18. Christopher Nkunku

[ZAPHOD2319 3,873]

6 minutes ago, Fernando said:

What's the point of sacking a manager when you don't solve the medical problem?

Any manager we get we will continue having the same issue. 

When Poch said after the game that the lads felt it would be better to take it to penalties, he needs to go. Your plan, when you have an advantage over the other team, is to park the bus for PKs for 30 minutes? That is not a leader of men. Both issues need to be resolved, but Poch needs to be gone.

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,742]

He should be shut down for the season.

[Costa19 846]

Since his knee injury he’s not the same player as before according to Poch.. It feels like god has the stomach flu and using our sunroof as a toilet.. 

[lucio 5,397]

48 minutes ago, Fernando said:

What's the point of sacking a manager when you don't solve the medical problem?

Any manager we get we will continue having the same issue. 

Even if no one was injured poch is still a shit second rate manager , having injury problems and a piss poor manager just compounds our issues 

[Blue Armour 4,165]

Honestly., does anyone even care at this point?

He's hardly played this season, and was almost anonymous against Liverpool.

[TheHulk 1,395]

Doesn't even matter anymore, season is dead anyways.

Edited February 27 by TheHulk

[robsblubot 3,225]

And people were complaining "Poch" (it wasn't him) was not starting Nkunku. 🤷‍♂️
Clearly it wasn't safe and they (physios and fitness coaches)  knew it.

Very worrying considering his injury history.

[nyikolajevics 2,422]

7 hours ago, Special Juan said:

And apparently nobody knows how he's done it, how the fuck?

The Lavia way.

[nyikolajevics 2,422]

Our star signing’s topic managed to get 5 pages of comments in 8 months, 99% is pros and cons wheter he is permawrecked or not. Says a lot.

[Vesper 27,325]

He is perhaps perma fucked.

We bought damaged goods, just like with Fofana.

We are so fucked, so fucked.

Boehly/Clownlake are the worst new owners in truly major football club history.

They have destroyed us for years.

Fuck!!

I think they might sell us if/when we get punished with straight relegation and have to liquidate a big chunk of the roster, plus lose all the big sponsorship deals.

A girl can but hope!!!!!

I am willing to suffer relegation to a point (I will give us two seasons to get back to the EPL, if we fail tgat I am OUT, sorry but long term lower level football is simply not my thing, I will just be a casual fan of the still great teams, with no real favourite, and will DEFFO cut back on my EPL watching) but NOT under the Boehly/Clownlake cunts.

[Special Juan 27,103]

Fofana, Nkunku. James, Lavia- all fucking made of glass

[cosmicway 1,255]

We expected Nkunku to make the difference, at least so far as the forward line is concerned.
Came from Leipzig like Timo, but expectations were bigger.
Now these constant injuries ...

[Vesper 27,325]

The ghost of £52m man has haunted Chelsea for 18 months; now is the time to break the spell

https://Chelsea.news/2024/03/the-ghost-of-52m-man-has-haunted-Chelsea-for-18-months-now-is-the-time-to-break-the-spell-opinion/

It’s not over yet, but it already feels like this Chelsea season has been defined by one player who has barely featured – Christopher Nkunku.

His presence his been hanging over the club for about 18 months now, since the reports he had a future transfer arranged were first put out there.

Since that point, his future arrival was held up as the symbol of the start of a new era at the club.

His good performances in preseason felt like proof that this would be the case. The enthusiasm built steadily with his form, and was then shattered by his injury.

After that, we went back to waiting. No matter how bad things got, we had the return of Nkunku, the king in the hill, to magically restore our kingdom. Instead he returned, got injured, returned again, seemed to fall out of favour, then got injured again and disappeared. The period since then has felt like a despondent group coming to terms with the fact they were going to have to do it without him.

We have seen signs they’re doing that. Will we come back from this international break finally cured of the feeling of dependence on him and ready to attack the final stretch? Or will the ghost of Nkunku continue to haunt us all the way until May? We can’t wait to find out.

[Vesper 27,325]

Mauricio Pochettino unsure whether injured Christopher Nkunku will play again this season

https://theathletic.com/5388249/2024/04/03/mauricio-pochettino-unsure-whether-injured-christopher-nkunku-will-play-again-this-season/

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino says he does not know if forward Christopher Nkunku will play again this season.

The Athletic reported in February that the 26-year-old France international, who has had an injury-hit campaign, would be out for “up to a month” with a new issue.

However, Pochettino is unsure if Nkunku, who joined Chelsea from RB Leipzig last summer in a deal worth €60million (£52.7m, $58.8m), will feature again for the London side this campaign.

He said: “I don’t know. Still, we don’t know. At the moment we do not know when it is possible for him to start training with the team. At the moment he is not training with us.

“It did not happen (a setback). I have no information about that. His recovery is taking longer than we expected. That was after the final (League Cup final). He played in the final with a problem that we did not know about and found after the game.

“There are different circumstances that affect things. It is not only him. Too many players have suffered injuries this season.

“We hope that he can be involved again quickly. As soon as possible. It will be really good if he can join the team again before the end of the season. We hope that will happen.”

Nkunku has found fitness and game time difficult to come by this season, due to a range of injury issues. His last appearance came as a substitute in the League Cup final against Liverpool in February.

A knee injury sustained during a pre-season game last summer required surgery and kept him out for the first four months of the season while a hip injury kept him sidelined for the majority of January.

He has been limited to just 10 appearances in all competitions this season, the majority of those being as a substitute.

Defenders Trevor Chalobah and Malo Gusto, who missed Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Burnley at Stamford Bridge on Saturday due to injuries, have returned to training and could be fit to face Manchester United on Thursday, but Ben Chilwell is a doubt for the due to an illness.

Pochettino said: “Trevor (Chalobah) and Malo (Gusto) will train with us. I think they will be ready to be in the squad (against Manchester United on Thursday).

“Chilly (Chilwell) no. We haven’t seen him since Friday. The doctor and medical staff removed a lot of fluid from his knee after he returned from the national team. Saturday he got ill and he has been at home since recovering. Rob Sanchez is training. We will see if he is in the squad.” 

GO DEEPER

What Chelsea can expect from Christopher Nkunku: Composure, clinical finishing and clever runs

(Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

[OneMoSalah 8,615]

So probably a no. So Lavia, Nkunku, Fofana (is he still alive?), who else is fucked and out for the last games of the season?

[Special Juan 27,103]

Made of fucking glass, another one. 

See you next season for a ten game cameo