Transfer Talk Topic

[chara]

9 minutes ago, Ham said:

There's a really fine line between an elite goalkeeper and a very good goalkeeper and I don't believe that either Kepa or Sanchez are that bad at all. 

I checked some stats and found that Courtois and Allison actually conceded goals in football matches.

Nobody worries about that because the teams they play for score goals. 

Thank you Ham...a point I have been trying to emphasis forever...repeat Kepa was/is an "average" epl keeper.....average not an insult...epl has  good and a few very good keepers but I'm still not sure Allison is quite elite but that is judging at the very peak of the game..mvho.... TC is a constant reminder to me that he..for whatever reasons... ruined the Chelsea well planned future after PC and years on we are still paying the price.

[Max Fowler]

25 minutes ago, Ham said:

There's a really fine line between an elite goalkeeper and a very good goalkeeper and I don't believe that either Kepa or Sanchez are that bad at all. 

I checked some stats and found that Courtois and Allison actually conceded goals in football matches.

Nobody worries about that because the teams they play for score goals. 

Alisson and Courtois are elite.

Donnarumma and Ederson might be very good.

Kepa is half decent obviously as Madrid want him.

Sanchez the third choice Brighton keeper is a tier below Kepa.

[Rob B]

19 hours ago, xceleryx said:

I suppose it hinges on how many years we're looking to build over. If we're aiming to be a title challenging side in another 3-4 years time for example, then someone who will be 27 this season probably doesn't fit that timeframe particularly well. Then of course you factor in the injuries on top and I guess the appeal dwindles, even if the player may make an immediate difference. 

He’s 26 - and nigh on exactly a year older than Nkunku.   Can play anywhere behind the striker,  PL proven, and was available for £40m.  

He is the sort of player to take the game by the scruff of the neck with a moment of brilliance and we lack that currently - Madueke, Carney, Mudryk etc are all very talented, but some way off being able to do this. 

[RDCW]

5 hours ago, Morgs said:

Still angry about Saturday by the way. 
 

Anyone else still fuming? 

Of course. Unable to contribute anything rational.

[Blue Moon]

Nope. Didn’t  go, and didn’t watch it on the telly. Good move, I think

[Max Fowler]

Starting 11 vs Forest, had we dropped our "sign no player over 25" policy:

GK: Maignan
LB: Chilwell
CB: Colwill
CB: Thiago Silva
RB: Gusto
CM: Caicedo
CM: Enzo
CM: Gallagher
LW: Maddison
RW: Sterling
ST: L. Martinez

[xceleryx]

4 hours ago, Rob B said:

He’s 26 - and nigh on exactly a year older than Nkunku.   Can play anywhere behind the striker,  PL proven, and was available for £40m.  

He is the sort of player to take the game by the scruff of the neck with a moment of brilliance and we lack that currently - Madueke, Carney, Mudryk etc are all very talented, but some way off being able to do this. 

He's 27 in November, as already outlined. And he comes with a history of knee and hip injuries he's consistently battled since 20/21. 

Don't get me wrong I think Maddison is a good player, and I'd have welcomed him here, but I also understand why he may have been overlooked. Us signing Nkunku may have also been a factor, as they'd largely be competing for the same position.

[xceleryx]

1 hour ago, Max Fowler said:

Starting 11 vs Forest, had we dropped our "sign no player over 25" policy:

GK: Maignan
LB: Chilwell
CB: Colwill
CB: Thiago Silva
RB: Gusto
CM: Caicedo
CM: Enzo
CM: Gallagher
LW: Maddison
RW: Sterling
ST: L. Martinez

Got any factual sources to backup this claimed policy btw, or we just believing everything that comes out in the media now? 

[Bones]

On 03/09/2023 at 05:02, Sleeping Dave said:

If that’s true, just wow. Not that I would put it past them mind, but that’s no way to run a football club. If a player like Maddison becomes available you do everything you can to get him. Not standing by, watching him go to one of your biggest rivals. 

Clowns. 

Maddison would have been perfect for us.

[Chelsea_Matt]

5 hours ago, xceleryx said:

Got any factual sources to backup this claimed policy btw, or we just believing everything that comes out in the media now? 

Funny isn’t it. Those with an agenda believe what they want/need to believe in the 99% made up football media / socials and their default position is “blame the club every time”, especially if we don’t sign the players they want. That the only possibility is that the club messed everything up because their fave YouTube “generational” player of the week didn’t sign. 🤡 🌍 

[Mark Kelly]

Just now, Chelsea_Matt said:

Funny isn’t it. Those with an agenda believe what they want/need to believe in the 99% made up football media / socials and their default position is “blame the club every time”, especially if we don’t sign the players they want. That the only possibility is that the club messed everything up because their fave YouTube “generational” player of the week didn’t sign. 🤡 🌍 

I'm convinced that the clamour on "X" about Mudryk must be because he's "Good in FIFA"

[Box of Tricks]

We just have to strap ourselves in and let the potential deliver through their performances. Eventually.

Hopefully.

