The Pre-Season Thread

[Mário César 819]

you can't just look at things from the UCL either.

The players won the UCL but it was more Tuchel's merit and mainly for the defense.

do not forget that in the second year of tuchel the only thing that held was the defense because above all the offensive players produced little.

we also won the 2012 ucl and had to take a few to win the championship again in 2015.

just see that with this set of players the league rankings have been poor

it's still early days, it's all still an unknown

besides caicedo, i think we need one more midfielder and at least one more offensive player.I

I would like to have another goalkeeper. I can't imagine a whole season with just kepa. it's suicide. 

 

[robsblubot 3,253]

57 minutes ago, Gundalf said:

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. 

What I wrote above also applies to Kova vs Caicedo. One was a reality even at the time he was signed--coming from Real. The other is an expensive bet from a nothing club. Folks WANT him to succeed, but there are no guarantees at this level. in a couple of years, Caicedo might be the player you want out for being underperforming--not a super unlikely situation either.

Also, doesn't the point above hurt your own argument regarding Kai, and Mount? I mean they went out for big fees and to big clubs.

Saudis are snatching up players who could easily play in many big teams. And they are offering a lot of money so that they choose a non-competitive league. By the numbers alone, it seems they've been even more aggressive than China a few years back.

Pulisic only had 12mo left in his contract, did not want to stay, and was on high wages for his level. All these will push his fee down, evidently. He wasn't really a Chelsea starter, but then again, all bets now on Mudryk and Madueke? good luck to us.

Edited July 14, 2023 by robsblubot

[robsblubot 3,253]

26 minutes ago, Mário César said:

you can't just look at things from the UCL either.

The players won the UCL but it was more Tuchel's merit and mainly for the defense.

do not forget that in the second year of tuchel the only thing that held was the defense because above all the offensive players produced little.

we also won the 2012 ucl and had to take a few to win the championship again in 2015.

just see that with this set of players the league rankings have been poor

it's still early days, it's all still an unknown

besides caicedo, i think we need one more midfielder and at least one more offensive player.I

I would like to have another goalkeeper. I can't imagine a whole season with just kepa. it's suicide. 

 

Wow Tuchel won the CL alone! He may have scored all the goals too! Dominated the midfield with excellent passing and even pressed high, which is remarkable at his age!

Then a moment later he was shit and that nobody from Brighton was the solution to all problems.

[Gundalf 728]

22 minutes ago, robsblubot said:

What I wrote above applies to Kova vs Caicedo. One was a reality even at the time he was signed--coming from Real. The other is an expensive bet from a nothing club. Folks WANT him to succeed, but there are no guarantees at this level. in a couple of years, Caicedo might be the player you want out for being underperforming--not a super unlikely situation either.

Also, doesn't the point above hurt your own argument regarding Kai, and Mount? I mean they went out for big fees and to big clubs.

Saudis are snatching up players who could easily play in many big teams. And they are offering a lot of money so that they choose a non-competitive league. By the numbers alone, it seems they've been even more aggressive than China a few years back.

Pulisic only had 12mo left in his contract, did not want to stay, and was on high wages for his level. All these will push his fee down, evidently. He wasn't really a Chelsea starter, but then again, all bets now on Mudryk and Madueke? good luck to us.

Well with that logic u could never buy a player bc u would never know if the one u buy performs as well as the payer u replace him with. All signings are bets to a certain degree. 

I mean look at Enzo: we basically replaced Jorginho, a proven player and CL winner, with Enzo, a guy that has been playing in Europe for 5 months before we bought him. Big big bet, but sometimes its worth it. If it was up to you, we still would have Jorginho around and no Enzo? 

Havertz and Mount are still young so are of higher value and it was their decision to leave, they wanted to leave, we didnt shove them out, so therefore are more expensive. Remember Poch wanted to keep Mount initially. 

Im talking about the older players around their 30s like Kova, KK, Mendy and co, who need to be replaced anyway at a certain point. And about Pulisic: u said it. He also wanted to leave, just like RLC. No point in keeping them as a backup when they are unhappy. We also wanted to keep Kante initially. 

All the players we sold actually wanted to leave, for different reasons. All of them didnt have Chelsea in their heart anymore. It was the best solution for everyone. 

Edited July 14, 2023 by Gundalf

[robsblubot 3,253]

10 minutes ago, Gundalf said:

Well with that logic u could never buy a player bc u would never know if the one u buy performs as well as the payer u replace him with. All signings are bets to a certain degree. 

I mean look at Enzo: we basically replaced Jorginho, a proven player and CL winner, with Enzo, a guy that has been playing in Europe for 5 months before we bought him. Big big bet, but sometimes its worth it. If it was up to you, we still would have Jorginho around and no Enzo? 

All the players we sold actually wanted to leave, for different reasons. All of them didnt have Chelsea in their heart anymore. It was the best solution for everyone. 

Yeah there is always risk, but my point above was that there is a distinct difference in risk incurred when buying a 25yo rotation player from RM vs a 21yo starter from Brighton.

