I so wanted to start my reply with "But" however you are totally right to lay the audit trail in the way you have for all to see and I appreciate that.
I'll restrict myself to a however, "However" who is responsible for training the Sporting Directors in the art of the job they claim to be fit for and treating the players with the respect they deserve regardless of whether they are part of the plan or not?
Finally and I speak for myself and perhaps others may agree it really is to early to say whether we are top 4 material as a team other than on paper, I will settle for for instead of one good 45 min half and one bad one each game a raising opf the standards so that we see an exceptional 45 mins and a good 45 mins most games.
This is a good piece. Thanks. And I agree with Craige Coren that a business plan that can’t be adjusted in reaction to changing realities, is a bad plan. For me, this has slightly impacted the CF issue - Broja had promise, then had an appalling injury and year out; Toney had his issues and more recently Osimhen and his agent effectively priced him out of elite football! So the market has hardly been awash with the top CF options we want.
On other comments that systematically judge almost every player bought as a downgrade on every player sold, it’s a point of view I don’t share.
Finally - can someone fill me in on the issues discovered and what this presumed transfer ban might be for? I must have missed that episode.
Excellent article - excellent insights. Every business has to adjust and no plan is perfect especially in sport. So much is said about this 4 window plan and strictly holding the organization to that expectation - no wonder we don't get much information from management.
Thanks for reminding everyone about the craziness after the takeover and putting into perspective how the club has evolved since then, there were many mistakes made and many have been corrected, a solid infrastucture is being built within the club, the financial issues are being cleverly dealt with and the project seems to be taking shape I believe we're on the right path and that the results will show in due time. Up the Blues!
Thanks again, as always for your insight and really pleased that you highlighted at the outset that the new ownership had with the Lukaku situation and two CBs leaving on free transfers in Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, because of the failure of the previous regime to renew their deals. I am sure that these impacted us at the outset of the new ownership significantly and also set their mindset to ensure it did not happen again. Added to which that TT had already started getting itchy feet and was not of the same philosophy as the new ownership meant the first six months were a mess all round. I also believe that any business plan needs constant review and adaptation. Therefore just because the vision was for four transfer windows at the outset doesn’t mean that a good business team shouldn’t doubt that to be five or six as things develop/unfold. I think that is exactly what will now happen with majority of the work completed and the need to backfill in one or two positions as you have described being in the focus going forward assuming that we don’t have a transfer band that stops us in our tracks. In that respect from what I understand it is likely that it will commence from next summer so we will have at least one opportunity, to make good in the way you have described thanks for another excellent article
3 GK signed. All average - below average and none of them gets into any top 10 PL team as a starter. Approx 60m spent. This has nothing to do with the previous regime / takeover / sporting directors not being there etc etc. Its the work of people like Ben Roberts and the 2 SDs. All of whom are out of their depth.
CBs - 3 average CBs signed for approx 70m by the SDs. Trev shunted out as unfortunately he is from Cobham and they needed to cover their expensive mistakes. Trev suits Meresca style of football more then Disasi or BB. But selling them two would make the SDs look bad. Once again the footballing side is compromised for self preservation / protection.
Midfield - one of the most expensive midfields. All of them signed under the SDs and while individually they might be good players ... their profiles do not complement each other well enough. They lack athleticism and goals. Enzo poor defensively and cant run. Caicedo is no Kante but has to do the work of 2 midfielders. Lavia keeps getting injured. After these three there is no depth at all! Drewsbury Hall is the Drinkwater equivalent of this ownership. Horribly out of depth and nowhere near as good as Connor. Should have spent the money on Onana, Palahina kind of profile instead.
Attack: Total spent under these SDs is > 200m for the wingers (excluding Nkunku) and they have only 1 success to show for it which is Palmer. None of our wingers are good at tracking back or good off the ball. That much money would have got you better wingers / attackers who would have been difference makers for us. With a midfield like ours plus attackers who are poor - avg out of possession... its a recipe for disaster.
Striker - Jackson is fine but we still dont have any decent rotation option or an upgrade on him.
Exlude the window under Boehly and we have spent approx 1bn GBP and we are still not a top 4 team. Title winning teams are built with that sort of money. All of this money has been spent under these SDs. The owners are complicit in this as its their model the SDs are following. They have turned the club into a player trading platform rather then prioritising football and on field success.
To cover their expensive mistakes they have sold the hotel, women's team and training ground to themselves. Their PR briefs are non stop and fans keep falling for it. There is no accountability for their decisions. All this money will have to be repaid as its not their personal money. They are running out of more assets that they can sell.
Some good and compelling arguments here, I respect this completely.
To counter this, I would argue, is it makes a lot of assumptions and judges players who are still developing and not in their prime. Neither Lampard or JT were world class or consistent at the ages of our midfield, for example, or of Levi or even Fofana at the back.
