My thoughts exactly. Great summary.
Chelsea 2021/22 - World and European Champions
- Thread starter duffer
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I cant wait to see how he does for us, Gallagher
Its a lot yes. They have some good youngsters but they are no where near the quality they are replacing. That’s the issue.
I’m sure Colwill and Ampadu are good but they are not in the same ball park as Rudiger and Christensen. It’s such a big hit that, especially Rudiger. He’s been sensational.
If it is Boehly that takes over, he really believes in progressing academy players. In baseball it would be calling up minor league players and filling the rest with the market. I do believe we will see all the deadwood slots that we have carried and loaned become academy players being developed. This year we have quite a few deadwoods who go out of contract. It will free up money for others to be promoted. I do think the fundamental way that Chelsea has acquired players is about to change. I hope it is for the better.
That one player flopped massively...
He who shall not be named..
Honestly think there’s some sensationalism when it comes to Rudi. Yes he is our best CB and yes he had a great season, but his whole career for us was not always rosy. I honestly don’t see us missing him as much as people say providing we can sign a decent replacement.
Its not just the war is it? In the winter we had a crippling injury/covid crisis to the point at one point our only substitutes of substance was a half fit Kovacic and Ross Barkley. We had to play Jorginho injured because the alternative was a Saul/RLC partnership (admittedly that was partly our/Tuchel fault for bringing in the former).
You may say excuse but look at Liverpool last season, a squad much better than ours and a manager that according to many on here Tuchel will never be as good as instantly dived to the level we're currently at.
Has it been a roaring success? No, i don't think a (major) trophyless season can be even with mitigating circumstances but calling a squad many people had as the 4th best in the league total failures for (likely) finishing 3rd is rather overzealous to say the least.
Who called the Chelsea squad the 4th best in the league? As early as last season many were calling it arguably the best (not something I agreed with)
It wasn't that long ago United's squads was being compared (heavily) favourably on vs us and that was before Varane and Ronaldo was added to it.
Deflecting
You asked a question I answered it.
And no its not deflecting to point out the rewriting of history going on here. It's a very relevant point to make when the goalposts are being moved so spectacularly.
I think my point is you haven’t had a good season and it’s been below par. By what you’ve said you don’t disagree?
Yeah, I remember this too. Don't think it was the best, argument was for second best as City were locked in for that first position.
Now that season panned out differently, we will see different arguments.
Anyways Tuchel has done superb job in cup competitions but his league record is average.
It’s been an average season. We’ve won two minor cups, lost two finals by an absolute whisker and should finish third in the league with a CL QF.
Obviously if we’d won either of the cups it’d have been a good season but with all that’s gone on (covid/injuries/Roman) I think it’s been alright. We’ve even improved in the league vs last year
Next season will be tough given we‘ve got to replace players before we even start strengthening but I hope we close the gap to the top a little more and make the right purchases
Most people on here thought we'd finish 3rd and we probably will.
One of the reasons I do the "predict the top 6" threads is so people can't just make up horseshit (even though they still do). Redcafe as a whole was pretty spot on.
One of the reasons I do the "predict the top 6" threads is so people can't just make up horseshit (even though they still do). Redcafe as a whole was pretty spot on.
Of course they are not, but do they have to be? Clearly getting a like for like replacement for Rudiger isn't happening, he's a player in the middle of his prime, at the height of his powers, so unless we're bringing in someone like Koulibaly, we're left with spending big on players who are talented but nowhere near Rudiger (Gvardiol/Torres), or promoting players who are talented but nowhere near Rudiger (Colwill/Ampadu), and my point is leaning on the academy to spread the funds around to other areas of the squad is exactly what we should be doing. I would have thought you of all people would agree given we had a quite a long back and forth in here months ago about the importance of the academy players and protecting the pathway to the first team.
Christensen is different. Kounde will replace him, no problems there. Some might say he's a significant upgrade there.
Is the Christiansen rumor true?
Kinda of a shitty thing to do to be honest.
