Chelsea Transfers

[OneMoSalah 8,778]

5 hours ago, Vesper said:

was a big bust in 2014/15

only played 15 league games, 937 league minutes, no league goals or assists, and was gone the next season

 

Wasn’t a bust due to his performances though. Just never played ahead of Azpi due to Mourinho’s love for Ivanovic.

Whenever FL played he actually did well and didn’t look out of place at all despite the few that were concerned he wouldn’t be able to cope with the PL due to his age (mental considering how good he had been for Atleti in Spain & the CL).

People also forget how good Azpi was that season for Mourinho as a LB, IIRC at one point he was statistically the fullback with the best defensive stats in the PL & Europe at one point that season.

I mean if you look at how many games we lost that season with Azpi & Luis in the team, we lost 3 with Azpi (although he played more) and 1 with Luis, keeping a lot of clean sheets in the process.

Then look at the outrage when we allowed him to leave and signed that dud Baha Rahmann… 

Edited September 7, 2023 by OneMoSalah

[Mário César 975]

6 hours ago, OneMoSalah said:

I mean hate to sound all doom and gloom but if we are truly limiting ourselves to signing players under 25 for whatever reason then we will win nothing anytime soon. Just reeks of Arsenal under Wenger, good team in 3 or 4 years but lose their key players eventually as they don’t compete, rinse & repeat…

Sometimes you need to get a couple of those guys in their best years and very rarely are footballers in their highest level under the age of 25. The likes of Cesc and Costa coming to us in 14/15 is the perfect example when Jose signed them. The season before we were a “little horse” as Jose put it himself, those 2, Filipe Luis, Drogba and the return of Courtois elevated the group alongside JM. Not to mention the signing of Matic in January the year before hugely contributed. Not any of them barring Tibo were under 25.

Exceptions have to be made. If we prioritise signing players who aren’t close to proven in certain areas and just have a constant revolving door of unproven and “could be greats” then we will not make sufficient enough progress. 

exactly

its a badly insane approach 

even in our 09/10 title we had a lot of experience 

no way we can fight for a title with this kind of mentality

[Reddish-Blue 2,347]

12 hours ago, DDA said:

What's the talk of us being interested in Nottingham Forests striker??

For fuck sakes man can we aim a little higher. 

 

Who are you expecting to attract to the club? 

Funny thing is, we probably needed that Forest striker more than Jackson right now....i.e. someone that can come in and be that physical presence up front. 

We signed a project striker for our 'rebuild'.....when all of our traditional rivals for the top 6 have top class players up front.  Haaland - Alvarez/Foden, Bruno - Rashford,  Salah/Jota/Nunez, Jesus/Saka/Martinelli, Son. 

[Thor 2,392]

2 hours ago, Reddish-Blue said:

Who are you expecting to attract to the club? 

Funny thing is, we probably needed that Forest striker more than Jackson right now....i.e. someone that can come in and be that physical presence up front. 

We signed a project striker for our 'rebuild'.....when all of our traditional rivals for the top 6 have top class players up front.  Haaland - Alvarez/Foden, Bruno - Rashford,  Salah/Jota/Nunez, Jesus/Saka/Martinelli, Son. 

Project striker? Jackson was scoring goals at a similar or better rate than just about everyone you mentioned and their move to their club aside from Haaland. 

Sterling was more consistent and had better numbers than all the guys you listed. It isn't the players. Its the tactics, culture and rebuilding aspect of it. Y'all just want immediate results. It ain't happening. 

Haaland has missed plenty of sitters and penalties, but the shit doesn't matter when his team can create for him over and over. Y'all see Jackson have one bad miss and its doom and gloom. He and Sterling have been our best players this year. 

[robsblubot 3,504]

4 hours ago, Reddish-Blue said:

Who are you expecting to attract to the club? 

Funny thing is, we probably needed that Forest striker more than Jackson right now....i.e. someone that can come in and be that physical presence up front. 

We signed a project striker for our 'rebuild'.....when all of our traditional rivals for the top 6 have top class players up front.  Haaland - Alvarez/Foden, Bruno - Rashford,  Salah/Jota/Nunez, Jesus/Saka/Martinelli, Son. 

yup. Everyone we signed is a "project" including Jackson. Each has more or less potential, but that's the type of signing the club is after these days. Got to have blind faith in a leadership who hasn't earned it yet.

I still think jackson can deliver, but he does have to hone his a game a bit as I've been saying elsewhere; what helped villareal may not help Chelsea in the PL. It's really a case of different requirements for the same job.

There is also a point that these top scorer simply aren't available, so you've got to make some bets. 