I'm not feeling the doom and gloom about our defence, but we need to build some sort of attacking unit (that's greater than 2) and for our sakes it needs to gel as quickly as possible.

If it's a 4-2-3-1, then I'd like to Sterling, Palmer and Madueke in behind Jackson. If it's a 4-3-3 then I'm going with Palmer and Sterling in support of Jackson. We'll soon find out if they have enough goals in them.

 

 

   

[martin1905]

30 minutes ago, Box of Tricks said:

I'm not feeling the doom and gloom about our defence, but we need to build some sort of attacking unit (that's greater than 2) and for our sakes it needs to gel as quickly as possible.

If it's a 4-2-3-1, then I'd like to Sterling, Palmer and Madueke in behind Jackson. If it's a 4-3-3 then I'm going with Palmer and Sterling in support of Jackson. We'll soon find out if they have enough goals in them.

This is key.

We spent pretty much all season playing 4231 so basically having 4 attackers on the pitch plus a very creative Enzo. We all assumed the plan was to bring in Caicedo to allow Enzo more freedom to support the front 4 players. We looked very good in pre season and played some really nice football.

One injury to Nkunku, and it doesn't matter how important he is to the system, you just play someone else there, and we start playing 3 centre half's, 5 defenders, a full back at left wing and a centre half at left back. It's been absolutely disastrous with 4 points from 4 games, all very winnable games, and straight away Champions league qualification looks unlikely and Pochettino is under huge pressure. Pressure he has created all by himself.

It's very easy for those that say it's gonna take time and we are only 4 games in, they are literally stating the obvious and we are all aware of that. Doesn't change the fact that Pochettino has needlessly made the start of our season far more difficult than it needed to be and it could cost us dearly going forward.

I don't care if a manger has been here one day or 10 years you make decisions like he has and you put yourself under scrutiny.

I hear the people that lambast us for not scoring goals, same old same old they say, well when you start games with 2 attacking players on the pitch it's no real suprise. You wouldn't see Pep or Klopp or pretty much anyone else change their entire system because of an injury. You just play someone else and if that means playing kids then so be it. 

I thought Pochettino was better than this, I really did but I'm now hugely concerned about his ability to do the job here. Just look at Tottenham and the start they have had, they've done everything I expected us to do and are flying, full of confidence and the whole fan base is behind the manager. They are loving it.

We look like Graham Potter is still in charge. That's how bad these first 5 games have been and for someone that spends thousands and thousands of pounds every year going week in week out, home and away and all round Europe I feel I'm entitled to have a bit of a moan.

 

Edited September 5, 2023 by martin1905

[ShedMiddle]

16 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

This is key.

We spent pretty much all season playing 4231 so basically having 4 attackers on the pitch plus a very creative Enzo. We all assumed the plan was to bring in Caicedo to allow Enzo more freedom to support the front 4 players. We looked very good in pre season and played some really nice football.

One injury to Nkunku, and it doesn't matter how important he is to the system, you just play someone else there, and we start playing 3 centre half's, 5 defenders, a full back at left wing and a centre half at left back. It's been absolutely disastrous with 4 points from 4 games, all very winnable games, and straight away Champions league qualification looks unlikely and Pochettino is under huge pressure. Pressure he has created all by himself.

It's very easy for those that say it's gonna take time and we are only 4 games in, they are literally stating the obvious and we are all aware of that. Doesn't change the fact that Pochettino has needlessly made the start of our season far more difficult than it needed to be and it could cost us dearly going forward.

I don't care if a manger has been here one day or 10 years you make decisions like he has and you put yourself under scrutiny.

I hear the people that lambast us for not scoring goals, same old same old they say, well when you start games with 2 attacking players on the pitch it's no real suprise. You wouldn't see Pep or Klopp or pretty much anyone else change their entire system because of an injury. You just play someone else and if that means playing kids then so be it. 

I thought Pochettino was better than this, I really did but I'm now hugely concerned about his ability to do the job here. Just look at Tottenham and the start they have had, they've done everything I expected us to do and are flying, full of confidence and the whole fan base is behind the manager. They are loving it.

We look like Graham Potter is still in charge. That's how bad these first 5 games have been and for someone that spends thousands and thousands of pounds every year going week in week out, home and away and all round Europe I feel I'm entitled to have a bit of a moan.

 

Agree with all this. Couldn't believe the lineup against Forest. Everyone around me said the same before a ball was kicked. How can we all see it but, the manager can't. 

People slating Mudryk but, he was only brought on late in the game. He is low on confidence and as a result trying too hard in my opinion. Saw a stat that Silva and Diasi have the most touches in the league behind Rodri! It's so boring and sucks all the enthusiasm out of us fans!

[Mark Kelly]

33 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

This is key.

We spent pretty much all season playing 4231 so basically having 4 attackers on the pitch plus a very creative Enzo. We all assumed the plan was to bring in Caicedo to allow Enzo more freedom to support the front 4 players. We looked very good in pre season and played some really nice football.

