Chelsea 2023/24 season thread.

Europe, you must be joking. Worst start in 40 years.

We're in the relegation dogfight. Only Nkunku back and January attacker signings will guarantee we stay up.

The best thing you could do is not buy a lot of players in January and actually let the team settle for the first time.

Anyway you’re not going to be anywhere near relegation as bad as it gets because there are 4 particularly bad teams this year (Luton, Sheffield United, Burnley and Everton) and a few not amazing teams (Wolves, Bournemouth).

But also Europe is a bit of a pipe dream unless achieved through winning a cup. I can’t see where they finish top 6 ahead of City, Arsenal, Spurs, Newcastle, United, Brighton and Villa after this start and with how weak the attack looks. Some quality will eventually show after spending all that money and I’d predict they’d finish upper mid-table.
 
There were loads of people on here who thought Chelsea would finish top 4, not just Chelsea fans.
I feel like confidently talking up your own team's chances on a rival forum after finishing 12th and then it going wrong is ripe for ribbing.
 
Europe, you must be joking. Worst start in 40 years.

We're in the relegation dogfight. Only Nkunku back and January attacker signings will guarantee we stay up.
Jackson, Nkunku, and Palmer just signed. Sterling, Mudryk and Madueke last season. How many more signings do you reckon you need?
 
To be fair i haven't seen a single full match this season, so i'll take your word for it. What do you think is the main problem? Lack of confidence, lack of quality up front, or a streak of rotten luck? The latter of course have a tendency of cementing themselves into real and tenacious problems, once doubt has set foot in each department of a club (see United).

Lack of confidence, lack of genuine finishing ability etc. I don't think any of our forwards who currently fit are what I would class as natural finishers, so it's really hit or miss whether they'll finish a chance or not. We had like 3 one v one's yesterday - Jackson, Sterling and Chilwell - and none of them came close to scoring. Give those same chances to Arsenal and Liverpool and and they'd have beaten Villa easily by a couple of goals. I'd say the same applies to pretty much every single game this season. If Arsenal had put in the exact same performances, creating the exact same number and quality of chances against the exact same teams as us so far, they'd be top of the league with 6 wins out of 6. We're 14th with 1 win in 6.
 
I feel bad for Chelsea and Boehly, and especially Caicedo. Such class in the way they operate so it’s really a shame to see them struggling like this.They deserve better than being booed of their own pitch at home.

As a fellow red, I too would like to extend my sympathy for such a well run club making the most of bad hands against some true PL mammoths. I really hope Caicedo and Lavia prove to be Chelsea heroes for (8) years to come. Thanks nj.

(Note to self: don't eat shit Todd :( )
 
There are so many variations of these crazy stats that I'm numb to them now :lol:

Yeah, obviously they are all connected, so it's just new ways of illustrating the poor form to get some likes. It's not really anything new at this point.

The worrying thing for Chelsea right now, is that they have gone through some quite winnable games - Luton (H), Forest (H), Bournemouth (A), VIlla (H) - and are looking into a series of 9 PL games that include Arsenal, Spurs, City, Newcastle, Brighton and Man Utd, with an away derby against Fulham in the mix as well. It's not unthinkable that they are right around the relegation spots with 15 games played. My guess is they will pick up a win here and there to stay midtable, but it's looking pretty bleak.
 
United are a big team. Burnley is 20th. Doesn't matter if we are away. The stats showed that chelsea created more chances, while we couldn't create as much chance against a weaker team despite the win.



Huh? I m a united fan. Isn't that common? Most likely been supporting united more than most on this forum as well
It must be hard for you. A supposed United fan having the need to shit on United to prove how good Pochettino is despite Chelsea's crap form.
 
4 league wins in 2023 is more than rough. United have been shit this season but are already 3/4 of the way there!
 
Yeah, obviously they are all connected, so it's just new ways of illustrating the poor form to get some likes. It's not really anything new at this point.

The worrying thing for Chelsea right now, is that they have gone through some quite winnable games - Luton (H), Forest (H), Bournemouth (A), VIlla (H) - and are looking into a series of 9 PL games that include Arsenal, Spurs, City, Newcastle, Brighton and Man Utd, with an away derby against Fulham in the mix as well. It's not unthinkable that they are right around the relegation spots with 15 games played. My guess is they will pick up a win here and there to stay midtable, but it's looking pretty bleak.

