Frank Lampard | Former Chelsea manager

[Morty_]

Lack of quality aside, they are not really a version of "good old" Chelsea, are they?
They score a decent amount(nothing extraordinary but decent) and play some good football at times, but their defense is a mess.

You`d think he would shore up the defense instead of trying to go offensive, given the transfer ban + losing their best player.
Lampard is more of an offensive manager, or perhaps just not that good at setting the team up defensively(which would be strange, given he played for one of the best defensive teams of all time for a long period of his career).

All in all, he has done a good job, just not in the ways you might expect.

 

[Squeaky Bumtime]

9

As a Chelsea fan I can say I think Ole has done a tremendous job. I really think much like Lampard, if allowed to grow into their role plus the respective resources each club has, they will be fine managers.

I must say I really don’t understand this effort from some United fans to seemingly downplay the job Frank has done this season.

I suppose part of that may be because the general media narrative around Frank has been positive while Ole at times was been much more criticized and mocked, unfairly I might add.

Last part too but mainly its about a narrative here. I don't think anyone is trying to downplay Lampards achievements, it's more about comparisons in how the 2 and their success is treated.

 

[Dancfc]

It's got to be Klopp with Wilder coming 2nd. Nobody else really requires debating frankly, they've all had bad spells of form.

Has to be Wilder for me as great as Klopp has done.

The former got a bunch of lower league journeyman challenging for Europe, it's outrageous.

 

[-Supreme-]

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/metro.c...-manager-year-award-paul-merson-13016566/amp/

Here is Paul merson. Espn also recommended him as manager of the year candidate.

I wonder if Paul Mersin predicted Chelsea to finish 3rd at the start of the season?

I’d imagine most pundits predicted Chelsea to finish top 4 so I’m not sure why Lampard is so highly rated given his performance isn’t something out of the ordinary.

 

[Dancfc]

Lack of quality aside, they are not really a version of "good old" Chelsea, are they?
They score a decent amount(nothing extraordinary but decent) and play some good football at times, but their defense is a mess.

You`d think he would shore up the defense instead of trying to go offensive, given the transfer ban + losing their best player.
Lampard is more of an offensive manager, or perhaps just not that good at setting the team up defensively(which would be strange, given he played for one of the best defensive teams of all time for a long period of his career).

All in all, he has done a good job, just not in the ways you might expect.

Not saying our defense is the best in the world but Kepa and the lack of a clinical edge were/are bigger problems than the CBs. Many of our dropped points this season have come due to not finishing our dinner, Kepa letting a avoidable shot in or our opponents scoring from one of their very few attempts at goal, sometimes all three.

Sort those two out and I think people will be surprised at how much better things look even if we don't sign a CB this summer. I'd certainly think we'd improve more that way than we would have done had we signed three defenders and no one else.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

In my opinion, I thought Wolves were going to cause you a lot of trouble. However, I was expecting Moutinho, Traore and Kepa to start.

As for, my post that you replied to, do you disagree that Chelsea need a 1GK, 1CB (min) and 1LB, or are you happy with how you defend?

I just find it amusing that you make these definitive OTT statements like you're some sort of authority.

I'm happy with how the team is set up out of possession - obvious work is required on set pieces and a new GK has to come in, but saying we need to overhaul 3/4s of our back line when xG difference has us on par with Liverpool is silly:

3rd most successful pressures despite having 3rd highest possession demonstrates that we work very hard off the ball. Also 3rd in ball recoveries overall (2nd in interceptions, 4th in tackles).

Every advanced metric has us as an above average defensive team that is unfortunate enough to play in front of the worst goalkeeper in the history of the PL. Signing 2 new CBs in this market would be a poor use of funds given what we actually need - a new GK and a new left back.

 

[Morty_]

Not saying our defense is the best in the world but Kepa and the lack of a clinical edge were/are bigger problems than the CBs. Many of our dropped points this season have come due to not finishing our dinner, Kepa letting a avoidable shot in or our opponents scoring from one of their very few attempts at goal, sometimes all three.

Sort those two out and I think people will be surprised at how much better things look even if we don't sign a CB this summer. I'd certainly think we'd improve more that way than we would have done had we signed three defenders and no one else.

I heard Kepa didnt have his best season, but i didnt realize he was such a big problem, he is objectively terrible then?
Sorry, i dont follow Chelsea that closely, just the odd match.

