ChelseaFSee

Emenalo already preparing for Koulibali

You do realize the players themselves don't decide when they come back right ? It actually makes sense that they get longer off then Batshuayi since both Courtois and Hazard played every minute of the tournament while Batshuayi only played 21 minutes in total.

Most appearances by a foreigner.
Most games captained by a foreigner.
Most trophies ever won at Chelsea.
You could be fooled into thinking he was a Balon D'or candidate in 15 years.

Very good loan move for him and I hope he tears the league apart. He was excellent for our U21/U19 team last season. Got around 16 goals IIRC which is excellent. Now is the real step up. Men's football and the Championship. Their manager is right. He really is one of the most exciting young English talents around. People just don't know it yet. Kind of a late bloomer but he has tons of potential and I think he will do bits at Huddersfield.
Like I keep saying, can someone with sense just move this to the player's thread please. He is a pro footballer and when he is taking the Championship by storm next season me (and other people) will be looking to comment on his performances in the player thread. That is where people expect to find it.

Must also be praised for his loyalty  -he chose to stay at a club with no CL football

You are one of my favroite posters on here but posts like that annoy me, this thread was quiet as shit when he went 10 games without a goal at the end of the season, 2 goals against Ireland and this happens.
As for today, he looks brutal against teams committing men forward leaving themselves exposed for a counter, but the problem is, in the premier league not many teams will play that way against Chelsea and every time I've seen Lukaku face a parked bus or an astute defence he's been absolute wack.
For me he's like a striker version of Ramires in the sense that has world class attributes that in certain circumstances can be a massive help, but has too many flaws to his game, meaning for one time he amazes you, he will frustrate you a further 7 times.
I hope he makes a good career for himself, but I genuinely hope we stay clear of him, £65m for Lukaku is a brutally depressing thought.

And you don't think that if Mou wants him yet again he won't surround him with players that will get the best out of him? Of course he will.
Sell him if we get both Nainggolan and Kante, but no way on Earth sell him to United. You can't send that message to rivals that your players can be had. Do this and what's to stop City or United from making a run at Hazard or Wilian?
Business between anyone that can potentially stop Chelsea from winning the league should be strictly off limits. Not even a discussion should take place.

Good thing you weren't around when all the middle names were added to every title  Or were you? Can't rightly recall.

It's amazing the criticism that the staff here get. Calls for consistency and professionalism... you do realise they don't get paid, right? This is exactly why I stepped down as administrator, because of the fucking hassle. You can't do anything right. Everything is a catch twenty-fucking-two. You can't keep everyone happy, so you have to act in the best interests of the forum. I don't agree with every decision the staff make on here, and, looking back, I certainly don't agree with some of the decisions I made, either. Nevertheless, @Madmax has it right when he says the mods have acted in what they view to be the best route forward for the site. My advice: suck it up. It's a forum. Get on with your lives.

The fella above is completely missing the point about branding and why clubs go with certain manufacturers.
Throughout history brands come and go. Also, different brands go through varying stages of popularity within  fields of the products they manufacture and the sports (in this case) they promote and endorse.
The most important underlying factor is cash on the table.....not how big the company is or how much revenue it pulls in each year.
If it were the case, that the biggest footballing brands only want to be associated with the biggest brand in sports......how come Utd left Nike to team up with Adidas?
Nike blow Adidas out the water when it comes to revenue and popularity.......go look at the yearly accounts of sportswear manufacturers.  Adidas are a long way behind Nike....a poor second.
So why did Utd part ways with Nike after 13 years......MONEY on the table.
In days gone by, sporting events and sports clubs have had manufacturers sponsor them.....some of the companies have been  ' new kids on the block' wanting to make a name for themselves.......where better than to be associated with a huge club or event.  Nike only started in 1971 having evolved from another US company started a few years earlier....who is to say that Under Armour wont have the same success as they bite into the US market that Nike dominate. They all have to start somewhere and getting a big worldwide brand or individual on your books is a good way to do it.
 
