Chelsea Banter

01 May 2024 21:54:28
Ed 01 should chelsea change the policy to add more experienced players to help the young squad this summer, who do you think would be good signings
in and out

In- Guehi/ Ake- former acadamey player knows what it means to be at chelsea 1 that got away for sure

In-Diogo Costa maybe? not sure on the GK

In-Theo Hernandez

In- Issak

Out we shall see- but for me
Chilwell, too injury prone,
Mudryk- terrible signing
Broja- needs a move and to find his level maybe abroad to germany etc
Maatsen- Unfortunetly didn't get a chance 1 that got away for me
Cucurella- Another disaster
Silva- Legend of the game
Hutchinson- Loan again ipswich


All 4 are probably of 0 interest but just 4 who i think would boost the squad massively.

{Ed001's Note - I was just looking at your squad, you defo need a keeper, a solid first choice. Defence is not too bad in terms of experience, even without Silva, when you look at it. The issue is injuries and buying players like Fofana, who have little in the way of football brain and so lack positional sense. Far too many defenders bought for their physical attributes, rather than because they are good all round defenders. Disasi, for example, should be at his peak, or close to it, but he still plays like a kid who lacks any thought to his defending. So you do look to need one centre-back as well. And obviously you need a centre-forward who can be relied upon to stay fit.

Keeper is tough to find anyone, the two outstanding ones that are maybe possible are Oblak and Maignan. Not sure Oblak suits the style of play and Maignan would probably cost too much. So Diogo Costa looks the best option.

Bastoni would be the centre-back I would be wanting, but not sure if he would be an option. Seems unlikely. I am not sure I would be looking at any others, not that are attainable anyway. Might be best to just work on coaching them to be honest.

Instead, I think the money should be spent on an Isak, Vlahovic or maybe even Gyokeres. For me players like Osimhen, David, Toney and Watkins are all much of a muchness but I would have fears over Osimhen and David's first touches, which can be a bit heavy for the tighter marking in the Prem. Isak has that silky touch and can bring others into play, as can Vlahovic when playing well. Gyokeres is just a goalscorer, but not sure if he has the physical attributes to be as effective in the Prem, but still worth a gamble imo.}

02 May 2024 09:57:17
Thanks ED01 for your thoughts. I see Pickford has recently been linked as well? what do you think of that rumour? As for the centre backs I totally agree with you, the emphasis seemed to be on physique and a player like Fofana needs a Silva next to him for guidance. Maybe Fofana and Levi could work? I agree about I Isak and he would be my choice after Kane who is not going to happen.

{Ed001's Note - Pickford is nowhere near good enough, you may as well stick with Petrovic rather than go for an error-prone idiot with an unprofessional lifestyle and attitude. He is not someone you want around younger players. Also, having him there being erratic makes it difficult for defenders to move up the pitch and play a higher line. Everton make it work because they sit deep, Chelsea don't want to play like that.

I do like Colwill, just not sure he is ready to work with someone like Fofana. Not sure anyone is. He is not a good defender.}

02 May 2024 10:08:23
Thanks for your reply ED01. I agree about Pickford and was horrified to see that rumour! let's hope that was pure click bait journalism. Of the current crop of centre backs who would you pair with Levi?

{Ed001's Note - Chalobah. They should have an understanding there to build upon.}

02 May 2024 10:27:27
Great shout and would save the club money as well. let's hope Poch or whoever sees it that way. Thanks for your input ED01.

{Ed001's Note - for me it is obvious, if you have a pair of players at centre-back that know each other well, you should put them together. International teams so often miss out on that innate understanding by not picking defensive partnerships. So much of defending is about adjusting your position in accordance with the man next to you. If you have two people who have that basic knowledge of each other's game, it should make it so much easier to drill them together as a pair. They are a good combination on paper as well, one right foot, one left. It just seems to make sense to me. Though I do wonder if maybe the way to keep James fit might be to use him at centre-back where there is less distance to cover. Maybe long term that is the position for him?}

02 May 2024 11:02:13
Another good shout ED01, maybe James on the right of a back 3 with Big Trev and Levi?

{Ed001's Note - if you went back 3, that certainly looks a good combination, with plenty of ability on the ball.}

01 May 2024 21:39:42
Watching the dortmund game Maatsen really is a great player just needs a chance. Never tried at left back with Poch.

If we get a new manager in who goes 3 at the back (Amorim linked) it wouldn't make a difference anyway. He would be perfect for that wing back role. We'd only regret selling him that's why I don't want Chalobah leaving also. Likes of Guehi and Tomori left over the years both arguably on par or better than both Disasi and Badiashile.

