Superblue

To be fair he's being linked with teams like Villa so I'm not surprised he'd rather stay with Madrid. If a bigger club come in for him though I think he'd give it serious thought. If Chelsea tried getting him back I genuinely think he'd come back here in a heartbeat. I'd love to know whether he regrets how his career has panned out at Madrid and whether in hindsight it was the right move to make. Maybe we'll find out when his career is done and dusted.

I don't get down to watch Chelsea often, but for me personally it wouldn't make any difference. I get the bus to Earl's Court and walk to the Bridge from there. Earl's Court is about 10-15 minute walk away from Stamford Bridge so it's hardly a move that would put people out. If moving was the only option available, I think most people would pick that as the ideal place to move purely from the proximity to where the Bridge is. I think it would actually be the more logical option to trying to renovate Stamford Bridge which is fraught with problems to redevelop. The issues involved I think would end up resulting in a redevelopment costing nearly as much as a brand new stadium anyway. Certainly from the owners perspective, I could see a new stadium that can be built from the ground up to be far more attractive and that option would also allow us to build a stadium whilst continuing to play at Stamford Bridge until it's ready. I think the biggest issue is for the CPO it goes beyond Stamford Bridge, it's having an element of control on the club as a whole to ensure there's no threat to what we see the club to be. Giving that up I'm not sure would be on the table. The only way this would have legs is if Clearlake/Boehly can placate by offering some form of binding assurances at their end with regards to the club.

Mount's problem is when playing as part of the attack, he rightfully should be judged for his attacking output like the other attacking players. There are other elements that he can bring but ultimately his goals and assists aren't enough for us to be challenging consistently, like the rest of our attackers. He should be playing in midfield. It's as simple as that. His game suits being a 'connector' between midfield and attack as he's intelligent and adept at finding pockets of space, even when a game looks congested. In a midfield three, he'd still be given some licence to attack and use his work rate and natural fitness to get up and down the pitch. I understand 2, 3, 4 years ago playing him in a role further forward but he's not some scrawny little kid anymore; he's combative enough to handle himself in the midfield. But if we're talking a Chelsea side that operates with only 3 attackers and Mount is one of them, I don't believe that is sustainable unless he starts channelling an inner Lampard and can get 15-20 goals and 15-20 assists consistently every season.

I agree with this, although there is also always that worrying feeling whether someone is the right person for a job and the inevitable is delayed for the sake of trying to stabilise. I think in the case of Potter, unless we completely started free-falling down the league table, he should be given this season with no real pressure being placed on him. I'm not expecting him to wave a magic wand, and at present I don't even expect him to get us in the top 4 but by the end of the season I want to see what the plan is moving forward with regards to style and performances. They might not necessarily be complete or consistent yet, but what has been served up in the last few games is quite alarming because we're getting out played, out thought and out battled. There has to be an obvious upward trajectory in my opinion in 6 months' time to know that he is worth that time and patience to be afforded to him to get this to work. With the schedule and the number of injuries we've had, it was always going to be a tricky period to come in, but we can't just expect to rip everything up and build a completely new team. That's something that will take at least 2-3 years to shape, and, in the meantime, there will be areas where we have to make do and he has to get a tune out of some players for the foreseeable future. I do think he needs to get a few results soon after the break too though. If we lost at home against Bournemouth I can see the crowd start turning on the team and the manager. You get the feeling already that patience is starting to wear a little thin. At times our home support can sometimes be questioned with regards to atmosphere, but one thing that has always been apparent is if the support turns, it can get toxic very quickly. It feels like it's simmering a little currently, and a couple more bad results and dire performances and I can see anger and frustration being vented on players, manager and owners.

I would argue Chelsea taking a punt on Potter is similar to Dortmund taking a chance on Klopp and then Tuchel. Both are big clubs in their domestic leagues and respected across Europe, but both in need of a rebuild and reboot at the time the appointments were made. Whatever people's thoughts are of the current job Potter is doing, his reputation for his work at Brighton was growing and like @Reddish-Blue said, I think if it wasn't us then another top 6 club would have taken a chance on him when the next vacancy came up. I don't think being English is any sort of reason for his appointment either, our owners are American, I don't really understand the correlation why they'd prefer an Englishman to lead the club. I read something when he was being appointed that they didn't want to go for the tried and trusted and wanted an up and coming manager who would grow alongside the club. The other main candidate was reportedly the Sporting coach so I don't think nationality played a part.