The point being that if someone other than Nike/Adidas came along with a deal that blew those 2 away financially, then clubs would more than likely go for it especially with FFP still being relevant.
Clubs only receive the sponsorship money and profits from sales direct from club shop including online. No more than that.
The clubs do not get a cut on every shirt or branded clothing sold worldwide......thats where the manufacture gets its money back and basically the club has nothing financially to do with the promotion of the goods.
So whether its Nike, Adidas. Under Armour, Puma, some new Chinese shirt manufacture or whatever , whoever puts the most lucrative deal on the table would normally obtain the signature.
The clubs are used to promote the manufacturing brand.....not the other way round. Its up to the sportwear company to promote worldwide sales and get a ROI that is favourable to the sponsorship.
 
Having said all of that....I hope the Nike rumours are true about us and Barca being the 2 main footballing brands they wish to promote their footballing clothing. Not sure where this leaves other clubs such as Man City whose deal with Nike seems paltry in comparison
And my other point is that when the new deal is announced officially on both sides, the statements will be full of marketing bullshoite....such as brand equality, brand awareness, strategys, evaluation, campaign, global positioning etc etc to make it sound the best ever and pundits like you and I buy into it
 
 
 
 
 

Arsenal didn't lose Nike. They changed to Puma because Puma provided them with the (at the time) largest contract in Britain. Same goes for Liverpool when they went with Warrior. Neither club "lost" their sponsor because they were shit. But please, don't let facts get in the way of your agenda.

How are they stuck in US bubble? Nike was founded in 1964. It took them 20 years to breakthrough by signing contract with Michael Jordan in 1984. 12 yrs later, in 1996 they signed their biggest football contract with Ronaldo9. Same year with Brazil football federation. That was their key step in european football.
Meanwhile UA was formed in 1996. And now cover best athletes in USA already. Signing just one big team and player will shoot them in european football without a doubt. When they do that, its only a matter of time before they start offering next generation talents big money sponsorhips and beat the likes of nike and adidas. These next gen talents become top players of world and UA will get their equal share of EU football. Obviously it will take 10 years at least like I said in another post, but UA is growing and will get there. Ronaldo and Messi wont sign for them, but future talents will. Obviously nike and adidas are top dogs in market, but having UA wouldnt be blow. Did Ronaldo and brazil NT made mistake by signing with Nike back then in 1996? I dont think so. They created dynasty and majority of brazil players then wore nike from Ronnie to Neymar.
About marketing, I see more movies sponsoring UA than Nike these days, hence its growing popularity and company's intentions to get recognized.
And speaking of adidas-nike; mate that thing exists since late 90s early 2000s. Before Nike; around 1996/97/98 brazil, inter, United were sponsored by Umbro. Barca had kappa before going to nike in 1998. Only adidas was on market for long long time, example Platini's France. Umbro was bigger in EU football than nike back then...
It took Nike one risk with brazil who won World cup, Ronaldo became officialy player of the world, and Nike was giant. They had more money than most if not all kit manufacturers bar adidas, they got their popularity and took several clubs by storm. When something gets popular and UA definately will at one point, everyone will want a piece of it. They make horrible football kits have to say, but that can be improved. Meanwhile for their USA market like Notre dame, their kits are realy nice.
Im glad we went with Nike tho, but Im just surprised people dont see the growth of UA.
On another note, Ibra has contract with Nike. Wouldnt be surprised at all if somehow he ended up here.

