No, just what's fair, ie the same rules applying to all clubs and so an open free for all takeover.
If the government do step in to oust the Glazers I might agree, but until then the gripe will remain.
Chelsea 2024/25
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No, just what's fair, ie the same rules applying to all clubs and so an open free for all takeover.
If the government do step in to oust the Glazers I might agree, but until then the gripe will remain.
But the anti-Glazer clause had nothing to do with the government. If Abramovich hadn’t insisted on it, I’m sure we’d be in the same situation as United. As far as I remember the only role the government played in the process was to make sure the new owners weren’t dubious people with links to corrupt and criminal world leaders. They had very little to do with the actual terms and conditions they agreed to.
Thanks for compiling the list and the effort.
I think Essugo, Quenda and Estevao are somewhat different from the others in this list.
But wondering if anyone know what the end goal is here? Not trying to be saucy but genuinely curious:
Option 1 - Do Chelsea think they can sell these guys for more than 330m euro and make some money in 2-3 years time? If so, are there not other ways to make money like investing in money market instruments, etc.
Option 2 - PSR profits? Amortize their costs and make gains for FFP when some of these can be sold for big gains. If so, why are the players themselves not seeing this ? Its different from say when Chelsea buys Neto - a player who will get chances to play and develop and is open to the possibility of being sold in 4-5 years time if Chelsea need to move him on. A lot of these guys have no chance of first team football and could potentially play at other clubs and develop. Offcourse Chelsea could loan out these players and they get some game time but surely stability would still be preferred.
Option 3 - Do Chelsea think these are all potentially class players and want to support their development and help become world beaters? This seems doubtful as it must be very quite difficult to manage the development of 50-60 senior squad players?
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The end goal of private equity will be to sell the club for a lot more than they paid for it, they might have a few different exit strategies mapped out though for exactly how it'll work.... Crucially all of the spending has been funded by borrowing money, some of at seemingly quite high interest rates.
On the transfers, they're trying to corner the market for young players? There have been press reports that Eghbali is obsessed with player trading quite possibly to an unhealthy degree! It's not exactly clear what the plan is for all these players.
My concern is a wider downturn in the global economy and possibly within football as well, will cause the "tide to go out" and then BlueCo could face severe financial difficulties. Ultimately we could end up being owned by the people who lent them the money.
Wasn't just Chelsea. Loads of clubs were involved in those shenanigans in the summer. Us, Villa, Forest and Newcastle. Not sure if the loophole is closed or not but wouldn't be surprised if big Jim tried it if not.
I feel confident Maresca will be gone in the summer - the only reason they're still 4th is due to half the top 6 clubs dropping off a cliff this season and Palmer carrying them for 6 months. Without him and to a lesser extent Nicholas Jackson fit and firing they don't look threatening at all.
4 wins in 13 in the PL since Xmas and all of those against bottom 5 sides, and dumped out the FA Cup in that period as well. I find it difficult to see them picking up enough wins in their final 9 games to finish in the CL spots at this rate.
Combined with how divisive/stubborn/delusional he is and Chelsea's typical ruthlessness and I can't see him surviving long.
4 wins in 13 in the PL since Xmas and all of those against bottom 5 sides, and dumped out the FA Cup in that period as well. I find it difficult to see them picking up enough wins in their final 9 games to finish in the CL spots at this rate.
Combined with how divisive/stubborn/delusional he is and Chelsea's typical ruthlessness and I can't see him surviving long.
Whilst I agree with most of your post, I think he will survive this summer, just because they have done ok. It seems like his target was not top 4, the way he has been speaking.
The issue I have with Maresca, is his mentality, when they were in the top 4.. saying that they are ahead of schedule and top 4 is the aim next season. I know people will say he says something else to players but when you consistently come out saying your aims are not top 4, it filters down to the players too.
I hope he stays because he is turning out not to be that great manager some thought he will be, just because he was trained by Pep.
Its interesting this model from Chelsea, sacking managers every season so that the managers have 1 season free hit, every season is a free hit for them at the moment.
If we get CL football, Maresca is going nowhere.
If we don't, it's a sticky situation but my gut feeling is they'll give him another season, unless we really fall off a cliff from here and finish miles outside the CL positions. That's what got Potter sacked. If he had been within touching distance, in amongst the race for top 4, he would most likely have kept his job. Narrowly missing out on CL football will probably be enough to keep Maresca's job.
