Chelsea 2022-2023: America... fuck yeah?

[MoJames 8244]

I think it's way to fucking early to be saying anything about the season. We are 3 games in. Leeds is a good team that will tail off as the season progresses because of how they play. We will be fine.

On an aside, we are apparently close to buying Auba from Barca for 20-30m Euros. This in essence will allow Barca to register Kounde. I hope hope hope, we step away from this at the last minute to fuck Barca. I doubt we will, but how fun would it be to drag out these talks only to walk away at the end with Barca unable to register a player we were after.

[ztejas 43425]

1 hour ago, TexArcher said:

Devil's advocate: had we not been ass fucked out of two points against Spurs, would we be freaking out?  Leeds might be a top-half-of-the-table side and it was a road match.  Tuchel won a Champions League and went deep in another.  We were in both domestic cup finals last year and finished 3rd and we had roster issues then, too.  If we had 6 points on the table instead of 4 right now, would anyone be questioning Tuchel?

I'm not making a statement here.  But these seem like fair questions?

We got unlucky against Tottenham but we also needed a pen to beat a shitass Everton team. Leeds is scrappy but we shouldn't be losing 3-0 to them regardless of who's playing in the midfield. 

And I'm not basing my current impressions on results, anyway. It's mainly looking at the roster and moves we're making and watching these guys play together. I don't think it's going to fix itself and I'm concerned that TT has taken it in some weird direction that's going to be difficult to reset and back out of. 

Let's see where the end of the window leaves us. Just not sure we're moving in the right direction after having a really promising start to last season. 

[MoJames 8244]

Love it. Champions League Draw. Very winnable group with some good historical teams and minimal travel.

[Doug E. Fresh 452]

7 hours ago, MoJames said:

Love it. Champions League Draw. Very winnable group with some good historical teams and minimal travel.

Very reasonable. Carabao Cup away at Man City on 8 November is not so pretty. But clearly a much lesser cup.

[MoJames 8244]

14 hours ago, Doug E. Fresh said:

Very reasonable. Carabao Cup away at Man City on 8 November is not so pretty. But clearly a much lesser cup.

Yeah I almost hope we drop out of the Carabao at that point.

Looks like we are going to eventually get Fofana.

 

[MoJames 8244]

Also we are after another young talent but he currently has Russian citizenship. Interesting ask of someone, but certainly with the current situations, makes sense.

[ztejas 43425]

2 hours ago, MoJames said:

Yeah I almost hope we drop out of the Carabao at that point.

This is my thought too. Going deep(ish) in every competition last season took it's toll. 

[MoJames 8244]

 

 

[TexArcher 37774]

On 8/25/2022 at 11:59 AM, MoJames said:

Love it. Champions League Draw. Very winnable group with some good historical teams and minimal travel.

I mean, this is amazing.

[TexArcher 37774]

Need a multiple-goal 3 points today, please.

[Horny Bull 2759]

That was fucking dreadful from Cucurella.

[TexArcher 37774]

Well, that's one way to make an impression, Conor.  God dammit.

[APMP 688]

Gotta be smarter than that.

[TexArcher 37774]

Announcers typically fucking ridiculous.  A clear penalty earlier and now a clear yellow card foul by Leicester are nothing that should've even been called.  Sure, Jan.

Edited August 27, 2022 by TexArcher

[Horny Bull 2759]

Good work from Mendy right before half.

[TexArcher 37774]

Fuck yeah, Sterling scores a second and he almost had another!  Amazing effort short-handed by just about everybody.

[Horny Bull 2759]

That was quite nerve wracking at the end.  

[ztejas 43425]

Missed it today. Takeaways? 

[MoJames 8244]

19 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Missed it today. Takeaways? 

LCFC is trash. Gallagher put us down to 10 quickly. Should've been up 2-0 before he went out. Ended up hanging on to 2-1 with Sterling getting a brace.

[ztejas 43425]

8 minutes ago, MoJames said:

LCFC is trash.

Yeah they appear to be in free fall. 

I like Raheem. 

[TexArcher 37774]

Yeah, Leicester is bad at football.  At no point did it feel like Chelsea were playing a man down.  Leicester did put Vardy behind our back line twice, but he shanked them both.  

As for takeaways, we put ourselves in a really bad spot, but fortunately it was against a team so bad that we got away with it.  I don't think there's any other conclusion to draw from this one.  Still a fair amount of question marks.

So...  A pessimist might say that this looks like a 5th or 6th place side.  An optimist might say that we really ought to have 9 points from 4 matches and help is probably coming very soon for the goal scoring threat and the back line, and thus we could finish as high as 3rd.  I think either could be right, and a ceiling of 3rd and a floor of 6th sounds about right.  Maybe we can win a domestic cup trophy or something.

