You’ve completely misunderstood the tone of my post if you think I’m even remotely suggesting there’s anything wrong with that approach.
Chelsea 2023/24 season thread.
- Thread starter duffer
- Start date
-
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
Whenever I think we can't get any worse, Chelsea come up with a reminder it can indeed be so.
Chelsea's next 3 fixtures
Spurs away
City home
Newcastle away.
Spurs away
City home
Newcastle away.
They could have kept Lukaku.
That analogy makes no sense whatsoever. We're not dealing with a random number generator here. The results of Chelsea's last 38 league games would leave them with a points total that gets you relegated in some seasons. How you can equate that to rolling dice, I have no idea. It's a plain fact that they've maintained a level of form that makes you a candidate for relegation, and have done so for a number of games that equates to a full season. While it remains statistically improbable that they'll go down, it is self-evidently a possibility. It's an undeniable fact. The results of their last 38 games aren't imaginary, they happened, and they could just as easily happen within the scope of one season instead of spread across two.
I feel way more confident against those teams than the teams who set up deep against us and play on the counter.
If you don't understand it then that's okay, but claiming they're in a relegation battle when they're 7 points clear of relegation -right now-, are creating lots of chances in games, and clearly have better players than at LEAST half the teams in the league seems to me to make even less sense.
Die on that hill if you want but it seems a bit silly to me. They will be fine (depending on your definition of fine, "finishing 10th" might not be classified as "fine" given their level of investment.)
Our next fixture is Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday.
Bloody hell they don't get any easier do they.
Yes, on paper they should be clearly better than half the league.
Yes, your RNG example made no sense.
Both can be true.
Thank you for this INCREDIBLY insightful post, glad you could contribute to this discussion. Clearly I was wrong and Chelsea are definitely getting relegated now, your German logic has defeated my sense of reason and analytics-based rationale. Having lots of shots is bad, and they should be better than half the league so it's obvious to anyone with REAL football knowledge that Chelsea will go down. It is inevitable. I see clearly now. I am abandoning this thread much like Captain Edward Smith, the impenetrable logic of the posters wherein have sunk me much like the famous iceberg once did. Time for the band to play.
They'll probably beat Spurs, unless their goalkeeper decides to unecesssarily involve himself into the game again.
They actually look OK....except for when it comes to scoring goals, and also when it comes to not conceding goals. If they can work on these two relatively minor aspects they should be set.
You need to calm down. And what makes you think that I am German? Or were you trying to insult me?
Back to your RNG example: it doesn‘t make sense in a footballing context. Football is not random. The strength of your opposition differs and the historic results influence the current ones (think “form“ or “mentality“). Both are different to rolling a dice.
Anyways, have a nice life.
The dumpster fire is down to a smolder. Young teams have massive swings of ups and downs.
This Chelsea fan would absolutely not trade Poch for ETH. I think both are good coaches, I think Poch is the right person for our team. The Sancho stuff gives me concern that ETH would make the dumpster fire burn hotter.
This Chelsea fan would absolutely not trade Poch for ETH. I think both are good coaches, I think Poch is the right person for our team. The Sancho stuff gives me concern that ETH would make the dumpster fire burn hotter.
You’re team isn’t really younger than the Arsenal side that was challenging last year. Even in your match against them two weeks ago the age difference of the 11 players on each side was on average just 1 year.
Our team was just put together. There is a big difference between the two squads. That being said, our dumpster fire is not that much different than when people thought Arteta would get the axe his first two years. I hope that something comes out of this chaos, but right now it is is just chaos.
One plus for Chelsea is the the midfield duo of Enzo and Caicedo is very future proof! and gaining experience all the time. Even if it takes another season, once they gel together the foundation that partnership would give them should be very strong for years to come.
They are in the middle of the pain at the moment, but its almost accepted in the media so the drama around them is not to the level at United...Meaning they could somehow get through it and come out the other end with an exciting team.
They are in the middle of the pain at the moment, but its almost accepted in the media so the drama around them is not to the level at United...Meaning they could somehow get through it and come out the other end with an exciting team.
Chelsea have a lot of really bright young talent, which they should given how much they've spent in the last 16 months. A lot of these players should get better over the next few years. The connections between the players also should get better as they play more together. So there are a number of reasons for optimism.
