Title Run In

[The Skipper 20,593]

Ok fair enough. In that case jose gets the blame for the reshuffling and downsizing of the squad but even before that and objectively speaking, do you not think emenalo was a bit too optimistic with his signings and could have done a much better job with the amount of money he has spent?

Not really, we can look at all of our senior signings since Emenalo has been appointed Technical Director (most of these figures are from memory + transfermarkt so might not be 100% accurate):

2011/12:

Kevin De Bruyne - £7m

Patrick Bamford - £1.5m

Lucas Piazon - £5m

Gary Cahill - £7.5m

Meireles - £11m

Ulises Davila - £1.5m

Mata - £23m

Romeu - £4m

Lukaku - £12m/£18m

Courtois - £8m

2012/13:

Demba Ba - £8m

Wallace - £4m

Victor Moses - £10m

Azpilicueta - £7.5m

Oscar - £20m

Thorgan Hazard - £1m

Eden Hazard - £32m

Marko Marin - £7m

2013/14:

Kurt Zouma - £12m

Mo Salah - £11m

Matic - £21m

Atsu - £3.5m

Eto'o - Free

Willian - £30m

Stipe Perica - £2m

Christian Cuevas - £1.6m

Schwarzer - Free

van Ginkel - £8m

Schurrle - £18m

I've crossed out the players I think were unnecessary/bad signings, and if you look at that list it's nowhere near as bad as you've tried to make it out to be, there are a lot of great signings in that list IMO.

[Rmpr 8,977]

post Torres, i can think of only Moses as a possible bad deal

In the whole Abramovich era, Torres was the only bad deal (per say) we did!

[lionsden 4,689]

Not really, we can look at all of our senior signings since Emenalo has been appointed Technical Director (most of these figures are from memory + transfermarkt so might not be 100% accurate):

2011/12:

Kevin De Bruyne - £7m

Patrick Bamford - £1.5m

Lucas Piazon - £5m

Gary Cahill - £7.5m

Meireles - £11m

Ulises Davila - £1.5m

Mata - £23m

Romeu - £4m

Lukaku - £12m/£18m

Courtois - £8m

2012/13:

Demba Ba - £8m

Wallace - £4m

Victor Moses - £10m

Azpilicueta - £7.5m

Oscar - £20m

Thorgan Hazard - £1m

Eden Hazard - £32m

Marko Marin - £7m

2013/14:

Kurt Zouma - £12m

Mo Salah - £11m

Matic - £21m

Atsu - £3.5m

Eto'o - Free

Willian - £30m

Stipe Perica - £2m

Christian Cuevas - £1.6m

Schwarzer - Free

van Ginkel - £8m

Schurrle - £18m

I've crossed out the players I think were unnecessary/bad signings, and if you look at that list it's nowhere near as bad as you've tried to make it out to be, there are a lot of great signings in that list IMO.

So he's spent £277 million in that time and we are still no where near Europe's elite in terms of squad quality, depth, performance etc. that doesn't sound like great value and transfer dealings to me. 90% of the players he signed are either out on loan or sold because they aren't good enough or surplus to requirement (ironically).

with the amount we have spent, we should never be in a position where we have to defend deep and play like stoke city against big boys like barca, Bayern et al in an admission of inferiority. we should be in a position to go toe to toe, literally, with the very best. (packing the bus isn't going toe to toe btw).

We have spent significantly more than clubs like Dortmund, Juventus in that time and they have at the very least achieved as much success if not more than us while not relying on wimbledon tactics to do so because they have sufficient quality in their team/squad.

Edit: it gets even worse because guess what, we have actually outspent every single club in Europe including Madrid and Man city in that time upon further check and review. City spent 208 million while Madrid transfer expenses was 217million. that's fucking horrendous any way you slice it.

[manpe 10,859]

Azpilicueta - £7.5m

By far the best business we've done out of that list.

[The Skipper 20,593]

So he's spent £277 million in that time and we are still no where near Europe's elite in terms of squad quality, depth, performance and result. that doesn't sound like great value and transfer dealings to me.