One injury to Nkunku, and it doesn't matter how important he is to the system, you just play someone else there, and we start playing 3 centre half's, 5 defenders, a full back at left wing and a centre half at left back. It's been absolutely disastrous with 4 points from 4 games, all very winnable games, and straight away Champions league qualification looks unlikely and Pochettino is under huge pressure. Pressure he has created all by himself.

It's very easy for those that say it's gonna take time and we are only 4 games in, they are literally stating the obvious and we are all aware of that. Doesn't change the fact that Pochettino has needlessly made the start of our season far more difficult than it needed to be and it could cost us dearly going forward.

I don't care if a manger has been here one day or 10 years you make decisions like he has and you put yourself under scrutiny.

I hear the people that lambast us for not scoring goals, same old same old they say, well when you start games with 2 attacking players on the pitch it's no real suprise. You wouldn't see Pep or Klopp or pretty much anyone else change their entire system because of an injury. You just play someone else and if that means playing kids then so be it. 

I thought Pochettino was better than this, I really did but I'm now hugely concerned about his ability to do the job here. Just look at Tottenham and the start they have had, they've done everything I expected us to do and are flying, full of confidence and the whole fan base is behind the manager. They are loving it.

We look like Graham Potter is still in charge. That's how bad these first 5 games have been and for someone that spends thousands and thousands of pounds every year going week in week out, home and away and all round Europe I feel I'm entitled to have a bit of a moan.

 

This is spot on , it's like something has scared Pochettino into defensive mode .

Worryingly if you listen to his post match comments he appears to believe everything is rosy in the garden and although we are a far more forward thinking outfit that Potters side we are still playing safety first football.

I get that the idea of constantly moving the ball about is to pull the opposition out of shape but neither West Ham or Forest fell for it staying rigidly in their banks of ten  , all that happens is that we confuse ourselves and make mistakes near our own goal which are then jumped upon by the opposition and invariably lead to goals . 

If we can see this , one wonders why Pochettino cannot or will not .

[Morgs]

Thoroughly despondent this morning. 

Its one of those mornings when you look through Newsnow for the aggregated Chelsea news and spend twenty minutes reading all sorts and wishing you hadn't wasted your time. 

Some thoughts while I wait for the printer to warm up. 

REPETITION. PREDICTABLE REPETITION. 

What haunts me from Saturday is the chilling familiarity of it all. Its like watching one of those cookie cutter late 80s mid-90s horror flicks. We watch our blonde heroine go into the dark house alone and we know what is going to happen. She goes up the stairs and we see the curtain move. She has no idea she has mere seconds to live as some unspeakable horror is lurking in the shadows to steal her eyes or eviscerate her or disembowel her or whatever. You are tense watching it but there is no reason to be tense because you know what is going to happen. Saturday was like that.

We move the ball slowly, get kicked and pressed off the park, get no protection from card and whistle-happy Ref and have thirteen efforts on goal, all but a couple get blocked. We probe and pass, probe and pass, probe and pass and then make one mistake and boom - 0-1.  Forest worked hard against Chelsea, got bodies in front of the ball, hunted in packs, kept their pressing energy high and the Ref gave them the leeway to be over-physical. They ensured Chelsea could not match their physicality, they appealed for everything, wasted time, frustrate, kicked, pushed, prevented and then they got a result.

Why must every s**t team that is destined for a relegation fight come to Chelsea and turn into prime Barca for no reason, get all the luck, all the breaks, every loose ball, every 50/50, every decision etc, and then go back to being abject s***e again the following week? 

We were unlucky against West Ham and Forest will not get luckier than that all season. The thing is if you work hard against Chelsea, get bodies in front of the ball, hunt in packs, keep your pressing energy high and the Ref gives you the leeway to be over-physical and ensure Chelsea cannot match your physicality, appeal for everything, waste time, frustrate, kick, push, prevent and then you will get a result, a point is wide open to take if stop Chelsea from scoring. If you get a bit of luck you'll get all three points. 

Everyone knows this. Forest was the worst case of this - even with them doing all of the above and them quieting the Bridge down, ensuring the fans start to get restless and get on the players' backs, we still got a couple of chances but we didn't have the quality to slot them away.  

Teams know how to play us.  They wouldn't try doing this so much if it wasn't so invariably successful. Luton came close to doing this in the one game we did manage to nick the points in: 3-0 flattered us in the end. We can expect this from every other team in the league barring Liverpool, Arsenal and City and it is no coincidence that we played our best football this season against a Liverpool side who DID NOT play us this way. 

It is a day off for opposing managers. Eschewing actual tactics or doing any preparation for the game, all he has to do is tell his team work to hard against Chelsea, get bodies in front of the ball, hunt in packs, keep your pressing energy high and the Ref gives you the leeway to be over-physical. Ensure Chelsea cannot match your physicality, appeal for everything, waste time, frustrate, kick, push, prevent and then you will get a result. Teams like playing us as its not complicated. There aren't great tactical game plans or things to remember during the game. You just have to work hard. 

Its gotten so bad now that teams look at games against us coming up as the only bankers there are in the Prem these days. You don't look forward to your relegation scraps or games against the weaker teams any more and they are almighty fights and everyone has quality in their sides that can hurt you. You aren't guaranteed the points against anyone these days. There is no such thing as a "should win" game.  Except from us. It is an old adage that there are no easy games at the top or bottom and that's true, apart from us. 

