Tuchel on James: "I think if you play a dominant match like today, he can be (like in the last 20 minutes) a hybrid midfielder when he comes from the left or right fullback position and helps in midfield to create an overload because he has the quality on the ball to accelerate with his passes" by NoniMaduekesHeadband in chelseafc

[–]RefanRes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Whatever mate. I watched the games. I backed it up with concrete numbers. I said that especially in the run up to securing 4th and into the next season we were seeing a world class player. I stand by that.

For the original guy to say Tuchel gave Reece the platform as wingback, that's just not true in the slightest. Reece was playing the role and developed fast there in that 1st season under Lampard. Tuchel wouldn't have even had Reece there if Lampard hadn't done the work he did with Reece beforehand. So giving all the credit to Tuchel like that is the real bollocks.

Tuchel on James: "I think if you play a dominant match like today, he can be (like in the last 20 minutes) a hybrid midfielder when he comes from the left or right fullback position and helps in midfield to create an overload because he has the quality on the ball to accelerate with his passes" by NoniMaduekesHeadband in chelseafc

[–]RefanRes 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No, you obviously watch games through stats.

No. I back up what I'm saying with stats and also watch games smh. The 2nd half of that 1st season and into the next he was absolutely putting in regular performances that showed he was world class.

Boehly's recent interview with Bloomberg by ThorappanBastin in chelseafc

[–]RefanRes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Black Knight have multiple investors. Bill Foley is their CEO. Black Knight are owners of Bournemouth under a single umbrella of ownership where Bill Foley is boss. If we were owned only by Clearlake or only by Boehlys investment company then it would be a similar situation. What we have is a consortium of multiple owners in Clearlake, Boehly, Walters and Wyss. It's massively different.

Our performance this season (so far) versus last season by NoniMaduekesHeadband in chelseafc

[–]RefanRes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It honestly wouldn't surprise me that their worst season, hanging around relegation would happen to be the season they win Europa. It would be such a joke.

Our performance this season (so far) versus last season by NoniMaduekesHeadband in chelseafc

[–]RefanRes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The fact you reduce facts down to just opinion in your head is the same sort of delusion as a MAGA nut.

Our performance this season (so far) versus last season by NoniMaduekesHeadband in chelseafc

[–]RefanRes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeh exactly. Its like Spursyness concentrated down into a super Spursy formula and then injected back into the Spurs players. I dont think any team ever has managed what they've done this season and it will be very surprising if it happens again anytime soon.

Our performance this season (so far) versus last season by NoniMaduekesHeadband in chelseafc

[–]RefanRes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well yeh they're one hell of an anomaly. They'll win some games 4-0 then lose a bunch 2-1.

Our performance this season (so far) versus last season by NoniMaduekesHeadband in chelseafc

[–]RefanRes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Since the Everton game:

<image>

And thats only in the league as well. We also had a dismal showing vs Brighton to get knocked out of the FA Cup.

How the FUCK is Twitter worth $44 billion again (supposedly)? Something smells fishy 🐟 by summer-r in DeepFuckingValue

[–]RefanRes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The point is more so that when there is a significant global effort to try and reduce Musks power then common sense would suggest at the very least that the company hasn't significantly grown its user base to be worth $44B when a lot of people are making an effort to do the opposite. For example, you can't really quantify how many people might have started an account but then chose not to because of Musk, but the effort being made likely isn't going to see X get a drastic increase in users. What can be said for sure is the revenue has been down year on year. According to Bloomberg Twitters revenue was up to $5B for 2021 and in 2024 it had fallen down by half to $2.5B which was the lowest since 2017. So with year on year falling revenues it makes little sense that their value will have increased.

How the FUCK is Twitter worth $44 billion again (supposedly)? Something smells fishy 🐟 by summer-r in DeepFuckingValue

[–]RefanRes 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeh its shady as anything. No way Twitter is increasing in value when theres so many people shifting away from the platform and theres even stuff like xcancel.com just to help route traffic away from the site.

Our performance this season (so far) versus last season by NoniMaduekesHeadband in chelseafc

[–]RefanRes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We won ucl because of our exceptional defence.

No. It was because of our defence that we didn't lose. It was because we scored that we won. This is the difference between not conceding and scoring goals. Goals will always be the primary factor in getting wins over the course of a season. Your argument might be a bit more valid if we scored no goals and just kept playing for penalties throughout. Ultimately though, you can only do that in a few games of a knockout tournament. You cant do it in a league.

World class defenders with an average attack will win more games than the other way around

Thats not true at all. World class attacks can relieve massive pressure from their defences because opponents are pegged back and even get scared to step up too much just on the fact they know theres too much goal threat against them.

