The end of the line for Chelsea?

Tom84

Tom84

Tom84

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Chelmsford, Essex
May be slightly jumping the gun here but how long will Chelsea go on with their current crop of players before whole sale changes are made?

Obviously league wise they've shown that along with United they're head and shoulders above the rest however in 2 seasons with Mourinho they didn't win the Champions League, amazing got the furthest they've ever done under Avram Grant but lost, got a real chasing against Barca last season under Hiddink (albeit decisions obviously could have gone their way meaning that should have been a mute point) and have been roundly outplayed in two legs against Inter Milan under Ancelotti who himself has said that Chelsea couldn't compete in midfield - surely some alarming signs?

Things may have been different if they had Essien but looking at his record since being at Chelsea I think it's fair to say he's a tad on the injury prone side so that leaves Mikel (the only player on the pitch tonight under 25) who's a bit rubbish IMO. Apart from those two Chelsea have Ballack 33 & Lampard 31.

I think it was last season that Fergie said Chelsea were an ageing side, well they're all a year older now.

Does Roman needs to release the funds again and get some younger players in if Chelsea aren't to be overtaken permanently by the likes of Arsenal and City?
 
Moses99p said:
Roman should have stumped up the cash for a big stadium when he came in, imo.
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To be fair there isnt a location close enough (or surrounding areas actually at SB) to expand in the first place,

I would also say that the likes of Ballack joined Chelsea for the money rather than any sporting reason, and Mikel probably more for the location, and any team will struggle imo with players not attracted somewhere for sporting reasons (the last little ounce of passion is sometimes missing)

Not sure wholesale changes will be made, but I would expect Chelsea to be competing in the transfer market for a few "big" players this summer
 
It's the end of the line for a number of players but not for Chelsea.
If Roman has had enough though then it will be.
 
FrankJH said:
To be fair there isnt a location close enough (or surrounding areas actually at SB) to expand in the first place,
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The old Stamford Bridge was on a massive site. The pitch used to be miles away from the terraces with even car parking inside the stadium. They could have had a massive stadium if they did not build the Chelsea Village.
 
Peg said:
The old Stamford Bridge was on a massive site. The pitch used to be miles away from the terraces with even car parking inside the stadium. They could have had a massive stadium if they did not build the Chelsea Village.
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so you can see them knocking down Chelsea Villiage ?

Not likely!!!

AS I said currently there isnt anywhere to expand current stadium or buy somewhere close by for a brand new site
 
FrankJH said:
Not sure wholesale changes will be made, but I would expect Chelsea to be competing in the transfer market for a few "big" players this summer
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This tbh...i see Chelski making some pretty big signings ie Villa or Aguero type of players in the summer.
 
Club in crisis eh?

I'm sure that new players will be introduced gradually over time to replace older players. It would be mad to rebuild a whole when in fact there's little wrong with the current side.
 
I don't think they will make huge changes. The squad is good enough for next season with just one or two additions :)

They will be fine if they just take in a few players per season I think. Of course this depends on what the competition bring in too!
 
FrankJH said:
so you can see them knocking down Chelsea Villiage ?

Not likely!!!

AS I said currently there isnt anywhere to expand current stadium or buy somewhere close by for a brand new site
Click to expand...

Abramovich could afford it. I don't think they will do it though as Abramovich is probably only interested in success right now and not the long term future of the club. Long term Chelsea will suffer the same problems Arsenal had at Highbury. They will not be able to generate the income to compete if they wish to be self financing.
 
Chelsea will start to get more new players in soon I should think. As mentioned, on their day they are a fantastic side but they just cant cut it sometimes. They will phase the old out and the new in but with a club so focused on success it will be hard to clean out a team and take a hit on performances for a season or so.
 
Their problem is they can't power past everyone, when it requires a finer touch and some creativity they're lost. They really have 0 invention in their midfield.
 
Chelsea village apparently earns them a lot of money, they've got e.g. night clubs and bars there. I don't see them knocking it down. As Malc says, it'll be over if Roman decides he's had enough. They (I think mostly Ranieri) spent a heck of a lot of money, the squads old now and that's been known for a while. They'll go shopping probably this summer after the world cup.
 
Ranieri and Mourinho both spent a lot of money on players. Mourinho certainly spent wisely. As long as Ancelotti is at the helm it is most likely that there will be a gradual refresh of the squad ala Arsenal/Man Utd rather than any wholesale changes. It all hinges on continuality of club hierarchy. Abramovich doesn't want to spend any more money on the squad and the club need to be on an sound financial footing when UEFA (Platini you are an idiot) rules regarding eligibility for European football come into force in 2011/2012 season (hence the clubs constant bleating about accounts being revenue neutral and not massively in debt) There will be future 'franchise' signings as the club can afford it but more like 1 every 2 seasons instead of one every transfer window
 
First team squad over 30 at the start of next season:

Drogba 32
Anelka 31
Lampard 32
Carvalho 32
Ballack 33
Deco 33
1 or 2 just ignored


Under 30 at start of next season:

Cech 27
A Cole 29
Alex 27
Terry 29
Bosingwa 27
Mikel 22
Essien 27
J Cole 28
Ivanovic 26
Zhirkov 27
Kalou 25
Turnbull 25
Sebek 19
Sturridge 20
Matic 22
Hutchinson 21
Bruma 19
Kakuta 19
Borini 19
Philliskirk 19
Mellis 19
Sala 19

Players on loan:

Stoch 20
Di Santo 21
Mancienne 22
Rajković 21
Sinclair 20

Drogba, Anelka & SFL have probably seen their best days unfortunately and Ballack and Deco wouldn't be missed if they (hopefully) get the boot, Carvalho will probably leave to a less frantic place as his kness are trouble but that leaves a nice place for Bruma & Mancienne to fight for, they're both great prospects.
There's nothing wrong with the age or quality of the rest of the squad and prospects and if we can hopefully had someone like Aguero it's not an issue at all :)
 
Just for comparison, check out the oldies at Old Trafford. :p

Over 30: (age at end of this year)

Giggs 36 (37)
VDS 39 (40)
Neville 35
Scholes 35 (36)
Brown 30 (31)
Ferdinand 31 (32)
Owen 30 (31)

Turning 30 next year:

Evra
Berbatov
Hargreaves
Park
Vidic
Carrick
O'Shea
 
And Arsenal at the start of next season's over 30's:

Manuel Almunia 32
William Gallas 32
Mikaël Silvestre 32
Sol Campbell 35

Safe to say at least 2 of those won't be at Arsenal, maybe all 3/4. Rosicky is 30 in October.
 
+ the average age of the starting line up for Man.U's game v Milan was higher than Chelsea's v Inter.
Time to lock the thread?;)
 
I dont think the Chelski players are going to drop dead tomorrow but I think their main problem is now City. Before they were the big spenders and could attract the `greedy` big players. But City hold that mantle now and I think they will struggle to get them in.
 
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