Games against us are a valuable chance to build shattered confidence and get some much needed points on the board even when, in fact ESPECIALLY when, your side is struggling. Forest hadn't won away in the Prem since I was at school and dinosaurs roamed the Earth! All they had to do was work hard against Chelsea, get bodies in front of the ball, hunt in packs, keep their pressing energy high and the Ref gave them the leeway to be over-physical and ensure Chelsea cannot match their physicality, they appealed for everything, wasted time, frustrated, kicked, pushed, prevented.... and then they got a result. The lustre of beating Chelsea should really be diminished these days as more or less everyone does it but the amount of money we have spent and the all-too-painful limitations of the playing staff we've brought in - yes Robert Sanchez I am looking at you - means it still has a lazy and all-too-predictable slant with the media. We are a crap mid-table side, except for when relegation threatened basement dwellers beat us and then the all-too-hackneyed DaVID Vs GoLiAtH trope is trotted out, conveniently forgetting that Forest have probably signed more players than we have. The media will go back to hammering them for their ownership and transfer market profligacy and cheering every step they take toward the Championship next week but for now they are plucky, hard working, working class Forest who came to Goliath's den and bested him with pluck and bravery and.... ugh I feel sick. 

People have often wondered what it would be like if we got relegated. Last time we did it, we were "the boys in blue from division two but we wont be here for long' - and we weren't. We went straight up. 

Wouldn't it be nice to have a successful season of winning games and getting promoted, even if it was from the Championship? 

Honestly no. If you think the media slant and lazy big vs small, money vs history, hard work vs tory scum, north vs south silliness we get in the media is bad now, wait til we go down.  You think the lack of fair protection from Refs and VAR is bad now, wait til we go to the Championship. It would be like the Forest game every week. Not one single person outside of Chelsea would want to see us even score a goal let alone get promoted. Every dropped point would be met with snide derision and wild deliriousness from the rest of the UK. Money cant buy class. Money cant buy results. If we went down we'd be staying there only until the club went into financial meltdown and we ended up getting relegated again. Doing a Pompey or Sunderland. 

So the thing is - what can we possibly hope for this season if we have this happen week in week out? Where teams work hard against Chelsea, get bodies in front of the ball, hunt in packs, keep their pressing energy high and the Ref gives them the leeway to be over-physical. Ensure Chelsea cannot match their physicality, they appeal for everything, waste time, frustrate, kick, push, prevent and then they get a result. How many games can we hope to win against this formula? 

If 80% of your shots are getting blocked and there is no room to move the ball into, no space to run into, just massed ranks of players in front of you determined not to venture out of their own half, then what is the point in buying pace and trickery? If you cant give him the service then what is the point in dropping a hundred mil on a genuinely world class striker, as everyone seems to think will solve all our problems? If your wingbacks are getting pressed out of games and cannot get good crosses in because they don't have the room and are spending most of the game stopped looking for a short pass backwards, then what use is having a striker? What use is one six foot striker in a box dominated by several six foot four giants? Is it any wonder we can never do anything from a set piece when you're playing against giants who dominate in the air? What is the point in having creative midfielders if there is no way of passing through the massed ranks ahead of them?  If teams are quite happy to cede possession to us in our own half and just block and press any attempt to get anywhere near their box, then how do you see things working if that is all we have the freedom to do? If that's all we can do and the other team are fine to let us, then how are we going to score goals? 

These are questions that were asked of Tuchel, Potter, Lampard and Poch and none have been able to answer them. 

What the club fail to understand is that until we can match the physicality and aggression of the other team, we can only do what has already been done.  Teams work to hard against Chelsea, get bodies in front of the ball, hunt in packs, keep their pressing energy high and the Ref gives them the leeway to be over-physical. Ensure Chelsea cannot match their physicality, appeal for everything, waste time, frustrate, kick, push, prevent and then they will get a result. Sound familiar yet?

Einstein said that "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."

You don't need to be a great mind like him to understand that if you do as you have always done then you will get what you have always got. 

The crux of it is this:

If we had a front two of Haaland and Mbappe, Sane and Neymar on the wings and Kevin de Bruyne in the hole, we'd still struggle to score goals because teams would still set up the same way against us. 

Why? 

Because we aren't good enough at the back to make hitting us on the break a hopeless venture. We have a crap keeper. We are absolutely there for the taking if you work hard against Chelsea, get bodies in front of the ball, hunt in packs, keep your pressing energy high and the Ref gives you the leeway to be over-physical. Ensure Chelsea cannot match your physicality, appeal for everything, waste time, frustrate, kick, push, prevent and then you will get a result. You only need one chance against us. 

Until that changes we will never have success. 

I'm off to go drink some bleach. 

Edited September 5, 2023 by Morgs

[Mark Kelly]

2 minutes ago, Morgs said:

Thoroughly despondent this morning. 

Its one of those mornings when you look through Newsnow for the aggregated Chelsea news and spend twenty minutes reading all sorts and wishing you hadn't wasted your time. 

