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Chelsea 2017-2018

Nick.O

By Nick.O
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Biscuits And Groovy

Biscuits And Groovy 21

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Posted

2 more weeks before we take that title after beating the rags.

Seriously though, I'm worried Conte won't work too hard towards top-4 knowing he won't be managing the team next season. Bad management in the transfer market cost Chelsea this season. Kind of feel for Conte because it was clear from the start of the summer window that the Chelsea front office wasn't giving him their full support. 

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Nick.O

Nick.O 0

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1 minute ago, Biscuits And Groovy said:

2 more weeks before we take that title after beating the rags.

Seriously though, I'm worried Conte won't work too hard towards top-4 knowing he won't be managing the team next season. Bad management in the transfer market cost Chelsea this season. Kind of feel for Conte because it was clear from the start of the summer window that the Chelsea front office wasn't giving him their full support. 

Chelsea’s net spend the last two years is something like £50 million. Roman has cut off the well until the stadium is built, I’d guess. Conte never had a chance with Pep and Jose spending what they have. Now I’m worried about holding onto Hazard and Coutois, although both have played poorly this season. 

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Biscuits And Groovy

Biscuits And Groovy 21

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I think both are gone, but even with the stadium being built Chelsea spent really poorly. Their transfer targets weren't the right ones IMO. Should have gone for a more pivot style static DM to pair with Kante instead of Bakayoko. Bakayoko is too keen to make runs forward and it opens up massive holes in midfield. It's a big reason Conte's been forcing the 3-5-2 this season instead of staying with the 3-4-3.

Edited by Biscuits And Groovy
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RichUT

RichUT 1832

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They need to go ahead and sell off Courtois and Hazard. Both guys seem destined to leave for bigger clubs anyway, and it’s hard to blame them for wanting to stick by a club that’s as poorly run as Chelsea.

I’d love to say that they could reinvest those dollars into a whole new core of the club, but the board will probably pocket profit or piss it away on the wrong players.

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MoJames

MoJames 8244

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RichUT this is for you.

 

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I am sure some of the users here would be familiar with my username so if you simply disagree with me because of my username would you please just leave for better discussion

So, our season is basically over now. With 7 games to go it would be a miracle to overcome the 8 point deficit. A top 4 less season without a CL title would only be a failure to a club like Chelsea. Our season is a complete mess in nearly every aspect, from the management to the pitch performance. Although people may argue that this is Conte's fault and I do agree he needs to be responsible for certain performance, looking at the picture in a macro way we can see the bigger issue is our board (and Roman).

Tbh this is not the first time since Roman era we have a terrible and forgettable season right after a successful one. Actually, besides 2005-2006 season, we dont really have a good or respectful season after a title victory year. 2007-08 season we have the 'omelette theory'from Jose Mourinho. To 2010-11 season we panic buy Torres and Luiz in the winter window because of a terrible first half season. To 2015-16 complete collaspe and this year the 2017-18 season, we can see a similar pattern from our board (or our transfer policy) is our failure to build on recent success.

In 2007-08 season, after 2 league titles in 3 years and 6 different trophies in 3 years, we only bought Malouda with 15m at summer, with several garbages like Sidwell, Ben-Haim, Pizarro and Borini as reinforment. This leads to the 'omelette theory' from Jose and his departure from the club. We lost the league in a and CL and had a trophyless season.

In 2010-11 season, after we won the double in previous year. We only bought Ramires as our reinforcement and at 5th Jan 2011 we are 5th at the table and then we panic buy Torres and Luiz to hope to save our season and top4 finish. Although we successfully did that and secure top4, this is another trophyless season.

2015-16, after winning 2 titles in the previous year, we bought Baba Rahman (who still cant play any games despite this is our 3rd manager since his arrival), and pedro (who were bought at 20th of Aug after our slow start of the season) and our legend Papy Djilobodji and Hector when Jose is crying out for a better center back. We also only loan in Falcao who was completely useless as a player and we have a disaster season.

This year, after a title winning season from last year, we once again panic buy at the last second of the transfer window and completely disregard the need of gelling the squad with more training time. We also spend less than clubs like Watford and Huddersfield in NET TRANSFER (we knew Costa is leaving 100% at the moment). We also panic buys some very average players like DrinkWater and ZappaCosta. We play cheap on Lukaku who already scored 26 goals this season for United and purchase a potential flop Morata, who clearly doesnt suit our playstyle for 10+ years, who scores 13 goals only this season despite being our main striker option.

From all those history I just wanna state that our board needs to be responsible for the club current status. Our club inability to build on recent success, being cheap at the transfer window and treating managers like toilet paper is the biggest reason why we are at this situation. In addition, the board is extremely irresponsible to the Chelsea fans with their transfer policies. I understand we have a stadium need to build, I understand we cannot outbid clubs like PSG, but does it mean we can spend less than clubs like WATFORD?

