GWT: EPL - Matchweek 25

Say Hey Kid

MI retired Nick Saban
Dec 10, 2007
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Spring in Fialta

A malign star kept him
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Why is Ziyech still on the pitch? Dreadful game and his terrible play means James isn't getting into the attack.

What are Chelsea's other options? Plus with how they bungled his move they might have promised him time. I didn't watch the game today and he's had a rough go of it in Chelsea but he struck me as Chelsea's best attacker against Dortmund.
 

Duchene2MacKinnon

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What are Chelsea's other options? Plus with how they bungled his move they might have promised him time. I didn't watch the game today and he's had a rough go of it in Chelsea but he struck me as Chelsea's best attacker against Dortmund.
It just shows a lack of planning… you made it clear you don’t want him but now he’s playing regularly.
 

Blender

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What are Chelsea's other options? Plus with how they bungled his move they might have promised him time. I didn't watch the game today and he's had a rough go of it in Chelsea but he struck me as Chelsea's best attacker against Dortmund.
Madueke looked way better last week even though we lacked end product. Give him time since at least he has a future here.
 

Spring in Fialta

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It just shows a lack of planning… you made it clear you don’t want him but now he’s playing regularly.

I don't know how internal politics work at Chelsea but considering their situation and their colossal f***-up they might have promised him primary game-time for the foreseeable future to keep him in shape or something. I'm completely speculating though and I haven't watched the match. But just that bungling a player's transfer and then not giving him a chance to play but would strike me as seriously cruel.
 

robertmac43

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Intersting to see Chelsea struggling to score, shades of Potter's Brighton. The only thing is we were looking for goals from Maupay, Welbeck, and March lol.

My guess is Potter will be fired and then all this talk about long term planning will be thrown out the window. I'm already starting to think about where he might end up next.
 

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Intersting to see Chelsea struggling to score, shades of Potter's Brighton. The only thing is we were looking for goals from Maupay, Welbeck, and March lol.

My guess is Potter will be fired and then all this talk about long term planning will be thrown out the window. I'm already starting to think about where he might end up next.
I’m starting to think Chelsea is keeping Porter just so people can’t make fun of them for being same old Chelsea by firing him early.
 

robertmac43

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I’m starting to think Chelsea is keeping Porter just so people can’t make fun of them for being same old Chelsea by firing him early.
The optics would be especially bad considering he took 5 Brighton staff with him and it was talked about as a long term project.

At the end of the day, it's a result oriented business and Potter has struggled to get this Chelsea team to look even slightly good. I don't think he has any idea what his best team is either lol.
 

bleedblue1223

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With 23 goals in 24 matches, when was the last time a top 4/6 or just big spending/talent club scored under 1 goal per match? Is Potter just AVB 2.0? Obviously still a good coach, but the combo of going from small club to big club and the big club having a very flawed roster being too much? I get the sense that it's sort of like Mourinho's 2nd run, where both sides desperately want to make it work, to get to the summer and have that proper off-season/pre-season, but results on some level matter. Scoring 1 goal in the past 6 matches is just unbelievably poor.

Feels like just an incredibly toxic situation. Lots of new coaches, directors, and players. Some players probably already have a foot out the door, and lack of good strong player leadership. Probably lack of any leadership since so many are so new to the club. And a fanbase used to aggressive and ruthless action when results aren't being produced.

I don't envy the decision that has to be made, because I don't think any manager could succeed with the roster at the given moment.

 
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hatterson

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I think the most incredible thing is that Chelsea are dramatically underperforming their xG under Potter. Understat has them at 22.74 xG in the PL since he took over but have only scored 15.

Granted 23 xG is certainly not good, it's only mid table, but it's still funny to see them well below their xG numbers when that's the same issue Brighton had for years and the thing that really held them back from taking the next step.
 
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bleedblue1223

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I think the most incredible thing is that Chelsea are dramatically underperforming their xG under Potter. Understat has them at 22.74 xG in the PL since he took over but have only scored 15.

Granted 23 xG is certainly not good, it's only mid table, but it's still funny to see them well below their xG numbers when that's the same issue Brighton had for years and the thing that really held them back from taking the next step.
And over our 6 game stretch with 1 goal, we had an xG of 8.1. And just based on the xG numbers from fbref, it should have been a 4-1-1 record.

I don't even really know what to make of that stretch.
 
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Savant

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And over our 6 game stretch with 1 goal, we had an xG of 8.1. And just based on the xG numbers from fbref, it should have been a 4-1-1 record.

