Chelsea 2022/2023 | THIS IS LAST YEARS THREAD YOU NUMPTIES

[telstar96]

Gone a bit under the radar i guess deservedly but we've actually got the third best defense in the league

Wow, I didn't even know, let alone here about that. This is exactly why I'm trying to avoid the Chelsea bashing I see on social media. It definitely is distorting the context of the club atm.

assuming he doesn't bugger his high pressing style before it's even begun by signing Felix and/or recalling Lukaku

100%. I think Chelsea would benefit from Nkunku upfront, with Mudryk and Madueke either side. Plenty of energy and also penetration from both flanks.

Cautiously optimistic we can get 3rd/4th again as I think outside of City those places are open season these days, I even think we can add Brighton to the list of challengers for that spot going forward unless their team get totally cleaned out this summer.

Top 4 in my opinion would be solid progress. And you're right about Brighton. This is why as a United fan I'm very skeptical about us getting top 4 again next season unless the team gets a big makeover in the summer. Seen a lot of fans get the impression we're 1-2 signings away from a title challenge, when we're more likely going to be scraping for 4th. I think we've benefitted massively from so many teams being in transition this season. I see Liverpool, Newcastle and Chelsea as certain top 4 contenders next season and along with Brighton and potentially Tottenham (unlikely though). This is why I pray United recruit well in the summer. We could easily find ourselves in 5th-7th and I don't think enough United fans realise that.

 

[Dancfc]

Wow, I didn't even know, let alone here about that. This is exactly why I'm trying to avoid the Chelsea bashing I see on social media. It definitely is distorting the context of the club atm.


100%. I think Chelsea would benefit from Nkunku upfront, with Mudryk and Madueke either side. Plenty of energy and also penetration from both flanks.


Top 4 in my opinion would be solid progress. And you're right about Brighton. This is why as a United fan I'm very skeptical about us getting top 4 again next season unless the team gets a big makeover in the summer. Seen a lot of fans get the impression we're 1-2 signings away from a title challenge, when we're more likely going to be scraping for 4th. I think we've benefitted massively from so many teams being in transition this season. I see Liverpool, Newcastle and Chelsea as certain top 4 contenders next season and along with Brighton and potentially Tottenham (unlikely though). This is why I pray United recruit well in the summer. We could easily find ourselves in 5th-7th and I don't think enough United fans realise that.

I keep flip flopping with Liverpool to be honest, part of me is like you can't rule off Klopp but then I see their team and see similar difficulties we faced in 10/11, squad stagnating. I think a lot of it comes down to Luis Diaz fitness, for me he's brilliant and could drag Liverpool up the table single handedly.

I feel autumn is a low key vital period when it comes to UCL places, it's where we put ourselves with too much to do this term while you guys put yourselves in a strong position and vice versa last time. Although it may seem like that for me as we've traditionally been good at holding on to a position be it title or top 4 (apart from 17/18 we've not really "bottled" either from a strong position in the modern era) but on the flip side have been hopeless when it comes to chasing positions down (Tuchel's first half season the exception).

 

[telstar96]

I keep flip flopping with Liverpool to be honest,

My biggest concern with Klopp has been his loyalty. Liverpool have made quite a few signings this season but it's not until recently that he's been prepared to shuffle things up. With so many players leaving in the summer, I think Klopp will be forced to forge a new core of players he can trust. Not easy but much better than seeing him still rely on Milner and Hendo.

I feel autumn is a low key vital period when it comes to UCL places

Yep I agree. Players are likely to have their first proper break this summer since the pandemic and World Cup has pretty much meant they've been going nonstop the last few seasons. So it's going to be so important to maximise that freshness before the Christmas period. From a United perspective, we're in desperate need of a large squad turnover. Really don't want to see Casemiro and Eriksen run into the ground with Fred and McTominay being our only options off the bench.

 

[surf]

Chelsea have a lot to do over the summer to be competitive with the top 5 next season. Strengthening/streamlining the squad won't be easy. Think they need an inspired managerial choice to catch up.