 

[Dancfc]

I wonder if Paul Mersin predicted Chelsea to finish 3rd at the start of the season?

I’d imagine most pundits predicted Chelsea to finish top 4 so I’m not sure why Lampard is so highly rated given his performance isn’t something out of the ordinary.

How many teams after losing their game changer (while on the top of his game) improve or even maintain their position? Even Sir Alex oversaw vast drop offs after losing Stam, Ronaldo and Beckham. Dropping one place (and even that was only via goal difference) and five points after losing the player that contributed 50% of our goals the previous season is pretty good going and better than many expected.

 

[TheLord]

If you're factoring in Hazard transfer, then you need to also factor in Kovacic and Pulisic transfers as well. And considering they still would be atleast 2 players short of mounting a serious title challenge, don't think people will say that they rebuilt their team shrewdly.

I did that and was left disappointed!
------------

I have included seasons 2019/2020 and 2020/2021. If you want to go as far back as 2018/2019, there were three big incoming players (Pulisic, Kepa, Jorginho) and some outgoing ones like Courtois. Kepa has been a disaster, Jorginho's value hasn't dropped, Pulisic' has certainly increased. All three players are 'young' and have good resale value. Please note the details are copy/pasted from Transfermarkt.com and are in €. And I did not know the names of at least half the players in the list below:

Outgoing
Hazard: 115
Ola Aina: 10
Kalas: 10
Luiz: 9
Hector: 6
Omeruo: 5
Morata: 56
Pasalic: 15
Nathan: 3
Total: 231

Incoming
Kovacic: 45
Werner: 53
Ziyech: 40
Havertz: 75 (rumoured)
Onana: 25 (rumoured)
Cucurella: 25 (rumoured)
Total: 263

The net spend is a mere 30m. :O

 

[Dancfc]

I heard Kepa didnt have his best season, but i didnt realize he was such a big problem, he is objectively terrible then?
Sorry, i dont follow Chelsea that closely, just the odd match.

He's saved 52% of his shots and he doesn't command his area (and to go back to save % doesn't make up for it by putting out the fire after its started), even his distribution (he was brought because Sarri wanted a keeper suitable to his style) is nothing to write home about.

This explains the situation better (click the tweet and there's an entire thread).

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

To get a defense as good as Liverpool's only RJ is good enough in the long run (Azpi too if he defies science Ibra/Giggs style) but upgrading Kepa alone will reduce the goal against collum by atleast 15 in my opinion.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

I did that and was left disappointed!
------------

I have included seasons 2019/2020 and 2020/2021. If you want to go as far back as 2018/2019, there were three big incoming players (Pulisic, Kepa, Jorginho) and some outgoing ones like Courtois. Kepa has been a disaster, Jorginho's value hasn't dropped, Pulisic' has certainly increased. All three players are 'young' and have good resale value. Please note the details are copy/pasted from Transfermarkt.com and are in €.

Outgoing
Hazard: 115
Ola Aina: 10
Kalas: 10
Luiz: 9
Hector: 6
Omeruo: 5
Morata: 56
Pasalic: 15
Nathan: 3
Total: 231

Incoming
Kovacic: 45
Werner: 53
Ziyech: 40
Havertz: 75 (rumoured)
Onana: 25 (rumoured)
Cucurella: 25 (rumoured)
Total: 263

The net spend is a mere 30m. :O

Havertz fee seems a bit low, but this also doesn't account for us getting €10m from Sassuolo in exchange for giving up our buy-back clause, plus a further €10m in bonuses we're getting for Hazard this season (and another €10m next).

 

[Dave Smith]

I just find it amusing that you make these definitive OTT statements like you're some sort of authority.

I'm happy with how the team is set up out of possession - obvious work is required on set pieces and a new GK has to come in, but saying we need to overhaul 3/4s of our back line when xG difference has us on par with Liverpool is silly:

3rd most successful pressures despite having 3rd highest possession demonstrates that we work very hard off the ball. Also 3rd in ball recoveries overall (2nd in interceptions, 4th in tackles).

Every advanced metric has us as an above average defensive team that is unfortunate enough to play in front of the worst goalkeeper in the history of the PL. Signing 2 new CBs in this market would be a poor use of funds given what we actually need - a new GK and a new left back.

