Transfer Talk Topic

[Mark Kelly]

12 minutes ago, thevelourfog said:

I think Lukaku might be coming back, lads.

I hope he can drive a coach.

[McCreadie]

8 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

I hope he can drive a coach.

Timely reminder tonight of just how little we are missing. Got in the way and blocked a teammates goal bound effort and managed to fail with a point blank header from 3 yards, by hitting the keeper when the goal was gaping. He will fit right in…

[ShedMiddle]

10 minutes ago, McCreadie said:

Timely reminder tonight of just how little we are missing. Got in the way and blocked a teammates goal bound effort and managed to fail with a point blank header from 3 yards, by hitting the keeper when the goal was gaping. He will fit right in…

I actually thought he did better tonight than I've seen from him in a Chelsea shirt. At least he moved!  

The header was an okay attempt technically. The block was comical because it's happened several times now. The dragged shot wide was probably the right thing to do despite the commentators comments but, didn't catch it right.

Just hope it's enough for a Saudi team to take a punt.

[Mark Kelly]

36 minutes ago, ShedMiddle said:

 

Just hope it's enough for a Saudi team to take a punt.

Imagine the hilarity when a month in he wants to go back to Inter and they bring out some stone age justice.

[Original 21]

1 hour ago, ShedMiddle said:

Just hope it's enough for a Saudi team to take a punt.

Lukaku couldn’t even get a start ahead of Edin Dzeko who I thought had retired years ago and could barely move. 

[ROTG]

6 hours ago, Blue Orca said:

Given our wastefulness in the transfer market, i feel we could have coped with the risk as both had stepped up considerably the season after they left. 

Eh. 

We brought hazard, Fabregas, Costa in that period. 

Neither were getting near the first team. The same for Lukaku at the time  

look what TB did to the club. “Same era bTW”

[kev61]

2 hours ago, Mark Kelly said:

Imagine the hilarity when a month in he wants to go back to Inter and they bring out some stone age justice.

Like they did with Khashoggi?.A bit over the top,but a few lashes in public might do the trick😉

[kev61]

3 hours ago, McCreadie said:

Timely reminder tonight of just how little we are missing. Got in the way and blocked a teammates goal bound effort and managed to fail with a point blank header from 3 yards, by hitting the keeper when the goal was gaping. He will fit right in…

There should be a thing called 'Lukaku's law'.

Never splurge money on someone that doesn't look like a professional footballer,doesn't behave like a professional footballer,and thinks he is a top professional footballer.

[kev61]

4 hours ago, ShedMiddle said:

 

Just hope it's enough for a Saudi team to take a punt.

He's too young and not known enough for the Saudi's.

 

 

 

[Chelsea_Matt]

7 hours ago, Mark Kelly said:

Imagine the hilarity when a month in he wants to go back to Inter and they bring out some stone age justice.

They’ll doughnut him back to the seventh century where that country belongs 😁

[Max Fowler]

12 hours ago, Sleeping Dave said:

And they accomplished not much else worth of notice. This generation of Chelsea, starting in Lampard first season has only really brought two good things. One CL and a slight change in the clubs strategy to try and utilise at least some of what the academy produces. The rest is best forgotten. Especially some of those seniors that has been downright bloody awful. For me it’s very much a case of ripping it up and starting over.

We've won the Champions League twice in our history though, Dave. Never won the Club World Cup.
Inches away from winning both domestic cups.

Now you look back and say - it wasn't all that special to just win the Champions League. Who are we to talk? Where are we now? When will we ever win it again? I am sorry we only won the CL with these players. Kovacic, Tuchel and co. should take a long hard long at their careers and think - if only we had the guiding hands of Boehly to deliver us back-to-back trebles like we should expect.

Champions League run and win in 2021 was an unbelievable achievement - one of the best nights ever watching Chelsea and even sweeter in some ways even than against Bayern in 2012. 

If we had fully supported Tuchel as Bayern will now, many of these players could have gone onto bigger and better things together - I am certain of it. Mount would have definitely stayed, Kova too. But now they want to leave because the club has become impossible - even for Boehly's chosen son Potter who didn't want any more signings but had them forced upon him.

