prove at this level. Talent means nothing, if you don't have the mentality to cope. IMO, that's probably what even affected a player like Mount. He was probably more confident at 21 than he is now. All those finals choking with missed penalties, can't have done him any favors. That's why I also sympathize with the current squad. Too young and too much responsibility. You can have the most talented squad but still get mentally destroyed in games.

Top scoring CB!! The days when we were always a threat from setpieces

If this ends up being another mediocre season, we will likely lose him if they come calling. And Enzo not too soon after. All these pie in the sky ideas of having a super young squad and allowing it to develop in 2 to 3 years without achieving anything on the way, is just pure fantasy. Top players in the squad won't stick around that long to waste the best years of their career in a 'project'.

It was a clickbait article that created the rumor Same article has a quote from Enzo saying how grateful he is to be part of Chelsea’s project. Sounds ironic, yes.

Is this striker also under 25 years of age?

You can tell that he had Abramovich on his mind when he said that. Roman is like the ideal owner, and there won't be too many like him. Very naive to think that every owner should follow that model.

What I meant is that if the club already had him on a long term contract like James, he wouldn't have been able to push for a move so easily. With all our new signings on long term contracts, the club is making sure they don't jump ship easily if the season becomes worse.

Have most hope for Jackson among the 3, as long as his confidence doesn't become shot like Werner's. Madueke - I don't know. The same problems from last season persist. Doesn't release the ball when he's supposed to, doesn't lift his head up when dribbling. He can make an impact against very low level opposition, but his ability atm is hardly at Malouda or even Kalou level IMO. Mudryk seems to have lost all composure to play at this level. Can see why Poch is shielding him. Ever since that controversy over the rap song last season, right after his debut against Liverpool, he hasn't looked like the same player. He was fantastic on his debut, full of invention and confidence, that he wooed all pundits and fans. Now, he looks like a U21 kid trying to make the step up. All the endless mocking from opposition fans over his price tag hasn't helped either.

It was a gamble on their part, as is the case with ours. It may pay off eventually, but boy is it going to be painful along the way. I guess that's where all the long term contracts come in. To prevent our development players from jumping ship the moment things go to shit. Case in point, Mr. Mount.

You mean Poch?

That focus on pure youth is a very high risk gamble. Hopefully they'll come to their senses sooner rather than later. Nothing against youth signings, but they need to mix it up.

And now Tottenham apparently, as well. All these past years laughing at the pair of them. Well if it's anything, they didn't win anything last season. And Tottenham already got dumped out of the EFL cup.