 

[iKnowNothing]

Chelsea have a lot to do over the summer to be competitive with the top 5 next season. Strengthening/streamlining the squad won't be easy. Think they need an inspired managerial choice to catch up.

Is Poch not going there?

 

[Mb194dc]

3 at the back is a defensive system. You sacrifice an attacking player essentially. It's one of the reasons our attack is dire, along with some really poor transfer business. Selling players who scored 50 odd goals last year.

Assuming Poch comes in, he'll go 4 at the back probably. Nkunku can help, we still need more goal scorers in.

I can see us massively struggling again next year if we don't clear the right 10+ players out and get goals in.

 

[ti vu]

3 at the back is a defensive system. You sacrifice an attacking player essentially. It's one of the reasons our attack is dire, along with some really poor transfer business. Selling players who scored 50 odd goals last year.

Assuming Poch comes in, he'll go 4 at the back probably. Nkunku can help, we still need more goal scorers in.

I can see us massively struggling again next year if we don't clear the right 10+ players out and get goals in.

Not exactly. 3 at the back can be 2 CBs can be very attacking. Instead of wingbacks, wide forward can be used to provide attacking width, so there are more CMs to maintain number advantage in midfield battle. Ome or two midfielders would be comfortable to fill in at the back make back 4 when defending as low block.

Poch tried to set up back 3 with wing backs for some periods at Spurs and PSG. So you're in for a disappointment if you think, he wouldn't consider it at all especially with the foundation and personnel you have at the back: wingback like full backs and a number of CBs with flaw not suitable for 2 man CB partnership.

 

[SirReginald]

3 at the back is a defensive system. You sacrifice an attacking player essentially. It's one of the reasons our attack is dire, along with some really poor transfer business. Selling players who scored 50 odd goals last year.

Assuming Poch comes in, he'll go 4 at the back probably. Nkunku can help, we still need more goal scorers in.

I can see us massively struggling again next year if we don't clear the right 10+ players out and get goals in.

I don’t know if Pochettino will go 4 at the back. At least not in the beginning. His best Spurs side played 3-4-3 and relied heavily on the fullbacks. This idea that he will drastically change the system is a fairytale.

You’re right about our transfer business though. It was an absolute travesty. The worst decision made in the summer was getting rid of Werner in my opinion. He always appeared like a deer in headlights when he got to the goal but his pace and movement opened teams up and we created a metric shit tonne of chances when he was on the pitch. The decision to replace him with Sterling was diabolical and I called that when it happened. Though some fans on here would have had you believe we upgraded.

The single biggest issue with our attack is that now one is willing to take their man on, Sterling is as passive as they get. We consistently play in front of teams and everyone knows it. You aren’t going to score a goal if you just pass it around the final third. This team desperately needs a leader up top like a Drogba though even the big man himself would struggle with our pathetic displays.

The one bright side to our team is that our defence is actually fine. Dave needs to be moved on possibly, I love him but he hasn’t done anything on the pitch or seemingly off it this season. Also a GK who doesn’t get beaten by every 30 yard strike would also be nice. Beyond that I have no worries about it.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

Which means they are safe.

Forest, Leeds and Leicester are not getting 9,9 and 10 pts respectively, and simultaneously, out of their last 4/5 games to put either in danger of relegation.

Tuchel saved Boehly’s bacon with the 10 pts he got. If it was Potter and Fat Frank all season long then they might’ve been really in danger.

Oh yeah, I wasn’t suggesting they could go down, just that it’s a bit rubbish considering the money they’ve spent

 

[InfiniteBoredom]

Oh yeah, I wasn’t suggesting they could go down, just that it’s a bit rubbish considering the money they’ve spent

The coverage has been pretty kind for sure, considering the fall from grace. Simon Jordan was bottom feeding Boehly all season for instance and even now still defend their transfer strategy. Meanwhile, I kid you not, they run a segment today asking if Utd fans should want ‘prettier’ wins, no shit Sherlock, it’s just kinda hard to do with an injury crisis and 15 more games played than most teams.

 

[Dancfc]

3 at the back is a defensive system. You sacrifice an attacking player essentially.