Sorry, I'll remember to caveat my posts with a 'imo' everytime I post, so that you feel that the opinion not too definitive.

I also said 1/2 CB's not a definite 2, fyi.

As for those stats, those are all well and good. However, Chelsea were 20/20 in the PL on goals conceeded via a counter and 19/20 to goals conceded at set pieces (but face around 35% less than Norwich who were bottom.) Further to this, you were ranked 13th for goals conceded in the league, tied with Brighton.

You can blame Kepa for a lot of things, but goals on the counter is tough as that is due primarily to poor positional play by the players in front of him. At set pieces, he is more to blame, but for instance the goal at the Dipper's for the third was just rank poor defending.

In the CL, you're defence got ripped apart by Ajax at home, Bayern at home and Valencia away (Valencia missed two/three glorious chances.) So it is not just isolated incidents were one or two teams have done this to you.

Yes, Kepa is perhaps one of the worst GK's in PL history. I agree, however, whilst Chelsea have a fairly low chance conceded metric, they problem is that a lot of chances conceded are high quality ones. If you're happy with Chelsea's CB's then fair enough but when you have possibly your best CB's doing this:

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

I would argue that at least a minimum of 1 CB is needed as that is rank poor defending up their with a 53% save percentage.

 

[Dancfc]

Sorry, I'll remember to caveat my posts with a 'imo' everytime I post, so that you feel that the opinion not too definitive.

I also said 1/2 CB's not a definite 2, fyi.

As for those stats, those are all well and good. However, Chelsea were 20/20 in the PL on goals conceeded via a counter and 19/20 to goals conceded at set pieces (but face around 35% less than Norwich who were bottom.) Further to this, you were ranked 13th for goals conceded in the league, tied with Brighton.

Yeah set pieces is a massive problem still (something that will be reduced by a commanding keeper but all the same it is an issue that worries me) but what's the actual stat on counter attack goals? We conceded 2 of them (possibly 3 not sure if a tackle and a big through ball officially counts) at Old Trafford on the first day which I imagine has inflated that stat hugely.

 

[anant]

I did that and was left disappointed!
------------

I have included seasons 2019/2020 and 2020/2021. If you want to go as far back as 2018/2019, there were three big incoming players (Pulisic, Kepa, Jorginho) and some outgoing ones like Courtois. Kepa has been a disaster, Jorginho's value hasn't dropped, Pulisic' has certainly increased. All three players are 'young' and have good resale value. Please note the details are copy/pasted from Transfermarkt.com and are in €. And I did not know the names of at least half the players in the list below:

Outgoing
Hazard: 115
Ola Aina: 10
Kalas: 10
Luiz: 9
Hector: 6
Omeruo: 5
Morata: 56
Pasalic: 15
Nathan: 3
Total: 231

Incoming
Kovacic: 45
Werner: 53
Ziyech: 40
Havertz: 75 (rumoured)
Onana: 25 (rumoured)
Cucurella: 25 (rumoured)
Total: 263

The net spend is a mere 30m. :O

Mate, your claim was whether the reinvestment of Hazard's claim was smart piece of business (let's assume all the outgoings)
Havertz is 80m GBP atleast which would be close to 87m EUR, Onana and Cucurella are 25m GBP which is closer to 30m EUR

Add to that, you need a LB (Chilwell - 70m?), RB (not sure who but it will cost atleast 40m), another CB - 40m?

And this is assuming none of these new signings turns out to be a flop (probability of that happening is low) and that its the personnel that's the problem in defence and not tactics.

So, we're looking at around 200m net spend here and that is on buying 8 players. Decent money but definitely wouldnt be called shrewd

Edit: and 60m for Pulisic to take net spend of 260m

 

[Pagh Wraith]

Sorry, I'll remember to caveat my posts with a 'imo' everytime I post, so that you feel that the opinion not too definitive.

I also said 1/2 CB's not a definite 2, fyi.

As for those stats, those are all well and good. However, Chelsea were 20/20 in the PL on goals conceeded via a counter and 19/20 to goals conceded at set pieces (but face around 35% less than Norwich who were bottom.) Further to this, you were ranked 13th for goals conceded in the league, tied with Brighton.

