Football 2025-26

[charlierc]

1 hour ago, thetime said:

 

Arsenal have arguably the easier run in. With maybe only West Ham having much to play for. 

 

Palace last game, who may have the conference final few days later. Then again City could have villa, just coming off the europa cup final.

I agree it's not over yet and that there's every possibility that somewhere along the way, Man City may yet drop points. But Arsenal feel like they need something drastic to get their attack firing again. 

 

Either that or rush Saka back.

[thetime]

10 minutes ago, charlierc said:

I agree it's not over yet and that there's every possibility that somewhere along the way, Man City may yet drop points. But Arsenal feel like they need something drastic to get their attack firing again. 

 

Either that or rush Saka back.

 

Interesting stuff anyway, good title race. Looks like champions league places pretty locked in. 

 

Possibly 6 or 7 clubs going for europa/conference.

 

Then there is spurs, if West Ham win tomorrow might its not looking good for Spurs. 

 

There's only really your club, Burnley and Wolves who don't have much to play for. 

[kaosmark2]

2 hours ago, charlierc said:

We overpaid for Wissa but yeah, I think the injury disrupted his preparation for how we do things and the combination of the disrupted pre-season then the injury and then not getting the minutes means he now just looks like he's actually 3rd or 4th choice. Shame but it is what it is.

 

Woltemade plays as the main starting striker for the German national team and started well for us, so there's some kind of player there, but he seems better suited to something different to what we're using him for. Consensus from the Germans is that he plays better with people around him rather than an isolated fellow making something out of nothing, which is kind of what we want him to be. Playing him as a CM is absolutely not working as an experiment.

 

Tbf I think both fees were inflated by events - Wissa because Brentford knew we had the Isak money to burn and had a great season last year, Woltemade because he'd signed a new contract at Stuttgart and had been great at the U21 Euros last summer.

 

I'm not sure if it means a new striker is required in the summer tbf. We'll certainly need quite a few - Pope looks past it and I don't think Ramsdale's loan is being made permanent so a new keeper, Trippier is off so a new RB, Schar may be off so a new CB, new winger as Elanga isn't working out, Murphy is ageing and Gordon is potentially going. I guess we'll see what happens.

 

Chelsea just feel like a truly weird club to get a handle on tbh. I fail to see exactly how a system with 5/6 sporting directors is working and they seem to have magpie-like tendencies for players. Their model feels unsustainable with how much cash they're throwing at it all.

I think the injury has hurt Wissa's pace. Either he gets longer term rehab and a full pre-season, but if he doesn't start firing early next season it's hard to think he'll play much again at a high level. Osula just looks faster and sharper and like he's developing into the player that he was hyped to become.

 

Fully agree on Woltemade, I think there's a player there but he can't really handle being isolated up front and needs to link with players in a possession style threat, not a pressing + pace game. Honestly, if we're not in a European competition and adapt to Wolte I think Wolte/Osula and Wissa and cover isn't unmanageable, and we can then look for another striker the next year. Keeper and RB, with at least one of them being a defensive leader, feels essential though, on top of replacing players we sell.

[charlierc]

12 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

I think the injury has hurt Wissa's pace. Either he gets longer term rehab and a full pre-season, but if he doesn't start firing early next season it's hard to think he'll play much again at a high level. Osula just looks faster and sharper and like he's developing into the player that he was hyped to become.

 

Fully agree on Woltemade, I think there's a player there but he can't really handle being isolated up front and needs to link with players in a possession style threat, not a pressing + pace game. Honestly, if we're not in a European competition and adapt to Wolte I think Wolte/Osula and Wissa and cover isn't unmanageable, and we can then look for another striker the next year. Keeper and RB, with at least one of them being a defensive leader, feels essential though, on top of replacing players we sell.

There's speculation in other places that Wissa and Howe fell out. But yeah, I think injuries have taken out some of his pace and that he, like Woltemade, isn't really a lone striker in the way Isak or even Wilson could be. I actually thought for a while Osula could be developed into a decent winger but 3 goals in 4 means he's genuinely on merit earned the shirt for now. Howe must also be pleased the summer deadline day deal to sell him to Frankfurt fell through. 

 

But yeah. The defensive unit and keepers have absolutely not been good enough so that's a priority area for restructuring. Livramento, I think with his injury record that there's an argument for selling but we will need 2 right backs with Trippier and Krafth going. Although it's been suggested Livramento is actually better on the left. Plus I guess we'll see what happens if any combination of Bruno, Tonali or Gordon exit. 

[charlierc]

On 19/04/2026 at 19:55, Skip997 said:

Beginning to feel like Liverpool may sneak into CL qualification. 
 