You can't fully blame Emenalo for that tbh, there are so many other factors that affected this. Like I said before IMO our squad depth was superb after the summer transfer window but because we were constantly chopping and changing managers we've had no real plan or blueprint to follow, so the next best thing IMO we could've done is sign good players which is exactly what Emenalo has done.

90% of the players he signed are either out on loan or sold. with the amount we have spent, we shouldn't be in a position where we have to defend deep and play like stoke city against big boys like barca, Bayern et al in an admission of inferiority. we should be in a position to go toe to toe, literally, with the very best. (packing the bus isn't going toe to toe btw).

Again you're going to have to look at the managerial instability for that. Bayern, Barca et al have all had a manager with a certain philosophy that they were willing to back, we haven't until now, and even then Mourinho's philosophy doesn't really promote pro-technical players as the sales of Mata and KdB should suggest - so I don't know how you could again put the blame on Emenalo for that.

We have spent significantly more than clubs like Dortmund, Juventus in that time and they have at the very least achieved as much success if not more than us while not relying on wimbledon tactics to do so because they have sufficient quality in their team/squad.

Again, as I've said above, all these clubs have had a manager with a good philosophy and they've decided to build around that, so you can't compare us to them at all.

[Rmpr 8,977]

[lionsden 4,689]

You can't fully blame Emenalo for that tbh, there are so many other factors that affected this. Like I said before IMO our squad depth was superb after the summer transfer window but because we were constantly chopping and changing managers we've had no real plan or blueprint to follow, so the next best thing IMO we could've done is sign good players which is exactly what Emenalo has done.

And any technical director with some iota of sense would have recognized the risk of making signings without a manager or managerial approval . that's just common sense stuff. that didn't stop him from going bizzack on Brazilian and Belgian "talents" and bunch of attacking midfielders etc . . . .like my 10 year old nephew playing football manager .

Again you're going to have to look at the managerial instability for that. Bayern, Barca et al have all had a manager with a certain philosophy that they were willing to back, we haven't until now, and even then Mourinho's philosophy doesn't really promote pro-technical players as the sales of Mata and KdB should suggest - so I don't know how you could again put the blame on Emenalo for that.

You mean he should also be exonerated from blame for the signings he made when we were without a manager and how majority of those signings didn't address the needs to the squad?

[The Skipper 20,593]

Edit: it gets even worse because guess what, we have actually outspent every single club in Europe including Madrid and Man city in that time upon further check and review. City spent 208 while Madrid transfer expenses was 217million. that's fucking horrendous.

You're completely forgetting that these teams have already had a solid core - both Real and City already had a fantastic team/core unlike us (our core was getting old and we weren't replacing them properly, making stupid signings like the Torres one); we've been in rebuild mode for years especially with the very bad signings before Emenalo came, which is why we've had to spend more. We signed mediocre players before Emenalo came through, and that is the main reason for that IMO.

[Shane 2,275]

And any technical director with some iota of sense would have recognized the risk of making signings without a manager or managerial approval . that's just common sense stuff. that didn't stop him from going bizzack on Brazilian and Belgian "talents" and bunch of attacking midfielders etc . . . .like my 10 year old nephew playing football manager .

You mean he should also be exonerated from blame for the signings he made when we were without a manager and how majority of those signings didn't address the needs to the squad?

Our level on consistency hasn't been great because of our changing managers. With Jose in charge now and those signings that were made were in a truly fantastic position to compete on all fronts for years now. We didn't 'park the bus' (I hate that phrase) against Bayern, Man City or Liverpool.

[The only place to be 11,313]

You're completely forgetting that these teams have already had a solid core - both Real and City already had a fantastic team/core unlike us (our core was getting old and we weren't replacing them properly, making stupid signings like the Torres one); we've been in rebuild mode for years especially with the very bad signings before Emenalo came, which is why we've had to spend more. We signed mediocre players before Emenalo came through, and that is the main reason for that IMO.

Think you're wasting your time here to be honest.

Emenalo simply doesn't deserve the shit he's getting from this tiny minority. I've seen a few people leap straight to blaming him when a few things don't go our way and most of the time it's nonsensical.

I actually like the way we're doing business, taking a long-term, responsible approach to FFP but some people want us to go back to the early days of Roman's reign where we were throwing money around like nobody's business. It simply won't happen like that anymore.

