Chelsea Legend 11

Some of the money you highlight here wasn't used. Oscar money was as well as Mikel and ivanovic. The Point is we used our squad depth to fund player acquisitions at a time when we had so few senior players. And the way you irresponsibly use the word trusted is comical. They aren't trusted it's just what we have at our disposal. Conte is willing to work with what he has but that doesn't mean what he has is by any means useful. We can't attract the players we need to push us into that elite bracket, regardless of how much was spent it wasn't enough to cover for the amount of holes left in the side by players departing. And further to that point it's not improved the squad from a starters standpoint. That's the strengthening most we're hoping for, strengthen our XI then fill it the rest of the team with your Barkley's, Zappacosta's Caballero's and Rudiger's. And beyond that we still haven't strengthened the squad as a whole. Kyle Scott and Dujon Sterling are not ready for this level yet they were included in the squad to make up numbers.

Anyone who has followed this club for the past 10yrs should see the inevitable writing on the wall

It was a real pleasure to have a manager who revolutionized the premiership at the helm... even if it was only for 2yrs. Antonio will be remembered for his passion and his extremely high football acumen. He took a team that finished 10th under its greatest ever manager, reinstalled confidence and made us all believe. No easy feat. His reward was Drinkwater, Morata, Bakayoko, Barkley, Zappacosta caballero and ampadu... a record breaking, title winning manager with basically high mid table players at his disposal. I've said it many times before, you get what you pay for and right now we are still feeding off of the spoils of 2012... almost 6yrs ago! Antonio, I believe you are one of the games brilliant managers and you deserve to be at a club where you are indeed the MANAGER and not just a first team coach. You have proven to many that you care about this club and want the best for the supporters, it's just a shame you've come along when we are in a period where we have shown ZERO ambition to want to compete. Best of luck to you on your next endeavour. So, where is Chelsea now? Well I can say without hesitation we are definitely about to enter our toughest period under Roman's reign. For a few years money in has equalled money out and unfortunately the last two titles has robbed us of the depth we had. What is left to sell to generate funds? Is there a market for Pedro, Zappacosta, Cahill, Luiz, Fabregas, Drinkwater, Moses, Batshuyai? Probably not which makes our only real sellable assets Hazard, Courtois, Azpi, Christensen and Kante. The worst part about this whole thing is I believe Conte is the BEST manager in the world at reaching goals with a shoestring budget. He would've been the best manager to help navigate us through a stadium build because he favours hard work over individual skill and team tactics to ones attacking prowess. I don't see a lot of good on the horizon, it's so clear that the club need an injection of cash but with this stadium being built we won't be given the funds to return us to the summit. Who comes in now? Who takes the reins when there is no money to build a club? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Even if we did sign him the league cup would only be one game. It doesn't change the fact Morata can't play all the games by himself if top 4 is truly a priority. This isn't just a back up striker it's another option for how we want to play. Whenever teams see us play with a small lineup like yesterday, all they have to do is press up high and since we have no out ball we usually turn it over and they are right back into our end of the pitch. We need to have the ability to counter this NOW

Your first mistake is reading tribal football, without doubt the no.1 source for bullshit stories and clickbait ads. Don't read that stuff for anything more than a laugh. As for our youth policy, you may have a point there. Leon would have to fight for time with Willian and/or Pedro and prove to be better. I happen to think he is already capable of displacing them based on his ability to finish. If we wait another year his fee may double if not treble and he will no longer meet our price point in which case we'll be signing Nathan Redmond... Here is the most clear and concise explanation as to what is going on with Leon Bailey and the national team.

As someone who has followed the development of Bailey for a few years, I can comfortably say you don't have any idea what you are talking about.

Conversion rate is based on shots on and off target. He took a LOT of shots to get that figure and continued to take that many at chelsea with very little end product. Bailey is nothing like him at all. You can't assign the same characteristics to two different people. There are people who have left a club after one season that have gone on to have fantastic careers, maybe Bailey is one of them? Glass half full or half empty?

Is Sanches made of the same material Bailey is? Comparisons like this are so useless

Except Schurrle had one of the worst conversion rates in Europe when we bought him. It continued when he joined us. Leon Bailey has excellent finishing so I doubt he will be another schurrle

Yes

He better be loads better than Carroll if he's gonna occupy an import spot on the nearly tapped allocation.

Coutinho was moved because he was expendable. Why stop at dzeko? Lewandowski is also a good aerial threat.

