Geovany Quenda | Ornstein: Chelsea agree 7-year deal with option of a further year. Will go to Chelsea in 2026.

[Gordon'sHill]

I genuinely believe that with a better balanced side, with effective players in positions we are currently shoehorning unsuitable players, we will see a more effective attack.

Do I think Hojlund and Zirkzee are good enough to challenge at the top? I'm not so sure - I'd be concerned at the technical ability of either, but I did see more glimpses of potential in Hojlund last year than we have this. I don't think either are as bad as it looks right now, but eventually yes - both may need to be replaced. I'd leave that until we see a side that is creating buckets of chances that aren't being converted rather than spending a fortune on a shiny new striker who is going to struggle with the same issues at the head of a dysfunctional team.

I also know the attack was the last piece of the puzzle to click for Amorim at Sporting. This season was always going to be a write off for him, with a mess of a squad and no money to address things in January, along with a hectic schedule that prevented him from seeing time with his squad to bed in new ideas, but we have slowly seen improvements in defence and midfield. I trust that attacking improvements will come in time too and I'm happy to be patient for that.

This is deja vu from ETH era when lots of people would post about how and when things would improve. A 'better balanced side', err then why not play your new left wing back on the left and Dallot on the right, there is some balance. 'We have slowly seen improvements in defence and midfield'. Have we, our goal difference is worse now than under ETH. Have you seen our results? At the end of Jan, our goal differnece under Amorim was minus 5. We are still always outnumbered in midfield and teams move our CBs out of position and exploit the gaps, or find gaps on the wings. When you say 'trust' I think you mean 'hope'.

 

[Highfather_24]

His best position is RWB, where our best player Amad plays. You cannot gaslight me into believing we need this signing as a top priority. We have Dalot/Dorgu/Maz as backup too. Its insane.

 

[Marwood]

I get that. It's hard to maintain any optimism after the past decade and I definitely go through spells where I'm every bit as pessimistic as you here.

I just really like Amorim and his approach to things. I could well end up looking silly but I believe he will get this right.

Agree and as well as for the club's fortunes that's why I want players who are ready now. To give Amorim a fighting chance. If we go into next season with half the team ranging from 18 to 22 he won't be around long enough to see them come of age.

 

[D. Grayson]

Quenda for 50m? To expensive!!!
Branthwaite for 50m? Get him!!!

Cafs logic.

A center-back with proven experience in the Premier League, or a wing-back from a lower-tier league.

 

[JJ12]

His best position is RWB, where our best player Amad plays. You cannot gaslight me into believing we need this signing as a top priority. We have Dalot/Dorgu/Maz as backup too. Its insane.

Amad's long term position isn't RWB though is it.

 

[tenpoless]

A center-back with proven experience in the Premier League, or a wing-back from a lower-tier league.

Sanchez, Lukaku, Matic were very premier league proven. Didn't guarantee success. Ronaldo came from Sporting and tore the PL apart as a teenager.
I think we need to pay attention to the talents and age more than anything these days. Because we kept missing the big talents to middlemen clubs and paying a large sum of money for a "proven" player isn't feasible anymore, not mentioning their very expensive salary. This is how we should build the squad. As much as I hate saying it, we are not winning a major trophy anytime soon. Might as well build something with a potentially large payoff in 2-3 years.

 

[Crimson King]

We're spending that kind of money on relatively untested players so I don't see why we can't just spend it on proven players instead.

We've got a bunch of buy back clauses out there. Players who are coming to a good age. It just seems more sensible to go down that route given where we are as a club right now.

I don’t know how much Elanga's buy back clause is but let's say £25 million. I know not as exciting as Quenda but half the price, a better age for us, Premier League proven.

Has to be the better option right now.

Because those clubs don't need the money anymore and would probably cost a lot more than that. I also don't think that signing a bunch of 'good' players from mediocre PL teams is going to improve us that much, just because they've played in the league before.

I've never seen any evidence that we have a buyback on Elanga, pretty sure it was a straight sell with a future % if he moves again. He also might not want to come back here and play RWB. He also, ultimately, isn't good enough. If he was still here then he'd be a good option, but we shouldn't be spending money to bring him back.

 

[pocco]

His best position is RWB, where our best player Amad plays. You cannot gaslight me into believing we need this signing as a top priority. We have Dalot/Dorgu/Maz as backup too. Its insane.

Come on, everybody has been complaining about our wingbacks and now that we start signing wingbacks, you want to complain?

Amad isn't going to be a RWB in the long term is he, the reason he is playing there now is because we lack any form of threat out wide when our other options play there, and we have other players who can do an ok job in the no.10 roles for now. Long term, it might be Amad + another in 10 positions, Dorgu LWB and Quenda RWB. Suddenly our team starts to look like it has some potential if we make that happen.

