Chelsea Thread 2013/14

[Marvin]

The Lukaku loan was not a problem. Mourinho felt that at a big club he was not ready for the expectation mentally and his overall game was far from good enough. As you can see he wants forwards who can play with the ball at their feet regularly, Lukaku has not got this composure in build up. Lukaku wanted first team football and pissed off Mourinho, his lazy penalty was the tip of the iceberg. Mourinho saw Everton as a good move. Play and learn under a talented manager, more expectation than WBA. And also he plays against all of Chelsea's rivals helping drop points for them but not Chelsea themself.

Already Everton with Lukaku have taken: 3 points vs Manure, 1 point vs Arsenal, 1 point vs Liverpool, 1 point vs Tottenham. They lost to us.

From what I've been told Lukaku will be allowed to leave in the summer. The relationship with Mourinho is not good - he doesn't fit in his plans. Falcao is possible but they will try for Karim Benzema.

Lukaku's general game is poor. His touch and vision are non-existent. But he is a goal scorer. I can see why Chelsea have let him go on loan. he needs games.

Correct. Mourinho knows this team isn't the powerful unit he had in his first spell. He wants to build a fluid, cohesive team and Lukaku does not fit this style. At Everton where he is the main target it's fine but Chelsea want an interchanging front four. Torres has lost his pace and devoid of confidence, Ba again not the ilk of player.

All this talk about new Drogba is nonsense

Been saying the same thing all season, but you and me are in a small minority

People see him scoring goals, and they see Chelsea's forwards struggling to score, but as you say Chelsea's possession would fall to pieces at his feet.

It happens at Everton now, who are a good passing team, but he scores goals so he's forgiven. However at a higher level, which Chelsea are at, it's not acceptable - but neither is missing chance after chance. Prior to the Arsenal game, Mourinho seemed to be getting very frustrated with his forwards for not killing games off that Chelsea had dominated

 

[13/05/12]

Lukaku's general game is poor. His touch and vision are non-existent. But he is a goal scorer. I can see why Chelsea have let him go on loan. he needs games.

Correct. Mourinho knows this team isn't the powerful unit he had in his first spell. He wants to build a fluid, cohesive team and Lukaku does not fit this style. At Everton where he is the main target it's fine but Chelsea want an interchanging front four. Torres has lost his pace and devoid of confidence, Ba again not the ilk of player.

All this talk about new Drogba is nonsense

Been saying the same thing all season, but you and me are in a small minority

People see him scoring goals, and they see Chelsea's forwards struggling to score, but as you say Chelsea's possession would fall to pieces at his feet.

It happens at Everton now, who are a good passing team, but he scores goals so he's forgiven. However at a higher level, which Chelsea are at, it's not acceptable - but neither is missing chance after chance. Prior to the Arsenal game, Mourinho seemed to be getting very frustrated with his forwards for not killing games off that Chelsea had dominated

Exactly. Jose realised this straight away - people thought that bidding for Wayne Rooney was a ploy to unsettle United management. Not true. Had Lukaku kept his mouth shut he'd still be there albeit as a bench option and it'd be Ba who would have gone out on loan. Jose was ruthless when Lukaku demanded first team action and I don't blame him.

 

[supercrystal7]

Correct. Mourinho knows this team isn't the powerful unit he had in his first spell. He wants to build a fluid, cohesive team and Lukaku does not fit this style. At Everton where he is the main target it's fine but Chelsea want an interchanging front four. Torres has lost his pace and devoid of confidence, Ba again not the ilk of player.

All this talk about new Drogba is nonsense

Been saying the same thing all season, but you and me are in a small minority

People see him scoring goals, and they see Chelsea's forwards struggling to score, but as you say Chelsea's possession would fall to pieces at his feet.

It happens at Everton now, who are a good passing team, but he scores goals so he's forgiven. However at a higher level, which Chelsea are at, it's not acceptable - but neither is missing chance after chance. Prior to the Arsenal game, Mourinho seemed to be getting very frustrated with his forwards for not killing games off that Chelsea had dominated

Exactly. Jose realised this straight away - people thought that bidding for Wayne Rooney was a ploy to unsettle United management. Not true. Had Lukaku kept his mouth shut he'd still be there albeit as a bench option and it'd be Ba who would have gone out on loan. Jose was ruthless when Lukaku demanded first team action and I don't blame him.

