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04 Aug 2021 11:39:26
ED001 As it looks like we will be closing a deal for Lukaku. What are you thoughts on him as a player and how or whether he will suit us.
Asking you as you seem to understand the game more then most pundits on internet.
Thanks.
{Ed001's Note - he has come on in leaps and bounds since leaving English football, but his first touch is still loose, that can be punished up against packed defences. If you are in the lead and the opponents are chasing the game, or they come out to play, Lukaku is ideal as there is space for him to use and his loose touch can just be more of a knock down for him to run onto and smash the ball at goal.
He does hit a ball very well, with power and pace, making it difficult for keepers to react in time, though it can mean he can be inaccurate due to going for power at times. It is difficult to control when putting your laces through it, so to speak.
Looking at the way you were playing last season under Tuchel, he is ideal for that, he is not a Drogba, who can hold the ball up and bring others into the game. Though that aspect of his game is much improved, it takes away from his goalscoring as he needs to be moving onto the ball, just as Werner and Havertz were last season, to really be effective.
With his power and pace, you aren't going to knock him off the ball, so there is little that can stop him when he goes on the run, in the modern game anyway. Basically, and please don't tell Ed77 or Ed004 this as we were winding them up about the comparison the other day on the editor's widget, he is very similar in his play to Haaland. Though I would say Haaland certainly has the potential to be better, maybe even already is, the fact Lukaku is wanting to play for Chelsea would, to me, make him a better choice.
I have never been his biggest fan, there are a lot of weaknesses to his game, particularly his touch, but also his ability in the air leaves a lot to be desired. He just never seems to be looking to get on the end of headers enough for my liking. But, and it is a big but, the pluses outweigh the bad now after his work with Conte. With a manager like Tuchel, I think Lukaku will be a very good choice, as he will be used in a way that emphasises his positives. With him and Werner breaking forward and Havertz sliding balls through to them, it looks, on paper anyway, a very potent attack.}
1.) 04 Aug 2021 13:29:28
Thanks Ed001.
{Ed001's Note - very welcome other Ed!}
2.) 04 Aug 2021 13:48:05
I have the feeling If he signs it’ll be like when shevchenko signed, we were expecting shevchenko to be the main goalscorer but in fact him playing with drogba helped drogba get more goals snd finish top goalscorer, I think werner up top with lukaku will get timo more goals,
3.) 04 Aug 2021 14:03:29
Well Matt that is one of the worst observations I’ve ever read.
4.) 04 Aug 2021 14:20:08
Why, drogba was better with a partner, shevchenko / Anelka, I think timo will be too,
5.) 04 Aug 2021 15:06:19
Thank you so much for your reply. Hopefully he can score 30+ goals and lead us to the title.
6.) 04 Aug 2021 18:24:17
Good work Ed001 a very thorough and fair summary of Lukaku.
{Ed001's Note - thank you. I did actually (surprisingly) put a lot of thought into it before writing it. With a player like this, it is easy to get caught up in what he can't do and forget about what he can do. Or the other way round.}
7.) 04 Aug 2021 18:38:24
There is nothing fair about još Lukaku summary.
27 Jul 2021 06:44:39
As the time in this window passes and as we haven't made any big names signings it seems like more and more supporters are getting impatient. But we have to be realistic - when we won champions league in 2012 it felt like a last stand of Chelsea Greats to win us the holy grail - it was a victory against all Odds - I didn't think many of us expected us to turn the Napoli game around or win against Barcelona - but it was like the great players of Chelsea had taken it on themselves to win at all costs.
But this time it wasn't like that - the games we won it didn't feel like we were up against it. Media might have different view but we outplayed Real Madrid, Athletico, and Man City. Also on top of that this group of players is starting with this not ending. Age of some of our most important players is early 20s - Mount, Havertz, Werner, Chilwell, James, Christensen. Even guys like Rudiger, Kovacic, Jorginho, Kante have a good couple of seasons in them at top level. So by all accounts we really don't need to spend like we did after 2012.
Looking at the squad - Unless we get a top keeper - oblak or someone else for cheap I can't see anyone coming in and doing better than Mendy, and if we can offload Kepa I am sure the club will try to get someone but for now there is no one really available and with Mendy already doing better we don't need to spend stupid amount on this position.