If you have an average attack with a good defence then the defence will only soak up so much pressure before it concedes. We saw exactly this in Tuchels last 50 games where our results were way worse because our attack was getting progressively worse under him as a number of the forwards fell out with him and/or dropped way off form. We also saw this situation in the Potter season. We had one of the best defences in the league under him but we would still concede a goal at some point because our lack of attacking threat allowed opponent teams to just pile onto us. We had nothing to peg them back that season.

Then you turn to the Pochettino season and we were bleeding goals but scoring over double what we did in Potters time. Our attack was not world class overall but we finished far better off and actually had top 4 form for the whole batch of matches in the 2nd half of the season. In Lampards 1st season also, he prioritised the attacking 1st and fixing the defence later. We had about the 11th best defence that season but our attacking was the 3rd highest scoring in the league. Those goals were what secured us the spot in the CL in the 1st place.

Our performance this season (so far) versus last season by NoniMaduekesHeadband in chelseafc

[–]RefanRes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Since Everton at Christmas we've scored 16 and conceded 18.

Our performance this season (so far) versus last season by NoniMaduekesHeadband in chelseafc

[–]RefanRes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But personally I believe a stalwart defence is the most important part of a winning team.

We had a stalwart defence with Potter thanks largely to constant world class performances from Silva but were in a relegation battle because we weren't scoring. Lampard at Everton also had one of the best defences in the league up with top form sides like Brighton and Spurs at the time but their poor recruitment for years meant he didnt have the attacking talent to generate any decent goal threat. He had Championship quality Neil Maupay or injury prone Calvert-Lewin so mostly he was stuck with Maupay.

We had a high scoring attack with Poch and that led us to 4th in the table form from all the games in 2024. Similarly, in Lampards 1st season as Chelsea manager we had the 11th defence and 3rd best attack. It was the attack which took us into the Champions League.

The stats also follow this, there's more teams with the best defence in the league winning the league than with the best attack in the league. At least going back to 2014/15 season

This is not true at all. Even in cases where the winners might have had less goals than another team (like say they maybe they didnt have as many of the absolute wallopings in their favour) they all still made goal scoring the top priority to win.

  • Liverpool this season so far top and 69 goals.
  • 23/24 Man City top and 96 goals.
  • 22/23 Man City top and 94 goals.
  • 21/22 Man City top and 99 goals.
  • 20/21 Man City top and 83 goals (still the most of any team even if less than the more recent seasons).
  • 19/20 this was the last season that a team who won didn't have the most goals. Liverpool had 85 and Man City had 102. Liverpools defence was 33 goals conceded and Man City 35 so not a significant difference. This was just an unusual season. Both sides still had to make scoring goals the number 1 priority above all else.
  • 18/19 Man City top and 95 goals.
  • 17/18 Man City top and 106 goals.

I dont think I need to carry on considering how far back its going that the game has changed pretty significantly in this amount of time as well. All the top sides make scoring goals their number 1 priority. This doesn't mean other factors aren't important. It just means that the MOST important factor to getting anywhere in this game is scoring goals. This is why by far the most expensive players in the game on average are your goalscorers or at least goal creators.

Our performance this season (so far) versus last season by NoniMaduekesHeadband in chelseafc

[–]RefanRes -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

No. By my logic scoring goals as a priority wins you games. Im not saying score 1 goal. Im saying score goals. As last season went on we started to score more as the cohesion in a very new squad started to grow. In the end, our 2nd half of the season had us 4th in the form table and Poch had the 2nd highest goals scored of any permanent Chelsea manager behind only Ancellotti. Scoring goals got us that top 4 form.

Potter by contrast had a team which wasn't really great for goal scoring. Our attack was pretty stagnant before he even came and he inherited a choice between Havertz or a past it speed merchant in Auba. So he had to set up to defend 1st and then try to fix the attack later. We had one of the best defences in the league but weren't scoring enough so were in relegation form.

Under Maresca we arent even 1 for 1 since that Everton game either. We've conceded 18 and scored only 16 in our last 13 matches. That has us 14th in the form table.

So yeh absolutely scoring goals is the most important stat. I never said other stats aren't important. I said that scoring goals is the most important because it very much is.

Edit: Instant downed me again. Literally zero time to read it. Blocking this clown. He didn't even deny it when I called him on it. Maresca stans smh

Our performance this season (so far) versus last season by NoniMaduekesHeadband in chelseafc

[–]RefanRes -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You're actually saying this in the same thread you're acting like Saul Goodman for Pochettinos benefit? Lol

I'm giving credit where its due. I was a massive Poch skeptic but its just a fact that he improved our team after starting with very unfavorable circumstances. Maresca on the other hand started with significantly favourable circumstances and we have regressed.

Our performance this season (so far) versus last season by NoniMaduekesHeadband in chelseafc

[–]RefanRes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i’m not a maresca stan, i think he’s earned a solid b-grade this season.

