OneMoSalah

Tbf I don’t blame him. I am genuinely worried that regardless of our manager if Boehly & Eghbali are hugely involved like they have been in footballing terms this last year, that its not going to be as attractive an option as it was before. Either way, there will be people who will say to other’s don’t go there. Re City - at least their infrastructure is there, theres a strategy/plan in place and doesn’t involve their owners going into the dressing room every week or making idiotic decisions - so no wonder he recommended Nagelsmann wait for City if any PL team. Don’t see why someone as qualified or highly regarded as Poch (or any elite manager) would be coming into this club if he and his staff didn’t already have their own insights or ideas on whats going wrong, which players he likes, who to keep, who to not keep etc though? I mean why else would the club hire him? He’s not come here on a whim, we’ve basically narrowed down a list of however many managers to get to here, so its not like Frank’s insights going to completely change his way of thinking or fill any huge blanks. He should just let Poch make his own deductions and get on with winning the remaining matches. Realistically come the end of the season not one person is going to care what Frank thinks about what is going wrong, who we should keep or shouldn’t keep etc because he wont be here. And he’s part of the problem too so sooner the seasons over with, the better. Not good enough.

I dont think it takes a genius to figure out some of the main problems with the club looking from the outside? Do you? There are some pretty glaringly obvious ones on and off the pitch. But yeah sure Frank’s such a good guy for pointing out the obvious. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see the mentality or effort of this mob. They don’t care enough. The standards aren’t there from top to bottom. Clearly defined by the fact the interim manager isn’t good enough and the guy before him wasn’t good enough. Plus then theres the clusterfuck of idiots running the show above. That much is clear. Do I need to be in the building to see that? The new manager could of got as much intel as possible had the club just appointed him instead of fucking about with this PR stunt that is Lampard’s return. I mean was there ever a Benitez would be a good guy if he gave Jose an insight to this current group of players conversation when he came back for his second spell? Or Hiddink would be if he gave Conte bla bla bla? Just another meaningless sympathy point for Frank from the British media. “He is helping Chelsea out” oh what a saint, is he really doing us such a favour as opposed to the other way around? He would probably be sitting at home waiting for a championship club to make a move for him if we didn’t reappoint him. Maybe he should focus on winning some games first and foremost to boost the groups confidence as opposed to diluting his focus to talk to Poch (who’s not even officially in the door yet) about things that he is more than qualified to work out for himself. Again, I would rather Poch made his own deductions in the same way Erik ten Haag did at Man United. He went in, didn’t speak to Ragnick, wasn’t bothered he was there and done his own thing - which clearly put no doubts in his mind about what he wanted to do.

How about Frank focuses on winning the remaining games first. Or getting a performance out of the players at least. I don’t think Pochettino really needs his help that much considering his reputation and achievements as a manager in comparison to Franks. I’d imagine he will have an idea or plan in place already.

Looks like Dave Grohl’s physio isn’t all that good then.

Another injury. Why do these fucking moron coaches keep playing players who are delicate/have picked up an injury through games? Particularly one v Madrid where we were basically confirmed as out by the 60th minute after they scored. First Potter with Reece, now Lampard. Honestly wtf. I get the seasons dead rubber but we stand a much better chance of winning games by not risking our better players through games which could further aggravate their injuries.

Wow - you really have a hard on for Lukaku dont you? Hopefully we get Poch because it will all but confirm that he wont play Rom as he isn’t suited to a high pressing team.

Not surprised one bit. Wouldn't waste a penny to go watch those lot at the moment. Hopefully others follow suit up to the end of the season because this would send a huge message to the owners. Times are a lot worse than they ever were in the Sarri days.

