Most fans think he should and build something for the next 5 years. It looks like the board are getting in the way again, and sadly he will leave at the end of the season. The backing in the transfer windows has been slow and poor overall. Sanchez would have been an excellent buy for the club, but no, the board would prefer Andy Carroll apparently . I honestly think that it is time for Abramovich to move on, and bring in new owners. Couldn't resist the smileys, sorry..
Think it’s been clear for a while that Conte will be off in the summer. I don’t think it’s something we should be too concerned about though. Our success has been built on regular manager changes and I don’t see any reason why that will change.
Agree, although how we've behaved in the transfer market these past couple seasons isn't leaving any optimisim. And on a coaching standpoint, Conte has been our best for some while.
True, but football is constantly changing. A very good coach is the best person to build the vision for the squad, not the board. Arsenal were always just about qualifying for the CL. Not now. There's a conservative element at the club that has worked in the past but won't work in the future for me. The club need to react much faster and sign the right attacking players. Survival of the fittest. The stadium is another problem. Stamford Bridge is an outstanding stadium but too small. Don't see why it can't be extended, as opposed to spending £1 billion for an additional 18,000 seats in around 6 years time (when it is scheduled for completion). Another mad decision by the board. It's no coincidence that Man Utd became the biggest club in the world when they started expanding their capacity. Liverpool are starting to catch up now as well, having extended their ground by several thousand. Conte needs to stay if possible, and the board need to give him the authority he needs. What worked in the past won't necessarily work in the future.
The stadium can’t be expanded without knocking it down and building again. Simple. The board will be well aware of the benefits that will come with the new stadium too so I wouldn’t question what they’re doing there. The new stadium is a huge investment and the club won’t be doing it for the sake of it. As for the transfer market I think our fans need to accept we’re a different club to the one 10-15 years ago. Problem is we’ve been spoiled since Roman bought the club and our fans are now impatient but for the best future of the club we need to be self sufficient and therefore more conservative with transfers. Really amuses me when I see uneducated fans blasting the board for not signing every transfer target mentioned. We’re a well run club these days and have to accept we’re doing the best thing for the club. Okay, perfect decisions are never made but it’s clear as day if some fans were in charge of the club we’d been done for long term.
What really amuses me is our board spending over the top amounts on bang average players, that the manager has no interest in, rather than investing that money into better options or keeping certain youth players.
Because Llorente is ripping it up at Spurs and Zappacosta has set the world alight here... Not sure why everyone thinks Conte’s targets are so great.
He wanted Candreva initially, not Zappacosta (who we had to get on deadline day.) And Llorente couldn't do much worse than Batshuayi.
Candreva is not a wing back and I can’t say I’m disappointed we avoided signing a 30 year old who’s never played outside of Italy and not really achieved anything in their career of note.
Chelsea v Norwich City, won 5 - 3 on penalties This game said a lot about the poor attacking play and need to change things in attack. Batshuayi is a big goal poacher, that's it. He will never be able to link play or hold the ball up. Plus how many assists has he got? Zero. It's been that way since he arrived so why is he still at the club? It's not as if there are any signs he's developing. I'm sure I'm not the only one that is starting to see Morata as another Torres. The Torres at Chelsea not at Liverpool. To be fair though, ref's are quick to award fouls against the slightest push by the striker, but yellow card the striker if he goes down after clear physical contact. Bizarre. Overall, changes need to be made in style and personnel up front. Teams have worked the Chelsea approach play out, and it has all become very predictable. Granted, Sanchez's demands are way too much, and he could seriously unbalance the dressing room at Man Utd. There are other options though, and the board need to realise, you can't just do what you did last year. It becomes too predictable. Still feel that actions in the transfer market are too slow and poor overall.
As of today, it looks very grim for Conte. That's the Chelsea way, and it has happened to several managers before him. The club has far too much player power and far too little support for the manager after a successful season. Some people say it's also the way Real Madrid do things and maybe Abramovich is trying to copy their culture. Real are a far bigger club than Chelsea and over the past 15 years Barcelona have been the dominant club anyway. Conte has made mistakes this season there's no doubt. Early in the season, playing Luiz when Luiz was clearly injured. Refusing to play Luiz in a deep midfield position where he's arguably better on occcasion. He played there once this season against Tottenham away, and Chelsea won. Conte does seem stuck in his ways to a point, and the play is far too similar and too easy for the opposition to work out. The passing is far too slow and opposition teams seem to know exactly what to expect. Having said that, the team have played a lot more games this season, but then again so have the other big teams. There have also been injuries, and again the other big teams have also suffered there. In a nutshell what is the problem? The owner of Chelsea FC does not want a dominant manager / coach, and the manager / coach gets the players the owner wants on the whole and not the players the manager wants. Players stay for far too long, after they start to become ineffective. Oscar is a good example, and now Pedro. Liverpool relied on Mane for one season, before bringing in Salah, and will probably bring in yet another big attacking player for next season. Man Utd used to do similar, and we will see with Mourhino. Basically, a strong decisive manager has no chance in the medium to long term at Chelsea. That's the way things are, and that's the culture. Abramovich has brought money and silverware, but could it have been more with more backing? They were odds on to win the PL again under Ancelotti in his second season, until the board inexplicably sacked Ray Wilkins. The team collapsed as it's doing now. In Mourhino's third season, maybe if Shevchenko hadn't been forced in, another PL would have been won. We don't know, but my bet is that attracting a world class manager in the future will be very hard, because the board will potentially make a very good manager / coach look like an idiot in his second season. If Conte does go soon, a good option would be to bring back Benitez. One thing about Benitez, he's not afraid to make quick decisive changes.
I totally agreed with you. Rafa Benitez would be a great instead of Luis Enrique. He knows the EPL and I believe his favorite formation would be ideal with the squad we have right now. 4–2–3–1. Let's see what happens in the next few weeks to see if Conte is going to stay or not.
It’s clear Conte is going to walk this summer, but it would be nice if we stuck with the manager for a change. We get a lot of stick for not bringing academy players through but what chance do they have if we keep chopping and changing managers? IMO if Conte stays then I’m certain a fair few will break through in the next couple of years, especially Hudson Odoi, Musonda and perhaps Ampadu. We change manager, we will be back to square one, the mentioned players will go on loan before they are sold. Just like the rest.
Agreed that Rafa would be better than Enrique. Barca style football would stand no chance with the current squad. Rafa would get the team pressing better though with better passing and movement. Watching the match against City yesterday, I can't remember the last time I watched a football match while mainly shaking my head in disbelief. The problems are not Conte's fault. He has hardly been backed with transfers at all. The choices / the squad are the owners, not the manager's. Over at City, Man Utd, Liverpool and Tottenham. Even at Arsenal, the players coming in are the players the manager wants. Not so at Chelsea. Any manager would end up looking stupid in that scenario, and it's not Conte's fault. The mistakes are mounting up now. Christensen is a great young player, but giving him that responsibility? He has made 3 mistakes in the last 3 games, and cost points each time. Yesterday, the play was imprecise and sloppy, and for players of that quality, that is embarrassing. It looks to me like Conte gave up last August in reality, and as mentioned, any genuine world class manager would have had the same experience, even Pep Guardiola. It's time for a change of owners. Otherwise, the future for Chelsea FC is going to be very grim. Abramovich has brought a lot of success, and built history, but it's time to move on. Maybe new owners would solve the stadium problem. Let's face it, they couldn't do any worse.