02 May 2024 10:30:03
Maatsen has looked great coming forward but have wondered about him defensively Barnet? Mind you I probably haven't seen enough if him. But probably yes a better wingback if we played three at the back than a LB?

01 May 2024 15:54:37
Big ange said his injuries not good, Werner and left back out.

Chelsea have 14 (fourteen) first team players out for spurs, lol but we should be competing.

Poch needs to lay off on the intense training cos this is getting longer not shorter,

01 May 2024 16:49:55
Matt, I have no idea if the majority of our injuries this season are as a result of “intense training, ” whatever that really is?

Remember both JT and Lamps saying the training and practice match sessions were FULL ON and made games seem easy.

Maybe, just maybe the trading isn’t intense enough. Or, maybe it’s just bad luck.

01 May 2024 17:17:23
Didn’t know we could attend and watch training sessions, need to pop along and watch sometime.

Looks like Disasi and Silva are out for tomorrow’s game too. So imagine the team will be:

Petrovic
Gilchrist Chalobah Badiashile Cucurella
Caicedo Gallagher
Madueke Palmer Mudryk/ Casadei
Jackson

Tough choice between Mudryk and Casadei. I’d probably start Casadei as Mudryk’s been poor but Spurs play such a high line, Mudryk’s pace could be good if we ping balls in behind.

Slight possibility we might see Colwill, Nkunku and James on the bench but think it might be a bit too early for James and Nkunku. Not sure if Sterling has recovered, think he was only ill and not injured on the weekend so he might be back.

01 May 2024 18:29:03
The club need to get to the notoom of the injuries, we can't have the same issue next season.

01 May 2024 20:51:36
The idea that Poch is jeopardising players by approaching training without any concern for already injured and Injury prone players is to be polite nonsense.
The club will be monitoring not only training but recovery and all medical aspects of players recovery given the unprecedented injuries this season.
The answer won't be one dimensional that much is certain.
To focus purely on the manager smacks of a major agenda.

01 May 2024 20:51:58
I think casadei should play central mid, great in the air. Hell of a shot too. I’d play mudryk up front.

01 May 2024 22:16:23
Reports / rumours are of intense training,
Ricky lambert when at Southampton has spoke about poch training sessions and how much running is involved. Danny rose has said how much running is involved, and that it’s the session before match day, Ricky lambert has even told a story of how he was asked as captain to approach poch and say how the boys are struggling with training. Poch was ah, ok I see, I see.

The boys went into training and they had double running. So this isn’t me attending training or presuming. It’s going off stories, ex players accounts reports and fact we have had 59 injuries this season.

And yes, some are knocks and contact and come are out of our hands, but in general. It’s been a massive concern. Ugochuckwu was 2 week injury, it’s been months. Sanchez and Sterling not played but picking up injuries. Nkunku meant to been back 4 weeks ago, lavia, set backs, disasi played 10 min, now injured, look how many games disasi missed for Monaco last 2 years. Chilwell come on for 19 min v city and he has been out since.

01 May 2024 22:27:34
I thought Caicedo was suspended for this game following his yellow card against Aston Villa? Happy to be wrong though!

01 May 2024 22:50:56
Steve, Caicedo isn’t suspended. There is a reset after 32 games.

Matt as I’ve already posted both Lamps and JT both said that training under Jose was very aggressive and combative. There seemed to be fewer injuries at that time.

It’s be said many times there will almost certainly be an end of season injury review. I very much doubt it will be just one thing. Other clubs also seemed to have had more injuries as usual as well. I think there should be a league review as well as a club review.

02 May 2024 01:15:47
Is Poch running training sessions for Liverpool? Or Newcastle? What’s to blame for their injuries this season?

The belief that Poch is ignoring medical advice and running players barely back from injury into the ground is farcical. I’m guessing Poch was also responsible for us having the highest amount of injuries in Europe from 2021-2023, despite not being our manager at the time?

02 May 2024 07:03:38
I think footballers are plying too much football. Needless country games and tournaments. They don’t seem to get a rest.

02 May 2024 08:26:27
I agree BLUEBOY1, the players do play a lot of football and the intensity is high as well but as Tom said the Jose players used to compete full on in training with no real issues? Maybe lifestyle plays a part? Also, buying players who have injury records? Fofana, Disasi certainly fall into that category. To put it on Poch with all the available data and advice he receives daily is a bit much to be fair.

02 May 2024 10:39:20
Nkunku also injured I think in season before we bought him and James and Chilwell serial injury probs too.

