Sarri in and Jorginho is a done deal.
I'm still most exited to see Zola back on the bench at Stamford Bridge!
I'm still most exited to see Zola back on the bench at Stamford Bridge!
Chelsea 2018/19 - 3rd and European Champions. Sarri, not sorry
- 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.
New manager in, Bakoyoko benched for Jorginho to fill the hole left by Matic, Higuain possible to fill the hole left by Costa.
If Higuain comes then they'll be a dark horse for the league. But at the moment they're a solid bet for top 4.
If Higuain comes then they'll be a dark horse for the league. But at the moment they're a solid bet for top 4.
"Is it too late now to get Sarri?"
Wonder if he'll make use of Hudson Odoi if he wants to play swarming football.
Suddenly Chelsea look decent especially if they keep hold of hazard and kante.
One player that's not even close to WC does not make them look good. They still have a lot of squad fillers like Morata, Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Barkley etc, and are on a verge of losing Hazard and/or Courtois.
Depends how they cope with Europa League
Sarri will throw it away to focus on the league. He has already done it last season.
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Sarriball does improve or get the best out of average players. Morata and Bakayoko are question marks, but I think Barkley and Drinkwater could thrive under Sarri. Will probably get a run in the EL to prove their worth.
Sarriball 
If we get rid of Pedro (which we should), that's definitely very possible. The kid is really talented.
Not really sold on spending 60m on 31 year old Higuain to be quite honest. If we got him for half the price then sure. Then again, Higuain had the best season by any Serie A striker in history under Sarri so I don't know, maybe I'm being to pessimistic.
I think we keep Hazard. Courtois looks like he's gone though. Which is fine by me if we get Alisson in return.
Rumours of RM lurking around Hazard as part of the post CR7 revamp. He certainly wont be cheap, not that that has ever stopped Madrid.
I agree fee is too high for a 31 y/o, around 40 seems more reasonable, 60 seems well above market value.
Mason Mount about to join Lampard and Jody Morris on a season long loan at Derby. Great move for the Rams.
Have Chelsea given up on Morata already?
No.
By the way, his English is a lot better than some led me to believe...
Yes probably, he'll do great in Italy or Spain, not suited to English football. Sarri's system would probably suit him better though. He needs confidence, Conte mismanaged him, he hasn't settled properly.
Higuain would score loads of goals but he's 30 and has tended to choke in big games. Hardly one for the future.
I'm curious to see how the Chelsea squad adapt to Maurizio Sarri's Positional Play. His version is probably the most strict and 'purest' in it's execution. The Premier League has the elite coahces in building from the back and achievening numerical superiorty, if this doesn't kick off a revolution, nothing eevr will.
could not find this here.
good stuff
linked by my mate Phil.
He does, but his best two games last year were in the CL against Tottenham: 3 goals and 1 assist. He also decided the extremely vital game against Inter in the last minutes and decided the game away against Napoli.
If Higuain is additional to Morata then that would be a great signing.
If he replaces him I'm not so sure.
If he replaces him I'm not so sure.
Juventus is not interested in a swap deal with Morata reporting in wanting only money so I guess it's Higuain+Morata unless you sell Morata elsewhere.
Though you also have Giroud... So who will go to make space for Higuain? hoping that Sarri won't let him play as an attacking midfielder like Allegri did!
Though you also have Giroud... So who will go to make space for Higuain? hoping that Sarri won't let him play as an attacking midfielder like Allegri did!
As stupid as this sounds, it might be Giroud. Courtois, Pedro, Fabregas, David Luiz, and Giroud are all on the last years of their contracts. Our board sucks man.
Pete I'd rather have the duo Giroud and Higuain than Morata. He doesn't fit PL well he is not a goal scorer.... his best was like 14-15goal in a championship season and his not a holding forward.
Really all in their last year??
But Giroud Joined you last year how can that be?
So I guess Chelsea will have to agree to where the players want to be without much contractual power...
Really bad management from Marina I wonder how can she still be Chelsea boss despite all the crap done recently
Really all in their last year??
But Giroud Joined you last year how can that be?
So I guess Chelsea will have to agree to where the players want to be without much contractual power...
Really bad management from Marina I wonder how can she still be Chelsea boss despite all the crap done recently
They seem to be happy to sell all their best players
Weird that Courtois is seemingly leaving for 35m. Though I guess if he's in his last year then not much to be done. They'll need to sort out their goalkeeper and then obviously sign a striker (Higuain) but the makings of a very good team for Sarri. Especially helps having a midfielder at the heart of your team who knows just how Sarri wants to play and if they get Higuain then their striker will be a proven reliable goalscorer who knows and has excelled in Sarri's system before.
Golovin seems like he'll go there, and having him next to Kante and Jorginho in midfield could be very good, but obviously there will be some adapting to the league on his part. Concern for them would be their defence. Worked well in a 3 at the back formation as Alonso and Moses were pretty good wing backs, but not sure how they would go in a normal back 4. Probably fine most of the year tbh. Center backs would also be a question mark though, Azpilicueta pretty much never plays as part of 2 man center backs while their others are meh IMO. Still a very good side on paper especially with Sarri in charge, but we'll see who they sign this next month. Could be the difference in them challenging for the title and fighting to even get into the CL.
