Chelsea 2023/24 season thread.

90 + 5min

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A team without any real leadership (except half broken Silva) on the pitch and on the sidelines. It can go only one way.
 

Red Company

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How come chelsea don’t have a main shirt sponsor on the front anymore? Are they that rich that they don’t need one?
 

Globule

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How come chelsea don’t have a main shirt sponsor on the front anymore? Are they that rich that they don’t need one?
I think they lined one up with a gambling company but it was kiboshed after fan opposition.
 

Rajiztar

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Line up was bit reserved in my opinion.
But understood it's first game with plenty of things going between clubs off the field.Players seems to be confused initially and allowed Salah too much space.

Colwill he positioned like left sided center back in three man defense and allowed space to Salah instead of playing as left back . But once pochettino explained to the players clearly colwill just shut the shop for Salah and his game was over.

Gallagher looked okay but need to calm down when in possession. Won possession 10 times higher than any chelsea player as deeper midfielder shows he is slowly learning the role.Pochettino will like him for his work rate and tenacity.

Jackson though wasted some good opportunities goals will come from him. As I said I liked the look of him and mostly reminded me of anelka. Not yet there but he will come good.

Enzo Fernandez for me man of the match and will be looking forward to see him play along side Caicedo.

Sterling despite his flaws of holding the ball bit much him and Reece can be a deadly combo. Hope he should do more of pass and move game than try to take on players.

Gusto did some basic errors failed to pick the team mates from basic pass. Nervous may be.

Mudryk not having much impact and maatsen should have scored from his opportunity. Overall we are good and looking forward to next game.

Some gave big mouth before match that we were waiting for liverpool to get good hiding. But I said came back after match if you could. We didn't hide though. :) .
 

Care_de_Bobo

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Jackson though wasted some good opportunities goals will come from him. As I said I liked the look of him and mostly reminded me of anelka. Not yet there but he will come good.
I admire the optimism, but aren't you at least a little bit worried after Werner? There's never a guarantee that strikers who often get into great positions will eventually end up converting them.

Don't really see anything in his shooting technique that screams clinical striker and he has just 12 top flight goals at the age of 22. Not saying he'll definitely be a flop or anything, but we've seen plenty of players have prolific pre seasons before and then fail to replicate that form when it actually matters.
 

UsualSuspect

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I admire the optimism, but aren't you at least a little bit worried after Werner? There's never a guarantee that strikers who often get into great positions will eventually end up converting them.

Don't really see anything in his shooting technique that screams clinical striker and he has just 12 top flight goals at the age of 22. Not saying he'll definitely be a flop or anything, but we've seen plenty of players have prolific pre seasons before and then fail to replicate that form when it actually matters.
Agreed but his finishing seems to be 'good enough' and when complemented by his better attributes (touch, pace, work rate, link-up play, channel running) it makes for a player who will contribute at a bare minimum. Werner's problem was that his average technical ability only exacerbated his profligacy as we came up against packed defences often. Jackson won't have the same issue and he brings others into play consistently which makes him at least a substantial improvement over anyone we've had since Costa.
 

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Anyone know anything about Malik Mothersille? He’s on trial with us.
 

Amadaeus

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Their business has been fantastic. Let's see if Pochetino can take full advantage
Their business has been fantastic because they are getting the players Pochettino want (only recently) and these players are wanting to play for Pochettino. I mean who turns down klopp and european league football for Chelsea? Pochettino is a factor and many of their players are singing his praises alread6. Chelsea are building a squad around a style that was so successful for Pochettino at spurs and Southampton. Look at us, we are getting the players ETH wanted and it isn't going to well at the moment. However things could change.
 

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Their business has been fantastic because they are getting the players Pochettino want (only recently). Chelsea are building a squad around a style that was so successful for Pochettino at spurs and Southampton. Look at us, we are getting the players ETH wanted and it isn't going to well at the moment. However things could change.
How do you reckon Pochettino would fair with the squad ETH has at the moment?
 

Amadaeus

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How do you reckon Pochettino would fair with the squad ETH has at the moment?
He would ask for a rebuild (not as big as the chelsea one) because only a few would fit his ideology. A lot of these players are ETH players. At the moments, chelsea team is unchanged from last season during preseason with only Jackson and a few kids that were the new faces and he did well. So Pochettino would do well with this squad as well, but would change a lot of things later in the market.
 

