Todd Boehly Thread

[milka 3,347]

 

[Clockwork 1,794]

I think i like the approach of hiring a coach then have him in the decison of hiring a technical director, allows the coach a full backing, and allows them to be on the same page.

[Superblue 6,370]

8 hours ago, Magic Lamps said:

If that’s true then the new owners are even more naive. The best run top clubs are probably city and Bayern and both have a rather conservative structure not some BS inclusive model. TT is maybe a bit more used to the German model where the coach is just that and that is how it should be IMO. Let the coach focus on his job. TB might be knowledgeable about US sports but believing his blueprint there will work in football which he very likely knows less about than you and I is just very gullible. 
 

We are a 117 yo club, champions of the world with the best Academy in England, used to have one of the best coaches. We do not need to be revolutionized. We are not a soulless American franchise nor a club that lost his way like pre-Klopp Liverpool. We were wrecked last season by injuries, Covid and sanctions. We lack a bit of quality in some positions but overall this is a fine club with a great culture built on decades of success. 
 

As I said, potter is fair enough but TB and Clearlake are throwing the baby out with the bath water here . There is very realistic room for improvement and a huge downside to this whole revolution of the club culture when all we needed were just a few little tweaks. Personally I would have preferred the new owners to just focus on the business side, expand the brand, marketing in US, source new sponsors etc and let the actual football ppl do their work. But it looks like they have it completely backwards 

Revolutionised is a very strong word, but in my opinion we certainly needed a fresh approach to how we've been operating in recent times. 

Without the financial advantages we once had and the team built in Jose's first term slowly breaking up, our standards have certainly slipped and become far more inconsistent for a decade now. The two Champions League wins are phenomenal but ultimately paper over cracks with our inability to challenge for the league year on year which should always have been the minimum aim. That aim in recent seasons has now dropped to top 4.

In a 7 year period from 2012 - 2018 we won the league twice but also finished outside the top 4 three times. Since 2019 onwards we've got into the top 4 but been a country mile away from a title challenge. It's easy to argue that we're in a period against Klopp and Pep but the warning signs were apparent before they came into the league. 

I can't see a situation where the club would have made drastic changes to recruitment and scouting models, ideas to grow the brand and financial model, etc. It would have been very much "same old". I wouldn't be surprised with our start if Tuchel wasn't close to being sacked by the old ownership and we'd have likely ended up with Poch in a rinse and repeat effort. 

I've championed the club "do better" with their scouting and recruitment and find players before they make that move before they usually are targeted by us. With a longer term plan and strategy in place these players can be bought in and potentially loaned out or sit in behind a more senior player before making the natural progression. For me, being able to identify talents at this stage alongside our academy has to be our advantage over other teams. Particularly as unlike sides like Dortmund, Porto, etc we're in a much stronger position to hold on to these players and get the best years out of them.

I feel with this ownership and the moves they are looking to make, the moves they are looking to make are risky to move away from the previous model but necessary and if they prove successful should ensure a more sustained period of success for the club than we've become accustomed to for the last 10+ years.

[Vesper 28,880]

I am very happy so far with Boehly, especially given the nightmare we are had to go through due to Putin.

[ZAPHOD2319 4,489]

7 hours ago, OneMoSalah said:

So they’ve offered Kante a 2 years extension with option for further year which he’s rejected.. months after giving Koulibaly - same age - a 4 year deal.

Kante may of struggled with injuries in the past calendar year but he’s still world class. Him resigning needs to be addressed. Urgently.

Midfielders and CBs are not really comparable at the twilight of their careers. The style of play Konte does requires him to be tireless and injury free. He is constantly injured now.

[Magic Lamps 11,655]

19 minutes ago, Vesper said:

I am very happy so far with Boehly, especially given the nightmare we are had to go through due to Putin.

But tbf it was TT who made the sanctions nightmare bearable. Many managers would have thrown their toys out over that. Imagine Conte in that situation. The squad would have unraveled and we would have probably lost out on top 4. Replacing TT with GP might turn out to be the right decision in the end but we should never forget TT s loyalty and professionalism holding the club together in one of its biggest crises. 
 

i am still super sceptic about this huge roll of the dice we are witnessing esp when we signed all those players and now they get a new manager. So can’t say i am impressed with TB so far. It might be a master stroke in the end but so far it just looks all way too chaotic. But for better or for worse, TB  has a vision and the courage to execute it, you have to give him that. 