I don't even really know what to make of that stretch.
I mean look at Brighton last season. That’s Potter Ball. It’s consistent
 

bleedblue1223

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I mean look at Brighton last season. That’s Potter Ball. It’s consistent
Sure, and part of that stretch was a UCL match, so it doesn't account for the entire difference on the season, but that stretch accounts for most of it. It's true that Potter's teams will typically under-perform their expected numbers, but it's also true that over this 6 game stretch, they've gone above and beyond what you'd typically expect them to under-perform by.
 

gary69

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With 23 goals in 24 matches, when was the last time a top 4/6 or just big spending/talent club scored under 1 goal per match? Is Potter just AVB 2.0? Obviously still a good coach, but the combo of going from small club to big club and the big club having a very flawed roster being too much? I get the sense that it's sort of like Mourinho's 2nd run, where both sides desperately want to make it work, to get to the summer and have that proper off-season/pre-season, but results on some level matter. Scoring 1 goal in the past 6 matches is just unbelievably poor.

Feels like just an incredibly toxic situation. Lots of new coaches, directors, and players. Some players probably already have a foot out the door, and lack of good strong player leadership. Probably lack of any leadership since so many are so new to the club. And a fanbase used to aggressive and ruthless action when results aren't being produced.

I don't envy the decision that has to be made, because I don't think any manager could succeed with the roster at the given moment.



Who would want to take over as an interim manager for rest of the season anyway? No hope of getting enough points to qualify for CL, so whoever it is, next to no chance of getting the job permanently in the summer when Chelsea go chasing the next big manager name.

Maybe John Terry would give it a shot, as that might be the only chance he will ever have to manage Chelsea.
 

robertmac43

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It is kind of funny seeing the Potter ball effect take place elsewhere. RDZ came in to Brighton and we instantly started scoring more, no longer are we the xG cursed club.
 

Savant

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So, were we just wrong and Potter isn't as good of a coach as we thought?
I think you were betting on Potter’s theoretical upside. However he hasn’t shown that he can make that leap yet. Not saying he won’t, but this is the same guy right now he was during the Brighton tenure. He hasn’t leveled up with even more resources. He is the constant
 

hatterson

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Anyone have a good explanation for why Potterball results in significantly fewer goals compared to xG?

At Brighton I think the assumption was that he was a good coach and his management was putting players into positions above their normal skill level thus they weren't converting on them. Clearly at Chelsea that isn't the case though.
 

Savant

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Anyone have a good explanation for why Potterball results in significantly fewer goals compared to xG?

At Brighton I think the assumption was that he was a good coach and his management was putting players into positions above their normal skill level thus they weren't converting on them. Clearly at Chelsea that isn't the case though.
I think the better question is how De Zerbi unlocked it
 

Wee Baby Seamus

Yo, Goober, where's the meat?
Mar 15, 2011
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Do you live in Toronto? I’m here until the evening tonight visiting friends. I was going to go to Chelsea supporters bar here to watch the match - if you wanted to tag along as I’m going on my own.

Or was it @Wee Baby Seamus .

Can’t remember who lived in Toronto lol.
I’m in Toronto, yep, but slept clean through the game.

Shoot me a DM if you’re ever back in town
 

bleedblue1223

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Paraphrasing but:

"The ball is moving forward through the midfield, why is he running back?!?"
"That is never a cutback, you put that through the box what is he doing?"
"He wants to be involved in the play but he's running to the wrong places."

Yea that's pretty much Havertz.
I never thought we could have a genuine debate over who was better at Chelsea, Torres or Kai, but that's what it's come to. Both had a big goal in a big UCL game, and then just shit. At least Torres had injuries as an explanation.
 
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gary69

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Anyone have a good explanation for why Potterball results in significantly fewer goals compared to xG?

At Brighton I think the assumption was that he was a good coach and his management was putting players into positions above their normal skill level thus they weren't converting on them. Clearly at Chelsea that isn't the case though.

You needed to have some insight on their training, how they are practicing scoring and creating chances. And who ends up scoring during the drills.

And assuming it works as intended in the practice, then why it doesn't translate to goals in the actual matches.
 
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Blender

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Anyone have a good explanation for why Potterball results in significantly fewer goals compared to xG?

At Brighton I think the assumption was that he was a good coach and his management was putting players into positions above their normal skill level thus they weren't converting on them. Clearly at Chelsea that isn't the case though.
We don't really know, but I think the biggest issue right now is personnel and the squad selection aspect of that falls on Potter (or it doesn't which is an even larger issue).

We've had maybe 2 games where individual failures from players haven't caused a collapse in the on-field tactics, and that's a big issue. It's been typical where we see things like the Spurs game on Saturday where we just generate nothing down an entire flank because a couple players are there and they play like garbage. It becomes way easier for the opponent to only have to defend one channel.

The club seems to be suffering from the sunk cost fallacy currently. The squad is huge with over 30 players and many of the veterans have looked checked out since last season. The club was willing to spend an absolute fortune replacement them, but seem unwilling to just burn their contracts and have them f*** off to a reserve squad. I would prefer Potter and the club just play the players with potential and a future here, and remove everyone else from the squad. Focus the training on the 22-25 guys you need, cast off everyone else to the reserves. While guys like Gallagher or Hall have flaws, they work their f***ing ass off out there and drive the play. Playing Ziyech, Havertz, RLC, Mount, etc. to aimlessly drift around the pitch for 90 minutes accomplishes nothing.
 
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