Yeah but that includes his hair cut that adds a inch or two. There was a photo going around a year or two ago with him standing with Cahil who was towering above him by 4-5 inches. Not sure if he has grown but at 18 he was looking short for a CB.
Chelsea 2020/21 - General discussion
- Thread starter duffer
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Yeah but that includes his hair cut that adds a inch or two. There was a photo going around a year or two ago with him standing with Cahil who was towering above him by 4-5 inches. Not sure if he has grown but at 18 he was looking short for a CB.
Besides making the team gel Lampard has a huge job on his hands to keep everyone happy. I remember back in 2014 they had Hazard, Oscar, De Bruyne, Mata and Schurrle with Lukaku coming from a good loan at Albion. This year's class is Pulisic, Ziyech, Havertz, Abraham, mount and Abraham just like back then if frank does not manage them well wouldn't be surprised to see a couple leave on loan or permanent in Jan.
Lampard is not Jose and rlc and Barkley not de bruyne and mata either. They have to fight for their spot and havertz, ziyech, mount not previleged either.
Mount can have all the mentality he likes, Chelsea are owned by a man that likes shiny new things and doesn’t give a toss about the youth players.
really are a scummy little club
really are a scummy little club
Staggering level of irony given your club are looking to break their transfer record for a player who will if signed slot into Greenwood's place!
Keep the salty tears coming
I still don’t think they have resolved their main issues from last season. That is not a jab or provocation, but it was very clear where their issues lay. I actually remember a game where RLC and Tammy came off the bench and linked up beautifully for a goal after the restart. There was already good play and depth in attack.
That’s not to say you turn down players of the quality of Havertz and Werner, but there is a real sense that they are now looking for bargains to resolve the real issues from last season.
I don’t think Chilwell is very good defensively, especially not at that value and Thiago Silva coming in, to aid a back line that conceded so many, is a big ask at his age. The goalkeeper might well just be another punt, rather than a sure thing, although admittedly, I know very little about their main target.
In my opinion, the big money should have been spent on the back line and goalkeeper. They now have a lot of attacking players to keep happy, and I personally don’t think they will be able to do it.
I fully expect the likes of CHO to be looking to move again by the end of the season.
Of course, maybe the attack will click so well and the sheer quality will overwhelm most teams, but I think they will still struggle away from home and could well lament focusing on other areas of the team.
That’s not to say you turn down players of the quality of Havertz and Werner, but there is a real sense that they are now looking for bargains to resolve the real issues from last season.
I don’t think Chilwell is very good defensively, especially not at that value and Thiago Silva coming in, to aid a back line that conceded so many, is a big ask at his age. The goalkeeper might well just be another punt, rather than a sure thing, although admittedly, I know very little about their main target.
In my opinion, the big money should have been spent on the back line and goalkeeper. They now have a lot of attacking players to keep happy, and I personally don’t think they will be able to do it.
I fully expect the likes of CHO to be looking to move again by the end of the season.
Of course, maybe the attack will click so well and the sheer quality will overwhelm most teams, but I think they will still struggle away from home and could well lament focusing on other areas of the team.
But didn't you guys concede 54 goals the previous season (like we did last), fix your defense and while you did improve at the back you still needed a game changing attacking signing in January to even make parity with the previous years points total.
People really overrate our attack as a collective last season, If one of Pulisic or CHO weren't on form we were finding breaking low block sides down next to impossible.
British talent to join and work along side an academy star who will burn out if he continues to carry the burden of being our only right hand side threat, not to mention his a striker not a rw
Strong Chelsea argument as always
Trust me there are zero F given, Chelsea win from time to time because of roman and no one else. No romance just small time
It is possible yeah! As a knock on effect of having more of the ball and more problems for the opposition, you could find improved defensive numbers. The times I watched Chelsea last season though, I thought the defence looked very disorganized in certain games, especially away from home.
Maguire is derided here at times, but he has been a fantastic signing and leader who was an ever present and that has undoubtedly given United a base to build on. United had literally no one as a number 10, while Chelsea already had Mount, RLC and Barkley as options.
Frank might feel like better coaching and a better team shape could help with the defensive organisation and that the personnel are good enough. Time will tell.
