Asger
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- Jul 10, 2010
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Exactly. Similar sum to Frank.
Paying for overrated British players should never count!
Exactly. Similar sum to Frank.
Drinkwater is still at the club mate. For £35m that's the single worst transfer I've ever seen at Chelsea.I'm pretty sure its only Kepa's transfer fee thats kept him in the team. The board must have been pressurizing Frank to give him just one more chance hoping he could turn it around. He was dropped on a couple of occasions last season and Willy did OK but Kepa came back and still made errors. The start of this season has been equally disastrous. I'm not one to pile in on players after a few poor performances but Kepa has just got worse the longer he's been at the club. Maybe he can resurrect his career somewhere else but Chelsea really can't allow him to continue in goal.
I remember his antics in the League Cup final when he refused flatly to leave the pitch after Sarri substituted him. He was punished for that but a bad disciplinary record and a really poor save ratio is not something any club should tolerate.
I can't ever remember such a bad transfer.
Drinkwater while being a disaster was half the price. I also suspect he didn't costs us half as many points as Kepa.Drinkwater is still at the club mate. For £35m that's the single worst transfer I've ever seen at Chelsea.
Kepa has been a bust but he is still only 25, very young for a goal keeper and I'm still hoping he gets his act together and manage a good career, be at Chelsea or elsewhere. Drinkwater on the other hand is a lost cause, basically signed and retired, the proverbial money flushed down the toilet.
Drinkwater while being a disaster was half the price. I also suspect he didn't costs us half as many points as Kepa.
Bakayoko, Shevchenko and Torres have all been bad signings but nobody has cost £72m and caused the club to lose so many games.
I will still actually say Torres.Drinkwater while being a disaster was half the price. I also suspect he didn't costs us half as many points as Kepa.
Bakayoko, Shevchenko and Torres have all been bad signings but nobody has cost £72m and caused the club to lose so many games.
There's absolutely no way they bought him without scouting. Top football clubs will know about every top division player in Europe and have a decent analysis of them. They obviously saw something in him and got it wrong.Yeah we'd gone for Alisson and Oblak, but the lack of CL football was a huge obstacle. Also the timing for Courtois' stunt was an issue - in 2018, the PL had moved the transfer deadline to before the season, so we had all the pressure to get the deal done on an accelerated timeline that clubs on the continent didn't have to worry about.
We basically had to find a goalkeeper who was good with his feet to accommodate Sarri, had top 5 league experience, had a buyout clause, and would be willing to sign for a team in the Europa League. And all this had to be done in about a week. Ultimately our choices were very limited.
Yeah he recorded literally the lowest save percentage in the history of the PL last year - 54.5%. He's given up the most goals in the league from outside the area since he arrived in England. Chelsea had a better defence by expected goals than Liverpool did last year.
He's a total trainwreck.
There's absolutely no way they bought him without scouting. Top football clubs will know about every top division player in Europe and have a decent analysis of them. They obviously saw something in him and got it wrong.
They did get it wrong but the circumstances under which the decision was made had such a time constraint they weren't able to scout in the way you normally would, especially for a player being bought at £72m. Scouting involves sending people to look at that player perhaps over some period of time. Chelsea had 7 days to sign a keeper without the opportunity to go and see him play. They were not looking to sign a keeper until Courtois downed tools 7 days before the end of the window. He placed them in a really difficult position and if you can't accept that you are ignoring the facts. I would also question if every top European team does have decent analysis of every player. Its no easy task keeping a player database up to date with the top 5 leagues having about 3,000 players. Chelsea would have had some stats and at that time and his reputation was that of a keeper replacing DeGea in the Spanish team. They had a really short period of time within which to identify and sign a top keeper, proper scouting wasn't an option.There's absolutely no way they bought him without scouting. Top football clubs will know about every top division player in Europe and have a decent analysis of them. They obviously saw something in him and got it wrong.
CHO changed the game when he came on. The attacking play had a lot more speed and options with him. Lampard always feels the need to demand more of him for some reason like he did in his interview after the game.Thought Lampard did poorly today. Mount is simply not a wide attacker; he killed so many attacks for us. Once he was moved back to the 8, he was dramatically improved. Thought Havertz looked decent there as well and got himself into good positions.
What I didn't understand from Lampard is changing from the 4-3-3 we'd done very well in to go for some sort of 3-4-1-2 thing where we looked awful. CHO, who was an absolute menace, was moved from the wing to play wing back and thus was of little threat. Giroud and Abraham just got in each others' way, we had no one linking play properly through midfield so our buildup was crap, and James wasn't really free to make dangerous overlaps as he was playing RCB. I feel like we'd have won the game if we'd just stuck to 4-3-3.