You can blame Kepa for a lot of things, but goals on the counter is tough as that is due primarily to poor positional play by the players in front of him. At set pieces, he is more to blame, but for instance the goal at the Dipper's for the third was just rank poor defending.

In the CL, you're defence got ripped apart by Ajax at home, Bayern at home and Valencia away (Valencia missed two/three glorious chances.) So it is not just isolated incidents were one or two teams have done this to you.

Yes, Kepa is perhaps one of the worst GK's in PL history. I agree, however, whilst Chelsea have a fairly low chance conceded metric, they problem is that a lot of chances conceded are high quality ones.

Again, false. Chelsea face shots on target of much lower quality than Liverpool for example. They have also had fewer expected goals against than Liverpool. Yet they have conceded 21 more than Liverpool. What only possible conclusion does that leave?

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

I agree with some of your points, particularly number 5. However the key thing is that as a Chelsea fan it was easy to be hopefully optimistic. Barring a complete disastrous season (mid-bottom half of the table) Frank was always gonna have a second season because Hazard left, we had the transfer ban, and the fact that Frank’s legendary status at the club would grant him more leeway than most. Plus we knew we had a bunch of talented youngsters. The reality is that many people at the start of the season thought Frank was in over his head for playing so many young players.

It's true. In my book they were always wrong. They underestimated both him and the Chelsea roster of players.

 

[Dancfc]

I just find it amusing that you make these definitive OTT statements like you're some sort of authority.

I'm happy with how the team is set up out of possession - obvious work is required on set pieces and a new GK has to come in, but saying we need to overhaul 3/4s of our back line when xG difference has us on par with Liverpool is silly:

3rd most successful pressures despite having 3rd highest possession demonstrates that we work very hard off the ball. Also 3rd in ball recoveries overall (2nd in interceptions, 4th in tackles).

Every advanced metric has us as an above average defensive team that is unfortunate enough to play in front of the worst goalkeeper in the history of the PL. Signing 2 new CBs in this market would be a poor use of funds given what we actually need - a new GK and a new left back.

Couple more to add.

Strongly backs up Frank's decision to go for attacking players and a new keeper before he looks at the defenders, they're really not as bad as the GA collum has made them look.

What is also worrying though is that City's poor season is just as much a statical fluke as our GA record, when the time comes and we're ready to challenge, we will probably have our toughest competitor yet.

 

[Bilbo]

I quite like Lampard. I've posted before defending him at times this season because at times he has received criticism which I felt had been over the top and I think he's done (at minimum) an acceptable job this season.

However I also feel that people sometimes overstate the problems he has had to deal with.
I know that might sound laughable when you consider the club lost Hazard and obviously the transfer ban didnt help, but for me even despite that he inherited an extremely deep squad full of quality. For me Chelsea missing out on the top 4 would have been a bigger failure than United doing so, but its a moot point anyway as we both did.

Also this notion that Chelsea are now a club that is backing their youth irks me for some reason. They bought back Tammy, Tomori and Mount (and threw a nice contract at Hudson-Odoi) largely because they couldn't sign anyone else, and now that they can they have moved quickly to replace them. I don't believe that the club have changed their MO when it comes to youth and I've seen this being pushed a lot by certain sections of the media. For me, all of those players will now likely find their development stunted because of fewer opportunities which is a shame

 

[ChaddyP]

I did that and was left disappointed!
------------

I have included seasons 2019/2020 and 2020/2021. If you want to go as far back as 2018/2019, there were three big incoming players (Pulisic, Kepa, Jorginho) and some outgoing ones like Courtois. Kepa has been a disaster, Jorginho's value hasn't dropped, Pulisic' has certainly increased. All three players are 'young' and have good resale value. Please note the details are copy/pasted from Transfermarkt.com and are in €. And I did not know the names of at least half the players in the list below:

Outgoing
Hazard: 115
Ola Aina: 10
Kalas: 10
Luiz: 9
Hector: 6
Omeruo: 5
Morata: 56
Pasalic: 15
Nathan: 3
Total: 231

Incoming
Kovacic: 45
Werner: 53
Ziyech: 40
Havertz: 75 (rumoured)
Onana: 25 (rumoured)
Cucurella: 25 (rumoured)
Total: 263

The net spend is a mere 30m. :O

Pulisic should really be added to this list

 

[WeePat]

I quite like Lampard. I've posted before defending him at times this season because at times he has received criticism which I felt had been over the top and I think he's done (at minimum) an acceptable job this season.

