Squad Status: 2021/22 Season

[jones]

Wow, what a massive reshuffle we have on our hands.

Goalkeeper - Cortois/Begovic/New

- The least interesting position. Courtois and Begovic form a decent duo, and there will perhaps be a new third choice

Defence - Azpilicueta/Ivanovic, Terry/Godin, Zouma/Cahill, Baba Rahman/Aké

- Despite us being very unconvincing in defence this season, I think this area needs tweaks instead of major reshuffling. Evolution, not revolution.

- Terry looks like staying, and Cahill signed a new contract. Zouma is one for the future and is not ready to be the number on in CD. Which is exactly what we need: an experienced #1 CD, with at least 2-3 seasons left at top level and leadership abilities. Diego Godin seems a perfect fit.

- Azpilicueta is our best defender. Therefore, he should play in his natural position. Ivanovic should be given a new contract, but compete with Azpi. Baba Rahman has potential, the same does Aké. They possess different qualities, hence gives us flexibility at LB.

Central midfield - Mikel/RLC, Fabregas/Koke

- Hopefully, RLC gets enough chances to prove his worth and be able to stake a claim from next season

- I'd keep Mikel and Fabregas, and sell Matic and Ramires

- Koke would be a great addition

Attacking midfield - Hazard or Bale, Teixeira/Griezmann, Willian/Mane

- Only Willian and Hazard should stay. Only way I'd accept selling Hazard is getting Bale in return. We need our most talented player going forward, out of form or not.

- Oscar and Pedro are spineless, under-performing players better off in southern leagues. Will hopefully cover the purchase of Griezmann, who would be fantastic to see behind Costa in a less playmaker and more goal scorer role than Oscar/Mata

- Mane and Teixeira will be excellent rotation and off the bench options providing fierce competition in a position where we absolutely need quality

Centre forward - Costa/Ighalo/Bamford

- Costa has shown promise the last matches, but needs actual competition. Ighalo would be perfect, and could easily dispose Costa of a starting place if form says so. Remy and Falcao will be on the bench even if Costa gained 70 pounds in a week

- Bamford would be interesting to see given a few opportunities

New recruits (153m):

- Griezmann, 43m

- Godin, 20m

- Koke, 30m

- Teixeira, 30m

- Mane, 30m

- Ake and Bamford back from loan

Say goodbye to (87m):

- Oscar, 35m

- Ramires, 15m

- Pedro, 15m

- Matic, 12m

- Remy, 10m

- Falcao

Net spend: 66m. Will guarantee us a top four finish.

Send these guys out on super-beneficial loans:

- Kenedy, Traore and all the other guys who are currently there

[bluecueball]

I always like to look back at our squad from 2005/6 and compare.

Some of these are debatable but still, look at the difference.

Petr Čech vs Courtois = Worse now

Carlo Cudicini vs Begovic = Better now

Glen Johnson vs Ivanovic = Better

Asier del Horno vs Azpilicueta = Better

Ricardo Carvalho vs Cahill = Worse

William Gallas vs Zouma = Worse

Paulo Ferreira vs Rahman = Worse

John Terry vs Terry = Worse

Robert Huth vs Djilobodji = Worse

Claude Makélélé vs Mikel = Worse

Lassana Diarra vs RLC = Worse

Maniche (on loan from Dynamo Moscow) vs Traore = Worse

Frank Lampard vs Fabregas = Worse

Joe Cole vs Oscar = Worse

Damien Duff vs Willian = Same

Shaun Wright-Phillips vs Kenedy = Worse

Michael Essien vs Ramires = Worse

Geremi vs Matic = Better

Arjen Robben vs Hazard = Worse

Didier Drogba vs Costa = Same

Hernán Crespo vs Remy = Worse

Carlton Cole vs Bamford = Same

Eiðyour Guðjohnsen vs Falcao = Worse

Edited January 14, 2016 by bluecueball

[A Blue Essien]

Wow, what a massive reshuffle we have on our hands.

Goalkeeper - Cortois/Begovic/New

- The least interesting position. Courtois and Begovic form a decent duo, and there will perhaps be a new third choice

Defence - Azpilicueta/Ivanovic, Terry/Godin, Zouma/Cahill, Baba Rahman/Aké

- Despite us being very unconvincing in defence this season, I think this area needs tweaks instead of major reshuffling. Evolution, not revolution.