Some thoughts while I wait for the printer to warm up. 

REPETITION. PREDICTABLE REPETITION. 

What haunts me from Saturday is the chilling familiarity of it all. Its like watching one of those cookie cutter late 80s mid-90s horror flicks. We watch our blonde heroine go into the dark house alone and we know what is going to happen. She goes up the stairs and we see the curtain move. She has no idea she has mere seconds to live as some unspeakable horror is lurking in the shadows to steal her eyes or eviscerate her or disembowel her or whatever. You are tense watching it but there is no reason to be tense because you know what is going to happen. Saturday was like that. We move the ball slowly, get kicked and pressed off the park, get no protection from card and whistle-happy Ref and have thirteen efforts on goal, all but a couple get blocked. We probe and pass, probe and pass, probe and pass and then make one mistake and boom - 0-1.  Forest worked hard against Chelsea, got bodies in front of the ball, hunted in packs, kept their pressing energy high and the Ref gave them the leeway to be over-physical. They ensured Chelsea could not match their physicality, they appealed for everything, wasted time, frustrate, kicked, pushed, prevented and then they got a result.

Why must every s**t team that is destined for a relegation fight come to Chelsea and turn into prime Barca for no reason, get all the luck, all the breaks, every loose ball, every 50/50, every decision etc, and then go back to being abject s***e again the following week? 

We were unlucky against West Ham and Forest will not get luckier than that all season. The thing is if you work hard against Chelsea, get bodies in front of the ball, hunt in packs, keep your pressing energy high and the Ref gives you the leeway to be over-physical and ensure Chelsea cannot match your physicality, appeal for everything, waste time, frustrate, kick, push, prevent and then you will get a result, a point is wide open to take if stop Chelsea from scoring. If you get a bit of luck you'll get all three points. 

Everyone knows this. Forest was the worst case of this - every with them doing all of the above and them quieting the Bridge down, ensuring the fans start to get restless and get on the players' backs, we still got a couple of chances and we didn't have the quality to slot them away.  

Teams know how to play us.  They wouldn't try doing this so much if it wasn't so invariably successful. Luton came close to doing this in the one game we did manage to nick the points in. We can expect this from every other team in the league barring Liverpool, Arsenal and City and it is no coincidence that we played our best football this season against a Liverpool side who DID NOT play us this way. 

It is a day off for opposing managers. Eschewing actual tactics or doing any preparation for the game, all he has to do is tell his team work to hard against Chelsea, get bodies in front of the ball, hunt in packs, keep your pressing energy high and the Ref gives you the leeway to be over-physical. Ensure Chelsea cannot match your physicality, appeal for everything, waste time, frustrate, kick, push, prevent and then you will get a result. Teams like playing us as its not complicated. There arent great tactical game plans or things to remember during the game. You just have to work hard. 

Its gotten so bad now that teams look at games against us coming up as the only bankers there are in the Prem these days. You don't look forward to your relegation scraps or games against the weaker teams any more and they are almighty fights and everyone has quality in their sides that can hurt you. You aren't guaranteed the points against anyone these days. There is no such thing as a "should win" game.  Except from us. It is an old adage that there are no easy games at the top or bottom and that's true, apart from us. 

Games against us are a valuable chance to build shattered confidence and get some much needed points on the board even when, in fact ESPECIALLY when, your side is struggling. Forest hadn't won away in the Prem since I was at school and dinosaurs roamed the Earth! All they had to do was work hard against Chelsea, get bodies in front of the ball, hunt in packs, keep their pressing energy high and the Ref gave them the leeway to be over-physical and ensure Chelsea cannot match their physicality, they appealed for everything, wasted time, frustrated, kicked, pushed, prevented.... and then they got a result. The lustre of beating Chelsea should really be diminished these days as more or less everyone does it but the amount of money we have spent and the all-too-painful limitations of the playing staff we've brought in - yes Robert Sanchez I am looking at you - means it still has a lazy and all-too-predictable slant with the media. We are a crap mid-table side, except for when relegation threatened basement dwellers beat us and then the all-too-hackneyed DaVID Vs GoLiAtH trope is trotted out, conveniently forgetting that Forest have probably signed more players than we have. The media will go back to hammering them for their ownership and transfer market profligacy and cheering every step they take toward the Championship next week but for now they are plucky, hard working, working class Forest who came to Goliath's den and bested him with pluck and bravery and.... ugh I feel sick. 

People have often wondered what it would be like if we got relegated. Last time we did it, we were "the boys in blue from division two but we wont be here for long' - and we weren't. We went straight up. 

Wouldn't it be nice to have a successful season of winning games and getting promoted, even if it was from the Championship? 

Honestly no. If you think the media slant and lazy big vs small, money vs history, hard work vs tory scum, north vs south silliness we get in the media is bad now, wait til we go down.  You think the lack of fair protection from Refs and VAR is bad now, wait til we go to the Championship. It would be like the Forest game every week. Not one single person outside of Chelsea would want to see us even score a goal let alone get promoted. Every dropped point would be met with snide derision and wild deliriousness from the rest of the UK. Money cant buy class. Money cant buy results. If we went down we'd be staying there only until the club went into financial meltdown and we ended up getting relegated again. Doing a Pompey or Sunderland. 