In Defense we have Dave, Silva, Rudiger, Christensen, Zouma, - Zouma played very little since tuchel came and in the long run we can expect Dave to be replaced by Christensen or James to replace him in the right side of defense. Since schedule this time won't be as tight as last year Silva will play most games - Rudiger is a good player and if he signs a new contract then he will stay. There are rumours of both Sterling, and Sarr staying with the team so even If Zouma leaves there is more than enough cover with some top players. On the left side we have Chillwell and he will play most games. If we sell/ loan Alonso, Emerson, Baba we have now rumours coming in that Kenedy might stick around and it could be good rather than buying backup player.
So if Zouma Leave we might go for some big centre back but that won't be a top priority.
In Midfield we have three top class players in Jorginho, Kovacic, Kante and last year Gilmour played some games. So if we take that we need four players there - fourth player could be one of Loftus-Cheek, or Galagher or Chalobah - Again this is okay as the fourth player last year really didn't play that much. Now if we are looking to upgrade and one of Jorginho or Kovacic leaves I am sure the club will go after Saul/ Rice/ Touchemi (spelling) or club might just loan/ offload both loftus cheek and galagher and get someone who will push Jorginho/ Kovacic to be fourth choice.
Our system last year used 3 attackers and we have Mount, havertz, Ziyech, CHO, Pulisic, Abraham, Werner for this position and we can clearly see we need a top quality striker - hence Haaland/ Lukaku push. And we also know Broja might be integrated if he impresses to replace Giroud.
If it comes to need there is only one need and that is a Striker who can score 30+ goals a year. The rest of the players we are after have to be really great to improve us - As we know we might go after Coman or other wingers but that player has to be better than Ziyech or CHO as we already have many players in that position and those two seem to be least preferred. Same in Midfield the players really need to be better than kovacic, Loftus cheek, or even jorginho - which let's be honest in this market is difficult to find. So Even if we sign one striker we are not that off from being a really good team.
Interest in Hakimi again was similar to this - he is simply world Class - he would have made us better but since he is not there anymore finding someone who is genuinely an improvement our current batch would be very difficult.
There is a lot of time and as long as we get one striker in we are good to go - everything else is not a requirement but more about can we do even better which is very difficult considering the players we have.
1.) 27 Jul 2021 08:05:45
Good post.
2.) 27 Jul 2021 09:00:59
Wow, Chelsea will sign Betinelli such a squad improvement. What a relief.
3.) 27 Jul 2021 10:37:19
A most enjoyable post CFC.
17 Jul 2021 18:26:06
With all the rumours coming in, and information provided by Ed002 it seems like the following could be our Backline:
RWB: Dave, Dujon Sterling (Rumours of being promoted)
RCB: James,
CB: Silva, Christensen
LCB: Rudiger, Sarr
RWB: Chillwell, Alonso/ Someone New
Sales:
Tomori, Guehi, Zouma, Emerson, Baba Rehman, Kenedy,
Looking at this and the thinking that we won't be buy for the sake of it, and the trend of buying top players You can imagine us signing a top player to Replace CB and if Alonso were to also leave a back up. But if we can't get top players for these positions we should give chance to Trevoh Chalobah and Ian Matesson which would save us money, and give young players a path, Chalobah had a good season playing in a back 3 and with Sarr and Matesson behind Chilwell this seems enough for the season ahead.
Then this would be our backline:
RWB: Dave, Dujon Sterling (Rumours of being promoted)
RCB: James, Trevoh Chalobah
CB: Silva, Christensen
LCB: Rudiger, Sarr
RWB: Chillwell, Matesson
ED002 does this seem something that the club might end up with? Also, Marquinhos might be a wild card signing if PSG go after Varane.
1.) 17 Jul 2021 21:17:25
Christensen and Rudiger are both entering the final year of their contracts; I would guess that both could be sold if they do not extend.
2.) 17 Jul 2021 22:01:26
Hopefully Christensen will sign a new contract: not that bothered about Rudiger. Sterling, Chalobah and Matesson will not feature next season: Sarr might have chance.
3.) 17 Jul 2021 22:22:40
I wouldn't be surprised at all if Trevoh Chalobah wins over TT during pre-season.
