Reddish-Blue

You say we didn't have a top number 9, we technically did (comparing him to our most recent strikers) but he wanted nothing to do with the club and ran off to Italy once again. I feel like their approach in the transfer market would suit a development type club very well as you could sign 10 good talents from across Europe and the world and hope that 3-4 of them make it and you end up selling them on for a massive profit. I'd be very worried if the board actually rejected the idea of signing experienced players as that would mean they aren't serious about getting european football anytime soon and this would have a flow on effect for a number of players who would definitely look for exits to the bigger clubs in the next 2 seasons.

It's also easy to forget that Arsenal didn't spend 200+ million on their midfield whilst they were in that rebuilding phase. If we didn't have Caicedo, Enzo and these high priced signings, I wouldn't mind 12-18 months of rebuilding and I'm sure the manager in charge would be given time for that rebuild to happen but the problem is, when you go to the market and invest heavily, every fan and pundit out there expects immediate results.

Until results improve, the owners will be in the dressing room every game. Like how hard is it to score 1 goal at your home ground against a solid but beatable Villa team? The game was there for the taking but there isn't a player in the XI who can win the game single handedly like Hazard, Drogba, Lampard etc from previous years.

How many true Chelsea FC Supporters are there in this forum? I find it really funny that it's "okay" to attack other supporters because they've become fed up of watching absolute crap being served up by the players week after week for the past few seasons and these types of posts tend to get the most likes but when fans actually put their opinion out there about just how much the club has changed and the fact that we are very likely to end mid-table or worse this season, no one seems to care. Sometimes time zones and other factors in your life affect whether you're able to tune in and watch the game live but that doesn't mean that the fans should be labelled as glory hunters.

If it wasn't for injuries, I don't think Poch would have to come up with these types of excuses. In an ideal world, you have Badiashile/Fofana available as first choice CB, Reece as RB, Nkunku as the attacking star and a trio of Caicedo - Enzo - Lavia controlling the midfield.

Hopefully there is a break clause in January, otherwise we've just wasted a whole season of development.

There wasn't really much of a choice, from all reports Kante wanted a 3 year deal to stay and the club weren't keen on that considering his recent track record with niggling injuries. I wonder if not playing decent minutes in pre-season and going on strike at their previous clubs had anything to do with the lack of fitness? And as I mentioned at the time, getting both Caicedo & Lavia was going to be overkill in the midfield as we don't need two players with similar profiles. In hindsight, Caicedo or Lavia and Kudus would have made much more sense as Ugo looks fine to be the backup mid.

I used to do the same but considering our squad is nowhere near fit and our attackers seem allergic to scoring goals, better off watching the other PL games.

It's not even about being happy, it's about the players accepting a bigger wage to train at Chelsea rather than leave and prove themselves elsewhere. Chalobah had a very good offer from Forest at the end of the transfer window and he declined it. Toxicity will always be there, I don't recall any of this toxicity coming through during pre-season, it only started after the poor start to the season with Nkunku, Reece being unavailable for a long period of time and the club thought it was a good idea to rush through Caicedo, Lavia, Palmer signings very late in the window. The other big factor in toxicity is the fact that we're stuck with players who know they are on the for sale list (Cucurella, Chalobah, Maatsen).

Wouldn't be the worst buy for City, especially if he comes in on a minimal fee (as his contract is set to expire and apparently he is reluctant to sign a new deal at Chelsea). He could ride the bench and be a squad player for them just like Kalvin Phillips and whoever else they have these days. Having seen a bit of him at Burnley, he's got the raw attributes of a player that would do well under Pep's coaching. I'd be surprised if Maatsen is still here after the January window, same probably goes for Chalobah (as the club would look to cash in and get some profit on the board to balance the summer expenditure)

Its either Mudryk or more of Chilwell being asked to play as a LW. Don't see Maatsen getting much game time as he's probably just waiting for City to put in a bid for him.

The high level strategy is obvious, get all the wonderkids and top level talents and let them develop together. The problem is, we have zero experience in the squad and I don't see how we're going to be in the UCL race for the next 2 seasons....by which time some of the better youngsters will have plenty of offers across Europe to go and be involved in title challenges/UCL games etc and we will be stuck as a mid table side.