However I also feel that people sometimes overstate the problems he has had to deal with.
I know that might sound laughable when you consider the club lost Hazard and obviously the transfer ban didnt help, but for me even despite that he inherited an extremely deep squad full of quality. For me Chelsea missing out on the top 4 would have been a bigger failure than United doing so, but its a moot point anyway as we both did.

Also this notion that Chelsea are now a club that is backing their youth irks me for some reason. They bought back Tammy, Tomori and Mount (and threw a nice contract at Hudson-Odoi) largely because they couldn't sign anyone else, and now that they can they have moved quickly to replace them. I don't believe that the club have changed their MO when it comes to youth and I've seen this being pushed a lot by certain sections of the media. For me, all of those players will now likely find their development stunted because of fewer opportunities which is a shame

What would be an acceptable number of academy players in the first team to you? As it stands, in my view, Mount and James will continue to be first team regulars. The jury remains out with Christensen. That's 2 (maybe 3) out of the 4 regulars from this season. That's hardly enough to claim "all the youth are now being replaced". The fact that Abraham has faded quite badly as the season progressed and is firmly behind Giroud, so if anything Werner is now replacing ...... Giroud?

 

[duffer]

Pulisic should really be added to this list

We bought him in the 2018/19 season, he's listing 2019/20 & 2020/21.

 

[Dancfc]

Also this notion that Chelsea are now a club that is backing their youth irks me for some reason. They bought back Tammy, Tomori and Mount (and threw a nice contract at Hudson-Odoi) largely because they couldn't sign anyone else, and now that they can they have moved quickly to replace them. I don't believe that the club have changed their MO when it comes to youth and I've seen this being pushed a lot by certain sections of the media. For me, all of those players will now likely find their development stunted because of fewer opportunities which is a shame

Mount will still be an important part of the team and CHO as a third winger will still get lots of game time (will probably feature in most games he's fit for). Tammy is the only one who's game time will be drastically decreased.

And you've (I'll give you the benefit of the doubt it was innocently not conveniently) missed out James, we were scouting Hakimi for quite some time but RJ's growth meant we passed up making an official move.

We're mixing star signings with our best young players which is the approach I've been calling for for years, even the ones who don't quite have it in them to be starters will still make excellent squad player's which will free up funds we'd otherwise have to frittle away buying a Zappacosta/Remy type player to boost the squad depth.

 

[ChaddyP]

We bought him in the 2018/19 season, he's listing 2019/20 & 2020/21.

Yeh he was technically signed then. But it was quite obvious to me. He was a 2019/20 signing that was fast tracked because of the impending ban. I get the technicality but I also feel he really should be added to the list as it was obvious to me Chelsea were spending 2019/20 money early due to the transfer ban.

You can disagree and that's fair.

 

[duffer]

Yeh he was technically signed then. But it was quite obvious to me. He was a 2019/20 signing that was fast tracked because of the impending ban. I get the technicality but I also feel he really should be added to the list as it was obvious to me Chelsea were spending 2019/20 money early due to the transfer ban.

You can disagree and that's fair.

You can include our transfers from 2018/19 if you like of course. Might as well include them all though and not just Pulisic.

 

[Bilbo]

Mount will still be an important part of the team and CHO as a third winger will still get lots of game time (will probably feature in most games he's fit for). Tammy is the only one who's game time will be drastically decreased.

And you've (I'll give you the benefit of the doubt it was innocently not conveniently) missed out James, we were scouting Hakimi for quite some time but RJ's growth meant we passed up making an official move.

We're mixing star signings with our best young players which is the approach I've been calling for for years, even the ones who don't quite have it in them to be starters will still make excellent squad player's which will free up funds we'd otherwise have to frittle away buying a Zappacosta/Remy type player to boost the squad depth.

To be fair it was a minor point that turned into a mini rant when my intention was largely to stick up for Lampard, but i do think the point still stands.

There was a lot of talk throughout the season, and still is at times, about Chelseas change of direction. I guess it bothered me because I never feel United get the credit they deserve for doing that, and all of a sudden you lot do it one time and its a brave new world or something.