Also, hopefully this marks the end of the Kante / Kovacic pivot. It just doesn't work, both players insist on getting forward (Kovacic to carry the ball, Kante to hunt for it) and the result is acres of space between our lines, which is then really exacerbated by our fullbacks being aggressively positioned. Jorginho for all his faults at least stays deep and is thus well positioned - in case anyone is wondering why we want Rice, this game demonstrated to a T why a player like him is needed.
CHO changed the game when he came on. The attacking play had a lot more speed and options with him. Lampard always feels the need to demand more of him for some reason like he did in his interview after the game.
Think Pulisic is a massive miss for them with the way he was playing in run in. Team looks very narrow fitting in all the CMs and his pace is needed to stretch teams in final third.
Ziyech is injured I presume?
Lampard did o.k last year but will now be judged like any other chelsea manager. Miles off a title challenge and not winning a coup usually dosen't bode well for year 2 of a Chelsea manager's tenure.
I was quite right about this. But @duffer you still think Silva Will improve your defence and be one of the best CBs in PL this season? Your answer to my prediction was pretty laughable actually.You know that other teams actually improved their back 4 since last year, right? And to finish 4 points clear is nothing to brag about. I don’t think a 35 year old Silva will improve your defence, I think it might give your fans some false hope actually. Rudiger and 35 year old Silva is probably the worst CB pairing in top 6 tbh.
You could have quite easily have shipped 6 at home to Palace.I was quite right about this. But @duffer you still think Silva Will improve your defence and be one of the best CBs in PL this season? Your answer to my prediction was pretty laughable actually.
Chelsea Do not have a Top 4 defence, period.
United might have some CB problems this season but oh my..the meltdowns in here if we had Rudiger, Silva, Christensen and Zouma to choose from..
But we didn’t. And the topic here was whether Silva would improve your defence drastically which he wont.You could have quite easily have shipped 6 at home to Palace.
You a City or Liverpool fan?As long as Chelsea defend like that today, we really don't have to worry about them.
Lampard is living off the 'new team' excuse right now, won't last long if they carry on the same way.
Nice try,You a City or Liverpool fan?
Nice try,
You've got issues bigger than ours
Not quite sure how we finished level on points with you, strengthened the majority of our week areas and are now nothing for you to worry about. I'll accept that assesment from Liverpool and City fans, but it doesn't really add up you lot saying it.Nice try,
You've got issues bigger than ours
They'll have to get their act together soon though. Although it would make it very interesting for the league if both United and Chelsea start poorly. Would leave 3rd and 4th place wide open.They'll be fine for top 4 again I think, despite today's result.
Not a chance. I'd not swap squads, managers, management, or ownership with you.
I was quite right about this. But @duffer you still think Silva Will improve your defence and be one of the best CBs in PL this season? Your answer to my prediction was pretty laughable actually.
Chelsea Do not have a Top 4 defence, period.
If you think Lampard is up there... thenNot a chance. I'd not swap squads, managers, management, or ownership with you.
Odd game yesterday. We were probably better first half than 2nd half yet lost 3-0 first half and won 3-0 the 2nd half. Certainly in terms of chances created anyway. We were very fortunate to come back, created very little 2nd half at all despite having all the ball. We had 1 shot inside their box in the 2nd half until the 93rd minute. Really poor considering how the game was being played. Constantly kept going backwards as no one was willing to take a man on down the lines and running into dead ends. Pretty worrying as it points to us having no chance of breaking down parked busses again this season. James crossing was positive but Abraham was nowhere to be seen for most of them.
2nd goal was a shambles but the 1st goal is just a bit of a freak/great finish. Keeper probably should save it. 3rd goal suggests set pieces will be a big issue yet again this season, which is worrying.
Personally thought the defence looked improved yesterday under Silva (despite his error), we restricted West Brom to very few chances really, just a massive freak game that they were ever 3-0 up. Their Xg was around 0.8 I think and the 3rd goal accounted for the majority of it. Biggest worry for me was how poor Kante and Kovacic were.
Neither is Ole so why swap in the first place? Isnt that like Cos 90°?If you think Lampard is up there... then
Its probably this forum that I see so much fascination with United’s attack. All I see honestly is a bunch of above average footballers who can run very fast, a very talented but still too young Greenwood and the Penalty Lord. Thats why you do a lot better when you invite pressure and counter. IMHO, United need a lot of actual WC reinforcements in attack that'll actually bench their current crop or force them to improve their game. We did that for our crop from last season and the competition can only help them improve.Still not buying them leaping a level above us.
Their defense is woeful and they don't have a great manager either.