Opinion: The Chelsea board deserve our patience after pulling off such a madness last summer

[James 5,140]

There are still 8 weeks remaining of this current transfer window, and even over the last few weeks I have seen moans, groans, and even anger from some Chelsea fans getting frustrated with the apparent non-activity in the market from the club so far, whilst other clubs appearing to be advancing with their moves. It’s […]

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[Jase 43,479]

Last summer's spending was one thing but don't think people have forgotten what happened in the summers before last...

[Tomo 21,681]

18 minutes ago, Jas said:

Last summer's spending was one thing but don't think people have forgotten what happened in the summers before last...

Ofcourse but there's middle ground between that and some people who are whining because we (likely) ain't adding Haaland to what is already half a new team of late at very great expense (even more silly when people use United/Sancho as an example of how it should be done, if we followed their lead on that one we'd be signing Havertz this summer). And not only that if we can't get the plan A's it's a lose lose, whether we decide to sit and wait or settle for plan B,C or D's many will moan we didn't do the opposite of whichever we chose to do, case in point January 2020 when some thought our rivals signing Bergwijn, Ighalo etc would cost us top 4.

We call the likes of Real and United fans spoilt for a lot lot less.

Edited July 6, 2021 by Tomo

[Jase 43,479]

3 minutes ago, Tomo said:

Ofcourse but there's middle ground between that and some people who are whining because we (likely) ain't adding Haaland to what is already half a new team of late at very great expense. And not only that if we can't get the plan A's it's a lose lose, whether we decide to sit and wait or settle for plan B,C or D's many will moan we didn't do the opposite of whichever we chose to do.

We call the likes of Real and United fans spoilt for a lot lot less.

Not saying people should be whining every day but was touching more on the point that the board deserve patience because of last summer. One good summer window shouldn't suddenly mean the club know what they're doing. It's like earning/losing the trust of someone. You can lose it easily but it's harder to get it back. 

[Superblue 6,331]

1 hour ago, Jas said:

Not saying people should be whining every day but was touching more on the point that the board deserve patience because of last summer. One good summer window shouldn't suddenly mean the club know what they're doing. It's like earning/losing the trust of someone. You can lose it easily but it's harder to get it back. 

I do think Kepa aside we've been far better in our transfer dealings since the disaster of Conte's last season.

Obviously you're never going to hit 100% success on transfers but it does speak volumes that Kepa was clearly done very quickly in a panic. It was an absolute disaster.

The rest of the transfers since then however have been well thought out and I'd say pretty much all the major signings since then have been successful - Jorginho, Kovacic, Pulisic, Thiago Silva, Mendy, Havertz, Werner, Chilwell I think were all good signings. The jury is out still on Ziyech but I do think if he stays on he'll show improvement next season.

Whether by luck or design (I think a bit of both) we've really re-shaped and re-energised a squad that was ageing and looked stale in that second season under Conte. There's been major changes which have led to that Champions League win. I completely agree with you that it's easier to lose trust than earn/gain it but I do feel much more confident in the club from the last 2-3 years work that has been put in.

[Jase 43,479]

2 hours ago, Superblue_1986 said:

I do think Kepa aside we've been far better in our transfer dealings since the disaster of Conte's last season.

Obviously you're never going to hit 100% success on transfers but it does speak volumes that Kepa was clearly done very quickly in a panic. It was an absolute disaster.

The rest of the transfers since then however have been well thought out and I'd say pretty much all the major signings since then have been successful - Jorginho, Kovacic, Pulisic, Thiago Silva, Mendy, Havertz, Werner, Chilwell I think were all good signings. The jury is out still on Ziyech but I do think if he stays on he'll show improvement next season.

Whether by luck or design (I think a bit of both) we've really re-shaped and re-energised a squad that was ageing and looked stale in that second season under Conte. There's been major changes which have led to that Champions League win. I completely agree with you that it's easier to lose trust than earn/gain it but I do feel much more confident in the club from the last 2-3 years work that has been put in.

It still doesn't mean we aren't prone to making absolute blunders. We made decent signings in 2012, 2014 for example and we had horror shows like in 2015, 2017. 

And last summer definitely had an element of luck to it. The pandemic happened, clubs' finances were affected and they couldn't spend big while we were sitting on tons of money having sold Hazard and even Morata.

[Superblue 6,331]

28 minutes ago, Jas said:

It still doesn't mean we aren't prone to making absolute blunders. We made decent signings in 2012, 2014 for example and we had horror shows like in 2015, 2017. 

And last summer definitely had an element of luck to it. The pandemic happened, clubs' finances were affected and they couldn't spend big while we were sitting on tons of money having sold Hazard and even Morata.

When it comes to transfer windows, the feeling is usually you're only as good as your last one and it can just take one bad window to push things back again (which is why I'd rather us not go and spend just for the sake of it this season, I'd rather start the season with no new signings than 3rd or 4th choice options).

Definitely agree with the luck of the pandemic and also the irony that the transfer ban actually benefitted us bringing through academy talent. But the opportunity that had arisen from that luck, we definitely took with both hands. I feel that there is still an opportunity this summer (I don't think quite as much though), but the area we are most looking at, such opportunity isn't really there simply because of the lack of quality strikers potentially available.

Would the window be a complete disaster if we didn't sign a striker given what the market looks like for striking options after Haaland? 

[Jase 43,479]

5 minutes ago, Superblue_1986 said:

When it comes to transfer windows, the feeling is usually you're only as good as your last one

If it's the last one, then it's definitely shit because we didn't sign one. 😉

6 minutes ago, Superblue_1986 said:

Would the window be a complete disaster if we didn't sign a striker given what the market looks like for striking options after Haaland? 

I have said before that I don't think it's the end of the world if we don't sign Haaland this summer but if we don't sign Haaland, then I'm assuming we'll be strengthening other areas and I guess then we'll see what kind of players we get in. 

[Superblue 6,331]

2 minutes ago, Jas said:

If it's the last one, then it's definitely shit because we didn't sign one. 😉

We technically signed Tuchel 😉

2 minutes ago, Jas said:

I have said before that I don't think it's the end of the world if we don't sign Haaland this summer but if we don't sign Haaland, then I'm assuming we'll be strengthening other areas and I guess then we'll see what kind of players we get in. 

I agree. There shouldn't be a compromise on quality. Obviously the best player or best fit doesn't mean spending the most money and if Tuchel and the club see a player that could come in and fulfil an important role that wouldn't necessarily be considered on these boards as a great signing then I have full trust in what they're doing. 

But if we have eyes for example on 4 positions then I would much rather we only buy for 1 or 2 of these if it's the main target and fill the other couple of positions next summer, as opposed to trying to fill all 4 this summer but reducing the quality. I think the work that Tuchel has done already has reduced the number of obvious holes in this squad anyway.