Chelsea 2024/25

I thought they were a bit unlucky in terms of the overall pattern of the game and could have won on another day, but then that's been the story of most of their games for about the last 18 months now.

They have so many circus clown moments up their sleeve at both ends, they basically have to put in the equivalent of what for most teams would be a 6-0 win performance, just to have a chance of winning at all.

Also, City were a bit all over the place and didn't look up to speed at all. Otherwise it could also have been an ugly scoreline.
 
Ayush_reddevil said:
It’s genuinely shocking how pathetic this is from a professional
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Agree but I can also understand Sterling's point of view. He wants to get back into the national team and no way he'll do that playing 20 matches a year. I don't think many players will be happy being treated like commodities, swapped for the next shiny toy every other season. Chelsea should have told him upfront back in May or June that he wasn't part of their upcoming season plans. Saying that he's wanted but being left out of the 20 man match day squad is bound to piss anyone off.
 
bringbackbebe said:
Agree but I can also understand Sterling's point of view. He wants to get back into the national team and no way he'll do that playing 20 matches a year. I don't think many players will be happy being treated like commodities, swapped for the next shiny toy every other season. Chelsea should have told him upfront back in May or June that he wasn't part of their upcoming season plans. Saying that he's wanted but being left out of the 20 man match day squad is bound to piss anyone off.
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I understand his frustration but there are much better ways of dealing with it than what he did. A statement like this an hour before the game is just so small time. He could have just leaked stuff after the game or something rather than releasing an official statement like this showing his discontent.
 
What happens here when they're two days out from the close of the window and all these players are on their books?

They'll easily sell Gallagher, but the likes of Lukaku? Do they have to settle on a loan?

Lukaku
Kepa
Chalobah
Chilwell
Sterling
Broja

I just can't imagine clubs spending money on any of them except Lukaku and Broja. Surely they just find loans for Chilwell, Kepa and Sterling.
 
WeePat said:
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.
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Its basically a dozen Zirkzees, players that look nice but you know they're probably more functional squad members, then players with huge star potential. They're essentially projects and you can afford 2-3 in the squad.

They would have been better off just spending that money on 5 stars.

Saying that, it's not all bad as they do have talent there. By some miracle, if Boehly steps back and lets the footballing people work their magic, they could build around a nucleus of: Colwill, Gusto, Caicedo, Lavia, Nkunku and Palmer.
 
Ayush_reddevil said:
I understand his frustration but there are much better ways of dealing with it than what he did. A statement like this an hour before the game is just so small time. He could have just leaked stuff after the game or something rather than releasing an official statement like this showing his discontent.
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Right. Both parties could have handled this better. My opinion is Sterling is just the start. There'll be more of those players on a 100 year contract who will start to show discontent very soon, especially the young ones. Their squad is bloated, and that's an understatement.
 
For this model to work aren’t they going to have to sell the players that actually turn out to be good?
 
They weren't bad today and they'll do much better this season, however, the state of their squad is shocking. All they needed following Tuchel was 4 or 5 top quality players and they'd have competed for everything. Outside Palmer I don't really see world class players. All those unwanted players on long contracts could wreck the club in the future. All those young players won't be worth anything without playing.
 
I can imagine that some of these Chelsea players will turn out great but I've no idea what they'll do with the others on long term contracts. I can't see this experiment working out for anyone who isn't an agent but it will be amazing to watch.
hobbers said:
I think fair enough from Sterling to be honest.

They only signed him 2 years ago. Since then Chelsea have spent ~£230M on Neto, Kellyman, Jackson, Washington, Angelo, Mudryk, Madueke and Fofana. Also brought in Aubameyang and loaned Felix.

Now I've never particularly rated Sterling, but he's better than almost all of that lot, even now.
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I would assume there's more going on behind the scenes that explains that statement. I did hear that he came back early to start preseason and committed to training so maybe they made him some promises.
 
WeePat said:
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.
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Yes. The absence of an action is still an action, when new parameters have developped. It's such a weird stance from Chelsea fans to use this "he was one of the 32 vice-captains already last year, nothing has changed" when he was seen singing a racist song in between the 2 seasons. What was true last season doesn't matter in light of new elements. The only thing that matters is that Chelsea, as a football club, considered that after being caught singing a racist song, this guy was still fit to captain the team. It's disgusting and infuriating to see how little accountability there is on this matter.
 
WeePat said:
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.
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Maresca can also take responsibility and strip him of vice captaincy. He has agency.
 
P-Ro said:


Probably have about 40 or so of these statements released by player agents before every game we play this season.
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This is hilarious. They clearly thought that him being left out of the squad would be a huge story. If it wasn't for this statement, I don't think I would have noticed.
 
Three years left for Sterling so he's in that Lukaku camp now of just been loaning out. Probably get offered to Saudi land.
 
TheGame said:
It’s really parody stuff that after all of the money they’ve spent, they still don’t have a decent striker or a creative midfielder.
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Jackson is a decent striker
 
quadrant said:
A billion pounds spent on that. Incredible. How many are even close to being the best in their position in the league? Hell there's probably only 4 or 5 i'd take in our swiss cheese of a squad.