That is indeed worrying and I'm kinda dreading it but the encouraging thing is we're actually playing pretty well in every game, and I've come away from every single game this season feeling like we should have won comfortably, so the optimist in me says it's just a case of when it clicks. I'm choosing to stay optimistic for now.
 
I guess that is what happens when you understand football.

I haven't seen any intelligent poster on here talk about chelsea being in crisis because most of them know that such a project especially of that scale will take time. The underlying stats shows massive improvement over last few season and sky and other respected media has time and time again highlighted those stats. On top of that the amount of injuries they have as well. I m guessing if their stats were poor like us and they had no injuries, then those media will be talking more negatively about it.

It is mostly the fans without much footballing knowledge are the one that seems confused.

I'm sure your opinion won't change at all once they sack you, I mean, Pochettino.
 


The numbers say relegation. In the last 35 games we're averaging 0.8 points a game. That'll get you relegated pretty much any season.

We've signed a bunch of kids in attack + Sterling only to have exactly the same problems as last year. We need proven goal scorers from PL and Nkunku back to ensure we climb to safety after January. Total write off until then I think, if we've got more than 15 points by 1st of January I'll be shocked.
 
How is it possible to spend 1b in a year and be this bad?
 
The numbers say relegation. In the last 35 games we're averaging 0.8 points a game. That'll get you relegated pretty much any season.

We've signed a bunch of kids in attack + Sterling only to have exactly the same problems as last year. We need proven goal scorers from PL and Nkunku back to ensure we climb to safety after January. Total write off until then I think, if we've got more than 15 points by 1st of January I'll be shocked.
That’s the problem with your squad, any sort of injuries would leave you saying wait for x to get back because nobody knows the feck what your squad is. If Nkunku was playing now and Jackson out we’d be hearing about how you just have to wait for Jackson. Plus he’s a 1 goal in 3 player, you need 2 goals to win games with your shit defence and midfield structure.
The answer isn’t always go out and buy x or y. A 10/12 per season goalscorer from England won’t do shit in your team and that’s all your options would be
 
How is it possible to spend 1b in a year and be this bad?

When you spend it a collection of U21 players. But to be honest, results and performances aren't matching at the moment. We're unprecedented bad in one key area. It just happens to be one of the two most important aspects of football and without being even a little bit competent at that, we can spend another 7 billion and it wouldn't solve a thing.
 
Most of those signings feels like ones Spurs would make with the Bale money back in the day
 
Chelsea first-team coach Bruno Salter has left the club after working with Poch for just 4 months.
 
I read yesterday that if you took their form from the last 35 games they would’ve been relegated averaging around 0.8 points per game

I do wonder if something that crazy will happen they have an awful run of games coming up if they keep losing they could completely spiral

Their saving grace will probably be the likes of Luton and Sheff United being dreadful
 
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...e-premier-league-approval-over-shirt-sponsors

Chelsea set to receive Premier League approval over shirt sponsors
  • Deal with Infinite Athlete thought to be worth £40m a year
  • Club have purchased land next to Surrey training ground


Who is Infinite Athlete?

Our mission is to build an operating system for sports that powers infinite innovation and makes sports better for the fan, the game, and the athlete.
Born out of the idea that the world can do better in all aspects of sports and live events – the fan, the game, and the athlete experience – Infinite Athlete’s goal is to create a single technological foundation across all major sports, upon which innovative sports technology and media products can be built.

This foundation will combine and connect sports data from all sources, which will create infinite possibilities. Infinite Athlete was established in 2023 after the merger of Tempus Ex Machina and Biocore, LLC.
 
Starting with 3 left-backs tonight ... that's just rubbing our noses in it! :lol:
 
I guess that is what happens when you understand football.



I haven't seen any intelligent poster on here talk about chelsea being in crisis because most of them know that such a project especially of that scale will take time. The underlying stats shows massive improvement over last few season and sky and other respected media has time and time again highlighted those stats. On top of that the amount of injuries they have as well. I m guessing if their stats were poor like us and they had no injuries, then those media will be talking more negatively about it.