So the thing is - what can we possibly hope for this season if we have this happen week in week out? Where teams work hard against Chelsea, get bodies in front of the ball, hunt in packs, keep their pressing energy high and the Ref gives them the leeway to be over-physical. Ensure Chelsea cannot match their physicality, they appeal for everything, waste time, frustrate, kick, push, prevent and then they get a result. How many games can we hope to win against this formula? 

If 80% of your shots are getting blocked and there is no room to move the ball into, no space to run into, just massed ranks of players in front of you determined not to venture out of their own half, then what is the point in buying pace and trickery? If you cant give him the service then what is the point in dropping a hundred mil on a genuinely world class striker, as everyone seems to think will solve all our problems? If your wingbacks are getting pressed out of games and cannot get good crosses in because they don't have the room and are spending most of the game stopped looking for a short pass backwards, then what use is having a striker? What use is one six foot striker in a box dominated by several six foot four giants? Is it any wonder we can never do anything from a set piece when you're playing against giants who dominate in the air? What is the point in having creative midfielders if there is no way of passing through the massed ranks ahead of them?  If teams are quite happy to cede possession to us in our own half and just block and press any attempt to get anywhere near their box, then how do you see things working if that is all we have the freedom to do? If that's all we can do and the other team are fine to let us, then how are we going to score goals? 

These are questions that were asked of Tuchel, Potter, Lampard and Poch and none have been able to answer them. 

What the club fail to understand is that until we can match the physicality and aggression of the other team, we can only do what has already been done.  Teams work to hard against Chelsea, get bodies in front of the ball, hunt in packs, keep their pressing energy high and the Ref gives them the leeway to be over-physical. Ensure Chelsea cannot match their physicality, appeal for everything, waste time, frustrate, kick, push, prevent and then they will get a result. Sound familiar yet?

Einstein said that "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."

You don't need to be a great mind like him to understand that if you do as you have always done then you will get what you have always got. 

The crux of it is this:

If we had a front two of Haaland and Mbappe, Sane and Neymar on the wings and Kevin de Bruyne in the hole, we'd still struggle to score goals because teams would still set up the same way against us. 

Why? 

Because we aren't good enough at the back to make hitting us on the break a hopeless venture. We have a crap keeper. We are absolutely there for the taking if you work hard against Chelsea, get bodies in front of the ball, hunt in packs, keep your pressing energy high and the Ref gives you the leeway to be over-physical. Ensure Chelsea cannot match your physicality, appeal for everything, waste time, frustrate, kick, push, prevent and then you will get a result. You only need one chance against us. 

Until that changes we will never have success. 

I'm off to go drink some bleach. 

I honestly believe the best course of action for Chelsea going forward is to do the same that they do to us . 

Take the kick off , boot it straight to their left back and get into two banks of five and do to everyone else what they do to us and when they invariably make the mistakes that we normally  do , pounce.

Give other clubs the impetus to attack us and break us down and see how they like it .

Get Pochettino to dig deep into his "Big book of Spurs Argentinian dark arts" and collectively foul , scream when tackled , spoil miles away from our goal and feign injury every five minutes

And complain like fuck to the PGMOL and media every single time that they screw us over until they stop doing it . 

Every game come out and ask how the side with 75% possession managed to make three times as many yellow card challenges as those trying to stop us.

Be as much a pain in the arse to them as they are to us. 

We are not here to entertain , we are here to win football matches .

[Morgs]

6 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

I honestly believe the best course of action for Chelsea going forward is to do the same that they do to us . 

Take the kick off , boot it straight to their left back and get into two banks of five and do to everyone else what they do to us and when they invariably make the mistakes that we normally  do , pounce.

Give other clubs the impetus to attack us and break us down and see how they like it .

Get Pochettino to dig deep into his "Big book of Spurs Argentinian dark arts" and collectively foul , scream when tackled , spoil miles away from our goal and feign injury every five minutes

And complain like fuck to the PGMOL and media every single time that they screw us over until they stop doing it . 

Every game come out and ask how the side with 75% possession managed to make three times as many yellow card challenges as those trying to stop us.

Be as much a pain in the arse to them as they are to us. 

We are not here to entertain , we are here to win football matches .

HALLELUJAH!!!! I could not agree more, Mark. 

"I agree" doesnt cover it - you are absolutely bang right on the money here. Spot b*llock on mate, superb. Absolutely right. 

I've often thought Simeone would be amazing for us. 

Edited September 5, 2023 by Morgs

[Mark Kelly]

[Ham]

22 minutes ago, Morgs said:

Thoroughly despondent this morning. 

Its one of those mornings when you look through Newsnow for the aggregated Chelsea news and spend twenty minutes reading all sorts and wishing you hadn't wasted your time. 

Some thoughts while I wait for the printer to warm up. 

REPETITION. PREDICTABLE REPETITION. 