Even Arsenal at banter era Arsene Wenger had the balls to say 'we cannot compete with other clubs NOW, because of our stadium loans. We hope the fans can understand that.' But Chelsea board just treat us like idiots. On one hand they claim they want to win titles for every year (and also had that expectations on the managers), but their transfer policies and input is completely unacceptable as a big club and a club with ambition. How can we expect world class players like Hazard, Courtois, Kante to trust an useless, irresposnbile board like ours to build a team that can compete year in year out? I believe we need a major revamp in our board and more input from Roman to the transfer and put more people with proper football knowledge and understand the expectations from the fans in the board and expell people who only care about money like Marina.

TL;DR: our board is the main reason we are having the same disaster season over and over again after a good season, and something needs to be changed and it start from Roman and our board members.

 

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TexArcher

TexArcher 37770

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Chelsea have dominated for 72 minutes.  Should have 3 or 4 goals on the board.  Instead, one defensive lapse allows Chicharito to make it 1-1, and we're on the verge of a home draw against one of the worst road teams in the EPL.

I'm not even sure why I'm watching.

Edited by TexArcher
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RichUT

RichUT 1832

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Morata is such a waste. He’s neither strong nor fast. His runs are decent but he lacks the physical traits needed to win battles against defenders. When his head is right, he’s a decent finisher but that’s the nicest thing I can say about him.

Losing Lukaku and settling for Morata combined with the decision to buy Bakayoko as a replacement for Matic are two of the largest mistakes that tanked our season.

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G650

G650 14244

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11 minutes ago, TexArcher said:

Chelsea have dominated for 72 minutes.  Should have 3 or 4 goals on the board.  Instead, one defensive lapse allows Chicharito to make it 1-1, and we're on the verge of a home draw against one of the worst road teams in the EPL.

I'm not even sure why I'm watching.

I'm vaguely following on twitter

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MoJames

MoJames 8244

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Kante, Dave and Christensen are the only two I'm interested in keeping, burn the rest down

Hazard looked like hot garbage

Morata is described well per Rich

Cesc and Willian are past it

Moses adds nothing

Alonzo is getting exposed defensively

Cahill assisted their goal

Rudiger can stay if he can learn to stop with the aggressive tackles

Emerson, Odoi, Drinkwater, Barkley and Sterling should get minutes so we can see what we have in them for the rest of the season

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RichUT

RichUT 1832

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When our good news is that our rich club was able to save $500k on a teenager, well......things are pretty bad.

 

I would love to let myself get excited about Ampadu, but I am just going to assume we never end up playing him and turn him for a profit in ~3 years like we seem to do with nearly every other young promising player in our system.  Hopefully he ends up being another Christensen type of exception.  

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MoJames

MoJames 8244

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Article about recent formation changes.

https://theprideoflondon.com/2018/04/24/chelsea-antonio-conte-new-tactics-roles/

 

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Chelsea: Antonio Conte’s new tactics and roles hint at his intent for 2018/19

Antonio Conte used the last three games to introduce new tactics, formations and roles en route to three Chelsea wins. He is acting like a manager preparing for another year at Stamford Bridge.


Antonio Conte’s critics often argue that, after revolutionizing the Premier League with the 3-4-3 last season, he never followed up on that innovation. His changes to the 3-4-3 this season were subtle at best, repetitive at worst. A false-nine here, Pedro a bit deeper there. Cesar Azpilicueta pushing a bit higher towards wing-back, Marcos Alonso coming central while Chelsea set up their offence. None were as dramatic – in form or impact – as the 3-4-3 in October 2016.

Over Chelsea’s last three games, Antonio Conte has made his most significant changes since the original 3-4-3. He has introduced new formations – both mid-game and from the start – and new roles for players in existing formations.


Conte responded to going down 2-0 at Southampton with an immediate double substitution, which reshaped Chelsea into a 4-2-3-1. Davide Zappacosta came off, and the remaining four defenders all shifted one place to the right along the defensive line. Marcos Alonso became a left back and Cesar Azpilicueta became a right-back. Pedro came on for Zappacosta, joining Eden Hazard and Willian to form a three-man retaining wall of wingers. Within 20 minutes, the Blues were up 3-2.

In the next game against Burnley, Conte finally played the formation that defined his time at Juventus: 3-5-2 with two true strikers. Olivier Giroud and Alvaro Morata gave a commanding performance, showing the gulf between a 3-5-2 with Eden Hazard as a shadow striker and a “real” 3-5-2.


Against Southampton in the FA Cup semi-final, Conte once again broke his pattern. First, he stayed with Willy Caballero in net and Eduardo on the bench. Last season, Asmir Begovic only made it as far as Wolves in the fifth round. The stakes around the FA Cup are much higher this season, but Conte is trusting his back-up keeper further along the competition. Admittedly, this could be about the quality of Chelsea’s opponents: last season they faced Manchester United and Tottenham in these stages, whereas this season they played Leicester and Southampton.

Second, Antonio Conte made a bold and unpopular substitution to enact a formation shift and protect the lead against Southampton. He withdrew Willian, who had barely put a foot wrong all game and is still the club’s most consistent forward. Tiemoue Bakayoko came on to bolster the midfield in a 3-5-2. Twelve minutes later, Pedro came on for Cesc Fabregas, maintaining the 3-5-2 but giving it more press.