I did forget James which is ironic given that he's likely to be the only one who stays in your preferred XI next season.

Anyway ignore me. Rant over. As I said earlier I'm only in here to sort of praise Frank for doing a decent job of it this season.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

Sorry, I'll remember to caveat my posts with a 'imo' everytime I post, so that you feel that the opinion not too definitive.

I also said 1/2 CB's not a definite 2, fyi.

As for those stats, those are all well and good. However, Chelsea were 20/20 in the PL on goals conceeded via a counter and 19/20 to goals conceded at set pieces (but face around 35% less than Norwich who were bottom.) Further to this, you were ranked 13th for goals conceded in the league, tied with Brighton.

You can blame Kepa for a lot of things, but goals on the counter is tough as that is due primarily to poor positional play by the players in front of him. At set pieces, he is more to blame, but for instance the goal at the Dipper's for the third was just rank poor defending.

In the CL, you're defence got ripped apart by Ajax at home, Bayern at home and Valencia away (Valencia missed two/three glorious chances.) So it is not just isolated incidents were one or two teams have done this to you.

Yes, Kepa is perhaps one of the worst GK's in PL history. I agree, however, whilst Chelsea have a fairly low chance conceded metric, they problem is that a lot of chances conceded are high quality ones. If you're happy with Chelsea's CB's then fair enough but when you have possibly your best CB's doing this:

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

I would argue that at least a minimum of 1 CB is needed as that is rank poor defending up their with a 53% save percentage.

Goals on the counter is due to poor finishing at the other end and/or being put behind by shite goalkeeping in the first place. And all your handwaving is pure conjecture, you're arguing against established models that do a far better job of actually reflecting what needs to be improved on (and you're not actually even correct about set plays, we're 7th bottom).

You are again just factually incorrect about Chelsea conceding higher quality chances - we're 5th best in post-shot xG.

Also nice use of a single video from some Yank coach in the 4th division of American SOCK-ER regarding a game against the best team in the world. And finally, the comparison of a single instance of defending to a historically bad stat accumulated over the course of an entire season is nonsensical to the point of being genuinely funny

 

[LVGSdive]

He's saved 52% of his shots and he doesn't command his area (and to go back to save % doesn't make up for it by putting out the fire after its started), even his distribution (he was brought because Sarri wanted a keeper suitable to his style) is nothing to write home about.

This explains the situation better (click the tweet and there's an entire thread)

To get a defense as good as Liverpool's only RJ is good enough in the long run (Azpi too if he defies science Ibra/Giggs style) but upgrading Kepa alone will reduce the goal against collum by atleast 15 in my opinion.

I dislike the narrative of this keeper faced x shots and let in y shots. Where were the shots taken from, how many did he get a hand to, how many mistakes did he have that lead to goals, how many were bad positioning.

One of the things I have noticed about Kepa which is a big problem is shots to his left. He goes for the shots with his right hand instead of his left. Whether this can be corrected or not I have no idea.

Its also as weak an argument as this team had x number of penalties. Well how many of them were fouls in the box. Every foul in the box should be a penalty even if that is 10 times every game.

 

[macheda14]

You can include our transfers from 2018/19 if you like of course. Might as well include them all though and not just Pulisic.

Or you could include the big money signing you made in the January just after it was announced you would be receiving a transfer ban.

Transfer ban announced in November, 57 million pound player signed in January.

 

[Maluco]

Couple more to add.

Strongly backs up Frank's decision to go for attacking players and a new keeper before he looks at the defenders, they're really not as bad as the GA collum has made them look.

What is also worrying though is that City's poor season is just as much a statical fluke as our GA record, when the time comes and we're ready to challenge, we will probably have our toughest competitor yet.

This is actually quite interesting and probably gives some credence to how much of a disadvantage Kepa has been. Even though it’s been rightly stated that position of those shots and how those chances were conceded is very relevant.

How much will the defence’s overall confidence improve by having faith in whoever is behind them is almost certainly a factor too though.

I still think Chelsea are lacking quality personnel at the back, but this is a very good post and certainly highlights the biggest issue.

It has certainly changed my perspective a bit anyway.

 

[duffer]

Or you could include the big money signing you made in the January just after it was announced you would be receiving a transfer ban.

Transfer ban announced in November, 57 million pound player signed in January.