What haunts me from Saturday is the chilling familiarity of it all. Its like watching one of those cookie cutter late 80s mid-90s horror flicks. We watch our blonde heroine go into the dark house alone and we know what is going to happen. She goes up the stairs and we see the curtain move. She has no idea she has mere seconds to live as some unspeakable horror is lurking in the shadows to steal her eyes or eviscerate her or disembowel her or whatever. You are tense watching it but there is no reason to be tense because you know what is going to happen. Saturday was like that.

We move the ball slowly, get kicked and pressed off the park, get no protection from card and whistle-happy Ref and have thirteen efforts on goal, all but a couple get blocked. We probe and pass, probe and pass, probe and pass and then make one mistake and boom - 0-1.  Forest worked hard against Chelsea, got bodies in front of the ball, hunted in packs, kept their pressing energy high and the Ref gave them the leeway to be over-physical. They ensured Chelsea could not match their physicality, they appealed for everything, wasted time, frustrate, kicked, pushed, prevented and then they got a result.

Why must every s**t team that is destined for a relegation fight come to Chelsea and turn into prime Barca for no reason, get all the luck, all the breaks, every loose ball, every 50/50, every decision etc, and then go back to being abject s***e again the following week? 

We were unlucky against West Ham and Forest will not get luckier than that all season. The thing is if you work hard against Chelsea, get bodies in front of the ball, hunt in packs, keep your pressing energy high and the Ref gives you the leeway to be over-physical and ensure Chelsea cannot match your physicality, appeal for everything, waste time, frustrate, kick, push, prevent and then you will get a result, a point is wide open to take if stop Chelsea from scoring. If you get a bit of luck you'll get all three points. 

Everyone knows this. Forest was the worst case of this - even with them doing all of the above and them quieting the Bridge down, ensuring the fans start to get restless and get on the players' backs, we still got a couple of chances but we didn't have the quality to slot them away.  

Teams know how to play us.  They wouldn't try doing this so much if it wasn't so invariably successful. Luton came close to doing this in the one game we did manage to nick the points in: 3-0 flattered us in the end. We can expect this from every other team in the league barring Liverpool, Arsenal and City and it is no coincidence that we played our best football this season against a Liverpool side who DID NOT play us this way. 

It is a day off for opposing managers. Eschewing actual tactics or doing any preparation for the game, all he has to do is tell his team work to hard against Chelsea, get bodies in front of the ball, hunt in packs, keep your pressing energy high and the Ref gives you the leeway to be over-physical. Ensure Chelsea cannot match your physicality, appeal for everything, waste time, frustrate, kick, push, prevent and then you will get a result. Teams like playing us as its not complicated. There aren't great tactical game plans or things to remember during the game. You just have to work hard. 

Its gotten so bad now that teams look at games against us coming up as the only bankers there are in the Prem these days. You don't look forward to your relegation scraps or games against the weaker teams any more and they are almighty fights and everyone has quality in their sides that can hurt you. You aren't guaranteed the points against anyone these days. There is no such thing as a "should win" game.  Except from us. It is an old adage that there are no easy games at the top or bottom and that's true, apart from us. 

Games against us are a valuable chance to build shattered confidence and get some much needed points on the board even when, in fact ESPECIALLY when, your side is struggling. Forest hadn't won away in the Prem since I was at school and dinosaurs roamed the Earth! All they had to do was work hard against Chelsea, get bodies in front of the ball, hunt in packs, keep their pressing energy high and the Ref gave them the leeway to be over-physical and ensure Chelsea cannot match their physicality, they appealed for everything, wasted time, frustrated, kicked, pushed, prevented.... and then they got a result. The lustre of beating Chelsea should really be diminished these days as more or less everyone does it but the amount of money we have spent and the all-too-painful limitations of the playing staff we've brought in - yes Robert Sanchez I am looking at you - means it still has a lazy and all-too-predictable slant with the media. We are a crap mid-table side, except for when relegation threatened basement dwellers beat us and then the all-too-hackneyed DaVID Vs GoLiAtH trope is trotted out, conveniently forgetting that Forest have probably signed more players than we have. The media will go back to hammering them for their ownership and transfer market profligacy and cheering every step they take toward the Championship next week but for now they are plucky, hard working, working class Forest who came to Goliath's den and bested him with pluck and bravery and.... ugh I feel sick. 

People have often wondered what it would be like if we got relegated. Last time we did it, we were "the boys in blue from division two but we wont be here for long' - and we weren't. We went straight up. 

Wouldn't it be nice to have a successful season of winning games and getting promoted, even if it was from the Championship? 

Honestly no. If you think the media slant and lazy big vs small, money vs history, hard work vs tory scum, north vs south silliness we get in the media is bad now, wait til we go down.  You think the lack of fair protection from Refs and VAR is bad now, wait til we go to the Championship. It would be like the Forest game every week. Not one single person outside of Chelsea would want to see us even score a goal let alone get promoted. Every dropped point would be met with snide derision and wild deliriousness from the rest of the UK. Money cant buy class. Money cant buy results. If we went down we'd be staying there only until the club went into financial meltdown and we ended up getting relegated again. Doing a Pompey or Sunderland. 