All the Chelsea fans I know are well aware of Lukaku's problems. Another weakness in his game is that for his size he does not win many balls hit long too him in the air either. His fitness can also do with improving, but these are things that he needs matches for. Lukaku himself understands the weak parts of his game and has spoken of needing to improve his hold up play, back against to goal and link up play.

The argument about playing Lukaku is not just about goals. It is about creating partnerships between the future of Chelsea. It seems only now has Mourinho finally settled on the 3 behind the striker he wants to play. It would be good for Lukaku for all his faults to get used to playing in front of them.

I personally think Mourinho made the right decision in picking Oscar over Mata as well as letting Lukaku go out on loan. Everton is the perfect club for him to work on the weak part of his game. I said it in another thread, but a player deemed not good enough to start for a team challenging for the title is usually still good enough to be a star player in a top 5-7 team.

 

[Anonymous]

Result of the day for CFC today.

Couldn't see it posted (<a class="postlink" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25564078" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25564078</a>):

Chelsea have made a loss of £49.4m for the year ended 30 June 2013.

Their group turnover of £255.8m for the 12-month period is a record figure for the club, but elimination from last season's Champions League in the group stages saw a drop in income. The club said these figures, combined with the previous year's profit of £1.4m, fall within the criteria set by Uefa's Financial Fair Play regulations. Their commercial income rose from £67m to £79.6m - a 19% rise.

Chelsea are third in the Premier League, two points behind leaders Arsenal, going into 2014 but it is unclear whether significant transfer funds will be available to manager Jose Mourinho in the January transfer window. The club won the Europa League in 2013 but received significantly less prize money for that than they did in winning the Champions League in 2012, which contributed to the loss.

"For Chelsea FC to achieve a record level of turnover, despite our first group-stage elimination from the Champions League, shows we have structured our business and are growing in the correct way for long-term stability," chief executive Ron Gourlay said. "Our philosophy is that we build upon success on the pitch - and although in these financial results we haven't repeated the sizeable profits made the previous year from player transfers, we believe the age profile of the existing squad means we will benefit from that investment for many years to come."

Chelsea's profit last year was their first since Roman Abramovich took control of the club in 2003. That profit was aided by money brought in from player sales, in addition to a one-off financial boost that came when the broadcaster BSkyB agreed to cancel its shares in a joint digital media venture with the club.

The last two seasons have been the first monitoring period for Uefa's FFP regulations. Chairman Bruce Buck added: "A long-term objective was financial sustainability, and the subsequent implementation of Financial Fair Play by Uefa and by the Premier League has brought that to the top of the agenda for football clubs. We are pleased therefore that we will meet the stipulations set down by Uefa in their first assessment period. By our own analysis, we are progressing from a commercial viewpoint as well as continuing to add trophies to our collection, which we never lose sight of as our most important goal."


What are Uefa's Financial Fair Play regulations?
• The Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) was set up in June 2012 to oversee the application of the Uefa Club Licensing System and Financial Fair Play Regulations

• Clubs cannot repeatedly spend more than their generated revenues, and clubs will be obliged to meet all their transfer and employee payment commitments at all times

• Higher-risk clubs that fail certain indicators will also be required to provide budgets detailing their strategic plans

• Teams participating in Uefa club competitions have had their transfer and employee payables monitored since the summer of 2011. The break-even assessment covering the financial years ending 2012 and 2013 will be assessed during 2013-14

Read more at Uefa.com

 

[supercrystal7]

Chelsea really beginning to look very strong. A lot of their players were not even particularly good today. In fact Terry was awful and Cahill poor. Yet the system and the hard work from the attacking players was so good that Hull caused them no trouble. Hazard has gone up a whole new level under Mourinho. Is the complete player now: he scores goals, gets back, closes down, creates chances and entertains. Oscar and Willian are forming a good partnership with him. Mourinho is laying down the blocks for what is going to be another incredible team.

 

[jake28]

Chelsea really beginning to look very strong. A lot of their players were not even particularly good today. In fact Terry was awful and Cahill poor. Yet the system and the hard work from the attacking players was so good that Hull caused them no trouble. Hazard has gone up a whole new level under Mourinho. Is the complete player now: he scores goals, gets back, closes down, creates chances and entertains. Oscar and Willian are forming a good partnership with him. Mourinho is laying down the blocks for what is going to be another incredible team.