P-Ro

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The 25 has not been retired. Fun fact: Chelsea have never retired a shirt number because of our close association with the Chelsea Pensioners. Despite being of pensionable age, these men do not believe in retirement.
 
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Their business has been fantastic because they are getting the players Pochettino want (only recently) and these players are wanting to play for Pochettino. I mean who turns down klopp and european league football for Chelsea? Pochettino is a factor and many of their players are singing his praises alread6. Chelsea are building a squad around a style that was so successful for Pochettino at spurs and Southampton. Look at us, we are getting the players ETH wanted and it isn't going to well at the moment. However things could change.
we haven't fully gotten all ETH wants though. We are still a 6 another ball playing defender and a striker down.

As for Chelsea. They gave been recruiting well since Boehly arrived. Too many have been distracted by the manager situation to notice till now. Now they have a coach who should be able to utilise it.
 

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Damn, what a dig by Barber of Brighton re. Caicedo and his choices. No surprise really. Still gutted we missed out on him, would have been perfect.
 

Dr. StrangeHate

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It will be interesting to see if Chelsea or Newcastle can break the City chokehold on the title in the next couple of years. Under the current ownership we are unlikely to compete with a team willing to spend 300 million on just the midfield in a year or a team that buys a 100 million pound defender every year.
 

Bluelion7

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So where do you get leadership?
Reece has always been the leader over players like Mount and Declan, even from a young age.

Colwill will be a dark horse to be England captain someday. Strong presence

Caicedo will definitely be captain of his country - that is written in stone.

Guys like Santos were all captains of their U20 teams

Chilwell isn’t just a leader, he’s the binding force, the guy everybody likes that gives you some glue.

Enzo is already showing some very strong leadership traits. Hr’s already very active with the the team in bringing them together socially. And he gives them that guy they can look to who is genuinely world class, and they can know that guy is on their side.

And yes, Thiago Silva. I certainly hope he had already gotten his badges, because I don’t know if there is a better person at improving fellow defenders (and other positions) out here. The practice clip where Mudryk is getting ready and he looks nervous as he’s changing, maybe too much in his own head, and Thiago walks up like he’s serious and squeezes his bicep and then makes a motion mimicking s round belly, like Mudryk might be fat (with a very funny face) … immediately Mudryk was laughing and look like 100 lbs was taken off his shoulders.

Thiago is a treasure. He isn’t just a leader, he makes others into great leaders.

I want him to coach at Chelsea, or maybe even take over our eventual Portuguese team , like Viera did Strassbourg.

We brought in one of the top sports psychologist specialists on locker room dynamics in the world for the last half of last season. And he gave evaluations on who needed to go for a healthy atmosphere. Annddd those people are gone.

I feel very good about the dynamic forming at Chelsea. I always thought it would take about three years to get the framework of the 7 year “Phase 1” into place, but it’s stronger earlier than I expected.

If Nkunku doesn’t get injured we would be wicked hard to stop right now.
 

90 + 5min

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Reece has always been the leader over players like Mount and Declan, even from a young age.

Colwill will be a dark horse to be England captain someday. Strong presence

Caicedo will definitely be captain of his country - that is written in stone.

Guys like Santos were all captains of their U20 teams

Chilwell isn’t just a leader, he’s the binding force, the guy everybody likes that gives you some glue.

Enzo is already showing some very strong leadership traits. Hr’s already very active with the the team in bringing them together socially. And he gives them that guy they can look to who is genuinely world class, and they can know that guy is on their side.

And yes, Thiago Silva. I certainly hope he had already gotten his badges, because I don’t know if there is a better person at improving fellow defenders (and other positions) out here. The practice clip where Mudryk is getting ready and he looks nervous as he’s changing, maybe too much in his own head, and Thiago walks up like he’s serious and squeezes his bicep and then makes a motion mimicking s round belly, like Mudryk might be fat (with a very funny face) … immediately Mudryk was laughing and look like 100 lbs was taken off his shoulders.

Thiago is a treasure. He isn’t just a leader, he makes others into great leaders.