Add a good CF and we'll suddenly have very balanced team in this system. Add a CM who can dictate, maybe even another CB who can distribute well, and we'll be onto something good.

 

[pocco]

And first and foremost, he is a wingback, not a striker.

Yeah exactly. Besides, just watch the highlights and see all the chances he creates. Whilst his dribbling and athleticism is the eye catching aspect of his game, his passing and vision is looking pretty damn good too. For a 17 year old he's as good a talent as I've seen in a long time.

 

[Marwood]

Because those clubs don't need the money anymore and would probably cost a lot more than that. I also don't think that signing a bunch of 'good' players from mediocre PL teams is going to improve us that much, just because they've played in the league before.

I've never seen any evidence that we have a buyback on Elanga, pretty sure it was a straight sell with a future % if he moves again. He also might not want to come back here and play RWB. He also, ultimately, isn't good enough. If he was still here then he'd be a good option, but we shouldn't be spending money to bring him back.

Yeah fair enough on Elanga. I've not really focused on him this season, just an example really.

But we can afford players more towards their prime, more proven, if we're spending £50 million on teenagers with 20 full games under their belt.

 

[Crimson King]

Yeah fair enough on Elanga. I've not really focused on him this season, just an example really.

But we can afford players more towards their prime, more proven, if we're spending £50 million on teenagers with 20 full games under their belt.

Yeah we can and we have been. Ugarte and De Ligt are both players around that age/fee. Bruno was as well when we signed him.

We definitely need to make more signings like that, but I don't think we should pass up on some of the top teenagers like Yoro and Quenda in the meantime. There's a balance to get right though, I agree on that

 

[Cassidy]

His best position is RWB, where our best player Amad plays. You cannot gaslight me into believing we need this signing as a top priority. We have Dalot/Dorgu/Maz as backup too. Its insane.

Amad is not a wingback.
Dalot and Maz are shite at wingback.

 

[Tarrou]

so impressive to look that comfortable at that level at his age

reminds me a bit of the excitement I felt when we signing Anderson

 

[bosskeano]

i think the vast majority see this kid and have flashbacks of Antony....hence the he can't beat a guy off the dribble comments

 

[Gordon S]

Yeah exactly. Besides, just watch the highlights and see all the chances he creates. Whilst his dribbling and athleticism is the eye catching aspect of his game, his passing and vision is looking pretty damn good too. For a 17 year old he's as good a talent as I've seen in a long time.

Indeed, his eye for a killer pass is probably just as good as his dribbling.
As far as exciting 17yo wingers/wingbacks go, he might be the guy. Well Yamal is THE guy, but out of the somewhat available, he might be the guy.

 

[Gordon S]

so impressive to look that comfortable at that level at his age

reminds me a bit of the excitement I felt when we signing Anderson

I was just thinking about him as well, looked pretty feckin special at that age. Let´s hope Geovany stays away from injuries and cakes

 

[dubplate warrior]

I acknowledge your point and it would beg the question about the other more glaring problems in the team that need fixing before we spend big money on Quenda. I don't believe the wingers/wingbacks will make a big enough difference without having a strong midfield and CB trio. Any midfield that has midfielders that struggle to impose themselves on the game by way of threading the lines in-possession and containing transitions out of possession (when the space opens up for the opposition to counter quickly) will hamper the system of play. IMO any system that aims to be proactive has to be built around the CBs and deeper midfielders. If you as a coach have weaknesses in those positions as far as progressing the ball forward and controlling spaces out of possession, then there will be a problem.

I'm all for the signing of Quenda, I think he's potentially a elite level winger/wide forward and having the opportunity to sign such a precocious talent has to be taken up. But how well the system functions will largely depend on how strong the CBs and deeper midfield is as far as controlling the game with and

We absolutely need progressive ball carriers and passers in our spine and have needed this since Carrick retired. I would still think that in this system wingbacks are immensely important with attacking transitions.

21 league appearances. 1 league goal. That's his career so far.

He does look talented but the way posters talk about him, with such certainty about where he's at and what he'd bring. It's misplaced. He's done nowhere near enough for any conclusions to be made.

The more I see him the more I think you're looking at one of the best teenagers in world football.

I was just thinking about him as well, looked pretty feckin special at that age. Let´s hope Geovany stays away from injuries and cakes

Anderson broke his leg at a young age if I'm right. I think that caused a lot of damage.

 

[The holy trinity 68]

His best position is RWB, where our best player Amad plays. You cannot gaslight me into believing we need this signing as a top priority. We have Dalot/Dorgu/Maz as backup too. Its insane.

Amad will end up being one of the two CAM's permanently, but good that he can also cover at RWB.

We actually have Dalot, Dorgu, Maz, Leon and then Quenda.

