Transfer Talk Topic

[ROTG]

On 01/04/2024 at 15:19, east lower said:

The recruitment people (I was going to use team, but I think that they’re in it primarily for themself) do not seemed to have focused on a functional unit, but have recruited on this dopey statistical basis. The eye doesn’t lie, and that’s very much a part of successful recruitment, not a damn spreadsheet. 
 

This is the part which does my napper in. 

The recruitment in Jan-23 and the summer 23 was not data driven as such. The recruitment was a done by newly acquired scouts who were given the jobs of sporting directors even though neither is qualified to do that kind of job, then allowed them to put together as squad using their previous employers players or targets without any practical football input from the club's 1st team coach. With the exception of Enzo who IMO was an Ego buy from Todd & Eggy's doing an Harry Enfield "loads of money impersonation"

One can assume Viveil was put on gardening leave when he challenged the players the scouts "sporting directors" wanted to bring in and foresaw the train wreck ahead.  Or for getting the club to pay £16m loan fee for Felix?

Edited April 4 by ROTG

[Max Fowler]

1 hour ago, Chelsea_Matt said:

It’s also because we signed so many shit players who just aren’t good enough. And a coach who turned out to be imo the biggest disappointment in years. 

I always thought Poch would be a bottlejob 😜 So not too disappointed

[Morgs]

3-2 United tonight. 

Mount to score. 

[chara]

3 hours ago, Chelsea_Matt said:

It’s also because we signed so many shit players who just aren’t good enough. And a coach who turned out to be imo the biggest disappointment in years. 

My first thought was "No..Potter was worse " but on reflection you are absolutely right...Potter was eyed with distrust and little confidence by many from the start although kindly dealt with initially..The Poch is far more disappointing as he could have been the answer but has been found lacking.

[Chelsea_Matt]

1 hour ago, Morgs said:

3-2 United tonight. 

Mount to score. 

You think we’ll get two? 👀💀🙃

Has your coffee cooled down? ☕️ 🆒 

[Morgs]

12 hours ago, Chelsea_Matt said:

You think we’ll get two? 👀💀🙃

Has your coffee cooled down? ☕️ 🆒 

I was right.... until the 8th minute of 8 mins injury time added on. 

 

 

[Max Fowler]

Still possible? 🤞

 

 

[Morgs]

18 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

Still possible? 🤞

 

 

Hear me out. 

A front three of Palmer, Osimhen and Nkunku with Jackson, Mudryk, Chukwuemeka and Madueke available from the bench. Paez to join fairly soon as well.  Taurianen the wild card. 

We move on Enzo in a few months/years and Casadei takes his place. Gallagher goes and Santos steps in. Caicedo anchors the midfield with Ugochukwu his backup. Lavia too if he comes back. Castledine and perhaps Golding to add depth. 

We build a new defence around Colwill and a new centrehalf, plus Gilchrist, Disasi and Fofana if he comes back. Silva, Chalobah and Badiashile I think will leave, James and Gusto the right backs, a new left back and Chillwell the left backs. 

Petrovic the backup to a top new keeper, Sanchez and Kepa will go. 

Four signings, more than a dozen exits. 

[Max Fowler]

17 minutes ago, Morgs said:

Hear me out. 

A front three of Palmer, Osimhen and Nkunku with Jackson, Mudryk, Chukwuemeka and Madueke available from the bench. Paez to join fairly soon as well.  Taurianen the wild card. 

We move on Enzo in a few months/years and Casadei takes his place. Gallagher goes and Santos steps in. Caicedo anchors the midfield with Ugochukwu his backup. Lavia too if he comes back. Castledine and perhaps Golding to add depth. 

We build a new defence around Colwill and a new centrehalf, plus Gilchrist, Disasi and Fofana if he comes back. Silva, Chalobah and Badiashile I think will leave, James and Gusto the right backs, a new left back and Chillwell the left backs. 

