Chelsea’s Crystal Ball

[mike412]

For the mental sake of our great Chelsea fan, I hope the rest of his favorite club’s transfer window dealings go better than these appear to be going:



For those not closely following the transfer window:

(1) Kounde, the prized Sevilla CB, rejected an offer from Chelsea and has agreed to personal terms with Barcelona. The announcement of the deal reportedly is being delayed so Sevilla can prepare its fans for the shock of losing their top defender to a La Liga rival. I’m not certain that a “Well, at least we didn’t sell him to Real Bettis” is going to work. From Chelsea’s perspective, signing Koulibaly is not a bad consolation prize.

(2) Lewandowski had told Bayern not to try to make a deal with any club other than Barcelona. He rejected proposed deals with C and others. He also has agreed to contract terms with Barcelona, which is in the process of selling another 15% of its television rights to be able to sign him, and

(3) Rapinha, whose deal with Barcelona already was announced but the sale of the television rights will enable them to register him and Lewandowski, and

(4) Dembele, who apparently Chelsea can’t get. This one I’m not so confident in because he has been all over the place, but the man who Rapinha was supposed to replace now apparently will be fighting Rapinha for the RW position.

(5) That leaves Alonso and Azpilicueta. Frankly, I don’t want Alonso, so I hope Chelsea does play hardball with him. They reportedly insist on $7 Million for Azpilicueta, which Barcelona won’t pay. So this will be a case of who blinks first. I am neutral on signing him so I don’t care.

I will say that if in April someone had told me that Barcelona’s two-deep front line for 2022-2023 would be LW: Fati, F. Torres; CF: Lewandowski, Aubermeyong; RW: Dembele, Rapinha, I would have recommended they see a psychiatrist.

Personally, I don’t understand Lewandowski’s fascination with Barca. I don’t think it’s offense is set up to maximize his goal scoring. The last CF I remember leading Barcelona in scoring was Hristo Stoichkov in the 1990s. Ibrahimovich’s stint at Barca was a disaster. E’to and Suarez were good, but outscored by their wingers, Henry, Messi and Neymar. But, I assume Xavi will tinker with it a bit.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

For the mental sake of our great Chelsea fan, I hope the rest of his favorite club’s transfer window dealings go better than these appear to be going:

View embedded media

For those not closely following the transfer window:

(1) Kounde, the prized Sevilla CB, rejected an offer from Chelsea and has agreed to personal terms with Barcelona. The announcement of the deal reportedly is being delayed so Sevilla can prepare its fans for the shock of losing their top defender to a La Liga rival. I’m not certain that a “Well, at least we didn’t sell him to Real Bettis” is going to work. From Chelsea’s perspective, signing Koulibaly is not a bad consolation prize.


(2) Lewandowski had told Bayern not to try to make a deal with any club other than Barcelona. He rejected proposed deals with C and others. He also has agreed to contract terms with Barcelona, which is in the process of selling another 15% of its television rights to be able to sign him, and

(3) Rapinha, whose deal with Barcelona already was announced but the sale of the television rights will enable them to register him and Lewandowski, and

(4) Dembele, who apparently Chelsea can’t get. This one I’m not so confident in because he has been all over the place, but the man who Rapinha was supposed to replace now apparently will be fighting Rapinha for the RW position.

(5) That leaves Alonso and Azpilicueta. Frankly, I don’t want Alonso, so I hope Chelsea does play hardball with him. They reportedly insist on $7 Million for Azpilicueta, which Barcelona won’t pay. So this will be a case of who blinks first. I am neutral on signing him so I don’t care.

I will say that if in April someone had told me that Barcelona’s two-deep front line for 2022-2023 would be LW: Fati, F. Torres; CF: Lewandowski, Aubermeyong; RW: Dembele, Rapinha, I would have recommended they see a psychiatrist.

Personally, I don’t understand Lewandowski’s fascination with Barca. I don’t think it’s offense is set up to maximize his goal scoring. The last CF I remember leading Barcelona in scoring was Hristo Stoichkov in the 1990s. Ibrahimovich’s stint at Barca was a disaster. E’to and Suarez were good, but outscored by their wingers, Henry, Messi and Neymar. But, I assume Xavi will tinker with it a bit.

I don’t think most of that is accurate. Gotta love twitter fan accounts, huh?? I follow things very closely and while I’m amazed how interlinked every single coming and going at Chelsea is with Barcelona , the above stuff isn’t 100% accurate.

