Bert19

Might also need a back up RB to deputise for Gusto if the combo of injury layoffs and very silly temper issues aren’t ended for Reece 🙄

I dunno mate. I think he might be good enough that if there's a chance to get him, you go for it. I daresay that he, Madueke etc could play on either wing and as 10s (or even as strikers) to a reasonably effective level. He certainly looks a good enough player to do that. I can also see Palace doing some deals this summer relating to what they get beyond money for their talent. Fair to say that on current form there will be significant interest in Mateta, Guehi, Andersen, Mitchell, Olise, Eze and Wharton. Whilst they'll dig their heels in and won't want to lose all of them, if they are offered good money and can get players out of the deals for the players they lose then i can see them doing a lot of business. Would anyone be against £40m + Broja or Sterling for Olise for example? Or a swap Chilwell for Mitchell? Or one of our younger lads like Santos, Hutchinson or Angelo on loan there for a year as part of the deal for either of those players?

Wonder if one or both might be used in deals we intend to do? Money + Sterling for Olise for example?

Would not be against this. Room to improve, physically very different to what we have currently, probably wouldn't cost the Earth, could loan or sell players the other way as part of the deal. Ticks quite a few boxes as an option

I genuinely think it'll be new left-back + Cucurella next season. Chilwell's a terrific player and clearly a good bloke, but it's more than enough having Reece missing all of the time through injury, persisting with two full-backs that seem to be chronically injured not only costs a fortune, but means we need to bloat the squad with deputies. It can't be sustainable. It really makes me sad, but I think Chilwell will likely be sold unless there's some clear sign that his fitness can be relied consistently on in the very near future. Cucurella's been underwhelming until quite recently, but he is playing well now and is actually available for selection. I suppose the longer-term question is whether he can be the first choice LB or if we need to sign someone to be that first-choice option?

Agreed. Two of the biggest ones being to simplify what we do in defence and get us organised off the ball. One of my biggest gripes with him is how long it is taking to reduce our defensive vulnerability. I'm a little bit worried that we stick with him through the summer and get 10 games into next season with the same defensive issues and then we're firing him anyway.

He won the Europa League - but should have easily won the CWC and lost the League Cup semi-final to Swansea (who then went on to beat Bradford City in the Final). Two competitions he really didn't have much excuse for not winning. So silverware, yes. All of the silverware he really should have picked up from the opportunities in front of him? Not really.

I still think that had he tried to build a few bridges with the fanbase when he walked in and gone on to win that CWC and a frankly shoe-in League Cup to go with the Europa League win, he'd probably have got the gig full-time, likely won over quite a few with on-pitch success and probably done OK here. The fact that he didn't achieve those trophy wins and also made no effort to engage with the fans meant Roman was never going forward with him. It's odd too, all he really had to do was address fully it in the first press conference "Look, I know I said some stuff but it was the heat of a very real rivalry and sometimes we say things we look back on and wish we hadn't. I'm here to try to do a good job for Chelsea and we'll be a much better team if the fans can support the players" or something along those lines and I think most could at least have looked at it with an air of giving him a chance to do the job. But he didn't do that and actively even tried to sit himself above us, so it's no shock he was never accepted.

I'd also question again: WTF do they do to these players in training? Every player with a medium term lay-off has had a significant setback either straight after returning, or when close to being ready. Something is clearly very wrong here. They must be battering them. And when was the last time any of us heard of ANY returning player getting U23/reserve/behind closed doors/academy match minutes instead of going straight back into Premier League action?? No gradual increase in minutes to recover match sharpness - just rehab, training, Prem action (and then reinjury). It seems to have completely disappeared as a concept of late. That seems to be a very, very bad idea judging by what we are seeing. Medical dept being at fault is one thing, but it feels like the training ground regime is playing a more than significant part here too.

And on the flipside of that coin: Newcastle A - lost 1-4 Arsenal A - lost 0-5 Liverpool A - lost 1-4 Wolves A - Lost 1-2 Wolves H - Lost 2-4 Burnley H - drew 2-2 Sheff Utd A - drew 2-2 Brentford H - lost 0-2 Everton A - lost 0-2 He's been out-planned and out-thought on plenty of occasions. We've been found wanting when it comes to sound team selections and tactical approaches far too often and we've conceded more goals than we ever have in a PL season before. If we were set up properly, that would not be a possibility. It just wouldn't.

Part of the chaos-lover in me would love to roll that dice. It could be a bit nuts, but two things I could see Jose doing really well are 1. Jose organising the team structure much MUCH more effectively. We'd be much better off the ball 2. Jose leaving the group in no doubt about what is expected of a Chelsea player and really giving them much better guidance in terms of standards and expectations required at the Club (I suspect he would be managing upwards there too). I'd also like us to try to get a bit of our 'Chelseaness' back. We have a lot of very knowledgeable people with really strong experience and knowledge of the Club and PL available to us - it would be good to make use of that again. People like Eddie Newton, Andy Myers, Ashley Cole, JT etc etc. They could all be of huge benefit at the moment

I hate KitKats. Haven't eaten one in nearly 25 years.

I think another year on loan there if they go up or a loan at somewhere like Everton for PL minutes seems quite likely for Omari

It still escapes me why he chose not to build the team from the back to the front. How do you take a young group like this and just ignore shape, structure, organisation all season? It's completely amateur.