[lluubbeenn 142]

13 hours ago, OneMoSalah said:

I mean hate to sound all doom and gloom but if we are truly limiting ourselves to signing players under 25 for whatever reason then we will win nothing anytime soon. Just reeks of Arsenal under Wenger, good team in 3 or 4 years but lose their key players eventually as they don’t compete, rinse & repeat…

Sometimes you need to get a couple of those guys in their best years and very rarely are footballers in their highest level under the age of 25. The likes of Cesc and Costa coming to us in 14/15 is the perfect example when Jose signed them. The season before we were a “little horse” as Jose put it himself, those 2, Filipe Luis, Drogba and the return of Courtois elevated the group alongside JM. Not to mention the signing of Matic in January the year before hugely contributed. Not any of them barring Tibo were under 25.

Exceptions have to be made. If we prioritise signing players who aren’t close to proven in certain areas and just have a constant revolving door of unproven and “could be greats” then we will not make sufficient enough progress. 

I cant say I completely agree with your point. Yes, we are buying young players, but we are not in the market for bargains per say. We spend a lot of money on players who on paper are the absolute best in their age group. It is a big gamble, but we can easily buy 2-3 ready made players when the dust settles and we can analyze the squad. Here comes the role of Poch to keep players happy. The ones who preform on the expected level(Enzo) must be kept motivated and believing in the project. As long as he manages that, I think we will be alright. 

[Reddish-Blue 2,347]

3 hours ago, Thor said:

Sterling was more consistent and had better numbers than all the guys you listed

During his time at City, absolutely.   If his numbers were that good at Chelsea, we wouldn't have struggled that badly last season. 

3 hours ago, Thor said:

Haaland has missed plenty of sitters and penalties, but the shit doesn't matter when his team can create for him over and over. Y'all see Jackson have one bad miss and its doom and gloom

You can't honestly be comparing a 25+ goal a season striker with Jackson?    

3 hours ago, Thor said:

Project striker? Jackson was scoring goals at a similar or better rate than just about everyone you mentioned and their move to their club aside from Haaland. 

And that is the problem.  Jackson barely had 1 season of top flight football under his belt and now he's expected to lead the front line and score goals on a regular basis for a club that should be fighting for a top 4 place in the PL. 

In 2 seasons time, Jackson may become the striker we are all hoping for....but we needed someone to ease the pressure right now and that's not Jackson. 

[YorkshireBlue 3,122]

2 hours ago, Reddish-Blue said:

should be fighting for a top 4 place in the PL.

Should is the key word here, there are now plenty of teams fighting for top 4, 

Man city

Arsenal

Newcastle

Brighton 

Man utd 

Spurs 

Aston villa 

Chelsea 

Liverpool

That's 9 teams fighting for 4 places, so that's 9 teams that SHOULD be fighting for top 4, it's no longer a given any more that Chelsea will be a top 4 team, other teams half been rebuilding and putting squads together for years now, while we sat back buying the odd bit part player. Now all of a sudden we have done a huge overhaul of the club so many out so many in, just because we spent 1 billion means fuck all that's just the price it's cost to get rid and bring in, all these players are young and inexperienced for NOW, few years time they will have the experience and will have grown as players that we should be technically fighting for the title by then. Unfortunately time has to be given and if people can't soon get to grips with this fact and spend all there energy and time banging on about money we have spent etc etc, then the next few years are going to be torture for you.

Edited September 8, 2023 by YorkshireBlue

[xPetrCechx 13,563]

We can finish 5th and qualify for the CL 🙂

[Reddish-Blue 2,347]

1 hour ago, YorkshireBlue said:

Should is the key word here, there are now plenty of teams fighting for top 4, 

Man city

Arsenal

Newcastle

Brighton 

Man utd 

Spurs 

Aston villa 

Chelsea 

Liverpool

That's 9 teams fighting for 4 places, so that's 9 teams that SHOULD be fighting for top 4, it's no longer a given any more that Chelsea will be a top 4 team, other teams half been rebuilding and putting squads together for years now, while we sat back buying the odd bit part player. Now all of a sudden we have done a huge overhaul of the club so many out so many in, just because we spent 1 billion means fuck all that's just the price it's cost to get rid and bring in, all these players are young and inexperienced for NOW, few years time they will have the experience and will have grown as players that we should be technically fighting for the title by then. Unfortunately time has to be given and if people can't soon get to grips with this fact and spend all there energy and time banging on about money we have spent etc etc, then the next few years are going to be torture for you.

