Axel Disasi signs for Chelsea

[My Blood Is Blue]

Welcome to the club Axel!

https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/disasi-completes-chelsea-move

The centre-back has agreed a six-year contract at Stamford Bridge and arrives with a wealth of top-level experience. Disasi has made 130 appearances in Ligue 1, been capped four times by France, and was part of his country’s squad for last year’s World Cup in Qatar.

[Thiago97]

I've not seen him player personally, but he looks a unit and seems to have a very good passing range on him. We appear to be slowly getting there and becoming a bigger and more physical team with Badishille, Disasi, Jackson etc.

Now we just need that DM unless Lesis going to be up to the task, which seems unlikely at 19yo.

[martin1905]

Poor guy only has one reply on his thread.

Settled in nicely after having to be thrown straight in and is getting better with each game. 

Very happy we signed him and considering he didn't come from Brighton hats off to the scouting team, they certainly got this one right.

The depth we have in our squad, defensively, is right up there with anyone and very young overall. Two players in every position plus one extra centre half and Maatsen, who will probably be off in the summer, along with Thiago. Real shame as I think he will go onto be a serious player. Been told he's off to City, not sure if that's why Pochettino doesn't play him and hasn't used him at all in his actual position, especially with the injuries and playing Colwill there, or he's an idiot. I hope it's the former as if we lose him because of how he's been used it will be a bitter pill to swallow.

I promised myself, after Mount I wouldn't care too much about the youth but he's one I've thought for sometime now would be the one out of all of them to be a real star. Such a good footballer and technically superb. Has everything the modern full back needs and is perfect for Pep and his hybrid FB/CM role.

Anyway, this is the Disasi thread, who as I said deserves more than one reply, hopefully this will get a few talking.

[Dwmh]

Disasi - I always presumed he was a temp brought in till some of Chalobah, Badisahille & Fofana got fit, or Colwill grew up.
And probably signed by the same scout that went for Badiashille at Monaco.

But so far he has been better than any of them , even Badiashille who looked young but full of promise.  I guess he is the new first choice, and right now ahead of even Silva.
Mind at 25 he should look like a proper CB, he is 5 years off his peak.  The others are 8-9 years before (or after in Silva's case).

If CreamCakes ever need proof that buying unproven 21 years is high risk both in terms of performance AND injuries, Disasi is the evidence.

14 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

I promised myself, after Mount I wouldn't care too much about the youth but he's one I've thought for sometime now would be the one out of all of them to be a real star.

Maatsen?  Colwill for me by a long way.  And I am still getting a buzz off Gallagher being captain, I have always had my fingers crossed for him.
Good to see Gallagher finally played in a proper position, shame Mount rarely got the chance to play 8.

Edited October 3, 2023 by Dwmh

[Sciatika]

One of the commentators in the Fulham game (I think Sam Matterface) was making the point that Conor was being played as the most advanced midfielder and that this was also how he played his best games for Palace. He thinks the idea is to use Conor's energy to win back the ball in very advanced positions in much the same way as NG was sometimes used. I think Palmer might be best suited to the #10 role, which should make it interesting in terms of competition when Nkunku comes back.

[martin1905]

6 hours ago, Dwmh said:

Maatsen?  Colwill for me by a long way.  And I am still getting a buzz off Gallagher being captain, I have always had my fingers crossed for him.

Good to see Gallagher finally played in a proper position, shame Mount rarely got the chance to play 8.

Yes only because I've seen a lot more of Maatsen than Colwill over the years. 

I'm absolutely loving Colwill,  mentioned last year how well he was doing at Brighton and how he would come back and get straight into the first team.

I've given Pochettino a lot of stick, some of it for playing Colwill at left back. It may not be the way I want to see us line up but with Disasi, this is his thread after all, being arguably our number 1 centre half this is the only way of getting Colwill and Silva in the same side, which could be argued is more important for our long term success and Colwill's development, allowing him to play alongside and learn from one of the best of all time.

I've always really liked Gallagher and never understood the criticism he gets. Not sure he's played much as an 8 though, last game is the only time so far this season. Will be interesting watching him develop under a manger that really believes in him, he's certainly taken his chance with both hands. 

