- Nov 29, 2004
- 36,269
- 115,402
Something like "Bakayoko is as careless in possession as Kate McCann" or words to that effect.
Pretty awful thing to find funny really.
Bloody hell.
Something like "Bakayoko is as careless in possession as Kate McCann" or words to that effect.
Pretty awful thing to find funny really.
Chelsea will decline now. abramovich isnt getting any richer. The squad is in need of an overhaul, but he cant afford to spend big.
Conte will go. Coutois, Hazard, Willian rumoured to be off. A spanish team will no doubt come in for Pedro. Be a long time before they challenge again.
Rolling out Drinkwater and Barkley week after week.
Chelsea will decline now. abramovich isnt getting any richer. The squad is in need of an overhaul, but he cant afford to spend big.
Conte will go. Coutois, Hazard, Willian rumoured to be off. A spanish team will no doubt come in for Pedro. Be a long time before they challenge again.
Rolling out Drinkwater and Barkley week after week.
I remember when they won the title under Mourinho and people were bracketing him with Henry, etc. He's not even close IMO, he doesn't inspire his teammates like Henry did, he turns it on and off and for all of his quality he goes missing too often.Think Hazard is just as likely to flop at a super club as he is to flourish. His attitude seems terrible and he's very talented but a real fair weather player.
With or without CL football, £250k a week soon eases any disappointment and this alone will keep players like Hazard etc.. We couldn't pay top dollar and that coupled with no CL football made it very difficult to keep the likes of Berba, Modric and Bale.That's a bit optimistic. For all the talk about Abramovic not backing Conte, he's given him a huge amount to spend this season. His problem has been that he's spent it very badly. Stolen from Twitter:
Morata £60M
Bakayoko £36M
Drinkwater £35M
Rudiger £31.5M
Zappacosta £22.5M
Emerson £18M
Giroud £18m
Barkley £15M
Just the £236 Million.
What I would love to see happen though is a more focused media campaign to turn Hazard and co's heads like there was with Modric/Bale/Berbatov etc. When we weren't finishing in the Champions League spots, all the talk was about how players of that quality "deserved" or "had to be playing" Champions League football. Remember it was Chelsea who turned Modric's head in the first place. So let's get on with this now:
Barring a dramatic turnaround, Chelsea will fail to qualify for the Champions League for the second time in three seasons. Hazard joined Chelsea because they were European Champions, but since he's been there they've only made it past the round of 16 once (back in 2014) and as Hazard is now 27, surely he needs to leave for a bigger club to play at the elite level his talents deserve? He is wasting his career with that small club in Fulham.
That's a bit optimistic. For all the talk about Abramovic not backing Conte, he's given him a huge amount to spend this season. His problem has been that he's spent it very badly. Stolen from Twitter:
Morata £60M
Bakayoko £36M
Drinkwater £35M
Rudiger £31.5M
Zappacosta £22.5M
Emerson £18M
Giroud £18m
Barkley £15M
Just the £236 Million.
What I would love to see happen though is a more focused media campaign to turn Hazard and co's heads like there was with Modric/Bale/Berbatov etc. When we weren't finishing in the Champions League spots, all the talk was about how players of that quality "deserved" or "had to be playing" Champions League football. Remember it was Chelsea who turned Modric's head in the first place. So let's get on with this now:
Barring a dramatic turnaround, Chelsea will fail to qualify for the Champions League for the second time in three seasons. Hazard joined Chelsea because they were European Champions, but since he's been there they've only made it past the round of 16 once (back in 2014) and as Hazard is now 27, surely he needs to leave for a bigger club to play at the elite level his talents deserve? He is wasting his career with that small club in Fulham.
Would love to see the media selling off Chelsea's best players. It would be so fun. But something tells me it ain't gonna happen!
I suppose even without CL, if the salary is appealing, Chelsea will still retain/be able to buy some quality.
I reckon maybe they need another season of not making the top four and then if that happened, they'd lose their allure a lot more.
Costa = £57m
Matic = £40m
Ake = £20m
Begovic =£10m
Cuadrado = £17m
Traore = £9m
Atsu = £6m
Chalobah = £5m
Don't forget their ridiculous loan system that generates a tidy net profit.
Make no mistake about it, Abramovich has tightened the budget and you only have to look at some of the questionable outs - Matic, Costa, Luiz, Oscar, etc - to see that he very much has his eye on the profit now as opposed to the free-spending when he first arrived.
Don't forget the hefty pay-off fees they have paid to managers and their team over the years.
Also, some of those players to have come in are a million miles away from the kind of signings they used to make - Drinkwater, Giroud, Zappacosta?? - they used to try target the best, not other cast-offs and limited players.
Something has definitely changed.
Since there's no way that RA can expect simply to splurge £150m and buy the title again, perhaps his Plan B is just to sell up (particularly now that he's sitting on planning permission for the new stadium) and move on?
New owners might even be able to convince an incoming manager that he won't simply be undermined and sacked in another 2 years' time....
The simple fact is that it isn't as easy to buy the EPL or the CL as it used to be.
Isn't Conte's issue that he does not have enough say on the incomings?That's a bit optimistic. For all the talk about Abramovic not backing Conte, he's given him a huge amount to spend this season. His problem has been that he's spent it very badly. Stolen from Twitter:
...but, as Arsenal now see with the likes of Stan Kronke, investors aren't necessarily driven only by the glory of winning. It's still possible to build a good business case around just being an underperforming PL club with an affluent support base.The simple fact is that it isn't as easy to buy the EPL or the CL as it used to be.
Absolutely. He's clearly there to use them as an extra income. Although it does make me laugh when the likes of DT say that Kroenke needs to spend his own money. He's a business man you moron, he's not going to dip into his own money to satisfy your needs....but, as Arsenal now see with the likes of Stan Kronke, investors aren't necessarily driven only by the glory of winning. It's still possible to build a good business case around just being an underperforming PL club with an affluent support base.
That's a bit optimistic. For all the talk about Abramovic not backing Conte, he's given him a huge amount to spend this season. His problem has been that he's spent it very badly. Stolen from Twitter:
Morata £60M
Bakayoko £36M
Drinkwater £35M
Rudiger £31.5M
Zappacosta £22.5M
Emerson £18M
Giroud £18m
Barkley £15M
Just the £236 Million.
What I would love to see happen though is a more focused media campaign to turn Hazard and co's heads like there was with Modric/Bale/Berbatov etc. When we weren't finishing in the Champions League spots, all the talk was about how players of that quality "deserved" or "had to be playing" Champions League football. Remember it was Chelsea who turned Modric's head in the first place. So let's get on with this now:
Barring a dramatic turnaround, Chelsea will fail to qualify for the Champions League for the second time in three seasons. Hazard joined Chelsea because they were European Champions, but since he's been there they've only made it past the round of 16 once (back in 2014) and as Hazard is now 27, surely he needs to leave for a bigger club to play at the elite level his talents deserve? He is wasting his career with that small club in Fulham.
With or without CL football, £250k a week soon eases any disappointment and this alone will keep players like Hazard etc.. We couldn't pay top dollar and that coupled with no CL football made it very difficult to keep the likes of Berba, Modric and Bale.