Unfortunately, time has never been given to any Chelsea manager....especially when they can't get wins on the board.   I doubt it's going to be any different for Poch.   We saw what the American ownership did with Potter and if Poch can't get a tune out of this group, it's hard to say if he will still be manager next season. 

I actually like the rebuild that was undertaken (for the most part)....not sure why we needed 3 midfielders who essentially play the same role (on paper) but other than that, pretty happy with the youngsters we've got. 

[Thor 2,392]

4 hours ago, Reddish-Blue said:

During his time at City, absolutely.   If his numbers were that good at Chelsea, we wouldn't have struggled that badly last season. 

You can't honestly be comparing a 25+ goal a season striker with Jackson?    

And that is the problem.  Jackson barely had 1 season of top flight football under his belt and now he's expected to lead the front line and score goals on a regular basis for a club that should be fighting for a top 4 place in the PL. 

In 2 seasons time, Jackson may become the striker we are all hoping for....but we needed someone to ease the pressure right now and that's not Jackson. 

My point with your post is - the players you listed as great players - half of them weren't so before they came to these clubs. They grew into their roles and as goal scorers after getting there. 

Jackson was as much of a goal scorer as the likes of a lot of the other players you listed outside of Haaland. I wasn't comparing him to Haaland. Opposite. 

 

The players aren't performing not because of the players they are, but because of the tactics and hole we were in as a club tactically, but also as an operation. We have the players and talent to have our striker score 20 a season, and our wingers chip in with double digits. The players need to play and be given time, and formation sink in, and the culture change.  

[YorkshireBlue 3,122]

3 minutes ago, Reddish-Blue said:

Unfortunately, time has never been given to any Chelsea manager....especially when they can't get wins on the board.   I doubt it's going to be any different for Poch.   We saw what the American ownership did with Potter and if Poch can't get a tune out of this group, it's hard to say if he will still be manager next season. 

I actually like the rebuild that was undertaken (for the most part)....not sure why we needed 3 midfielders who essentially play the same role (on paper) but other than that, pretty happy with the youngsters we've got. 

Well if we don't ever give a manager time then this rebuild will be for absolutely nothing.

[Vegetable 830]

26 minutes ago, YorkshireBlue said:

Well if we don't ever give a manager time then this rebuild will be for absolutely nothing.

That's obviously true, but there is balance to everything - time is priceless so it needs to be spent wisely. IF there is clear plan and visible chemistry, mentality and work being put in, sure, let the manager cook as we can see the effects and see something is improving, despite lack of results and it's reasonable to swallow a sub-par season for sake of long-term quality. People hated on Sarri, but surely he knew what he was doing and implementing it with iron consequence.

But all the times I can remember we have famously not given the manager time were rather the opposite - the group downing their tools, manager apparently completely out of ideas, falling apart between players and manager/board, and stagnation or regress in terms of football played, not even mentioning the results. Just coasting on neutral gear for half of season. Hardly any point to be stuck in such situation. It was especially visible with Potter as there was absolutely no signs visible as from where he should take the means to turn things around. I can't recall any example where things were looking terrible and hopeless for years and then one day suddenly the team goes god-mode, because the manager's idea clicked. 

I'm still holding out any opinions on Poch as we are like two weeks in, but with current rebuild the main objective was to replace the indifferent mentality and build a proper starting point for Rocky-like process of development our game. As for today, I can't really see this mythical "hunger" that was quoted million times by fans and owners alike and any incredible shift in mentality or workrate of the team and that's worrying, but we will see I guess.

Edited September 8, 2023 by Vegetable

[YorkshireBlue 3,122]

17 minutes ago, Vegetable said:

That's obviously true, but there is balance to everything - time is priceless so it needs to be spent wisely. IF there is clear plan and visible chemistry, mentality and work being put in, sure, let the manager cook as we can see the effects and see something is improving, despite lack of results and it's reasonable to swallow a sub-par season for sake of long-term quality. People hated on Sarri, but surely he knew what he was doing and implementing it with iron consequence.

But all the times I can remember we have famously not given the manager time were rather the opposite - the group downing their tools, manager apparently completely out of ideas, falling apart between players and manager/board, and stagnation or regress in terms of football played, not even mentioning the results. Just coasting on neutral gear for half of season. Hardly any point to be stuck in such situation. It was especially visible with Potter as there was absolutely no signs visible as from where he should take the means to turn things around. I can't recall any example where things were looking terrible and hopeless for years and then one day suddenly the team goes god-mode, because the manager's idea clicked. 