Leon is 19 and will be part of the first team next season. Dalot is not good enough and will probably be fazed out, Mazraoui imo doesn't even fit the system, and will be used as a squad utility player, Amad will become a CAM.

That leaves the team for next season with Dalot, Dorgu 21, Leon 20 and Quenda 19 as the 4 main wing backs.

 

[D. Grayson]

Sanchez, Lukaku, Matic were very premier league proven. Didn't guarantee success. Ronaldo came from Sporting and tore the PL apart as a teenager.
I think we need to pay attention to the talents and age more than anything these days. Because we kept missing the big talents to middlemen clubs and paying a large sum of money for a "proven" player isn't feasible anymore, not mentioning their very expensive salary. This is how we should build the squad. As much as I hate saying it, we are not winning a major trophy anytime soon. Might as well build something with a potentially large payoff in 2-3 years.

Lukaku recorded 54 goal contributions in 96 games, it is not impossible to suggest that both Zirkzee and Højlund will struggle to reach that total together before their tenure at the club ends. Additionally, Matic was part of the most cohesive midfield we’ve had at the club since Sir Alex Ferguson's era.


Players who were light years more accomplished than Quenda struggled to succeed when they moved away from the comparably poor standards of the Portuguese League.

​

 

[Utterly De Ligt'd]

His best position is RWB, where our best player Amad plays. You cannot gaslight me into believing we need this signing as a top priority. We have Dalot/Dorgu/Maz as backup too. Its insane.

Part of our problem in recent years is we have a mix of players, some that have the talent, but don't have the right attitude, some have the right attitude but don't have the talent.

You can't fault Dalot's heart and commitment, the first season of Ten Hag, seeing him pumping his fists or chest bumping teammates over a tackle was the kind of thing a lot of us felt was missing. However, upgrading on players like Dalot is exactly what needs to happen for this club to move forward. Far to inconsistent, not really great at getting forward. Good servant to the club, not bad to have as a squad player, but can't be a starter.

While Amad is not a wingback, Amorim, once confident with the team, will play wingers in that role and in that sense, I do agree it's competition for Amad, although I think Amad will develop more into that R10 role, than a winger/wingback, and I think that would be the case regardless of our coach.

 

[aeh1991]

We could sign him in 2026 or 2027. What we need now is someone who already has played a few seasons as a pro and is ready for the next step. Like Frimpong, Bellanova, Vanderson, etc.

 

[Highfather_24]

I'm shocked at the number of people who see Amad's future as a right #10 rather than out wide. I felt under Amorim, Amad has looked much brighter out wide where he gets more space, whereas he feels out of the game as an Attacking Midfielder.

 

[Tallis]

I'm shocked at the number of people who see Amad's future as a right #10 rather than out wide. I felt under Amorim, Amad has looked much brighter out wide where he gets more space, whereas he feels out of the game as an Attacking Midfielder.

Possibly but it’s also because when Amad plays #10, we have no RWB for defenders to worry about and he gets marked out. It’s likely more an overall system thing vs his own qualities.

 

[Fahad Jawaid]

I think we need to stay away from more unproven youngsters, specially as we are financially restrained and already have a pretty young team. Now we need to sign a few established PL proven players within the age bracket of 23 to 25 to make instant impact. We need four first team players one established LCAM, striker. We can put Amad as RWB. Because i still feel Amad is better as a winger and not prolific enough to play as RCAM.

I think we can get Mbeumo from Brentford on cheap, i think he is in last year of contract. We should also try for Cunha as well, plus Sign Ederson in the midfield. Lastly keeper is a must, we can not rely on Onana. So 4 ins should get us a reasonable first team and hopefully should be good enough for top 4. Plus what is great about these players, all three of them are physically amazing, quick and good dribblers and play with high intensity, which is something we lack badly.

We should try this formation.

Cunha
Bruno Mbeumo
Dorgu Ederson Ugarte Amad
Licha De Ligt Yoro
New Keeper

Subs: Maino, Garnacho, Dalot, Maz, keeper, Hojlund/Zhirkee

 

[aeh1991]

I think we need to stay away from more youngsters and need to sign a few established PL proven players within the age bracket of 23 to 25. We need an established LCAM and a striker. We can put Amad as RWB. Because i still feel Amad is better as a winger and not prolific enough to play as RCAM.

I think we can get Mbeumo from Brentford on cheap, i think he is in last year of contract. We should also try for Cunha as well, plus Sign Ederson in the midfield. Lastly keeper is a must, we can not rely on Onana. So 4 ins should get us a reasonable first team and hopefully should be good enough for top 4. Plus what is great about these players, all three of them are physically amazing, quick and good dribblers and play with high intensity, which is something we lack badly.

We should try this formation.