[Vesper 28,880]

Luis Campos for sporting director is my clear choice after Michael Edwards said no

Campos might have even been my first choice, but I assumed he was unavailable

[Strike 7,222]

2 hours ago, Vesper said:

Luis Campos for sporting director is my clear choice after Michael Edwards said no

Campos might have even been my first choice, but I assumed he was unavailable

Could even be that Luis Campos freelances till the summer and we hire Edwards next year after his break is over

[Vesper 28,880]

pretty comprehensive list of misses and who is to blame 

Most of this(but certainly not all) takes Boehly off the hook with some big exceptions (but also some of the biggest fuckups are all on Marina and the board in 2021) Marina has a far worse record

first....

Jules Koundé was not a miss this summer, as WE pulled the plug, if you want to blame Marina for summer 2021, well you also have to blame (moreso, in Marina's defence) Sevilla, who gamed played and fucked us hard

next........

The ones who we can only blame the players as they either wanted to stay or go to a specific club, so neither Chels regime can be blamed (lesson being, we simply cannot compete against Barca, Real, Bayern, or PSG in most cases, nor Citeh usually)

Raphinha only wanted Barca
Dembele only wanted Barca
Gavi only wanted Barca
Robert Lewandowski  only wanted Barca
Ronald Araújo only wanted Barca
Pedri  only wanted Barca
Frenkie de Jong only wanted Barca
Memphis Depay only wanted Barca
 

Marquinhos  only wanted PSG
Presnel Kimpembe  only wanted PSG
Achraf Hakimi (2021) only wanted PSG (Marina fucked up and refused to buy him for years, just like Theo)

Matthijs de Ligt  only wanted Bayern after Barca and Real passed
Serge Gnabry only wanted Bayern
Kingsley Coman only wanted Bayern
Leroy Sane only wanted Bayern
Ryan Gravenberch  only wanted Bayern  after Barca and Real passed
Jamal Musiala    used us for training, always only wanted Bayern

Alessandro Bastoni wanted to stay at Inter
Lautaro Martínez wanted to stay at Inter (you can blame Marina for choosing Donkeykaku over him)
Nicolò Barella wanted to stay at Inter

Theo Hernández wanted to stay at AC Milan (and we got CuCu as a pretty decent consolation prize, granted we overpaid) Marina fucked up and refused to buy him years ago

Erling Haaland we never really had a chance, as he was simply too expensive in 2021, plus too many strings, and in 2022, once Real bowed out (and so happy they got burnt on Mbappe too), he was always going to Citeh

Jude Bellingham wanted to stay at Dortmund and Dortmund would have only sold for an insane €150m or so thus summer (and in 2023 we will have to fight the entire top 10 clubs to sign him, I am not optimistic)

Marcos Llorente wanted to stay at Atletico Madrid

Declan Rice refused to push for a transfer, and West Ham wanted £150m, so zero chance I blame Boehly (Marina fucked up for years with him though)

 

next....

the 'did not rates so now real moves made'

Bremer   
Niklas Süle 
Boubacar Kamara
Yves Bissouma (disagree, but IF we are going for Moisés Caicedo, then this makes sense)
Nico Schlotterbeck (disagree UNLESS we get Gvardiol)
Evan Ndicka  
Mohamed Simakan (I still really rate him)
Sergej Milinković-Savić
Denzel Dumfries (price was too high)
Merih Demiral
Teun Koopmeiners 
Guido Rodríguez 
Moussa Diaby (simply have to be looking at him next summer)
Jarrod Bowen (simply have to be looking at him next summer)
 

next...

the ones who there was really sold reason for not moving for

Milan Škriniar can get him on a free if he doesn't renow
Federico Chiesa  injured
Florian Wirtz injured
Mikel Oyarzabal  injured
Arnaut Danjuma  injured
Josko Gvardiol  Leipzig refused to sell, BUT we can wrap him up for next summer in January
Christopher Nkunku he will be far cheaper in summer 2023, Leipzig would have demanded well over €100m
Arsen Zakharyan blocked for now by Russian bullshit, BUT we will get him I think in January or next summer, I am a HUGE fan

finally....