1) Kounde- this was a player that was a priority under the old Chelsea regime. On a few occasions it seemed like Kounde to Chelsea was a mere formality but Marina Granavskaia at Chelsea couldn’t get Sevilla to drop demands. Kounde has been very frustrated because he agreed to personal terms with Chelsea and thought he’d be at Chelsea months ago but a deal could never get done with a fee that satisfied Sevilla. The Chelsea sale put a hold on things and now with Boehly in charge and Marina gone, Kounde interest from Chelsea cooled because he was never a priority for Tuchel. Tuchel wanted Koulibaly, Ake, and Kimpembe. He wants more height. Barcelona asked Koulibaly to wait for them, but he signed for Chelsea. Ake looked like a done deal to Chelsea as personal terms were agreed on, but now Chelsea won’t meet Man City’s demands for Ake. So with the Ake deal dead and with Kimpembe talks ongoing, it looks like Chelsea might be circling back and talking for Kounde again. Personally for me losing Rudiger stings, but Koulibaly was the best replacement in my eyes so I’m glad we got the deal done quickly.

2) a deal with Barca and Lewandowski was in place since Feb it seems. He was never going anywhere else. Chelsea and PSG were only sniffing around in case Barcelona couldn’t raise the funds. Neither club put in a bid for him. Personally I would have loved to see Lewandowski at Chelsea but it was never going to happen and as I said a few days ago here, I don’t think it would have been a good fit for him personally. He wouldn’t reach goal totals that he did in Bundesliga.

3) Raphinha- boy am I glad Barca got him. His dream was to play for Barcelona, and Chelsea was looking at him to be a winger and a wing back to spell Reece James…so that was likely not something he would have preferred, although he would have come to Chelsea if it wasn’t for Barca stepping in.
And it would have been another winger to compete with Pulisic, and given Raphinha would have been a Tuchel guy, it’s pretty easy to see tuchel would have preferred him over Pulisic.

4) Dembele- another one I’m glad Chelsea never formally made an offer to. I see he had to cut his wages by 50% and crawl back to Barcelona.

5) alonso and Azpilicueta- I think you will have a love/hate relationship with Alonso. He is so good going forward but frustrating defensively. Dude literally has striker skills as a fullback/wingback. But he’s slow recovering and a defensive liability. He’s a better WB than FB. Now that Chillwell is back healthy, alonso is back to 2nd choice again. Azpilicueta will be great for you, as he’s a leader and he’s flexible. I don’t think Chelsea will stand in the way on either. Both are no longer first choice. But I think Chelsea is looking for replacements lined up first before selling. I love them both. But they’re ready to go back home to Spain and I hope they win some trophies at Barcelona.

6) sterling turned down Barca and preferred to stay in the Prem. I believe he’s a London guy, so Chelsea was a perfect fit and was Tuchel’s priority. We shall see how it works out. I was never a huge fan because all I ever see is his poor finishing. But Tuchel seemed to like his advanced stats and the pressure he puts on other teams.

7) so we got Koulibaly to replace Rudiger, and now we need someone to replace Christiansen. Will it be Kimpembe? Could it be Kounde? I don’t know. As long as it’s someone who doesn’t get tummy cramps and have to pull himself from the lineup before kickoff like Christensen was notorious for. I like the guy. He’s a Cobham (Chelsea academy) kid, and he did help us win a champions league so I’ll always root for him. But he needs To fix his ailments.

 

[Duqdave]

As a Chelsea fan myself each of these recaps are 100% accurate

 

[zookeeper2000]

Barcelona may not exist in 20 years if they don’t get their financial mismanagement under control. The new guys blame the old guys (rightly so) and then go right on spending without a care in the world. 🤦‍♂️

 

[mike412]

Barcelona may not exist in 20 years if they don’t get their financial mismanagement under control. The new guys blame the old guys (rightly so) and then go right on spending without a care in the world. 🤦‍♂️

I half agree with you. Financially, the conservative thing for Barca to have done would have been to use as much income as possible to pay down the debt. With the funds they are giving up to third parties, they could have paid it off in a decade.

But, the other side of the coin is what would happen to the team. If they don’t win trophies and don’t play in the Champions League, what is their future? I mean Barca wasn’t a big club until the mid-1970s. The coming of Cruyff marked the emergence of Barcelona. Before that, the biggest clubs in La Liga were Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Valencia, Atletico Madrid and Real Zaragoza.

Real Zaragoza has been in the second division now for years. But in the 1990s, they won a UEFA Cup. Valencia and Bilbao hang around the middle of the first division.

