Yeah, I'm not even remotely impressed with that team. Especially after spending £600m on it.
Graham Potter | turns down Ajax job
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Which is your right but please expand in more detail after I've just given my thoughts in good faith.
Enzo / Kovacic / Zakaria is a technically sound midfield with plenty of running and passing quality.
Even if we don't have a forward to score goals for fun, what I care more about is the team functioning well and there being a cohesive system so players can come in and out of the team with minimal issues. If our players are being put into positions where their strengths are maximised, I genuinely think this could be a very good side. And of the feasible options, for me Enrique and Tuchel are by far the most likely to be able to do just that.
The (obviously uninformed) sense that I get is that our owners would be happy to defer to him as long as he keeps them in the loop and they establish a functional working relationship. But the actual correct answer to your question is who the feck knows
A vastly improved Kepa is still very underwhelming, not as good as Ramsdale, Alisson or Ederson and about par with de Gea who we're likely to replace anyway.
James is very good. Badiashille is an untested entity but he'll prove to be good I'm sure, Fofana is a crock so far, Colwill looks good at Brighton but so did Cucurella. Silva, again, is obviously very good. Your CBs are good but I don't rate any combination you've listed as better than Laporte - Dias or Saliba - Gabriel, at their best I put them below van Dijk and Konate. Chillwell is okay, I never rated him that highly when you signed him and I still don't rate him that highly now, he's behind some of his counterparts at other top 6 clubs, I wouldn't swap him for Shaw, for example. Cucurella so far looks like a bit of a flop to me.
Fernandez is another untested entity but he's only been in Europe for 6 months, what his potential / ceiling is remains to be seen, but when your rivals have Casemiro, Rodri and Partey in a similar position then he doesn't stack up that well. Kovacic is pretty good. You've not included Zakaria but I'd include him and I've liked what I've seen of him so far.
Sterling's been dreadful for you. Nkuku hasn't kicked a ball for you so no comment on that one, it would be unfair. Would also be a bit unfair of me to slate Mudryk too much as it's early days for him but your rivals are boasting some of the best wingers on the planet.
Havertz is hardly Haaland, Jesus or Kane. I'll leave it at that.
So yeah, for the money spent, I'm still pretty underwhelmed by this Chelsea side.
With Kepa fair enough.
Regarding defense I would say James/Chilwell is the best fullback combination now Robertson is declining (although I agree Shaw is ahead of him individually). I rate Fofana incredibly highly and I think him and Silva together could be pretty incredible.
Enzo I feel is a sure bet (only been THAT confident with Hazard and Kante this last decade) if only we could get then latter fully fit to pair him.
The attack I get the question marks over although I think Sterling will improve in line with the team (hopefully) doing so, a bit like what Pedro did and I have high hopes for Nkunku and Mudryk (I get the former has Bundi tax right now).
Havertz yes it's at the point he needs replacing.
Defence is definitely where you're strongest, Fofana was good at Leicester but has essentially missed nearly 2 seasons of football due to injury, he's actually only made 40 PL appearances to date. Obviously Silva is one of the best defenders of his generation but he is going to be 39 next season, time will catch up with him eventually (maybe). If we had your defence I wouldn't have any complaints but I also probably wouldn't swap it if given the choice, I expect Arsenal and City fans would feel the same way. We'll take Reece James though, best RB in Europe for my money.
With Fernandez it's just a waiting game to see if he ends up justifying his price tag.
This conversation may be worth revisiting after you make the inevitable improvements in summer. Like I said, just in my opinion, for the money spent the squad still underwhelms me, 4 more quality additions and suddenly it becomes an impressive squad, football's a game of fine margins. I'm not saying this because I dislike Chelsea or anything, you do have some objectively very good players in the team but for £600ish million on top of an already financially well-backed squad you'd be almost expecting a galactico calibre group of players.
I expect them to beat Dortmund quite easily, whenever the game is. but if they are knocked out, Potter might well be sacked
What's so funny? Boehly must be driving you Chelsea fans to insanity. I hope you do get Enrique than we will see who is laughing.
A lot of that starting lineup hasn't really achieved anything in club football.
Doesn't mean they won't. But in that sense it's a little weak.
