Essential The Official Football (Soccer) Thread - We are SO back, the Premier League returns!

[Yayo Toure]

Pep don't fukk with Sane no more?

He started in mid week and had a stinker.

He's probably saving him for Shalke.

 

[Kunty McPhuck]

Heat map of the City Chelsea game

Looks like Citeh were playing prison rules

 

[Uchiha God]

 

[The Odum of Ala Igbo]

Life is pain

 

[Kunty McPhuck]

Hazard isn't a killer, hasn't really had to struggle in his life and has always been praised since like forever. Everyone keeps on saying, he could go to another level to what he has been playing at, still waiting.

Sterling has the drive to be better, mainly because of what he has gone thru before he even made his pro debut. And even in his football career, he has always looked to improve and test himself, he isn't afraid to move on to achieve his goals. (QPR>Liverpool>Citeh)

 

[African_brehda]

@Dip @Kunty McPhuck we've got a striker brehs

 

[Kunty McPhuck]

@Dip @Kunty McPhuck we've got a striker brehs

And a playmaking midfielder

 

[African_brehda]

Can't wait for Hazard to go to Madrid for the grand exposal and the white handkerchiefs

 

[African_brehda]

And a playmaking midfielder

Add the pacey LW and watch us win the ucl before Juventus

 

[ciubaca]

im done with coutinho... he s useless

 

[Jean toomer]

so whats next for chelsea?

fire the manager, then make a deep run into fa cup/europa and win it and pretend its all the managers fault

or hire a new manager in the summer win the league with basically the same players and repeat the cycle since the mourinho days



its literally the same ish every other year

they need to hire someone for a long term project, sell the players that are one foot in one foot out(Hazard) and stop buying every young player in europe and actually play them, because this team is pretty much just a bunch of mercenaries no self respect.

The problem is what manager do they bring in? With the boards reputation and abramowiczs money laundering scheme, no sane manager with long term aspirations will take that job. They will only get a mercenary type manager like van gaal for a year or two. Chelsea needs foundational changes that I don’t see in the near future.

 

[Yayo Toure]

Hazard is overrated as hell. He has so many apologists who blame the manager whenever he under performs, but it's clear that he's not a consistent force. He just has periods and flashes of brilliance.

Whoever compared him to Neymar should go do their research.

 

[Kunty McPhuck]

Add the pacey LW and watch us win the ucl before Juventus

I saw the other day, linkage with @Cocaine Biceps as Fatman (Raiola) is his agent.

 

[The Odum of Ala Igbo]

Spoiler

The English

 

[The Odum of Ala Igbo]

This is something I posted about a month ago elsewhere about Chelsea's problems.

Long and short, this comes down to the years of mismanagement by the board. While they have gotten the swapping coaches in and out right, more often than not, the communication between board and coach has failed, on plenty of occasions. And this goes all the way back to when Roman first bought the club. The board have given out so many mix messages over the years of what they want, that they have become a parody of themselves. Must be self sufficient, want to develop players from our academy, wants winning football, but needs to be with style. Still find ways to win and finally gets the style, but abandoned it within 18months. Wants fresh approach with youngsters being developed,doesn't click with the old guards, discarded. And then the rinse of repeat, of buying players the coaches do not want or need. Signing players either for or to tempt Sven. Signing Sheva and Ballack when Mourinho wanted other players in and then the next summer, no money to spend like they had done, but on Bosmans or cheap transfers.

Then the Ancelotti era, won the title in spectacular style with an already aging squad that had been together for a while. He wanted to bring in his own players and freshen things up, given limited funds in the summer window, as the squad was already good enough. Gets Torres last min in Winter window when Ancelotti wanted someone entirely different in a different position and the team fails season in both league and Europe.

Brings in AVB, told he has a blank canvas to do whatever and between his arrogance and the board not supporting him, failed. Di Matteo comes in, pulls off the Miracle of Munich, get transfer funds, the squad get overhauled and experience players leave, but the players fail to gel, they get knocked out of the CL before the group stages end and Di Matteo sacked. Back to Mourinho again, comes back, gets backing to win the title, but the slide in the teams form second half of the season is a concern, Mourinho wants more players in, doesnt get those players and the team falls apart.

Brings in Conte, he wins the title, thinks that gives him credit to bring in his players, to change things, but only a 1 or 2 of his players are bought in and he then goes into a running verbal battle with the board in the media. Then not only do they keep Conte in charge of the team when everything seems to be broken down on all levels, he is waiting to be sacked, the club don't sack him, he is still taking pre season 3-4 week before the season starts, along with the new transfer window shutting early rules coming in. Sarri gets half a pre season to implement his philosophy. And now Pulisic gets bought without the current coaches knowledge.

All in all, it is pretty amazing how Chelsea have continued to win, given the circumstances of the bipolar nature of the board. Yes, their way has been successful, even more so then it should of done, but the long term effects are slowly creeping showing themselves now.