If they sack Maresca after 1 season, the vast disconnect between their ruthlessness and their stated goals will be illuminating. The transfer strategy (targeting young players with mostly limited experience at the top level, zero experience of winning) and the kind of coach they've given a 5 year deal to (again, young, inexperienced, zero track record of any kind of winning at the top level). All their decisions so far regarding player and manager recruitment suggests they want to build something that can last long term. Except when it comes to sticking with a manager through some adversity.
A lot of the reporting around Maresca's hire suggests he was more of a sporting directors hire than an ownership one, so if Maresca goes, Stewart and Winstanely have to follow him out of the club.
Hopefully this all just stays as hypothetical chat and we actually secure at least 5th place.
Even if you don't get CL football, why would you want to sack Maresca? He's brought in the much needed normality to Chelsea after two crazy years. He's not going to win you titles but he can very well steady the ship for another year or two to pass the baton to someone who can when the time comes. Would be crazy bringing in a high profile manager at this stage.
Personally I agree with you, but I was engaging in the hypothetical scenario posed by @DannyCAFC.
I think if they add some experienced high end talent (I know I know, more money splashing) in 2 crucial positions (GK, CB), say Kobel and Bastoni for example, it could really springboard the team into a much more consistent top team.
Did you say experience? Does that word exist in Chelseas recruitment policy?
Even if it did, I dont actually think a CB and GK can change Chelsea's fortune.... when they have non creative attacking players.
An attack consisting of Nkunku, Jackson, Sancho, Madueke, Felix, Palmer, Neto is not good enough to be a top team.
Aside from Palmer, the rest are below average really.
Disagree with that. Neto, Madueke and Jackson are all good enough to be bench options at least.
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I disagree, but that's not a crazy take. I'm not completely in love with our wide attacking options either.
We do have Estevao coming in this summer though.
I think Jackson and Madueke definitely have the potential to be starters in a top team. The thing to remember about a lot of these players is that they're still developing. Neto is more or less who he is at this point. A decent, but unspectacular winger who works hard with underwhelming end product.
To become a consistent top team? I wasn't talking about bench options.
Yeah, you have a few coming this summer, but we don't know how they will adapt to the PL.
I just dont see it with the Chelsea team at the moment, I tell you why... CB's who are the first choice?
RB? There is no first choice as James is having a CM trial and Gusto is benched.
LB? Cucurella isn't good enough imo as a full back for a top team.
In Midfield, I agree, its solid with Lavia, Caceido and even Enzo. Palmer brilliant.
The rest are not amazing imo.
Don't think you've said much wrong apart from the bolded. Cucurella has been one of the best LBs in the league since he came back into the team in January 2024. His versatility in being able to play anywhere down the left has been vital for us - he's up there with Palmer and Caicedo as our most important and irreplaceable players at the moment.
As a United fan you should be aware that bench options are important for title winning sides. I think all three are capable of being in a Chelsea squad that is a title winner.
Fair take, but I'd say I still disagree with a few things.
Colwill is the clear first choice CB imo. Fofana would probably be right there with him as the stable, first choice CB partnership but he can't stay healthy. His entire Chelsea career he's either been out injured or working his way back into his top match sharpness. It's been a vicious cycle of that with him.
I'm perfectly fine with Cucurella as the long term LB option. He's been great the last 12 months or so.
The midfield is good and there's more reinforcements coming in Andrey Santos, who is brilliant.
Your assessment of RB is fair. Maresca says he sees James as a midfielder, and Gusto has sadly regressed slightly from last season, plus he can't stay healthy anyway.
The GK situation is a joke, and I'm completely underwhelmed by the attacking group as a unit.
Fair enough, just seems to me that he has alot of bad games as well. I guess if he can improve on his consistency, its not really an urgent upgrade at the moment.
So if the squad is so good and only lacks a GK and CB, how come they haven't been able to compete against the teams at the top or the big 6 this season?
Honestly struggling to think when he's had a poor match this season - there was the match vs Spurs where he slipped twice; that's about it if I'm being honest?
Whilst I agree, Colwill is first choice but Fofana is just plagued with injuries, which is why I agreed that adding another starting CB is needed.