Given the difference we all saw Tuchel make to what was generally a squad that were hard to motivate and willing to down tools at any time, I can't fathom how some of our fans still don't think a new Coach could completely change the feeling and performance level of this group. They're not all going to be world-beaters, fine. But there's more than enough there (especially when more of them are fit) to be a much, much better side than we are.

So with six games left, I see this as what we know about him and his methods: - No shape when out of possession. - No organisation at the back (players not being instructed to perform specific tasks, keep things simple, big lads marking big lads etc). - Limited patterns of play going forward (beyond "get the ball to Cole!"). - Midfield unit not organised or cohesive. 3 players with most appearances have no real shape to them or clear signs of what role each is asked to play. - Terrible on set-pieces in both boxes. - Talks about players having to show they deserve to play and then watches Sterling have one good game in four months, but picks him every week. - Gameplans and team selections that expose us to embarrassing performances and results away from home. - Only worked out his designated penalty taker after 30 PL games, 9/9 conversion rate and a fight between the second taker and a player who has never taken one. - Training methods that don't bring players back from injury properly after significant layoffs (no minutes pre PL returns) and then see several re-injured for long layoffs after coming back. - Keeps lemons on desk as they "ward off negative energy" - No signs that players are being developed and work is being done to improve on their weaknesses. E.g. Jackson & finishing, Mudryk & positioning. Have I missed anything?

I genuinely feel for Badiashile. He looks like he's being asked to play in a manner that will expose him completely, is aware of that and his confidence has been shattered as a result. He looked a good player when he came here, smart enough to listen and do what Thiago told him to do - now he just looks a shadow of that player. And he isn't the only one that has regressed significantly under the guidance of one Mauricio Pochettino. There are quite a few that have done. All of our defenders have struggled because of Poch's desire to overplay at the back and they've all made crucial mistakes at some point because of this. No one has come out of it looking consistently decent (even Gusto, who is very good). They've all been exposed, all been asked to do things they aren't comfortable doing and all been chopped and changed throughout the season (last night as a prime example). The defensive unit that played well against Everton and City was just changed for no reason and we got smashed. If Gusto was injured, we could easily have gone with: Trev - Disasi - Thiago - Cucu to keep things consistent. Or even gone 5 ATB with Trev at RWB and Disasi Silva Badiashile in the middle with Cucu left. But instead he reunited a struggling partnership, dropped the current one and put an 18 year old CB in at right-back. Against the top-scoring team in the league. We're also terrible in both boxes. Despite having a load of big strong lads like Disasi, Badiashile, Thiago, Jackson, Colwill and Trev in our squad. Why? It just screams of lack of standards and lack of practice. A proper coach simplifies things at the back, gives them instructions to do the basics first, to keep it simple and minimise danger. When was the last time you saw any of this group do what Rudiger and Dave used to do when they recognised imminent danger and send the ball into Row Z or for a throw-in deep in the opponent's half? Same thing for Caicedo in front of them. Being asked to receive the ball in dangerous areas with few passing options behind and little way of moving the ball forward without taking huge risks. It's such a poor setup and one no decent Premier League manager is implementing anywhere else. Poch maximises his players flaws and minimises their strengths. It's unacceptable.

Leave him at the fucking Emirates and let him make his own way home. I hope he’s already been sacked.

Said it before kick-off. He was throwing them to the wolves with that starting XI. No reason to drop Trev & Thiago from the side, clear that Madueke & Mudryk couldn’t both start, we needed some experience and an extra body in midfield. So an open 4-2-3-1 with a young, inexperienced and badly lacking in confidence back four it was. Complete moron. Got what he deserved. I sincerely hope that is the last time he is ever in our dugout or dressing room. A tactically inept muppet.

Bit worried about tonight - not for the individual circumstances we face, but more because another loss could cause us to spiral - 3 hard games in a week could be exactly what we don't need. A point tonight would be a terrific result for that exact reason.

Jesus, we'd bloody deserve it if that happens

Very much feels at this point she just says stuff to try to draw attention. Might be a slippery slope she ends up on doing that - Le Tiss has been finding that out recently.

Boring is fine. Don't need another bogey coloured shirt, or a psychedelic pattern thanks

Definitely feels like he could do very well playing in a partnership up top. Whether that's with a target man or with a more Gudjohnsen-type, i'm not quite sure though?

It also makes you wonder if Potter could've done the same or a better job with the new squad and a full pre-season behind him? For my money, i'm not sure there are many managers in the Prem that would have done a worse job with the resources Poch has had available. To be in April with no style of play, no set of principles drilled into the players and no sign of the demands and expectations that the manager and club have for them is completely unacceptable as far as i'm concerned. Wolves, Bournemouth, West Ham, even Luton have all of those fundamentals well-established with far less resources than we have. I had major red flags with him early on, but Old Trafford was the moment when I was sure that he wasn't going to be the man for us beyond this season. He should have definitely gone after Liverpool and Wolves though. And even then he was incredibly fortunate to survive after the League Cup final. We are. If everyone gets fit. Which is a big if at Chelsea of late. But we also need to be well-drilled, with demands and expectations placed on every single player that is part of our squad to maintain any improvement and reduce these brainfarts. Teams can't succeed without gameplans and full knowledge of what is expected of them. This season has shown very well that Pochettino is not the man to provide that match to match, week to week.