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Chelsea 2017/18 thread - FA Cup Champs, League chumps
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
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Chelsea overachieved last season and they have done again this season, all credit to Conte on that front because Moses, Cahill, Drinkwater, Bakayoko and Barkley wouldn't look out of place playing for Everton
He's just not very good. The Caf always love a 'good engine' but his game intelligence (positional awareness, decision making etc...) and even basic technique are questionable at best.
I've long thought this.
He really has done a brilliant job because the current Chelsea squad is so average.
Not required as the sarcasm is too obvious.
They really have brought in a lot of average players since Conte arrived
Alonso looks to be the only quality player they brought in the rest are all average mid table players
I'm still going to (blindly) hold on to the view that we did okay bringing in depth to basically every position we lacked before ie. centre mid (x2), right back, centre back, potentially left back this window, while also having to replace Costa and Matic. Whatever anyone says, the youth that were sold/loaned out were not even as good as those brought in so if you're saying this squad is weak then it could be a lot worse.
I'm happy enough to write off the season with some decent runs in all comps, and 3rd (at the moment) in PL isn't bad.
The caveat to this is that now that we have depth we are in a position to buy one or two top quality players in the next transfer window instead of spreading the cash...so I'll wait until then to judge the plan.
Also thought as inconsistent as Bakayoko's been, his last few games have been pretty decent so not sure what match I watched compared to everyone else. Much more suited to the 3-4-3 in my opinion.
I'm happy enough to write off the season with some decent runs in all comps, and 3rd (at the moment) in PL isn't bad.
The caveat to this is that now that we have depth we are in a position to buy one or two top quality players in the next transfer window instead of spreading the cash...so I'll wait until then to judge the plan.
Also thought as inconsistent as Bakayoko's been, his last few games have been pretty decent so not sure what match I watched compared to everyone else. Much more suited to the 3-4-3 in my opinion.
Unbelievable isn't it? The money that they got from Matic, Oscar, Costa, Zouma, Ake, Cuadrado, Begovic are being used to buy Bats, Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Rudiger, Morata, Zappacosta, Caballero, Barkley.
Player like Morata should be a signing to backup Costa not to replace Costa. Rudiger & Barkley might become good, but Bats, Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Zappacosta are meh.
David Luiz is hardly even playing regular now so Chelsea spent the money on him just for one season. It's ironic as well that they used 343 a lot last season and Oscar didn't get enough playing time and now they are using 3511 more often than 343, he would have been so much better option in 3511 formation than the likes of Barkley, Bakayoko or Fabregas.
Chelsea still has quality players in their squad to turn this around, but if they keep making poor choice in transfer business they can turn into Arsenal or the Liverpool era when they had Benteke, Carroll, Adams, Allen.
Player like Morata should be a signing to backup Costa not to replace Costa. Rudiger & Barkley might become good, but Bats, Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Zappacosta are meh.
David Luiz is hardly even playing regular now so Chelsea spent the money on him just for one season. It's ironic as well that they used 343 a lot last season and Oscar didn't get enough playing time and now they are using 3511 more often than 343, he would have been so much better option in 3511 formation than the likes of Barkley, Bakayoko or Fabregas.
Chelsea still has quality players in their squad to turn this around, but if they keep making poor choice in transfer business they can turn into Arsenal or the Liverpool era when they had Benteke, Carroll, Adams, Allen.
Clearly saying he has no impact on transfers and the board is doing what they want.
He's a goner in summer no doubt. He's lifting the blame from himself and directs it to the board that we all know, Chelsea's board have always been doing what the want only.
The problem is you spent too much on those what you call "depth". Drinkwater is too expensive for his quality. Zappacosta for more than 20m is also expensive for backup. I must say those two signings are panic last day signing. You spent money on David Luiz last season but he's not your regular player anymore.
You are downgrading the quality of your team as well by signing Bakayoko (not good enough imo) & Morata to replace Matic & Costa. Morata should have been Bats replacement to challenge Costa.
Where is the money that you got from selling Oscar? That £60m could have been used to shut Conte's moaning about money. He also didn't get enough minute last season because Conte played 343, and he could have been used much better this season in this 3511 formation. The man management of your manager & board are so poor.
It really is amazing how they can downgrade grade the squad so much and overpay for inferior players
It's the latter.
Those goals were hilariously unlucky, but no denying that Conte can't buy a win against Arsenal bar the 3-1 last season. Unreal that Wenger's been so dominant against Chelsea.
This is because the Chelsea board believes in getting "value for money" out of each and every single player coupled with potential resale value and hence spread the transfer funds across several players instead of buying a couple of superstars. The whole outfit is purely run as a business, even the youth academy. This is what happens when the Board is filled with business people instead of those with football roots.
I wish the club would get shot of this board and Roman if this is the way operations are going to be in the future.
For some reason Chelsea struggle a lot against Arsenal, which is funny considering Arsenal used to struggle against Chelsea a lot before Conte.
Would be interesting to see if Real moves for Hazard and/or Courtios. I believe that Hazard is the player they rely on to make things happen, the one guy that elevates this squad to another level on his own.
If they lose him, they will find it really hard to replace him as there are no players available who are nearly as good as him.
If they lose him, they will find it really hard to replace him as there are no players available who are nearly as good as him.