Their attack on paper may be better but look at the output of Coman, Mane, Sane & Muller compared to before. Sane’s return to Germany has been poor by all accounts in comparison to his time at City. As well as the fact that Lewandowski scored a huge percentage of their goals basically every season and having Choupo-Moting as his replacement isn’t going to cut it as he isn’t as lethal in those half chances where as Lewa is. Losing him and Thiago has been colossal to the regression of this Bayern team I think. I don’t think Kimmich and Goretzka can lace Thiago’s boots together never mind as individuals- in fact Kimmich’s best/most successful football has been at RB at Bayern under Flick as opposed to playing as a holding midfielder. They only signed Cancelo in January despite needing a more attack minded RB for seasons to match Davie’s output on the other side. Ultimately their signings/plans to replace Lewa and Thiago haven’t worked as well as their signings of Sane, Lucas Hernandez, Pavard etc have been below par to say the least. Also yeah that’s all well and good - but the team is lacking an identity as a whole in terms of their personality on the pitch and tactically, so you would of hoped that if there was anything he would of really really impressed the club with, it would be that as opposed to “roadmaps” for 2 players. In particular when we have 30 players. Granted I am glad he thinks he can do something with them (in particular Mudryk because if he can do something with him then he truly is a miracle worker as he has been one of the worst big money signings I think I’ve seen in Europe over the past however long) but if you wanted the club to come away really really impressed with anything - it would be his vision on how to get the team to perform to an extremely high level as a whole and competing. And even then, Mudryk? Of all the talent in that group, Mudryk? If the club is in particularly only really impressed about how he can develop young players first and foremost then it is truly as I feared that we will not win anything for a while. Granted not exactly Poch’s fault, you can see he’s worked with younger build squads like this before but this is Chelsea, not Southampton or Spurs, so there has to be a roadmap to competing/winning trophies as opposed to developing an 80m player. Or Boehly/Eghbali & Clearlake are happily going to make us into some sort of developmental club as opposed to a top one (which is already a concern with this inclination of trying to copy the RB model and signing every under 23 age player who is available at present). That was one of my only real fears about Poch alongside the yes man and the lack of trophies - is that his appointment perhaps is geared up more around getting us competitive in the next 3 or 4 years as opposed to sooner - which I don’t think is unrealistic. Particularly when you consider that there is still some excellent players in this squad.

Lets hope not. He’s the only guy this season who has played ok. would probably be in the bottom 3 without him. But again if he chose to leave I wouldn’t be surprised - if its even a doubt in his mind then the new manager has a lot to do to try make him stay. His comments after the Real Madrid game give the impression he is perhaps disillusioned with how things are at the club. He is also probably thinking he is realistically only going to get one or two more years out of his career so perhaps he may look to go for one more move?

Bayerns recruitment and losing the likes of Lewa and Thiago has been a big issue. Muisala is a huge talent but he cant do it all by himself in attack either.

I think the “one and only Tuchel” as you put it was only 1 point off of Lyon when they sacked him. And had lost 3 or 4 games in the league. Funnily enough Poch lost 4 games and finished 1 point behind Lille that first season so cant exactly use that to beat Tuchel with and not Poch. Second season was better but the recruitment was unbelievable on paper so not like they weren’t going to improve. But yeah their first half of the first season was no worse than 2nd half that year really. Tuchel was more sacked for falling out with Leonardo than results by the looks of things, who PSG soon replaced also with Campos that summer. Poch had a superior PSG team that second season but his record is still not as good as Tuchel’s. I feel he’s probably better at working with developing/younger squads though like he did at Southampton & Spurs so he suits the bill here for Boehly. Less ego’s, less authoritative players or guys who have done it all before so maybe that buys him more sway in the dressing room - where as at Paris he clearly didn’t have the capacity to deal with the likes of huge personalities and players such as Messi, Neymar, Mbappe, Ramos, Verratti etc - although thats a lot of big big personalities and it probably can be toxic (but I do think Tuchel would excell with the current PSG squad though because he isn’t afraid of hurting feelings and these bigger elite level mentality players, they can take it). But that will only take him so far - he has to eventually back it up by winning trophies here if he comes in to prove his methods are worth it or he will end up like he did at Spurs.