Not sure how I feel about this 

 

On 19/04/2026 at 19:57, thetime said:

 

On the bright side, keeps your manager in a job. 😎😎

Well, I thought he'd stay if he finished in the Champions League places and Sky are reporting that if he gets Liverpool there, he stays. Like I thought. 

 

Guess time will tell if this is a Liverpool equivalent to ten Hag staying in post after the FA Cup win only to get sacked 6 months later. 

[Comfy Bean]

More World Cup tickets going on public sale tomorrow.

[charlierc]

Well, Chelsea look broken based on yesterday and the last few weeks. Presumably this won't lead to reflection by the higher ups on whether their bizarre structure of multiple sporting directors and overspending on young players is working. 

 

Still, could be worse. I didn't buy the hype that Leicester were going to bounce straight back but another relegation? Ouch. 

[lost]

5 minutes ago, charlierc said:

 I didn't buy the hype that Leicester were going to bounce straight back but another relegation? Ouch. 

 

I don't know if its true but I read on twitter their wage bill is higher than Everton and they have already borrowed against expected future premership reveune. If thats the case I would think they are looking at going into administration again.

[pink_triangle]

2 hours ago, charlierc said:

Well, Chelsea look broken based on yesterday and the last few weeks. Presumably this won't lead to reflection by the higher ups on whether their bizarre structure of multiple sporting directors and overspending on young players is working. 

 

Still, could be worse. I didn't buy the hype that Leicester were going to bounce straight back but another relegation? Ouch. 

You get the feeling the players will have realised Rosenior was out of his depth from day 1. I suspect players would have been embarrassed by the whole “be one with the ball “ with a circle around the referee.

[kaosmark2]

2 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

You get the feeling the players will have realised Rosenior was out of his depth from day 1. I suspect players would have been embarrassed by the whole “be one with the ball “ with a circle around the referee.

I remember you saying that you thought Rosenior was in a no-lose situation! Chelsea job lowish expectations to budget and most managers improve their reputation and get a big payout even without doing much.

[charlierc]

3 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

You get the feeling the players will have realised Rosenior was out of his depth from day 1. I suspect players would have been embarrassed by the whole “be one with the ball “ with a circle around the referee.

It really begs the question of why they sacked Maresca. But it's also right to question their model or the fact they seem to consider the head coach as so disposable. Losing key centre back Levi Colwill to injury before the season started and choosing to sign wingers instead of new defenders was great crazy. 

 

Rosenior must also wish he'd just stayed at Strasbourg. Maybe his best option is return to France in the summer. 

Just now, kaosmark2 said:

I remember you saying that you thought Rosenior was in a no-lose situation! Chelsea job lowish expectations to budget and most managers improve their reputation and get a big payout even without doing much.

Tbf I didn't think it would go this badly for him. 5 league losses without scoring in a row in Chelsea's worst run since the year Titanic sank and a sense for a few weeks that senior players stopped giving a sh*t. I thought he might at least get the Cup semi against Leeds this weekend but clearly things were too far gone. 

[charlierc]

1 hour ago, lost said:

 

I don't know if its true but I read on twitter their wage bill is higher than Everton and they have already borrowed against expected future premership reveune. If thats the case I would think they are looking at going into administration again.

Yeah I'd heard about that and that they have a lot of obligations to an Australian bank that seemed to get dibs on parachute money and transfer revenue. Plus they also have massive obligations on maintaining a stupidly expensive training ground and the debt taken out by building it, to go with King Power having never really financially recovered from 2 years of international tourism stopping. 

 

Perhaps the only plus point is that things don't look as dire as they do at fellow League One bound side Sheffield Wednesday. Admittedly, it's an incredibly low bar. 

[kaosmark2]

12 minutes ago, charlierc said:

It really begs the question of why they sacked Maresca. But it's also right to question their model or the fact they seem to consider the head coach as so disposable. Losing key centre back Levi Colwill to injury before the season started and choosing to sign wingers instead of new defenders was great crazy. 

 

Rosenior must also wish he'd just stayed at Strasbourg. Maybe his best option is return to France in the summer. 

Tbf I didn't think it would go this badly for him. 5 league losses without scoring in a row in Chelsea's worst run since the year Titanic sank and a sense for a few weeks that senior players stopped giving a sh*t. I thought he might at least get the Cup semi against Leeds this weekend but clearly things were too far gone. 

They sacked Maresca because he criticised the sporting directors, not for performance. The shitshow under Rosenior since has certainly raised his stock again since.

[pink_triangle]

1 hour ago, kaosmark2 said:

I remember you saying that you thought Rosenior was in a no-lose situation! Chelsea job lowish expectations to budget and most managers improve their reputation and get a big payout even without doing much.

He has done worse than I expected. However I think you can debate whether he has lost. Will have got a big pay off and  will likely get a similar level job to where he was before.

