Squad Status: 2023/24 Season

[Ham]

18 minutes ago, Sleeping Dave said:

Let’s assume we will land on something like 23 including 3 goalkeepers. Players in bold should be part of the final squad, the rest are up for discussion. I’m not even listing Fofana. 

GK: Arrizabalaga, Sanchez, Bettinelli

RB: James, Gusto

LB: Chilwell, Cucurella, Maatsen

CB: Silva, Colwill, Badiashile, Disasi, Chalobah, Humphreys, Gilchrist 

CM: Enzo, Gallagher, Santos, Casadei, Ugochukwu, Hall

AM: Nkunku, Chukwuemeka

W: Sterling, Mudryk, Madueke, Angelo Gabriel

S: Jackson, Broja, Burstow

That’s 20 players who will guaranteed be part of the squad. Lots of talk of Olise. If we sign him that’s 21. The last two will hopefully be a serious DM and perhaps Chukwuemeka..? 

Arrizabalaga, Sanchez, Bettinelli, James, Gusto, Chilwell, Cucurella, Maatsen, Silva, Colwill, Badiashile, Disasi, Enzo, DM, Gallagher, Santos, Nkunku, Chukwuemeka, Sterling, Mudryk, Madueke, Olise, Jackson

 

I think Broja is a given for the squad and Maatsen looks like he can be used in various positions on either side of the pitch. 

 

[chiswickblue]

Chukwuemeka has to stay. A loan would be good for Casadei. I'd prefer Hall to stay as he's ready, but he'd probably get more minutes at Palace.

[My Blood Is Blue]

43 minutes ago, chiswickblue said:

Chukwuemeka has to stay. A loan would be good for Casadei. I'd prefer Hall to stay as he's ready, but he'd probably get more minutes at Palace.

I really rate Hall, I think he’s going to be a brilliant player, but I think a loan makes sense this season. We don’t have European football, so less games and therefore less opportunities for him. A full season of PL football this year will do him the world of good.

[DannyLB]

When are we expecting official numbers to be released?

[JaneB]

Chelsea squad numbers confirmed for 2023/24 season | News | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club (chelseafc.com)

[Mark Kelly]

16 minutes ago, JaneB said:

Chelsea squad numbers confirmed for 2023/24 season | News | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club (chelseafc.com)

Felt sure given the news that  Nkunku would be 9😄

[Lump Of Celery]

No numbers for Casidei, Angelo, Moreira, or Humphreys, so my guess is they will go on loan

[Mark Kelly]

Just now, Lump Of Celery said:

No numbers for Casidei, Angelo, Moreira, or Humphreys, so my guess is they will go on loan

It's a shame we can't keep them all really , I was really impressed by Angelo and Humphreys and Casedei definitely has something about him , not so sure on Moreira but early days 

[paulw66]

4 minutes ago, Lump Of Celery said:

No numbers for Casidei, Angelo, Moreira, or Humphreys, so my guess is they will go on loan

Nor Ziyech or fat Rom

Wonder if it will mean anything, those who have been given numbers. Does it mean Maatsen and Broja are definitely here to stay.

Surprised big Les got one, and 16 at that, which indicates he is staying. Chuk has 17 too, which suggests the same.

Edited August 8, 2023 by paulw66

[My Blood Is Blue]

Colwill taking number 26!

[Sleeping Dave]

Given this, the squad right now is likely to be;

1. Arrizabalaga

13. Bettinelli

31. Sanchez

 

24. James

27. Gusto

 

2. Disasi

5. Badiashile

6. Thiago Silva

14. Chalobah

26. Colwill

33. Fofana

 

3. Cucurella

21. Chilwell

 

8. Fernandez

16. Ugochukwu

20. Santos

23. Gallagher

67. Hall

 

17. Chukwuemeka

18. Nkunku

 

7. Sterling

10. Mudryk

11. Madueke

29. Maatsen

 

15. Jackson

19. Broja

37. Burstow

 

That's 26 players (not counting Fofana due to his injury). If we do get Caicedo, I suspect that we will send Hall on loan plus one of Burstow/Broja. That gives us 25 players. Fairly large, I do think we will see some decision being made on Chalobah (we have 5 CBs + Fofana) and possibly also Ugochukwu if Caicedo signs - bringing it down to 23-24 players. That's reasonable. The articles claiming we are after 4 additional signings is probably just the press writing stuff. I cannot see it myself to be honest, especially this late in the window... I'm thinking we might add Caicedo plus an additional striker.

