Superblue

Side note to the transfers, it's absolutely critical to get James and Mount signed up to long term deals this summer too. If it does take a year or two to get rid of all the deadwood at the club and reshape the squad, the last thing we need is question marks on two of our best players. There was talk a few weeks ago of getting both on 6 year deals. Get this done, it'll alleviate a huge potential problem we could face down the line.

Agreed. I believe we're in a transition but even with all the holes in the squad and the upheaval we should as a bare minimum still be challenging for top 4, and not fall anywhere near out of the top 6. Tuchel has already had to pull off miracles for the club and dealt with all the sanctions last season and difficult questioning because no one was prepared to speak on behalf of the club. The fans have shown their backing to him and I think it's something he appreciates, but ultimately if a Bayern or Madrid or someone of that ilk come sniffing we could be in trouble.

Whilst I would agree with you, and it's better to get results like this in friendlies to wake the club up, some of the same problems cropping up such as defensive mistakes and lack of clinical cutting edge in attack are by-products of last season's struggles in the second half of the season.

It's a key point in the road immediately for the new ownership. Does the club finally back a manager to reshape this entire squad and finally make sure players not good enough to be here are moved on in time, or are we going to go down the same rabbit hole the old ownership took us down which frankly is the root cause of why we haven't mounted a sustainable title challenge for over half a decade. There are failings that do fall at the feet of Tuchel, and his tinkering and rotation of players doesn't help at times but ultimately this is a group that were languishing in mid table under Lampard and heading backwards. We had no right to win the Champions League and for me, the biggest credit by a mile for that fell on Tuchel for finding a way to hide as many weaknesses in our squad as possible - a squad that has been put together with a mix of half a dozen managers with differing tactics and philosophies, and a board/scouting team with an extremely erratic track record. The attack being a shambles isn't something new. We were carried by Hazard in Conte's second year and Sarri's season, and since then we've had an attack which performs at best, inconsistent and at worst, abysmal. You have to question the recruitment in attack - Werner and Ziyech are really ill fits in the league in my opinion and besides a marketing tool, I struggle to understand where Pulisic ever justified costing upwards of £50m during his Dortmund career. Havertz was clearly a buy at the time the club saw as an opportunity during covid to snap up a player that seemed to be coveted by a number of clubs, but there was absolutely no plan in place for how he'd fit into the side. The club hasn't bought a defensive minded midfielder since Bakayoko 5 years ago. And besides free transfers, Koulibaly is the first centre back we've signed for a transfer fee since Rudiger, also 5 years ago, and that has been borne out of necessity. Key areas of our team have just not been worked on or looked after, because we've had to consistently throw money at other areas of the pitch because signings have been poor. Two keepers have been bought in that timeframe, two left backs (whilst a third left back we already had is still here at the club) and god knows how many attack minded players. Given how poor a fit Lukaku was, and Koulibaly is a replacement for losing one of our best players, Sterling is the first player you could genuinely pin up as an upgrade in our side since Tuchel took over. It's not enough, but this squad isn't going to be rebuilt in one summer and the worrying thing now is the club panics and buys players for the sake of trying to strengthen the squad without actually doing so adequately. There's actually few positions now where I look at real quality available on the market. We may well have to take a step or two backwards to move forwards for the long run. Tuchel might have to place more faith in some of the younger players to pull us through this coming season and give the board time to put in place a sporting director and buy time to actually have a proper run at next summers window.

Never like to take too much from friendlies but it is worrying to see just how undercooked we looked in comparison to Arsenal and how many players are getting minutes that are likely not going to be used once the season rolls around. It's a big 2 weeks now before the season starts and Tuchel needs to decide what the strongest XI is and play that in the last friendly for at least 70 minutes. A couple of takes from the game - I don't know where Gallagher fits into this team and system. We don't look suited to play a back 4, we're much better off getting back to being tight at the back in a 3. We were all over the shop in the first half and looked so open. In a pivot, I genuinely think Gallagher is behind Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic and probably even RLC for that position. He's not technical enough to play higher up like Mount can. Currently I worry he'll feel a square peg in a round hole. I still have full belief that there's a real player in Havertz, but that doesn't hide away that he is also inconsistent and to date has shown no signs of that changing. We can't hang our hat solely on him to lead the line this season. I think if he wants it, and has the mentality to fight for it, there is a real opportunity for Broja to get a lot of game time if he stays. He offers a completely different style of attacker to Havertz, with a more natural striker instinct but unlike Lukaku, he doesn't negatively impact on the team's ability to press. Despite a poor performance, it shouldn't go unnoticed that all 4 goals were awful tonight and completely preventable. This follows on from the first two games conceding a comedy own goal and a penalty. It's concerning that the second half of last season became farcical with the amount of goals we were gifting opposition, and so far this has just carried on into pre season.