I want him to coach at Chelsea, or maybe even take over our eventual Portuguese team , like Viera did Strassbourg.

We brought in one of the top sports psychologist specialists on locker room dynamics in the world for the last half of last season. And he gave evaluations on who needed to go for a healthy atmosphere. Annddd those people are gone.

I feel very good about the dynamic forming at Chelsea. I always thought it would take about three years to get the framework of the 7 year “Phase 1” into place, but it’s stronger earlier than I expected.

If Nkunku doesn’t get injured we would be wicked hard to stop right now.
Problem is that you are talking about best case scenarios in couple of years. I'm talking now. The only real leadership you got is Thiago. His experience and his knowledge of football is brilliant. Absolutly brilliant and I wouldn't be surprised if he would be better manager than Pochettino right now. Reece, Chillwell and others are football players with experience but for me no leaders.

You got some talent in the team that you can built on but I don't think you got a manager that can lead you in right path.
 

Ferrers

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Damn, what a dig by Barber of Brighton re. Caicedo and his choices. No surprise really. Still gutted we missed out on him, would have been perfect.
I didn’t get it as a dig he’s a middle aged man involved in football of course he will see Liverpool as a prestige destination he remembers the teams of the 80’s.

but you can’t expect the current generation of footballers to be that bothered even if they didn’t support them directly they would of been aware of the success of Chelsea over the last 20 years. It’s definitely helped make the club a more attractive destination.
 

TheMagicFoolBus

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Damn, what a dig by Barber of Brighton re. Caicedo and his choices. No surprise really. Still gutted we missed out on him, would have been perfect.
Thought it was more of an effort to smooth things over with Liverpool going forward by stressing where exactly the blame should lie in terms of the deal falling apart
 

Bluelion7

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Problem is that you are talking about best case scenarios in couple of years. I'm talking now. The only real leadership you got is Thiago. His experience and his knowledge of football is brilliant. Absolutly brilliant and I wouldn't be surprised if he would be better manager than Pochettino right now. Reece, Chillwell and others are football players with experience but for me no leaders.

You got some talent in the team that you can built on but I don't think you got a manager that can lead you in right path.
No.. I meant those people are leaders now. When Reece James speaks out on something even players OUTSIDE the Chelsea team listen.

The effect Chilwell has is now, and he is a vice captain.

Colwill IS a leader, not “may be a leader someday” He walked in with a smile taking jabs at Poch for his time at Southampton, not worried about making an impression on the new manager. Some people just have that innate confidence and charisma.

Enzo already feels like a leader.

As somebody approaching 50, I get a kick out of people assuming a 27 year old can be a leader, but a 22 year old can’t.

And of course there is Thiago. People say “all you have is Thiago” …. But we have Thiago and he is a wonder. He keeps an eye out for the mental state of every player. He speaks so many languages and is SO good at teaching. I think he recommended Reece as captain, so he could start showing him how to grow in that arm band. And he is just such a GOOD guy.

The problem with our team gone by in he Terry, Drogba, Lampard era is they were given free reign to strangle younger player development, and the idea of younger players stepping up in leadership roles just would t have happened. They even had to wait for the “veterans” to be finished to do just about anything.

People always said we had such “strong veteran leadership” then … but I think I prefer the dynamic now, but time will tell.
 

90 + 5min

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No.. I meant those people are leaders now. When Reece James speaks out on something even players OUTSIDE the Chelsea team listen.

The effect Chilwell has is now, and he is a vice captain.

Colwill IS a leader, not “may be a leader someday” He walked in with a smile taking jabs at Poch for his time at Southampton, not worried about making an impression on the new manager. Some people just have that innate confidence and charisma.

Enzo already feels like a leader.

As somebody approaching 50, I get a kick out of people assuming a 27 year old can be a leader, but a 22 year old can’t.

And of course there is Thiago. People say “all you have is Thiago” …. But we have Thiago and he is a wonder. He keeps an eye out for the mental state of every player. He speaks so many languages and is SO good at teaching. I think he recommended Reece as captain, so he could start showing him how to grow in that arm band. And he is just such a GOOD guy.

The problem with our team gone by in he Terry, Drogba, Lampard era is they were given free reign to strangle younger player development, and the idea of younger players stepping up in leadership roles just would t have happened. They even had to wait for the “veterans” to be finished to do just about anything.