I'm still holding out any opinions on Poch as we are like two weeks in, but with current rebuild the main objective was to replace the indifferent mentality and build a proper starting point for Rocky-like process of development our game. As for today, I can't really see this mythical "hunger" that was quoted million times by fans and owners alike and any incredible shift in mentality or workrate of the team and that's worrying, but we will see I guess.

The work rate and mentality and night and day compared to last season, we don't give up we keep creating chances, we just can't score, tactics can't be blamed for players not putting the ball in the net or even on target, 20 shots against forest, 2 on target, to get 20 shots on goal something is working just not polished yet.

[Duppy Conqueror 1,494]

Mostly positive about our transfers from January onwards.

Some slightly negatives being overkill in the LW/RW departments in general since TB and company took over. I'm several decades removed from being a fanboy of any particular player but when signing or having a youth player come through that you may feel needs a year or two on loan,then deciding to buy 3-4 players of similar profile,isn't an approach i'm a huge fan of. I am quite happy with the Palmer signing,think he could do a good job in at a push 5 different positions.,i think he's footbally mature enough.

We been more sensible in other positions.aside from Ramos wasnt much available this window.no doubt Broja got till january to get fit and firing or we'll go nuts deep for a striker 

Santos loan to Forest was a cluster fook we should have some breakaway clause in.don't think we went overkill on DM's so much but we signed maybe too many CM's that don't offer enough in attack so far.

Casadei i woukdnt have loaned out after length of Nkunku injury was discovered.

[Duppy Conqueror 1,494]

The nobody over 25 policy is misguided.maybe if we had an old squad and only intend on buying 4-5 players,it would be fine for one window.

Business wise it's like having unlimited 1st round picks in NFL drafts with the added bonus that if they don't pan out you aren't trading them for a 7th round pick,they retain their market value longer but for football reasons it's not so great. 

I'm fine with waiting a couple of years but ownership can't expect the model of running like dortmund,Lyon,Southampton,Ajax etc with the idea that unlike those we don't have to sell our young talent that become good to work if we hire and fire like our previous regime,PSG,Real etc..

[OneMoSalah 8,778]

6 hours ago, YorkshireBlue said:

Should is the key word here, there are now plenty of teams fighting for top 4, 

Man city

Arsenal

Newcastle

Brighton 

Man utd 

Spurs 

Aston villa 

Chelsea 

Liverpool

That's 9 teams fighting for 4 places, so that's 9 teams that SHOULD be fighting for top 4, it's no longer a given any more that Chelsea will be a top 4 team, other teams half been rebuilding and putting squads together for years now, while we sat back buying the odd bit part player. Now all of a sudden we have done a huge overhaul of the club so many out so many in, just because we spent 1 billion means fuck all that's just the price it's cost to get rid and bring in, all these players are young and inexperienced for NOW, few years time they will have the experience and will have grown as players that we should be technically fighting for the title by then. Unfortunately time has to be given and if people can't soon get to grips with this fact and spend all there energy and time banging on about money we have spent etc etc, then the next few years are going to be torture for you.

At the end of the day though, the expenditure we’ve made, the apparent level of the players we’ve signed, the manager we’ve got, the need for CL football for increased revenue to comply with FFP and then to attract some top players, it is clear, top 4 or 5 is a big must for us this season.

If we continue to sit around anywhere between 8-14th again for a second season in a row, the project and the appeal of coming here becomes more and more dismissive for certain calibre of players.

I mean there is whispers re Enzo already - how true I don’t know as source is iffy, but we wont attract the likes of his ilk next season if we don’t have CL football. Thats the harsh reality of the situation. And Boehly’s disasterclass will continue to roll on and be a huge source of frustration for our fanbase and also a huge source of comedy for everyone else.

[DDA 9,690]

6 minutes ago, OneMoSalah said:

At the end of the day though, the expenditure we’ve made, the apparent level of the players we’ve signed, the manager we’ve got, the need for CL football for increased revenue to comply with FFP and then to attract some top players, it is clear, top 4 or 5 is a big must for us this season.

If we continue to sit around anywhere between 8-14th again for a second season in a row, the project and the appeal of coming here becomes more and more dismissive for certain calibre of players.

I mean there is whispers re Enzo already - how true I don’t know as source is iffy, but we wont attract the likes of his ilk next season if we don’t have CL football. Thats the harsh reality of the situation. And Boehly’s disasterclass will continue to roll on and be a huge source of frustration for our fanbase and also a huge source of comedy for everyone else.

Get Toney and a top GK (We may  already have one in the new one we got) and many of our problems are solved.

Start converting the endless chances we have and all of a sudden what seems as a crisis will become one of the best footballing projects in England only second to City's. 

Edited September 8, 2023 by DDA