The Official Chelsea Thread [Vol 3]
Discussion
GT03ROB said:
This clearly was the strategy. As high risk strategies goes it is right up there. If it works its genius. They have recruited some very talented kids. There's a few the jury is out on. If they can avoid having to sell in the summer other than the clear deadwood, next season could be more interesting. With kids its confidence & at the moment the confidence is there so the results are coming. The season will end well.
People will say these players are not world class, but you don;t normally define that until they are the other side of 25. That means 3 more years of development for the likes of Palmer, Jackson, Gusto, Mudryk.
Chelseas fans have over the last 20 years grown used to instant success, patience has not been needed. Last season was a clusterf
k by any measure. This one has at least seen something & should probably have seen more.
The owners seem pretty bullish about FFP at the moment - sales of loan players alone probably cover any shortfall. People will say these players are not world class, but you don;t normally define that until they are the other side of 25. That means 3 more years of development for the likes of Palmer, Jackson, Gusto, Mudryk.
Chelseas fans have over the last 20 years grown used to instant success, patience has not been needed. Last season was a clusterf
k by any measure. This one has at least seen something & should probably have seen more. (Lukaku, Hall, Maatsen + others)
Its proven too much for lots of fans to actually grin and bear the off days rather than b
h moan and judge. But right now , even Caicedo looks not unreasonably expensive. But what really bugs me is Chelsea fans taking kneejerk takes from pundits/journos/social media and repeating it as if its gospel.
Its the opposite of supportive.
Dblue said:
The owners seem pretty bullish about FFP at the moment - sales of loan players alone probably cover any shortfall.
(Lukaku, Hall, Maatsen + others)
You signed Lukaku for €113m in 2021, on a 4 year contract. His contract expires in summer 2025. He has one year left, so you have to deduct the remaining €28.25m from any transfer this summer, before you can record any profit against him. Sell him for €30m and you've made €1.75m.....(Lukaku, Hall, Maatsen + others)
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Last game of the WSL today. Level on points with City, but we have a +2 goal difference on them. But they have a much easier game, Villa away, a game they could win 5 or 6-0. We have Man U away. Will be tough to win but we won't win by a big margin.
Chelsea 0-2 up after 7 mins. Brilliant performance so far. As it stands, Citeh need 4 at Villa.
CT05 Nose Cone said:
What a strange season. At the start of the season I think most would have accepted 6th and a cup final, there is some promise in the team and it slowly seems to be clicking, but when they are bad they are really bad.
We haven't been ste since February though. Yes lost to gooners poorly but thats about it where we wasn't in the game. Debatable if we was good enough in League Cup final as well.
So lets take a view of the season....
Overall Score : 6/10 - qualified for Europe through a top 6, final of one cup, semi in the other. This looks a lot better than some of the performances merited.
Poch : 6/10 - Not brilliant but really hamstrung with injuries, so gets the benefit of the doubt. He needs to be given another season. Changing him put will achieve nothing
Goalies:
Petrovic 6/10 - Solid season, best keeper we've seen since departure of Curtois.
Sanchez 4/10 - remains a liability & prone to howlers.
Defence:
James 5/10 - 2 stupid red cards, really blotted his report card. Clear fitness problems.
Chilwell 5/10 - again injury prone not sure what to do with him
Gusto 7/10 - looks good going forward, defensively still questionable. Really good 1st season though for a young guy in a new league
Cucu 6/10 - shaky start, but really come good in the last couple of months.
Silva 7/10 - going to be missed. Just a class player.
Badiashile 5/10 - some howlers & still lacking confidence.
Disasi 5/10 - Erratic, but overall I think he has something.
Colwiill 6/10 - Not really seen him at CB, looked out of place at LB. Needs a run at CB
Chabolah 6/10 - Some solid performances towards the end of the season bode well.
Midfield
Caicedo 5/10 - Improved towards end of season, last few games looked really good. very poor performance earlier in season kept score down
Gallagher 7/10 - Has matured out of headless chicken mode he was in during early part of the season. Definitely grown up a lot. Early part of season I'd have had no problem with him leaving. Now looking the part & we need to try to keep.
Fernandes 4/10 - his absence has coincided with best results/performances. But if he was carrying an injury maybe explains it. Slows the game too much in my view,
Chucky 5/10 - out too long with injury to form a view, but some decent performances when he has played
Forwards
Sterling 5/10 - just blows hot & cold. Not convinced. When hes good he is very good, when hes not hes worse than useless.
Jackson 7/10 - some poor finishing & poor discipline. He's sorted the discipline. With his hold up play, ability to turn defenders & pace I think he will be a very good forward. (Even Kerry Dixon used to miss sitters)
Mudryk 6/10 - the potential is definitely there & needs game time. Hes been getting that recently & has looked all the better for it.
Madueke 6/10 - Like Mudryk needs game time, but looks really dangerous at times.
Palmer 10/10 - best signing in years. Nothing more to be said
Nkunku 5/10 - needs to stay injury free to see what he can really do, but impressive in the little amount he did play.
Players to leave:
Lukaku
Broja
Silva
Players that could leave without impact:
Chilwell
Sterling
Sanchez
Players to sign:
experienced CB to help sort out defensively.
experienced central midfielder
Centre forward?? not sure... a fit Nkunku, with a vastly improved Jackson, could be enough.
