Chelsea 2017/18 thread - FA Cup Champs, League chumps
- Thread starter duffer
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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.
Well, you seem to be pretty happy with the way your board is doing business so if it's good for you, ok, it's not my club anyway.
It doesn't really matter does it? When you sold, or how the transactions went. You sold a better player to a rival and replaced him with two inferior players. That is the bottom line. That is on your board.
With Costa, feck knows... All I know you had a gem and you didn't replace him adequately. That could obviously be put down to bad luck. It is hard to get a striker these days.
Also, didn't mean to come off as patronising when I called you a lad. Nothing in it.
That's the way to start your RedCafe career
2 out of the last 3 titles about to be 2 out of 4. I'd have bitten your hand off for that 4 years ago.
Morata has scored 85 club goals in his career. Lukaku has scored 178 goals and is younger than Morata. Morata frankly hasn't shown he has the ability to be the main forward at a top team, squad player at best for Madrid and struggled in his first season at Chelsea.
Fair enough you've watched more of Morata than I have, but I struggle to see how you can think that frankly.
To be fair, plenty of Madrid squad players are more than good enough to start for Chelsea.
Just not that one.
Chelsea not being champions again is on board but Chelsea not finishing in top 4is just and just on conte. Let us not forget they were sitting pretty on 3rd but conte started moaning and whining and since late December they have started to go down. Conte and players must take the blame for them not finishing in top 4, not the board.
The problem with Morata is that he's entering the peak of his career and he still hasnt had a season where he's been a consistent starter. So how should anyone know how he'd cope being a first choice player in a top tier team like Chelsea? Answer is nobody could predict which is why Lukaku was by far the safer transfer in the Summer as he's been a consistent starter since his loan spell at West Brom.
At 25 years old Morata should have far more game time under his belt than he actually does. He's still pretty inexperienced, hence why Lukaku has almost 100 more club goals to his name.
I don't have problem with Morata but saying Lukaku was a bullet dodged is pretty ridiculous. Lukaku is your classic Chelsea striker and would have been far suited for Chelsea than Morata.
I don't know why anyone has to single out Conte, Roman, "the board" (I'm pretty sure we don't have a board in the traditional sense) or the players. They can all share the blame as far as I'm concerned.
Probably the most in the know reporter at chelsea thinks he is done for.
2 titles with the help of Costa, Matic, Fabregas and the old guard, with the addition of Kante alone among new siginings being a pivotal factor for the 2nd league title. Without the first two, and in need of some smart buys, let us see how Chelsea approach the transfer market this season.
I did want Morata but not by much (I thought it was more of a gamble to go for Morata but potentially a higher reward). "Bullet dodged" is mental though.
Roman cannot be blamed for Chelsea not finishing in top4. Players and conte do. It's not like conte did not buy, he did spend more than £200m. My main reason for singling out conte is his demeanor since late December. Constant whining and moaning of how he didn't get his players. Well why can't you get on and finish 2nd or 3rd. This Chelsea squad surely deserves to be in top 4. Not finishing top 4 is on players and conte.
Why not? Abramovich being stingy? Chelsea should have quite a bit of revenue even without Roman pouring in hundreds of millions anymore.
Well at least we partially agreed on something. I always said Morata was a good striker no doubt but I think Lukaku would have been a good fit for Chelsea personally. He has always stroke me as the typical Chelsea striker.
Why not? Abramovich being stingy? Chelsea should have quite a bit of revenue even without Roman pouring in hundreds of millions anymore.
It's not about him being stingy, we only made a profit of about £15 million last year.
The days of Roman pouring his own dosh in have been gone for a while due to FFP. We don't have the commercial income of Man United or the "commercial income" of Man City.
Chelsea are just such a difficult club to work out. They're either a club in crisis or they're strolling the league, there is literally no in-between with them. Can't say I know too much about the finer details but such consistent inconsistency clearly points to the owners not having a clue and just playing things by ear.
So what does the future look like for Chelsea, if you can't possibly compete with the Manchester clubs for transfers?
We'll have to hope you and Man City make a load of terrible signings!
It looks like Man City are about to have a period of success but who knows, Guardiola might get bored and the wheels could come off. With Jose, nothing would surprise me and you might appoint another Moyes if he gets bored of living away from his family.
The new stadium is stunning but will cost Roman a fortune. Chelsea will be fine though, and the huge increase in matchday revenue will help in their long term goal to be a profitable machine.