Petrovic the backup to a top new keeper, Sanchez and Kepa will go. 

Four signings, more than a dozen exits. 

I like that Morgs. I think the key though would be making those signings in the 26-30 age category and leaders / characters on the pitch. We won’t do that though. With your changes we can turn into a top 6 or even top 4 side but that’s not good enough for me. Standards have slipped so much that European football seems like some incredible achievement but it’s just a better form of failure 

I also think we need a bigger and more experienced CM to lead the midfield and complement Caicedo Lavia etc. they are not leaders. Think Rice / Rodri etc. 

[My Blood Is Blue]

Priority order for signing in the summer, IMO.

1. Top quality CB, who is already at his peak or just about to hit it.

2. An experienced midfield general. Someone late 20s or even early 30s, who has the experience and understanding about how to manage a game.

3. If one is available, a top quality striker, but only if a good enough option is available. If not, then it’s worth trying to find a good, solid PL striker that can play backup to Jackson, but is good enough to deputise when needed for a season.

4. Top class GK. Again, only if 1 is available as I think for where we are Petrovic is fine for another season.

5. Experienced AM/Winger. Again, someone who can help manage the games for us when needed, but also someone that players like Palmer, Mudryk and Madueke can learn from and go to for advice. Essentially a replacement for Sterling.

Priority outgoings, if achievable.

1. Badiashile or Disasi. I feel like Badiashile has the potential to be the better player of the 2, based on what we saw last season, but in current form he’s a liability. Either way we need to move 1 of these 2 on to make way for a proper leader back there to play alongside Colwill. Wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up being Chalobah that goes though, due to FFP.

2. Sanchez. We should never have signed him and I don’t even trust him as a back up, so we should move him on, it may have to be on loan, and either get in a quality number 1 or a more stable number 2.

3. It will be very hard to do, but I think for his sake and ours, Sterling should go.

4. Get some good loan deals (ideally PL or Championship) for Slonina, Gilchrist, Santos, Ugochukwu, Casadei and Washington.

5. Make a decision on Wesley Fofana. Ideally he stays and becomes a genuine option, but I just don’t see how that’s possible after such minimal game time over the last few years. A very expensive mistake I fear.

[xceleryx]

Largely agree with the signings and priorities @My Blood Is Blue. I could maybe see two CB's being brought in on the pretence that Silva leaves, Fofana's fitness and the likelihood of someone else leaving. 

As for the outs, I'm not as aligned.

1. Keeping in mind we're likely to see Silva leave, if we're going to then sell a CB Chalobah is the obvious choice. He's not really good enough in our areas of need, while his home grown status makes for immediate profit to be had. I like Chalobah, but I don't think he's really developed as I'd have liked and I think some forget how wobbly he's been in the past himself. Disasi is fine, maybe not as a first choice option but as that 3rd or 4th CB he ticks enough boxes. Plus, he's the only real physical presence we have and seems a pretty good team mate. Badiashile will get another season, injuries probably have helped him but he does need to step up. Pretty disappointed by what he's shown overall as he was one of the more talented young defenders out there when signed.

2. As a backup Sanchez is okay enough as he is a good shot-stopper, it's his decision making that's a concern. Don't really see us doing much here unless we sign a bonafide first choice option. 

3. I'm 50/50 on Sterling. He has value, just not at the price point he's on.

4. Agree.

5. Big Wes is a problem. Hopefully having a full season off will aid his longer term fitness, but there's just do many unknowns when it comes down to it. Can't afford to have him spend another season on the sidelines. Don't see him being sold however as the FFP hit would be insane.

[Morgs]

On 07/04/2024 at 01:41, xceleryx said:

Largely agree with the signings and priorities @My Blood Is Blue. I could maybe see two CB's being brought in on the pretence that Silva leaves, Fofana's fitness and the likelihood of someone else leaving. 

As for the outs, I'm not as aligned.