He wants a yes man. Its so clear. Tuchel isn’t a yes man. Nagelsmann isn’t a yes man. Enrique isn’t a yes man. I would imagine its going to be Poch, which is fine because I think he can turn the ship around a bit but he has to let Poch do his thing. He cannot interfere or be in and around the players in the dressing room. I mean how often do you ever hear of that for other owners? Lets just hope Spurs don’t convince Poch to go back in the summer because if they do, our options will be very very slim going off the reports going around.

Think he was born there but classes himself as Australian as he spent most of his life there. Sure he played for their NT.

Ange Postecoglu would be interesting. Another surprising link but it would be interesting 😂 Probably not cut out for this level but there is two things he would bring and that is high pressing, attacking football and standards. He hates his teams passing the ball backwards/needlessly so this makes Celtic a joy to watch under him. Also made Australia pretty fun to watch but yeah not sure it would work with him at the elite elite level although Celtic is a huge club.

Yep fully agree. Better fit than Enrique would be for me, 100%, particularly given the profile of the squad but a lack of trophies is concerning. Also Poch seems to be more a yes man (unfortunately) which makes him more attractive to the owners IMO. Hopefully he has enough about him to puts down some ground rules though ie no owners in the dressing room every week because that is a big no no as it undermines any manager regardless of who they are. Personally think Kompany links are an absolute joke though - Potter was more proven than him. So seems very very strange. Like when we were linked to Jokanovic after he got Fulham promoted (although he had the ex player connection).

Whilst Poch is a good coach, you’ve hit nail on the head. A yes man. Makes sense, even more when you consider why Enriques apparently been moved down this list of “managerial targets” we have.

Make captain? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 He basically admitted 6 months after coming here he regretted leaving Inter and joining us. Wow.

So you think finishing 10th-11th was more realistic than finishing top 4 this season because we have new owners? Fucking hell heard it all now. Clueless. And you’ve got the nerve to call me naive 🤣 pillock

Not exactly but I expected us to remain competitive in and around the top 4 as we had a competitive squad, Tuchel and what seemed like an owner willing to continue investing in good players but nobody really saw this coming in terms of how poorly the strategy and infrastructure rebuild has been. Or are you going to tell me that there is a genuine excusable and logical explanation as to why we have gone from a near 2 year period of finishing in the top 4 and making 6 or 7 finals under Tuchel (winning 3) to sitting 11/12th 7 or 8 months later that isn’t majorly down to the ownership & decision making? Whats changed in that time? And why has it changed? Boehly & Eghbali’s decision making has heavily influenced where we’ve ended up. Its as cut and dry as that. Yes players haven’t performed great but there is so much other shit wrong before even looking at the players. And that stems from the higher ups. I mean anybody who thought going from TT to GP was going to rescue top 4/6 needed their head checked on day 1, yet alone 4 months ago. I mean yeah, a top top manager with a couple of key additions and clearing out this bloated squad could turn the ship slightly but personally, I feel that a lot is going to depend a lot on how much of an influence these 2 clowns upstairs decide they want to have - they just cant help themselves. They are the biggest concern for me more than anything else. This supposed collection of expert footballing people they’ve installed have got a point to prove also. Other than Badiashile and Enzo, they’ve got a poor record so far. Mudryk, Nadueke, Felix seem like they were unnecessary additions - nothing different to what we had and they’ve not made a meaningful impact.

It wasnt speculation about his first choices. How long did we spend trying to sign de Ligt & Raphina this summer for example? Made numerous bids for de Ligt & agreed a fee for Raphina. Only for him only to want to go to Barca. Those 2, Sterling and Aubamayang were probably the only players Tuchel actually wanted properly out of what we got. Cucurella & Koulibaly definitely more club led I would say and after their past season or seasons, you can see why they could of been reasonable signings but the fees and wages were hugely inflated. I see your back to defending the indefensible. Boehly now after months of defending Potter. The owner is getting everything he deserves, finally, after a near year of hugely incompetent decisions which have piled up upon each other. From fans, from players (Thiago Silva) & ex players (Drogba). We went from a team who made what 6 or 7 cup finals in 2.5 seasons to a team that looks like it could probably get relegated next season. But sure the manager and players are only to blame (not saying they cant do more, far from it but the managers & certain players are only here because of poor choices by the owners) - particularly when the owner chose a incompetent manager to replace a more than competent one and splurged on players who aren’t worth what we paid. I mean if such an iconic ex player such as Didier is saying he doesn’t recognise the club anymore, with his status here, his comments carry weight. Just reinforces how so much of us have felt over the last 7 or 8 months. But sure its not directly the owners fault. Yep. Sure