I thought it would have been nice to see the likes Abraham and CHO starting more next year, but I know that at the very top level, it is Lampards head if he gambles on them and they don’t produce the goods. I totally get why he would go for serious quality in attack though while the options were available.
I just think that a 36 year old and Chilwell are unconvincing defensive signings. It’s going to be a very interesting season at Chelsea.
Serious question: Has a 36-year-old CB ever had a high quality season (starting 25+ matches and playing at a relatively good level) in the Premier League?
Terry was effectively done by 36, same with Tony Adams, Rio, Campbell, Carragher, Pallister, and every other top Premier League CB I can think of. The similarities between their career arcs are actually pretty remarkable: They almost all had their last seasons playing 20+ games at 34 or 35 and then either retired or just fell off completely afterward.
Maybe Thiago Silva is the exception but I wouldn't bet on it.
Terry was effectively done by 36, same with Tony Adams, Rio, Campbell, Carragher, Pallister, and every other top Premier League CB I can think of. The similarities between their career arcs are actually pretty remarkable: They almost all had their last seasons playing 20+ games at 34 or 35 and then either retired or just fell off completely afterward.
Maybe Thiago Silva is the exception but I wouldn't bet on it.
So Ole who's not known for rotation will rotate but Frank who is known for rotation won't?
Got it!
I agree with Maluco. £70m on Havertz when James Rodriguez is available on the cheap. Money could have been invested better. Thiago Silva won't be able to play every league game which could disrupt the defence with the constant rotation.
I don’t think that’s the issue. It’s the number of valuable players at Chelsea pushing for first team.
At United, Mata is done, Lingard isn’t good enough and James is a punt who won’t be expecting to start. Ighalo is gone soon.
It would be Sancho mixing with a front 3. 4 players for 3 spots, with a very clear second tier of bit part players of a lower standard to play in lesser games. Bruno is also the main man at 10. So 5 players for 4 spaces really, with a few bit part extras who know they are reserves at this stage.
Chelsea have Werner, Abraham, Giroud, Havertz, Ziyech, RLC, Pulisic, CHO, Mount and possibly Barkley, who will all be looking to start games. That is 10 players looking to regularly start in 4 positions.
It’s not impossible that he reworks where certain players fit in, but it’s a much more difficult and complex rotation job than what would be expected at United if Sancho came in.
If I'm Chelsea I'm selling Barkley. Immensely underwhelming player.
He would be the first one on my list too! They have 6 first team centre backs too, so there is definitely some squad trimming to be done before October.
Knowing Chelsea they will probably wait for teams who get off to a bad start to panic buy and make a killing. They are great at selling players.
Theres been talk of him trying to be used as a makeshift for rice which id feckin love.
We need a keeper asap
Chistensen
Emerson
Barkley
Batshuai
Even jorginho id say are all surplus now
Obviously kepa but i dont think we can shift him yet.
I would definitely sell all of them bar Jorginho. I actually think he is a really good player. I remember him coming off the bench after lockdown in one game in particular and changing the whole tone of the game. I would be looking to keep him if I were Chelsea.
That Chelsea team looks slick on paper, but I wouldn't be surprised if they need a year for them to click. Pretty sure Havertz will be playing like Lampard used to, with plenty runs into the box which he is really exceptional at. I think he looked best when he did that for Leverkusen and I could see Mount/Kovacic doing the "Brandt role", given Havertz is able to find his spot in the team of course. In that case, I could see him banging in as many goals as he did back in Germany.
It was palace away where we shit the bed and he come on and kept the ball for a good 15 mins calm us down, but hes too defensively frail imo if we can get decent money for him id sell.
I remember that Palace game, had an impact for all of 5 minutes and then got overrun as Palace came back into the game.
Yeah we still needed an incredible last ditch Zouma tackle to stop Benteke, to esacpe with 3 points, partly because Jorginho fell asleep. We got battered 3-0 at Sheffield in the next game.
You're right - nobody springs to mind. I'm expecting him to be used quite seldomly in the league myself (more cup/champions league matches).
Great player to have in the dressing room mind.
What exactly is the difference between bringing in Sancho and Havertz except that Havertz is German?