Edited August 27, 2022 by TexArcher

[Horny Bull 2759]

 

[Horny Bull 2759]

 

[MoJames 8244]

So glad to hear this. Dude has been a very nice surprise and I feel could very well hop in if someone gets hurt and be a solid replacement.

[ztejas 43425]

That's just terrible defense. 

[ztejas 43425]

Our midfield is absolute fucking garbage. Jorginho needs to retire. And we're playing Ziyech at RM.

[MoJames 8244]

Really need a Kante v2.0

[ztejas 43425]

Azpi too - but he wasn't even supposed to be on this team tbf. We all know he's way past his prime. 

[MoJames 8244]

Foul on Adams.

Adams kicks ball at Jorginho's face.

Ref says fuck it and calls half.

[ztejas 43425]

And my bad - we're playing Mount at LM - not Ziyech at RM. Like either is the better alternative.

[MoJames 8244]

On a side note, I guess Boehly doesn't give a shit about FFP.

 

[MoJames 8244]

Just saw the highlights, Dave "clearing" that corner for the first goal was just awful.

Second goal, Jorg and RLC offer no defense what so ever in front of the back 3. Just awful.

[ztejas 43425]

2 minutes ago, MoJames said:

Just saw the highlights, Dave "clearing" that corner for the first goal was just awful.

Second goal, Jorg and RLC offer no defense what so ever in front of the back 3. Just awful.

Eh. Handing them a corner wasn't optimal but he was in a dangerous spot. I understand why he did it. 

The main issue was no one within 5 yards of Lavia. I think Mount was supposed to be up there. At least someone in hi vicinity.

[MoJames 8244]

1 minute ago, ztejas said:

Eh. Handing them a corner wasn't optimal but he was in a dangerous spot. I understand why he did it. 

The main issue was no one within 5 yards of Lavia. I think Mount was supposed to be up there. At least someone in hi vicinity.

Nah, first rule of clearing corners is outside and not the top of the box. Watch Dave's reaction. That was poor.

[ztejas 43425]

2 minutes ago, MoJames said:

Nah, first rule of clearing corners is outside and not the top of the box. Watch Dave's reaction. That was poor.

Gotcha. I was talking about a different play. 

[MoJames 8244]

4 v 3 and Kai gets himself offside and then cuts it back to slow the play down, he's just the worst.

Edited August 30, 2022 by MoJames

[MoJames 8244]

And Kai with a header in front of goal and safely clears it over the bar to avoid potentially getting a goal.

Broja about to take over the starting spot.

[Horny Bull 2759]

That was pitiful. 

[MoJames 8244]

Going to be a long long season.

[ztejas 43425]

No one seems to know what they're doing and everyone is pressing because they're either worried about PT or being transferred or bought over. 

[MoJames 8244]

Ah cool. Not acknowledging the fans that travelled for the game. Smart.

 

[ztejas 43425]

[ztejas 43425]

I don't know if this says more about these two or just everything that is going on around them. 

Maybe it's the terrible fucking haircuts.

[morehornsepower 887]

Fofana in.  ~$75M fee, 7 yr contract.

 

https://www.espn.com/soccer/soccer-transfers/story/4716428/chelsea-sign-wesley-fofana-on-seven-year-contract-from-leicester-city

[Doug E. Fresh 452]

Alonso for Auba looks to be happening. Any help we can get up front is needed at this point, although he will be a short term band aid for us.

[MoJames 8244]

23 minutes ago, Doug E. Fresh said:

Alonso for Auba looks to be happening. Any help we can get up front is needed at this point, although he will be a short term band aid for us.

And he will be out for a month or two, so who knows we might not see him until after the world cup.

I can't remember the last time I saw as many names getting thrown around this close to deadline day.

Auba, Gvardiol, Ronnie Edwards, Zaha, Leao, Edson Alvarez, Sangare...

[TexArcher 37774]

23 hours ago, ztejas said:

I don't know if this says more about these two or just everything that is going on around them. 

Maybe it's the terrible fucking haircuts.

That is fucking astonishing.

I still have quite a bit of faith in Mount to regain his form.

And I'm sure Kai will be a good dad or something.

[Firemans4Horn 18048]

1 hour ago, TexArcher said:

That is fucking astonishing.

I still have quite a bit of faith in Mount to regain his form.

And I'm sure Kai will be a good dad or something.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen 2 transfers that I thought would work more perfect for Liverpool than Werner and Havertz (I’m not trash talking, just shocked at how far below their best they’ve been in the prem).  Bundesliga tax is proving real the last couple of years. Can’t believe Havertz hasn’t found that next gear since the CL final. 

[Doug E. Fresh 452]

15 hours ago, MoJames said:

And he will be out for a month or two, so who knows we might not see him until after the world cup.
 

I've heard around 3 weeks so we will see him by the end of this month, hopefully.

[MoJames 8244]

And now Depay wants out of Barca to come to Chelsea. Gonna be a fun day.