The Pre-Season Thread

[Vegetable 790]

Watching the training clips from our official media I have a really hard time telling who even are more of those guys, so that's how massive change we've came through in short time.  Actually excited to watch the preseason and how much of a teambuilding Poch will be able to pull off. And I'm mentally ready we will see some comedy, hopefully no injuries at the same time.

[DH1988 1,201]

On 10/07/2023 at 15:03, MoroccanBlue said:

Going to be nice watching a match where the players aren't knackered after 60mins. 

100% 

Always frustrates me seeing us as a baseline not be pressing for the ball because they look spent.

[Magic Lamps 11,459]

On 05/07/2023 at 06:54, Vesper said:

which ones?

I am not stressing over any that have left

Kovacic most of all. A fit, injury free Kova would have been a weapon in Poch‘s fast transition system. His departure will hurt us most  I think. He will be like a fish in water in Peps system with his ball control and ability to beat a man. 
To a lesser degree Pulisic. Just remember other pace merchants like Moura looked completely changed under Poch (and then reverted back to norm after he left). 
As a wild card Kai could have been interesting in the Dele Alli role esp with his height and heading ability. Then again he would probably still be too wasteful and lightweight. 

 

The others not so much. K2 and Kante were spent forces already. Mount I think will never learn when to release the ball and how to weight it properly. RLC is probably also to set in his ways. 
 

But more than stressing about what could have been I am excited about what he can do with what we have. 
He made vertonghen and alderwireld look like WC cbs. Now imagine what he can do with the much more talented Colwill and Badiashile. 
For mids I am afraid Conor is a lost cause and not seen enough of Santos and Casadei yet but can definitely see him helping Hall with his defensive positioning and tackling skills. Our two best players by far, Enzo and RJ, I hope can just be kept fit all season and have their load managed smartly. similar Nkunku. Just needs to be kept fit, confident and close to goal (not the wing) and have someone to play off and he will score. Sterling is probably to mature to be impacted much by Poch. 
Mudryk and Madueke probably have the highest upside if developed properly. Just look at what Poch did with Son and Moura. Jackson and Broja obviously huge potential as well but possibly not even Poch can lift the striker curse so won’t hold my breath here. Will be interesting to see how much we will rely on them or if we try without a classic no 9 again which Poch sometimes did with spuds when Kane was injured. 

[robsblubot 3,253]

The current crop of players is not of top4 quality IMO. I don't even know what to expect of Sterling considering how little and poorly he performed last season. He did not look that fit to my eyes either.

[manpe 10,857]

8 hours ago, robsblubot said:

The current crop of players is not of top4 quality IMO. I don't even know what to expect of Sterling considering how little and poorly he performed last season. He did not look that fit to my eyes either.

Current crop definitely isn't, our midfield has downgraded massively. And without midfield it doesn't matter how good your defence or attack are, unless you want to bypass midfield completely and play hoofball. We simply have to get a quality midfielder in or we will be watching Gallagher play every game. Also our winger situation is sus.

All in all I think the club has done well at offloading players, but quality wise a lot still needs to be done to make this squad fit for top 4.

Edited July 14, 2023 by manpe

[Blue Armour 4,168]

I hoped we would have at least one midfield signing to begin preseason with the team and build chemistry. And hopefully add another before the end of the window.

Last season they screwed the players with hiring shitty managers.

Really hope they're not going to do the same to the manager this time.

[robsblubot 3,253]

9 hours ago, manpe said:

Current crop definitely isn't, our midfield has downgraded massively. And without midfield it doesn't matter how good your defence or attack are, unless you want to bypass midfield completely and play hoofball. We simply have to get a quality midfielder in or we will be watching Gallagher play every game. Also our winger situation is sus.

All in all I think the club has done well at offloading players, but quality wise a lot still needs to be done to make this squad fit for top 4.

Losing players, especially starters and key players, can only be a good thing if the players who stay, or are signed, are at least at the same level of the ones who have left.

The roster is much weaker compared to previous season (quality and experience). There are gaping holes in the wings, with questionable options. The CM situ is certainly concerning even with Caicedo who, compared to Kova, is no more than a very expensive bet (on potential).

Edited July 14, 2023 by robsblubot

[Gundalf 728]

1 hour ago, robsblubot said:

The roster is much weaker compared to previous season (quality and experience).