1. Keeping in mind we're likely to see Silva leave, if we're going to then sell a CB Chalobah is the obvious choice. He's not really good enough in our areas of need, while his home grown status makes for immediate profit to be had. I like Chalobah, but I don't think he's really developed as I'd have liked and I think some forget how wobbly he's been in the past himself. Disasi is fine, maybe not as a first choice option but as that 3rd or 4th CB he ticks enough boxes. Plus, he's the only real physical presence we have and seems a pretty good team mate. Badiashile will get another season, injuries probably have helped him but he does need to step up. Pretty disappointed by what he's shown overall as he was one of the more talented young defenders out there when signed.

2. As a backup Sanchez is okay enough as he is a good shot-stopper, it's his decision making that's a concern. Don't really see us doing much here unless we sign a bonafide first choice option. 

3. I'm 50/50 on Sterling. He has value, just not at the price point he's on.

4. Agree.

5. Big Wes is a problem. Hopefully having a full season off will aid his longer term fitness, but there's just do many unknowns when it comes down to it. Can't afford to have him spend another season on the sidelines. Don't see him being sold however as the FFP hit would be insane.

Not being argumentative but Chalobah is, although limited, head and shoulders above Badiashile right now. If one has to go surely it is the latter, he has regressed disastrously.

[Morgs]

Some thoughts about last night while I wait for my Sertraline to start working. 

I must warn you on what you are about to read. It is what is know in social media circles as "a spicy take", you likely will not agree with. 

First off, I don't think Poch did a lot wrong yesterday. 

We arrived at a team fighting for their Premier League survival, as Burnley were a week ago. They are exactly the sort of side we struggle against - big, physical, aggressive, hard and able to press you all over the pitch, hunting in packs, for 90s mins. They lack quality so focus solely on stopping us from playing. 

Knackered from a massive game that went to 101 minutes just 48 hours prior, Chelsea's injury problems meant that rotating the squad was always going to be hard and the players were leggy and did look tired. Gusto at right back was a huge miss so we missed his dynamism down that side and for much of the game Madueke struggled as well. Caicedo is in (yet more) dreadful form and wouldn't be anywhere near the side if Lavia and Ugochukwu were fit, but they weren't so he had to play. Palmer and Gallagher looked dead on their feet and Jackson more subdued than we've seen him in recent weeks , again we assume due to sheer number of minutes he has been playing.

Bringing in Silva for the hapless Badiashile was a no-brainer. 

Despite it all, we played alright. It was likely too much to ask for us to go there, smash five past them and not break sweat. Sheff United will make you work for everything and they did - we had to work very hard. That Cucurella was our best player yesterday speaks volumes. 

Once again, the decent performance was undermined with s**t individual mistakes. Petrovic for their first equaliser was unforgivable and it must be said he is in poor form right now and I suspect in danger, as Sanchez did before him, of surrendering the number one jersey if someone really good comes in in the summer. Badiashile's error with his first touch after coming on at the death for their second equaliser was even worse. An absolute howler. That is the sort of mistake that kills a club career, and he's been making them for months now. 

My point is that but for these two mistakes we take all three points at a tough place to go and against exactly the sort of team we struggle most against. But we were undone by these errors that we are still making. I actually think tactically we did the best we could realistically have done yesterday with half the team knackered from Man United and other half in dreadful individual form.  I am not sure what else Poch could have done. He made the right subs (even though one of them cost us the game, objectively it was the right decision), the team was the right one and we were one awful mistake away from the three points. 

I don't especially like Poch and I do question his mentality. There have been times this season where he has made terrible mistakes and cost us games, I just don't think that was the case yesterday.  If you don't have a striker, your main creative outlet is knackered and carrying a knock, all your fullbacks are out injured and your midfield is leggy having played 100+ mins two days ago, what else could he have done? 

People point the finger at the awful season we are having but with the injuries we KEEP ON BLOODY HAVING... 

I think we'll get turned over at Everton and then get hammered by City at Wembley and that will be that for him. He'll be replaced in the summer. But not now. 