November?

We got banned in Feb 2019. After we signed Pulisic.

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...two-windows-fifa-foreign-players-under-age-18

 

[macheda14]

November?

We got banned in Feb 2019. After we signed Pulisic.

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...two-windows-fifa-foreign-players-under-age-18

Yep I misread the bbc article as being November 2018 not 19. But even though I’ve been proven wrong I’m still going to blindly argue against you as is my right on the Internet.

Although one would imagine Chelsea were aware that they were being investigated prior to Feb.

 

[duffer]

Yep I misread the bbc article as being November 2018 not 19. But even though I’ve been proven wrong I’m still going to blindly argue against you as is my right on the Internet.

Although one would imagine Chelsea were aware that they were being investigated prior to Feb.

The investigation went back until 2013. You should probably include all transfers since then in our 2019/20 & 2020/21 spending really, we knew it was coming.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

Couple more to add.

Strongly backs up Frank's decision to go for attacking players and a new keeper before he looks at the defenders, they're really not as bad as the GA collum has made them look.

What is also worrying though is that City's poor season is just as much a statical fluke as our GA record, when the time comes and we're ready to challenge, we will probably have our toughest competitor yet.

Great post, the visuals really add a lot.

And yeah, City are an odd one - what stands out to me is that they're 3rd worst in the league in successful pressures. Obviously this is in part a function of their high possession, but Liverpool are 2nd in possession & 5th in pressures while we're 3rd in each. For me their midfield has been far too easy to get through. Rodri has been pretty mediocre and they've really missed Fernandinho there - they really fecked up their squad composition by not getting in someone for Kompany.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Like Ole, he's done a very good job and deserves credit. Both clubs are clearly in a rebuilding phase and both managers can be proud of their seasons.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

This is actually quite interesting and probably gives some credence to how much of a disadvantage Kepa has been. Even though it’s been rightly stated that position of those shots and how those chances were conceded is very relevant.

How much will the defence’s overall confidence improve by having faith in whoever is behind them is almost certainly a factor too though.

I still think Chelsea are lacking quality personnel at the back, but this is a very good post and certainly highlights the biggest issue.

It has certainly changed my perspective a bit anyway.

Some of the shot position & how the chance came about is captured in xG (though this can depend on the model). You're spot on though, the confidence the defense has is not something that can be accounted for statistically - as such, we can only anecdotally point to the fact that the defense looked far more assured in front of a journeyman 38 year old backup than it has at any point in front of Kepa this year.

My view is why should we throw the baby out with the bathwater? All four of our CBs have previously shown at bare minimum the ability to play to a reasonable standard in the PL - is it more likely that they've all suddenly become utterly useless or is the common denominator the keeper they're stuck in front of?

 

[DarkXaero]

I think people are talking crap about them having a far better squad than us.

They went into the season losing the best winger in the league. People have said Pulisic is the replacement, but he needed bedding in at first; also, he got injured a few times. People are looking at his form now and are making out that is what he has been like all season. No, it has been pretty recent where he has started looking like a promising replacement for Hazard.

They were relying on a striker (Abraham) who was playing at Derby last season, and Mason Mount. These two youth players who were finding their feet in the team and had never played a Premier League game. Giroud seems to suddenly being made out to be better than he is; he has his uses but has never been a prolific goal scorer - these are his past goal-scoring seasons: 4, 3, 2, 8 (this season). We have Rashford and Martial, who are pretty experienced also.

Jorghino, Kovacic, and Kante (albeit, he seems to have deteriorated) are good, but what are these amazing replacements they have? We have Matic, Pogba, Fernandes, and Fred.

Their defence isn't good. There is a reason Zouma was loaned out to Everton before. Azpilicueta has aged. Wan Bissaka, Maguire, Lindelof, Bailly, Jones, Shaw, Williams is a far better defence, in both depth and first team.

De Gea is much better than Kepa, despite his mistakes; I would say Romero is arguably better also.

I would say he has done well. Last season they got 70 points; this year 66 points. I would say the loss of Hazard is worth more than four points. If they had him, they would have exceeded last season's points total.

I think both teams need to up their game next season, though.

Agree with the majority of this. It's also worth noting that Kepa is THE worst keeper in the entire league, and therefore one of the biggest liabilities out there. Replacing him alone can improve their defense a lot.