- Terry looks like staying, and Cahill signed a new contract. Zouma is one for the future and is not ready to be the number on in CD. Which is exactly what we need: an experienced #1 CD, with at least 2-3 seasons left at top level and leadership abilities. Diego Godin seems a perfect fit.

- Azpilicueta is our best defender. Therefore, he should play in his natural position. Ivanovic should be given a new contract, but compete with Azpi. Baba Rahman has potential, the same does Aké. They possess different qualities, hence gives us flexibility at LB.

Central midfield - Mikel/RLC, Fabregas/Koke

- Hopefully, RLC gets enough chances to prove his worth and be able to stake a claim from next season

- I'd keep Mikel and Fabregas, and sell Matic and Ramires

- Koke would be a great addition

Attacking midfield - Hazard or Bale, Teixeira/Griezmann, Willian/Mane

- Only Willian and Hazard should stay. Only way I'd accept selling Hazard is getting Bale in return. We need our most talented player going forward, out of form or not.

- Oscar and Pedro are spineless, under-performing players better off in southern leagues. Will hopefully cover the purchase of Griezmann, who would be fantastic to see behind Costa in a less playmaker and more goal scorer role than Oscar/Mata

- Mane and Teixeira will be excellent rotation and off the bench options providing fierce competition in a position where we absolutely need quality

Centre forward - Costa/Ighalo/Bamford

- Costa has shown promise the last matches, but needs actual competition. Ighalo would be perfect, and could easily dispose Costa of a starting place if form says so. Remy and Falcao will be on the bench even if Costa gained 70 pounds in a week

- Bamford would be interesting to see given a few opportunities

New recruits (153m):

- Griezmann, 43m

- Godin, 20m

- Koke, 30m

- Teixeira, 30m

- Mane, 30m

- Ake and Bamford back from loan

Say goodbye to (87m):

- Oscar, 35m

- Ramires, 15m

- Pedro, 15m

- Matic, 12m

- Remy, 10m

- Falcao

Net spend: 66m. Will guarantee us a top four finish.

Send these guys out on super-beneficial loans:

- Kenedy, Traore and all the other guys who are currently there

Doubt Atletico would sell their 3 best players, especially with the impending transfer ban. And even if they do, you've underestimated their values.

[jones]

Doubt Atletico would sell their 3 best players, especially with the impending transfer ban. And even if they do, you've underestimated their values.

Probably true. Post was written before the need broke. But I have read several places that Griezman's release clause is 43mp.

[xCELERYx]

Probably true. Post was written before the need broke. But I have read several places that Griezman's release clause is 43mp.

It was, pretty sure that it was increased not long after it became public knowledge. I could be wrong though.

Also, £35m for Oscar? We'll be lucky to recoup the £20m we paid for him to be honest.

[Karan]

http://thechels.info/wiki/2015-16_Loanee_Statistics

Just had a look at this online and given that we'd need to revamp the squad and given there's a call for the youngsters to be called up it'd be worth seeing how many from these list would actually be of any use for next season. 

FWIW I don't see anyone who'd be ready to come and command/claim a starting eleven spot in the way Courtois, De Bruyne and to an extent Lukaku could. So he best we're looking at are effective squad players who would have a decent chance at getting a regular spot in the team in the way Zouma seems to have had this season (even if like me you are still not convinced of him). 

Potential squad players IMO who could add some depth to next season*: Van Ginkel, Christensen, Moses, Pasalic, Ake, Solanke, Baker.

I'm tempted to add Cuadrado to that list because I'm not sure whether Juventus would rather spend on him if Oscar were to leave in the summer. Tactically I think Cuadrado is a very good player, but perhaps not got enough confidence to apply himself in the PL. 

Christensen, Pasalic, Solanke & Baker have all had decent loan spells so far You could only consider them successful if they continue the same performance levels till the season end. But if they were to maintain the same then they would be worth a look at in preseason. Solanke still would need a season more just to see how he would build on the current season step up. But he'd still IMO merit some consideration for a first team squad place come preseason. 

Two players who I perhaps considered decent enough to make a step up with the loans they've had were Kalas and Omeruo. The latter especially is a big disappointment given he'd have been more useful than Papy given that he had AFCON success and even played at the World Cup. 

