robsblubot

They most likely are, but not "losing hundreds of millions" and "to have little to no future-forward awareness" might not be part of their goals, considering they keep on collecting their fat paychecks. I'm sure that they also make mistakes, even within the skewed parameters in which they operate, but in the end they merely do the owners bidding. The prerogative of being the owner is that he gets to dictate how the club is run... that's capitalism. It's different in other places where clubs are still owned and run by the people.

here we go again... once again, you don't know my type, because you really don't know anything about me. Authority... there is no such thing. Do I think the well-paid quacks at chelsea know a bit more than the random quacks posting here, sure thing! Going back to football, which is what this is all about, you think the issue is playing time, and I don't.

FFS indeed! That's exactly what I'm talking about: you only know what has been made available to the public. Are you in talks with his agent? If so, when you request a meeting to discuss Odoi's contract, do you get it? Right away, or are you snubbed entirely? If there is an impasse, is it regarding what? playing time? Does he want to go to bayern for more playing time (bullshit!) or want to move to a bigger club for more money? If the later, his *public* statement (or his agen's) are misleading and merely for the fans. In other words, we don't have the same information the club has. If the issue was ONLY playing time, write a contract that addresses that, as per year basis, and/or per achievement (known as add-ons). That's why I don't think it's playing time, but don't know for sure, because we don't know what's going on. Maybe the club doesn't think he's all that? I'm fairly confident the next manager will deal VERY similarly with Odoi, esp because it is being dealt by the club as well. Regarding the rest, maybe, but that's the situation the club is in.

Whatever indeed. Once again, I do not care about your resume. Nor do I care about going into an academic debate with you - about what exactly - if football neither one of us would be qualified. once again, my point has been that you don’t give the professionals the benefit of the doubt even when you don’t even have the information they do. As an exemple you don’t know know the contractual situation of Odoi atm. now if you come here to blow off steam, and I should take your opinions with a grain of salt, then consider me well-warned.

That's probably because you haven't been following football for long. To me, the (over)reactions here are hilarious actually. Since I have, I find Sarri's statements exactly the same as the 100 managers and coaches I heard before when addressing youngsters, some of them FAR FAR more promising than Odoi. * in other words, the next manager will behave and say the same things.

woooo bad bad sarri. poor CHO who only wants to play... for Bayern.

that's manager talk... He's telling CHO that he needs to improve on X,Y, and Z to be at teh top and get playing time. That's how you instill drive in a promising teenager, so he will do better. Sarri is working the basics on CHO. This makes me hopeful that the club, and manager, may still think they can make CHO stay. Otherwise they wouldn't bother with him and his development.

Fair enough, but it is one of those stats that can be very misleading. I used Rakitic as an example, who not only is a constant goal threat, but happens to come alive at the toughest matches on the highest stage. Ross and RLC scored some goals at home against some low PL outfit, but when we play the big ones, our midfield tends to be too quiet. Kante is the only real goal threat, and that's not really good enough at this level. Caveat on the development of Ross and esp RLC though.

That's not how I see it. Guardiola implemented the very same style of play he's always used (possession-based). It just took time to teach the players and the club how to do it. And the players who did not learn were replaced, and better ones arrived. Same with klopp who went through several batches of players, before forming a good group. I'm far from a Sarri admirer - never though Napoli was all that. However, asking for a plan b at this time is premature. He was hired to implement his style of play, with his preconceived notions. I cannot imagine the club was expecting that Sarri was going to do better than Guardiola and Klopp in their first seasons, esp with a squad as lacking in strength in depth as ours is.

They are not errors, just an opinion after the fact. ross was ‘no impact’ after the game, but the manager and the club expect him to have an impact. We lack goals from the midfield and Ross is one the few players there who can score goals. It’s a lot easier to call it wrong after the fact. You may not agree with the reasoning, but that does not make it wrong.

Oh there are no guarantees at this level. The next steps are the hardest ones. same with CHO. We may cry a river now and he ends up doing nothing in his career. It is quite common, but we don’t hear much about the ones who did not make it. We are biased because we hear a lot about the ones who do.

Sarri was specifically hired to make Chelsea play in a more modern attacking way. If he “adapts” to the pl and the players at his disposal he will be sacked, so he might as well do what he was hired to do. both guardiola and Klopp did not adapt and rather just implemented their systems. Went through several players and tweaks, but in the end they’ve delivered, if not wins in Europe, at least the quality of play. I never thought sarri was at that level, and hardly think the club does. My thinking is that the club must know sarri to be part of a transition state, in which the club will change, even if an unsuccessful one. The next manager will get more adequate players ready to implement a more modern game of possession.

Yeah man, I think there is a big difference between the pl and the top of the championship. So much so that the teams who move to the PL are usually the top candidates to drop right back. and bear in mind that while we are not so hot these days, the bottom half of the pl is really no competition for us. As it should be, given the level of investment. So, honestly I don’t think Tammy’s form in the championship guarantees anything... hopefully the kid has been hitting the gym and learning plenty. right now we’ve seen RLC have big moments and even big games. That’s the natural process... next should come some consistency. I thought Ross would be contributing to some goals, but yeah seems it’s either RLC or we will be in trouble... midfield gotta score goals.