Edited June 11, 2023 by Max Fowler

[Bison]

6 hours ago, kev61 said:

He's too young and not known enough for the Saudi's.

The Saudis don't pay transfer fees for players unless I'm mistaken. They're all uncomplicated free agent signings. 

[Max Fowler]

Based on last night - if we can sign Onana - what a player.

[Bison]

15 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

Based on last night - if we can sign Onana - what a player.

So, so comfortable on the ball. Better than some of our outfield players. 

[Sleeping Dave]

1 hour ago, Max Fowler said:

We've won the Champions League twice in our history though, Dave. Never won the Club World Cup.
Inches away from winning both domestic cups.

Now you look back and say - it wasn't all that special to just win the Champions League. Who are we to talk? Where are we now? When will we ever win it again? I am sorry we only won the CL with these players. Kovacic, Tuchel and co. should take a long hard long at their careers and think - if only we had the guiding hands of Boehly to deliver us back-to-back trebles like we should expect.

Champions League run and win in 2021 was an unbelievable achievement - one of the best nights ever watching Chelsea and even sweeter in some ways even than against Bayern in 2012. 

If we had fully supported Tuchel as Bayern will now, many of these players could have gone onto bigger and better things together - I am certain of it. Mount would have definitely stayed, Kova too. But now they want to leave because the club has become impossible - even for Boehly's chosen son Potter who didn't want any more signings but had them forced upon him.

Well I did acknowledge that CL was a good thing. What else do you expect me to say? That this generation of Chelsea were on the cusp of world class and the best in our history? No, of course I won’t say that because they aren’t even close. 

The CL 2021 were nothing like that maiden win in 2012. Two main reasons, 1 - that old guard had really deserved to win it and 2 - it was our first win. The win against City, no matter how sweet it was, was more like Liverpool winning it in 2005. Nowhere near the best team in Europe.

Tuchel would never have turned it around. The writing was on the wall, his ideas not having the impact he thought it should have and the start of the season showed that. This squad was on life support and getting such an inexperienced doctor in Potter was in hindsight assisted suicide. 

There is no way back now. We simply have to start over. 

[thevelourfog]

11 minutes ago, Sleeping Dave said:

The CL 2021 were nothing like that maiden win in 2012. Two main reasons, 1 - that old guard had really deserved to win it and 2 - it was our first win. The win against City, no matter how sweet it was, was more like Liverpool winning it in 2005. Nowhere near the best team in Europe.

Not personally bothered by the broader disagreement between you and @Max Fowler here, but I am gonna say I disagree with the bolded bit. 2012 was incredible and nothing will top it for me because it's just a better story ... Like you say, it was a team of legends beyond their best pulling out unexpected after unexpected result. But in 2021, in the CL (and indeed in every competition once Tuchel came in), we were brilliant. Much better than the 2012 side, and by some distance the best team in the CL. We won it by outplaying everyone we came up against, usually comprehensively. We might not feel as much affection for those players or that win and I'd understand why, but I don't see that what you are saying stands up to the facts.

I'd have backed that Chelsea in that period to beat anyone they came up against in Europe when it really mattered. And they did. 

Edited June 11, 2023 by thevelourfog

[Mark Kelly]

54 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

Based on last night - if we can sign Onana - what a player.

Again , he's another one with the talent but is a buffoon.

His distribution last night was superb in fairness .

[Max Fowler]

23 minutes ago, thevelourfog said:

Not personally bothered by the broader disagreement between you and @Max Fowler here, but I am gonna say I disagree with the bolded bit. 2012 was incredible and nothing will top it for me because it's just a better story ... Like you say, it was a team of legends beyond their best pulling out unexpected after unexpected result. But in 2021, in the CL (and indeed in every competition once Tuchel came in), we were brilliant. Much better than the 2012 side, and by some distance the best team in the CL. We won it by outplaying everyone we came up against, usually comprehensively. We might not feel as much affection for those players or that win and I'd understand why, but I don't see that what you are saying stands up to the facts.

I'd have backed that Chelsea in that period to beat anyone they came up against in Europe when it really mattered. And they did. 

Dave is right in the sense that we were nowhere near the best team in Europe on paper in 2021 (why we would never have beaten City in the league), but we were able to overperform and compete in the cups thanks largely to Tuchel.

