Chelsea 0-1 Man City

[MoroccanBlue 5,302]

29 minutes ago, Fernando said:

Obviously was a hard year because of all the games and the WC. 

That adds to the toll. 

Hopefully next season will be a bit better then this one. 

I would hope next season is not only "a bit better". 😭

 

[OhForAGreavsie 5,892]

3 hours ago, Vesper said:

Nope, Benfica confirmed what happened.

I am not going to let revisionism take hold and the gaslighting start without some serious pushback.

We discussed FFP-friendly installment payment terms based off the release clause (where do you think that overpay figure came from?? come on!), but then, when the official offer was made by us, we low balled the RC by 35m euros, after also winding up Enzo by agreeing to personal terms.

It was a cunt move. End of story.

Marina, for all her faults, NEVER would have done that.

I can totally understand us not wanting to spend the full €120m, absolutely I can, and would have completely accepted that, no problem, but don't play games and string them (including the player) along, then insult them with an offer you KNOW is never going to be accepted.

There is NO chance Benfica would have talked to us for so long if they knew we were coming in with an offer that was wilfully €35m light.

To suggest otherwise beggars belief, sorry.

I've read at least one report, perhaps posted by you 🙂, stating that Chelsea deny those claims.

As for the value of the offer, it is reported not to be cash only. Clearly Chelsea's contention will be that the permanent transfer of Ziyech, plus two youngsters on loan, are of equivalent value to the shortfall. Indeed, Chelsea will likely be saying that the inclusion of those three players more than makes up the shortfall and so represents better value for Benfica. Of course, even if Benfica are attracted to the idea of taking one or more of the players offered, they are going to argue that they are worth a total of €5m between them. In other words, both sides will play they game.

L:astly, I have also read reports claiming that negotiations are continuing which does not seem to me to be compatible with Benfica's reported stance. If Benfica are indignant, and if for them it has to be at least the full cash buyout, paid in a single upfront transaction, then what are they negotiating?

I think my stance is consistent. I do not take media reports as fully factual until I believe there is reason to do so. My position on this is therefore to remain sceptical while waiting to see. 

Edited January 6, 2023 by OhForAGreavsie

[OhForAGreavsie 5,892]

1 hour ago, MoroccanBlue said:

but i'm still not even convinced Chilwell was that good for us before his hamstring tear this season.

I am convinced that he was not.

[laura90 556]

Injuries are misfortune. They are affecting results. But they are just partly misfortune. Most of them we brought on ourselves. They are consequences of this club continuous wrong doing. Over relying  on couple of world class players. It started with Hazard. We had him, so we could afford having subpar players around him. It was good with Fabregas and Costa, but after they left, we only had Hazard and Kante who needed to work twice as hard for making average team look semi great. We were continuously getting average players and trailed after Hazard and Kante, who took major burden.

After Hazard left, we relied on Kante, and our youngsters, James and Mount to elevate team of average players to look better for some degree.  In CL year, we relied too much on Reece, Chilwell and Kante. Now they are injury prone. Surprise. OF course, in that season we hade Rudiger and Andreas in top form but that's not the subject.

We are losing our best players due injuries. That is not just because they played every game. It's because when they played, they needed to work twice as hard to cover for their teammates deficiencies. For some times we had average players but successful seasons. It could only last for so long before it backfired.

Second reason, we are getting crocked and old players. 

Broja is example of misfortune, but he wasn't good enough anyway. 

[Reddish-Blue 2,347]

8 hours ago, MoroccanBlue said:

I disagree. Haven't seen anything from them this season that I can indefinitely say "They would've influenced us"

I'm not ruling out that Chilwell will never be the same player we saw post ACL tear. Cucurella has been poor but i'm still not even convinced Chilwell was that good for us before his hamstring tear this season. 

Chalobah has been better than Fofana this season and like Chilwell, who knows if he will ever be the same player before his leg break and now knee injury. 

 

I'm also not going to pretend Broja is some established player when he is still very, very raw and couldn't even influence a match against Brentford. 

Put it this way, only two defenders can actually say they've performed well across their games this season (Silva and James).   Chalobah, KK and Cucurella have all been under par and Fofana seems like he didn't fully recover from that nasty injury he had whilst at Leicester. 

If Chalobah has been that good this season, there would be zero reason for the club to sanction the transfer of another young CB in January...that money could have been spent on a RB who could actually take the pressure off from James and let Azpi play games as needed...rather than watching teams target Azpi's flank as a weak spot.