People always said we had such “strong veteran leadership” then … but I think I prefer the dynamic now, but time will tell.
I think you think little bit to high of James and Chilwell. And to say Colwill is a leader? That is to much. Enzo is as leader as someone like Gallagher. So for me, there are no leaders except Thiago. I think we have to agree that we are miles apart in our opinions except Thiago.

Watching football for decades my opinion is that real leaders today are a rare and the more football take steps in future the less of them there are.
 

Pickle85

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He would ask for a rebuild (not as big as the chelsea one) because only a few would fit his ideology. A lot of these players are ETH players. At the moments, chelsea team is unchanged from last season during preseason with only Jackson and a few kids that were the new faces and he did well. So Pochettino would do well with this squad as well, but would change a lot of things later in the market.
And how do you reckon Pochettino would fare as leader of the Ukrainian armed forces? Would we be celebrating a glorious Ukrainian victory tomorrow or would we have to wait til next week?
 

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we haven't fully gotten all ETH wants though. We are still a 6 another ball playing defender and a striker down.

As for Chelsea. They gave been recruiting well since Boehly arrived. Too many have been distracted by the manager situation to notice till now. Now they have a coach who should be able to utilise it.
Casemiro and Martinez are those type of players that ETH wanted. Casemiro our 6 and Martinez our ball player defender. In addition we got Hojlund a striker. Isn't that what ETH wanted? Moreover, we are interested in players like Pavard and amarabat or onana. Those are are players that would give us depth in those positions you mentioned and players ETH seems to have identified if I m not mistaken.

Nah, they have been recruiting terribly under tuchel and a bit under Potter. Most chelsea fans wants all the players that they signed under tuchel gone I believe. Not sure about potter, but they seemed to have gotten better with him. Now with Pochettino, it seems they have been hitting it out the ball park consistently (however time will tell because only Jackson and Nkunku has gotten any real minutes in the team)
 
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Bluelion7

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I think you think little bit to high of James and Chilwell. And to say Colwill is a leader? That is to much. Enzo is as leader as someone like Gallagher. So for me, there are no leaders except Thiago. I think we have to agree that we are miles apart in our opinions except Thiago.

Watching football for decades my opinion is that real leaders today are a rare and the more football take steps in future the less of them there are.
So people saying the younger Jude Bellingham is wise beyond his years, already a leader, future captain of England, etc etc is ok.

But the guy who actual wore the EnglandU21’s armband ahead of him, and is spoken of in the same terms by people who actually know … that’s too much?

Mskes no sense.
 

bringbackbebe

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Their business has been fantastic because they are getting the players Pochettino want (only recently) and these players are wanting to play for Pochettino. I mean who turns down klopp and european league football for Chelsea? Pochettino is a factor and many of their players are singing his praises already. Chelsea are building a squad around a style that was so successful for Pochettino at spurs and Southampton. Look at us, we are getting the players ETH wanted and it isn't going to well at the moment. However things could change.
Only a few managers can come close to what Pochettino has achieved so far in football - maybe Sir.Alex, Mourinho and Guardiola for their trebles and impact on football, Wenger & Sacchi with their philosophies ... and maybe Shankley, Paisley, Clough. None of their achievements come anywhere near what Pochettino has achieved - taking Spurs to a couple of finals in a 6 year period and winning the French league with PSG against all odds & financial constraints - the biggest underdog story in the history of football. I can definitely see the merit in your point..
 
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I'm glad to see the Chelsea fans having their swag back. All this nonsense about being happy with top 8 or top 6 etc after a near billion pound spend is just that, nonsense.

Love the dynamic in here as well, the got the obvious Clearlake cheerleaders, the Poch cheerleaders that aren't even Chelsea supporters, it makes for amusing reading.
 

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I'm glad to see the Chelsea fans having their swag back. All this nonsense about being happy with top 8 or top 6 etc after a near billion pound spend is just that, nonsense.

Love the dynamic in here as well, the got the obvious Clearlake cheerleaders, the Poch cheerleaders that aren't even Chelsea supporters, it makes for amusing reading.
And then, there's Amadeus, to complete the group of deluded people.