Why does it seem like most in this thread want Chelsea to be a poor side? They’re young, very young. This is the reason they are spending money to reinvigorate the squad after the transfer ban.
Personally I think midfield is an area that needs work because the defence and keeper KEEP getting put under pressure when they lose the ball and/or fail to develop any threat on the opposition. In the game tonight they suffered throughout because BM could flood forward, safe in the knowledge there was very little chance of them being a threat. So although the defence and keeper are more noticeable I can't help wondering if they're more a symptom than a cause. Don't get me wrong... our defence DOES need some work but the individual players aren't that bad, (although Caba isn't a serious GK at this level). ATM the defence has the look of a deer in the headlights to my eyes.
I guess the idea is with Havertz/Werner/Ziyech they'll spend more time in the final 3rd and relieve some pressure from the defense. If Tammy could stay onside they might have actually been able to level the score. CHO's strike was great.
Interesting that in the CL Bayern game today Chelsea only made only one sub, which was pretty late (81st minute).
That's not the critique, rather that they're spending a grossly disproportionate amount of their finite resources on their attack when it's not necessarily even an issue but the defense is. They were 3rd in the league in goals, tied for 11th in goals prevented. It's misplaced priorities. And you confuse the assessment that Chelsea has a lot of problems for a big club right now w/ wanting them to fail. It's objective they have a weak defense.
Deep down I wouldn’t mind if they failed. I love Pulisic but feel the opposite about Chelsea. That being said, it is mind blowing that upgrading the defense hasn’t been a priority yet.
I don't think anyone on here want this Chelsea team to be poor. I think most of us just acknowledged that this current Chelsea is poor in multiple areas and a lot of work is needed before they can realistically compete for titles.
Chelsea is not a “weak” top 4 team. Today they were using second and third stringers due to injury, suspension. The defense certainly needs an upgrade but to call Chelsea weak is a joke.
That would only apply against the sides that can't also possess the ball. Most big clubs could still do so while exploiting their leaky defense. And everybody would have a crack on counters like Man U. It doesn't exactly set them up to seriously contend for the league and UCL, which at a club of their ilk is their expectation. When did Liverpool take themselves to the next level finally? When they invested in Van Dijk. City had Fernandinho patrolling for years prior. Chelsea have Kante. But he is weak w/ the ball and often not available. They're weaker at fb, cb, and gk than their competitors in the EPL. W/ the natural growth of a young core in Pulisic, Tammy, Mount, CHO, etc.; they could have been competitive w/ them attack-wise. Certainly could have gotten there already between the additions of Werner & Ziyech. An investment in Havertz is superfluous, bar him being better than all their current players. Even if so, sell a couple so you can spend on d. It's short-sighted gluttony on attack excitement.
Well, there was no other top-10 EPL club gave up as many goals as Chelski. Lester had an 11 point better GD. ManU's +15... And Chelski weren't using "2nd and 3rd stringer" v. BM in the first leg... Chelski were lucky LC tanked to a crappy B'mouth and dropped points to Arse in the dying month. If they can figure out Keeper that will help a bit, but they might not be so fortunate next season.
I would not be shocked if they buy a new GK and at least one defender as well. Chelsea has big pockets and an owner supposedly willing to back the manager. And city has basically set the precedent that FFP doesn’t matter as long as you are an established top club. They’ve sold one key player and the money fountain still flows.
Lol, ManU scored, what, 3 more goals than Chelski on PKs? I mean, I get that fans are fans, but any fan taking an honest look at Chelski GD and GA numbers can't be happy. Or... are happy to go for the bronze.
If Kante plays like last season's Kante, if their keeper even plays average instead of epically badly (may require a new keeper, but not necessarily a break-the-bank keeper), and if they get a new left back and/or an upgrade at one center back, they could put together an average defense for a top six type side. But, they haven't done any of that so far except that at least Kante is healthier, so for now they're settling to have an average to good offense for a top side backed up by a poor defense. Maybe Werner can help the offense to the next level, and Ziyech has a good chance to be a Willian upgrade, but there are a lot of ifs for them to be doing any more than fighting for fourth again.
Lol... Yeah, Bruh. Here's the thing, this is not a Chelski fan page, it's a Pulisic fan page. Which doesn't mean you can't be a Chelski fan, but it does mean it's not only going to be Chelski fans. But again, if Chelski fans think that Chelski's GD and GAs was laudable, Laud on!
Thanks for setting me straight “bruh” Point is, using “chelski” negates the rest of your opinion based on the implied dislike of the club.
I really do not understand the argument that CFC somehow lucked into fourth. what is the point of the table if where you finish somehow implies you didn't deserve to be there because those who finished below you "dropped" more points than you did. Now I do get the argument that the defense is soft, and shipped a boatload of goals this year. I also do not think Frank's tactics are mostly about how to score goals. He needs to learn about the defensive side more and how to set them up for corners FFS. They shipped a bunch of goals off free kicks and corners to the back post. Cut that out and the stupid give aways that lead directly to goals and a big part of the problem goes away. If they don't get some speed in the back and a handle on the midfield, Frank cannot play the hyper-aggressive way he wants to play, without shipping bunches of goals. Realistically they are probably at least another year away from competing for titles. I think they have enough offense to be top four if they can fix the defense in a month, even if they a few more weeks of window. I am really anxious to see what kind of business they do. I would like to see Frank have a better starting hand than he had this year. They have a couple of nice players coming in, but as frustrating Willian could be, he leaves a pretty big pair of shoes to fill. The man saved a few goals this year with his individual hustle and determination to play both sides of the ball.
I'm surprised Sports Illustrated hasn't featured Christian at all on the cover yet. I imagine with his recent performances and exposure, they should have him by the year's end. Dude should be looking over his endorsements and all that. He's building up everything he needs to eventually be on Colbert, Kimmel or host SNL (though he'd only get those opportunities depending on how well he and the NT does in 2022).