OneMoSalah

Tbf the days of us going for the best players were gone well before then. Ironically, the season we signed Begovic - Baba Rahmann, Kenedy, Matt Miazga, Falcao, Pato. Then following one even Alonso, David Luiz (both did a job tbf) and Batshuayi were hardly the best players. But yeah difference levels of guys altogether but its kind of been like that since we signed Cesc, Filipe Luis & Costa for me.

Still think it’s harsh to expect a young and raw player like him to be able to lead the line for us every week when hes still very much trying to find his feet in top level football. Unfortunately, the burden is on him like many of our positions with other young guys who aren’t maybe ready/should have some more established guys in and around to take the weight off, he is clearly the number 1 choice. Realistically though, he should be a second choice with a guy in front of him but its the situation we are in. His attitude is good and I have no doubts he will get better but its going to be a process. He actually looks promising, unlike Mudryk (write off already), Noni and I’d guess Palmer (just looks like we’ve signed a rip of Kai Havertz who has no real distinct qualities) who City were probably pissing themselves at getting £45+5m off of us for. Still early for Palmer and maybe Noni but I just don’t see the pair of them doing anything. Lavia not played yet but money could have been used elsewhere & kept one of Kovacic or Kante.

Its obvious Poch will take the brunt of the flak for now but the real culprits who are to blame and the owners and the footballing people they’ve installed. Simple as that. It has been blatantly obvious for about 10000 years now we need goalscorers (Nkunku and Sterling aside), one of those definitely being a top CF who will do the business regularly. I mean nothing against Jackson just young, needs time, needs less pressure too. Same with Broja. Was the same issue with Benitez, with Mourinho’s 2nd spell, same issues arose with Conte after he binned Costa, with Sarri, with Frank, with Tuchel, with Potter, with Frank again and its still the fucking same. I mean chances created are there - goals aren’t. Isn’t rocket science. Goalscorers. And that was when we had other guys like Eden, Pedro, Fabregas, Willian, Schurrle, Oscar who are, depending on who, probably 10-100 times the players of some of these we’ve signed. But in true fashion with this ownership, we’ve shit the bed & signed anything but proven players barring a handful, under the guise of these youngsters being a “long term investment” as opposed to gambles. Basically though, we have spent £1 bn and have somehow gotten worse. Tell me how thats possible? It shouldn’t be. It should literally be impossible. So who’s really at fault here? Poch? Or the footballing strategy people? Will say it now, Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley - if they would of even been hired in the first place - would have been fired by Roman before even being given any sort of control on transfers if they came to him with this nonsense approach of signing every u21 alive without any real substance. No disrespect to Brighton and Monaco, where they came from but if they want to run us like them and develop a similar footballing culture and strategy then we are goosed because we are coming from a place of relative success and reversing that to try become more a feeder club (in theory) by developing very very unproven qualities as opposed to buying a mix of good proven players & exposing younger, developing players to them and the group. If the January window goes the same as the last 2 windows have then this club will be in a very very very dangerous place come next summer. Simple as that. I do think Boehly might need to get on the phone to Michael Edwards in the summer.

1 goal, 6 big chances missed & 1 card away from suspension so far this season. Some Good signs but also needs to be a bit less erratic.

Poch says Mudryk needs a better understanding of the game. Fuck me. If you need this aged 22 you’ve no chance these days.

Enrique 🤣 I mean have you seen PSG under him? Sure the style looks good but he has them sitting 4th in the most one sided league in Europe with one of, if not the biggest budgets across Europe. In fact the worst start they’ve ever had to a campaign since being bought over… Like it or not Poch or Nagelsmann was always going to be the way to go. Neither are particularly at the level Tuchel, Klopp or Pep are at but both geared up for dealing with younger squads.

It had better have 😂 There is no way we spent £1bn on a team for purely long term progression though - there has to be some short term and medium term progress.

Didn’t think we looked hugely out of the ordinary in pre-season in all fairness. Better than last season but even today’s performances better than last seasons so hardly difficult. Some patterns, bits and pieces that you’d expect from a Poch team but we played pre-season against other teams in pre-season, so its not a great barometer. Competitive games is what you want to see real progress in. When your starting 11 is made up of 70% u22 players every week (majority drom outside the PL) who naturally are going to fluctuate in performance - this is the wild bit I don’t get how anybody involved in the football strategy couldn’t see this coming - based on results, confidence, the whole process of developing as footballers, its not going to be smooth sailing. Not to mention injuries to guys who may be able to be more dependable in levels of consistency or influence on the team such as Reece, probably Caicedo and definitely Nkunku - who for me is the biggest miss right now seeing as we didn’t sign another more proven attacker for whatever reason - then you have to turn to some other players in the squad. Unfortunately we don’t have a Kante or a Kovacic (could have kept maybe one of them and not buy Ugo or Lavia and have used funds on another CF/AM? But I tend to remember people saying how getting rid of both and getting Caicedo and Lavia was outstanding more or less) or whomever it may be of that ilk. I mean look at the 18 today and tell me that if it weren’t Chelsea folk would be saying that was a good match day squad. You can’t. And its poor squad building because its too far focused on 3,4 years - granted we don’t sign another 10 u21s by then.

