Their first eleven is shocking when you consider the money spent. It should be absolutely elite. They have one genuinely top player, and a squad even the very best man manager would struggle to handle.
Chelsea 2024/25
- Thread starter duffer
- Start date
Didn't think they were too bad today, created a few chances.
That being said, I remember last season I think their first game was against Liverpool and they looked sharp then under Poch, pressing well, controlling possession etc. But as well all know that fell apart, won't be surprised if a similar thing happens again this year. Surely they're under more pressure too this year, how big of an impact will it be if they miss out on Champions League football again?
That being said, I remember last season I think their first game was against Liverpool and they looked sharp then under Poch, pressing well, controlling possession etc. But as well all know that fell apart, won't be surprised if a similar thing happens again this year. Surely they're under more pressure too this year, how big of an impact will it be if they miss out on Champions League football again?
A billion pounds spent in just the last two years alone - I don't even know what the squad cost in total. 40 new players. It's absolutely barmy and unprecedented in the history of football.
Nice to see accountability is still a thing
As long as they play Enzo, Lavia and Caicedo as their midfield 3 they won’t score much. On top of that Nkunku and Jackson are so lazy. You take Palmer out the game and it’s easy to keep them quiet.
I actually think they played quite well in spells. There’s just nothing particularly threatening about them other than Palmer and (potentially) Neto.
There’s nothing terribly original about this view, but to spend all of that money and lack so much in the way of star power is frighteningly bad business.
There’s nothing terribly original about this view, but to spend all of that money and lack so much in the way of star power is frighteningly bad business.
The thing about Enzo as not being a 10, well maybe he isn't but he has played at 6 and 8 and been very average as well so what is his best position
Yeah feel like this is going to become a regular thing with them having 40+ players, maybe they won't put out statements but they'll definitely be complaining internally. An unhappy camp becomes really toxic really fast.
Not sure I’d agree with his statement about who’s worthwhile or not, but the figures are the figures…
Struggling to wrap my head around those figures. In the salary column, it looks as though the currency is in pounds x 1000. The NBV also seems to make sense in pounds x 1million. But I don't understand the remaining cost column. How could the remaining cost on Enzo be 162 million when that's less than they paid for him?
I think any of younger players on stupid contracts could be persuaded to leave down the line...but getting the older ones out will be one hell of a problem for Todd.
Which is wonderful to watch!
Which is wonderful to watch!
The cost figure is just the yearly P&L hit (that includes the salary + amortised cost) x the number of years left on his contract.
Wages £10.7m per year (third column after name)
Amortisation £12.5m per year (his £100m fee / 8… sixth column after name)
Add them and multiply by years of contract left = (£10.7m + £12.5m) x 7 = c£162m… remember the “cost” is his wages, not just the annual amortised fee.
From next year(?), clubs move to squad cost as % of revenue (90%, then 80%, then 70%). Chelsea will need a shit ton of revenue to make that work.
They’ve GOT TO sell a lot/allow those players… but like we’re finding out, not many buyers at the fee needed because of the wages and only way it works is if players say “yes I’ll move at a chunky fee and take a huge wage drop to make it work”. Who would?
I completely forgot they’ve still got Lukaku on their books. Really epitomises the absurd situation there.
He obviously has no future there , yet for all his faults, he’s still their best number nine.
Quite a few players with big profiles just completely frozen out: Lukaku, Sterling, Chilwell, Gallagher (selling issue I know), Chalobah…
He obviously has no future there , yet for all his faults, he’s still their best number nine.
Quite a few players with big profiles just completely frozen out: Lukaku, Sterling, Chilwell, Gallagher (selling issue I know), Chalobah…
I’m sure Chelsea fans would say “typical rival fan… talking sh!te” but it almost feels like they’re more focussed on finding the future sales/profits and assuming top 8 regardless, so why get a top manager?
Seems like they’re running a footballer sausage factory and ignoring the success on the pitch. That’d be an amazing short term disaster (insert fingers crossed emoji here)
I think they'll probably get some results because they have quality players but I just don't think Maresca has the aura or capabilities to turn it into consistency and a good side.
I just don't think their best team has both Enzo and Caicedo in the lineup. Lavia is clearly better suited to the 6 than either of them, neither of them has the end product or creativity to be the most advanced midfielder. You can only get away with this kind of midfield if you've got monster goalscoring in the front line and creativity from the FB position, like vintage Klopp Liverpool. They don't have that.
If you forgot about how much each player cost and just appraised this squad in a vaccuum, I think most would conclude that for Maresca's style of football Enzo and Caicedo should be two different options for the same 8 position, offering slightly different qualities. But my suspicion is that there is pressure on Maresca to make it work with both of them because nobody wants to admit that you bought two 100m+ players that can't play together.
They really need to just play Nkunku, Palmer, or maybe Felix if they buy him as the most advanced of a midfield three. They were crying out for a player today in the middle of the attacking third with a little quality and composure. And yet Nkunku is hanging out on the left and when he did get the ball he didn't have the dribbling skills to beat a man and take some kind of decisive action. The structure of the team felt off.
He didn’t make him captain. He already was one of the captain. He was behind James, Chilwell, Silva and Gallagher in the pecking order last season, none of whom were available today. One could argue he should have been stripped of the vice captaincy, but he wasn’t suddenly made the captain.