 

[Maluco]

I think people are talking crap about them having a far better squad than us.

They went into the season losing the best winger in the league. People have said Pulisic is the replacement, but he needed bedding in at first; also, he got injured a few times. People are looking at his form now and are making out that is what he has been like all season. No, it has been pretty recent where he has started looking like a promising replacement for Hazard.

They were relying on a striker (Abraham) who was playing at Derby last season, and Mason Mount. These two youth players who were finding their feet in the team and had never played a Premier League game. Giroud seems to suddenly being made out to be better than he is; he has his uses but has never been a prolific goal scorer - these are his past goal-scoring seasons: 4, 3, 2, 8 (this season). We have Rashford and Martial, who are pretty experienced also.

Jorghino, Kovacic, and Kante (albeit, he seems to have deteriorated) are good, but what are these amazing replacements they have? We have Matic, Pogba, Fernandes, and Fred.

Their defence isn't good. There is a reason Zouma was loaned out to Everton before. Azpilicueta has aged. Wan Bissaka, Maguire, Lindelof, Bailly, Jones, Shaw, Williams is a far better defence, in both depth and first team.

De Gea is much better than Kepa, despite his mistakes; I would say Romero is arguably better also.

I would say he has done well. Last season they got 70 points; this year 66 points. I would say the loss of Hazard is worth more than four points. If they had him, they would have exceeded last season's points total.

I think both teams need to up their game next season, though.

I really don’t think they are...

Kepa. Caballero
James Azpilicueta
Rudigar. Zouma
Christiansen. Tomori
Alonso. Emerson
Jorginho. Kante
Kovacic. Gilmour
Mount. Loftus-Cheek
Pulisic. Pedro
Willian CHO
Giroud. Abraham

With Barkley and Bats left over. Some are a bit older like Pedro, but still only 32 and good enough for Roma to pick him up (far better than Mata). All useful options, very interchangeable. Able to rest anyone and have a quality player to step in. Injuries, both teams had to deal with.

de Gea. Romero
AWB. Dalot
Lindelof. Bailly
Maguire. Jones
Shaw. Williams
Matic. Fred
Pogba. McTominey
Bruno (Jan-). Mata
Rashford Lingard
Martial. Ighalo
Greenwood James

With Tuanzabe and Andreas left over.

I think, taking off United rose tinted glasses, that Chelsea second team would destroy that second United one. While Chelsea has been able to count on their squad all season and rest players when required post-stoppage, United faced a severe drop in quality.

Players like Azpi, Gilmour, CHO and the like are well ahead of our crowd.

In my opinion, Chelsea had two teams of players they could have reliably called upon to step in and maintain their overall performance. United had 3 (Williams, Fred, McTominey), and even then, the drop off was visible.

Chelseas squad all season long has been vastly superior, while our first team is better.

 

[Mr Smith]

Not saying our defense is the best in the world but Kepa and the lack of a clinical edge were/are bigger problems than the CBs. Many of our dropped points this season have come due to not finishing our dinner, Kepa letting a avoidable shot in or our opponents scoring from one of their very few attempts at goal, sometimes all three.

Sort those two out and I think people will be surprised at how much better things look even if we don't sign a CB this summer. I'd certainly think we'd improve more that way than we would have done had we signed three defenders and no one else.

I've seen you make this point elsewhere and you watch Chelsea regularly so I'm sure you're right, but wouldn't you say Chelsea's openness without the ball is also a factor? Whenever I've watched Chelsea their CB's seem very exposed, and you frequently seem more easy to play through than you should be. Do you think that improved over the season/Do you see signs that it will?

 

[Mr Smith]

Couple more to add.

Strongly backs up Frank's decision to go for attacking players and a new keeper before he looks at the defenders, they're really not as bad as the GA collum has made them look.

What is also worrying though is that City's poor season is just as much a statical fluke as our GA record, when the time comes and we're ready to challenge, we will probably have our toughest competitor yet.

These are fascinating, thanks for posting. Does seem to indicate that all of United, Chelsea and especially City have underachieved, and will improve next season with a few key additions.

 

[SAFMUTD]

For as bad as the defenders and Kepa have performed, Lampard definately has his fault here.

They were the 3rd best defense last season, now they are the 12th. With the same players just different manager.