Another loan chance to assess more clearly: Boga, Brown, Perica, Swift, Pantic, Nathan, Bamford.

For the likes of Boga, Brown, Pantic, & Nathan, a lot more game time would be beneficial for their development so I wouldn't be too quick to sell them off. Bamford and Swift are perhaps worth another look at more so in the hope they have breakout seasons. 

As for the remaining in the loan army, probably more of the same ie. loan and loan and loan till they reach a value worth selling at. Crude way of looking at it but thats how it goes. 

*subjective list

[thevelourfog]

^ No one on loan is coming back and making any impact next season. There's a few I'd have here (Moses and Ake definitely, Bamford maybe) but they'd likely not be used and there are fair questions to be asked of whether or not they'd want to be here.

Personally, I'm almost impressed when posters continue to review those out on loan and consider how they might contribute, or come up with (often bizarre) transfer plans. Given we all know from experience that there will not be a massive overhaul or use of the loan players, I don't know where anyone gets the energy!

[Droy was my hero]

^just going on reviews - how about Kasey Palmer as one to bypass the whole loan scheme and go straight into the first team bench?

[jones]

I think Aké has a real chance of getting into the squad next season. This is actually the first time one of our academy developed youngsters have nailed down consistent performances in the PL. I would actually be more surprised to see him go out on loan again. He seems to have made LB his permanent position, at least for now, and since our LB at the moment is a RB and our back up LB have failed to really impress so far, Aké has a proper chance. The fact that he is not only home grown, but also club-trained, will work in his favour as well: the club knows how important making up numbers with these players are going forward. And considering our need to invest in the summer, I would not be surprised if our next manager gets this message: you won't get any full backs, as you have two RBs (Azpi + Ivan) and two LBs (Aké + Baba).

Christensen and Solanke are the other loan players who are more likely than not to make it here in my opinion. But they are both at an age where they are better off playing week in week out on loan. Christensen's development is under control if he stays at Gladbach, and hopefully Solanke will bang in some goals in the 2nd half of the season, so that he can spend next season on loan at an advanced level.

Boga, Pasalic and Brown also have a real chance of making it here, but will all go out on loan again for sure in order to further bridge the gap between their current level and the Chelsea first team.

Baker, Swift, van Ginkel, Chalobah and Bamford still have a theoretical chance of making it here, but all needs to take massive leaps on loan next season. Bamford and van Ginkel probably has 1.5 years before they will either stay or be sold, while for Baker, Chalobah and Swift it is probably 2.5 years. They are all lagging behind on their development curve, and need a hockey stick effect next season to have a chance.

All the other guys on loan will never ever play a first team game (again) for Chelsea.

[Droy was my hero]

1 hour ago, jones said:

I think Aké has a real chance of getting into the squad next season. ..

,,,

They are all lagging behind on their development curve, and need a hockey stick effect next season to have a chance.

All the other guys on loan will never ever play a first team game (again) for Chelsea.

Mostly I agree  Ake and Christensen you are probably right.  Not sure about Solanke - surely he should be making a much bigger impression at Vitesse.  Bony, admittedly a much older player,at 23/24 but still an inexperienced one, got 31 goals in 25 starts in the Dutch league for Vitesse.  Do that, and I can see Solanke at Chelsea just as Bony eventually went on to City.  But he is not doing that.

It is the development curve I take issue with.
Baker, Swift, van Ginkel, Chalobah and Bamford  are all on a perfectly normal development curve.  Just as McEachran was.  The top 5 of 6 clubs in the Prem have about (I guess) 5 or six HG players each that are regular starters (15+ PL starts in a season say).  That is there are 30 HG top players aged between 20 & 35 - lets say 3 per year group in the mid range.  I doubt there is more than 10 club trained players amongst them, even including Arsenal.
In other words take all the promising 17 year olds at those clubs and you can expect 1 of them to make it at their own club - and perhaps one every other year to make it at a rival club (Fabregas/Sturridge).

70 or 80 young players, of which 10 or 15 highly rated young players to make one or two HG regulars/

The standard development curve takes players into the Championship of Division 1.  
An path into a PL team represents significantly above average development.
A path into a HG regular at a to 5/6 team is extreme success.