ExpectedChelsea

I'll be pinning this thread and include my best works in it so that it will be easy for newcomers to read. Hopefully I'll be able to update this thread on a regular basis. :-) As always, RTs will be genuinely appreciated.

£117m should get you a contender for the best player in the PL for the next 3-5 years. If you adjust for this crazy market, you could argue you'd get a top 10-20 player. Rogers isn't that. Overpaying for a great player is fine , doing so for a normal player much less so.

Great thread with a lot of data, and I agree with the premise. I want to be wrong, I hope you come back and laugh at me, but this feels like a Neto-esque move to me. Price doesn't match output, not like his tape is extraordinary either.

I'm sorry, does this say £117m? One hundred and seventeen million?

@zohebmotlekar That's genuinely not much better either

@ExpectedChelsea The idea was always a mid field 3 of Enzo- Lavia - Caicedo. Latvia’s unavailability caused issues.

The answer is obvious, but might be hard for Chelsea fans to digest. The club messed up Enzo by signing Caicedo. Both are good players individually, but they're not a good pair. As a club, we should've optimized for Enzo, but we didn't.

@CoolLifted Not as easy. Letting Caicedo "roam" right now is not a winning strategy for a few reasons: 1. Not Kante-level defensively. Leaves gaps and is pretty rash. He hasn't earned that right. 2. Not great in final-third, although he has a good shot. 3. Technically inconsistent.

@ExpectedChelsea Or club should be willing to move Moi to box to box like Kante and make Enzo sit and dam the consequences

The ironic part is that Enzo's versatility means he can shine next to different types of players. Deep-lying playmakers, final-third crashers, defensive-minded "sitters", you name it. Enzo can make most partnerships work. Caicedo is one of the very few incompatible profiles.

@UtdArena Amazing work! Great to see you back on the platform - best of the best.

Look at what England did straight after scoring:

Scaloni, by the way. Remarkable coach - showed (again) that you don't need attackers to make an offensive change. Brought on fresh defenders (even if they're old), allowing them to defend higher and push more with their existing attackers. Masterstroke.

I've been among the first to point out (since 2022 maybe?) that Tuchel has lost his secret sauce, but even by his standards, this has been a ridiculous meltdown. I cannot remember the last time a coach threw a game like this - makes Rosenior vs PSG look like a Pep masterclass.

In almost every single way, the 2026 World Cup has been a steroid-boosted version of the 2006 World Cup, which was the best of our lifetimes until now. Coincidences galore.

This is the post-2021 Thomas Tuchel special. - Start with an under-strength team, partly due to his own choices. - Dominate the first 60 minutes tactically, look like the best coach in history. - Park the bus from 61', bring on 3-5 defenders. - Concede in heartbreaking manner.

Chelsea wanted to replace Enzo with "Alex Scott" and "Adam Wharton". Good lord.

However good you think Enzo is, he is MUCH better than that. If you favourite's name is not Bellingham or Rice, you cannot chat to him.

Tonali, Matheus Fernandes and so on are absolutely not worth big money. I don't know what Spurs are doing. Anderson is worth big money, but not what City paid for him. But it's also City, money doesn't work the same way for them.

There are lots and lots of midfielders who are 8/10 physically and 7/10 technically, or vice versa. These should ideally cost 50-60M, no more. You can get them for lesser even. Manu Kone is an example, or maybe someone like Fabian Ruiz. Tchouameni another example.

It's always funny when people think this Spain team is 2009 Arsenal. These guys are physical monsters, especially in midfield. Rodri is arguably the most aerially dominant midfielder of the modern era. Fabian can run like a horse for days. Merino bulldozes past CBs with ease.