If you really think Roma is gonna sell their best striker in January you really need to stop play football manager.

Emerson Palmieri's agent on Chelsea interest: “There’s still nothing certain, we are in a stage of discussion and evaluations,” #CFC Palmieri's agent asked if the Chelsea move is a real possibility: "Of course yes, absolutely, the two clubs are now talking, we’ll see if it will be successful." (via Sport witness) #CFC Palmieri's agent asked if he has the wish to play under Antonio Conte: “Obviously yes, it would be a dream. Conte is a top manager, one of the best and most successful in the world.” #CFC

I disagree. And who is to say Emerson is crap? Unproven at this level but definitely not crap based on last years numbers.

Andy Carroll aside there just isn't a lot of value in the market these days. As much as I want to see Chelsea break the bank and bring in an impact player, the truth of the matter is the market has gone completely mad and we are refusing to play in it. Coutinho just went to Barca for like 150m??? That is INSANE. Chelsea have been held ransom for far too long and so many people out there are well overrated. 180m for Sanchez? Maybe 3yrs ago but now? We just have to be patient, Emerson pre injury was precisely what we are looking for at LWB. If he is fully recovered this could be a real coup, if he isn't 25m isn't really gonna hurt us all that much and his wage demands won't be astronomical either. I want Sandro but not for the reported fees being bandied about.

I agree with everything except the bit about keeping Zouma, Abraham and RLC. All of them needed to go on loan and play A LOT. The club have failed to back three straight title winning managers. Carlo wasn't backed after 2010, mourinho after 2015 and now Conte. The problem isn't the manager, it's the policy the club have implemented. Money in = money out, meaning top players must be sold for top players to be brought in. Debruyne and Lukaku were essentially turned into Cesc and Diego. Diego was sold for Morata. We are clearly trying to lower the average age of the club with lesser known players with potential. The likes of Batshuyai, Bakayoko, rudiger, Ampadu weren't signed with today in mind, they were bought on a gamble that they would come good in a couple years. My belief is all of them will come good and make an impact in the team. As for the likes of Drinkwater, Zappacosta, Barkley and potentially Carroll??? This is where the board have lost me.... well not so much Barkley because he is talented but not very bright. The other names were brought in to round out the squad, none of these players are close to the calibre we are used to at the club. No potential, no actual role, just semi warm bodies. This is why we look like a club with no ambition. The manager asks for a LWB in Sandro we get Zappacosta. The manager asks for tolisso we get Drinkwater... and I know we are close to tapped on non association trained players but come on! The champions need to do better than this in terms of recruiting players that suit our presumed level. Are we a top 10 team in world football? Is that ambition being matched at the board level? Certainly not when we get linked with the likes of Andy Carroll when we desperately need a striker.

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The only donkey around here is you and your wack posts. None of this has anything to do with Conte, it's been like this since 2013... if you look at our signings since then you will get a clear picture of who the donkey's are, donkey.

I don't even know much about this guy and I still would prefer him to Carroll. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Says something about the club's ambition. Andy Carroll is a player we all laughed at when Liverpool bought him for 35m. My oh my how the mighty have fallen! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The difference is the value in the market, I just don't think it exists now.

I did. I'm not one for the hype machine. Mbappe might become a fantastic player but no way in hell is he worth 163m and further he hasn't done anything to justify he's a top 10 player for me. Potential? Sure. Pogba is way overrated and so is his enormous contract and wage packet. If you take away the hype is he really that great? Debatable I guess.

I got a serious question here, it's is there actual value in the transfer market anymore? I mean look at the sums of money being thrown around for slightly above average players??? VanDijk? Lukaku?? Pogba??? Mbappe??? I'm hearing Coutinho will go for 100m too? It's just madness! I'm struggling to find a decent price for anyone so maybe the best thing for Chelsea to do is exactly what we've been doing? Grabbing a few younger, less hyped players like Bakayoko, like Ampadu, like maybe Bailey, and allow Conte(who I think is the best manager in the world at managing a budgetary squad) do his thing. I just don't want to look like Utd... a team that spend loads of cash and could have gotten more with lesser names. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If he stays for the next couple years, Conte will prove to be a legendary manager. He is without doubt in my mind the best budgetary manager in the world. And with the current predicament of money in equalling money out, Conte is without question the guy we need to manage the expectations. He's done it at Juve, Italy and now here, shoestring budgets and he's got the team playing well. Kudos to the Don! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk