Why is he unhappy? He's spent £202m this season. Compare that to the following clubs:
City - £272m
United - £146m
Arsenal - £112m
Liverpool - £155m
Chelsea 2017/18 thread - FA Cup Champs, League chumps
- Thread starter duffer
- Start date
City - £272m
United - £146m
Arsenal - £112m
Liverpool - £155m
Maybe board is signing players he didn't want.
Well Chelsea's net spend has only been about £50m. Still better than Arsenal and Liverpool, mind, but not near the Manchester clubs.
Because a lot of the players are seemingly not his choice.
Arsenal have spent considerably more than Chelsea in the last 4 seasons. 200m more (net spend).
Arsenal have spent that much net? Or Chelsea are actually in the minus?
Edit: Having looked it up, turns out Arsenal have spent about £210m in the last four years. I didn't realize they'd spent so much.
So, 140m more than Chelsea. I remembered it being slightly higher, my bad. Either way, shows the issue Chelsea have had IMO.
Values taken from transfermarkt.
Values taken from transfermarkt.
Presumably that list doesn't include the upcoming Mbappe fee??
So that will obviously have an impact on both PSG and Monaco.
So that will obviously have an impact on both PSG and Monaco.
I can't remember did it a few days ago. I didn't include any 18/19 transfers though. So Liverpool getting the fella from Leipzig wasn't included.
Ahh fair enough, no worries, just checking that was all.
Thanks for doing it!
Thanks for that RS. Those values are quite staggering. The list of English clubs alone that have outspent Chelsea is incredible.
Madrid, yeah, they built their team at the right time looking back. And gives credit to the idea they've got a lot of coin to burn this summer.
Watford and crystal palace 
I just checked, Mbappe is listed as a loan deal, no transfer fee yet.
Yup, fact Brighton is close to the same net spend as Chelsea and Liverpool is incredible. Also incredible that Citys net spent is almost 3 times the amount as Arsenal, and we're twice the amount of Arsenal. Does give Wengers argument that the financial power of the Manchester clubs is destroying the competition a bit more weight when looking at that list.
I don’t really get this net spend argument when determining if they have spent enough money on their team. What players have Chelsea sold that they wanted to keep? Selling Oscar for £50m doesn’t mean they didn’t spend it to attempt to strengthen their team.
This.
The net spend argument is BS.
The players Chelsea sold are players they wanted to sell.
It's to do with status quo. If you've got a high net spend it means you're investing a lot of money into bringing in new players while also selling off low valued players. In theory, that should mean you're improving your squad as you're replacing low valued players with higher valued players (doesn't always work out that way, see AC Milan). If you've got a positive net spend then you've been weakening your squad as you've not been investing enough back.
It paints a better picture than just spend as it takes into consideration both players coming in, but also players going out of the club.
Players In (value over 10m Euros):
Álvaro Morata - 66,00 Mill. €
Tiemoué Bakayoko - 40,00 Mill. €
Michy Batshuayi - 39,00 Mill. €
Diego Costa - 38,00 Mill. €
Danny Drinkwater - 37,90 Mill. €
N'Golo Kanté - 35,80 Mill. €
Antonio Rüdiger - 35,00 Mill. €
David Luiz - 35,00 Mill. €
Cesc Fàbregas - 33,00 Mill. €
Juan Cuadrado - 31,00 Mill. €
Pedro - 27,00 Mill. €
Davide Zappacosta - 25,00 Mill. €
[Irrelevant point] - 23,00 Mill. €
Emerson - 20,00 Mill. €
Abdul Rahman Baba - 20,00 Mill. €
Filipe Luís - 20,00 Mill. €
Olivier Giroud - 17,00 Mill. €
Ross Barkley - 16,90 Mill. €
Loïc Rémy - 13,20 Mill. €
Asmir Begovic - 11,00 Mill. €
Players Out (value over 10m Euros):
Diego Costa - 66,00 Mill. €
Oscar - 60,00 Mill. €
Nemanja Matic - 44,70 Mill. €
David Luiz - 49,50 Mill. €
Romelu Lukaku - 35,36 Mill. €
André Schürrle - 32,00 Mill. €
Ramires - 28,00 Mill. €
Nathan Aké - 22,80 Mill. €
Juan Cuadrado - 20,00 Mill. €
Filipe Luís - 16,00 Mill. €
Mohamed Salah - 15,00 Mill. €
Petr Cech - 14,00 Mill. €
Ryan Bertrand - 13,34 Mill. €
Asmir Begovic - 11,50 Mill. €
Bertrand Traoré - 10,00 Mill. €
Net spend is a pretty trash stat unless you’re losing players you’d otherwise wish to keep. You could argue Conte would have kept Matic but Costa was alienated by Conte personally. It’s also miraculous that they still got the fee they did.
Has it really weakened their squad? They chose to sell Matic and Costa and spent more on their replacements. Boosting net spend by getting good fees for players who didn’t play and you didn’t want isn’t really relevant to how much you’ve spent. It’s their business model and just another revenue stream. They deliberately stock their squad with players they can sell on. How many of those players out weakened Chelsea?
Conte might not have wanted Costa but there's no denying his quality and value to the team. He basically paid for his replacement Morata.
Chelsea have done fairly well at selling their players for good prices, so I wouldn't say the Costa deal was a one-off miracle.
Chelsea have a low net spend because they've had billions pumped into the club that is seeing a return. Their scouting network brings them in a lot of money + their loan army of youngsters. They have also reinvested the money they get from player sells well.
They are a bit of a circus; but quite an oiled machine when it comes to generating revenue.
They are a bit of a circus; but quite an oiled machine when it comes to generating revenue.
If you're removing players from your senior squad then you are in turn weakening it. One less body to fill in during cup competitions etc. Just because the club might not rate them anymore doesn't mean they're worthless.
It's like if you bought 6 houses but also sold 4 you didn't want. It's still extra revenue from selling the houses you didn't want and has in turn weakened your portfolio despite buying 6 new ones. Only people who want to brag would say "Oh I spent 2.5million on getting these 6 houses!" when the reality is you actually only spent 750k because you sold 1.75m worth of property to get it. By looking at just Spend what you're doing is a Trump, only showing half of the picture. Chelsea could easily go "In the last 4 years we've spent over 600 million euros on new players!", that sounds very impressive until you realise they've also sold almost 550 million worth of players. No matter if they wanted them or not, that's still a huge sum.
It's a bit like people in the Fabinho thread going on about him scoring 12 goals despite 9 of them being penalities.
I understand the scorelines of the last 2 matches combined with his body language make it look like he's going to be sacked, but Bournemouth was down to Cahill jokingly being played in the middle and Watford was being gut punched when they went up 2-1. Callum Wilson even said "we saw a weakness in the middle" and they went after it. I dare anyone watch the highlights from the last 2 matches and tell me Cahill should still be a starter for Chelsea.
What I find disturbing is that after the match in Roma, Conte said he listened to the players suggestion of putting Cahill on the right and something like he'd never do it again. Enter Bournemouth - Cahill again. Conte's not making smart decisions like he was last year.
EVERYONE had City and United fighting for the top 2 spots. Your post is revisionism at its finest.
Matic wanted to go. The board sold him against the manager's wishes ala Cech.Costa would've been sold even If Conte wasn't the manager, because he wanted to leave. Morata was just a crisis buy, considering that they missed Lukaku. In the other side, selling Matic was not very inspiring from Conte. He might not be a world class player, but he does the job and is certain that he is a better player than Bakayoko, at least at the moment.
PS: If you want some interesting reading, go on chelseatalk forum and watch for the Baka thread
What XI do you propose then? I've been seeing this a lot and I haven't seen anyone suggest anything other than "just change it".
He doesn't necessarily have to even change formation, just switch up the game play a bit.
But having said that we are more equipped to play a back four now, the impact Christensen has made on this team defensively shouldn't be underestimated, he's an absolute star.
37 Goals all comps conceded and 23 of those have been when Christensen hasn't been playing which is pretty remarkable considering he is a regular starter.
I don't know how you switch up the game play when the central midfield is such a bone of contention. The only thing you could really do is put DD in for Bakayoko, which I've wanted him to do since the end of November. He does like to spray the ball a bit, but does it change our style of play that much? I've personally wanted Willian in central midfield for a few seasons now. I know that's a bit of a pipe dream, but he has all the attributes needed. That's just a short midfield. Instead of the ultra defensive 3511, do you put Fabregas as one of the three forwards in a 343? He did a few times off the bench last season. All of this is moot anyway. Conte doesn't seem as flexible as he was last season.
Also, are we capable of playing a back 4? I feel Alonso's lack of pace will leave us exposed when he goes forward. If we were to put Luiz at DM to help cover maybe...
Tibo
Azpi Luiz Rudgier
Zappacosta Barkley Kante Emerson
Willian Giroud Hazard
With the players we had available the other night that should have been the team.
Maybe that's wrong. Conceded 19-20 goals with him playing as per transfermarkt.
I didn't realise the stats were that mental ,jesus, i got it by what i saw during games (and how we have "coped" without him). AC has ridiculous reading of the game knows exactly when to tackle, intercept and his reading of the game senses danger before it's even a problem.When he has the ball at his feet doesn't look in trouble or capable of making an error even when the forward is breathing right down his neck. He makes football look so so easy and in my opinion will be the best defender of this coming generation he is that good for me.
He alone is the difference between our defense being great and an absolute shambles.
Alonso is a back four is a worry (to say the least) but currently i think the pro's will outweigh the cons. We play 3-4-3 we look light in CM, play 3-5-2 we are light upfront, and we need to be more a threat up top. I feel with Christensen here now (famous last words but i just can't imagine a defense with him in it being shit, i really can't) we can revert to a back four, probably partner him with Rudi.I don't know how you switch up the game play when the central midfield is such a bone of contention. The only thing you could really do is put DD in for Bakayoko, which I've wanted him to do since the end of November. He does like to spray the ball a bit, but does it change our style of play that much? I've personally wanted Willian in central midfield for a few seasons now. I know that's a bit of a pipe dream, but he has all the attributes needed. That's just a short midfield. Instead of the ultra defensive 3511, do you put Fabregas as one of the three forwards in a 343? He did a few times off the bench last season. All of this is moot anyway. Conte doesn't seem as flexible as he was last season.
Also, are we capable of playing a back 4? I feel Alonso's lack of pace will leave us exposed when he goes forward. If we were to put Luiz at DM to help cover maybe...
That's very interesting and I would have no complaints. Long term - just replace Giroud with Morata?
This is with him on the pitch
3 vs Burnley
1 vs Spurs (Batshuayi OG)
1 vs City
3 vs Roma
1 vs Everton
1 vs Liverpool
1 vs Newcastle
1 vs Atletico
1 vs West Ham
2 vs Arsenal
2 vs Arsenal again (Rudiger OG)
That's 17, 15 for the biased Chelsea fan.
I completely agree. We could always put Azpi at LB and Zappacosta at RB if Alonso/Emerson doesn't work out.
Amen. The obsession with net spend to make excuses for managers is funny. It is something for the finance department of the club to worry about and not fans. The point will remain conte has spent more 200m this season. People act as if he has sold hazard or some big players. He sold costa and it was contest decision and for that he has bought morata, he sold matic and got 2 midfielders in drinkwater and bakayako to replace him. The truth is conte is no longer motivated and it's his whining and moaning that has led to this situation. He has got a pretty decent squad and you do not need 11 superstars to beat Watford and bournemouth.
Also, it's very funny when the same chelsea fans back in summer were laughing at us for buying lukaku and matic and were adamant that morata and bakayako are super for them, are the same fans now saying they are not good enough.
If we somehow sold Darmian for £20m and signed a capable replacement for £10m would we be weaker? That’s the logic your argument is following.
I don’t get your analogy. Making money doesn’t negate money spent. Do your groceries cost nothing because you made more money from your wages?
Why has Drinkwater played so little, actually?
There is no doubt Christensen is our most important defender right now, no contest. We don't seem to have anyone at his level that can play in the Centre and he is just so calm and intelligent. Preceding his injury I think we were looking at keeping 6 clean sheets in a row at the bridge, and in the 2 games since we have conceded 7
He is some player.In terms of the lineup that was just one option if conte wanted to stay in 3-4-3 even in 3-5-2 there are ways for him to find a better balance. There is no point sacking him whatsoever he is a top manager however he is culpable for mistakes too currently with poor lineups. Cahill should only be playing easy games and cup games, sad to say but its true he is by quite a mile our worst CB.
He came back in November after injury and was recently injured again last month. I don’t think Conte’s intense training sessions have helped his recovery.
This. Can't imagine Conte would like a mediocre English player like Barkley to add depth to his squad.
I never rated Baka from the start I thought he was all muscle and poor ability.Costa would've been sold even If Conte wasn't the manager, because he wanted to leave. Morata was just a crisis buy, considering that they missed Lukaku. In the other side, selling Matic was not very inspiring from Conte. He might not be a world class player, but he does the job and is certain that he is a better player than Bakayoko, at least at the moment.
PS: If you want some interesting reading, go on chelseatalk forum and watch for the Baka thread
That’s a bit harsh considering you guys had no champions league and a squad that had recently won the league so revisionism it certainly is not. I remember a few pundits fancying Chelsea also because no champions league fixtures especially.
Trevor Sinclair Chelsea Man City Liverpool Man Utd 7th
Steve Wilson Chelsea Man City Arsenal Man Utd 7th
John Motson Chelsea Liverpool Man City Man Utd 7th
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Does anyone think Conte should try a different formation? He loves the 3-4-3 but maybe change it to 4 at the back?
------------Courtois-
Azipilicueta--Christensen--Rudiger---Alonso
-----------------Kante---Bakayoko
---Willian-----------Fabregas----------Hazard
--------------------Morata
------------Courtois-
Azipilicueta--Christensen--Rudiger---Alonso
-----------------Kante---Bakayoko
---Willian-----------Fabregas----------Hazard
--------------------Morata