Then we are only two months into learning a new tactical set up which takes time for any squad.
Finally, in 2024 calendar year, a Chelsea are on points the fourth best team in the PL after 21 games played. We were also the fourth best team from GW 8 last season, so the idea this is not a top four squad, doesn’t actually square with result, and points.
the 2024 calendar year includes majority of the games under Poch, a different team and a different playing style... so we cant use this logic to say the team will improve on it. They can but the new playing style can easily negate players like Palmer and they might not have as good a season as last year. I dont rate Meresca but lets see where we are in Dec / Jan. It does not take much to see who has the talent to go to the top and who is average. Players like Disasi, BB, Sanchez, Cucurella, Felix, Tosin are not kids any more and they have been average at best for most of their careers. If you want to give wingers the time thats fair but in his 2 seasons here Mudryk has shown nothing at all yet he was bought for 60m! You dont pay that much for potential alone... you get ready players for that much.
Also no matter how you spin it the club is being run indigenously. Shunting out players for pure profit or in the bomb squad to force them to move is not right no matter who does it. Neither is cosying up to agents like Mendes and Ali Barat. How long will they keep selling assets to themselves to cover their mistakes? You cant use the argument that as they owners are rich and have invested alot of money they wont let the club fail. Look at Venkys, Moshiri, Glazers and so many other examples. Having money and spending money is not the criteria of owners being smart. Football is different from other business.
Well the squad is largely the same, so you'd think those players will continue to improve and perform this year, that's generally the development curve for young players. We've also added quality in the attacking positions as well. I do believe there'll be a transitional period to learn the new tactical set up and philosophy, which we're seeing. Chelsea spent big money on potential, not many of our signings were "ready made" (even Palmer was a risk).
I absolutely don't agree with how some players have been treated, and have said so on this site and and on social media. It's genuinely disgraceful and poor man management, to me.
The club argue they prefer to be honest about a players future. I personally think its important we have a revenue stream which is not reliant on CL football. Conor and Trev should have been kept, in my view, but at the same time, neither are world class players. both would have been squad players Chelsea have pretty much made what they spent back, without selling Trev, I don't believe its simply about "pure profit" and we're far from the only club selling academy talent.
Palmer, Nkunku, Jackson, Enzo, Caicedo, Lavia, Fofana, Gusto, Petrovic, Santos, Paez, Esteavo, Noni certainly aren't wastes of money. Veiga looks a smart investment, even Cucurella is starting to do well. Some of them are too young to judge them a success or not. I still don't understand the Disasi hate, he's been scapegoated for others failures, the data doesn't match people's generalisations on him. Tosin isn't "average", he's started two games, again, impossible to judge.
We overpaid for Caicedo, Enzo and Mudryk, that's fully on the sporting directors and I have been critical of them pretty consistently. Mudryk I wouldn't have signed at all, the other two, I believe are elite talents yet to reach their potential, who people have expected impossible things from immediately purely down to their fee, which they didn't decide. The GK situation, I agree with you completely. They've failed to sign an elite GK.
I believe most of our squad has huge potential and just needs time, I think we will improve with time. We just have to be patient with our young squad.
Spot-on Umair. 4 windows to get a decent keeper and we haven't. Hoping this giant Penders is the answer next season but I have not got a clue what he is like!
CBs - I would have brought in someone like Kilman - bit of experience, knows the Premier League, durable. Feel sorry for Trevoh - better than Badashiele or Disasi. And treated disgracefully by ownership (Conor the same).
Midfield - Enzo is a luxury we cannot afford. He would be great at Man City or Arsenal with Rodri/Rice playing alongside him. Chelsea cannot carry him needs a strong DM - not Lavia. Lavia might have a higher ceiling (when fit) than a host of names but frankly we need a bit of muscle - "Onana, Palahina kind of profile instead" = perfect summation. SDs seem to have just picked their favourite players to buy in - unfortunately, using a chocolate box analogy they are all soft centres (Caceido apart although he is more of an interceptor than a DM). No balance. Like you, don't understand Dewsbury-Hall purchase at all.
Striker. Yes - I like Jackson a lot but he needs someone to rotate with. No doubt they will go with a false 9 at times (they have about four 9/10s to play with). Again, loads of wide players (with more to come next season) but lack of a striker alternative to Jackson is a major worry - he has Afcon as well I think.
To sum up - no GK, no experienced CB, no DM, apart from Jackson no striker, no leaders - basically no spine. It is going to be a roller-coaster ride....................
Dear The Score
I so wanted to start my reply with "But" however you are totally right to lay the audit trail in the way you have for all to see and I appreciate that.
I'll restrict myself to a however, "However" who is responsible for training the Sporting Directors in the art of the job they claim to be fit for and treating the players with the respect they deserve regardless of whether they are part of the plan or not?