Pretty much spot on. Arsenal we're never our real problem this season,Chelsea were always going to be the main rivals. Needed a 4/5 pt lead on them heading into the new year,think they will win it by 6-8pts come seasons end.

 

[supercrystal7]

Just listened to Mourinho's interview. He has played the Mata situation brilliantly. I don't think many managers could have the fans ready to sell their 2 times player of the year. In his post match interview he brought up his decision to drop previous player of the year Cudicini for a young kid in Cech. Cannot help, but draw comparisons with how he dropped Mata for Oscar.

 

[Castiel]

Chelsea really beginning to look very strong. A lot of their players were not even particularly good today. In fact Terry was awful and Cahill poor. Yet the system and the hard work from the attacking players was so good that Hull caused them no trouble. Hazard has gone up a whole new level under Mourinho. Is the complete player now: he scores goals, gets back, closes down, creates chances and entertains. Oscar and Willian are forming a good partnership with him. Mourinho is laying down the blocks for what is going to be another incredible team.

There was an interview a few weeks ago about Hazard's progress this season. Apparently he was quite lazy in training last season and saved his effort for matches. Now he's one of our hardest workers behind the scenes which has coincided with his increase in form. Natural talent only takes you so far, Mourinho has successfully managed to make him put the work in which is what he needs to become one of the very best.

He was just right about Oscar as the performances speak for themselves. I'm not sure how he managed to see it but he fits perfectly in that position. I can't imagine anyone else making the call to bench Mata, or even considering it. RDM and Benitez just played the three of them together which gave us no width whatsoever (as Hazard played much more centrally than this season under them). Oscar still isn't as productive as Mata was in terms of goals and assists, but he's certainly getting there and offers a much more complete game on top of that.

At the moment I feel Mata needs to move on to a team who will appreciate his ability, because he's still one of my favourite players but unfortunately doesn't seem to fit into Jose's plans for us. I just hope he goes abroad. One thing we still miss dearly is Mata's set piece delivery. Nobody else currently on the team comes close to him there.

 

[supercrystal7]

Chelsea really beginning to look very strong. A lot of their players were not even particularly good today. In fact Terry was awful and Cahill poor. Yet the system and the hard work from the attacking players was so good that Hull caused them no trouble. Hazard has gone up a whole new level under Mourinho. Is the complete player now: he scores goals, gets back, closes down, creates chances and entertains. Oscar and Willian are forming a good partnership with him. Mourinho is laying down the blocks for what is going to be another incredible team.

There was an interview a few weeks ago about Hazard's progress this season. Apparently he was quite lazy in training last season and saved his effort for matches. Now he's one of our hardest workers behind the scenes which has coincided with his increase in form. Natural talent only takes you so far, Mourinho has successfully managed to make him put the work in which is what he needs to become one of the very best.

He was just right about Oscar as the performances speak for themselves. I'm not sure how he managed to see it but he fits perfectly in that position. I can't imagine anyone else making the call to bench Mata, or even considering it. RDM and Benitez just played the three of them together which gave us no width whatsoever (as Hazard played much more centrally than this season under them). Oscar still isn't as productive as Mata was in terms of goals and assists, but he's certainly getting there and offers a much more complete game on top of that.

At the moment I feel Mata needs to move on to a team who will appreciate his ability, because he's still one of my favourite players but unfortunately doesn't seem to fit into Jose's plans for us. I just hope he goes abroad. One thing we still miss dearly is Mata's set piece delivery. Nobody else currently on the team comes close to him there.

I agree with all of this except Benitez playing all three. Benitez was there for the short term only, hence why he focused more on the cups than he did on getting fourth. A Chelsea fan once gave me a stat to show Benitez started with Mata, Oscar and Hazard just 34%(off the top of my head, but I think it was even lower) of the time. He usually played Moses ahead of Oscar to give the team width. So Benitez realised the same thing. If he was a long term manager he might even have chosen Oscar over Mata.

 

[Marvin]

If Mata doesn't feature centrally in Mourinho's plans, why not exchange him for a striker eg Rooney?

Unless something changes, it looks likely Rooney will leave Utd in the Summer - I can see Mata going the other way.

Mata for one must be very frustrated as his World Cup place is in jeopardy