SIXTY TWO MILLION FOR THINGY FROM BRIGHTON. HA HA HA
Cucurella at Chelsea
- Thread starter SilentWitness
- Start date
He had a nice tidy cameo. Nothing more nothing less. Seems to have a bit of time on the ball whenever he gets it.
At the height of the Neymar market. £60m now is fecking absurd for a fullback.
Sure is but shows how desperate we were to replace Alonso and Emerson. We now have someone who hopefully has 8-10 good years at the top, versatile and could well pay back some of that fee with performances and trophies.
I wouldn’t say there was many top tier fullbacks around currently. The ones that are, are not available. So while I have reservations, I’m leaning slightly more towards happier feelings on this deal.
You’ve pretty much said exactly what we said after signing AWB
Leaning towards feeling slightly happy? I’m fecking ecstatic. It’s obviously an overpay but he’s a very good player, exciting to watch and I’m delighted we have him.
Meh.
Has the cookie crumbled?
Hahha
Looks like they got rinsed for this lad. I don't rate Chilwell, but he barely looks like an upgrade, and it was hardly a priority position for Chelsea.
Cucurella has been good in 2 of the 3 games so far. He’s a very good player but yeah we overpaid but I guess it is what it is. Very high fee but very happy to have the player.
He fecked up on the second yellow for Gallagher but he was generally excellent today. Absolutely full of running and also made multiple huge clearances when we were under pressure.
He's obviously not a bad player, but is he much of an upgrade on Chilwell? And, surely this wasn't a priority position for you lot, considering Chilwell is only there a year, and has generally been quite good. I don't particularly rate Chilwell, but from what I've seen, he's been a good signing. Cuceralla, to me, seems more a luxury signing than a necessity.
How many teams have made signings for a good deal this summer? In terms of the big clubs I’m struggling to name a good price because £50 seems to be the new £20. You guys are getting taken to the cleaners for Antony like we are for Fofana.
There still is a lot of doubt about how well Chilwell will recover from his injury, which opened the door for Tuchel to bring in someone at that position. Lampard absolutely pushed for Chilwell. I don’t know that Tuchel has the same admiration that Lampard did.
All true.
Thing is, Antony is a priority for us as we badly need a player for that position. Of course, you can argue that we should look elsewhere given the price, and that's fair enough. Both Antony and Fofana could go on to become absolutely brilliant or, both could be big money failures - who knows?
Thing about Cucurella is, he really wasn't a priority signing for you lot given Chilwell is decent enough. The fact that he arguably isn't really an upgrade, and the money you spent on him, make the transfer just seem like a luxury signing.
Think he's most of all meant to be an upgrade on Alonso/Emerson, which he seems to be. An alternative to Chilwell on a similar level is already a massive asset. Lack of high quality cover at LWB/RWB was one of the main factors derailing last season's campaign.
It's a kind of luxury for sure, but the kind needed for a squad that's getting rebuilt toward challenging the best teams with similar depth. That's why I think he was indeed a priority signing for Chelsea, especially with regards to Chilwell's recovery process. Hence the readiness to overpay.
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And some brilliant crosses.
PL clubs need to start shopping out of the PL. Not about cucurella specifically but the fees are just bonkers. You'll still get rinsed if you shop outside but it won't be with your pants down
We just signed a leftback to compete with Shaw who is doing really well and staying in the team for 15 million euros
You sign a player for Chilwell and Cucurella fees for them to start on a weekly basis. The Cucurella signing suggests that they're over Chilwell. And he has had injuries. But he's also popped up with a bunch of goals and your team doesnt score a lot... So Cucurella needs to do the same, or vastly outperform Chilwell in general play setting someone else up to make up those goals + more because of the huge fee.
Not a Chelsea fan, btw. Just saying what I think Tuchel's & Boehly's decisions were based on. If it ultimately pays off, who knows, we'll see.
I meant the royal you btw. As in thats what we do.
Cucurella has 2 assists in 3 starts by the way. He’s been fantastic. Him and Chilwell can coexist and there’s no pressure on Chelsea or Chilwell to rush him back.
Agreed and the biggest thing is the timing. Spurs, Arsenal and City have all purchased well because the signings were made early in the window. Chelsea have a good excuse to fall back on in this regard with the club being acquired. This is why for me irrespective of who we sign when the window is finished John Murtough should be getting a wave of criticism for his handling of this window. Worst than Woodward at this point.
United have a similar reason for being slow to Chelsea though? I’m not sure you know what’s going on at your own club
Chelsea have seen new ownership (stakeholders) overtake much of their planning for the new season due to circumstances outside the influences of football. I don't see how that relates with the transition at United which was merely promotion from John Murtough which was in the pipeline since March 2021. The decisions to rearrange the scouting infrastructure can be criticised. The decisions to axe a manager who was intended to play a consultant role which inadvertently had an effect on United's recruitment can also be criticised. Giving another manager full responsibility over transfers was a key aspect that went against Woodward and is another decision that can be criticised.