Only on paper, not on the pitch. Noone of the outgoings will be missed, not even Kante, who was finished anyway.  

[Vegetable 790]

22 minutes ago, Gundalf said:

Only on paper, not on the pitch. Noone of the outgoings will be missed, not even Kante, who was finished anyway.  

Don't know, maths is hard to jump over. Some miracle runs like Ajax in CL are possible, but playing PL twice a week is different thing. Will those fresh signings will be able to step up, create chemistry, develop well and fight for the badge AND magically generate all the advantage that basic experience gives in very short period of time? Difficult task. Lamps laid the biggest blame of our tragic campaign on the squad being too big, but not like Lamps is managing masterclass. Not a fan of Neymar, but still wouldn't mind some experienced player with a name coming here this window. 

On 10/07/2023 at 16:03, MoroccanBlue said:

Going to be nice watching a match where the players aren't knackered after 60mins. 

Maybe, but "the boys getting worked" talk and all that stuff about Poch requiring top fitness + our history from Lamps backroom staff to Foo Fighters physios + some of the players surely wanting to prove a point too much are worrying for me. Hope it won't end up in us pressing Wrexham 90 mins, but losing 3 key players for 6 months because of pointless injuries. AFAIR CHO's and RLC's careers were pretty much ended this way.

 

Edited July 14, 2023 by Vegetable

[Gundalf 728]

19 minutes ago, Vegetable said:

Don't know, maths is hard to jump over. Some miracle runs like Ajax in CL are possible, but playing PL twice a week is different thing. Will those fresh signings will be able to step up, create chemistry, develop well and fight for the badge AND magically generate all the advantage that basic experience gives in very short period of time? Difficult task. Lamps laid the biggest blame of our tragic campaign on the squad being too big, but not like Lamps is managing masterclass. Not a fan of Neymar, but still wouldn't mind some experienced player with a name coming here this window. 

Experience per se has no value on the pitch. If we are talking about experience a la Thiago, so combined with work ethic and guidance for youngsters, then yes, experience a la Neymar? Hell no, this guy would be like a virus destroying everything. I mean we could also just keep Lukaku, he definitely has a lot of experience. Or Auba, HELLA experienced player. But why dont we wanna keep them? Because they have no value for the team. 

There is a difference between being old and being experienced in a useful way. We have experienced players in the squad: Thiago, Reece (despite his age), Chilly, Sterling, they are experienced enough to lead the way.

This has always been a 3 year plan:

• Year 1: change
• Year 2: grow
• Year 3: succeed

Arsenal had a very young team as well last season, only 2 players of their starting XI were over 25. They did kinda the same. Got rid of all their experienced older players (Sokratis, Kolasinac, Martinez, Leno, Mustafi, Mkhitaryan, Willian, David Luiz, Aubameyang) and replaced them with kinda unexperienced young players (Ben White, Odegaard, Smith Rowe, Ramsdale, Lokonga, Tavares and so on), had trust in them, let them grow and succeed.

The funny thing is that they also kinda felt the urge to add in some experience to their squad midseason, buying Jorginho, well, didnt end too well. 

Edited July 14, 2023 by Gundalf

[robsblubot 3,253]

1 hour ago, Gundalf said:

Only on paper, not on the pitch. Noone of the outgoings will be missed, not even Kante, who was finished anyway.  

How do you know that? a crystal ball? (you are the one presenting the "on paper" opinions)

You are comparing absolute question marks with established players who won CL. I have to say that's the kind of BS I can't deal with in these forums. People focus on a season to prove a point and then make up shit up about nobodies who join the club. I remember when folks were obsessed with Sancho here, and he turned out being a pretty average player so far.

Quote

This has always been a 3 year plan:

• Year 1: change
• Year 2: grow
• Year 3: succeed

Oh wow that's some novel idea right there! City will be surprised by our cleverness!

Edited July 14, 2023 by robsblubot

[Vegetable 790]

2 minutes ago, Gundalf said:

There is a difference between being old and being experienced in a useful way. We have experienced players in the squad: Thiago, Reece (despite his age), Chilly, Sterling, they are experienced enough to lead the way.