Because it was the sensible move in January without wasting money. Shouldn't be here next season though, nowhere near good enough.

A year is a long time in football, it's unnecessary to panic like "we are well fucked, likely for some time". The same vibes were coming out when we got transfer banned and lost Hazard and less than 2 years later we were winning the Champions League. Football is constantly evolving and there will always be new players popping up and some players falling away. Opportunities can suddenly present themselves from unlikely situations, and whilst we may go into next summer off the back of a disappointing season and looking to significantly strengthen, we could also go into next summer with another top 4 finish and a couple more younger players establishing themselves in the squad meaning we no longer have to look in certain positions. Just from that list Chiesa and Wirtz are recovering from serious injuries and we don't know yet how they'll recover. Chiesa even more so who is very reliant on his pace. Gvardiol and Nkunku have just come off the back of one successful season at Leipzig, so will be interesting to see if this continues.

If this is what is available, it screams just to take a similar risk on Broja but as a free risk instead.

Given the circumstances that have transpired over the last couple of days, wouldn't be surprised if Kounde becomes an immediate favourite amongst the fanbase purely due to getting one over Barcelona. Seen the mock ups on social media of a Kounde version of Fabregas' magic hat song, mocking Barca. Wouldn't be surprised if something like that catches on at the Bridge.

Wouldn't have minded him here at all to rotate with Chilwell. Think that'll be a great signing for Leipzig.

Groundwork would have been laid last summer with Kounde but Sevilla moving the goalposts will have meant having to go back to the table with them and potentially negotiating from scratch again. I think it seems to have been widely recognised now whilst Tuchel likes him, he was a signing identified by the club. It made sense for the new ownership and Tuchel to explore other options first. Ake is the one that looks silly in my opinion, but making moves for De Ligt, Koulibaly, Kimpembe I can understand reasons for exploring all of those before Kounde. Also should be noted this situation is different to Raphinha. We went in blind to that situation and chanced. From what is being reported we've agreed a deal with Kounde, and are still finalising a deal with Sevilla. If he does indeed choose Barca then so be it.

Was always going to pose a problem this summer with the sanctions. I've said it multiple times, so many of these deals are being worked on for months in advance. Few will still end up coming to fruition or into the public eye. Players can also change their mind up to the last minute before its confirmed. We all took great pleasure in Willian's song being sung to bait Spurs fans for years. Unfortunately for us, we've targeted a number of players this window that other teams have also courted and likely worked on longer than us. We've also got someone with no experience leading transfers this summer trying to literally do everything to run the club. I think the likes of Bayern and Barca have shown a cuter/cunning side to turning players heads without even making bids for players, buying them time to sort deals or leveraging their power in transfer negotiations. Once this window is over, we'll have the opportunity to rebuild properly for the long term with a new sporting director, etc. It feels a bit of a train wreck at present but ultimately there's only so many players at the higher end of the market available and multiple clubs will want these players. We've been stuffed by the sanctions and been swimming against a tide all summer.

Chalobah started both cup finals against Liverpool and helped to keep a clean sheet across 4 hours of football against arguably the best attacking team around. Not sure about how his skillset would work in a back 4, but as a RCB in a 3 I definitely feel he has the ability to play regularly. I think this coming season the target realistically is top 4 and to keep building. Anything better than this would be a welcome bonus.

So long as Tuchel is prepared to use them and show faith in them in a similar way to what he did last year with Chalobah, I'd happily see them improve the squad depth. We have to move away from just buying for seemingly the sake of it. If better players are available next summer, we have to learn to show patience and put ourselves in the frame for those players next summer. The perfect example of this in recent times is buying Lukaku instead of waiting to throw our name in the hat for Haaland (not taking the sanctions into account). We've signed two quality players so far. If the stars don't align then we potentially have the likes of Broja, Colwill, Gallagher, Ampadu to come in this season and make an impact. It's not as doom and gloom as people are making out. If Arsenal or Spurs were signing the latter players they would be happy and knowing our fans, we'd be having a fit because they're being active in the market. We're fortunate that we have some promising talents who could make an impact in the team this season having gained experience last year.

At the start of the transfer window it seemed that the general opinion across this forum was that Kounde was overrated and a waste of money if we were to buy him. Now we've explored other options and then decided to go back to him but may not get him, the forum has a meltdown like we're losing Maldini. I personally haven't been against Kounde. I see aspects of his game that can flourish and besides his height, weaknesses in his game that can be coached out of him or that will improve with maturity. The price is steep however, and I can fully understand the club looking at alternatives to him. If we don't get him, I just hope we don't panic buy someone. @Vesperput a list on here last night of centre backs remaining on the market and bar maybe Skriniar and Gvardiol, none stand out to me as worth pursuing. I'd rather just rely on Chalobah developing and playing more regularly next season in that role, or target a right wing back to allow James to play more regularly in the back 3.