What the new administration has done at Barca is made a conscious effort to sign the best team it can, find short term solutions to the money problems and hope the future sorts itself out. The difference between them and the disastrous reign of Bartomeu is that they are converting assets to cash to balance the books. He just spent money with no accountability.

If they make the Champions League finals, that increases revenues by an estimated $250 Million. You have the largest stadium in Europe filled to capacity for 8 extra games. 93,000 people with the average ticket price of $250 is more than $23 million per match, less the shares to the visitor and League, plus the television income, merchandising, etc.

If they don't do well, it will be a disaster. But, I think they believe that if they took a financially conservative approach, the team would become no more relevant than Valencia now is.

All of these signings are a very big gamble. They can’t afford for any of the big ones not to work out.

I would much rather be in Real Madrid’s position. Last year, they let both of their Central Backs leave, Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varrene. They won the Champions League with their replacements. They never seem to miss a beat. Their signing mistakes, like Hazard, don’t hurt them because they have youngsters who are thrust into the spotlight and become stars. This year, they have had two great signings with Rudiger and the MF from Lille. And, they are financially solvent. Bayern is much the same. If Barca is going to compete with them, it had to do what it’s done. Longterm, it’s got to become as stable financially as they are.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Barcelona may not exist in 20 years if they don’t get their financial mismanagement under control. The new guys blame the old guys (rightly so) and then go right on spending without a care in the world. 🤦‍♂️

Yeah if I were a Barcelona fan, I wouldn’t be too worried about Chelsea right now. Barcelona is still one of the biggest clubs in the world, arguably to some the biggest, so they still have that cache- as evidenced by all these players who desire to play there even though they have these financial worries. It is worrisome that they are spending all this money they don’t have but if they can make a UCL run, they’ll recover some money. What a fun season it will be for their fans, especially now that they found the money to pay Lewandowski.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

But Tuchel seemed to like his advanced stats and the pressure he puts on other teams.

He's the anti-Ronaldo!

 

[Fk_Pitt]

I half agree with you. Financially, the conservative thing for Barca to have done would have been to use as much income as possible to pay down the debt. With the funds they are giving up to third parties, they could have paid it off in a decade.

But, the other side of the coin is what would happen to the team. If they don’t win trophies and don’t play in the Champions League, what is their future? I mean Barca wasn’t a big club until the mid-1970s. The coming of Cruyff marked the emergence of Barcelona. Before that, the biggest clubs in La Liga were Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Valencia, Atletico Madrid and Real Zaragoza.

Real Zaragoza has been in the second division now for years. But in the 1990s, they won a UEFA Cup. Valencia and Bilbao hang around the middle of the first division.

What the new administration has done at Barca is made a conscious effort to sign the best team it can, find short term solutions to the money problems and hope the future sorts itself out. The difference between them and the disastrous reign of Bartomeu is that they are converting assets to cash to balance the books. He just spent money with no accountability.

If they make the Champions League finals, that increases revenues by an estimated $250 Million. You have the largest stadium in Europe filled to capacity for 8 extra games. 93,000 people with the average ticket price of $250 is more than $23 million per match, less the shares to the visitor and League, plus the television income, merchandising, etc.

If they don't do well, it will be a disaster. But, I think they believe that if they took a financially conservative approach, the team would become no more relevant than Valencia now is.

All of these signings are a very big gamble. They can’t afford for any of the big ones not to work out.

I would much rather be in Real Madrid’s position. Last year, they let both of their Central Backs leave, Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varrene. They won the Champions League with their replacements. They never seem to miss a beat. Their signing mistakes, like Hazard, don’t hurt them because they have youngsters who are thrust into the spotlight and become stars. This year, they have had two great signings with Rudiger and the MF from Lille. And, they are financially solvent. Bayern is much the same. If Barca is going to compete with them, it had to do what it’s done. Longterm, it’s got to become as stable financially as they are.

Good post and thanks for the perspective. The midfielder you mentioned is not from Lille, he’s from AS monoco and was a protege of Cecs Fabregas. Tochoumeni was a target of Chelsea’s for a couple years but they weren’t ready to make a move because they had Jorginho and Kante. Fabregas was always working behind the scenes trying to get Tchouchemi and Chelsea to come together. And now that Kante and Jorgi are a year older, it was likely going to happen. the Chelsea ownership issue didn’t allow Chelsea to do business, and that allowed time for Real Madrid to step in. And no one says no to Real Madrid. I think the kids going to be a star, and as much as it hurt losing Rudiger to Madrid, it hurt losing this player to them as well.