[Dwmh]

2 hours ago, Sciatika said:

One of the commentators in the Fulham game (I think Sam Matterface) was making the point that Conor was being played as the most advanced midfielder and that this was also how he played his best games for Palace. He thinks the idea is to use Conor's energy to win back the ball in very advanced positions in much the same way as NG was sometimes used. I think Palmer might be best suited to the #10 role, which should make it interesting in terms of competition when Nkunku comes back.

Weaker teams often put a lot of hard runners in the front three with the hope they can literally Nick a goal.
Chelsea did much the same last year - Lampard especially when we gave up attacking and reduced ourselves to a relegation battling Conor Mount and Kante Steal it High racket.
Sure if that is how you plan to get your goals Conor is your man.  But he is also your man if you just want a 6 or a bos to box player.

41 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

I've given Pochettino a lot of stick, some of it for playing Colwill at left back. It may not be the way I want to see us line up but with Disasi, this is his thread after all, being arguably our number 1 centre half this is the only way of getting Colwill and Silva in the same side, which could be argued is more important for our long term success and Colwill's development, allowing him to play alongside and learn from one of the best of all time.

I've always really liked Gallagher and never understood the criticism he gets. Not sure he's played much as an 8 though, last game is the only time so far this season. Will be interesting watching him develop under a manger that really believes in him, he's certainly taken his chance with both hands. 

Dsasi (his thread) - yes, harsh for Poch to get stick for playing Silva Disasi and Colwill in the same defence without going to  a back 3.  Given the success we have had with Gallas or Ivanovic at FB and the other FB being attacking I don't really see the problem.  And as others have pointed out, we are a short team, keeping all  3 and especially Disasi makes sense.

I meant Mount should have been playing 8 not 7 or 11.  He is great at following instructions and picking up new skills.  Receiving a 30 yard ball and turning to run forward seems to be a skill he picked up in a few weeks - and he found 4 or 5 alternative methods to do it.
Connor IMO is less an AM than Mount, but then he was largely being used as a marginal team member in "Special teams" for special purposes rather than first name on the team sheet being put in the wrong place (Mount)

[paulw66]

10 hours ago, martin1905 said:

Poor guy only has one reply on his thread.

Settled in nicely after having to be thrown straight in and is getting better with each game. 

Very happy we signed him and considering he didn't come from Brighton hats off to the scouting team, they certainly got this one right.

The depth we have in our squad, defensively, is right up there with anyone and very young overall. Two players in every position plus one extra centre half and Maatsen, who will probably be off in the summer, along with Thiago. Real shame as I think he will go onto be a serious player. Been told he's off to City, not sure if that's why Pochettino doesn't play him and hasn't used him at all in his actual position, especially with the injuries and playing Colwill there, or he's an idiot. I hope it's the former as if we lose him because of how he's been used it will be a bitter pill to swallow.

I promised myself, after Mount I wouldn't care too much about the youth but he's one I've thought for sometime now would be the one out of all of them to be a real star. Such a good footballer and technically superb. Has everything the modern full back needs and is perfect for Pep and his hybrid FB/CM role.

Anyway, this is the Disasi thread, who as I said deserves more than one reply, hopefully this will get a few talking.

I guess there is not much here, as he has gone under the radar a touch. Solid, unspectacular. Ideal. I guess a defender gets more comments when they make mistakes.

On Maatsen, who I have seen little of, where and instead of whom does he play? Silva and Disasi are playing well at CB, so it's Maatsen or Colwill. With James out injured and the right back being Gusto or Cucurella (neither tall of strong in the air) I suspect having a taller left back appealing when defending set pieces. 

If Poch, or Chelsea, had the hump with him, then why has he been used so often (albeit from the bench)? Plenty of alternatives. 

Edited October 4, 2023 by paulw66

[Willian Dollar Baby]

15 hours ago, Dwmh said:

Disasi - I always presumed he was a temp brought in till some of Chalobah, Badisahille & Fofana got fit, or Colwill grew up.
And probably signed by the same scout that went for Badiashille at Monaco.