But I think you'd have to say his spell at Chelsea, dreadful and interminable though it has mainly been, can most accurately be characterised as some of the most appalling misfortune. If he'd had Chillwell, Fofana, Lavia and James fit for most of the season we would be in the European places and people would be talking about progress made and kicking on to the top four. As it is, the thing that makes some of our recruitment so bad is that we've had no option but to give 20-30 games to dross who should be out on loan or have no right being at the club at all. 

I think we have been really, really unlucky these last few years with injuries and so on and it has killed any chance of this side making any meaningful progress. And so last night was our season in microcosm - very unlucky not to take all three points, injuries and sh** form of those who aren't injured utterly undermining us. 

I am not disputing the things that ARE on Poch's doorstep in terms of responsibility. We are crap at set pieces and still most of our corners don't beat the first man. We are not clinical enough in mindset and we do switch off in games. We still struggle against low blocks. There are some questionmarks over the mentality of some in the team. That's on him. 

Poch is in charge but he cannot magically manufacture a 20 goal a season target man out of Jackson, teach Mudryk footballing intelligence, make Enzo a foot taller or repair James/Chillwell's dodgy hamstrings. 

I think Poch has become an avatar for all our misfortunes and a target for the abuse borne out of frustration about a lot of things that aren't all his fault.  I don't feel sorry for him but I do feel sorry for us as a club, as his failure in the Chelsea job merely makes a poisonous chalice that bit more toxic.  We have been approaching the point of no return for some time and the way things have unfolded, makes this season's end and this summer feel a bit Sliding Doors, because for the first time the manager's job is now not determined by who we bring in. Pep Guardiola and Alex Ferguson themselves wouldn't be able to do anything about our injuries, grevious misfortune, poor recruitment and expectations stupidly mismatched and detached from bitter reality. Its a Kobayashi Maru at this point, unless something miraculous happens in the summer. 

Edited April 8 by Morgs

[McCreadie]

4 hours ago, Morgs said:

Some thoughts about last night while I wait for my Sertraline to start working. 

I must warn you on what you are about to read. It is what is know in social media circles as "a spicy take", you likely will not agree with. 

First off, I don't think Poch did a lot wrong yesterday. 

We arrived at a team fighting for their Premier League survival, as Burnley were a week ago. They are exactly the sort of side we struggle against - big, physical, aggressive, hard and able to press you all over the pitch, hunting in packs, for 90s mins. They lack quality so focus solely on stopping us from playing. 

Knackered from a massive game that went to 101 minutes just 48 hours prior, Chelsea's injury problems meant that rotating the squad was always going to be hard and the players were leggy and did look tired. Gusto at right back was a huge miss so we missed his dynamism down that side and for much of the game Madueke struggled as well. Caicedo is in (yet more) dreadful form and wouldn't be anywhere near the side if Lavia and Ugochukwu were fit, but they weren't so he had to play. Palmer and Gallagher looked dead on their feet and Jackson more subdued than we've seen him in recent weeks , again we assume due to sheer number of minutes he has been playing.

Bringing in Silva for the hapless Badiashile was a no-brainer. 

Despite it all, we played alright. It was likely too much to ask for us to go there, smash five past them and not break sweat. Sheff United will make you work for everything and they did - we had to work very hard. That Cucurella was our best player yesterday speaks volumes. 

Once again, the decent performance was undermined with s**t individual mistakes. Petrovic for their first equaliser was unforgivable and it must be said he is in poor form right now and I suspect in danger, as Sanchez did before him, of surrendering the number one jersey if someone really good comes in in the summer. Badiashile's error with his first touch after coming on at the death for their second equaliser was even worse. An absolute howler. That is the sort of mistake that kills a club career, and he's been making them for months now. 