Signings aren't/never were the major issue though. The major issue is 2 clueless owners with no footballing background making incorrect big decisions time and time again. Ripped out a pretty successful background team/infrastructure without having replacements ready to go and step in from day 1, sacked arguably a top 3/5 in the world manager after 7 weeks for Graham Potter then kept him for months when he was in over his head before appointing Frank to try and save face (unless your telling me the football people in place as well as Boehly & Eghbali actually believed Frank as a manager could win us the CL - which would indicate to me they are ill suited to their roles). Even the whole Tuchel and Boehly not being on the same page which is why he sacked him thing, why did he give TT the pre-season if it was clear he didn’t suit the clubs long term vision & way of working? Again, incompetent decision making at the highest order. Not to mention how many other staff changes - ground staff, medical staff. Then them being in the dressing room every game, I mean wtf? Ok to say the club is ruined is maybe a wee bit far fetched but if things continue at the rate they are, it will end up ruined. Completely. You just get the feeling the heart has been ripped right out of the club. And there are no standards from top to bottom. The fans really need to send a message to the owners.

At the same time he is one of those guys who would of never been happy being a squad player here though and you have to respect it. He’s started a lot of games for Milan & France - more than people thought he would.

Are you serious? 😂 He’s well within his rights to make these comments public. I am actually shocked it has taken a ex Chels player this long to say something about the current state of affairs that a lot of fans can agree with. I am assuming Thiago Silva shouldn't of made his comments either going off your logic? Because his comments basically criticised the club’s strategy. There is minimal faith in the ownership already (since Tuchel sacking I’ve been skeptical and this year has proven me right) but thats never going to be because of an ex players comments. If you look at how we’ve gotten here, people will say thats why there is minimal faith in the ownership. I am actually shocked that more ex Chels, particularly the ones who are in the media/pundit roles (Joe Cole being a big one, keeps banging on the sympathy drum for his pal Frank) haven’t said anything similar - it genuinely makes me wonder if they are just stupid or just afraid because they have friends in there still. Where as Gary Neville has been overly critical of Boehly in the media since day 1 basically, which he was criticised for but who is laughing now? The club needs to help itself and that starts with Boehly & Eghbali sorting themselves out. This year is going to be alarming for some looking in and maybe it will turn away some potential managers/coaches or players but thats been brought on again by incompetence. Not by Drogba’s comments. But because the club has a history of being successful under the previous ownership, and has a lure still, then maybe they’ll get away with it this year. But if its the same next year, then it will become more difficult. Lampard, like Potter, clearly too afraid to tell Boehly not to come into the dressing room every week so obviously he’s not going to agree with Didier’s comments when Boehly & co’s influence is what he’s hinting at, particularly when he’s in debt to him to be in a job.

Perhaps but I think at Dortmund this level we are seeing wasn’t anywhere near the level of performance Akanji was putting out. Why I don’t know but different team, system, manager, standard of team mates etc all to consider as well as the individual’s level also. How he gets on next season will be interesting. I don’t think he’s an elite level player and I’d imagine if City get a proper LB next season him and/or Ake will find their minutes reduced considerably.

Surprised how much Akanji has played. Him and Ake actually. I think their mobility for CBs (and Ake’s versatility) in wider areas has been key to this new system their using this 3-2-4-1 sort of shape when they build. When they lose the ball you tend to see Stones drop in and it goes to a back 4 with either Akanji or Stones playing more as a RB. Seems to have made them defensively pretty strong. They dont concede big chances and in particular on set plays it helps. I have no doubts though Ake and Akanji would of been train wrecks here.