Was it worth it? Enzo was less of a bet because of his WC performances, but I'd say that he's still pretty much a question mark. I like what I see, but we still need him to deliver the goods.

"All the players we sold actually wanted to leave" yup and I'm afraid that says more about us than them.

Edited July 14, 2023 by robsblubot

[Gundalf 728]

11 minutes ago, robsblubot said:

Yeah there is always risk, but my point above was that there is a distinct difference in risk incurred when buying a 25yo rotation player from RM vs a 21yo starter from Brighton.

Was it worth it? Enzo was less of a bet because of his WC performances, but I'd say that he's still pretty much a question mark. I like what I see, but we still need him to deliver the good.

"All the players we sold actually wanted to leave" yup and I'm afraid that says more about us than them.

I mean, what I saw from Enzo, even considering our season, was more impressive than what I saw from Jorginho in his last year. And these kind of players (Jorgi, Kova, KK, Mendy) had an expiration date anyway bc of their age. 

I wouldnt say its the clubs fault that these players want to leave - all of them were basically backup players, maybe except Havertz (who should have been a backup player the last 3 years lol) they want to play, and if they think they can be starters elsewhere, than they should seek happiness. But thats kinda normal in football, I wouldnt say that the club mistreated them in a way. Look at City, they sold Jesus, they sold Sterling, they sold Zinchenko, they lost Gündogan, they probably will sell Bernardo. And why? Because these players were backup players who wanted to play or just wanted to have a new experience (like Gündo).

Edited July 14, 2023 by Gundalf

[robsblubot 3,253]

10 minutes ago, Gundalf said:

I mean, what I saw from Enzo, even considering our season, was more impressive than what I saw from Jorginho in his last year. And these kind of players (Jorgi, Kova, KK, Mendy) had an expiration date anyway bc of their age. 

I wouldnt say its the clubs fault that these players want to leave - all of them were basically backup players, maybe except Havertz (who should have been a backup player the last 3 years lol) they want to play, and if they think they can be starters elsewhere, than they should seek happiness. But thats kinda normal in football, I wouldnt say that the club mistreated them in a way. Look at City, they sold Jesus, they sold Sterling, they sold Zinchenko, they lost Gündogan, they probably will sell Bernardo. And why? Because these players were backup players who wanted to play or just wanted to have a new experience (like Gündo).

Yeah sure Enzo looks good, but I talk more about actually fitting in a team and winning. "looking good" is only guarantee for some ticket sales.

Kai was a starter and Mount was very close to a starter--perhaps rotation. Nowadays teams never finish the game with the same starting 11 due to the physical demands.

I don't think the club mistreated them, maybe Mount may have a valid point but debatable. I mean that they all saw other clubs, some very close by, as better options... something that perhaps wouldn't have happened before the new ownership.

[NikkiCFC 7,601]

We are flying to USA on Monday. Now it's clear without Caicedo. We don't do business on weekends. 

[ZAPHOD2319 3,896]

 

[ZAPHOD2319 3,896]

Badiashle will not travel to the US so he can keep his recovery very going.

 

 

[James 5,143]

 

[Vytis33 1,053]

 

[Gundalf 728]

 

[NikkiCFC 7,601]

2 hours ago, Gundalf said:

 

It's absolutely true. Wouldn't be surprised if Havertz, Mount and others wanted out so badly because of fans. And they speak to each other so Colwill maybe don't want to engage with that. 

[ZAPHOD2319 3,896]

Fofana did those things with his social media before the knee problem. It has nothing to do with our fan base. 
 

 

[Vytis33 1,053]

 

[Fulham Broadway 16,423]

Chelsea will meet Premier League rivals Manchester City and La Liga leaders Real Madrid on the clubs' pre-season tour.

The Blues have confirmed a five-game pre-season series in the United States to prepare for the 2024-25 campaign.

The two latest fixtures join a line-up that begins with a match against League Two Wrexham on 24 July and is followed by games against Scottish Premiership giants Celtic and Mexican side Club America.

The fixture against City will take place on 3 August at Ohio Stadium in Columbus before the tour concludes against Real on 6 August at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

Chelsea return to the US for the third summer in a row.

[Blue Armour 4,168]

11 hours ago, Fulham Broadway said:

Chelsea will meet Premier League rivals Manchester City and La Liga leaders Real Madrid on the clubs' pre-season tour.

The Blues have confirmed a five-game pre-season series in the United States to prepare for the 2024-25 campaign.

The two latest fixtures join a line-up that begins with a match against League Two Wrexham on 24 July and is followed by games against Scottish Premiership giants Celtic and Mexican side Club America.

The fixture against City will take place on 3 August at Ohio Stadium in Columbus before the tour concludes against Real on 6 August at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

Chelsea return to the US for the third summer in a row.

3 years ago, facing and beating Madrid & City in key CL fixtures.

Now, just a training fixture.

Congratulations Clownlake on taking the club to never before seen heights.