[lionsden 4,689]

Our level on consistency hasn't been great because of our changing managers. With Jose in charge now and those signings that were made were in a truly fantastic position to compete on all fronts for years now. We didn't 'park the bus' (I hate that phrase) against Bayern, Man City

What was our tactical approach then? it certainly wasn't free flowing attacking football. The only decent showing performance wise was at the etihad and that's what 1 in as many encounter against them.

[BloodIsBlue 291]

Ya'll are forgetting some of that spending was done to make profits to offset FFP later down the line when possible punishments may be handed out. Someone of those singing were made because they showed a lot of financial potential and consideration into first team integration may not have been a concern. It's not that bad at all, time will expose the spending as being more intelligent that some of you suspect. Cahill and Azpi were absolute bargains for one. All the signing around the 10m mark and below are very low risk and the team's investment should be easily recoverable. If we can make something of our long list of loaned out young players that will be a small victory, if they develop into players worthy of the first team that would be a massive win. A lot of that money was spent into youth and I can't really see that blowing up in our face. I'd from the spending in those three years about 100m will make it back into our check books and possibly a few first team players who we would have paid a beans for.

[The Skipper 20,593]

And any technical director with some iota of sense would have recognized the risk of making signings without a manager or managerial approval . that's just common sense stuff. that didn't stop him from going bizzack on Brazilian and Belgian "talents" and bunch of attacking midfielders etc . . . .like my 10 year old nephew playing football manager .

You mean he should also be exonerated from blame for the signings he made when we were without a manager and how majority of those signings didn't address the needs to the squad?

How can he address the needs of the squad when there is no clear blueprint or philosophy to follow?

If you look at most of his signings, they have all mostly appreciated in value - so you can't really say it's his fault that the squad isn't amongst the elite in Europe atm... There are plenty of other factors that affect that, and the main one in my opinion is managerial instability.

[The only place to be 11,313]

What was our tactical approach then? it certainly wasn't free flowing attacking football. The only decent showing performance wise was at the etihad and that's what 1 in as many encounter against them.

So you expect a manager to come in and get a team playing free-flowing attacking football in the space of a few months??

Is your 10 year old nephew there? Maybe he could explain some of the realities of football to you.

[Shane 2,275]

What was our tactical approach then? it certainly wasn't free flowing attacking football. The only decent showing performance wise was at the etihad and that's what 1 in as many encounter against them.

I thought we were fantastic against Liverpool at home, and played them off the park. We took a huge risk and failed on Fernando Torres and need to cut our losses and bring in a world class striker, which would make us able to play this sort of football in big games and throughout a season.

Carlo Ancelloti's title winning side played some outstanding football. Probably close to my all time favorite Chelsea team. Only for Jose pulling a tactical masterclass we would have won the Champions League imo.

[Tomo 21,697]

What was our tactical approach then? it certainly wasn't free flowing attacking football. The only decent showing performance wise was at the etihad and that's what 1 in as many encounter against them.

Against Liverpool in the first half, we pressed them high, forced errors from their back line and they simply couldn't cope. The scoreline flattered Liverpool big time, we should have been out off sight by half time.

What is your idea off parking the bus anyway? mine is when the whole team is behind the ball and punting it away when they get it and attacks coming and coming, it's what West Ham did to us and we did to Barca in 2012. What we did at OT and The Emirates is similar to the approach Fergie took in big away games for years. You don't believe me, watch back United's games at Eastlands in 10-11 and 11-12.

[Strike 7,060]

How???

Moses did his job in the only season. He was a 7mil buy as a 4th/5th choice Am. Moses did a pretty good job in cups for us.

Plus I can think of marin (almost the same fee) as a much much vigger failure.

Moses was signed for almost 10mil not 7 and I don't think he will go for that much now. He's declined since coming here

[didierforever 7,349]

Moses was signed for almost 10mil not 7 and I don't think he will go for that much now. He's declined since coming here

Its variable. While some say its 7, others (majority) say its around 9.

Moses is 23, homegrown, still has a long way to go. No way will he not fetch atleast 8/9mil.