25 Jul 2026 10:54:14
Anyone else agree that since appointing Xabi Alonso, Chelsea have been sending a clear message?
Marco Palestra, Morgan Rogers, Maxence Lacroix, and now Austin MacPhee from Aston Villa as new set piece coach. Every move shows the club means business.
Behdad Eghbali has proved a lot of Chelsea fans wrong this summer. The ambition and decisiveness from the club are starting to feel like the Roman Abramovich era again.
Only time will tell, but I'm very optimistic going forward.
25 Jul 2026 15:13:32
I am hopeful, thanks to Alonso appointment, but we still have not necessarily solved some of our recurrent problems.
These include the question of striker backup or assistance for Pedro. Emegha has apparently already picked up yet another injury - hamstring - in friendlies.. presumably v Bromley. Delap scored but one goal last season in EPL. Guiu not trusted? Satpaev is only 17. So we have to keep Jackson, imho, unless bringing in another striker or Delap has got hold of some magic potion.
Then there is the ongoing GK question. If Sanchez is not good enough, is Penders ready yet? Or...
I also wonder about the left wing back position ... cover for Hato if Hato can play there, or will he play LB or LCB? But perhaps Pep C signing will be the answer if/when it happens?
Then there is the matter of whether Lacroix will fix our partner to LC question. He looked very poor when on at the World Cup, and I did not watch him enough when he was playing for Palace.
There are also question marks about whether likes of Fernandez and Neto will stay, and if they go whether they will be replaced by as good or better players. If EF is going, hijacking Arsenal bit for Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle would be a fantastic statement of intent from CFC. Scott or Wharton not quite of the same calibre? Neto replacement being rumoured to be the 18 yr old Bosnian winger from Bayer L. Kerim Alajbergovic, very young of course, and would not myself know how to compare him with Neto.
Finally, there is the seemingly never ending saga of having quite a few in the squad who are very injury prone, i.e. Lavia, Reece, Fofana and now Emegha from Strasbourg. Heaven forbid that LC gets injured again... or Pedro gets injured.
So I am hopeful for the coming season, but think that we still have quite a lot to sort out before we know where we stand in comparison to our main rivals for top 4.
25 Jul 2026 15:16:17
Ps, yes, the set.piece coach signing seems a good one, plus also apparently a new and good fitness coach. So, quite a few good signs.