Fair enough with LB, I dont watch every game so if you say that he has been great, I will take your word for it, just seen a few too many mistakes from him. In any case, he isn't bad, so you can get away with him for the foreseeable future.
Which is why I think buying a RB would be on the list for Chelsea, it baffles me that he has James but will use him as a midfielder and a CB at RB instead. I get that he sees CM as a long term option but it would make sense if you had another starting RB.
The GK is a real joke, the number of keepers Chelsea have signed and Sanchez is still number 1.
You need a a few good clinical forwards, that is for sure.
My bad, I shouldn't have said many, in the games I have watched Chelsea, his positioning has been off but again, I wont argue with it as my sample size is much smaller than yours.
No worries mate - you are of course perfectly entitled to your opinion!
It is true that Cucurella can be a bit out of position at times - but I would definitely put this down to tactics and not to anything he's specifically doing wrong, if that makes sense. He is often used as our main counter-presser and/or either as overlapping width down the left or as the left-sided 10, depending on how the team is set up.
You are jumping to all sorts of conclusions based on 3 players I said I think are good enough to be in a squad of a title winner.
Cucurella somtimes ends up pressing the opposing LB
He gets a free role at times to just seek out the action and help the build up phase.
Well I'm not sure if it was me who jumped to conclusions, because I mentioned that the 3 are not good enough to be a top team replying to a poster saying they only need a GK and CB. Meaning the rest of the team is good enough to be a top team, whilst this season they have failed to compete against any of the big teams.
I was purely commenting on that part of your post that singled out the attack.
Nkunku, Jackson, Sancho, Madueke, Felix, Palmer, Neto.
On paper, as a collective & at their best form, that should probably be top 2 in terms of attackers in the league along with Liverpool i'd argue.
Of course the reality is a bit different, but do they not have the 2nd highest xG in the league?
On paper, as a collective & at their best form, that should probably be top 2 in terms of attackers in the league along with Liverpool i'd argue.
Of course the reality is a bit different, but do they not have the 2nd highest xG in the league?
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Just behind Bournemouth, at least according to Understat:
Interesting. As a comparison, as a Chelsea fan, how many of Martinelli, Trossard, Havertz, Jesus, Saka and Sterling would you take? That was our main attacking options at the start of the season.
Saka of course and Martinelli almost certainly. I don't think any of the rest make sense for us as they don't stretch things in behind - which is why our attack has fallen off a cliff since Jackson and Guiu got injured.
Who are these 2 lads we've just signed from Sporting?
Fair points - maybe he will survive the summer in that case. Just seems to me the new regime is as cut-throat as the last - I didn't think Tuchel should have been sacked personally or Poch. And Potter didn't get much time as a younger manager although I can see why he was let go as results were bad and he looked out of his depth.
Someone about Maresca just rubs me the wrong way as he comes across very blunt, brash and divisive which makes me wonder how he'll manage the culture at the club if things aren't going particularly well - I can see a lot of players having a difficult relationship with him with the personality he portrays in the media at least. He's obviously tempted expectations this season and Chelsea are still 4th thanks to a lot of their rivals being so bad but if you fall out the CL spots for next year and the pressure begins to grow from the board, fans and players I wonder how well he'll react.
I don't think I would have Martinelli at Chelsea. From their attack, Saka and Nwaneri are the only ones I would take without hesitation. Odegaard too, if we include him in the attacking unit.
It would take a lot of arm twisting to convince me to take Havertz back. Martinelli, Trossard and Jesus I honestly would not even bother with.
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If we miss out of on CL football this season, and we don't hit the ground next season (after presumably more money spent in the summer) then yeah, he would be under huge pressure to keep his job.
I do not mind Maresca's bluntness. It comes across a bit rude and overly harsh at times, but generally I don't mind a manager that doesn't always sugar coat what he's saying.
Really.. are you actually claiming his injury has hampered Chelsea?
Well considering we have had to play Neto up front the last 7-8 games, I would say, yeah Guiu being injured the same time as Jackson has been a bit of a problem.
What happened with Anselmino? I really hoped he stayed with us at least this season, yet he was called asap but never got any minutes, injured? not in Chelsea's plan? I hope his carreer it's not hindered since he was really helping us even being really young
Someone who had a total of 70 PL appearances until he got injured... lets be honest he was never going to start regardless of Jacksons injury.
Aren't those the chocolate dessert things you get in the glass containers?
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