It is mostly the fans without much footballing knowledge are the one that seems confused.

Ah nice, insulting warning :lol:. That is brilliant. If that constitutes as a insult then many poster who comments on my post will be getting crazy warnings @Solius I think you maybe the mod that gave me this warning.

I'd say the fact that the 'stats' are in Chelsea's favour yet they still only have one win in the league is even more alarming.

Usually good teams find a way of winning yet Chelsea can't even do that.



Speaks about the quality of the team. If the chance creation is high, but conversion rate is low, what does that mean? Finishing is poor and the striker/attack quality needs to be reviewed. It is alarming that chelsea are so dominate in most of the offensive and defensive stats, but only have one win. The players are not doing their part.

Would you rather United with ETH or Chelsea with Poch won the league?



United of course

.
It must be hard for you. A supposed United fan having the need to shit on United to prove how good Pochettino is despite Chelsea's crap form.

What I say is more mature and professional compared to what others say when we play poorly and losses a game. I don't shite on United as much as most fan on here.
 
Lack of confidence, lack of genuine finishing ability etc. I don't think any of our forwards who currently fit are what I would class as natural finishers, so it's really hit or miss whether they'll finish a chance or not. We had like 3 one v one's yesterday - Jackson, Sterling and Chilwell - and none of them came close to scoring. Give those same chances to Arsenal and Liverpool and and they'd have beaten Villa easily by a couple of goals. I'd say the same applies to pretty much every single game this season. If Arsenal had put in the exact same performances, creating the exact same number and quality of chances against the exact same teams as us so far, they'd be top of the league with 6 wins out of 6. We're 14th with 1 win in 6.
I've grown a bit skeptical of all these positive stats and chances you create. Feels like your team is unbalanced and misaligned - that if you brought in the kind of players that would score some goals your possession, territorial advantage and all the other stats would fall off. Goals wouldn't come without cost elsewhere.
I dont feel like one striker will solve your problem or even 2 or 3 forwards. I think its kind of hard baked in at this point and things like having 3 cb's, 2dm's, a history of pretty conservative no.10's (oscar, mount) drogba being the striker that everyone is compared against (not an especially prolific scorer but added a great deal in lots of other regards). All these stylistic choices are coming home to roost a bit.
Moving away from a back 3 is a good start, even if your cheating with Colwill at lb. Your midfield is too conservative still and your forwards flat out aren't good enough to get the job done on their own, it'll be team goals or nothing from them imo.
I think it'll be a long gradual grind with things like a back 3 being phased out over the season. Maybe add nkunku in midfield when he comes back and add another striker in january just for variety and competition. Could see you in a reasonably ok position by the end of the season. A year of midtable purgatory that no manager or striker can save you from imo.
 
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Hopefully for Chelsea fans it’s more of a quick decent into madness and abyss. I’m sure they can turn it round soon-ish given the wild sums they seem to have.

Chelsea at least have invested in footballers so they are assets. As a United fan I’ve seen this club give cash to banks to service loans for 20 years.

Both are horrible models but at least they get a lot of turnover in the playing staff to show for it. We meanwhile keep similar players and give cash to a bank / owners for nothing in return.
 
Ah nice, insulting warning :lol:. That is brilliant. If that constitutes as a insult then many poster who comments on my post will be getting crazy warnings @Solius I think you maybe the mod that gave me this warning.





Speaks about the quality of the team. If the chance creation is high, but conversion rate is low, what does that mean? Finishing is poor and the striker/attack quality needs to be reviewed. It is alarming that chelsea are so dominate in most of the offensive and defensive stats, but only have one win. The players are not doing their part.





United of course

.


What I say is more mature and professional compared to what others say when we play poorly and losses a game. I don't shite on United as much as most fan on here.
I think it's a bit simplistic to just say 'the players aren't doing their job', sometimes the answer has to also fall upon the coaching and training methods.
The fact that we are 6 games in and things haven't changed too much for Chelsea would highlight that it's potentially a bit of both.