 

[Haltomas]

ManU will rise again with or without Ronaldo.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

ManU will rise again with or without Ronaldo.

All the way up to 5th?

 

[Fk_Pitt]

All the way up to 5th?

Gonna be interesting. They are going to be a pressing team again under ten Hag. Where does that leave Ronaldo? No one wants him and he doesn’t look like a fit at United, regardless of what Erik ten Hag says.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Gonna be interesting. They are going to be a pressing team again under ten Hag. Where does that leave Ronaldo? No one wants him and he doesn’t look like a fit at United, regardless of what Erik ten Hag says.

It is going to be interesting. We all know that the rosters can still undergo some pretty significant changes between now and the closing of the transfer window, but right now I see 5th place as their ceiling. They seem clearly behind City, Liverpool and the Tots, and probably behind Chelsea as well. And there are a couple others that could finish ahead of them as well.

For them, it could get worse before it gets better.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

It is going to be interesting. We all know that the rosters can still undergo some pretty significant changes between now and the closing of the transfer window, but right now I see 5th place as their ceiling. They seem clearly behind City, Liverpool and the Tots, and probably behind Chelsea as well. And there are a couple others that could finish ahead of them as well.

For them, it could get worse before it gets better.

Who knows what a new manager will bring. We think they’ll be a mess because they were a mess last season and they can’t really attract new talent because good players want to play in the UCL. But maybe ten Hag changes the culture? I won’t discount them-but yeah, 6th still looks reasonable, especially with what Tottenham and Arsenal have brought in this window.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

ManU will rise again with or without Ronaldo.

Are you a Man U supporter? It is odd that I don’t know of any on these boards. I say it’s odd because outside of this board, I know more Man U supporters than any other club. And they’ve been so well behaved and quiet for the past several years. Of course one guy I know drinks so much red koolaid that he actually thought when Fred signed that he and Pogba were going to win them the Champions league.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Who knows what a new manager will bring. We think they’ll be a mess because they were a mess last season and they can’t really attract new talent because good players want to play in the UCL. But maybe ten Hag changes the culture? I won’t discount them-but yeah, 6th still looks reasonable, especially with what Tottenham and Arsenal have brought in this window.

Well I think that ten Hag will change the culture. But it's going to take some time to do that and it's going to take some time to get the players who can play the game the way he wants to play. Of course if he's good enough he can adapt to the talent he has on hand, but as we have seen in the past with a lot of different managers, that can be easier said than done.

 

[anon_4dfwm2pijbr0a]

Mason Mount just ripped a worldy.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Mason Mount just ripped a worldy.

That was sweet. Intriguing stuff. My guy Gallagher looked solid and even Ethan Ampadu impressed in the back. And Mounts goal came while playing a position I’ve been clamoring for, as a #10 playing underneath the forward with two wingers. Pulisic was on the right and Werner on the left? Is that how they were set up?

 

[anon_4dfwm2pijbr0a]

I didn't watch...or couldn't watch much of it. I didn't get home from work until the 60th minute and the feed on my laptop on espn was terrible. I was able to catch Puli's through ball that was a touch offsides and then that worldy. Then went to bed because I was spent.

 

[anon_d97v9o3a8b6xr]

Gonna be interesting. They are going to be a pressing team again under ten Hag. Where does that leave Ronaldo? No one wants him and he doesn’t look like a fit at United, regardless of what Erik ten Hag says.

I thought I read Haag wasn’t letting Ronaldo go and that he was in the plans for the future.
Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo is not for sale and is very much in the club’s plans for this season, new manager Erik ten Haag said on Monday, insisting he had “very good talks” with the Portuguese.

 

[anon_d97v9o3a8b6xr]

Are you a Man U supporter? It is odd that I don’t know of any on these boards. I say it’s odd because outside of this board, I know more Man U supporters than any other club. And they’ve been so well behaved and quiet for the past several years. Of course one guy I know drinks so much red koolaid that he actually thought when Fred signed that he and Pogba were going to win them the Champions league.

I have been a Man U fan for along time. I don’t even remember when except I think honestly it was just that they were on TV more than any other club besides Bayern and soccer made in Germany show . When my brothers college team went over to England they played Liverpool, Chelsea, and Man U development teams. He brought back a Man U jersey for me that I still have with all my own jerseys. That was in maybe 1989 when he gave me the jersey.