Assume so, the last game was.

Agree on everything bar the last comment. I think there was a feeling and perception of the old regime and the club in general by proxy being very cold and callous. I get the impression that whilst there could well be a more business like feel in some aspects, I also feel that the new ownership will look to try and bring a more personal touch to the club, better relations with the CST and CPO, etc.

Season of revenge 🤞 * Dominate Inter * Annihilate Barcelona * Get revenge on Madrid in the semi's * Beat the Scousers on penalties in the final

Alonso as a backup isn't horrific. The problem was last season losing Chilwell less than half way through and fully reliant on Alonso to then play pretty much every game from there on. If a crystal ball could tell me Chilwell won't suffer any lasting effects from his injury and won't suffer any further major injuries this season, I wouldn't be that bothered keeping Alonso as backup to him for one last year. I'm more concerned we sell Alonso and just keep Emerson as the backup as he's a lot worse.

He's significantly more suited to playing in the RCB role I would agree. But I get the impression he is being bought for that Azpi role across the whole right side of the defence.

I think Kounde would be being bought in mind that he can also fill in at right back/right wing back and cover the entire right side of that backline much in the same way that Reece can. He will essentially be replacing Azpi and his versatility to fill those spots. Left wing back is a different story. Alonso proved last season he can't be relied upon as first choice across a season but he's still much better than Emerson. Chilwell's injury last season definitely highlights that we need genuine quality in that position to rotate with him. I'd love to bring Raum in personally.

With regards to having a limit on what to pay for a player and being prepared to walk away, I actually think that has been the case in recent times with Marina at the helm. Possibly even to our detriment with how stubborn she may have been. From what has been reported, it seems that the new ownership when making bids for players haven't tried to lowball and have started terms in a reasonable position unlike reportedly what things were like with Marina. I certainly think the effort that seems to be being made by Boehly and Clearlake with regards to building relationships with agents and boards of other clubs will bear fruition in time for us. Ultimately it all boils down to value in a transfer deal and this is something we've been quite poor at in recent years. This doesn't necessarily mean we've overspent on players but we've definitely bought the wrong suited players either for us or the Premier League. On the face of it, I think Sterling and Koulibaly are excellent buys that we seem to have secured for reasonable fees due to their contract situations, but Werner seemed a great buy on paper a couple of years ago for what seemed a reasonable fee with his release clause. We're probably not going to be able to reliably assess value for money in both cases for at least the next season or two. Scouting and recruitment have to be looked at significantly, but I think the board also need to put a plan in place in the long term for how they wish the club to operate on the pitch. Everything evolves in time, but ultimately the old regime's idea of picking the best manager on paper rather than necessarily the best fit for the club and the player pool at his disposal has impacted our ability to sustain regular title challenges. I really hope that Tuchel is a massive success here and stays for the next few years to build the next great Chelsea side, but if he does move on in the next year or two, then the next managerial appointment I feel needs to be a well thought succession to him. Otherwise we'll be in the same position we have been for many years with a whole host of players at the squad having been bought for different managers, tactics, ideas, etc.

Anyone know much about this player? He mentions in his next post Rennes would be looking for around 40m euros.

Whilst it's hard to compete with the likes of Madrid, Barca, Bayern anyway, the situation over the last 6 months have had a far greater effect than people are realising. I've mentioned before that a lot of big deals are prepped months in advance, with agents and players sounded out in good time to gauge their interest in a move. Many players have young families to also consider when making moves, especially from teams abroad. We were already so far behind with the sanctions and having to play catch up. City had already confirmed Haaland and Liverpool signed Nunez and Spurs Perisic within a couple of days of our takeover being completed. I think for some players they may want to see what happens with our club first. Will we continue to invest and challenge for trophies? Will there be a culture shift with regards to a longer term plan with managers, players, etc? I think the club realistically needs this coming season to be able to put longer term plans in place behind the scenes with regards to scouting, recruitment, etc. In fairness I think our signings so far have been extremely solid. If Kounde joins too, we'll have added three new players who are all first teamers which for me is the most important way to try and squad plan as efficiently as possible. Unless there is a real quality deal with regards to value for money (i.e. a free transfer) or a younger player not quite ready to start but the potential is clear to get to that position, then we should be relying on the academy in my opinion to provide the squad depth in the backup roles. Players like Ampadu, Colwill, Broja could still well fulfil this role this coming season.

Ironically our willingness to let Azpi leave probably hinges on beating Barca to signing Kounde as he can fill those areas centrally and on the right hand side that Azpi currently does.