If they dont see some serious player development in the coming season or two, they're going to be locked out to the top 4 for some time.
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That didn't cost a billion pounds
 
SilentWitness said:
Maresca can also take responsibility and strip him of vice captaincy. He has agency.
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Rooney in Paris said:
Yes. The absence of an action is still an action, when new parameters have developped. It's such a weird stance from Chelsea fans to use this "he was one of the 32 vice-captains already last year, nothing has changed" when he was seen singing a racist song in between the 2 seasons. What was true last season doesn't matter in light of new elements. The only thing that matters is that Chelsea, as a football club, considered that after being caught singing a racist song, this guy was still fit to captain the team. It's disgusting and infuriating to see how little accountability there is on this matter.
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I guess we're just going to have to agree to disagree, because if Maresca, as the new guy, just walked through the door, is told by the club the matter is considered closed (which is my presumption, based on reports by Chelsea journos) then I don't personally hold him responsible for also considering the matter closed.

This very question was actually put to him post match yesterday and his response was something along the lines of 'the group refer to him as their leader, he apologised, the group accepted, the club accepted and closed the chapter'. I don't see how as the new guy in the building, he's going to mete out his own punishment after the club have told him they've investigated it and the case is now closed.

You might find that a strange stance, and that's fair enough, but it's what I think. I hold the club responsible for dodging responsibility. I hold the club responsible for brushing it under the carpet.
 
WeePat said:
I guess we're just going to have to agree to disagree, because if Maresca, as the new guy, just walked through the door, is told by the club the matter is considered closed (which is my presumption, based on reports by Chelsea journos) then I don't personally hold him responsible for also considering the matter closed.

This very question was actually put to him post match yesterday and his response was something along the lines of 'the group refer to him as their leader, he apologised, the group accepted, the club accepted and closed the chapter'. I don't see how as the new guy in the building, he's going to mete out his own punishment after the club have told him they've investigated it and the case is now closed.

You might find that a strange stance, and that's fair enough, but it's what I think. I hold the club responsible for dodging responsibility. I hold the club responsible for brushing it under the carpet.
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I do find it a bit strange. I think Maresca has responsibility and agency to pick and choose if he wished to continue with Enzo as a vice captain. The club may decide to take no further action but as a manager you should still have the ability and control to make a decision to perhaps not have them in that role until they can then prove they deserve it again.

Tbf a few things have happened recently which make me question though how much agency Maresca actually has and if he is a puppet of sorts. Which also looks bad on him if so.
 
Mike Smalling said:
This is hilarious. They clearly thought that him being left out of the squad would be a huge story. If it wasn't for this statement, I don't think I would have noticed.
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I'm actually very surprised by this from Sterling. There was no indication of any issues throughout preseason. He featured in all the games like any other player. I was surprised he was dropped from the squad, but it's happened to Mudryk before with no fanfare, so unless something has actually happened behind closed doors that we aren't privy to, releasing a statement seems very weird.

My feeling is, it's not just simply a reaction to being left out. I think he may have been told to find a new club, or that he's not in Maresca's plans, or something along those lines, and then combine that with actually being left out of the squad, I can better understand the reaction from Sterling.
 
SilentWitness said:
I do find it a bit strange. I think Maresca has responsibility and agency to pick and choose if he wished to continue with Enzo as a vice captain. The club may decide to take no further action but as a manager you should still have the ability and control to make a decision to perhaps not have them in that role until they can then prove they deserve it again.

Tbf a few things have happened recently which make me question though how much agency Maresca actually has and if he is a puppet of sorts. Which also looks bad on him if so.
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Fair enough. I think when a decision comes from the top down that this a closed case post internal investigation, I don't expect a brand new manger who has been at the club 5 minutes to go against that, hence why I keep bringing it back to the club. They are the ones who we should be criticising. And the governing bodies. I've not heard a peep from FIFA since they said they were investigating this.
 
I hope they sign another 11 players. The utter chaos at that club is truly wonderful.
 
WeePat said:
I'm actually very surprised by this from Sterling. There was no indication of any issues throughout preseason. He featured in all the games like any other player. I was surprised he was dropped from the squad, but it's happened to Mudryk before with no fanfare, so unless something has actually happened behind closed doors that we aren't privy to, releasing a statement seems very weird.