Well it looks like Ronaldo will definitely be on the move in January 😂

I don't think you can take away what he did at Brighton. Before him they were a struggling side playing pretty dour stuff under Chris Hughton. Not only has he completely revamped the style of play on a budget, but had them punching well above their weight and probably viewed amongst the top 6 teams as one of the hardest teams to play against because they wouldn't let the big boys dominate possession. With the exception of the very few managers who due to circumstances start at the very top, every manager/coach needs that opportunity where a big club takes a chance on them. Klopp, Tuchel, Ancelotti, Conte all started near the bottom of the totem pole and needed a bigger club to recognise their potential - Klopp and Tuchel in particular who had forgettable playing careers. Pochettino needed a similar opportunity with Spurs from Southampton and I think Espanyol before that. I think for the ownership, they looked at Potter as someone on an upward trajectory in their career and with a blossoming reputation for building a team with an attractive style of play over a longer, sustainable period of time. I do think if he'd continued at Brighton then somebody would have taken a chance on him sooner rather than later. He'd already reportedly turned Spurs down after Nuno was sacked as he felt it wasn't the right time to leave Brighton. I actually feel it was quite refreshing for them to look beyond a big name like Zidane for example because that hopefully bodes well for their recruitment in the future to not just focus on the biggest names available. He rightfully should be afforded time and patience this early in his tenure. But the performances recently don't help his cause. Like I've mentioned previously, I'd argue he has the rest of this season to at the very least prove we're moving in the right direction with this project.

Centre back in my opinion should be at the low end of our priorities. Starting to get concerned that there's a lot of talk ramping up again about all sorts of positions except midfield which remains absolutely critical to get sorted out and revamped.

A big decision is going to have to be made with him sooner or later due to his contract. If nothing has been agreed by the end of the season, we would need to look at moving him on with a year left. The problem I see with his contract situation is he's likely looking at James' contract as a measuring stick for his own. I don't think he should be paid as much as that. He deserves a significant bump in pay but I'm not sure he should be at the very top of the pay scale here. I'd rather have him than not here 100% but on the same token, I don't think he should just be a guaranteed starter which he seems to be at the moment. Not sure what Potter's plans are moving forward. I think Mount is better suited in a deeper role in a midfield 3, which allows then 3 attackers ahead of him, and he can then fill into those 3 attackers sometimes if needed.

It's a window that they're reaping the rewards from more now compared to last season. That's why I still retain hopes in particular with Cucurella and Fofana that they will develop into good signings for the club irrespective of the price paid for them, and hopefully this season is a learning curve for players like Broja and Gallagher to kick on too. Neither in my opinion has really fully grasped the opportunities they've been afforded this season, but both are still young and developing and they're having to come in and perform in a struggling side. Potter has to really get a grip of what he wants to do with this squad and who he wants to take with him moving forward. Everyone else needs moving on and just cut adrift. It sounds cold but some cut throat decisions need to be made with this squad and I do worry a little whether Potter is ready to do that. So far it feels like he's being too nice trying to keep everyone involved and included and what we're ending up with is a heavily rotated side game after game with lifeless, inconsistent performances from a group that look like they've never played a game in their lives together.

I think if we don't start quickly when we come back, top 4 will be too far out of reach. I'm not even so bothered about that though. Like I said, a step or two backwards isn't an issue if it moves the club forwards long term and I think by and large most Chelsea fans don't have an issue accepting that. But it does mean Potter has to start getting a different tune out of this squad of players because currently it's not just the results tanking, but the performances have too.

Klopp and Poch too, and given the resources even the first season for Pep was a struggle. The biggest issue is the performances at the moment are a shambles. I don't mind inconsistency in the results if I see a project being put into place with regards to a system, style of play, etc. At present the squad is being rotated like a carousel and no matter who he seems to use, they all seem to be putting in abject, pitiful levels of effort and application.

At present it's difficult to know just what effect the World Cup has had on this squad, as we've simply got progressively worse in recent weeks. It's way beyond the results, the performances have been nothing short of a disgrace for the most part with too many players clearly playing safe and within themselves. If things turn around after the break and these same players are suddenly showing a greater hunger and desire then what really does that say long term about a reliance on them? I think Potter has to be given some slack for a few different reasons: 1. He has come in with the season having already started and inherited a squad that was playing poor under Tuchel, not just this season but the last 6 months of last season too. 2. Every man and his dog can see there are some seriously glaring holes in this squad which continuously get ignored season after season. 3. Injuries to key players The problem for me currently is the manner in which we're losing games. I have no issue taking a step backwards to move forwards, but currently all I see if a lifeless team going through the motions, playing safe football at a slow tempo. No pressing from the front, no courage from defenders and midfielders to play the ball through lines, no appetite for players to attack spaces. And possibly more worrisome is this doesn't change even when we're behind in a game. I'd rather go down by 2 or 3 goals swinging. I want to see what Potter wants us to play moving forward even if there are teething problems this season. If this is what Potter wants us to play moving forward than this isn't it. Potter has a few weeks now to go through this wreckage and plan. He is going to have to prove he has the strength of character and personality to deal with this and the killer instinct to get rid of players that either he deems aren't good enough or don't have the required desire to play for this club. If a process and a rebuild needs 2 or 3 years to get to a sustainable level then fine, but Potter does also have to hold up his end of the bargain too by proving he's the right man for that job. Unless we tumbled drastically further down the table, I don't see his job under any immediate threat and I think it wouldn't make sense in that regard anyway to not give him this season to have the time to put his stamp on things. But between then, there must be progress made and signs there is an upward trajectory.