Yeah he has to play a bit deeper, I think outright as the most advanced midfielder, like a 10, is a bit of a waste. He probably touches the ball more when he plays in a box to box role. Maybe you didn’t but there was a lot of folk with hards on particularly after the Caicedo and Lavia deals. Not saying that that profiles of players weren’t needed in the squad but Caicedo, Lavia and Ugochuwku are all in the same mould realistically speaking in terms of being highly combative players and not creative yer we’ve spent the best part of £200m on them alone this summer. To be fair to Gallagher he is more likely to score a goal or win us a game than any of those 3. Its like we were building a midfield for Mourinho or Conte by signing those 3 all in the same window. Enzo and Gallagher the only more creative/less defensively midfielders we have as I would class Nkunku more as an attacking midfielder. Bournemouth probably should of won that based on the saves Sanchez made. Sums us up. £1bn on players yet every attacker barring Sterling, who even looked a bit off it today, not one of them is really up to scratch to be a leading man at a club wanting to compete for Europe. Not necessarily fair to expect them to be but when you sign what 4 or 5 attackers aged 22 and under in 3 windows alongside however many other u22 players, you send a pretty clear message that your counting on them to be able to do the business there and then.

Jesus christ when the window was done 3/4s of folk were saying we had an amazing window…. we had one of the best MF 3s in the PL & Europe with Moises, Enzo and Lavia…. we had X, Y and Z…. The club’s vision and failure to recruit another 2 or 3 more ready made players (or even keep 1 or 2 we sold) has hurt us and I’ve been saying it for months to the point I am almost sick of saying it. Will say it AGAIN the £90m spent on Lavia and Palmer should of been spent on recruiting proven quality even more so after getting Enzo and Moises the last 2 windows also. Guys who are able to contribute NOW. Not in 2025 or 2026. Or dare I say it, like I did months and months ago, Kovacic should of been kept - particularly if people are going to be so annoyed at Gallagher playing. I mean who do folk want Poch to fucking play look at the bench today ffs 🤣

Loving all the outrage “why is Poch keeping Gallagher on” but the question is to put on who instead? Some academy kid nobody ever heard of to today who is only in the squad due to excessive injuries? Or some Brazilian kid who was probably signed to go on loan to Strasbourg and will be miles off it? Can't win or cant lose with some of you 🤣

This is why we needed to add more experienced and refined players in attack to help. Jackson and Palmer may be talented (Mudryk certainly is not) but when the game goes as it is today (and yes I know Palmer isn’t even on yet), you need someone to carry the burden in that final third. Bit of a blow losing Nkunku but a more experienced wide player instead of Palmer or Mudryk in January would of been a smart move. Unfortunately we don’t make smart moves. We make moves that might be smart 5 years down the line.

Playing for Man City yeah, who were the best team across the whole of Europe last season. When he does it regularly in a Chelsea shirt, different story.

Guys who have been here all of 5 minutes being captain is ridiculous unless they have huge leadership qualities or experience but he has neither. Said it at the beginning of the season I get developing guys like Reece, Chilly (especially feel he should be pushed as may bring his game on too), Connor, Enzo etc into leaders by giving them more prominent roles in the squad but all of them being ahead of Thiago Silva in the pecking order as captains is ridiculous for me. I know Silva still on the pitch and maybe the armband isn’t as necessarily important as it used to be but still a bit old school and think that your captain shouldn’t be footballers who have very limited experience at your club.

Even with them - Palmer hardly a proven player who we can count on - the bench is pretty horrific. I get we have injuries hut even the starting line up with Mudryk, Gallagher and Ugo (who may be ok who knows never seen him play) looks pretty lightweight. Just praying Sterling doesn’t pick up an injury or we are FUCKED in attack. Also why all the “why is he playing Colwill at LB” shit? Jesus 3 or 4 months ago people were saying he can play LB and CB and has to be an integral part of our plans next season as he was as good as any young CB in Europe. So he stays, becomes an integral part of the team (so far) and its why the fuck is Poch using him as a LB? Can’t win 🤣

Ridiculous comparison to be honest. Vini had 14 goals & 23 assists in his first 3 seasons at Madrid. Not sure on the minutes but the stats are there and are impressive. For someone coming from Brazil straight to Europe as well at his age - is hardly quiet. Its just above 12 goal involvements per season on average. Mudryk doesn’t even have 37 goal involvements in his whole career (33) and he’s only what a year or less younger than Vini? Firstly Mudryk is nowhere near, never mind the same level of talent and never will be. Secondly, how many chances has Mudryk had to score or assist when he’s played? There has been countless. What more do people want the managers to do just keep playing him even if his lack of output and performances don’t improve? His finishing is poor and so is his in game decision making. Was the same with Werner and people kept saying “perceive he will come good” or “our tactics don’t suit him” and after 2 seasons of suffering his shite we finally sold him. Same with Torres. He isn’t fit to wear the shirt yet, plain and simple, maybe he will be one day but again, I really doubt it. Have seen enough in the half a season he’s been here. Shakhtar took us for a ride and extracted a ridiculous fee for an average player.

