Vital_spring Media

VeryDarkMan sends a very strong message to the spokesperson to President Tinubu, Mr Bayo Onanuga🙆🏼‍♂️

Stayed same on both courses. The truth, however, is we will only get crumbs with this wage structure. BlueCo is protecting their overheads, understandably. The Roman lavish culture is over, and we are now a mid-table team by all regards.

The last time Crystal Palace couldn’t handle the technical ability of Chelsea’s new signing Valentine Barco 😭🔥

✍️ I'm not someone who minces words or is afraid to say his mind. If I want Enzo gone, I will say it boldly and repeatedly. Now, to clarify, I would 1000% keep Enzo under Alonso. He's going to be extremely important in many ways. But no, Enzo and Palmer as 10s will not give us the best out-of-possession balance and effective counter-press, which are massively important for Alonso. I don't think we should drop Enzo either; I believe the close proximity of Alonso's shape will hide his shortcomings in the pivot. Alonso allows the defensive line to be very close to the midfield, and the defenders are allowed to jump in and help the midfielders mark, press, and win second balls. For me, Enzo Caicedo as a pivot should be fine if the space between the lines is tight. Another reason we need a different profile as a 10 is to have someone who attacks and stretches the defense rather than a ball-to-feet player. Then, on his contract: personally, this shouldn't be a topic. Whether he signs or not, he still has six years left on his deal. That's a lot. What's the rush? I want him to extend if his demands are within the scope of the structure. If his demands will force the club to break the structure, it's not advisable. We shouldn't do that. Barcelona ran into financial issues because of overspending on wages and had to force players to take pay cuts or leave. They even turned down renewing Messi or taking him back from PSG. It helped them rebuild the squad, and they are still winning, while Real Madrid, who have the money to pay big salaries, are struggling. The point is, it's not just about money. Build a stable club, and they will improve what you are paying the players to match your earnings. Don't put yourself in trouble for any player, even if it's Messi. It's not worth it. A football team is much more than an individual. As to why Chelsea can't overpay now: PSR and FFP are regulations put in place to force teams to pay based on their paper revenue. Basically, you aren't allowed to pay more than you earn. Sign-on fees are amortized and spread over five years max, but every wage you pay goes straight into the annual expenditure. For example, a player on £300k a week is earning £15.6m annually; if he's earning £200k, his annual earnings drop to £10.4m. The club saves £5.4m on that player's wages per year. Multiply that by four or five players on such deals and see the difference. That difference is enough to break FFP or PSR. It's not something clubs can ignore until they become financially stable and also stable on the pitch. If you make the UCL every season, such fees won't be much of a problem. Also, there's the issue of the capacity of Stamford Bridge. We are currently earning way less than many big teams in the Premier League, and that includes Spurs. So, let me ask: with limited revenue, do we need to overpay and land in trouble? Obviously, it doesn't concern fans, but if we get to the point of a transfer ban and points deduction, it will concern everyone. Roman did it how he did it for us to enjoy success. I'm happy I had Roman as an owner—the best in the world—but we are not under him anymore, and the current owners don't want to cut corners, and rightly so. I believe we will be back. If Alonso, with his coaching, can help us find stability on the pitch and make better decisions, we will be back for real. Like Barcelona, we don’t need to pay more than we can afford to rebuild. We just need to be smart and make good decisions that will benefit the club and not individuals. Then we will be fine. It's a long read, but I had to be detailed. Anyone who wants to misinterpret or misunderstand me can go ahead. I have nothing more to add on both topics. Of course, this is my personal opinion. Well done if you read to the end. I appreciate that patience. 🤝

Everyone shouts we want to have a strong culture at the club but it feels like we don't understand what it means. It means respecting the values and principles of the club. If the manager says, training starts 8am, you are there before 8. If the club says don't do this is, you respect it. If the wage structure has a cap, you respect it. The whole idea is to make everyone feel united and important. It's not when you know it signed for the club, and become a better player, you will start forcing the club to make changes to those principles and values to suit you as a person not as a squad. Alex Ferguson sold a lot of his stars who felt they became bigger than the club's culture but he still remained at the top. A player doesn't win you games or titles without his teammates. What you have as a team is greater than what any player in the world has to offer. For me, that's what culture simple means, everyone moving in the same direction, with the same purpose and belief. Roman's Chelsea had Real Madrid, Barcelona, City, Milan clubs all over our top players, some had unbelievably bigger offers, like City's offer to John Terry. Yet, they all remained because they believed in each other and the club. Players play for money but that's not everything. The culture of the club can't be trampled upon. It's what holds the club together. It's what keeps the players united to perform as one and fight for each other and the badge. I get that Chelsea capped their wages and offer incentives for UCL. I think it's smart because there is always the danger of missing UCL. There is FFP and PSR out there to obey. And the club's revenue isn't as solid as our rivals — even Spurs earn more. Small stadium and lack of UCL are massive issues. It's not about giving everyone what they deserve but can the club actually afford that. I believe Chelsea will soon get to paying £300k wages again, but first, we need to stabilise, play UCL consistently and improve the annual revenues. For players who can't afford to wait and take us there because they want to earn more, they are free to leave. Some people say "but we have spent £2b, and can't afford wages". The first few windows under BlueCo was where the money was spend, the latest ones were more about balancing the book. Selling to raise money, and use it on replacements. That's why the club are into buying players to improve and sell for profit. It's our way of generating revenue and funding incoming transfers. Some top clubs don't need that but we need it to level up. Roman didn't run Chelsea by profit and loss book, we have to understand and always remember that. This club is a bit handicapped in terms of total annual revenue due to the size of Stamford Bridge. It's a lot of money when you compare that with the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United. If we have that extra £40m-£50m, we can afford to put some players on 300k a week. A 300k a week player is basically earning £15.6m per year. Just one player and it's not amortised fee, all of it is straight into the annual record. If you have 3 of such players, it's close to £50m. £250k a week is £13m annually. It's insane.

I don't want us to play Enzo and Palmer together in the half-space. We need someone in that LHS who can stretch the defense to pair with Palmer. The fact that João Pedro likes coming short to get involved makes it very easy to defend against us because our penetrative runs now mostly come from the wide players who are usually far from the opposition's box and don't offer much threat. So, the opponent only needs to have a narrow back four, and we will struggle to create quality chances or break them down. We need to pull narrow defence apart with movements that will create more space. Right now, it looks like most of our attacking players want to the ball to feet in front of the opponent's backline without much off the ball central runs. Hopefully, Alonso will play with a tight line and have Caicedo and Enzo in the pivot. Then play a different profile in the left-hand side to give us better balance and less predictable.