I disagree, I think it's moving away from it that actually made us weaker in attack. It was also reverting back to that formation that led to our mini goalscoring and win revival.

In that area James/Chilwell (and last season Alonso) get more attacking freedom to impact games and it also lets Fofana carry the ball forward more (his biggest strength).

 

[Rnd898]

I disagree, I think it's moving away from it that actually made us weaker in attack. It was also reverting back to that formation that led to our mini goalscoring and win revival.

In that area James/Chilwell (and last season Alonso) get more attacking freedom to impact games and it also lets Fofana carry the ball forward more (his biggest strength).

The bolded bit is spot on. While it's true there's one less attacking player fielded in a 3-4-3 compared to something like a 4-2-3-1, in reality the differences aren't that drastic. Just having the wing-backs being able to bomb forward with lots more freedom is quite often worth an extra attacker, especially when the wing-backs are of high quality like James and Chilwell are.

The 3atb system has never been the problem. The formation itself can be very attacking-minded or a very defensive one depending on the personnel and how the team are instucted to play.

I personally don't care what the formation is going forward under the next manager but what's actually important is having a formation where players can play in their best roles. For example the incoming Christopher Nkunku would probably be best suited to a 4-2-3-1 playing as the man behind the main striker but in a 3-4-3 that role does not even exist and he'd either have to play as the number 9 or in a wide attacker role, neither of which would be the optimal fit for him.

I do think the 4-2-3-1 should be our best bet for next season:

Kepa / new GK

Chilwell
Badiashile
Fofana
James

Enzo
New DM / Kante

Mudryk
Nkunku
Sterling?

New CF

 

[SirReginald]

The bolded bit is spot on. While it's true there's one less attacking player fielded in a 3-4-3 compared to something like a 4-2-3-1, in reality the differences aren't that drastic. Just having the wing-backs being able to bomb forward with lots more freedom is quite often worth an extra attacker, especially when the wing-backs are of high quality like James and Chilwell are.

The 3atb system has never been the problem. The formation itself can be very attacking-minded or a very defensive one depending on the personnel and how the team are instucted to play.

I personally don't care what the formation is going forward under the next manager but what's actually important is having a formation where players can play in their best roles. For example the incoming Christopher Nkunku would probably be best suited to a 4-2-3-1 playing as the man behind the main striker but in a 3-4-3 that role does not even exist and he'd either have to play as the number 9 or in a wide attacker role, neither of which would be the optimal fit for him.

I do think the 4-2-3-1 should be our best bet for next season:

Kepa / new GK

Chilwell
Badiashile
Fofana
James

Enzo
New DM / Kante

Mudryk
Nkunku
Sterling?

New CF

Actually this is not true. Under Tuchel, who everyone seems to worship, our starting positions were a 3-4-3 variant even on the small chance we actually played a winger.

We had Mount and Werner/Havertz (they tended to swap positions) primarily as inside forwards and in fact it was more of a 3-4-2-1. James and Chilwell played almost as midfielders and the RCB/LCB moved to cover the wide areas allowing Rudiger to run the width of the pitch as a LB at times.

The notion that 3-4-3 is defensive comes from most peoples inability to see modern formations as fluid systems. Given the right conditions obviously it’s the most offensive system in use by teams at this moment in time.

For example:
James—Azpi- Silva- Rudiger-Chilwell
———————Kante—Kova——————-
——————Mount—Havertz—————-
————————-Werner————————

Was in reality:

———————Azpi————Silva—————————
————-Kante———-Kova——-Rudiger————-
James———————————————Chilwell——-
——————-Mount—————Werner—————
——————————-Havertz——————————

It’s hard to draw these on here but we rarely played with wingers under Tuchel. Werner was used as an outlet to create space around the back 4 with his pace and drifting into channels. Havertz was the regular one to come inside and benefit from said space (See CL final goal) and Mount played as a 10. Rudiger ran from the back until the half way line at least and Kovacic/Jorgi and Kante would react to the flow of the game but one was usually deeper dictating the play with Kante more often than not bursting forward when in the ascendancy. We created chance after chance because we had so much movement it was just a shame Werner couldn’t finish for shit otherwise we really would have scored so much more.

A traditional 4-2-3-1 is simply preferred by teams because of its solidity not for anything offensive. It’s not offensive. It’s a 4-5-1 /4-1-4-1 / 5-4-1/ 4-4-1-1 when the team does not have momentum in the game and it’s 4-3-3/4-4-2/4-2-4 when attacking. There’s nothing special about it. It’s safe.

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

That is one nice kit.

It’s awful. Looks like a training kit. The double circles will never exist like that.

 

[FrankDrebin]

Wouldn't be surprised if they click next year and become City's main title challengers.

 

[Tyrion]

I have a particular pessimistic and anti-Boehly Chelsea fan friend who told me they were in relegation danger after gameweek 30, told him that they are safe and 39 pts is enough to stay up, there were 3 teams at 27, 1 at 25 and 1 at 23 at the bottom back then iirc and just some basic napkin maths would tell you that it’s like a 1 in a million chance that 3 of those would make up a 12 pts deficit to Chelsea with 8 games left and make up a 20+ GD in the process.

But yes, they definitely will have the worst season and most likely will be worse than their 15/16 under Mourinho.

It would take a group effort from the whole of the league for it to happen but I'm an optimist.

 

[WeePat]

Wouldn't be surprised if they click next year and become City's main title challengers.

I know people will say 'but you've spent 600m' but I'm really not looking further than a top 4 fight next season. We will have no European football and hopefully we will have trimmed the squad back down to an acceptable level.

I would consider 4th place and hopefully a deep run in the domestic cups a successful season considering where we are right now and the amount of work that needs to be done over the summer and next season to take this group of disjointed, insanely bloated 33 man squad into a hardworking, cohesive unit.

 

[cyberman]

Wouldn't be surprised if they click next year and become City's main title challengers.

It would be up there with Leicesters title challenge.
All we can literally judge Chelsea on are players price tags and we all know they were ripped off anyway

 

[Cassidy]

It would be up there with Leicesters title challenge.
All we can literally judge Chelsea on are players price tags and we all know they were ripped off anyway

Not true though is it? We can judge them but player quality also.
I doubt they will be title challengers, but its not like they don't have a lot of quality in the squad, whether or not Poch is the right manager to unlock this quality and whether or not they can balance the squad is another story

 

[Maluco]

I know people will say 'but you've spent 600m' but I'm really not looking further than a top 4 fight next season. We will have no European football and hopefully we will have trimmed the squad back down to an acceptable level.

I would consider 4th place and hopefully a deep run in the domestic cups a successful season considering where we are right now and the amount of work that needs to be done over the summer and next season to take this group of disjointed, insanely bloated 33 man squad into a hardworking, cohesive unit.

That will be a job in itself! It will be a real headache for anyone that comes in but it absolutely needs to happen.

Just looking at the squad list…

Aubameyang
Pulisic
Broja (for a new CF)
Ziyech
Ampadu
Hudson-Odoi
Lukaku
Sarr

And even after that, there are 24 players in the squad with Gusto and Nkunku to arrive. So further trimming needed to bring in a striker and whatever else is needed.

It’s a massive task for one summer.

 

[FrankDrebin]

I know people will say 'but you've spent 600m' but I'm really not looking further than a top 4 fight next season. We will have no European football and hopefully we will have trimmed the squad back down to an acceptable level.

I would consider 4th place and hopefully a deep run in the domestic cups a successful season considering where we are right now and the amount of work that needs to be done over the summer and next season to take this group of disjointed, insanely bloated 33 man squad into a hardworking, cohesive unit.

I honestly feel It'll just take one window for you guys to get going again. You have a mismatch of a squad ,granted, but there's alot of promise in there and if you bring in the right coaching staff and manager and have a solid transfer window, you'll be right up there.

United and Liverpool seem to be in precarious situations regarding their ownership and how much they will have to play with in the summer ,while also having a bloated squad.

Now sure, you have a similarly bloated squad but I feel your players are actually more marketable in the transfer window, especially compared to ours.

I have no doubts that Arsenal will continue to develop too. They should gain a huge amount of confidence with their league form this season. And their team is still at a really good age to continue that progression into a top side.

Us ? I'm still not sure where we're at. Playing wise, our home form is great but we turn into pussycats outside of OT. We still have that fragility, for some reason.
Some teams just get on with it, like Newcastle. No one questions their mentality, especially now that they're back competing for European places, but with us ? there's always a big deal about it and for perfectly reasonable reasons too.

In the market, I have no idea what we'll do and that's largely down to who's going to be running the club.
We're not good at moving players on, purely because most of those players , who are surplus to requirements, are on fat contracts.
I imagine Hag will have a big say on who's coming and , more so, going. But we can't have a De Jong situation again this summer. Frankly, that was a joke.

So we'll see but I feel quite confident that you'll get your act together sooner rather than later, even with Boehly at the helm.

 

[WeePat]

That will be a job in itself! It will be a real headache for anyone that comes in but it absolutely needs to happen.

Just looking at the squad list…

Aubameyang
Pulisic
Broja (for a new CF)
Ziyech
Ampadu
Hudson-Odoi
Lukaku
Sarr

And even after that, there are 24 players in the squad with Gusto and Nkunku to arrive. So further trimming needed to bring in a striker and whatever else is needed.

It’s a massive task for one summer.

It’s absolutely going to be a tough task and for me this has to be the main focus of the summer.

There are two very easy wins to the get the job started - send Zakaria and Felix back to their clubs. That’s two players gone without even doing anything. After that I would say we would probably need to release Auba and Azpi as I don’t think there are any clubs who would pay an actual transfer fee for them or nothing more than a token fee of £1-2m. So that’s 4 gone before the real work begins.

Broja will probably need a loan to help him work his way back from that ACL but after that it gets complicated. I can imagine there would be willing takers for Gallagher, Pulisic, Ziyech, Kovacic and Loftus-Cheek at differing valuations.

I’m at a loss at what to do about Lukaku though. I don’t really want his toxic presence back at the club but his performances this season has done nothing to help the situation.

Accomplishing all of this in one summer whilst incorporating Nkunku, Gusto and potential more new signings seems unrealistic though.

 

[WeePat]

I honestly feel It'll just take one window for you guys to get going again. You have a mismatch of a squad ,granted, but there's alot of promise in there and if you bring in the right coaching staff and manager and have a solid transfer window, you'll be right up there.

United and Liverpool seem to be in precarious situations regarding their ownership and how much they will have to play with in the summer ,while also having a bloated squad.

Now sure, you have a similarly bloated squad but I feel your players are actually more marketable in the transfer window, especially compared to ours.

I have no doubts that Arsenal will continue to develop too. They should gain a huge amount of confidence with their league form this season. And their team is still at a really good age to continue that progression into a top side.

Us ? I'm still not sure where we're at. Playing wise, our home form is great but we turn into pussycats outside of OT. We still have that fragility, for some reason.
Some teams just get one with it, like Newcastle. No one questions their mentality, especially now that they're back competing for European places, but with us ? there's always a big deal about it and for perfectly reasonable reasons too.

In the market, I have no idea what we'll do and that's largely down to who's going to be running the club.
We're not good at moving players on, purely because most of those players , who are surplus to requirements, are on fat contracts.
I imagine Hag will have a big say on who's coming and , more so, going. But we can't have a De Jong situation again this summer. Frankly, that was a joke.

So we'll see but I feel quite confident that you'll get your act together sooner rather than later, even with Boehly at the helm.

You have a very optimistic view on Chelsea and a pretty pessimistic view on United. Most people I would think would rather be in your situation than our situation going into next season.

 

[cyberman]

Not true though is it? We can judge them but player quality also.
I doubt they will be title challengers, but its not like they don't have a lot of quality in the squad, whether or not Poch is the right manager to unlock this quality and whether or not they can balance the squad is another story

Why? What’s their quality? What do we have to judge them on?
Players won’t fit into a style of play, they won’t mesh with the quality of their teammates, we don’t even know if a lot of them can acclimatise to England or have the mentality to step up for a side competing for top 4.
All we know is that they were bought for 80m and they were bought for 50m.

 

[Maluco]

It’s absolutely going to be a tough task and for me this has to be the main focus of the summer.

There are two very easy wins to the get the job started - send Zakaria and Felix back to their clubs. That’s two players gone without even doing anything. After that I would say we would probably need to release Auba and Azpi as I don’t think there are any clubs who would pay an actual transfer fee for them or nothing more than a token fee of £1-2m. So that’s 4 gone before the real work begins.

Broja will probably need a loan to help him work his way back from that ACL but after that it gets complicated. I can imagine there would be willing takers for Gallagher, Pulisic, Ziyech, Kovacic and Loftus-Cheek at differing valuations.

I’m at a loss at what to do about Lukaku though. I don’t really want his toxic presence back at the club but his performances this season has done nothing to help the situation.

Accomplishing all of this in one summer whilst incorporating Nkunku, Gusto and potential more new signings seems unrealistic though.

I think you have hinted at what needs to happen above. There will need to be some quality sold to get takers, and if Mount doesn’t sign, I could see Liverpool coming in.

The positive thing is that Mount, Gallagher, Kovacic, RLC, Pulisic, Ziyech probably pays for your summer, as well as any possible payoffs that are needed.

 

[telstar96]

You have a very optimistic view on Chelsea and a pretty pessimistic view on United. Most people I would think would rather be in your situation than our situation going into next season.

Most people would but that's because, in my opinion, this season has papered over so many cracks at United. The ownership. The state of the squad. My general feeling is that a lot of United fans are under the impression that we're 1-2 signings to challenging with Arsenal and City. Truth is, Ten Hag needs all the funds available to turnover a lot of the current players. We're still tactically broken and far from implementing the style he implemented at Ajax. And now I start to worry because of ambiguous the ownership situation is. I just hope we don't lose yet another summer transfer like we did last summer, where we were forced to pay over the odds for Antony and Casemiro which basically left us no money for Jan and we missed out on a lot of targets due to the FdJ transfer saga.

 

[Bilbo]

You have a very optimistic view on Chelsea and a pretty pessimistic view on United. Most people I would think would rather be in your situation than our situation going into next season.

I would agree with that, but a strong manager and a goalscorer would have an instant impact on Chelsea. So many fans still put an arbitrary timeline on progress when we see many examples of teams improving, and regressing, really quickly.

 

[MegadrivePerson]

I know people will say 'but you've spent 600m' but I'm really not looking further than a top 4 fight next season. We will have no European football and hopefully we will have trimmed the squad back down to an acceptable level.

I would consider 4th place and hopefully a deep run in the domestic cups a successful season considering where we are right now and the amount of work that needs to be done over the summer and next season to take this group of disjointed, insanely bloated 33 man squad into a hardworking, cohesive unit.

Do you seriously think you can finish in the top four next season?

You've had relegation form since Tuchel left.

The current top five are all likely to be stronger next season and I'd still fancy the likes of Brighton and Villa to finish above you. the only team I can potentially see you overtaking is Spurs.

I think Europa football is the most you will get next season.

 

[Abraxas]

Do you seriously think you can finish in the top four next season?

You've had relegation form since Tuchel left.

The current top five are all likely to be stronger next season and I'd still fancy the likes of Brighton and Villa to finish above you. the only team I can potentially see you overtaking is Spurs.

I think Europa football is the most you will get next season.

I think they can finish top 4.

It's probably on the higher end of the scale of what they can achieve but it's certainly possible. It needs a lot to go right. Poch would have to find a way of playing pretty quickly, but there are a lot of talented players there. Nkunku to come as well. He's got a whole preseason to get them into shape, forget about this season and renew their spirit.

 

[Cassidy]

Why? What’s their quality? What do we have to judge them on?
Players won’t fit into a style of play, they won’t mesh with the quality of their teammates, we don’t even know if a lot of them can acclimatise to England or have the mentality to step up for a side competing for top 4.
All we know is that they were bought for 80m and they were bought for 50m.

We obviously know a lot more than that

 

[MegadrivePerson]

I think they can finish top 4.

It's probably on the higher end of the scale of what they can achieve but it's certainly possible. It needs a lot to go right. Poch would have to find a way of playing pretty quickly, but there are a lot of talented players there. Nkunku to come as well. He's got a whole preseason to get them into shape, forget about this season and renew their spirit.

I don't see it at all. Normally when teams break in to the top four you see signs of progress the season before. Chelsea look like they have regressed massively to where they were a few years ago.

They have no leaders or goal scorers in their team. Their best players are either always injured (Kante, James and Chillwell) or at the end of their career (Silva)

How many current Chelsea players would get in to one of the current top five teams?

There's virtually zero players I would bring to United from Chelsea, which is not something I thought id be saying two years ago!

 

[telstar96]

I think they can finish top 4.

It's probably on the higher end of the scale of what they can achieve but it's certainly possible. It needs a lot to go right. Poch would have to find a way of playing pretty quickly, but there are a lot of talented players there. Nkunku to come as well. He's got a whole preseason to get them into shape, forget about this season and renew their spirit.

I do as well. The Chelsea bashing on social media has distracted many from the fact they've got a very talented squad, only missing a few pieces and the right manager. Also, Chelsea's best football under Tuchel came when they played a 3-4-3/4-3-3 hybrid. This is why I think they went for Potter, although he showed he wasn't ready to manage a big side yet. Poch also likes a hybrid system, has shown he can work with young players and is a better man manager than Tuchel and Potter, so it makes sense he'd be a good replacement. Although, many would have you think Poch is washed up/a fraud based on his PSG tenure.

 

[Abraxas]

I don't see it at all. Normally when teams break in to the top four you see signs of progress the season before. Chelsea look like they have regressed massively to where they were a few years ago.

They have no leaders or goal scorers in their team. Their best players are either always injured (Kante, James and Chillwell) or at the end of their career (Silva)

How many current Chelsea players would get in to one of the current top five teams?

There's virtually zero players I would bring to United from Chelsea, which is not something I thought id be saying two years ago!

Did we see signs Arsenal would challenge for a league title or show the type of consistency they have? I'm not sure we saw signs Chelsea would be quite this shit, either. Things can and do change pretty rapidly in football. I'd say sometimes there is a linear development, but sometimes it is just the right manager and right organisation aligning. The more unorganised and lacking spirit a team is, the more the manager can effect a dramatic improvement, too.

They've got no goalscorers but Nkunku is coming in, and who knows, they might reshuffle the deck and target one. If we look at the statistics Chelsea are not actually uncreative or poor in possession, so there is reason to think that if they get things right in this department that will make up quite a few league spaces by itself.

Well, none of their players get into the top 5 currently. Maybe Enzo. But I think that's obvious, if they had loads of highly performing players and they were midtable that would be even more worrying for them. But I don't think any of our players would be touted for moves after last season either, but the way players look is obviously going to evolve as the team does.

 

[Grande]

I don't see it at all. Normally when teams break in to the top four you see signs of progress the season before. Chelsea look like they have regressed massively to where they were a few years ago.

They have no leaders or goal scorers in their team. Their best players are either always injured (Kante, James and Chillwell) or at the end of their career (Silva)

How many current Chelsea players would get in to one of the current top five teams?

There's virtually zero players I would bring to United from Chelsea, which is not something I thought id be saying two years ago!

Still, this is what most would say about United a year ago. Players not good enough, forget about top four, no sign of improvement, quite the opposite.

Chelsea have a lot of players that should be good or could be good, and with the right manager, it would not surprise me if a year on they are in third place and being two or three signings away from challenging top spot.

 

[cyberman]

We obviously know a lot more than that

They’ve been the worst team in the league since October 16.
What do we know? You knew Sterling would be the signing of the season last summer and look how that turned out!

 

[Rnd898]

Do you seriously think you can finish in the top four next season?

I'm not the one you asked, but depending on a successful transfer market then absolutely. And by successful I mean mostly outgoing transfers and maybe 2-3 new signings coming in (a striker and a DM for sure and potentially a new goalie if we can upgrade on Kepa).