Kinda of a shitty thing to do to be honest.
Yeah understand that. I just don’t understand why some are so defensive and unable to admit the season hasn’t been great. It’s just what it is. Work to do.
At least you are changing “failure” to “not great”. Good on you!
Failure is accurate tbh
With a rebuild needing, surely a chance for Chelsea to start working on a 433. Get Ziyech back in his best position
Mendy
James Silva CB Chilwell
Kante Kovacic Gallagher
Ziyech Havertz Mount
Mendy
James Silva CB Chilwell
Kante Kovacic Gallagher
Ziyech Havertz Mount
I don't know about others, but my view is that it hasn't been a failure. It's not as black and white as that for me. There has to be something in between success and failure, otherwise you're literally watching a penalty shootout of a final and the outcome of it will determine if a season is a success or a failure. That's way to binary for me. It's been a good season with the cup runs and a good attempt to defend our crown in Europe and a underwhelming league season.
They need a proper CF
I would welcome a move to a back 4, but looking at the kind of players we're being linked with, it seems to me that we'll continue with a back 3.
I guess I’m comparing it to what was expected of you following on from last season and in line with the money you spent in particularly on Lukaku.
You’ve not won anything and finished closer to 5th than 2nd.
But when you start to add context around the season, add in the two finals lost on penalties, one of them being lost because it literally came down which keeper could score a penalty, then yeah it's not as simple as just saying 'you've not won anything' which is factually correct (kind of, there's still the CWC
) but also stripped of any and all context and nuance.I asked who said it was 4th best, your answer to that was that people were comparing it with Man Utd's. That's not answering my question that's deflecting it
At the start of the season many said Chelsea arguably had the strongest squad, certainly in the top 3 (with ours and City), no one said it worse than Liverpool's (and nor would they given squad depth was used as the reason for Liverpool's poor season last year)
Not really a lot of people had Chelsea and United finishing above Liverpool, go through the thread again.
I added everything up. Chelsea were 3rd.
Nah, I think it's Christensen who didn't fancy it. For all his foibles, Werner is about as mentally resilient and dedicated as any player in our squad.
CHO's long term injury has gone under the radar - he had been in very decent form around the turn of the year, and it'd have been very nice to have him as a direct option.
Honestly out of our current options I'd start him with Mason and Kai (Werner for Callum vs certain opponents).
His finishing is poor even for the standards of our squad but his underlying creative metrics are consistently up there with the best in the league especially within his age group.
Then there's his chemistry with James which frustratingly we haven't really built on since the early part of Lampard's tenure.
One of the biggest issues this summer apart from replacing Rudiger, ,is shifting Kepa out. He wont fancy another season as a number 2 i doubt.
We paid £70m for him in 2018 on a 7 year deal. Spreading amortisation out over his contract we’d need to get around £30m to break even on his value in the accounts. Then we have the issue of wages with rumours of £140-155k a week
I think we’d be lucky to get £20m and a settlement to top up his wages a little for a couple of seasons
First 3 months when we were toe to toe with Liverpool were great, but then really did drop right off. Really hope we can replace Lukaku and fix the CB issues in plenty of time for the new season. Excited for Gallagher, the lad has so much promise.
I can't believe how much Chelsea have fallen off. I honestly thought Tuchel wouldn't lose another game this season. Saying that, two cup finals (one at least that you should have won) and an easy third isn't a bad start to a full campaign.
I really hope Gallagher throws a strop to join Klopp when Jurgen makes his admiration clear in the summer.
Keep dreaming, we brainwash our youngsters early.I can't believe how much Chelsea have fallen off. I honestly thought Tuchel wouldn't lose another game this season. Saying that, two cup finals (one at least that you should have won) and an easy third isn't a bad start to a full campaign.
I really hope Gallagher throws a strop to join Klopp when Jurgen makes his admiration clear in the summer.
Which football team will Chelsea fans start to support if RA pulls the rug?
As in if Chelsea cease to exist? Chelsea AFC of course.
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