Golovin seems like he'll go there, and having him next to Kante and Jorginho in midfield could be very good, but obviously there will be some adapting to the league on his part. Concern for them would be their defence. Worked well in a 3 at the back formation as Alonso and Moses were pretty good wing backs, but not sure how they would go in a normal back 4. Probably fine most of the year tbh. Center backs would also be a question mark though, Azpilicueta pretty much never plays as part of 2 man center backs while their others are meh IMO. Still a very good side on paper especially with Sarri in charge, but we'll see who they sign this next month. Could be the difference in them challenging for the title and fighting to even get into the CL.
If they lose Hazard(and it looks likely), I think they will struggle mightily.
Priority for them has to be keeping Hazard.
Losing Courtois and getting one of Pickford or Schmeichel is not a big problem. Jorginho, Golovin, Rugani and Higuain would be a fantastic summer, they need to keep Hazard though.
Losing Courtois and getting one of Pickford or Schmeichel is not a big problem. Jorginho, Golovin, Rugani and Higuain would be a fantastic summer, they need to keep Hazard though.
Oddly I'm not that fussed about Hazard leaving. Obviously he's our best player but a new system under a new manager is exciting. "Pass to Hazard and hope he does something" can get frustrating.
Get Zola as player / coach and I wouldnt care if we finished 15th.
Get Zola as player / coach and I wouldnt care if we finished 15th.
The board doesn’t commit to players over 30. Only rolling 1 year contracts. Giroud’s Chelsea contract was reported as only being 18 months. I’m not sure how she has a job either. Her rise in power is directly correlated to the shite purchasing/handling of contracts at the club.
I literally am not interested in any of these targets. Golovin? Higuain? Rugani? This feels like last summer all over again. What do you think? Giroud, Courtois, Caballero, Willian, Pedro, Hazard, Drinkwater, Bakayoko, Morata, Batshuayi, Cahill, Zappacosta, Fabregas could literally all be elsewhere by the start of next season.
Since Sarri will take some time to get his philosophy across, they can be in deep trouble. Sarri needs to sign players for his system and now he has very few. Abramovic will want to decide on transfers though, and he won't give him three years to transform Chelsea.
If he doesn't get into top4 this season he's already out, and yet another manager needs to take over the sinking ship. Not to mention losing Courtois and Hazard and replacing them with Schmeichel and possibly someone like Mertens.
If he doesn't get into top4 this season he's already out, and yet another manager needs to take over the sinking ship. Not to mention losing Courtois and Hazard and replacing them with Schmeichel and possibly someone like Mertens.
They seem to be happy to sell all their best players
Roman has been running Chelsea as an actual business for a while now trying to make a profit I think. Conte complained a lot about it. Surprising thing is we've still won trophies too.
If Madrid offer £150m+ for Hazard don't see how we can keep him. My own opinion is they're saving for neymar though. We won't sell without replacing, Bale or Martial could be good options, Carrasco as a squad player would be good too once he's bored of China.
Can't blame Courtois for wanting to go live with his kids in Madrid. We should try and get Navas off them if he goes there.
Chelsa won trophies because the team still retains good players that were brought in over previous years. However, Chelsea started to badly in recent years with more bad purchase than good and letting good players go.
We only have 5 players in our squad left over from 12/13 and two of them (Luiz & Moses) were sold loaned elsewhere and came back. Hazard and Dave both signed that season. I believe we've spent about £30m net a season since then and turned almost the entire squad over in the process.
There has been a lot of criticism of Bakayoko and Morata especially, which I've found surprising. Baka is only 23 and didn't even speak English when he arrived. I actually think he's been one of our best players in big games like the FA cup final. He already won something in England in one season whilst media hype players like Kane have never won anything. Morata needs to settle too, Madrid, La Liga and Serie A are very different to the premier league!
I'm happy with how the club has developed and I hope we don't move out of the bridge for 4 years to develop it. Crazy idea. Stadium is fine. I'll be happy for us to play great football every week and win the occasional trophy. We aren't going to try and compete with the transfer spending (or probably for the league realistically) of City and Utd and for me that's the correct decision.
Top 4 and the Europa league trophy is what I want out of this season. Looking forward to seeing how Sarri sets the team up and Zola on the bench.
If Alisson is going to Pool which is likely.
I think we should go for Donarumma, Milan need to sell some players due to there current situation and hes only 18/19.
Would be the second best outcome essentially, consequently if we are going to go down a cheaper route I would like us to take a risk on Butland.
Do not want to see Schmeichel signed.
I think we should go for Donarumma, Milan need to sell some players due to there current situation and hes only 18/19.
Would be the second best outcome essentially, consequently if we are going to go down a cheaper route I would like us to take a risk on Butland.
Do not want to see Schmeichel signed.
Donnarumma is so overrated. He's average and could struggle in the premier league.
Handanovic would be a good option but I doubt he will be available.