Cunha
Bruno Mbeumo
Dorgu Ederson Ugarte Amad
Licha De Ligt Yoro
New Keeper

Subs: Maino, Garnacho, Dalot, Maz, keeper, Hojlund/Zhirkee

CF and CB will be priorities over a new GK although I agree that we eventually should replace Onana.

 

[Highfather_24]

Do you think having two left footers on the right hand side is a good idea? With both of them trying to come inside rather than go outside.

Possibly but it’s also because when Amad plays #10, we have no RWB for defenders to worry about and he gets marked out. It’s likely more an overall system thing vs his own qualities.

 

[Fahad Jawaid]

CF and CB will be priorities over a new GK although I agree that we eventually should replace Onana.

Yeah i agree with Licha out, plus likely departures for Evans, Lindelöf and Maguire we would be down to only three options Yoro, De Ligt and Maz as options for CB only. We should ideally keep Maguire then, hope Licha comes back good as ever and maybe promote somebody from Junior teams.

Because with lack of funds we really need to address ST and CAM positions because you can get away with weak team if your strikers and forwards firing on all cylinders and get you wins. The Liverpool team with Suarez, Coutinho, Sterling were only a slip away from winning the league with poor midfield and defence, similarly our last title was aging midfield and defence with RVP, Rooney and Carrick having blinder of seasons.

 

[Drainy]

I'm shocked at the number of people who see Amad's future as a right #10 rather than out wide. I felt under Amorim, Amad has looked much brighter out wide where he gets more space, whereas he feels out of the game as an Attacking Midfielder.

Yeah but he's 22 and the expectation is that he will improve his movement and timing, because he has the skillset to play that position to a high level if he improves those aspects

 

[MadDogg]

Do you think having two left footers on the right hand side is a good idea? With both of them trying to come inside rather than go outside.

As long as they can both go on the outside as well as the inside (as Amad can) then it could work quite well if they get a good understanding between them. Could basically alternate which one goes wide and which one cuts inside to make it difficult on the defenders, or at other times both go together to overload a position.

I'd agree it would be a bad balance if both are players who significantly prefer to cut inside though.

 

[Tallis]

Do you think having two left footers on the right hand side is a good idea? With both of them trying to come inside rather than go outside.

Looked kind of funny when we had Antony and Amad playing side by side. Almost as if their instincts were the same (to cut inside). I see your point.

 

[golden_blunder]

Do people not see that having defensive fullbacks trying to play as wingbacks is a large reason our attack is so poor in this system?

It's silly to say "we should be spending this money on attackers", when we don't have a team set up to provide opportunities for them. Attacking threat from the wings is a massive part of Amorim's set up being effective - we've seen that with our best performances this season coming when Amad has played RWB.

Mazraoui and Dalot be options at right centre back and possibly left centre back at a push. We'll get nowhere with either of them operating as a wing back in this setup.

I read somewhere (don’t have the stats to prove this) that most of sportings goals and their much hyped striker, are as a result of cutbacks. Hence the importance of wingbacks who are essentially wingers. Fullbacks should get used if we need to get uber defensive otherwise wingers first. One of the major reasons we struggle to create decent chances. Quenda looks like he could help with that

 

[Uncle Mainoo]

Did I miss something? I didn't see him dribbling passed any player even once in the whole 90 minutes.

You have to log these opinions, as this is exactly what we seen with Antony.. and then he got her and did the same thing as his every touch highlights.

I would be very concerned if we are buying another winger/wide attacker who does minimal take ons.

 

[golden_blunder]

You have to log these opinions, as this is exactly what we seen with Antony.. and then he got her and did the same thing as his every touch highlights.

I would be very concerned if we are buying another winger/wide attacker who does minimal take ons.

He’s nothing like Anthony

 

[bosskeano]

You have to log these opinions, as this is exactly what we seen with Antony.. and then he got her and did the same thing as his every touch highlights.

I would be very concerned if we are buying another winger/wide attacker who does minimal take ons.

and so the comparison begins

 

[Uncle Mainoo]

He’s nothing like Anthony

That was not my point.

My point is players tend to be what you see if you watch enough of them.

 

[golden_blunder]

That was not my point.

My point is players tend to be what you see if you watch enough of them.

Well yeah, literally any player. I had enough r people trying to convince me last summer that Ivan Toney was a top striker

 

[Rolaholic]

 

[daba]

It'll get done for something like 45m EUR with 10m in add-ons I would guess.

 

[Gabriel Djemba-Bebe]

Will we pull the plug on this if Amorim gets sacked at the end of the season? Feels like the money could be better spent elsewhere if our next manager doesn't use wing backs.

 

[Rockets Redglare]

Will we pull the plug on this if Amorim gets sacked at the end of the season? Feels like the money could be better spent elsewhere if our next manager doesn't use wing backs.

I’d imagine this move depends entirely on Amorim being the manager.