[Punksnotdead]

Piece of piss this management lark - get signed on an 8 year contract, despite having an unimpressive CV - crash and burn - criticise the team (or the board) - get sacked after a few months & take a multi-million pay off. Sure beats working for a living eh? 🤣

[balti-pie]

£24m for three months work! Fair play, that is magnificent - I’d have been incompetent for no more than ten mill 

[pink_triangle]

39 minutes ago, balti-pie said:

£24m for three months work! Fair play, that is magnificent - I’d have been incompetent for no more than ten mill 

He got 4 million not 24 million I think because of break clauses, but that’s not bad!

[Neil]

Good to see another london chaos club (Chelsea) to step into spurs shoes when spurs go down.

[Ben7amin_]

Football starts now....    

 

Would have literally given Richarlison to Everton as a gift if they had held on 

[lost]

Can easily see both WHU and Spurs winning at least 2 of their remaining games. Could be a 40 point plus season to stay up.

[charlierc]

I don't think much in the footy land compares with the Rochdale v York antics in the National League earlier. Can't be very often if ever where you see a team score a 95th minute promotion winning goal and still not win the game.

[charlierc]

3 hours ago, lost said:

Can easily see both WHU and Spurs winning at least 2 of their remaining games. Could be a 40 point plus season to stay up.

Hmmmm... we're on 42 right now but look pretty busted. Logically, I don't think all 4 of Leeds, Forest, West Ham and Spurs will bypass us and put us into the drink by season's end, not least there are still Spurs v Leeds and West Ham v Leeds games, and 1 win (or hell, 1 point) could yet be enough. However, crazy sh*t can happen and you're always wary this might be the moment crazy sh*t does happen. We still have to play both Forest and West Ham as well, and I suspect both might have us earmarked for points.

 

The only time in the PL era somebody went down with 40+ points was West Ham in 2003. Think their fans have a right to ponder if they're cursed if it happened to them again.

 

I thought our game at Arsenal was odd. There's a weird vibe to Arsenal right now as they just seem genuinely uneasy and unsure of themselves, and their attacking from open play has just disappeared, but it felt like watching a mirror image given Newcastle still have a midfield that's too easy to bypass and an attack that has totally gummed up. Woltemade and Wissa on together did have promise imo (even if Wissa should've done much better with the chance he blew at the end), but this is Howe's stubbornness we're talking about so we're back to 4-3-3 with them on the bench against Brighton.

 

Will say Spurs losing both Xavi Simons and Solanke today could be a factor too given that they aren't exactly blessed with great attacking options at present. Although Villa next week could be a good time to be playing them given it's in-between the much more captivating distraction of the two legs of their Europa League semi.

[Ben7amin_]

13 hours ago, lost said:

 Spurs winning at least 2 of their remaining games. 

 

As a Spurs fan I thank you for your extreme level of confidence -    

 

If you have not watched us this season - we have been extremely sh*t lol 

 

 

I have a secondary fear - that if we survive this the Spurs board - will think the level of investment in the playing and medical services at the club has been complete fine and we did not get relegated. 

 

[kaosmark2]

2 hours ago, Ben7amin_ said:

 

As a Spurs fan I thank you for your extreme level of confidence -    

 

If you have not watched us this season - we have been extremely sh*t lol 

 

 

I have a secondary fear - that if we survive this the Spurs board - will think the level of investment in the playing and medical services at the club has been complete fine and we did not get relegated. 

 

What?

 

You've got the 5th highest net spend on transfers on recent years and 6th or 7th highest wage budget in the league! That's in line with revenue position. 

 

It's easy to criticise where the recruitment has gone sure, but not the amount.

Edited April 26 by kaosmark2

[Ben7amin_]

35 minutes ago, kaosmark2 said:

What?

 

You've got the 5th highest net spend on transfers on recent years and 6th or 7th highest wage budget in the league! That's in line with revenue position. 

 

It's easy to criticise where the recruitment has gone sure, but not the amount.

 

Last year we were so short of players - and we have carried this into season -  We quite simply do not have enough players -   we have the budget we could of spent more -  So i will absolutely criticise the amount.    To rephrase your comment we were the 5th highest net transfers but we were far more in need of players that the 4 teams that spent more than us.   

 

As for wages we have the 8th highest in the prem -    The boards ambition is to try and win the league and compete on Europe.....  this wont happen at that level, we spend only a little more than Nottingham Forrest 

 

Not that you challange it but our cheif medical officer made a list of recommendations to fix the injury issues.   We ignored him and he has now quit -  yet another season of injuries -   to make matters worse a few players who at spurs and never get fit - have left and now play week in week out. 

 

We the gig and American football alongside other commercial ventures -  we can financially compete with the biggest clubs in the prem -  Yet we seem to choose not to. 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 26 by Ben7amin_