But so far he has been better than any of them , even Badiashille who looked young but full of promise.  I guess he is the new first choice, and right now ahead of even Silva.
Mind at 25 he should look like a proper CB, he is 5 years off his peak.  The others are 8-9 years before (or after in Silva's case).

If CreamCakes ever need proof that buying unproven 21 years is high risk both in terms of performance AND injuries, Disasi is the evidence.

Maatsen?  Colwill for me by a long way.  And I am still getting a buzz off Gallagher being captain, I have always had my fingers crossed for him.
Good to see Gallagher finally played in a proper position, shame Mount rarely got the chance to play 8.

Agree with most of this. Disasi has been great, he's an aerial monster and deceptively good on the ball. He's added much needed steel, leadership and experience. 

Colwill has been a revelation. Pushed to LB due to a lack of height in the team and flourishing. His passing is so, so good. He wraps the ball in between the lines with pace and into feet, over and over again. Rarely makes any defensive mistakes. Got a great chance of playing CB at the Euros. 

Still a bit sad about Mount. At least we have Gallagher (for now) who has stepped up from an already high level. If anyone saw his interview post-Fulham it was pointed out to him how serious he was, Conor alluded to being one of the more experienced players in the squad and you can see how he leads from the front. I have noticed he hasn't looked very happy this season, I do hope it is the leadership angle and not anger about how he's being treated. He and his family are all lifelong Chelsea fans so I would've expected him to look happier given he's effectively captain at the moment. 

One of my biggest gripes with the transfer window was the apparent desire for us to sell Gallagher, potentially to Spurs of all places. Buying Lavia in particular seemed to be the board pushing Conor out the door.

Poch playing him every week and giving him the armband illustrates very clearly his thoughts on the matter. If we still sell him despite his importance to the team I don't think that would go down well at all. On the flipside a new contract for Gallagher would put a big smile on my face, and hopefully Conors too!

[Mark Kelly]

I like Disasi , think he's been excellent and I equally like Big Les , think he's a top player with a big future . 

[east lower]

3 hours ago, Mark Kelly said:

I like Disasi , think he's been excellent and I equally like Big Les , think he's a top player with a big future . 

Disasi has quietly grown on me, he’s never going to be a Silva or one of the tactical defenders, but he’s good at what he does and that’s defend first and give it to those who can play.

Seems a good type too in terms of encouraging players such as he did with Jackson and Mudryck after both scored recently. Good team man.

Big unit too.

Edited October 4, 2023 by east lower

[xceleryx]

7 hours ago, Mark Kelly said:

I like Disasi , think he's been excellent and I equally like Big Les , think he's a top player with a big future . 

Discussed elsewhere at the time but Disasi was a good pickup for my mind. 

I know using metics is a hot topic of debate on this sub of late, but it's also an incredibly useful tool to identify where a player excels or doesn't. There was a lot of back and forth when Disasi signed when we had Chalobah, with many feeling the latter was more than good enough. What I said at the time was simple, Disasi's profile and strengths as a player were where he provided greater upside over Trev. I think we've seen that so far this season. 

What the stats of course don't show, and this is something we're seeing more of lately, but Disasi's become a bit a hype man so to speak. I'm really enjoying seeing how he encourages those around him and gives me slight Rudiger vibes albeit less unhinged. 

[Sleeping Dave]

13 hours ago, Willian Dollar Baby said:

At least we have Gallagher (for now) who has stepped up from an already high level. If anyone saw his interview post-Fulham it was pointed out to him how serious he was, Conor alluded to being one of the more experienced players in the squad and you can see how he leads from the front. I have noticed he hasn't looked very happy this season, I do hope it is the leadership angle and not anger about how he's being treated. He and his family are all lifelong Chelsea fans so I would've expected him to look happier given he's effectively captain at the moment. 

 

If the lad bleeds blue I’d have expected him to be very unhappy at the moment! I’d expect him to be livid until we are back in the top four again… 

Personally I have never understood the lack of love for Gallagher on here. There has been plenty of calls for his sale over the years. For me he is a perfect player for this squad and shoul not be sold, especially not to the shit from the Lane. 