Bluemoon poster...
'Absolutely diabolical tonight. I mean really really insipid.
There's a lot of people look back at his season through ginger-tinted spectacles. He hit some great form when he came back from injury and people assumed he'd been like that all season.
Nonesense.
He's been inconsistent. When on form he's showed flashes of absolute brilliance. Usually against teams that allow him loads of space, and leave space in behind for him to hit early balls or drive in to space. But he's had plenty of completely anonymous games, most of which have been discussed at length earlier in the thread.
The problem he's got is when teams don't give him space, they don't leave space in behind, he's completely ineffective, like tonight. He hides, he doesn't show for the ball, he's not brave enough to demand the ball to feet in tight spaces. If he wants to play as a number 10 against a decent side they're not just going to allow him to hit an early ball over the top of them, he's going to have to figure out another more subtle, cuter way.
And then when we are out of possession he's a complete liability. If Yaya had allowed his runner go as easily as DeBruyne did on their goal he would get absolutely hammered on here. But DeBruyne is the new kiddies fave so he apparently doesn't have to put in a shift.
Silva has been injured this season and has struggled for form and fitness. But in the 5 years I've been watching him I've never seen him hide. He'll still demand the ball, show feet, get on the half turn, try and create something. He'll work hard for the team, he'll always do his best. He's a very brave footballer, particularly when we have the ball. De Bruyne shit himself tonight. He bottled it.'
Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk

Di Maria had 11 assists, he started out well, but later faded away.
Mata had a few games, but never was able to produce what Di Maria did.
Surely United have some problems, team looks disjointed, but you'd expect more from a 50 mil star player.
Look at what Mata achieved with Chelsea. It's a joke, imo.
Martial is doing the business, that's how it should be done, imo.
Mata has had 2,5 seasons and more or less he did jack shit for most of the time, flop in my eyes.
He's a nice guy, i get the sentiment.
How is Bertrand playing these days?
His good spell has come to an end, imo.
Nowhere near the level from last season.
Absolutely spot on to let him go, he is a good lad, would have rotten on the bench for all those years.
Clearly deserves better!
Last season Azpi and Iva were really good, could have anyone expected this outcome? I don't think so!
I think Jose didn't want to let go of Luis,
it took a lot of time to get Baba, wasn't his call. Sold an old guy and brought in a young one, that's for the future, that's exactly what a lot guys want.
What about Costa?
Costa or Lukaku, i think it's a close call!
You can criticise Oscar all you want but what about back in the day?
Oscar was playing very well, with hindsight it's always easy to say 'i told you so'.
Kevin wanted to participate in the international tournament, should have better been a loan and these kind of decisions are on the board too.
Why is Guus insisting on playing Oscar?
Two coaches who clearly rate him?!
Why didn't choose to promote Musonda?
Why did whoscored give Oscar a 8.0 against Swansea?
Best Chelsea player?
Are they all that stupid and incompetent?
In my view Oscar was poor, but there has to be more to it, otherwise they wouldn't play him. Maybe we all me included know nothing about footy. [emoji4]
Jose should have fielded Loftus-Cheek more often, Musonda wasn't even selected, that's on him, very difficult to accept these judgement calls.
Something wasn't right!
In the end, the case Kevin de Bruyne should have been handled a lot better, but that's it, overall the big calls are difficult to get right and a lot of them were at least decent, imo.
Jose accepted his failure, didn't sue the club and isn't bad mouthing.
That's what i call a leader and proper Chels'.

And I thought the biggest plastic from Belgium was Plastic Bertrand. To be honest the sooner some of the part time Belgian players fuck off the better, then the part time fans will fuck off as well.
OK thats two jibes each , no more, back on topic or you're banned

Ah,  just watched Toy Story have we ? And now mums let you on the  computer ? Well done.

I always thought it was:

Hazard vs Schurrle for the left spot
Oscar vs Mata for the middle spot
Willian vs KDB for the right spot

But whatever.

I'm still a big fan of Kevin, I kinds knew this would happen the minute we sold him. I remember members here bashing him after some League Cup performances, saying he's not Chelsea level, he can't pass for his life.. etc. I bet most of those people backed Jose's decisions back then, even mocking KDB and Mata for the sake of it, and many of those have different opinions now. Congratulations!