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I’m not a chelsea fan, but from your previous post it’s clear you haven’t watched any of Enrique’s teams. Hence the laughter.
I have. They are very very open. At Barcelona, he had a near peak Messi, a peak Neymar and a near peak Suarez. All he got out of them was a brilliant second half of the season 2014/15 and two la ligas. And that second half of 2014/15, it was mainly down to his players rather than any brilliant tactics from him. Totally wasted the talent at his disposal. I remember the game vs Juve in 2017 every time they were attacked, it felt like Juve were going to score.
Than there is Spain. Hasn't done well with them either. When his assistant was managing Spain in his absence, they were playing much better.
Maybe terrible is too strong a word to judge him by, but mediocre is probably apt. I'm pretty sure he doesn't survive at Chelsea and I honestly wouldn't want him at United.
Yeah no. I would not want Poch, Enrique or Tuchel back. I don’t advocate or support firings but if he were to leave I’d be much happier if they offered the job to Emma Hayes. She speaks with much more authority than Potter does and has achieved so much in the women’s game. I have no hate or anger to Potter but winners carry themselves differently. It’s getting a little irritating now that the media keep questioning him and his responses come across flat. He needs to channel his inner cnut, if he has one.
Just to want jump in and say I had similar thoughts about Enrique. I even questioned someone, who said he was the best footballing coach bar none just before the World Cup and that he's not really done anything that impressive from a coaching perspective; he deservedly gets a lot of credit for the Barca wins but the caveats you've mentioned should be noted in bold when it comes to talking about his 'pedigree'.
Having said that, the Chelsea squad is so stacked it does resemble the situation at Barca, where a manager like Enrique can come in and transform it. Also Chelsea as a club just has 'form' and history of being able to turn around poor seasons into very successful ones the season/s after.
"Enrique is a terrible manager"
His record at Barcelona was better than Pep's. Messi called him the best manager he's played for along with Pep. Pep said Enrique's Barcelona were the best side he's ever faced.
Also what are you talking about he only got two la ligas? He won the CL in 14/15, the cup every year he was there, the meaningless supercup and CWC, etc. His Barcelona had a +372 goal difference over his 3 years and they went 138-22-21.
Why are we still talking about Sterling like it's 2018? He's complete s*** now a days.
The type of strategy Chelsea took is only going to work with Potter. Who else is going to front a youth project ? I said before the winter window began that Potter at Chelsea is a 36 month embedding process minimum. Either the hierarchy have the long term approach and bank on his ability to nurture the team or they sack him and get a confirmation of the Ed Woodward London edition in Boehly.
I hope you get him.
i’d rather be relegated with a true englishman as boss, than win the league whilst being managed by the bloody eu.
I hope you don't support United then!
Chelsea mole inside Old Trafford? Keep fighting the good fight, brother!
I was absolutely delighted when they sacked Tuchel for Potter. I would be very, very upset if they sack Potter for Enrique.
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Moyes vibes, except Moyes at least faked a modicum of confidence by claiming he looked forward to more European clashes with Pep
He wasnt joking
He was right. City vs Sunderland in 2017 happened before Brexit.Moyes vibes, except Moyes at least faked a modicum of confidence by claiming he looked forward to more European clashes with Pep
Has the gone to the same
Real Madrid have scored more goals in England this year than Chelsea have...
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He brought up his mental health when he took the job. I knew there and then that it was unlikely to end well for him at this level.
Good on him for bringing it up. The abuse he's getting from Chelsea fans is out of control. There was a video I saw a few weeks ago of fans literally harassing him in the street.
Really appreciate him talking about it openly. Even, as you say, if it meant that it could be even more of a challenge to get a new job after the Chelsea gig is up. Brave man, wish him and his family all the best.
Not a Chelsea fan but love this answer, Emma Hayes actually does make sense to me and Potter does need to channel it, maybe that's the problem, he just doesn't have a fully developed one yet?
Good on him to be that open about his personal mental health. He seems like a solid cat, hopefully he will right the ship & be given time.
I think his future rests on whether Chelsea are eliminated from the Champions league.
Fwank's available...
Oh, didn't know he was getting a lot of stick.
There’s a reason the job pays so well Potter. It’s not because it’s easy…