Not sure the #1, since we will be losing important players and unless RLC delivers, I don't see who is going to be scoring from midfield. Not even mentioning the striker situation, since Higuain is on loan.... However, since we are discussing FBs, the RB options too need improving. We can't have Azpi playing every match every season... there is a reason the manager does not rotate in certain positions. Fans tend to cling to the "grass is always greener" idea, but most of the time, the manager and all his/club's staff aren't quacks.

heh quality FBs are as rare as they are unavailable, unless we make bets. IMO the problem isn't Dave or Alonso, but their subs are not good enough to put any pressure or rotate. We have another major weaknesses in midfield, which is the lack of goals. Kante is doing surprisingly well in that role, but he will never pull a Rakitic (very underrated player despite being a match winner). Scoring, or at least shooting, from midfield can be the difference in tough matches when the attackers aren't getting behind the defense line. We need a long-term striker option, a midfielder who can attack and score (may be RLC but Ross does not seem to be it), wingers (esp with Eden and CHo leaving),and only then an FB upgrade, if available. Not easy...

Agreed on RLC... can play in multiple positions, which can help the manager tweak the team during a match: make it more attacking with him as a CM for ex. He has the most important: technique. Yeah under no illusion that Morata may still cut it in the PL - it is really interesting how league characteristics play such a big part in whether a player will succeed or not. His game just works better in Spain... is it less contact, a bit slower w/ more time on the ball, the language? prob all of the above. When I last saw Tammy, he looked very far from the finished product. He looked like a kid playing amongst adults, and in a position where contact will take place often. Did not have the body mass for the PL (contact and acceleration/power). Perhaps because of that, his technique was too subpar. Remains to be seen whether he's developed physically enough to be given a shot. Reckon if he shows up the same he will not (be given a shot). Bats does not belong in tier 1 I'm afraid - not even as a sub. His technique is just not good enough and will actually hurt the team, IMO. He's a decent poacher, but his link up play is nonexistent... as in sometimes when he runs he's not really in control of the football. Nothing like a ban to calm down Roman and the board.

Agreed. I honestly think RLC is really close to becoming a pretty important player for us - just needs some continuity esp remaining injury-free for some time. BTW, did you mean Morata/Bats/Abraham by chance? Either way striker will likely remain a big problem. Abraham is the player I'm mostly unsure of. As in, I don't know whether he's going to make it at this level.

First game I watched of Emerson in the PL and have to say that he was very poor... I hope this is not his normal, because the passing was nowhere near this level: all backwards and safe passes esp under pressure. Outmuscled easily out of plays and produced little to nothing in attack. Ross' performance was also worrying, but yeah the team was a bit sluggish overall. Need to keep rotating to get them a bit fresher.

While agreeing with the sentiment, I find it hard to compare Morata with Bakayoko. While Morata had a great start, had good games, and important goals at some point, Bakayoko never really player at a normal level at Chelsea. It felt like Morata was "only" a couple of tweaks from making it here, while Bakayoko was never really that close.

Heh watched the game and thought Hazard was pretty mediocre. Horrible game of football btw, with players missing 5 year passes and poor defending... Lewa found himself in the box completely alone a couple of times. Bundesliga produces these really strangely open games these days - stark contrast from the past where defending was top notch.

Yes I did and still think it is a load of crap....

What a load of crap. That's why players should never be in charge of the club. Kepa's refusal may have costed the club a lot of money - is he responsible for that? Is Kepa going to pay the club back for the loss of revenue - or his teammates missed bonuses? Yes, it is whatif scenario, but the manager, and I bet many coaches on the bench, thought WIlly would have had a better shot at the PK shootouts... that's the one thing WIlly is good at. It is one of the worst acts of insubordination a player can have on the pitch... no one is saying Kepa should be sold, and in the long run (someone I know) pointed out this could be a good thing (the determination he showed), but he definitely deserves the punishment he is getting and needs to learn how to take one for the team.

While I agree they are both great players, they are very different in terms of characteristics. My take around the notorious eden inconsistency is that it is partly due to his style of play (reliance on dribbling) and physique. KDB is physically stronger for exemple. A passer often can still do well even when not 100%, while a pacey dribbler will struggle more. like I wrote before, it’s a bit easier to contain dribblers esp in tough games where spaces are already scarce enough. It’s more difficult to contain a player who can produce a killer pass from multiple midfield positions or score from afar. my stance is the same with other players and leagues and not necessarily about these two: it’s a matter of characteristics.

Hence why they lost... my point is that when kdb has a good game, his team is more likely to benefit from it than when hazard has a good game. It’s just, again imo, that kdb is able to influence the game more directly in his style of play. Pure dribblers can be contained by isolating them to areas of the pitch. They will still beat players routinely, esp competent ones like Eden, but their influence will be greatly diminished.