Joe Cole:

“I was talking to a Chelsea fan the other day who loves the club. It felt more like a therapy session.

“He said to me, ‘It was different in your day, we felt connected.’

“I asked him why he felt like that, and what we did differently apart from winning matches?

“He said there was a response to the losing games, and more engagement with the fans.

“He used Shevchenko as an example; he came in and had a terrible time, but the fans could see he was trying.

“He was humble, and every time they sang Shevchenko’s name, he acknowledged them. For a Ballon d’Or winner who’s having a difficult time, they still remembered that more than 15 years later.

“It’s the little things that I think the group need to take charge of, but no senior players are leading that at the club.


“They don’t realise how important it is, and what he said was that, he says, at Chelsea, success is not judged on how many trophies you won, but on how much money you’re in the red at the end of the season or how much profit you’ve made.

“That summed it up.

“That seems to be where our Chelsea Football Club is now, not judged on performance on the pitch, but on the finances.

“And you can’t tell me anything other than that. It’s the truth.”

FireSide

SURVIVAL METER - DEFENCE

- Wingbacks play as false /wide wingers
- CB play close together with ability to cover wide areas
- Ball playing CB to slice passes through Lines

0–40 -High-risk

Gusto— poor attacking output and attacking indecisiveness. Could sit out much or be replaced if no improvements.

Tosin- Anybody can play in this system including uncle. But he could struggle with wide area coverage when wingbacks fly.

41–55- Should survive depending on adaptation and tactical development

Sanchez— Shot-stopping gives him a chance despite limitations in buildup phases. A ball playing keeper is not one of Alonso's obsessions.

Cucurella — Defensively aggressive and useful, but attacking delivery and back-post timing must improve.

Chalobah / Fofana / Sarr— All possess traits suited for a rotational back-three environment. Must just cut out individual mistakes to survive.

55–80 -Strong compatibility

Reece — Natural guaranteed starter. But the wingback role is too demanding under Alonso. The injury will be his mate.

Colwill — Elite line-breaking passing. Be used as the Central ball playing CB alongside two stoppers/careers.

WildCards- High-upside tactical weapons

**Hato*"- most probably to be used as LCB.

Quenda / Diego Moreira— Wingback profiles that could explode in Alonso football due to direct running, fast transitions and great attacking and technical skills. Neto could also be slotted here

Anselmino— Fresh start under a new coach could unlock him. We know the raw capabilities; now it becomes about adaptation and opportunity.

May need to add another ball playing CB as Colwill cover.

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FireSide

Alonso - The Man

Before the Alonso's Midfield team sequel, I thought it important to pen this.

This is the first time the fans are having an almost unanimous agreement on who they want as the next coach.

The management have had their way before and terribly failed. Now they need to give the fans their option to fail too.

But looking at Alonso's stats, it's so crazy that we are still being linked to the likes of Iraola and Marco Silva. Just crazy.

Real Sociedad B
✓ First promotion to Segunda División in 60+ years with mostly kids

Leverkusen (18 Months)
✓ First ever league title
✓ First ever domestic double
✓ First ever unbeaten season
✓ Europa League Final

Above all, He:-

✓ Integrates youth, nurtures and develops them in his teams. Our youth teams are rising again. Good for them and good for business.

✓ Clear Identity and tactical versatility

✓ After Madrid burnt his hands, there will be almost no better job upgrades than Chelsea since he can't be accepted at Barcelona, and Liverpool will have a sour taste in their mouths. You are almost guaranteed a Simeone-like long-term Atletico like project.

This is not a fluke. This is a man who knows what he is doing.

I hope our SDs stop thinking they are too clever to the point we lose the guy. The same way they were clever even when Enrique and Flick were free.

Liverpool can even smell the danger, change their minds and hang Slot for him.

Thats when we'll hang the SDs.

🚨Chelsea striker Sam Kerr is playing her last match for Chelsea this weekend. Huge news.

FireSide

#AfterThought

Now that we have perfected the art of " The Bomb Squad" Florentino Perez is about to find out why we gave the players 17years Contracts.

You can't wait for their contracts to end and the player can't bully the club into submission.

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#OpponentWatch

It will be all fun and pride for these SD's until Liverpool presses the panic trigger

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#HALFTIME

Balanced & Entertaining

#FULLTIME

A loss but a very decent performance.

Lots of positives to work on.

Changes.

Just pushing Enzo alongside Caicedo then field another proper 10 alongside Palmer.

Gusto is also a hardworking wingback but attack wise though he is just a cross spammer at best. Zero attacking brains. That's one position that needs addressing if you intend to have attacking threats wide.

FireSide

#BottomLine

We have a very shitty emotional fan base.

Most can't think outside the influence of their emotions.

Is this the first final we are losing? Whether with Blue Co or Abramovich ? Are we the first club to lose a final.

Accept we have been in the gutters. And today was a positive first step towards redemption.

When wrong, say it. When decent, say it too.

Neto, Garnacho who are premier league experience entered the game and as usual we can’t keep hold of the ball again, How can players be this bad i don’t get it, Neto got a chance with space and shot right into the defenders with his head down. First sale of the summer should be him. We should sell to the lowest bidder

FireSide

#AfterThought

Reece says we matched them and went toe to toe,

This is not the " Players gave their all" Potter kind of shit talk. It's true we did. Just that some men are on menstruation here and therefore nothing makes sense to them.

Yes. A loss is painful to all of us. But give the devil its due.

It's the limitations we had in attacking areas personnel that didn't give us a proper chance to attack properly and win.

We can only hope it gets addressed.

Good news!!!

Alonso is here

It's a new chapter.

We restart.

We restart this same project every season with different managers, i’m even surprised you have hope in this current board.

FireSide

Survival Meter- Midfield

The other day I said something on defence that didn't make sense to some people. But I think everything was clear against City. Sometimes what I say at a moment may not make sense, but time always proves me right. Except for one moment, Fofana looked like Messi on steroids and Hato didn't make a foot wrong. Colwill was perfect. What we wish for vs what we can truly get are two different things vs resources we may have. So a working compromise must be attained.

Now in midfield I hear people saying we need more additions but I always beg to differ. If Enzo doesn't leave and the Barco Kid joins, that will be a complete midfield to comprehensively play Alonso's back three. And I insist it must be a back three to not expose their weaknesses.

55-80

Caicedo -The only one guaranteed to start most games. Full fit for the system.

41-55

Enzo- if he doesn't leave, I see Enzo more as the first alternative to play alongside Caicedo. Mostly against non top four Sides. One because I see him not as effective as a 10. 2. Because from deep he is the most effective to arrive in the box late in the box to box role and 3 because his defensive liabilities are efficiently covered in back 5 and the Alonso's narrow spaces between lines tactic. In a back four he is a disaster in the hole role. Should have adequate cover in a back 3/5

Santos/ Essugo- Effective cover for Caicedo. Santos used to play box to box at Strasbourg and with Brazil youth teams. He can cover for Enzo in that B2B from a deep role.

Lavia- Can be called in as the most natural holding midfielder. Alonso encourages ball holding in midfield to attract presses. This then triggers the stage two of speedy triangle passes transitions. He could be effective at this.

WildCards

Barco/ Walsh- Alonso has natured kids all through his managerial career. He's made them flourish. These two, outside Lavia, are the only thing with capacity to break defensive lines through forced dribble in short spaces. I'd even say they could be more effective than Lavia in this role.

Considering that we need emergency strengthening in attack and defence, any additions here should only be based on one in one out principal. Any outright purchase could be a misplaced luxury we may not need or afford. ( Note I have moved CAM to attack).

His official account has posted this a few minutes ago