My point is that but for these two mistakes we take all three points at a tough place to go and against exactly the sort of team we struggle most against. But we were undone by these errors that we are still making. I actually think tactically we did the best we could realistically have done yesterday with half the team knackered from Man United and other half in dreadful individual form.  I am not sure what else Poch could have done. He made the right subs (even though one of them cost us the game, objectively it was the right decision), the team was the right one and we were one awful mistake away from the three points. 

I don't especially like Poch and I do question his mentality. There have been times this season where he has made terrible mistakes and cost us games, I just don't think that was the case yesterday.  If you don't have a striker, your main creative outlet is knackered and carrying a knock, all your fullbacks are out injured and your midfield is leggy having played 100+ mins two days ago, what else could he have done? 

People point the finger at the awful season we are having but with the injuries we KEEP ON BLOODY HAVING... 

I think we'll get turned over at Everton and then get hammered by City at Wembley and that will be that for him. He'll be replaced in the summer. But not now. 

But I think you'd have to say his spell at Chelsea, dreadful and interminable though it has mainly been, can most accurately be characterised as some of the most appalling misfortune. If he'd had Chillwell, Fofana, Lavia and James fit for most of the season we would be in the European places and people would be talking about progress made and kicking on to the top four. As it is, the thing that makes some of our recruitment so bad is that we've had no option but to give 20-30 games to dross who should be out on loan or have no right being at the club at all. 

I think we have been really, really unlucky these last few years with injuries and so on and it has killed any chance of this side making any meaningful progress. And so last night was our season in microcosm - very unlucky not to take all three points, injuries and sh** form of those who aren't injured utterly undermining us. 

I am not disputing the things that ARE on Poch's doorstep in terms of responsibility. We are crap at set pieces and still most of our corners don't beat the first man. We are not clinical enough in mindset and we do switch off in games. We still struggle against low blocks. There are some questionmarks over the mentality of some in the team. That's on him. 

Poch is in charge but he cannot magically manufacture a 20 goal a season target man out of Jackson, teach Mudryk footballing intelligence, make Enzo a foot taller or repair James/Chillwell's dodgy hamstrings. 

I think Poch has become an avatar for all our misfortunes and a target for the abuse borne out of frustration about a lot of things that aren't all his fault.  I don't feel sorry for him but I do feel sorry for us as a club, as his failure in the Chelsea job merely makes a poisonous chalice that bit more toxic.  We have been approaching the point of no return for some time and the way things have unfolded, makes this season's end and this summer feel a bit Sliding Doors, because for the first time the manager's job is now not determined by who we bring in. Pep Guardiola and Alex Ferguson themselves wouldn't be able to do anything about our injuries, grevious misfortune, poor recruitment and expectations stupidly mismatched and detached from bitter reality. Its a Kobayashi Maru at this point, unless something miraculous happens in the summer. 

Agree with most of this. In addition, Poch has been totally unable to convey any semblance of an idea of how to manage games when we are leading. More than anything else, that has cost us so many points. 

[JaneB]

@Morgs

Thank you for another awesome post.

[Chelsea_Matt]

7 hours ago, Morgs said:

Some thoughts about last night while I wait for my Sertraline to start working. 

I must warn you on what you are about to read. It is what is know in social media circles as "a spicy take", you likely will not agree with. 

First off, I don't think Poch did a lot wrong yesterday. 

We arrived at a team fighting for their Premier League survival, as Burnley were a week ago. They are exactly the sort of side we struggle against - big, physical, aggressive, hard and able to press you all over the pitch, hunting in packs, for 90s mins. They lack quality so focus solely on stopping us from playing. 

Knackered from a massive game that went to 101 minutes just 48 hours prior, Chelsea's injury problems meant that rotating the squad was always going to be hard and the players were leggy and did look tired. Gusto at right back was a huge miss so we missed his dynamism down that side and for much of the game Madueke struggled as well. Caicedo is in (yet more) dreadful form and wouldn't be anywhere near the side if Lavia and Ugochukwu were fit, but they weren't so he had to play. Palmer and Gallagher looked dead on their feet and Jackson more subdued than we've seen him in recent weeks , again we assume due to sheer number of minutes he has been playing.