01 May 2024 15:02:29
If Nkunku and Levi are out tomorrow that's 12 players missing through injury!
A chance for some academy players maybe?

01 May 2024 15:34:50
G8, I may well be wrong but I think it’s 13/ 14 players out for tomorrow and that is just about our worst injury total for the season.

You are correct about opportunities. I would like to see the RB position filled with one of academy players.

01 May 2024 16:11:29
It is utter madness Tom, half the squad missing! I guess Alfie will play RB with BB and Big Trev at CB and Marc C at LB. Conor and Moises in the pivot with Noni, Palmer and Mudryk behind Jackson leaving a bench of academy players.

29 Apr 2024 21:19:16
I thought Noni was brilliant against Villa, the boy gets stick from some but just look at the talent. Yes, he made a mistake with the penalty fiasco, yes, he needs to work harder in defence but he is a talent, big, strong, quick and direct with a goal in him as well. About time he got some praise.

30 Apr 2024 08:17:09
Has had some really good games recently will be interesting to see how he develops has an eye for goal good dribbler to my mind he doesn't have his head up enough to view his options but undeniably a talent.

30 Apr 2024 08:43:06
He has certainly improved throughout the season. I’m still not totally convinced but I think it was Ed001 who sad that the lad needs good coaching.

Another player who has improved throughout the season.

30 Apr 2024 09:09:01
Good player but my only concern with him is is attitude.

30 Apr 2024 09:51:45
Were you concerned about Ballacks attitude when he tried to take a penalty instead of Lamps? All a bit unseemly from my recollection and he was an experienced player, but it didn't affect his attitude going forward.
Likewise Noni infact he's played well since Wembley/ Pen incidents.
And he is still a kid coming to terms with playing for a big club so he should be cut some slack.

30 Apr 2024 10:51:29
Love Noni too, G8. Thought he was stand-out during the tailend of last season. He's worked really hard to improve on the defensive aspect during the last few months, which was my main concern about him, because he's obviously massively skilful going forwards – if he can keep working on his game and decision making he's going to be some player. These are young kids with very few seasoned pros in the dressing room to guide them – I think Poch should get no little credit for this aspect of the situation.

30 Apr 2024 10:54:13
The penalty argument that stands out for me was between Drogba and Lamps. It was also an important pen as we were going for the title and Drogba wanted the golden boot. Eventually aLamos took it and scored but Drogba had the right hump. I would add that at no stage did JT or Carlo get involved in the on field argument.

30 Apr 2024 11:02:04
EdW. I agree Poch should be given credit for players performances improving throughout the season.

I can only think of 2/ 3 players who’s play hasn’t generally improved throughout the course of this season.

30 Apr 2024 15:08:28
You'right EdW and as have saiud myself not sure more than a hadful of managers could have done much better and many would have done perhaps a good deal worse.

30 Apr 2024 18:20:18
Which does not mean Poch cannot be criticised in terms of getting line-ups or substitions wrong - which he has on occasions. Yet in terms of odd line-ups, and some substitutions, this might be a matter of trying obver his first season to look at all the players properly, give them game time, so that the right decisions can be made about swho should stay or who should go - subject to this being possible! - in this coming transfer window. Who should stay, from what Poch and we have seen, should surely include, CG, CP, MG, TC, Enzo, MC, CC, NJ (as winger), and assuming head right NM. Quite a lot of others in the should probably keep too column. RJ if ever regains proper fitness should be an easy must keep but one worries about his fitness as most of us do, along with that of BC.

A manager can also be criticised perhaps for being seemingly unable to get players off to fast starts at start of games or after intervals, or to be entirely focused for whole of game. But players also responsible for this as they most certainly are for obvious blunders in front of goal or at the back.

01 May 2024 08:41:30
I think Poch will be given another chance but he needs to improve his half time team talk.

01 May 2024 13:50:32
Agreed Bill – we've often been shocking after half time.

And with JBS (although I've personally not seen anything from him that suggests we should keep Cucurella! ) – line-ups might have been an aspect of trial and error with a squad that was seemingly built with no sense of coherence. But one can also question why for example, if the goal was to learn about the players, he never tried Maatsen in his natural position?

Anyway, although I've found many of Poch's decisions baffling and have seen obvious negatives, I don't believe we can keep cycling between managers, and don't want to keep cycling between managers. To change that culture, as the new owners said they would, at some point you have to show some steel. If we continue to fire and hire a potential long-term manager will simply not look at the club as a viable place to pitch up.