Didn't he go on an interview recently and suggest that his preference would be Arsenal/Liverpool or something along those lines. Not sure we need another player who doesn't want to be here.

You would think there would be enough data out there to find those "creative" players. Even when us and a whole host of other clubs were keen on Hazard, it was pretty clear from watching him and seeing his data/stats at Lille that he was on his way to becoming a top player. The real concern is that there was only 1 plan heading into this season and that revolved around Nkunku, Reece being fit for the most part. With both players out for an extended period of time, we have no cutting edge in attack and we're sort of crossing our fingers and hoping that Sterling scores a goal or Jackson finally takes a chance in front of goal (had two massive opportunities to get goals against West Ham & Forest....both games we should not have lost).

For me personally I just don't get where the Palmer signing came from on like the last day of the transfer window...surely the priority would have been to get that experienced attacker to come in and play alongside Sterling/Jackson/whoever else we plan on throwing up front until Nkunku recovers. It's just a shame that with all this investment we seemed to jump after all the wonderkids hoping they pan out rather than going after players with 2-3 seasons of football in them. If the directors made signings like Gabriel, Washington, Ugo among others at their previous clubs they'd be absolutely delighted at getting top young talent through the door as they'd be able to develop and essentially flip the asset for a massive profit in 2+ seasons time but that doesn't really work for Chelsea unless our model has changed from going after titles to being a talent id factory.

I do wonder how this sporting director setup actually works. Surely there is someone in that group with previous experience at a top club who would push for experienced players (i.e. players in that 25-28 age group) to be signed to help these youngsters.

That's what happens when you keep signing players like a FIFA save and not worry about positional needs and experience. Is there really no-one with a footballing brain at the club? Did they really expect Jackson/a kid from Brazil/Mudryk/Madueke/Broja to become world-class this season and get us top 4? We are going to get a few thrashings this season, that's for sure. Had the chance to ease into the season with 1 really tough game and we end up dropping 6 points to Moyes & Forest.

I really do wonder if we will get higher than 10th place this season.

Hope for Poch's sake that the players actually turn up today! If we lose here, we're in for a world of pain with the tough fixture list coming up.

To be fair to Werner, he wasn't that bad, he at least worked hard and had a good record at Leipzig to suggest that the talent was there. Mudryk was linked to Everton for under 30 million when Lamps was over there and that's probably what he was worth. Putting down a 70 million investment in a player that doesn't really offer anything other than running in a straight line was a stupid idea to begin with. Compare that to Liverpool getting creators/goalscorers in Diaz, Jota, Gakpo. No wonder why we're in the midst of a mid table battle yet our rivals are all trying to get European football next season.

The point is Pep would never agree to sign 20 youngsters and babysit them for 2-3 seasons hoping they become class. When Pep wanted a GK, he got Ederson, when he needed a CB to lead the defence, he got Dias and now Gvardiol, when he needed a class midfielder, he got De Bruyne, Silva, Rodri and then topped it all off with the alient up front and his Argentinian sidekick in Alvarez. Feel like Poch didn't have a strong enough voice to tell the board that he needed some experience in midfield/attack to help push these youngsters and get some immediate wins.

Best players in the world at their positions? Are you a FM Manager by any chance? Apart from Sterling, which 'attacker' at the club would start for a top 4 side right now? Which top 4 side is putting Sanchez as their starting GK? It's not about getting it right or wrong, it's about having an unhealthy balance of youngsters in the team and expecting them to go out there each week and win immediately. Some of these players may not come good until they've played 2 seasons here and by that time, they will probably be keen on jumping ship to another side that can offer them immediate path to success.

As if that matters, we'll do most things right, then Bournemouth will get 2 chances on the counter, bury both of them, and they'll win 2-0 or 2-1.

Seems like whoever wrote that article made a mistake, the player is Diego Moreira, was signed from Benfica, 19 year old winger and he's currently on loan at Lyon.

Makes you wonder just how much Brighton fleeced us for their players. The top teams are taking the best of the best and we're playing Football Manager in real life 😆