 

Edit: Notably we have #4 and #9 available... Make of that what you will. But it does seem to be laid up for a DM and a S to fill those... Otherwise, how come no one has taken up those numbers? 

Edited August 8, 2023 by Sleeping Dave

[Lump Of Celery]

1 hour ago, paulw66 said:

Nor Ziyech or fat Rom

Wonder if it will mean anything, those who have been given numbers. Does it mean Maatsen and Broja are definitely here to stay.

Surprised big Les got one, and 16 at that, which indicates he is staying. Chuk has 17 too, which suggests the same.

In the case of Broja, Hall and Burstow I think they have already played for us so they just retain their squad numbers - I'm not reading into that as a definite indication of anything for now. I thought Humphreys also played last season, so maybe his omission says something. Still quite a fluid situation I guess.

Another talking point is the numbers not given out - 4, 9, 12 - perhaps an indication of the positions we are still hoping to fill? I would read it as a centre mid, a striker and a winger / attacking mid 

[Thiago97]

17 minutes ago, Sleeping Dave said:

Given this, the squad right now is likely to be;

1. Arrizabalaga

13. Bettinelli

31. Sanchez

 

24. James

27. Gusto

 

2. Disasi

5. Badiashile

6. Thiago Silva

14. Chalobah

26. Colwill

33. Fofana

 

3. Cucurella

21. Chilwell

 

8. Fernandez

16. Ugochukwu

20. Santos

23. Gallagher

67. Hall

 

17. Chukwuemeka

18. Nkunku

 

7. Sterling

10. Mudryk

11. Madueke

29. Maatsen

 

15. Jackson

19. Broja

37. Burstow

 

That's 26 players (not counting Fofana due to his injury). If we do get Caicedo, I suspect that we will send Hall on loan plus one of Burstow/Broja. That gives us 25 players. Fairly large, I do think we will see some decision being made on Chalobah (we have 5 CBs + Fofana) and possibly also Ugochukwu if Caicedo signs - bringing it down to 23-24 players. That's reasonable. The articles claiming we are after 4 additional signings is probably just the press writing stuff. I cannot see it myself to be honest, especially this late in the window... I'm thinking we might add Caicedo plus an additional striker.

 

Edit: Notably we have #4 and #9 available... Make of that what you will. But it does seem to be laid up for a DM and a S to fill those... Otherwise, how come no one has taken up those numbers? 

I think we may end up with vacant spots where I have drawn a line through these players. I expect these players will leave on loan before the season starts, or in the case of Broja he may end up on loan in January.

I reckon we might see at least 2 possibly three signings. You would expect the Caicedo situation will come to a head and a deal is done, then I think Adams is too god a deal to turn down and fits nicely with a good squad option and player we need. Then the final one could be another 9 option, with Burstow out on loan and possibly Broja if a club wants to take that risk at this stage.

Leaves us with 24 players, possibly 25 if the striker option is taken up.

[chiswickblue]

This must mean that Slonina, Angelo and Casadei have loan deals already arranged (as rumoured). Hall and Ugochukwu will presumably go out when we sign a new midfielder. Burstow may go out on loan if we sign another forward, or maybe he'll stick around until January given that Broja isn't fully fit yet. Moreira didn't get a squad number but he should be with the U21s.

Chalobah will also presumably stay given that Badiashile isn't fit yet, but by January we'll probably have at least one CB that's barely playing. Looks like we're going to have 3 left-backs in the squad, given Maatsen's versatility.

I'm surprised that gave squad numbers to  two young keepers, as I'd expect them to go on loan.

It means that we have at least 6 players in the departure lounge: Ziyech, Lukaku, Sarr, Cumming, CHO and Anjorin

[Holymoly]

2 hours ago, Sleeping Dave said:

That's 26 players (not counting Fofana due to his injury). If we do get Caicedo, I suspect that we will send Hall on loan plus one of Burstow/Broja. That gives us 25 players.

I count 29 squad numbers issued so far although that obviously includes Nkunku and Fofana. There's sufficient kids on the list to make way for any players such as Caicedo that may appear before the window closes. I don't see a problem getting the number down to a realistic 25.

[My Blood Is Blue]

As things stand, this is our squad for the season (obviously a week to go in the window, so plenty can still change). I have included Petrovic as that looks to be all but done.