As if, in all that horrendous mess, they’ve got Palmer there on 75k. He’s the only player worth having as well.
Surely when he signed that new contract recently they put a 1 in front of that figure
It’s the path they’ve chosen. They could have landed a couple of heavy hitters with all that money spent. They’ve chosen to go down this road of signing a bunch of talent or players they consider to be on the cusp of breaking out.
United signed Yoro and Zirkzee, but also signed De Ligt and Mazraoui. Imagine if you filled your team, across 5 windows, with just a bunch of Yoro’s and Zirkzee’s. Thats Chelsea.
As an ownership I also think they’ve helped these players at all. Too many players signed. Too many players competing for the same spots. Too many managers and coaches trying to implement different ideas. All in the space of 2 years, and now we’re starting fresh with a new manager again.
I think we played okay today. I certainly don’t think this deserves all the handwringing in this thread. It was pretty decent performance against a very good team.
It was pretty much everything I expected. Sanchez is a clown and can't pass the ball out, Gallagher is a better fit for our midfield than Enzo and we can't score. The defense played better than expected but that's still not good enough.
I've said it for years now but we need at least 1 and ideally 2 tall guys in midfield. You get the laughable mismatch of Enzo marking Haaland on set pieces because the only 2 tall players who are good in the air (our CBs) were busy marking their CBs who are deemed a bigger aerial threat than him.
I don’t think Gallagher is a better fit, I just don’t think Enzo is a 10, but neither is Gallagher. Palmer in the Enzo role, and Madueke on the right seems more balanced. I did say a few weeks ago I was a bit concerned with the balance in midfield.
Sanchez won’t last long. He’s shown he’s a liability. My guess is it won’t be long before Jorgensen gets the nod. I’m terribly convinced by him either thigh, if I’m honest.
Plenty here are dumping on Maresca which is maybe fair enough, but look at what situation he is in squad wise.
It’s entirely unprecedented in the history of football. Very shortly he’ll have 20 fecked off players and agents to deal with and a week of the transfer window left to sort it out.
It’s an impossible position for any manager let alone a relative newbie at the top level.
Plus he doesn’t have an out and out CF (I know lukaku but come on)
If it wasn’t that he’ll get a generous pay off in 8 months I’d feel sorry for him but I can’t see how he can possibly succeed in this scenario.
It’s entirely unprecedented in the history of football. Very shortly he’ll have 20 fecked off players and agents to deal with and a week of the transfer window left to sort it out.
It’s an impossible position for any manager let alone a relative newbie at the top level.
Plus he doesn’t have an out and out CF (I know lukaku but come on)
If it wasn’t that he’ll get a generous pay off in 8 months I’d feel sorry for him but I can’t see how he can possibly succeed in this scenario.
That long contracts really only benefit the players. If they're not good well they have warrant their salary for 8-9 years. If they're good they'll ask for a rise or be unsettled so eventually the club will have to agree a new contract on bigger wages.
If the player wants to leave it doesn't matter if he has 6-8 years left on the contract, it's not sustainable to keep a player against his will. The club will be forced to sell in order to keep squad harmony.
The only thing that the club gets is that no player will leave on a free, but that small benefit against the problem it brings.
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Pretty sure I read somewhere that Maresca has said he is only coaching/working with 28 players. The rest are on their own being kept fit by other club coaches while the club sorts their futures out.
Makes a lot of sense but also decimates value for those frozen out players, which is crucial for the financial wheels to keep turning.
I don’t think it will end well…..
Some of those players have had one foot out go the door for a while.
Kepa
Lukaku
Gallagher
Broja etc
I agree that publicly freezing out players is counterproductive when they’re trying to sell them.
I agree, but Chelsea really need someone who can finish off more chances for them. Not hugely different to United, in that sense.
I mean they seem to still get top dollar for their players.
I mean the fact you’re selling two of your captains/vices says it all really.
I’m not sure what you mean.
This discussion has been had before, but considering he was a vice captain before what happened this summer, was confirmed as such after the events, and today was given the armband - ergo no consequences whatsoever for his actions - yes, it's fair to say he was made captain. It was an active decision in light of everything that has transpired, and it's a disgrace.
Hasn’t he added to the madness by signing more players of his own?
You can say he wasn’t punished with losing the captaincy. Being made captain, when framed that way, makes it seem like he is being rewarded with something new, when that isn’t the case. Apart from Colwill, who captained the team once before, there’s nobody apart from Enzo who has ever captained Chelsea before. Its honestly slim pickings for the coach.
And honestly if the club tells him they deem the matter closed, which it seems as though they have, I don’t see why he would think twice about captaining one of the established club captains. The issue isn’t with Maresca. It’s with the club. They are the ones who have dodged responsibility and swept it under the carpet.
They need some players, they will be fine
At what point did releasing this statement seem like it would be a good idea?Now if he's picked for the next game it makes it look like any player who gets dropped can just threaten their way back into the squad, and no one who isn't worse than Chelsea or who'll pay him nearly what Chelsea do will sign him, due to the fact he's shite.
Chelsea played all right today but in general there big game performances were good last season, they struggled a lot against other teams and so it’s difficult to judge after today. There is a team there but it’s about whether that can play to its potential with the whole circus around it.
It’s genuinely shocking how pathetic this is from a professional