Few years ago that would have been a way out there suggestion -but it aint so uncommon round the Bridge these days.
Surrounded by non-football 'yes'  people -its no wonder its a shambles. The inconsistency is staggering.  it seemed like for a brief period Roman was happy for Jose to have the say on incomings and outgoings which then got taken out of his hands yet again and it seems like it all depends which way the wind's blowing and who Roman decides to listen to on any given day. If you have one philosophy and you stick to it, at least you can know whether it's working or not. But when one day you ask agents to deal with things, the next day ask Marina, the next ask Emenalo, the next ask the manager etc. . then it's a recipe for disaster. You'll never get any sort of consistency & standard to go by, and you'll never be able to really nail the responsibility onto any one person (which is why simply sacking the manager only is papering over the cracks and ignoring the crux of the problem). All I can see is rinse and repeat with Conte.

I'm not convinced Poch would be the right man, he's doing great this season but so did Brendan two years ago.
His youth integration would make him appealing but tactically I'm not sold on him tbh, he seems another manager with a great plan A but no plan B, even this season Spurs have looked clueless vs teams that sit deep.
He's certainly not worth getting into war with Levy when Conte (who has form recovering teams in a bit of shit) is openly available, put it that way.

I put alot of our problems at the feet of the players too. I understand its the managers job to motivate them but we are not talking about a bunch of schoolkids we are talking top of their profession millionairs! They know their jobs. They shouldnt need any other motivation than to do their soddin job for the company they work for.
Mos job was to train them and select the best team he could. They were normally the same bloomin ones that won the premiership a couple of months earlier. I expected more from them and it dissapointed me (well it pissed me off) that Mou was made the scapegoat.

If he is similar to the younger version of Mourinho, then I'm all for it.

No way will we finish bottom half, we will finish atleast 7th were Juve did two seasons before Conte came in.
It won't be easy, but unlike the last time we dropped out of the top 4 (to be saved by Munich) we have a quality squad already, the correct additions could have us challenging again (especially if we can keep Costa fit and firing for the whole season).
Usually I would agree that's its impossible to go from anything 4th or below to first the following season, in fact I was banging that drum loudly in 2012, but (like Dortmund last season) we will finish low due to an extremely fluke set of circumstances, and with a decent summer I can see us recovering to challenge.

Why are you blaming Jose for this? The Board has enforced a one in one out policy for several seasons.  This reinforces the low net spend policy which is a deliberate club stance to the detriment of performances and results on the pitch.

Last 3 seasons:
Arrivals: £268.92 m.
Departures: £233.34 m.
Net spend: £35.58 m. (£11.86 m. per season)
Current PL teams that have spent more in average per season in the same period of time:
Manchester City: £76.09 m. per season
Manchester United: £65.07 m. per season
Arsenal: £37.9  m. per season
Liverpool: £26.21 m. per season
Newcastle: £25.54 m. per season
West Ham: £20.84 m. per season
Crystal Palace: £20.55 m. per season
Sunderland: £19.82 m. per season
Watford: £18.04 m. per season
Leicester: £15.73 m. per season
Everton: £15.14 m. per season
Bournemouth: £14.91 m. per season
Norwich City: £14.28 m. per season
West Brom: £14.21 m. per season

Well, pretty cheap to assume it will be a step backward just because Chelsea is not playing in UCL, its the same thing as saying a Basel's coach or Andre Villas Boas won't be interested in Chelsea job because Basel and Zenith are UCL team's and they are competing for the local leagues. Both Simeone and Allegri know they don't have realistic chances of winning the UCL in their current teams for the next 5 years considering the lack of financial support, and its easier to imagine Chelsea playing a UCL final in 2018 than Atletico or Juventus. Chelsea won't be finishing in the top 4 because of a unusual start of the season caused by a toxic environment created by Mourinho. Simeone also knows he will always face an unfair competition from Real and Barcelona, to the point that in a season that everything is perfect for Atletico, and Barcelona is in crisis, the catalan side still manage to fight for the trophy until the last game of the season.

I really doubt Simeone or Allegri would drop the chance to join Chelsea because of "a step backwards", because its easy to understand Chelsea is an upgrade for them. The only reason that they might be less motivated is the fear of Big Roman's axe.