My feeling is, it's not just simply a reaction to being left out. I think he may have been told to find a new club, or that he's not in Maresca's plans, or something along those lines, and then combine that with actually being left out of the squad, I can better understand the reaction from Sterling.
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If you are:
1. a top tier winger who has scored 10+ goals in every season for the last 12 years peaking at 30+ goals
2. a former England national looking to get back into the England squad
3. not someone in their early teens or late 30s
4. sold on a promise at the start of the season that you'd be a prominent member of the squad
5. skillful enough to be in the starting 11 of at least 17 other clubs in the league (except maybe City and Arsenal)
6. better than the rest of the tosh around you in your own team

the least you would expect is to make the 20, yes TWENTY, man match day squad in the opening day of the season.
 
bringbackbebe said:
If you are:
1. a top tier winger who has scored 10+ goals in every season for the last 12 years peaking at 30+ goals
2. a former England national looking to get back into the England squad
3. not someone in their early teens or late 30s
4. sold on a promise at the start of the season that you'd be a prominent member of the squad
5. skillful enough to be in the starting 11 of at least 17 other clubs in the league (except maybe City and Arsenal)
6. better than the rest of the tosh around you in your own team

the least you would expect is to make the 20, yes TWENTY, man match day squad in the opening day of the season.
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All that bring true, I still don't think simply being left out of the squad warrants a long statement by his PR agency, hence my belief that there's probably a bit more going on here.
 
WeePat said:
All that bring true, I still don't think simply being left out of the squad warrants a long statement by his PR agency, hence my belief that there's probably a bit more going on here.
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I'd totally get it if he was left out of the starting 11 and he whined, but it's the full 20 we're talking about here! What was the strategic purpose of having Guiu, Neto and Mudryk ahead of Sterling in the subs bench against Man City, in the opening day of the season!?

I saw Chelsea broke a record for the youngest team in the premier league in 15 years. I also see is no player in that 20 was above the age of 26. Not sure if some record was trying to be broken here and that Sterling's presence would push the avg age up, but why are these metrics even a thing if Chelsea can't win? It's going after all the wrong records.
 
TheGame said:
Jackson seems like someone who is useful to be rotated with. With the money Chelsea have spent, they could have got someone far better and still have Jackson as a squad option.
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He improved as last season went on but still gets caught offside too often. Even for the disallowed goal he could've checked his run and still had enough time to run in and tap in the rebound.

He's decent but not elite.

Again think Poch was on to something playing him off the left in the run in. If Maresca takes as long as Poch did to work out the best team as we saw for last three months he probably won't even survive that long.

Getting in an Oshimen type forward will at least mean they can shift Jackson to left, Neto on the right and then Palmer number 10.

Then you have to leave out one of the CMs which will be interesting.
 
Redivy said:
What happens here when they're two days out from the close of the window and all these players are on their books?

They'll easily sell Gallagher, but the likes of Lukaku? Do they have to settle on a loan?

Lukaku
Kepa
Chalobah
Chilwell
Sterling
Broja

I just can't imagine clubs spending money on any of them except Lukaku and Broja. Surely they just find loans for Chilwell, Kepa and Sterling.
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My guess would be:

Sold - Lukaku, Chalobah, Broja.
Loan - Chilly, Sterling
Sat on his butt - Kepa.
 
bringbackbebe said:
I'd totally get it if he was left out of the starting 11 and he whined, but it's the full 20 we're talking about here! What was the strategic purpose of having Guiu, Neto and Mudryk ahead of Sterling in the subs bench against Man City, in the opening day of the season!?
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I don't know. Chilwell was also left out of the squad. No statement from him, and with him there was actually quotes out there from Maresca that he doesn't fit in with his plans.
 
WeePat said:
I don't know. Chilwell was also left out of the squad. No statement from him, and with him there was actually quotes out there from Maresca that he doesn't fit in with his plans.
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Yeah, Chilwell was probably clearly told by Maresca to be told by the chiefs that he wasn't in their plans for the season. The same should have happened with Sterling. I think the surprise factor is what made him react.
 
bringbackbebe said:
Yeah, Chilwell was probably clearly told by Maresca to be told by the chiefs that he wasn't in their plans for the season. The same should have happened with Sterling. I think the surprise factor is what made him react.
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Alan Shearer claims to have heard Sterling got told on Friday he wasn't in the club's plans. But if that's true, the timing of the statement by Sterling's camp was kind of weird.

After the game last night Maresca dodged the Sterling question by saying there are many players and the reality is some will have to leave. I would interpret this as Sterling being put on the chopping block but not confirming it outright because the club need to leave the door slightly open if a transfer is not possible. If Sterling was firmly in his plans he probably would have said so.
 
Rnd898 said:


Alan Shearer claims to have heard Sterling got told on Friday he wasn't in the club's plans. But if that's true, the timing of the statement by Sterling's camp was kind of weird.

After the game last night Maresca dodged the Sterling question by saying there are many players and the reality is some will have to leave. I would interpret this as Sterling being put on the chopping block but not confirming it outright because the club need to leave the door slightly open if a transfer is not possible. If Sterling was firmly in his plans he probably would have said so.
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Shouldn't this have been done early May? Can you find a potential buyer for him in the next 10 days? What if you don't? Does he just sulk for a season?
 
Sterling was pretty shit since coming to Chelsea and it is obvious his level dropped significantly from Liverpool/City/England days (was left out from England squad for Euro as well). Chelsea's problems run deeper though. The way the club is run now and in the days of Abramovich is incomparable.

Basically, this atm is an absolute shitshow.
 
Sounds like Pedro Neto was a late move out from nowhere (Jorge Mendes shock horror) and now Sterling has all of a sudden become surplus.
 
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