This three-game series of changes contradicts one common narrative and calls into question another. Conte’s detractors charge him with being rigid and uncreative. After binning everything to start anew with players like Marcos Alonso in the 3-4-3, they say, Conte is now out of ideas and sends out the same XI to do the same thing every week, even as results go the wrong way. His approach to Barcelona and Manchester City reinforced this impression of fatal sclerosis. But here he is, still introducing new ideas for his players and tactics in match-week 34.

Conte is also not acting like a man counting down his final matches in charge. Managers on the plank tend to take one of two approaches: coasting with what works because why bother changing, or throwing as many kids on the pitch as possible because who cares. Instead, Conte is making the kind of changes that have an eye to the future. He is still trying to find the right suit for the club, and the right suit for the individual players. If Antonio Conte knew he was one month away from the sack, why would he care about transitioning an aging Pedro into a new, perhaps more appropriate role? Why would he dabble in four-man defences and dual-striker attacks, unless he was bracing himself for another summer with limited transfer activity and high expectations?

The two narratives overlap in the timing of Conte’s changes. Conte waited to introduce them until after Chelsea bowed out of the Champions League and were a distant hope for fourth place.

This timing shows his risk-reward calculation more than risk aversion. He assessed Chelsea had a greater chance for success in both competitions under the earlier formations. Chelsea would have had a higher chance of losing in a new formation against those top sides. They may have lost with more flair and excitement, but Conte is not interested in losing beautifully or with style. He gave Chelsea their best chance to win, and they lost ugly. Had they won, it too would have been ugly. A win is a win and a loss is a loss. Football is the one realm where Italians may ignore aesthetics.


The Blues have less to lose now, but not nothing. They still have the FA Cup and fourth-place is still a possibility. If anyone can engineer a late season run, it is Antonio Conte. If anyone can engineer a late season collapse, it is Tottenham Hotspur. The risk and rewards are both less than they were in February and March, but they are more balanced in Antonio Conte’s eyes.

Perhaps – despite eight months of rumours to the contrary – Antonio Conte will be at Chelsea next year. He is too proud to quit, and would not want to surrender his £9 million pay-out by doing so. Chelsea may be realizing there are no better replacements on the market, particularly when any replacement would cost them that £9 million pay-out on top of the new wages.


Antonio Conte is acting like a manager who not only cares about the remaining month of football, but the remaining 13 months of his current contract. That alone breaks the narrative that he cares about nothing much at Stamford Bridge.

 

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G650

G650 14244

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On 4/22/2018 at 4:27 PM, RichUT said:

Giroud has been playing his ass off. He definitely deserves to keep starting over Morata.

FA cup final vs Mou. The press will be entertaining if nothing else.

I was in a pub Saturday, and thought for sure Tottenham was going to win. Step out to the curb to drink a pint, and hear a roar from inside. Look at the score. Die a little inside.

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MoJames

MoJames 8244

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Sarri heating up. From WAGNH

 

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Front page news in Italy this morning, right next to all the Champions League drama between AS Roma and Liverpool at the Stadio Olympico last night, is yet another blurb about Chelsea’s interest in Napoli head coach Maurizio Sarri.

And this one goes a step further than most until now, specifically talking up Chelsea’s willingness to pay Sarri’s €8m release clause (plus €500k early termination penalty), which expires at the end of this month.

 

📸🇮🇹📰

Front page of Gazzetta reports that Chelsea may pay Sarri's €8m release clause. His staff is learning English.

 
 

The article itself is not yet online, but Football Italia have relayed the rest of it, which also claims that not only have Chelsea’s “intermediaries” met with Sarri’s agent, but the coach has instructed “some of his staff” to begin learning English. Sarri himself already speaks or at least understands English, apparently, so at least we’re good to go there.

Whether Sarri would actually push for this move remains unclear. As per a report yesterday, he remains very much focused on the last three games of the season even if the Scudetto is now basically gone after last weekend’s shambolic 3-0 loss to mid-table Fiorentina. Napoli trail Juventus by four points. He also remains discussions with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis over a contract extension, with his demands (€4m per year) and the owner’s offer (€3.5m per year) not all that far apart. Sarri is also “demanding” some transfer spending, which is a bit ironic given that he’s not supposed to be as hung up on that as, say, Antonio Conte. But perhaps all managers are the same in the end in some respects.

A few recent reports have struck a slightly different tone however as wekk, implying that perhaps it’s a good time for both Sarri and Napoli to move on. The 59-year-old’s three-year tenure in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius has brought a fair amount of acclaim but no actual trophies (a constant theme of Sarri’s long journeyman career), and possibly it’s time for a bit of a minor ‘rivoluzione’, with the likes of Koulibaly, Jorginho, and Mertens also on the way out for big money.

With Arsenal sensationally linked with Jürgen Klopp’s assistant this week, Chelsea remain at the top of the Sarri narrative and Sarri remains at the top of Chelsea’s list, as far as we can tell. That is only if Conte is to leave, which we remain hopeful isn’t a foregone conclusion.

 

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