But IMO - that also proved how having a winning manager can help average-to-good players become world-beaters. And why with a complete lack of management last season, many of the players deserve to be given more of a break.

Are Kovacic etc. on the level on JT, Lamps, Drogba in terms of legacy? Of course not - noone is yet. But he, as an example, made an absolutely outstanding contribution to our team that season and that simply deserves to be recognised.

As does the fact that that CL win was an outstanding achievement - one that may not be replicated in the next decade for us. While we may have once felt entitled to win leagues and CLs, now truly feels like a different time where we can look back and feel grateful for having so many moments in the spotlight and to those involved for creating such incredible memories.

Or we can look back cynically and say - they could have done more. Well where is our next one coming from, then? We gonna win the league or CL under Poch? I genuinely don't think so - even if he can definitely take us back in the right direction.

[thevelourfog]

1 minute ago, Max Fowler said:

Dave is right in the sense that we were nowhere near the best team in Europe on paper in 2021 (why we would never have beaten City in the league), but we were able to overperform and compete in the cups thanks largely to Tuchel.

On paper, no. But on the pitch, in that competition and for that period of time, I think we were.

Didn't last, couldn't last. But it wasn't an against-the-odds type win, or a case of there just being no great teams in the CL that year. We were genuinely brilliant.

[Chelsea_Matt]

42 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

Again , he's another one with the talent but is a buffoon.

His distribution last night was superb in fairness .

Absolutely. We have Thiago to do that from the back. I want a solid shot stopper and cross-catcher with a strong personality to boss the defence. 🫶🏻

[Backbiter]

https://twitter.com/CT02798/status/1667675899985051649?s=20

 

https://twitter.com/Jfamily3502/status/1667805165091422209?s=20

Edited June 11, 2023 by Backbiter

[Max Fowler]

7 minutes ago, Chelsea_Matt said:

Absolutely. We have Thiago to do that from the back. I want a solid shot stopper and cross-catcher with a strong personality to boss the defence. 🫶🏻

Didn't see any personality missing last night.

And the game has moved on - we need a GK with personality on the ball to keep up with City. 

Edou Mendy is arguably the best shot stopper in the world on his day and commanding on crosses - but is just not up to it any more because of his woeful distribution skills.

[Chelsea_Matt]

1 hour ago, Max Fowler said:

Didn't see any personality missing last night.

And the game has moved on - we need a GK with personality on the ball to keep up with City. 

Edou Mendy is arguably the best shot stopper in the world on his day and commanding on crosses - but is just not up to it any more because of his woeful distribution skills.

Best shot stopper in the world 🤣🤣🤣

[Mark Kelly]

7 minutes ago, Chelsea_Matt said:

Best shot stopper in the world 🤣🤣🤣

Yes that was a good one lol. 

[Sleeping Dave]

2 hours ago, thevelourfog said:

Not personally bothered by the broader disagreement between you and @Max Fowler here, but I am gonna say I disagree with the bolded bit. 2012 was incredible and nothing will top it for me because it's just a better story ... Like you say, it was a team of legends beyond their best pulling out unexpected after unexpected result. But in 2021, in the CL (and indeed in every competition once Tuchel came in), we were brilliant. Much better than the 2012 side, and by some distance the best team in the CL. We won it by outplaying everyone we came up against, usually comprehensively. We might not feel as much affection for those players or that win and I'd understand why, but I don't see that what you are saying stands up to the facts.

I'd have backed that Chelsea in that period to beat anyone they came up against in Europe when it really mattered. And they did. 

Sure, I don’t think we disagree here. In a single game we could certainly beat anyone in that run. But our league form was patchy and not really up to scratch with what we produced in the CL. Much like Liverpool in 2005. They were a lot better in the CL compared to the PL and it was much the same for us in 2021. I think the term “best team in Europe” is a difficult term to talk about. But I do think that most people get what I mean when I say that. A purple patch of form for a selected competition during three months doesn’t qualify as “beat in Europe” in my book. For example, I think we were the best team in Europe 2004/05 and possibly also in 2005/06. But we didn’t win the CL either of those seasons, not even making the final.