Still a good chance he moves on, but I do think TT will like his qualities.
4.) 17 Jul 2021 22:41:59
CFC_Manali. WE seem to have a lot of RWBs there, I think we could do with some LWBs tbh. Only joking 😂
But all jokes aside, we do have plenty of cover in most defensive positions with various players able to play two positions as in Azpi and Reece. And Sarr is also capable of playing LB.
Playing a back three we probably do need to sign one more CB for cover, just in case of injuries/ poor form etc.
08 Mar 2020 01:52:25
ED001, I just wanted to know your opinion about Declan Rice as a player. He really seems to divide opinions from being a very good player to someone who just doesn't contribute enough.
{Ed001's Note - I think he is a very good player, but I don't see why you need him when his role in the squad would be one Ethan Ampadu could fill. I don't know why people think he doesn't contribute enough, he is having to cover the whole backline on his own, as Noble's legs are going and there is rarely any other help in there. Yet he still manages to get forward when the chance presents itself to him. Rice is technically good, his weakness is mobility, while he can run about all day, he is not the quickest.}
1.) 08 Mar 2020 10:29:04
'his weakness is mobility, he is not the quickest' - we already have one of those: Jorginho.
2.) 08 Mar 2020 12:38:22
You hit the nail on the head Ed, Rice looks like he's doing three guys work. I think he'd shine in a decent midfield.
{Ed001's Note - me too.}
3.) 08 Mar 2020 14:50:57
I thought Ampadu would be better suited as a CB, Ed001. Am I wrong?
{Ed001's Note - I think he will naturally drop back in a few years, but I can also see Rice doing the same. Once they gain more experience and improve their reading of the game.}
29 Aug 2021 12:31:58
Thanks for the info.
29 Aug 2021 12:27:02
ED002 Do Chelsea have any replacements in mind that we might approach if he were to leave?
{Ed002's Note - Clubs don't replace players going on loan.}
08 Aug 2021 11:00:49
My guess looking at Sparky's tweet is our main target is Ilaix Moriba. I maybe wrong but Sparky Mentioned Rastfarian Milk - which amybe related to the rastafarian food: I-tal and Ilaix seems like the closest name but again I maybe completely off target.
Anyways good days ahead. KTBFFH.
06 Aug 2021 10:54:33
My guess would be that Cech would be promoted to that role or Shevchenko has just left his job as the head coach of Ukraine and he has done really well with them - maybe him.
{Ed002's Note - Why bother - you have no idea.}
04 Aug 2021 15:06:19
Thank you so much for your reply. Hopefully he can score 30+ goals and lead us to the title.
01 Aug 2019 14:20:45
I think full backs we don't need to worry with Azpi and Reece James or right and I believe Juan Castillo might become the second choice left back behind Emerson as Alonso is not right for this system. He would be much better joining Conte at Inter.
I do agree with the striker part. I am hoping against hope that we might sign couple of players in view of them joining next year. My choice would be Sancho for the wing (Pedro/ willian replacement) and for striker I have no idea- Mbappe ( I believe he will eventually move to become central striker) would be the best but he will go to spain.
Options could be werner, dembele but with the system we are playing we might need a striker in the mould of Drogba/ Costa.
24 Jul 2019 14:29:31
ED001 I wanted Sarri to stick around and I think he would have done good. But one thing that bugged me especially during the middle of the season was that Chelsea became like Arsenal under wenger. We were getting bullied by teams.
Over the past decade one thing that has defined Chelsea to me is our grit, from Champions league win to dominating teams physically but that suddenly seemed to evaporate.
Maybe it is the new generation of players but to me there were still signs of that under Conte. Even during the 13 match winning streak when were playing brilliant football under Conte we still could still win the game by fighting and that was lost under him.
To me that is what Chelsea is winning at all costs. Man Utd say they play a certain way and Liverpool also but Chelsea has always stood for that will to win and giving everything. That was lost under him.
As a club we have won against teams who were much better then us because of this strength but I lost hope that we could do that under him.
But I think if he would have stuck around we could have find a new way which wasnt based on this strenght and grit but on knowing on the system being a stronger team.
Guess we will never know.