Bringing in Silva for the hapless Badiashile was a no-brainer. 

Despite it all, we played alright. It was likely too much to ask for us to go there, smash five past them and not break sweat. Sheff United will make you work for everything and they did - we had to work very hard. That Cucurella was our best player yesterday speaks volumes. 

Once again, the decent performance was undermined with s**t individual mistakes. Petrovic for their first equaliser was unforgivable and it must be said he is in poor form right now and I suspect in danger, as Sanchez did before him, of surrendering the number one jersey if someone really good comes in in the summer. Badiashile's error with his first touch after coming on at the death for their second equaliser was even worse. An absolute howler. That is the sort of mistake that kills a club career, and he's been making them for months now. 

My point is that but for these two mistakes we take all three points at a tough place to go and against exactly the sort of team we struggle most against. But we were undone by these errors that we are still making. I actually think tactically we did the best we could realistically have done yesterday with half the team knackered from Man United and other half in dreadful individual form.  I am not sure what else Poch could have done. He made the right subs (even though one of them cost us the game, objectively it was the right decision), the team was the right one and we were one awful mistake away from the three points. 

I don't especially like Poch and I do question his mentality. There have been times this season where he has made terrible mistakes and cost us games, I just don't think that was the case yesterday.  If you don't have a striker, your main creative outlet is knackered and carrying a knock, all your fullbacks are out injured and your midfield is leggy having played 100+ mins two days ago, what else could he have done? 

People point the finger at the awful season we are having but with the injuries we KEEP ON BLOODY HAVING... 

I think we'll get turned over at Everton and then get hammered by City at Wembley and that will be that for him. He'll be replaced in the summer. But not now. 

But I think you'd have to say his spell at Chelsea, dreadful and interminable though it has mainly been, can most accurately be characterised as some of the most appalling misfortune. If he'd had Chillwell, Fofana, Lavia and James fit for most of the season we would be in the European places and people would be talking about progress made and kicking on to the top four. As it is, the thing that makes some of our recruitment so bad is that we've had no option but to give 20-30 games to dross who should be out on loan or have no right being at the club at all. 

I think we have been really, really unlucky these last few years with injuries and so on and it has killed any chance of this side making any meaningful progress. And so last night was our season in microcosm - very unlucky not to take all three points, injuries and sh** form of those who aren't injured utterly undermining us. 

I am not disputing the things that ARE on Poch's doorstep in terms of responsibility. We are crap at set pieces and still most of our corners don't beat the first man. We are not clinical enough in mindset and we do switch off in games. We still struggle against low blocks. There are some questionmarks over the mentality of some in the team. That's on him. 

Poch is in charge but he cannot magically manufacture a 20 goal a season target man out of Jackson, teach Mudryk footballing intelligence, make Enzo a foot taller or repair James/Chillwell's dodgy hamstrings. 

I think Poch has become an avatar for all our misfortunes and a target for the abuse borne out of frustration about a lot of things that aren't all his fault.  I don't feel sorry for him but I do feel sorry for us as a club, as his failure in the Chelsea job merely makes a poisonous chalice that bit more toxic.  We have been approaching the point of no return for some time and the way things have unfolded, makes this season's end and this summer feel a bit Sliding Doors, because for the first time the manager's job is now not determined by who we bring in. Pep Guardiola and Alex Ferguson themselves wouldn't be able to do anything about our injuries, grevious misfortune, poor recruitment and expectations stupidly mismatched and detached from bitter reality. Its a Kobayashi Maru at this point, unless something miraculous happens in the summer. 

Great post, Morgerino. But I don’t think the injuries are unlucky. There’s something SERIOUSLY wrong at Cobham imo. 

[xceleryx]

14 hours ago, Morgs said:

Not being argumentative but Chalobah is, although limited, head and shoulders above Badiashile right now. If one has to go surely it is the latter, he has regressed disastrously.