I think the big questions at this point are these:
-Is Poch actually the right guy to develop these players into a group that can fence with the best tactically? I still think Poch is a bit of one-trick pony, good at motivating young players and getting them to press very well but kind of clueless in possession and in terms of managing a side that can adjust tactically based on match conditions.
-Do they have any truly high end attacking talent? At the end of the day you need match winners to really compete at the top and I don't see any clear ones in the squad. Nkunku obviously could be one. There are lots of other young players you can't rule out from making a leap but so far none have really shown that ability.
-How much more money will the owners spend? At some point I expect the transfer outlay to drop precipitously, with the owners deciding that they've amassed enough young talent and now the club needs to run on a roughly self-sustainable basis while they focus their finances on building the new stadium. They clearly hoped to get the squad to the point of being a top 3-4 side in England and then move to this stage, but it seems more likely that the club will be a borderline or irregular CL club when moving to that stage.
I think the big questions at this point are these:
-Is Poch actually the right guy to develop these players into a group that can fence with the best tactically? I still think Poch is a bit of one-trick pony, good at motivating young players and getting them to press very well but kind of clueless in possession and in terms of managing a side that can adjust tactically based on match conditions.
-Do they have any truly high end attacking talent? At the end of the day you need match winners to really compete at the top and I don't see any clear ones in the squad. Nkunku obviously could be one. There are lots of other young players you can't rule out from making a leap but so far none have really shown that ability.
-How much more money will the owners spend? At some point I expect the transfer outlay to drop precipitously, with the owners deciding that they've amassed enough young talent and now the club needs to run on a roughly self-sustainable basis while they focus their finances on building the new stadium. They clearly hoped to get the squad to the point of being a top 3-4 side in England and then move to this stage, but it seems more likely that the club will be a borderline or irregular CL club when moving to that stage.
Transition year for Chelsea, I think the fans know this and at the moment are on board with the project, and Poch has some leeway with results. Young team so will be a lot of ups and downs. Maybe lacking a bit up top, lets see how they get on when they visit Spurs who are flying atm.
Good questions. Fair questions. We won't know the answers to them though until it gets proven one way or another.
We've seen Palmer hit the ground running, so there's optimism around him and his potential to be a consistent performer. There's obviously extremely high hopes around Enzo and Caicedo, as well as Colwill and Badiashile. Reece James is already a superstar in my eyes, albeit a superstar who can't stay healthy.
I'm unsure about Poch. He was nowhere near my first choice out of the available candidates but I liked that he had a track record of developing young players. He might not have enough tactically to lead this team to trophies (though I was impressed with his tactical set up vs Arsenal) but when such time comes where this team is ready to compete, he can be replaced by a coach who perhaps does have that winning streak.
Weird this is getting brought up now
They have done well to future proof their midfield for the paltry sum of £220 million!
Will both players stick around if they get relegated to the Championship though?
The new ownership reported it when going through the accounts during the course of their due dilligence.
The new owners admitted to everything and gave the PL all the evidence from the prior regime.. Not sure what there is to investigate.
Grassing themselves up rather then do the decent thing of covering it up? Bloody newbs.
https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/emma-hayes-to-depart-chelsea-end-of-season
Huge loss to the club. Rumour is that she's going to take over the US Women's team.
Huge loss to the club. Rumour is that she's going to take over the US Women's team.
https://x.com/cfcpys/status/1720933844960858398?s=46
As someone who was very much ‘Poch In’ and a staunch advocate for him being given plenty of time, it’s quite disappointing to hear his recent quotes re. Spurs in successive press conferences.
I don’t expect his affinity with Spurs and their fans to have disappeared overnight, but I think verbalising it on the eve of a game against them whilst they’re sat unbeaten at the top of the league and we languish in mid table (which I don’t particularly hold Poch accountable for) is poorly thought out at best. If nothing else it makes me genuinely question his intelligence. All he needed to say was a simple “I’m here to talk about Chelsea” rather than being baited into saying that he hopes Tottenham do well and that he could still be there.
Not suggesting he should be sacked for these comments, but you’d think someone at the club would take him aside and tell him to put a sock in it. Sadly I suspect the new ownership don’t ‘get it’ either. Strange time to be a Chelsea fan.