Overall Score : 6/10 - qualified for Europe through a top 6, final of one cup, semi in the other. This looks a lot better than some of the performances merited.
Poch : 6/10 - Not brilliant but really hamstrung with injuries, so gets the benefit of the doubt. He needs to be given another season. Changing him put will achieve nothing
Goalies:
Petrovic 6/10 - Solid season, best keeper we've seen since departure of Curtois.
Sanchez 4/10 - remains a liability & prone to howlers.
Defence:
James 5/10 - 2 stupid red cards, really blotted his report card. Clear fitness problems.
Chilwell 5/10 - again injury prone not sure what to do with him
Gusto 7/10 - looks good going forward, defensively still questionable. Really good 1st season though for a young guy in a new league
Cucu 6/10 - shaky start, but really come good in the last couple of months.
Silva 7/10 - going to be missed. Just a class player.
Badiashile 5/10 - some howlers & still lacking confidence.
Disasi 5/10 - Erratic, but overall I think he has something.
Colwiill 6/10 - Not really seen him at CB, looked out of place at LB. Needs a run at CB
Chabolah 6/10 - Some solid performances towards the end of the season bode well.
Midfield
Caicedo 5/10 - Improved towards end of season, last few games looked really good. very poor performance earlier in season kept score down
Gallagher 7/10 - Has matured out of headless chicken mode he was in during early part of the season. Definitely grown up a lot. Early part of season I'd have had no problem with him leaving. Now looking the part & we need to try to keep.
Fernandes 4/10 - his absence has coincided with best results/performances. But if he was carrying an injury maybe explains it. Slows the game too much in my view,
Chucky 5/10 - out too long with injury to form a view, but some decent performances when he has played
Forwards
Sterling 5/10 - just blows hot & cold. Not convinced. When hes good he is very good, when hes not hes worse than useless.
Jackson 7/10 - some poor finishing & poor discipline. He's sorted the discipline. With his hold up play, ability to turn defenders & pace I think he will be a very good forward. (Even Kerry Dixon used to miss sitters)
Mudryk 6/10 - the potential is definitely there & needs game time. Hes been getting that recently & has looked all the better for it.
Madueke 6/10 - Like Mudryk needs game time, but looks really dangerous at times.
Palmer 10/10 - best signing in years. Nothing more to be said
Nkunku 5/10 - needs to stay injury free to see what he can really do, but impressive in the little amount he did play.
Players to leave:
Lukaku
Broja
Silva
Players that could leave without impact:
Chilwell
Sterling
Sanchez
Players to sign:
experienced CB to help sort out defensively.
experienced central midfielder
Centre forward?? not sure... a fit Nkunku, with a vastly improved Jackson, could be enough.
Bloody hell mate that's a ridiculously low harsh level of assessment.
I stopped disagreeing on the first on of Petrovic at 6 out of 10. He came in as a second goalie half way through a season going exceptionally poorly and never had EPL experience, made some cracking saves, and not one howler that I can recall.
Whole team gets 7/10 for me, it's the level I'd expect a team with a large amount of new, young faces in the team.
I didn't feel confident with changes/subs at the start of the year, but now they are working better.
Let's hope some of them come through unscathed at the Euro's if going and we don't flog on Gallagher!
I stopped disagreeing on the first on of Petrovic at 6 out of 10. He came in as a second goalie half way through a season going exceptionally poorly and never had EPL experience, made some cracking saves, and not one howler that I can recall.
Whole team gets 7/10 for me, it's the level I'd expect a team with a large amount of new, young faces in the team.
I didn't feel confident with changes/subs at the start of the year, but now they are working better.
Let's hope some of them come through unscathed at the Euro's if going and we don't flog on Gallagher!
fourstardan said:
Bloody hell mate that's a ridiculously low harsh level of assessment.
My assessment is probably more a function of a season of 2 halves. There have been some superb performances & some apalling. There's even been games where we were both!
Defensively they have been bit of a mess all season. So no I don't think its unduly harsh.
And to be fair given the average age they've done pretty well. I hope they can kick on next season, sort out the injury problem & grow as a team. They don't need many changes.
GT03ROB said:
Players to sign:
experienced CB to help sort out defensively.
experienced central midfielder
Centre forward?? not sure... a fit Nkunku, with a vastly improved Jackson, could be enough.
Snipped for brevity.experienced CB to help sort out defensively.
experienced central midfielder
Centre forward?? not sure... a fit Nkunku, with a vastly improved Jackson, could be enough.
The problem with not signing another striker is what happens if either Nkunku or Jackson get crocked? My worry is that Nkunku might turn out to be another James, forever on the physio's bench. I'm also not convinced that Jackson is the real deal. He got loads better as the season went on, but he still to me doesn't look like you can bank on him to put away enough of the chances he creates.
I'd have thought some cover would be wise.
GT03ROB said:
fourstardan said:
Bloody hell mate that's a ridiculously low harsh level of assessment.
My assessment is probably more a function of a season of 2 halves. There have been some superb performances & some apalling. There's even been games where we were both!
Defensively they have been bit of a mess all season. So no I don't think its unduly harsh.
And to be fair given the average age they've done pretty well. I hope they can kick on next season, sort out the injury problem & grow as a team. They don't need many changes.
Generally the trajectory has been upwards with some outliers like Pool away, Arsenal away and Wolves at home. Against that is all 3 match ups with City , both Spurs games and big wins later on.
Overall - not bad , need to keep them fitter
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