I'm delighted with how this season is going for Cunte and the lads. This version of Chelsea is fabulous. I hope they sign more like Barkley, Bakayoko, Drinkwater and Zappacosta.
Suggest a title change - "Conte beat Arsène".
I'm not on the Bakayoko is shite bandwagon. Think he's a quality player who has taken some time to adjust to the league and would still do well in a balanced midfield. Needs to improve on the ball a little bit but i still think he'll come good if given the chance.
Media aint talking about this but they spent about 200 million and are doing worse-
Morata -70 million
Bakayoko - 40 Million
Drinkwater - 35 million
Rudiger - 32 million
Zappacosta - 25 Million
That is 200 million without adding Ross barkley, they are looking to sign Dzeko/ Emerson . Conte should be under more pressure than he is right now. I know they made back money on Costa but that is Conte's own doing.
Morata -70 million
Bakayoko - 40 Million
Drinkwater - 35 million
Rudiger - 32 million
Zappacosta - 25 Million
That is 200 million without adding Ross barkley, they are looking to sign Dzeko/ Emerson . Conte should be under more pressure than he is right now. I know they made back money on Costa but that is Conte's own doing.
And some idiots in the Chelsea fan camp want the club to change its playing style to an attacking one and calling for Conte to be replaced.
They need to tell us how the club can be an attractive, attacking force with the players above - especially if Hazard wants out.
I thought 70% of the caf said it would be dumb to get old, slow and expensive Matic instead of the much younger and better Bakayako.
Conte has no idea how to play against Wenger; is he the only manager left like that?
The funniest thing about Chelsea is that they have, and had, some brilliant young players that they have both bought and come through their youth academy, over the past 5/6 years. With more managerial stability and more structure - as in building a young team and not having instant success - I believe that they would have assembled a class squad by now that would be very capable of big things. The signings of Drinkwater and Bakayoko are bizaree, as Loftus-Cheek and to a lesser extent Chalobah, should easily have had their chance instead of signing two duds.
Conte's been saying for a while the board buys who they want. It shouldn't be a shock to anyone. The thought of losing Conte, Hazard, Courtois, and Luiz in the same window is terrifying. Are we FINALLY going to see these overhyped kids get playing time?
Conte complaining that the squad is thin. Does anyone know how many players they have that are out on loan?
That's a joke, right?
Trouble is Managers are under pressure as soon as they are appointed, & no where is this more true than at Chelsea. So it is a bit unfair to constantly criticise their managers in not playing players from the youth team, as they need results all the time, & so go for the ready made top professionals all the time. I can imagine if one of their manager did do what the fans are screaming, & as soon as the results went wrong, he would attacked for not playing stronger sides. Managers can never win at Chelsea, so never really last more than a couple of seasons.
It's 200 million spend but how many of them are actually quality performing players?
Kante and Alonso seem to be the only quality players they have added to the team in 2 years and the rest seems to be average players or players not performing to the levels they should be
Morata is playing like a £10 million player at the moment not a £70 million
Chelsea will definitely have a new manager come August, the smoke at Stamford bridge is slowly turning into a fire.
"Conte Conte beat Arsène".Suggest a title change - "Conte beat Arsène".
I'm not sure why this gets glossed over by everyone, but Costa went missing for half the season in 2 of his 3 seasons at the club. I'd much prefer someone in the profile of Morata, who's capable of bringing others into the game and doesn't have to score to be productive. He hasn't been the same since he hurt his hamstring vs City and now he's hurt again. This is the first time in years we've been hit by the injury bug while the other big clubs have had to deal with it in a major way.
It's hard for me to criticize Conte, given what he was able to accomplish with THAT squad last season. He's a true believer in working with the squad and improving their ability and intelligence. So when he decides Chalobah is going to go on another loan, I'm inclined to believe him considering he really hasn't shown anything on any of his loans. Now Chalobah, I believe, only had 1 year left on his deal and refused the loan so the board cashed in. It's an unfortunate situation.
RLC is a different case. He's a rather lethargic player and has never done much work off of the ball and no one really knows his position. Conte tried him in the midfield, then said maybe he's a striker, then his limited minutes last year were, I believe, exclusively as a number 10 (what Conte calls the wide men up top in the 343). Now at Palace, he was a traditional 10 under De Boer and has since been shoehorned onto the wing in a midfield 4. Internet Palace fans are 50/50 on him and aren't that broken up about his potentially season ending injury. I think his England cap has given him a reputation he hasn't earned yet and thus makes Chelsea look bad for loaning him out.
What happening Chelsea?
Dzeko aside, who I think would be a decent signing, they’re linked to bang average players. Carrol, Crouch.....Barnes?! Does Giroud want to swap a Emirates bench for one at the bridge?
They’re in trouble this summer with Courtois and Hazard both linked with exits.
Dzeko aside, who I think would be a decent signing, they’re linked to bang average players. Carrol, Crouch.....Barnes?! Does Giroud want to swap a Emirates bench for one at the bridge?
They’re in trouble this summer with Courtois and Hazard both linked with exits.
Loving this I have to say.
Hazard must be considering his options. With ours and City's spending it will be hard for them to win anything significant soon, and with Roman seemingly having tightened the purse strings I can't see it changing in the near future.
We were in the same rot with Moyes and LVG. Alot of signings but very few that actually improved us. Thankfully that has changed with Mourinho.