Doesn’t start in their best 11? Debatable if not almost wrong and this is coming from a Scotsman ffs 🤣 Have you seen how he plays for England at the WC, Euro & Nation League qualifiers and the tournaments themselves? Done more than Rashford, Grealish, Foden etc have done at any major tournaments but doesn’t start in their best 11 sure…. pretty sure most if not all of his goals for England are all in competitive games. I mean who starts ahead of him for England? Surely he plays on the left in this form ahead of Rashford & Grealish? If he was in the last England squad he would of been 2nd top goalscorer behind Kane…. Hey if they don’t call him up/he retires from internationals its our gain & Southgates loss. But Southgate would rather play Maguire and Kalvin Phillips ahead of the likes of guys playing regularly and performing such as Fikayo Tomori or Levi Colwill and James Maddison so that sums up how much he knows about anything. Or playing two RBs when we has got Chilwell on the bench.

Did he only play 45 minutes? Or were the stats a lot worse second half so they decided not to post them?

Just quote them £75m or above and if they accept to that, sell. Great player but injuries aren’t helping him not to mention his 250k p/w salary which is undoubtedly highest earner at club now possibly (salary compared to game time has been a huge reason behind many of our ex players exits under the new ownership). People keep saying he is young he will overcome these injuries but he’s 24 at the end of the year. If he can’t sort his fitness and injury problems out sooner rather than later, then we end up with a Kante situation.

Bellingham a joke of a footballer for 19 or 20 - however old he is. An absolute joke. Learning from Modric and Kroos just going to further propel him. Every time I see him play makes me go thank fuck City never got him. Imagine him and Haaland in that team, they’d dominate everything for the next 4, 5 years at least.

At the end of the day though, the expenditure we’ve made, the apparent level of the players we’ve signed, the manager we’ve got, the need for CL football for increased revenue to comply with FFP and then to attract some top players, it is clear, top 4 or 5 is a big must for us this season. If we continue to sit around anywhere between 8-14th again for a second season in a row, the project and the appeal of coming here becomes more and more dismissive for certain calibre of players. I mean there is whispers re Enzo already - how true I don’t know as source is iffy, but we wont attract the likes of his ilk next season if we don’t have CL football. Thats the harsh reality of the situation. And Boehly’s disasterclass will continue to roll on and be a huge source of frustration for our fanbase and also a huge source of comedy for everyone else.

Wasn’t a bust due to his performances though. Just never played ahead of Azpi due to Mourinho’s love for Ivanovic. Whenever FL played he actually did well and didn’t look out of place at all despite the few that were concerned he wouldn’t be able to cope with the PL due to his age (mental considering how good he had been for Atleti in Spain & the CL). People also forget how good Azpi was that season for Mourinho as a LB, IIRC at one point he was statistically the fullback with the best defensive stats in the PL & Europe at one point that season. I mean if you look at how many games we lost that season with Azpi & Luis in the team, we lost 3 with Azpi (although he played more) and 1 with Luis, keeping a lot of clean sheets in the process. Then look at the outrage when we allowed him to leave and signed that dud Baha Rahmann…

I mean hate to sound all doom and gloom but if we are truly limiting ourselves to signing players under 25 for whatever reason then we will win nothing anytime soon. Just reeks of Arsenal under Wenger, good team in 3 or 4 years but lose their key players eventually as they don’t compete, rinse & repeat… Sometimes you need to get a couple of those guys in their best years and very rarely are footballers in their highest level under the age of 25. The likes of Cesc and Costa coming to us in 14/15 is the perfect example when Jose signed them. The season before we were a “little horse” as Jose put it himself, those 2, Filipe Luis, Drogba and the return of Courtois elevated the group alongside JM. Not to mention the signing of Matic in January the year before hugely contributed. Not any of them barring Tibo were under 25. Exceptions have to be made. If we prioritise signing players who aren’t close to proven in certain areas and just have a constant revolving door of unproven and “could be greats” then we will not make sufficient enough progress.

Either that or maybe a signing Poch wasn’t particularly keen on making at this moment in time? Maybe not ready? His signing amongst others seem very club driven but what if he hasn’t done enough to get in the match squad? I mean unless he has some sort of injury/personal issue he’s dealing with but for the second coming of Jesus who instantly made our MF 3 “one of the best in the PL & Europe” not even making a match squad if fully fit is ironically hilarious and worrying at the same time. Still a long season but the expectations and overrating of this guy when we were trying to/since we did buy him has been frightening (alongside the likes of Palmer, Santos, Mudryk etc at first). One decent season with Southampton yes but Chelsea is a different ball game. Be interesting to see when he gets in and how he fares but was vastly overrated as soon as we were chasing him.

Report from Spain says he’s considering an early exit from the club if things don’t improve. Not sure how true. Source is iffy at best - Fichajes. https://www.fichajes.net/noticias/bombazo-enzo-fernandez-plantea-salida-Chelsea-20230906.html