GK: Sanchez, Petrovic, Bettinelli

RB: James, Gusto

LB: Chilwell, Maatsen, Cucurella

CB: Silva, Badiashile, Colwill, Disasi, Chalobah, Fofana*

CM: Enzo, Caicedo, Gallagher, Lavia, Santos, Ugochukwu

AM/W: Sterling, Chukwuemeka, Mudryk, Madueke, Nkunku**

ST: Jakson, Broja, Burstow

* Out for the season
** Out until next year

If you exclude Fofana, that is a squad of 27, which is way too many considering we have no Europe. It's clear to see where we have too many and we need to get a loan for Ugochukwu and possibly Santos now as well. We also need to get another striker in, we cannot be relying on Broja and Burstow ad backups to Jackson all season. The AM/W positions look quite weak as well, or at least lacking in experienced and proven players.

Still, quite a bit of work to do to get the balance right, in my opinion.

[Ham]

36 minutes ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

As things stand, this is our squad for the season (obviously a week to go in the window, so plenty can still change). I have included Petrovic as that looks to be all but done.

GK: Sanchez, Petrovic, Bettinelli

RB: James, Gusto

LB: Chilwell, Maatsen, Cucurella

CB: Silva, Badiashile, Colwill, Disasi, Chalobah, Fofana*

CM: Enzo, Caicedo, Gallagher, Lavia, Santos, Ugochukwu

AM/W: Sterling, Chukwuemeka, Mudryk, Madueke, Nkunku**

ST: Jakson, Broja, Burstow

* Out for the season
** Out until next year

If you exclude Fofana, that is a squad of 27, which is way too many considering we have no Europe. It's clear to see where we have too many and we need to get a loan for Ugochukwu and possibly Santos now as well. We also need to get another striker in, we cannot be relying on Broja and Burstow ad backups to Jackson all season. The AM/W positions look quite weak as well, or at least lacking in experienced and proven players.

Still, quite a bit of work to do to get the balance right, in my opinion.

Our injury record suggests that 23-25 players would not be enough. 

Until we work out wtf is going on at Cobham I'd say a slightly larger squad wouldn't be the worst idea.

Maybe revisit in January or next summer.

[ROTG]

30 minutes ago, Ham said:

Our injury record suggests that 23-25 players would not be enough. 

Until we work out wtf is going on at Cobham I'd say a slightly larger squad wouldn't be the worst idea.

Maybe revisit in January or next summer.

Poch has already staid 20 snr players and  a max 5 academy being 25 in total.

With only 38 games this season so no point having a squad full of bench warmers. Just ask Potter or Lampard what impact it has on the squad.  
 

Injuries are part and parcel of the game, and should also be an indicator how good the coach is managing the squad with injuries. 

Edited August 23, 2023 by ROTG

[Mark Kelly]

10 minutes ago, ROTG said:

Poch has already staid 20 snr players and  a max 5 academy being 25 in total.

With only 38 games this season so no point having a squad full of bench warmers. Just ask Potter or Lampard what impact it has on the squad.  
 

Injuries are part and parcel of the game, and should also be an indicator how good the coach is managing the squad with injuries. 

If you have three strikers and they're all injured should a good coach be able to score as many goals then?

[Ham]

14 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

If you have three strikers and they're all injured should a good coach be able to score as many goals then?

That would undoubtedly be Todd's fault. 

[ROTG]

38 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

If you have three strikers and they're all injured should a good coach be able to score as many goals then?

No 

you bring back the £100m goal scorer the coach and the club have sent to train with the under 21’s

Edited August 23, 2023 by ROTG

[ROTG]

25 minutes ago, Ham said:

That would undoubtedly be Todd's fault. 

YAwn

[Sciatika]

23 minutes ago, ROTG said:

No 

you bring back the £100m goal scorer the coach and the club have sent to train with the under 21’s

If Jackson, Broja and Burstow were all injured, I would stick Disasi up front before I played the fat boy.

Edited August 23, 2023 by Sciatika
Thinking about it, I would play one of the women before RL.

[Ham]

I'd definitely bring back Lukaku if he fails to get a move.  

Pure bloody mindedness on both parts otherwise. 

As fat and annoying as he is, he's a presence in the box and a genuine target man. If PSG and Mbappe can reach an agreement, so can we. 

[ROTG]

40 minutes ago, Ham said:

I'd definitely bring back Lukaku if he fails to get a move.  

Pure bloody mindedness on both parts otherwise. 

As fat and annoying as he is, he's a presence in the box and a genuine target man. If PSG and Mbappe can reach an agreement, so can we. 

With poch fitness regime the fatboy would more than likely be back to size and shape of the player the club brought from Milan within a couple of weeks.

IMO Poch's system would suit him to a tee. it probably more the case of how long "if at all" it would take him to shake off  the ring rust

Even training with the u21's one would hope his has a fitness program the same a the first team, anything else is pure foolishness