Finally and I speak for myself and perhaps others may agree it really is to early to say whether we are top 4 material as a team other than on paper, I will settle for for instead of one good 45 min half and one bad one each game a raising opf the standards so that we see an exceptional 45 mins and a good 45 mins most games.
This is a good piece. Thanks. And I agree with Craige Coren that a business plan that can’t be adjusted in reaction to changing realities, is a bad plan. For me, this has slightly impacted the CF issue - Broja had promise, then had an appalling injury and year out; Toney had his issues and more recently Osimhen and his agent effectively priced him out of elite football! So the market has hardly been awash with the top CF options we want.
On other comments that systematically judge almost every player bought as a downgrade on every player sold, it’s a point of view I don’t share.
Finally - can someone fill me in on the issues discovered and what this presumed transfer ban might be for? I must have missed that episode.
Excellent article - excellent insights. Every business has to adjust and no plan is perfect especially in sport. So much is said about this 4 window plan and strictly holding the organization to that expectation - no wonder we don't get much information from management.
Thanks for reminding everyone about the craziness after the takeover and putting into perspective how the club has evolved since then, there were many mistakes made and many have been corrected, a solid infrastucture is being built within the club, the financial issues are being cleverly dealt with and the project seems to be taking shape I believe we're on the right path and that the results will show in due time. Up the Blues!
Thanks again, as always for your insight and really pleased that you highlighted at the outset that the new ownership had with the Lukaku situation and two CBs leaving on free transfers in Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, because of the failure of the previous regime to renew their deals. I am sure that these impacted us at the outset of the new ownership significantly and also set their mindset to ensure it did not happen again. Added to which that TT had already started getting itchy feet and was not of the same philosophy as the new ownership meant the first six months were a mess all round. I also believe that any business plan needs constant review and adaptation. Therefore just because the vision was for four transfer windows at the outset doesn’t mean that a good business team shouldn’t doubt that to be five or six as things develop/unfold. I think that is exactly what will now happen with majority of the work completed and the need to backfill in one or two positions as you have described being in the focus going forward assuming that we don’t have a transfer band that stops us in our tracks. In that respect from what I understand it is likely that it will commence from next summer so we will have at least one opportunity, to make good in the way you have described thanks for another excellent article
The project:
3 GK signed. All average - below average and none of them gets into any top 10 PL team as a starter. Approx 60m spent. This has nothing to do with the previous regime / takeover / sporting directors not being there etc etc. Its the work of people like Ben Roberts and the 2 SDs. All of whom are out of their depth.
CBs - 3 average CBs signed for approx 70m by the SDs. Trev shunted out as unfortunately he is from Cobham and they needed to cover their expensive mistakes. Trev suits Meresca style of football more then Disasi or BB. But selling them two would make the SDs look bad. Once again the footballing side is compromised for self preservation / protection.
Midfield - one of the most expensive midfields. All of them signed under the SDs and while individually they might be good players ... their profiles do not complement each other well enough. They lack athleticism and goals. Enzo poor defensively and cant run. Caicedo is no Kante but has to do the work of 2 midfielders. Lavia keeps getting injured. After these three there is no depth at all! Drewsbury Hall is the Drinkwater equivalent of this ownership. Horribly out of depth and nowhere near as good as Connor. Should have spent the money on Onana, Palahina kind of profile instead.
Attack: Total spent under these SDs is > 200m for the wingers (excluding Nkunku) and they have only 1 success to show for it which is Palmer. None of our wingers are good at tracking back or good off the ball. That much money would have got you better wingers / attackers who would have been difference makers for us. With a midfield like ours plus attackers who are poor - avg out of possession... its a recipe for disaster.
Striker - Jackson is fine but we still dont have any decent rotation option or an upgrade on him.
Exlude the window under Boehly and we have spent approx 1bn GBP and we are still not a top 4 team. Title winning teams are built with that sort of money. All of this money has been spent under these SDs. The owners are complicit in this as its their model the SDs are following. They have turned the club into a player trading platform rather then prioritising football and on field success.
To cover their expensive mistakes they have sold the hotel, women's team and training ground to themselves. Their PR briefs are non stop and fans keep falling for it. There is no accountability for their decisions. All this money will have to be repaid as its not their personal money. They are running out of more assets that they can sell.
Thanks Umair. I was losing my sanity reading that article.
I couldn’t agree more.
Some good and compelling arguments here, I respect this completely.
To counter this, I would argue, is it makes a lot of assumptions and judges players who are still developing and not in their prime. Neither Lampard or JT were world class or consistent at the ages of our midfield, for example, or of Levi or even Fofana at the back.
Then we are only two months into learning a new tactical set up which takes time for any squad.