 

[anon_d97v9o3a8b6xr]

Recent news
We are planning the new season with Cristiano Ronaldo and I am looking forward to working with him. I am reading some things, but what I am saying is that Cristiano is not for sale, he is in our plans and we want to achieve success together,” commented the Dutchman.

“I spoke to him before this case came out. We had a good conversation. However, it is between Cristiano and me and all I can say is that we had a good conversation,” he added.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Recent news
We are planning the new season with Cristiano Ronaldo and I am looking forward to working with him. I am reading some things, but what I am saying is that Cristiano is not for sale, he is in our plans and we want to achieve success together,” commented the Dutchman.

“I spoke to him before this case came out. We had a good conversation. However, it is between Cristiano and me and all I can say is that we had a good conversation,” he added.

That’s my point thing. ten Hag says that he wants him, but he has his team pressing. They pressed vs Liverpool and the fan base went bonkers with glee. Ronaldo is not going to press. So he’s a square peg in a round hole.

 

[anon_d97v9o3a8b6xr]

That’s my point thing. ten Hag says that he wants him, but he has his team pressing. They pressed vs Liverpool and the fan base went bonkers with glee. Ronaldo is not going to press. So he’s a square peg in a round hole.

Maybe he’s just saying all the right things while hoping a team decides to approach them with a solid offer.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Maybe he’s just saying all the right things while hoping a team decides to approach them with a solid offer.

I really think that's it. He's worth more if they can convince people that they really want him to stay, and a lot less if everyone knows that they have to move him.

 

[anon_d97v9o3a8b6xr]

I really think that's it. He's worth more if they can convince people that they really want him to stay, and a lot less if everyone knows that they have to move him.

He’s got too big of a price tag, but he can still score 20 plus goals. Somebody needs scoring, but Ronaldo’s shine isn’t like it used to be. At some point teams just stop seeing value. So maybe he heads back to Italy or some struggling team decides to throw money at him forcthe merchandise sales and publicity.

 

[mike412]

So yesterday, Kounde was going to Chelsea after Barca refused to match Chelsea’s latest offer to Sevilla. Barcelona said when arriving in Vegas that the deal was dead and Kounde was going to Chelsea.

Barcelona reportedly turned its attention to two other LA Liga CBs, Inigo Martinez from Athletic Bilbao and Pao Torres from Villareal. Martinez doesn’t excite me because he is 31. But Torres does. He is only 23, is from Barcelona and is excellent in transition from offense to defense. He has been getting more and more time with the Spanish national team. I think he is the best young Spanish CB since Americ Laporte, whose career recently has been marked by injuries. Plus, the 40 Million Euros he would cost is much needed by Villareal, which made the Champions League semis last year with a roster which cost a total of $12 Million.

Now, 24 hours after Kounde to Barcelona was dead, it has been resurrected and reportedly he will sign with Barca tomorrow. Unless Chelsea raises its offer. I like Kounde. I don’t like him as much as Torres though, so I’m hoping Chelsea raises its offer and Barca switches its focus to Torres.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

So yesterday, Kounde was going to Chelsea after Barca refused to match Chelsea’s latest offer to Sevilla. Barcelona said when arriving in Vegas that the deal was dead and Kounde was going to Chelsea.

Barcelona reportedly turned its attention to two other LA Liga CBs, Inigo Martinez from Athletic Bilbao and Pao Torres from Villareal. Martinez doesn’t excite me because he is 31. But Torres does. He is only 23, is from Barcelona and is excellent in transition from offense to defense. He has been getting more and more time with the Spanish national team. I think he is the best young Spanish CB since Americ Laporte, whose career recently has been marked by injuries. Plus, the 40 Million Euros he would cost is much needed by Villareal, which made the Champions League semis last year with a roster which cost a total of $12 Million.

Now, 24 hours after Kounde to Barcelona was dead, it has been resurrected and reportedly he will sign with Barca tomorrow. Unless Chelsea raises its offer. I like Kounde. I don’t like him as much as Torres though, so I’m hoping Chelsea raises its offer and Barca switches its focus to Torres.

Incredible window for Barca. It’s quite a risk mortgaging the future for this window. But we shall see if Xavi can pull together a strong season.

 

[mike412]

Incredible window for Barca. It’s quite a risk mortgaging the future for this window. But we shall see if Xavi can pull together a strong season.

I think it is overkill. Too many forwards. Not enough attention to the biggest needs: Right back, Left back. They did strengthen CB, which was a big need. But, they are paying a lot of money for forwards who aren’t going to spend much time on the pitch barring major injuries.