 

Yeah, absolutely don't want players a'la Neymar, Dembele and alike near the team, I mean Thiago expereience + the simple value of not shitting your pants in CL games or taking pen in CL game. Not getting carded stupid way. Throwing some shithousery a'la Luiz or Rudi. The problem I see with our purged squad is that personally I can hardly see a character, who could lead the way like Thiago, Azpi or even Jorghi did. We all hope for James, that's one, but Chilly, Kepa, Enzo, they seem rather non-explosive people, but maybe it will all come with time.

[Gundalf 728]

Just now, robsblubot said:

How do you know that? a crystal ball? 

You are comparing absolute question marks with established players who won CL. I have to say that's the kind of BS I can't deal with in these forums. People focus on a season to prove a point and then make up shit up about nobodies who join the club. I remember when folks were obsessed with Sancho here, and he turned out being a pretty average player so far.

 

Most of the players we sold were here for more than 1 year, so we had time to assess them over a longer period, and sorry, they are not good enough to attack the league. Maybe the new signings arent good enough for that as well, yes, who knows, but what we know is that some of the players we had were just not good enough for a club with ambitions like Chelsea. We saw it for more than 1 year.

You really tell me you would have kept KK, Pulisic, Mendy or RLC???

[Gundalf 728]

2 minutes ago, Vegetable said:

Yeah, absolutely don't want players a'la Neymar, Dembele and alike near the team, I mean Thiago expereience + the simple value of not shitting your pants in CL games or taking pen in CL game. Not getting carded stupid way. Throwing some shithousery a'la Luiz or Rudi. The problem I see with our purged squad is that personally I can hardly see a character, who could lead the way like Thiago, Azpi or even Jorghi did. We all hope for James, that's one, but Chilly, Kepa, Enzo, they seem rather non-explosive people, but maybe it will all come with time.

I wouldnt say no to an experienced, but PERFORMING and guiding DM or a striker like Giroud. Just dont know who that should be. On paper, Lukaku would be a good fit tbh lol if he just was a better person

[robsblubot 3,253]

16 minutes ago, Gundalf said:

Most of the players we sold were here for more than 1 year, so we had time to assess them over a longer period, and sorry, they are not good enough to attack the league. Maybe the new signings arent good enough for that as well, yes, who knows, but what we know is that some of the players we had were just not good enough for a club with ambitions like Chelsea. We saw it for more than 1 year.

You really tell me you would have kept KK, Pulisic, Mendy or RLC???

KK was a terrible signing and I questioned it from day one--just another case of the grass is always greener which we do a lot of here.

Pulisic is twice the player Mudryk is. It's not just opinion, because Mudryk simply hasn't produce anything remotely close to what Pulisic has, even in his poor seasons, let alone when he was firing in all cylinders. Note that I'm not saying Pulisic is good enough for Chelsea, but there is really no comparison between him and Mudryk right now.

Mendy is/was an excellent goalie who produced a magical season for us. Kepa really hasn't done anything remotely close to good enough at this level. Once again, I'm going with what has already happened vs it has not yet happened.

RLC vs who? Gallagher? former is the better player. Can Gallagher improve? possibly, but then again he may not and what we see is what we get.

[Gundalf 728]

I mean, Cahill is 1 year younger than Thiago.....sign him up? 😏

[Gundalf 728]

3 minutes ago, robsblubot said:

KK was a terrible signing and I questioned it from day one--just another case of the grass is always greener which we do a lot of here.

Pulisic is twice the player Mudryk is. It's not just opinion, because Mudryk simply hasn't produce anything remotely close to what Pulisic has, even in his poor seasons, let alone when he was firing in all cylinders. Note that I'm not saying Pulisic is good enough for Chelsea, but there is really no comparison between him and Mudryk right now.

Mendy is/was an excellent goalie who produced a magical season for us. Kepa really hasn't done anything remotely close to good enough at this level. Once again, I'm going with what has already happened vs it has not yet happened.

RLC vs who? Gallagher? former is the better player. Can Gallagher improve? possibly, but then again he may not and what we see is what we get.

Well the fact that noone other than Saudis or Milan with a veeeery low price wanted these players is just an indicator for how they are valued in the football world. And there must be a reason for that.

Pulisic could have become good but he is too injury prone and sadly that wont change in the future. 

[ZAPHOD2319 3,896]