The key being right now. Overall, Badiashile has the higher ceiling and is the more conventionally talented of the two. Chalobah, while I've always liked him, isn't likely to develop beyond what he is. Which is a little disappointing because I felt he probably could've been more than what he's' turned out to be but there's just not enough to his overall game that makes him anything more than a fringe first teamer. I think some may also have forgotten just how good Badiashile looked at times last season before injury. 

[Morgs]

14 hours ago, Chelsea_Matt said:

Great post, Morgerino. But I don’t think the injuries are unlucky. There’s something SERIOUSLY wrong at Cobham imo. 

I'm sure there is an element of extreme poor fortune in the injuries, but I do agree with you that there is seemingly an issue with the medical care and advice the players are getting. 

Some have speculated that there is too much running and not enough gym work and recovery sessions, but we have no idea if that's true or not. 

I think part of it is the physical treatment the players get week in week out from teams like Sheffield United and Burnley too. Acknowledging the fact that it is a physical contact sport, I do think our players do get a difficult time physically and have done for some years. 

[Morgs]

7 hours ago, xceleryx said:

The key being right now. Overall, Badiashile has the higher ceiling and is the more conventionally talented of the two. Chalobah, while I've always liked him, isn't likely to develop beyond what he is. Which is a little disappointing because I felt he probably could've been more than what he's' turned out to be but there's just not enough to his overall game that makes him anything more than a fringe first teamer. I think some may also have forgotten just how good Badiashile looked at times last season before injury. 

Badiashile looks like a rabbit in the headlights now though, hard to believe its the same player. I absolutely rated him before his injury, i thought he was one of the most comfortable ball playing centre-halves we've had since Gallas. Silky smooth, always an extra gear or pace to change up to to get himself out of trouble, always clever with the way he uses his body to give him more time on the ball, great passer, great in the air.... we aren't seeing any of that now. 

Not sure it is fair to say Trev is finished developing. He's coming off the back of a bad injury and appears to be fitter and sharper than Badiashile. He's only 24 and has all the attributes - 6"4 so commanding in the air, versatile, physicality, good on the ball, scores goals, lacking a bit of pace perhaps but if we work on the basis that most CBs don't hit their peak until 28-29, he's got five more years to develop. The issues with his game are concentration, turns too slowly and he can have a slightly dodgy first touch, I don't think we can say he wont improve those things with a regular run of games. 

Whether that run of games is at Chelsea or not is open to question but lets be honest here, Silva is headed out at the end of the season, Fofana is pretty unlikely to come back to the level he was at if he comes back at all and Badiashile is struggling and is being heavily linked with a move to Italy (where i actually think he will do very well).  So selling Chalobah doesnt really make sense given that we need centre-halves. 

Also worth bearing in mind that Trev can play anywhere across the back four and slot in at the holding midfield position as well. He's a lot more versatile than Badiashile. 

This Diomande lad we've been linked to - anyone know anything about him? Is he any good?

Edited April 9 by Morgs

[Chelsea_Matt]

10 minutes ago, Morgs said:

I'm sure there is an element of extreme poor fortune in the injuries, but I do agree with you that there is seemingly an issue with the medical care and advice the players are getting. 

Some have speculated that there is too much running and not enough gym work and recovery sessions, but we have no idea if that's true or not. 

I think part of it is the physical treatment the players get week in week out from teams like Sheffield United and Burnley too. Acknowledging the fact that it is a physical contact sport, I do think our players do get a difficult time physically and have done for some years. 

I personally don’t believe in luck or coincidence. The injuries we have had over the last two years are crazy imo. Remember also when Reecey’s coach posted about how bad it was there? 💥💀👀🍿

[Max Fowler]

I absolutely believe now that the club is just briefing about Osimhen to try and get the supporters excited even though we have no intention in actually signing him

 

 

[kev61]

23 minutes ago, Morgs said:

I'm sure there is an element of extreme poor fortune in the injuries, but I do agree with you that there is seemingly an issue with the medical care and advice the players are getting. 