His main position is centre mid but he's comfortable playing left side. He played a couple of games last season at left wing back for the first team.

I assume it doesn't have to be one or the other. City could well have both within the agreement. Or rather than a buy back, it could be a first refusal clause.

Did we not have a make-shift team out tonight ourselves? If we're talking about general play, agreed City look far more slick and drilled than we do. But it was hardly a walkover. We had the best chances, and a higher expected goals than them, our decision making in the final 3rd is routinely abysmal and there's no clinical edge. That isn't something that is going to immediately improve. The acid test now is this weekend. It's become as close to must win as possible. And if it isn't quite must win it's definitely must not lose.

I think if we're taking a snapshot though of this game in comparison to recent games (the Arsenal one in particular still haunts me how poor that was), there's significantly more positives to take from tonight's game. Ultimately, it's another loss but if the game finished 2-2 or we won 3-2 then I don't think anyone would bat an eyelid and think we were lucky, and that's indicative of the chances we had tonight, a number of which were from trying to play bravely out from the back or tight spaces. At times that's going to look like a car crash, we're nowhere near the machine that City has created but I'm more pleased with some of the pieces of play tonight, albeit patchy. The most disappointing thing tonight to be honest was not giving any minutes to Hutchinson. Given what a breath of fresh air Lewis Hall looked, I think he could have given a bit of an injection into the team in the last half hour. The City full backs were both poor defensively and sticking him up against one of them I think he would have given City something to think about.

Surprised how negative it is on here tonight. It's hardly been vintage, but I don't think we've played too bad tonight. Was always going to be a difficult game, but we've played with a lot more intent and appetite to get the ball forward than recent games like Arsenal and United. We've played on the edge a little, but backed ourselves to continuously try and play out, and whilst it's created problems, it's also helped us create chances. We've had just as good chances as City have had tonight but as is usual, we're just wasteful far too much with the final ball or finishing chances.

Agree on the statement regarding technical players being recruited. I don't agree currently on Gallagher and Broja though. Gallagher, for me, does have qualities but he's average on a technical level at this stage of his career. Broja similarly does not currently possess the awareness around him and is still very raw. They should both be involved within the squad and I think the minutes that Broja is getting will be to his benefit (he's involved in most games) long term. Zakaria I would agree with. We don't know his 'level' currently because with the greatest respect to Zagreb, they're not exactly the biggest test case but until he's given a chance in the Premier League we're not going to know. He was excellent in midweek and should be high in confidence, unlike a number of players. His profile should give us a greater defensive stability and a mobile, physical presence in midfield. Given the struggles we have in midfield under different combinations, I would also be looking to play him regularly currently. Agree too on Hutchinson. It's clear that Potter isn't keen on Ziyech and hardly uses him and this is someone who had one foot out of the door in the summer. A young player like that on the bench could provide an injection of 'something'. I really hope we see a couple of them potentially involved in mid-week against City.

It's far too early to make this assumption. Whilst I agree it's going to be extremely difficult if we continue at our current rate, there is still nearly 2/3 of the season to play. It doesn't look likely currently, but if we were to beat Newcastle next week then we're only 3 points behind them and can be within 2 points of Spurs if we win our game in hand. Newcastle currently are riding a bit of a wave of momentum. Their result today flattered them, as Southampton beat them convincingly on all metrics besides putting the ball in the net. Newcastle were well under 1 expected goal, yet managed to score 4. It's what can usually happen when you have a confident team, things seem to flow your way. Whilst we can all have a moan and complain about the quality and ability within our squad, when put up and compared to the likes of Spurs and Newcastle, and even United, I would prefer our squad to each of theirs. It's up to the players and manager to get things going.

I actually agree with the second season position because like you said, by the end of the season we were starting to look a better team, although that whole season we were extremely reliant on Hazard's attacking output. Would he have also been willing to push through the likes of Mount and James into the first team? I know it's been intimated since that he had his eyes on a couple of players to come back into the side for the following season from loan moves but sometimes that is easier to say now in hindsight having seen the likes of them come back to Chelsea and perform. The changes from Sarri to Lampard to Tuchel, now to Potter who all have differing styles and footballing philosophies doesn't exactly help matters though when trying to find consistency in both the group and through recruitment.