Looking at the bookmakers' odds for top-4 next season there's City absolutely nailed on, Arsenal rated as second most likely (1.6), then four teams rated very close to one another (United, Liverpool, Newcastle and Chelsea all at around 2.0-2.25) and Spurs a little bit behind (2.9). The market certainly seems to believe we'll be somewhere in the mix.

The current top five are all likely to be stronger next season

That's not how football usually works though. Team development is rarely linear and especially not for five teams simultaneously, along the way some of the teams are pretty much guaranteed to face challenges they haven't faced this season. For example it remains to be seen how Newcastle will cope with European football in their calendar and also whether their top performers like Wilson, Almiron and Joelinton can keep up their level from this season or if they'll fall back to their previous levels. Liverpool also seem to bea in some need of a squad rebuild and it's not certain they'll have the necessary resources to do it properly. With Spurs a lot will depend on their managerial hire and whether they can keep Kane or not. There's many question marks over most of the teams in the current top5-6 and expecting each of them to just get better than they currently are is utopia. With the likes of Brighton and Villa I would say it's quite likely that clubs bigger than them will pick on their best players (especially Brighton with Caicedo, MacAllister) and they'd have to get their recruitment absolutely spot on to continue improving from where they are now.

Around 70 points is more often than not the cut-off level for top4. Over the last 20 years there's only been a couple of occasions when it's been slightly more and also a few where roughly 65 points has been enough. I wouldn't expect that to change too much for next season either. Whether our squad will be good enough for +70 points is the question. Right now as things stand I would say probably not, but if we can clear out enough unneeded players and whoever comes in (Nkunku + couple others) aren't total duds then I would think we're in for a decent shot.

 

[Cassidy]

They’ve been the worst team in the league since October 16.
What do we know? You knew Sterling would be the signing of the season last summer and look how that turned out!

We know its not all down to not having enough quality players

 

[WeePat]

I think you have hinted at what needs to happen above. There will need to be some quality sold to get takers, and if Mount doesn’t sign, I could see Liverpool coming in.

The positive thing is that Mount, Gallagher, Kovacic, RLC, Pulisic, Ziyech probably pays for your summer, as well as any possible payoffs that are needed.

Mount has been heavily linked with Liverpool, but not gonna lie, the fanbase will riot if these owners sell him to that club. Recent news has been a bit more encouraging. Hopefully that gets sorted soon.

I would consider selling Gallagher, Pulisic, Ziyech, Auba, Azpi and RLC a pretty successful summer, even though I would probably prefer to keep RLC as he provides more than decent squad depths in multiple positions.

 

[WeePat]

Most people would but that's because, in my opinion, this season has papered over so many cracks at United. The ownership. The state of the squad. My general feeling is that a lot of United fans are under the impression that we're 1-2 signings to challenging with Arsenal and City. Truth is, Ten Hag needs all the funds available to turnover a lot of the current players. We're still tactically broken and far from implementing the style he implemented at Ajax. And now I start to worry because of ambiguous the ownership situation is. I just hope we don't lose yet another summer transfer like we did last summer, where we were forced to pay over the odds for Antony and Casemiro which basically left us no money for Jan and we missed out on a lot of targets due to the FdJ transfer saga.

I suppose you guys know your club better than me but, ownership change notwithstanding, I see a United team in the hands of a good coach who has guided you back to the CL and the final of both domestic cups. I would be quite surprised if you didn't continue to improve next season. Of course the ownership stuff could potentially derail the summer. I remember when we were going through this last year, hoping the uncertainty didn't bleed into the summer. But if the owners are confirmed, in good time, before the season is finished that would be a good scenario for you.

 

[WeePat]

Do you seriously think you can finish in the top four next season?

You've had relegation form since Tuchel left.

The current top five are all likely to be stronger next season and I'd still fancy the likes of Brighton and Villa to finish above you. the only team I can potentially see you overtaking is Spurs.

I think Europa football is the most you will get next season.

I said I would consider that a successful season. A lot would have to go right for us. If we have a good summer, as I have outlined above, with no European football and lots of empty midweeks, I could see us potentially finishing top 4, yes.