So the thing is - what can we possibly hope for this season if we have this happen week in week out? Where teams work hard against Chelsea, get bodies in front of the ball, hunt in packs, keep their pressing energy high and the Ref gives them the leeway to be over-physical. Ensure Chelsea cannot match their physicality, they appeal for everything, waste time, frustrate, kick, push, prevent and then they get a result. How many games can we hope to win against this formula? 

If 80% of your shots are getting blocked and there is no room to move the ball into, no space to run into, just massed ranks of players in front of you determined not to venture out of their own half, then what is the point in buying pace and trickery? If you cant give him the service then what is the point in dropping a hundred mil on a genuinely world class striker, as everyone seems to think will solve all our problems? If your wingbacks are getting pressed out of games and cannot get good crosses in because they don't have the room and are spending most of the game stopped looking for a short pass backwards, then what use is having a striker? What use is one six foot striker in a box dominated by several six foot four giants? Is it any wonder we can never do anything from a set piece when you're playing against giants who dominate in the air? What is the point in having creative midfielders if there is no way of passing through the massed ranks ahead of them?  If teams are quite happy to cede possession to us in our own half and just block and press any attempt to get anywhere near their box, then how do you see things working if that is all we have the freedom to do? If that's all we can do and the other team are fine to let us, then how are we going to score goals? 

These are questions that were asked of Tuchel, Potter, Lampard and Poch and none have been able to answer them. 

What the club fail to understand is that until we can match the physicality and aggression of the other team, we can only do what has already been done.  Teams work to hard against Chelsea, get bodies in front of the ball, hunt in packs, keep their pressing energy high and the Ref gives them the leeway to be over-physical. Ensure Chelsea cannot match their physicality, appeal for everything, waste time, frustrate, kick, push, prevent and then they will get a result. Sound familiar yet?

Einstein said that "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."

You don't need to be a great mind like him to understand that if you do as you have always done then you will get what you have always got. 

The crux of it is this:

If we had a front two of Haaland and Mbappe, Sane and Neymar on the wings and Kevin de Bruyne in the hole, we'd still struggle to score goals because teams would still set up the same way against us. 

Why? 

Because we aren't good enough at the back to make hitting us on the break a hopeless venture. We have a crap keeper. We are absolutely there for the taking if you work hard against Chelsea, get bodies in front of the ball, hunt in packs, keep your pressing energy high and the Ref gives you the leeway to be over-physical. Ensure Chelsea cannot match your physicality, appeal for everything, waste time, frustrate, kick, push, prevent and then you will get a result. You only need one chance against us. 

Until that changes we will never have success. 

I'm off to go drink some bleach. 

I don't agree with everything you've written but I love the way you've written it 👏👏

[asvaberg]

1 hour ago, martin1905 said:

We look like Graham Potter is still in charge. That's how bad these first 5 games have been and for someone that spends thousands and thousands of pounds every year going week in week out, home and away and all round Europe I feel I'm entitled to have a bit of a moan.

 

You have my deepest sympathy 🙂 

Edited September 5, 2023 by asvaberg

[boratsbrother]

Sancho will probably be available in January or next summer. I just hope we are not stupid enough to go in for that hugely overrated flop, even at a bargain basement price.

[Sleeping Dave]

1 hour ago, Morgs said:

 

Why must every s**t team that is destined for a relegation fight come to Chelsea and turn into prime Barca for no reason, get all the luck, all the breaks, every loose ball, every 50/50, every decision etc, and then go back to being abject s***e again the following week? 

 

Because we are not very good and despite all the money we’ve spent, still suffer from weaknesses so obvious they are flashing at you in bright red. 

Weak spine. Bad goalkeeper. No top class central defender and no goals in the side. The chief problems are nowhere nearer to being solved. £1bn spent and we still have the same issues. I mean, that takes a set of clowns to manage to achieve that. I can guarantee you that I would have built a much better and more balanced squad if the choices were up to me. 100%. 

[Mark Kelly]

2 minutes ago, Sleeping Dave said:

Because we are not very good and despite all the money we’ve spent, still suffer from weaknesses so obvious they are flashing at you in bright red. 

Weak spine. Bad goalkeeper. No top class central defender and no goals in the side. The chief problems are nowhere nearer to being solved. £1bn spent and we still have the same issues. I mean, that takes a set of clowns to manage to achieve that. I can guarantee you that I would have built a much better and more balanced squad if the choices were up to me. 100%. 

I said earlier that we used to have a midfield three with no goals in them , we managed to ship them out and buy a totally new midfield three that cost £265M and has no goals in it. 

Nice work if you can get it. 

[Chelsea_Matt]

1 hour ago, Morgs said:

HALLELUJAH!!!! I could not agree more, Mark. 

"I agree" doesnt cover it - you are absolutely bang right on the money here. Spot b*llock on mate, superb. Absolutely right. 

I've often thought Simeone would be amazing for us. 

“There’s no such thing as beautiful football or ugly football. Just winning football” - Dennis Wise