How much did Chelsea ruin us this season?

[teblin]

1 minute ago, everton carr said:

It was 20M and we are in 2025 not 2005 highly unlikely you are getting 3 decent ready for the prem players for 20M

Right about premier league ready, but you could maybe have signed a couple with some pace, energy and potential.

[sporter113]

People say the style of play under Enzo would've led to the same results. But look at what happened when we played Southampton twice under Enzo, a team who wanted to dominate the ball against us.

 

We hit them on the break for the entirety of both games, and scored 9 goals. Surely we would've seen more of that kind of tactical flexibility this season under Enzo?

 

And people said, at the time, that the players ignored Enzo to play on the counter in those games.

 

If that was the case, why haven't the players ignored Cooper and Ruud this season to play on the counter? We're like 20th for 'Fast Breaks' in the Prem this season.

[Chrysalis]

10 hours ago, Claudio Fannieri said:

I am sorry no way do we end up worse off under Enzo than we currently are, for a start off we wouldn’t have had the change in ‘style’ under Cooper so more likely we would have hit the ground running, recruitment would have been different and players like Abdul and Riccy would have been 1st choices. 
 

I am not saying we would be mid table but I reckon we would be much closer to Wolves than we are now, even if we still went down. 
 

I have no doubt we would have taken some beatings under Enzo, but we have under Cooper and Ruud, but i do feel we would have been far more competitive in games against teams in mid and lower reaches of the table. 

The Cooper run is why we would be worst off.  He saved us from beating the Derby record.

The style would have mullered us in the EPL, Ruud is trying to implement the style again and its a slaughter fest.

Only have to look at Southampton and Burnley, but I guess its the old "its not the style, the players arent trying hard enough".

I even wonder if the fans got us relegated this season, the moans and groans on here about Cooper, I have never seen anything like it, some kind of weird obsession with Enzo and Enzo ball.  When we would have got battered every week from game 1.

 

Slow intricate build up play is "yesterday" way of playing and also requires a very high standard of players.  Good luck trying to out play a team with better quality players.

 

Are people ever going to let go of the style or is there going to be a portion of the fan base that wants us to play that way forever?

 

Would like Dyche as manager next season.

Edited 9 April by Chrysalis

[Chrysalis]

2 hours ago, sporter113 said:

People say the style of play under Enzo would've led to the same results. But look at what happened when we played Southampton twice under Enzo, a team who wanted to dominate the ball against us.

 

We hit them on the break for the entirety of both games, and scored 9 goals. Surely we would've seen more of that kind of tactical flexibility this season under Enzo?

 

And people said, at the time, that the players ignored Enzo to play on the counter in those games.

 

If that was the case, why haven't the players ignored Cooper and Ruud this season to play on the counter? We're like 20th for 'Fast Breaks' in the Prem this season.

Yeah but look where Southampton are in the EPL.  We beat them as they had a manager who plays the same way as Enzo and not the players to play that way.

[slymunn]

9 hours ago, teblin said:

Right about premier league ready, but you could maybe have signed a couple with some pace, energy and potential.

Nikola Milenković and Sammie Szmodics for the same money. For another 5 million, which bought Ayew you could change Szmodics for Delap/Sarr/Ndiaye.

[whoareyaaa]

On 07/04/2025 at 22:11, when_you're_smiling said:

Obviously it didn’t help, especially with KDH being our engine room, but it happens in football.

 

It’s fcuk all to do with Chelsea that, once again, our defence was never good enough to stay up. 

 

 

We wouldn't have played the same defence though, Fatawu may never have got injured, Ricardo would have been starting.

 

I think we would have been at closer to Woives if not above them, even with a points deduction.

 

Enzo was never going to turn it down though.

 

Losing KDH also had a massive effect.

Edited 10 April by whoareyaaa

[when_you're_smiling]

38 minutes ago, whoareyaaa said:

We wouldn't have played the same defence though, Fatawu may never have got injured, Ricardo would have been starting.

 

I think we would have been at closer to Woives if not above them, even with a points deduction.

 

Enzo was never going to turn it down though.

 

Losing KDH also had a massive effect.

I’m not sure what defence you think he would have played and who’d feature more to make them be better than the one that got relegated last time and that had much better attacking players in front of them. 

[whoareyaaa]

5 minutes ago, when_you're_smiling said:

I’m not sure what defence you think he would have played and who’d feature more to make them be better than the one that got relegated last time and that had much better attacking players in front of them. 

Pretty sure Castange, Amartey and Evans where resonsible as well none who are here.

 

The defence would have had a different shape for starters and players 

[when_you're_smiling]

7 minutes ago, whoareyaaa said:

Pretty sure Castange, Amartey and Evans where resonsible as well none who are here.

 

The defence would have had a different shape for starters and players 

Well yeah, that’s what I mean, it’s worse now. Even more terrible at the minute there’s a manager in charge who hasn’t got a clue how to organise them.

 

Maresca would do better than the current shambles but his defensive strategy is keeping the ball, something he obviously would have struggled to do as much as he did for ever game in the Champ.

 

To be fair, we kept as many clean sheets against Prem sides last season as we’ve done this year (1). It’s too small a sample size to say he’d have worked wonders at the back with what we’ve got though.