As someone who was very much ‘Poch In’ and a staunch advocate for him being given plenty of time, it’s quite disappointing to hear his recent quotes re. Spurs in successive press conferences.
I don’t expect his affinity with Spurs and their fans to have disappeared overnight, but I think verbalising it on the eve of a game against them whilst they’re sat unbeaten at the top of the league and we languish in mid table (which I don’t particularly hold Poch accountable for) is poorly thought out at best. If nothing else it makes me genuinely question his intelligence. All he needed to say was a simple “I’m here to talk about Chelsea” rather than being baited into saying that he hopes Tottenham do well and that he could still be there.
Not suggesting he should be sacked for these comments, but you’d think someone at the club would take him aside and tell him to put a sock in it. Sadly I suspect the new ownership don’t ‘get it’ either. Strange time to be a Chelsea fan.
Last edited:
Tonight will be the first Chelsea game I watch since Pochettino was hired. I have high expectations for this game being competitive given Chelsea drew against the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool, and looking at SofaScore as I type, I'm seeing Chelsea missed 4 big chances against Liverpool and had the superior XG against Arsenal.
Cole Palmer was trending on social media after the Arsenal game, so I'm rather excited at the prospect of seeing him and Udogie. I'm disappointed that Mudryk isn't in the starting berth, but I guess it couldn't be helped with his minor knock. Hopefully, I'll get to see him introduced in the second half. I'm excited to see how Enzo Fernandez performs against a midfield set up with Bissouka's press resistance, Sarr's shrewdness with his ball retention, and Maddison given a degree of freedom due to Udogie's and Porro's positional play.
My prediction is a Chelsea victory which would be a terrific for City, as it would mean each of Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs dropped points. Personally, I'd be happy if Chelsea beat Spurs on the sole condition that they cause Man City to drop points next week. If that isn't palatable, I would prefer the blues drop 3 points here, as that would greatly enhance what has already been an entertaining start to the EPL 23/24 campaign.
Cole Palmer was trending on social media after the Arsenal game, so I'm rather excited at the prospect of seeing him and Udogie. I'm disappointed that Mudryk isn't in the starting berth, but I guess it couldn't be helped with his minor knock. Hopefully, I'll get to see him introduced in the second half. I'm excited to see how Enzo Fernandez performs against a midfield set up with Bissouka's press resistance, Sarr's shrewdness with his ball retention, and Maddison given a degree of freedom due to Udogie's and Porro's positional play.
My prediction is a Chelsea victory which would be a terrific for City, as it would mean each of Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs dropped points. Personally, I'd be happy if Chelsea beat Spurs on the sole condition that they cause Man City to drop points next week. If that isn't palatable, I would prefer the blues drop 3 points here, as that would greatly enhance what has already been an entertaining start to the EPL 23/24 campaign.
Had a feeling Chelsea would win, that's now Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs that were unable to beat Chelsea.
We'll likely do nothing this season. So disjointed going forward. Can hope for a cup or Nkunku and Jan signings massively improving us,
If we can derail all our rivals that'll give us something to cheer anyway though.
If we can derail all our rivals that'll give us something to cheer anyway though.
Mudryk was atrocious when he came on.
Nkunku is desperately needed. They looked terrible until Romero became idiotic.
Plays football like he doesn't have a brain.
Not really true, after the Uodgie yellow card we were on top.
Credit to Chelsea for making that a shithouse-fest 20 minutes in. Completely took Spurs off their game
What was the incident to spark it ? Spurs did it to themselves again vs Chelsea
Genuinely it was Romero going on a foray forward down the right wing and barging into the back of Thiago Silva - Oliver didn't give the obvious foul, so Silva did the same to Romero ~10 seconds later and that's what led to Romero being on the floor and kicking out at Colwill. From there Spurs lost all semblance of composure.What was the incident to spark it ? Spurs did it to themselves again vs Chelsea
Odogie’s two footer turned the game from a Spurs masterclass into a madness. They self imploded. Petulant dirty feckers.
Ah yes you're right - that was also a major turning point. The VAR review killed a lot of Spurs' momentum for sure.