the actual misses/fuckups that can be blamed on US (some on Marina, some on Boehly)

Aurélien Tchouameni (complete fuckup by Marina in 2021, devastating error)

Gabriel Jesus (by far Boehly's biggest fuckup)

Hugo Ekitiké another Boehly large fuckup, we could have prised him away from PSG (Campos is a a superb DoF, so hat tip for his pull)

Dušan Vlahović massive fuckup in 2020 and 2021 by Marina

Victor Osimhen another Marina 2020 and 2021 fuckup, plus Boehly, once Jesus and Ekitiké were off the board and Lautaro was not in play, should have coughed up the cash (and should do so in summer 2023)

Rafael Leão (yes, the money was crazy, but I fear not buying him thus past summer means we do not get him)

Edson Álvarez (remains to be seen if we still make a move for him)

Roméo Lavia (still not sure how that Citeh buyback would work, I thought it would block us)

 

and lastly

RUDIGER (ALL ON MARINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Kouadio Koné (not a 'miss' as we never bid, but a cockup, a large one, because we SHOULD have bid, and we simply mist make a move for hum in 2023 IMHO)

Armel Bella-Kotchap (cannot believe our scouts missed this lad)

 

Edited September 13, 2022 by Vesper

[Fernando 6,468]

DP

Edited September 13, 2022 by Fernando

[Fernando 6,468]

 

 

[Fernando 6,468]

I still find it weird the timing. 

Why waste 200 million on players that Tuchel wanted to get Potter. I know he is for the future but we just spend massive amount on players we don't even know if Potter will like. 

[ZAPHOD2319 4,489]

1 minute ago, Fernando said:

I still find it weird the timing. 

Why waste 200 million on players that Tuchel wanted to get Potter. I know he is for the future but we just spend massive amount on players we don't even know if Potter will like. 

I think they really did want to work with Tuchel. Every decision they made seems to show that. Tuchel just did not want to be a part of what they wanted to build. I guess Tuchel thought he could just focus on football and it would all work out. The preseason and start of the season really was the straw that broke the camel's back. When they players didn't respond to Tuchel and just stood around in that game, something had to be done.  One of the reasons they may have been so high on Potter is he can come in and run a team that is set up for wingbacks. He can also transition the club to a 4 in the back. We have quite a bit of talent. If Tuchel really was as disconnected as what is being reported, it was just a matter of time. I would rather they be decisive rather than what Man Utd did with Ole.

[Milan 17,857]

 

[MoroccanBlue 5,311]

33 minutes ago, Hermione said:

I appreciate his endless methods of making money, but he needs to realise globalism and tradition don't mix. 

[Superblue 6,370]

1 hour ago, MoroccanBlue said:

I appreciate his endless methods of making money, but he needs to realise globalism and tradition don't mix. 

Disagree, everything has to evolve in time, whilst you can still respect and observe traditional aspects. Note that if you thought in that way, we wouldn't have the Premier League right now.

I actually think it's quite a novel idea if it's marketed correctly like the Americans do with the Pro Bowl and All Stars games they promote in their sports. There's always been a wider rivalry between north and south and for years people have 'built' mock teams like that and how would they fare against each other.

The hardest aspect is actually fitting it into a calendar which is already jam packed. It would probably have to be an opener in pre season rather than a closer at the seasons end. 

Personally I'd rather see an idea like this than the Community Shield which is nothing more than a glorified friendly anyway.

[OneMoSalah 8,778]

Not going to lie, for me, this guy is nothing but an absolute mouthpiece. Not a fan. All he does is talk and talk and talk and talk. Journalists must love him though- plenty headlines to keep them busy.

Edited September 14, 2022 by OneMoSalah

[Blue Armour 4,292]

7 hours ago, Fernando said:

 

 

Have to say., it is refreshing to to have club owners that at least openly speak about the decision making process.

And while it's questionable, it will be interesting to see how Chelsea fares with a different approach. The old regime was purely driven by results first.

While I'm not keen to see the club transform into another Arsenal, I'm interested in seeing how this vision plays out in the long term. 

I only hope they don't let the club become a lackluster destination like Arsenal has become. For that, the team needs to keep challenging at the highest levels in a consistent manner., even if not outright winning trophies every time.