Top 6 and make a profit every season I would think. Maybe a cup. City will probably walk the league for the next few seasons so it doesn't matter much.
The main problem is about quality of the players, not the money. It's easy to say that City are winning because of the money they spent. But they actually don't have spent that much on 1 player, they are simply more clever (not always) and attractive. For example: Sané, B Silva, Jesus, Danilo, Zinchenko,... All the top 6 could afford 2/3 of them.
Chelsea has spent almost 220M this season. How can it be possible to have that actual team and such a poor depth with the academy they've developed and that amount spent ? Conte couldn't make 1 interesting substitution today. The offensive side was so sad, without creativity.
The board throw 200M on 4/5 average players, again, when there was so more useful moves to try those past 2 years
- Kondogbia, Jorginho, Allan, Pjanic, Goretza, Nzonzi, Naby Keita, Fabinho
- James, Draxler, Meyer, Younes, Arthur, Brandt, Guedes
- Werner, Milik, Pjaca, Schick as a 2nd n9
...
Well Tottenham started very poorly and Liverpool didn't have a solid-settled defence. They both made the adjustments required. So it seems normal that at the end of the season, they finish ahead. Plus the lack of depth and the CL made the run harder for the players.
Chelsea has spent almost 220M this season. How can it be possible to have that actual team and such a poor depth with the academy they've developed and that amount spent ? Conte couldn't make 1 interesting substitution today. The offensive side was so sad, without creativity.
The board throw 200M on 4/5 average players, again, when there was so more useful moves to try those past 2 years
- Kondogbia, Jorginho, Allan, Pjanic, Goretza, Nzonzi, Naby Keita, Fabinho
- James, Draxler, Meyer, Younes, Arthur, Brandt, Guedes
- Werner, Milik, Pjaca, Schick as a 2nd n9
...
Well Tottenham started very poorly and Liverpool didn't have a solid-settled defence. They both made the adjustments required. So it seems normal that at the end of the season, they finish ahead. Plus the lack of depth and the CL made the run harder for the players.
How they can keep losing despite having Conte and Kante (tm)?
What do you mean? If you believe this place, Conte is clown and Kante is simply Ander Herrera without the passing ability. It's a miracle we're 5th!
Morata has offered very little whilst Lukaku has improved his all round game and scored more goals/assists.
Saying bullet dodged is mental given the form Lukaku has been in and the fact he tore Chelsea apart at OT only a few weeks ago.
Their downfall coincided with the Conte-Jose mind games.
Hmmm
Hmmm
Morata had a good start to the season, he was scoring and assisting in equal measure, but since the turn of the year his form has taken a nose dive to put it mildly. Not only has he basically stopped scoring, his all-round game has been lacking to say the least.
Lukaku on the otherhand has proven relatively consistent all season long. There was a dip in form around mid-season when he suffered that head injury, but he seems well over that minor blip now. Plus, as you say, his all-round game has improved significantly since his Everton days. He is always involved in the game to some extent, never shying away from his duties. His passing and crossing in particular have come on leaps and bounds. His touch remains inconsistent at best, but I'm sure that will be worked on this summer.
Lukaku has been by far the better of the two.
Sarcasm truly is a lost art.
Nothing will happen to Chelsea. They'll probably win the league again next year. Spawny cnuts!
Unai Emery?
I'm predicting decline for Chelsea.
No CL football next season means 1 or 2 or of their best players will be poached away, coupled with more managerial instability. In the longer run, when they start construction on their new stadium they face several years playing their home games at Wembley.
And in the meanwhile the huge construction-costs drain on funds will means that Abramovich will not be bailing them out in terms of transfer funds and wage-costs.
No CL football next season means 1 or 2 or of their best players will be poached away, coupled with more managerial instability. In the longer run, when they start construction on their new stadium they face several years playing their home games at Wembley.
And in the meanwhile the huge construction-costs drain on funds will means that Abramovich will not be bailing them out in terms of transfer funds and wage-costs.
Just seen this post on theshedend :
Wow that's just a terrible form tbh.
Wow that's just a terrible form tbh.
Who will be Chelsea's manager for the last game of this season and the first game of next season? I'll give a prize to anything who predicts both correctly!
Hiddink or Avram Grant or Conte.
Mark Hughes
That's cheating and therefore not a valid entry to my prize giveaway!
Conte
Allegri