But with 5 midfielders in the squad (Enzo, Caicedo, Gallagher, Lavia and Ugochukwu) there will be competition for places. It will be interesting to see what happens once Lavia returns. But Gallagher being captain certainly indicates what Poch feels about him. 

[Dwmh]

6 hours ago, Sleeping Dave said:

Personally I have never understood the lack of love for Gallagher on here. There has been plenty of calls for his sale over the years. For me he is a perfect player for this squad and shoul not be sold, especially not to the shit from the Lane. 

Only once been unavailable in his career (suspended not injured obviously).
He is perfect on the bench - you go ahead and leave him supporting the striker, or you can boost the midfield workrate.
Of course he'd be even better at a mid-table to struggling PL team such as ...   ... well you know who I mean

[Thiago97]

13 hours ago, Sleeping Dave said:

If the lad bleeds blue I’d have expected him to be very unhappy at the moment! I’d expect him to be livid until we are back in the top four again… 

Personally I have never understood the lack of love for Gallagher on here. There has been plenty of calls for his sale over the years. For me he is a perfect player for this squad and shoul not be sold, especially not to the shit from the Lane. 

But with 5 midfielders in the squad (Enzo, Caicedo, Gallagher, Lavia and Ugochukwu) there will be competition for places. It will be interesting to see what happens once Lavia returns. But Gallagher being captain certainly indicates what Poch feels about him. 

I’ve often been one of those not convinced by him, and I admit I would not have been too fussed had we sold him in the summer.

He’s proving me very wrong so far. He seems to be improving game by game. My main criticism has been his technical ability is not on the same level as many of our other players, and on occasions that has stood out quite a bit. To be fair to him, he does even seem to be improving in this area too, which is not something I expected . It’s early days still this season, but he is currently a certain starter in the first eleven. 

[Bones]

Disasi is such a good dribbler!

[paulw66]

Rumour that he is being called into the France squad. Solid player (in every sense)

Will be interesting to see what happens when Badiashile is fit. A back four of James, Disasi, Badiashile, Colwill is effing big, and strong.

[Willian Dollar Baby]

45 minutes ago, paulw66 said:

Rumour that he is being called into the France squad. Solid player (in every sense)

Will be interesting to see what happens when Badiashile is fit. A back four of James, Disasi, Badiashile, Colwill is effing big, and strong.

Big, strong and also great on the ball! 

Disasi offers all the physicality of Zouma but with added passing ability. 

[ROTG]

3 hours ago, paulw66 said:

Rumour that he is being called into the France squad. Solid player (in every sense)

Will be interesting to see what happens when Badiashile is fit. A back four of James, Disasi, Badiashile, Colwill is effing big, and strong.

What about the £70m Forfana?

get him fit and move him on?

[Dwmh]

4 minutes ago, ROTG said:

What about the £70m Forfana?

get him fit and move him on?

One step at a time...
literally

[Sciatika]

Sadly, I am not convinced Wesley will ever be fit again. 

[ROTG]

3 minutes ago, Dwmh said:

One step at a time...
literally

Would not be surprised to see him sent to the feeder club for a season to see if the knee holds out before moving him on. 
 

maybe if he get a season injury free at the feeder club someone might cough up some money. 

Edited October 9, 2023 by ROTG

[paulw66]

11 minutes ago, ROTG said:

What about the £70m Forfana?

get him fit and move him on?

I was speaking initially about the immediate future. Longer term, hopefully back in Europe, there will be plenty of room for Disasi, Big Ben, Fofana etc 

[Chelsea_Matt]

4 hours ago, paulw66 said:

Rumour that he is being called into the France squad. Solid player (in every sense)

Will be interesting to see what happens when Badiashile is fit. A back four of James, Disasi, Badiashile, Colwill is effing big, and strong.

Yep. Love the sound of that. I would prefer Colwill at CB and Chilly B at LB, but for now that’s a really good, resilient defence with a lot of ball-playing skill. And we still have Gusto, who looks a smart purchase. 

[Bison]

Very solid, hardly put a foot wrong. Good passer and don't think I've seen him lose and ariel duel yet. Probably not the most comfortable defending wide areas 1v1 but everybody isn't perfect.

Looking forward to seeing a back four of Reece James, Disasi, Badiashile and Colwill.