I have a different take about Tuchel's statement. I think he is acknowledging the BIG problem that Chelsea presently faces: They have too many players in need of moves, either desired or because they are being pushed out, and can't move them for one reason or another. Plus, they are not able to complete the tasks (money, contractual benefits, sweet talk) required to secure the necessary new players, again for one reason or another. In other words, Tuchel's statement, "We have the same issues because we have the same players,"is achieved is pretty much correct and not aimed at anyone in particular. The result is that the team is in limbo and will have difficulty moving forward until much greater stability (i.e., more movement toward a final roster that includes new guys accompanied by the departure of some others) . IMHO, Tuchel is not throwing players under the bus. Rather, he's just talking transitional (transfer window) reality which, according to some pundits, can be laid at the feet of Todd Boehly, the transactionally naive new owner.
His full quotes talked about needing more quality players. He said the two he just brought in are quality, but he needs more like them. It can be debated I suppose but I don’t think the two players he just brought in are clearly better than the players he’s had so far at Chelsea. I’m pretty sure the returning players will feel that way as well. It’s an expensive roster so I’d advise the owner to find a manager that is a little more bullish on the players available.
Yes, it’s just preseason. But I’m glad many of you agree that yesterdays loss seemed like a big signal of things to come. I predict Chelsea will finally finish outside the top 4 (and may be lucky to secure Europa). Losing that many in the back line was always gonna cause a problem, and opponents are smelling blood in the water as they circle Chelsea. I think this may be Pulisic’s toughest, ugliest season there yet, and I would be fine if he moved to another team or another league. I still think Serie A would be a nice fit, and I may be too optimistic, but I still think there is a world-beater offensive player in there, if he is lucky enough to find the right coach in the right tactical situation.
I hate the Dodgers and the owner is looking like he’s going to make it easier to hate Chelsea. If that’s possible.
watching RM versus Barca was interesting in that Christensen and Rudy looked just fine and rolled right into place. Let's see Man City get Haaland and he starts clicking with KDB and Grealish - watch out. Chelsea gets Sterling and Koulibaly so far. But the offense looked anemic against Arsenal and the only player gone so far is big Rom. The lack of clicking on offense is on the coach .... subtract Rom and add Raheem and you still should have an idea of how to break down Arsenal .... as a team. They looked sooooooo predictable and slow. That is a system problem not simply we are in pre season and the travel and humidity and heat just sucks. CP repeatedly just took one step forward and looked around and then back passed immediately ... interesting. Rudiger does a 60 yard run and launches a shot from outside the box and puts it off the post. And he smiles afterwards. Tale of two cities. Yes they are paid well but they do need the support of the gaffer. Tommy - Timo is paid alot and should be happy to be at Chelsea. So should you.
If you look at Chelsea last season, they scored a lot more goals in Sept/Oct (6 of 10 league games were 3 goals or more) than they did in March/April/May - and they had a pretty easy run of games to finish out. 1-1 to ManU, 1-0 to Everton, 1-1 Lester, 2-2 Wolves, 2-0 Spurs and 2 v. Pool was probably their best scoring runs in the new year. They really dried up when their wingbacks got hurt.
Chelsea scored 27 goals in the 1,285' Pulisic played, that is one goal every 47.6'. Chelsea scored 49 goals in the 2,135' Pulisic was not on the field, that is one goal every 43.6'. https://www.transfermarkt.us/christian-pulisic/leistungsdaten/spieler/315779/plus/0?saison=2021
Not surprising. CP missed most of the August-Oct games - missing 5 of the 6 3+ goal games I mentioned. He missed both N'wich games (total of 10 goals to Chelski) And missed 5 of the 6 Chillwell games, which were also a bit higher scoring than the rest of the season. For whatever reason (I put it to fixture congestion as well as Chillwell then James going down) Chelsea started with a reasonably potent offense (43 league goals in 20 games Fall 2021) but fell off by spring 2022 (33 in 18 games Spring 2022). How much CP (didn't) contribute vs. rest of squad is hard to say, but it's clear the lost potency in league as the season wore on. They had 23 goals in their first 10 games... which was about their best goal scoring patch (helped by that 7 goal spank of Norwich, of course.)
There's one place that follows the changes in formation in-game (not for all games, but for nearly all in the big leagues): https://www.football-lineups.com/ Unfortunately it's down now, hopefully not for good.
Pulisic's +/- numbers were actually pretty good last season. So maybe they were winning 1-0 with him playing rather than losing 3-2 when he wasn't. Regardless, there is no telling at this point who is and is not a good attacker at Chelsea. Everyone looks worse than they are I think. I'd love for Pulisic to go somewhere else (if Tuchel doesn't) just so I can have a better idea of whether or not he is as remarkably average as he has looked at times during Tuchel's tenure. I'd love to see what he can do on a team where he gets the ball in space, with more balanced player numbers in the final third.
TT wants left sided players. They have few left footers on the roster. Fewer if/when Alonso leaves. Will try Koubaily at LCB but sounds like he wants a true left footer. In defense, he has to be concerned about when Silva starts to play more his age and Saar, in general. https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/thomas-tuchel-chelsea-fc-transfer-plans-b1014426.html
Pulisic is waiting to see if Chelsea will sign new players in his position. He is a player that Tuchel doesn’t consider to be out of the project. He is still part of the project, he is appreciated by the manager. Pulisic wants to feel important.[🌕: @FabrizioRomano] pic.twitter.com/jHrpQ2IpXh— USMNT Otaku 🇺🇸 (@USMNTOtaku) July 25, 2022
I just don’t see how you can make Chelsea more dislike-able. I guess if CP didn’t play there it would be easier not to care
Feels like Werner is much more likely to leave than Pulisic Timo Werner could really leave Chelsea this summer. He's one of the names in Juventus list alongside Allegri's priority Morata - was already discussed during negotiations for de Ligt. 🔵 #CFC @SkySport Chelsea also tried to include Werner loan in talks with Leipzig for Mukiele. pic.twitter.com/MTJr0aYnIy— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 25, 2022