Are you saying that this alone means "no romance just small time"?
Must be incredibly tough for you having one of England’s best young talents (full International at 18) as one of your backup players
I’m not sure that response will get you much sympathy on a United forum given we had to watch 140+ games combined of Pereira, Mata, Lingard and James last season in those positions!
I would expect Mr Abrahamovic probably expects better than scraping 4th too, so it might not just not be me who “says so”
Incidentally, I don’t care how much Chelsea spend. I would much prefer Chelsea to win the league than Liverpool and probably City as well
What I have a problem with is the narrative last year on the “young team” and nonsense like Lampard being nominated for Manager of the Year. It’s ridiculous the way the media portrays Frank’s absolute bare minimum “achievement” as some kind of footballing miracle
There is somewhere between "scraping top 4" and "challenging for the title" in an era where the winners have got 99, 99 & 100 points in the past 3 seasons.
There's where expectations are for Chelsea. 80 points or so (would be a huge improvement on last season). To go from 66 points to 100 points is utterly ridiculous, even if we spent 200 million more than we already have.
But on who? Havertz is a great youngster who at least has a chance of being a big player for them, same for Werner. They are a bit limited in who they sign as they can't attract the really big names but at the same time they are better than going around hoovering up rejects like Rodriguez.
They should be trying to be like Liverpool of a few years ago, getting the youngsters in who fly just under the radar, and that seems to me like what they are doing. I would be happy with their business so far if i was a Chelsea fan. The last thing to do is find another defensive signing and i think bringing Silva in is a mistake, but an acceptance that they can't find anybody else.
Are people forgetting that this will be the most insanely taxing season ever due to the pandemic? Multiple matches per week every week throughout the season. Having a huge squad is absolutely necessary and I have no worries about keeping players happy.
The elite PL clubs will probably be playing around 50-60 matches in a highly condensed period. Having loads of depth will be crucial.
The elite PL clubs will probably be playing around 50-60 matches in a highly condensed period. Having loads of depth will be crucial.
Our attack was just as appalling as our defence was that season. The fact we then (quite rightly) took a sledgehammer to it by selling Lukaku, Sanchez, and letting Herrera (our most consistent midfielder) go meant our squad was always running a risk of being short when the injuries (inevitably) struck.
Going in to last season we were relying on Rashford and Martial almost doubling their previous best goals tallies and a still unproven Mason Greenwood. It was always going to be a massive risk but Ole and the players managed to back themselves and got over the line.
Yes Bruno changed the picture for us, but I'd wager that if we still had Lukaku for the games against West Ham, Bournemouth and Newcastle to name 3 off the top of my head, at least two of those would have seen a better result IMO. We took the short-term pain for long-term gain option because despite the likes of Lukaku and Sanchez potentially giving us those options during those difficult times, they ultimately were never going to suit the way that Ole wanted us to play. Bruno was the missing piece of a team that was otherwise well set and his impact took us to a whole new level.
I'm not looking for any sympathy, I'm pointing out that it's categorically false to say that we have the best squad in the league. Certainly I'd agree that our reserves are better than yours all things considered.
IMO you have 4th best starting 11 (obviously very close to us) but 2nd best squad in the league.
As for as attack and midfield is concerned Chelsea have one of the best squad but Chelsea can't claim they have one of the best defense. Chelsea are strengthening in this window by signing chilwell and Silva.
Still Chelsea have glaring weakness in goalkeeping department. I am hoping Chelsea will sign one competitive goal keeper in this window.If they do chelsea will be much much better unit defensively.
Of course they signed many players some might not be good for league. So need to judge the team after ten games of the season will be accurate I think.
I think that's accurate. Our starting XI probably has the most potential to go up a level as the players get acclimatised, but for now I think your assessment is spot on.
Indeed our squad is massive and I think it helps us. Especially as season wares on.
Might give us good chance in cups too if we can play some first teamers whilst others put full u23 teams.
All we need is an extra GK and we're set.
James Rodriguez has been underwhelming to say the least. It would have been absolute madness to pass up on Hazertz one of European most promising talents for a guy who has failed to set the world alight at either Real or Bayern and is now heading to Everton.
Looks like the Ampadu loan rumours are true.