When? How? Why?

[ROTG]

23 hours ago, Bob Singleton said:

I can't see us finishing lower than 15th!  😉

Potentially we could end up being the lowest London club in the PL,  should West Spam have a little spurt. 

[xceleryx]

11 hours ago, Holymoly said:

If we were to go back a year where many "well informed" media types were predicting the demise of Chelsea FC as in their eyes the club was as culpable for the Ukraine war as  Roman Abramovich himself I think quite a few of us would have been prepared to accept a season narrowly missing relegation. People have very short memories, yet very high expectations, especially in football. We told ourselves that we would be in for a period of rebuilding then after losing a couple of games in a row the clamour began blaming the players, the manager and the owners.

The idea is always more appealing than the process half the time, and I think a lot lose sight of that. It also doesn't help that we're Chelsea FC and have a reputation that's been built on the back of always managing to find some success somewhere along the lines, even when we've not necessarily been good. So to see us capitulation like we've done this season has been a real shock to the system for some, more so the younger generations who've virtually grown up through the clubs most successful periods and know no better. 

11 hours ago, Holymoly said:

I have to agree with you. It papered over a multitude of cracks. You could argue that the years leading up to our first European Cup the club was in far ruder health than the same period prior to the second. The mere presence of Eden Hazard in the side masked the deficiencies in many other positions. At the end of the day the CL is really just a glorified knockout competition while the league is a more true barometer of a side's success and we haven't been near that for six years.

It's hard to stomach at times but we will have to learn to accept that success builds slowly, especially nowadays where every team in the league is able to compete at a reasonable level.

Absolutely, this has been brewing for years on end now. We've just always managed to do enough to keep the wolves at bay, and having a talent like Hazard also helped add a bit more polish to the situation. 

I want to see us being a strong domestic side again. We arguably didn't win as many titles as we should've done during those peak years with the old guard, and that always stings a little when you see Man City making the most of their dominance  domestically. We're unlikely to have that opportunity again just because of the way the football landscape has changed, but its still important to see us getting back to that sort of standard again. 

[chiswickblue]

On 01/05/2023 at 06:28, Mark Kelly said:

I remember writing on the old forum "what idiot plays a holding midfielder against Rosenborg?"

What a contrast to now, my kingdom for a holding midfielder!

[Original 21]

23 hours ago, chiswickblue said:

What a contrast to now, my kingdom for a holding midfielder!

That was supposed to be Zakaria wasn’t it? An afterthought like Aubameyang at the end of the transfer window. We were doomed from the start really.

[paulw66]

On 04/05/2023 at 19:01, Original 21 said:

That was supposed to be Zakaria wasn’t it? An afterthought like Aubameyang at the end of the transfer window. We were doomed from the start really.

Completely forgot he existed.