No, the contrast between United and Chelsea is not even romotely similar unless the world is black and white with no depth of context.
This is what I don’t get. A few errors here and there? Yeah. Some of them, by the way, because people could t handle passing as well as Cucurella is used to.
But mostly he’s been great. His distribution. Fantastic. When the ball gets in his possession, it’s safe. 2, 3 men around him; no problem. His control in tight spaces is typical Barca quality.
The intricate triangle he set up to then free Havertz towards goal was gorgeous. Havertz just handled it like a donkey.
And he’s only a few games into integrating into the team.
Mark it: he will be one of the 5 best LWB’s in the world sooner rather than later, and Barca will try to come for him when Alba looks past it.
And yes, with his skill playing LCB in a 3 man, plus the amount of fixtures we will play, he and Chilwell will both be very involved. As long as Chilly doesn’t get injured …. Again….
United sacked Marcel Bout and Jim Lawlor. Both head of global recruitment and chief scout. This was done right at the end of the season and to my knowledge neither have been replaced. We also brought Ten Hag at the start of June and have been gradually putting together a whole new coaching department along side with a make shift recruitment team.
In contrast Chelsea lost both Marina and Cech but have had Tuchel for a while which gives them some consistency.
Id say it’s very similar and infact given the presence of Tuchel, and them being further along in their methods, we’ve had far more change to contend with and that was always going to have an impact on this window.
Those decisions which I reflected on fall on the club / Murtough. They are not random anomalies such as the acquisition of a football club due to war which has caused the government to legislate the sale of a club.
The mere fact that United made those decisions is even more of a conscious choice in association with the hierarchys judgement. United have put themselves into a vulnerable situation which has relfected in the summer window. Chelsea were presented with their own situation outside the remit of any strategic planning and choices.
Except for United shopping in Ajax…
Ajax say hello
They made the decisions as they are aware things need to change.
You’re really making zero sense.
I understand where your coming from but your view places no emphasis on the Glazers, Murtoughs and the rest of hierarchys credibility to facilitate those changes which have without doubt negatively impacted this summer window. If Chelsea had a shocking window they are exempt from criticism due to the circumstances surrounding the club. United have rightfully deserved intense scrutiny from the offset. The club have proverbially made their own bed in this regard.
Cucurella already has 2 assists in 3 starts at the club (and should probably have 2 more with Sterling missing a great chance against Everton and Sterling again hitting the post against Leicester). I don't really get the hate in here. Yeah I get it this is an opposition forum and you have to sh*t on the other team's signings as a rule but I thought at least you'd have to wait until the player actually had a shocking game (like Silva vs Westbrom) and not when they've been brilliant?
Chelsea had a war criminal as an owner. I’m sorry but I’m not sympathetic. I also hate the Glazers and want rid. That doesn’t mean I’m going to ignore the facts though and it was obvious to anyone who knows what’s been going on at United this window was going to be difficult to navigate but hopefully the pay off means we are better prepared for Jan and beyond.
Cucurella is a much better player in possession and a more creative passer than Chilwell. Chilwell is better at getting into the box, finishing, and timing his runs.
I think part of the thinking is that Cucurella is (on paper) a better fit for the side with James on the other flank - you don't necessarily want both wingbacks getting into the opposition box, so having Cucurella stay a bit deeper as a distributor in the left half-space makes a bit more sense from a structural perspective.
Really though I think that given the outsized importance of wingbacks for our system, it makes sense to prioritise depth at that position. Last year with Chilwell and James fit we were absolutely flying, then both got hurt and we were absolutely shit.
I’m sorry, I get that we disagree on this and that you are making a point to someone who seems to be making an odd and premature attack on the Murtough transition.
But the British government literally had to apologize for being wrong about the ONE thing Abramovich was involved in they deemed sanctionable.
All the “evil oil baron” jokes aside, the man has put his personal safety and well being at stake to try and negotiate on behalf of Ukraine. He’s never been part of Putins Dasha and inner circle. The US had his circle of “friends” broken down into rings: tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3. US intelligence did not have Roman in any of those. Putin even attacked him verbally as a “westernized traitor”, in a public address rant from Moscow after the third confirmed attempt on Putins life. For the record, our service knows of 5 now, which is why he won’t let his own people sit within 30 feet of him.
Calling him a war criminal is like blaming Jeff Bezos for not being able to stop Trump from bombing a country. It’s a tad ridiculous. Abramovich is an anti isolationist, and a third of his children are American.
I’ve seen people attacking this Armenian kid we are trying to buy in a similar fashion; which is why this is so fresh. He was a poor Armenian kid blessed with great skill at football. He accepted a place at a Russian academy and for their national team. It doesn’t make him a bad person. Now he just wants out.
It reminds me of a wonderful ad libbed Stanley Tucci line from the first Captain America movie: “ people forget that the first country the Nazi’s invaded was Germany”
It would be a mistake to label an entire population evil. Thousands of Russians have died protesting or in “education camps”. I’m sure Roman probably isnt a saint, but implying he’s responsible for War Crimes in Ukraine is simply not true.