The injuries don't help, but they've mainly been in defence. If anything that's probably been our most settled area because he hasn't had the opportunity to rotate much. Take Kante out who he hasn't had the chance to use anyway, and perhaps Kovacic needing to be managed through fixtures but the rest of the midfield and attack has been mostly fit throughout. By the break he will have had time to work with everyone and should really be spending the break on deciding what is the best fit amongst the players he has at his disposal and focus on a more settled side. With 5 subs now, the opportunity is there to keep things fresh and keep players invested with minutes from the bench. The constant rotation I don't think helps at this point. I keep changing my opinion on Rice and I think a lot of that is to do with the price point West Ham will likely demand. However, I do think someone like him anchoring our midfield significantly improves the base and spine of that side.

Your belief in the end product though mainly was the result of how he had Napoli playing in his time there. I know there were some positives to pick out at times, and in other games it was a car crash and the football was a real hard watch. I think Potter is in a similar situation whereby people will look at that Brighton team that he built and the football that they played as a point of reference to what we want him to do with us. It's not going to be plain sailing and is that much harder to accept currently with how poor we were today. One positive under Potter would be the Champions League campaign so far under his tenure. We were looking into the abyss a little after the first 2 games with Milan back to back to come but we've played well in those last 4 games of the group stages, and created quite a lot of good chances with some intricate pieces of play. The rough is going to come with the smooth in this situation, but Potter won't get many more like Arsenal today before he's faced with a disgruntled fan base. That's football at the top level for you.

The amount that has been invested into Potter, he's not going to be moved on anytime soon. At the absolute very least he'll be given this season and unless things completely bottomed out, I expect him to be given next season too with a full pre-season and summer transfer window to work with. Make no mistake though, Potter, Tuchel, whomever, this squad has got noticeable worse in recent years as we've slipped further and further behind teams in title challenges. The likes of Courtois, Fabregas, Hazard, Diego Costa and Matic were not adequately replaced. Even the likes of Pedro and Willian weren't either. We allowed Rudiger to leave and have not answered the questions regarding how to replace Kante despite his inability to stay fit in recent seasons. We now have a similar issue with James and Chilwell. We have finished top 4 for the last 4 years, but it's been completed in a rather unconvincing manner. The Champions League win really has papered over a lot of cracks rather than a justification on the squad as a whole. At least the new ownership has been able to identify that the recruitment in recent seasons has been not good enough and in time, hopefully the steps they are making will show a difference to a more well thought, joined up recruitment process where we can start finding value in the market. For Potter he desperately needs to find some consistency in his line ups. At present it feels far too much like he's trying to keep players fresh and included but ultimately the regular rotation (not just with personnel but with systems) is not helping matters. This break requires him to sit down and assess everyone within the squad - who can he rely on, where might we need to recruit, etc. I'm definitely willing to give him time, and it's something he should be afforded but he does have to find a formula quickly and start building some momentum after the break because some recent performances have been unacceptable, with the Arsenal game today being the tip.

I try to keep as balanced a view as possible when it comes to Chelsea, but unfortunately there's absolutely nothing positive with today. I'm struggling to remember watching a Chelsea game (dead rubber's aside) with such a distinct lack of effort and direction. Watching us still playing the ball around the backline with a few minutes to go and not playing with an urgency to move the ball quicker and more direct was frankly unforgiveable. Arsenal didn't get out of second gear the whole game and they didn't need to. It was quite frankly embarrassing. For me, Potter needs time to put a stamp on this side but at present he isn't helping things with the constant tinkering of systems and personnel. We looked so out of sync today from defence to attack. Coming back from the World Cup, he has to find a more settled team and start playing what he sees as his strongest XI on a more regular basis. I'm all for having the versatility and willingness within the coaching and playing departments to be capable of playing different systems and making necessary changes in game, but it does have the feel currently of somebody overthinking things. The team he had at Brighton was aggressive and brave on and off the ball. There was intensity and purpose to their play in equal measure and at present I see none of that. Our pressing and work off the ball was a key strength in the early days under Tuchel, it made us incredibly difficult to play against but we lost a lot of that when Lukaku was added to the picture and since then it's been a huge weakness. We put no pressure today on Partey or Arsenal's defence and made it incredibly easy for them to retain possession and get the ball into attacking areas of the pitch. Make no mistake though, the team has been on a slow decline now throughout the entire 2022 calendar year. We can't keep trying to find quick fixes for things. A couple of signings in January aren't going to be the solution if they're not moves that significantly improve on our strongest XI and address weaknesses within our squad. We're crying out for a revamp in midfield and getting someone to anchor that midfield is an absolute must, but it cannot come at a premium cost for an average player in January. If this team is to be rebuilt it must be done properly and the outlook might have to be on the next couple of years and multiple transfer windows to get each piece to the puzzle that we need.