Some have speculated that there is too much running and not enough gym work and recovery sessions, but we have no idea if that's true or not. 

I think part of it is the physical treatment the players get week in week out from teams like Sheffield United and Burnley too. Acknowledging the fact that it is a physical contact sport, I do think our players do get a difficult time physically and have done for some years. 

Are we any different from the rest of the league?. .of course not ...God Almighty!

[xceleryx]

24 minutes ago, Morgs said:

Badiashile looks like a rabbit in the headlights now though, hard to believe its the same player. I absolutely rated him before his injury, i thought he was one of the most comfortable ball playing centre-halves we've had since Gallas. Silky smooth, always an extra gear or pace to change up to to get himself out of trouble, always clever with the way he uses his body to give him more time on the ball, great passer, great in the air.... we aren't seeing any of that now. 

Not sure it is fair to say Trev is finished developing. He's coming off the back of a bad injury and appears to be fitter and sharper than Badiashile. He's only 24 and has all the attributes - 6"4 so commanding in the air, versatile, physicality, good on the ball, scores goals, lacking a bit of pace perhaps but if we work on the basis that most CBs don't hit their peak until 28-29, he's got five more years to develop. The issues with his game are concentration, turns too slowly and he can have a slightly dodgy first touch, I don't think we can say he wont improve those things with a regular run of games. 

Whether that run of games is at Chelsea or not is open to question but lets be honest here, Silva is headed out at the end of the season, Fofana is pretty unlikely to come back to the level he was at if he comes back at all and Badiashile is struggling and is being heavily linked with a move to Italy (where i actually think he will do very well).  So selling Chalobah doesnt really make sense given that we need centre-halves. 

Also worth bearing in mind that Trev can play anywhere across the back four and slot in at the holding midfield position as well. He's a lot more versatile than Badiashile. 

This Diomande lad we've been linked to - anyone know anything about him? Is he any good?

Yeah, we're not seeing it but I'll cut him some slack because he missed a big part of the season recovering from injury, then had one or two other knocks along the way. I wouldn't toss him on the scrap heap just yet however, particularly when he's only just turned 23 - which is young for a central defender. 

Chalobah is going to be 25 in July, it's hard to see him being more than what he is going to be. His best football came playing in a back three, but that was a long time ago now and has since been pretty shaky. At 6'4" he's horrendous in the air and anything but commanding. He won less than 50% of his aerial duels last season, and that's regressed even more this season with a 40% win rate. The's so-so on the ball and doesn't really progress the ball well via the pass, and physically he's been worked over on a number off occasions. His decision making is also a mixed bag. Again, all this was fairly well covered in a back there but in a four his limitations are exposed more. Either way, he's not good enough to command anything than a fringe role. 

That may be true, but it's also not a reason IMO to keep a player like Chalobah around. We'd likely take a pretty decent FFP hit if we tried to sell Badiashile now, similar with Fofana, and Chalobah's quality doesn't make him indispensable. His homegrown status however is pure profit and could potentially help fund two new CB's for example.

Trev is versatile, and it's one of his greater upsides, but it's just not enough. He's barely had minutes in midfield for us, and when he did he was awful. He's been so-so as a fullback, and as a CB he's pretty underwhelming IMO. 

As for Diomande, not seen a whole lot. Just know he joined Sporting last summer from a Danish side, and performed well this season in Portugal. Has a good physical presence, quick, can play out from the back, and is good in the air. About it.

[Mark Kelly]

1 hour ago, Max Fowler said:

I absolutely believe now that the club is just briefing about Osimhen to try and get the supporters excited even though we have no intention in actually signing him

 

 

He'll flop harder than Big Daddy. 

[Max Fowler]

19 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

He'll flop harder than Big Daddy. 

See his goal from this weekend?