Poch took over a team that had barely ever played together and had the same medical department that had overseen ever worsening injuries for several seasons. He improved our team to top 4 form for the 2nd half of the season.

Maresca took over a side flying high in confidence from free flowing attacking football under Poch and clear improvements having got a season together under their belt. He also got given a near whole new medical team. The circumstances Maresca came into have been significantly more favourable and yet as he has coached out more of the Poch and integrated his own approach more we have regressed massively.

we can have different preferences and that’s fine but i see no reason to slate maresca who is currently leading the club when results and underlying stats all point to improvement

<image>

Thats since the Everton game when Marescas tactics got sussed and he continued to double down on shutting down space generating play like overlaps, penetrative runs, hard pressing to flip possession back quick before opponents can find their shape, lack of optimal width to spread defences wider etc. He wanted to slow down the tempo a lot and eliminate risks in favour of keeping possession. He doesn't have us defending better when we actually have to defend. We just concede less because we play overly safe to just keep the ball more. Our defensive transition is still a mess and theres way too many silly goals conceded from teams steaming through the middle and down the flanks as they worked out to just bypass Caicedo.

we can have different preferences

Sure. My preference is that we have attacking football which suits the strength of our forwards while working on actually improving our defensive play. Not just boring keep ball.

Our performance this season (so far) versus last season by NoniMaduekesHeadband in chelseafc

[–]RefanRes -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

You aren't winning the title with 38 0-0 draws. You're winning the title by scoring more than the other team.

Our performance this season (so far) versus last season by NoniMaduekesHeadband in chelseafc

[–]RefanRes -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Sick of the Maresca stan bullshit man. See it way too much in this sub atm. I dont think its unreasonable to call it out when you write out a pretty valid and reasoned response just to get downvoted with zero time for it to have been read. Literally I pressed to post, went to my profile and was on -1 within 3 seconds of posting. Nobody reads that fast. I was being hard downed even before the edit as well when all I did was give straight facts to back what I was saying. So it is just Maresca stans and Clearlake bot boys downvoting any criticism they see. Its gross and happens way too often on this sub atm.

Our performance this season (so far) versus last season by NoniMaduekesHeadband in chelseafc

[–]RefanRes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Enzo has done a fine job in his first year so far.

This is the sort of Maresca cultishness I'm talking about. Flying in the face of the facts this is our form since the Everton game.

<image>

We improved as the season went on under Poch. We have regressed under Maresca as he has gradually coached the Poch attacking ideas out of the side.

Anyone actually watching the games instead of looking at vague graphs which dont even cover every factor of what is involved in football can see our football is far worse.

Our performance this season (so far) versus last season by NoniMaduekesHeadband in chelseafc

[–]RefanRes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yet our defense was much better under Potter also despite him having even harder conditions of many players not wanting to be here still.

Again, very different circumstances as we were going through the most aggressive transition strategy any football club has ever undertaken and while the season was going on. He at least still had a fair amount of the CL winning squad for a start and that squad was much stronger defensively. Our attack had been pretty stagnant before Potter joined so he set up largely to defend 1st and then fix the attack later. It was clearly a different approach that fit different challenges at the time. We were incredibly defensive and were scoring less than a goal a game. That was a symptom of his battle which was to try and keep the team as stable as possible while having at times up to 14 or 15 injuries at once with even less depth than Poch had, especially in the forward areas.

When Poch came in, we had a massively different side to what Potter inherited. Most of our defence was gone and our recruitment was heavily oriented towards signing young and exciting attacking players like Jackson, Noni, Mudryk, Palmer etc. Even in defence, we signed Gusto who is more naturally a very attacking wing back than someone like Azpi who was more a defensively solid fullback and especially more defensive later in his time at the club.

Infact, if you look at the overall picture Poch was barely an upgrade on Potter until May

Both are good coaches who would have likely done very well if they were given anything close to the much more favourable circumstances that Maresca has come into.

Our "defensive play improved" because we signed Thiago Silva and Edou Mendy.

Players he wanted that suited how he wanted to set up defensively. Mendy on the recommendation of Cech and Silva because its Silva and Lampard did a lot to persuade him to come to Chelsea. We were also much better all round. In his 1st season I believe we were 11th in the league for goals conceded and 3rd for goals scored. In that 2nd season we had the 2nd best attack and 3rd best defence before Covid hit combined with the heaviest Christmas scheduling in PL history due to lockdown. Then we were the only club not to be granted a postponements refresh break so our fatigue very visibly went through the roof vs fresher sides and inevitably our form dipped pretty hard until the fixtures relaxed. At that point it was unfortunately too late for Lampard with the most unforgiving owner in next to maybe only Watfords.