Finally, in 2024 calendar year, a Chelsea are on points the fourth best team in the PL after 21 games played. We were also the fourth best team from GW 8 last season, so the idea this is not a top four squad, doesn’t actually square with result, and points.
the 2024 calendar year includes majority of the games under Poch, a different team and a different playing style... so we cant use this logic to say the team will improve on it. They can but the new playing style can easily negate players like Palmer and they might not have as good a season as last year. I dont rate Meresca but lets see where we are in Dec / Jan. It does not take much to see who has the talent to go to the top and who is average. Players like Disasi, BB, Sanchez, Cucurella, Felix, Tosin are not kids any more and they have been average at best for most of their careers. If you want to give wingers the time thats fair but in his 2 seasons here Mudryk has shown nothing at all yet he was bought for 60m! You dont pay that much for potential alone... you get ready players for that much.
Also no matter how you spin it the club is being run indigenously. Shunting out players for pure profit or in the bomb squad to force them to move is not right no matter who does it. Neither is cosying up to agents like Mendes and Ali Barat. How long will they keep selling assets to themselves to cover their mistakes? You cant use the argument that as they owners are rich and have invested alot of money they wont let the club fail. Look at Venkys, Moshiri, Glazers and so many other examples. Having money and spending money is not the criteria of owners being smart. Football is different from other business.
Well the squad is largely the same, so you'd think those players will continue to improve and perform this year, that's generally the development curve for young players. We've also added quality in the attacking positions as well. I do believe there'll be a transitional period to learn the new tactical set up and philosophy, which we're seeing. Chelsea spent big money on potential, not many of our signings were "ready made" (even Palmer was a risk).
I absolutely don't agree with how some players have been treated, and have said so on this site and and on social media. It's genuinely disgraceful and poor man management, to me.
The club argue they prefer to be honest about a players future. I personally think its important we have a revenue stream which is not reliant on CL football. Conor and Trev should have been kept, in my view, but at the same time, neither are world class players. both would have been squad players Chelsea have pretty much made what they spent back, without selling Trev, I don't believe its simply about "pure profit" and we're far from the only club selling academy talent.
Palmer, Nkunku, Jackson, Enzo, Caicedo, Lavia, Fofana, Gusto, Petrovic, Santos, Paez, Esteavo, Noni certainly aren't wastes of money. Veiga looks a smart investment, even Cucurella is starting to do well. Some of them are too young to judge them a success or not. I still don't understand the Disasi hate, he's been scapegoated for others failures, the data doesn't match people's generalisations on him. Tosin isn't "average", he's started two games, again, impossible to judge.
We overpaid for Caicedo, Enzo and Mudryk, that's fully on the sporting directors and I have been critical of them pretty consistently. Mudryk I wouldn't have signed at all, the other two, I believe are elite talents yet to reach their potential, who people have expected impossible things from immediately purely down to their fee, which they didn't decide. The GK situation, I agree with you completely. They've failed to sign an elite GK.
I believe most of our squad has huge potential and just needs time, I think we will improve with time. We just have to be patient with our young squad.
Umair, if that was the prosecution, for a charge of gross negligence by Clearlake. On how
to waste money & not build a title winning squad at Chelsea Football Club
Then that is a superbly written piece.
haha.. thanks!
I'm sick of them!
Not signing Oshimen OR Toney has finished me with the Owners!.
I still can't believe it!🤣🤣
Spot-on Umair. 4 windows to get a decent keeper and we haven't. Hoping this giant Penders is the answer next season but I have not got a clue what he is like!
CBs - I would have brought in someone like Kilman - bit of experience, knows the Premier League, durable. Feel sorry for Trevoh - better than Badashiele or Disasi. And treated disgracefully by ownership (Conor the same).
Midfield - Enzo is a luxury we cannot afford. He would be great at Man City or Arsenal with Rodri/Rice playing alongside him. Chelsea cannot carry him needs a strong DM - not Lavia. Lavia might have a higher ceiling (when fit) than a host of names but frankly we need a bit of muscle - "Onana, Palahina kind of profile instead" = perfect summation. SDs seem to have just picked their favourite players to buy in - unfortunately, using a chocolate box analogy they are all soft centres (Caceido apart although he is more of an interceptor than a DM). No balance. Like you, don't understand Dewsbury-Hall purchase at all.
Striker. Yes - I like Jackson a lot but he needs someone to rotate with. No doubt they will go with a false 9 at times (they have about four 9/10s to play with). Again, loads of wide players (with more to come next season) but lack of a striker alternative to Jackson is a major worry - he has Afcon as well I think.
To sum up - no GK, no experienced CB, no DM, apart from Jackson no striker, no leaders - basically no spine. It is going to be a roller-coaster ride....................
yep, totally agree with you!
Agree 100 %
Jon your last 4 lines sum up Clearlake.
Over a Billion spent and a squad with holes all over it.
Prepare to feel a lot more pain this year.