Blue Armour

James is back, baby. To think there were people on here ready to sell him just because we got Gusto.

Mudryk doing what he's supposed to. Nice run.

Good to hear that he won't close his chapter with Chelsea completely, despite the impending departure. He will always be welcome at the club.

The long-term contracts all our new signings are on, should itself be a clue. This a long play by Eghbali & Co. They ultimately want a squad that has appreciated in value 6-7 years from now, when they are ready to sell the club. From their perspective., it doesn't matter if some players mature faster than others. The ones that mature faster., might want to move before that time period, but Eghbali & Co. will make a good profit from the sale of such players., who feel they are too good to remain. That's their primary objective. Any trophies or results we pick along the way will just be a bonus. Th3ats why they will only hire a manager that agrees with their 'vision'. Glorified yes-men. Hopefully some of them will have decent coaching credentials.

That's why this whole 'build for the future' argument is so speculative. It might pay off, it certainly will raise the resale value of the entire squad, but it doesn't necessarily amount to the trophies. AKA, Wenger's Arsenal. But hey, maybe some fans like that. Basically enjoy the process, not the end results.

Those players performed well under Tuchel here. It's simple. We had a decent manager and a decent team. Clownlake comes along. Gets rid of the decent manager. Brings in a couple of novices. Ruins the team standings. Next season gets rid of the team. Now we have a mediocre manager (still better than Potter, though.), and a clueless squad of individuals

Eghbali: “We thought Chelsea [was] frankly an asset, a business that was not terribly well managed on the football side, sporting side or promotional ...

Thank goodness for our 6-0 win with Mourinho & Hazard.

They won't. No money left.

As much as I detest Clownlake's methods, and even if our transfer budget is limited to comply with the league's spending rules, they have one chance this coming window to make a few smart experienced signings to really shake up things on the pitch. This stupid experiment of developing a squad with 90% under-25 players has to stop.

I'm not saying Jackson is going to be the solution, but not every player blooms at the same age, and of course some have more game maturity than others. I think all our under-24 newcomers deserve a bit of slack. For this season. Next season I'm hoping addition of a few experienced heads will get more out of this squad. This won't help Jackson's finishing, but the burden on him to deliver the goods should hopefully reduce. Let's see.

It starts with Eghbali. The other two are only tools. Eghbali & Wyss are behind the wage bill reduction and focus on youth talent., in order to raise the long-term value of the team. Anyway, this youth gamble could still pay off next season, IF they do a little course correction in the summer, by adding 2-3 experienced heads in midfield & defence. Getting a goal-scoring forward to support Palmer, and maybe a better GK would be a bonus.

Even if it's Pool or Arsenal as an alternative, City winning so many titles in a row is not a good advert for the Premier League. And if that wasn't enough, stinking VAR is allowing them to get away with handball decisions. As if they needed more help.

But is he wrong though? This team as a whole is insanely young. Why people are still surprised at how inconsistent our results are, is beyond me. I'm angry about the team, but not at the players or the manager, but because of Clownlake and their team. They decided to go all FM style youth recruitment only policy. A big (needless) gamble.

Caicedo, Gallagher & Enzo will all benefit by having an experienced CM playing alongside them. I hope there's a smart signing made next season to restore balance in our midfield. The 3 of them together aren't quite there to control a game for 90mins the way they should. That's the main reason why we're having so many see-saw results this season. Good during some games, or some parts of a game, but equally terrible otherwise.

And inexperience in central midfield.

Just need their fanbase to start growing and become more vocal. It's already loud, but nowhere near as pronounced as the fans of the old big 4 clubs.

Posted the highest operating loss of any club in the PL with £249m, but apparently managed to not fall foul of the PL profit & sustainability rules by selling two hotels to BlueCo (themselves?) https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13304941/Chelsea-hotels-Premier-League-Profit-Sustainability-Rules.html

Avram Grant took us to a final., I remember. People say Potter and Frank dragged teams to the bottom, and use that to show an impact a poor manager can have. The point is, Potter and Frank took a CL winning top 4 team into the relegation zone. This current team is NOT that. To be clear, I don't care much for Poch. I just don't understand how people can ignore the aspect of this poor squad planning.

Good enough and being experienced enough are not necessarily the same thing. You can have quality players that might have great individual stats in some areas, but are collectively poor., because none of them have leadership skills. Not that difficult to comprehend.

Funny thing is. He's probably repeating what Egh-boehly told him.

Damn right it's the central midfield thats the problem. Total lack of experience there and can't believe why this is often overlooked. Buying a world class CB can help, but our piss poor game management, and lack of control over the centre of the park has led to so many embarrassing results, with easy wins turning into draws. Even if Enzo & Caicecdo eventually fulfil their potential, today they are collectively a clownshow. Next season we need to sign an experienced, decent (not necessarily WC), CM to help control matches.

Enzo has been annoying this season. No doubt a very talented player, but his attitude has been so far off it. Instead of picking fights with former traitor players or showing off his jersey after scoring, he should be focusing on his work ethic and controlling his midfield along with his partner. Another one to improve next season. The good thing is, based on his actions, he at least seems committed to remaining in Chelsea for the near future.

It's a midtable side this, it WILL blow hot and cold. People should have come to terms with this so much earlier on this season. Less disappointment for the rest of it. That's the cost of having a team with no game management skills. It still needs to learn it. And not all of it is down to the coach, mediocre he maybe. It's just the inexperience of the players as a whole. Hopefully the ownership won't keep chopping and changing., and allow this current squad to grow with a few key (experienced) additions, and this team can mature next season.

Should be an easy win. And by some margin, to add to the GD. Let's see if this team has improved its game management.