Chelsea Are MUCH Worse Than You Think

[@benjaminv6039]

When i was younger, on FM i used to take charge of Chelsea or Man City and deliberately overspend on terrible players to see just how bad I could make the club when i left. This current Chelsea team is presently performing way worse than any of my attempts at intentionally tanking the club.

[@SuperMickyChow]

This is the correct way to play

[@samthemac17]

This man chose violence.

[@maciejbala477]

you, I like you. Fun idea lol

[@williamwheatley1852]

Wow, I could turn chelsea and man city into a club ready to sprial into non league, Long long contracts on very old players was the key, and while I'm at it I'll give a huge transfer fee, Let's say 500 million for surviving relegation, 7 or 8 of these bonus signings should be worth it, 5 years? They'll be in league one and totally bust by the time that player gets to retire

[@dariogutierrez6716]

same but wouldn't even bother playing them, just edited their money away and force sold their stars with the editor lol

[@seandelap8587]

You think Man Utd are bad and then you look at Chelsea and it's a whole other level of terrible

[@nont18411]

United vs Chelsea is simply Trash vs Garbage

[@loudpack8648]

Ofc…people will hate just because it’s Manchester United 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@PH-jv4ik]

Yup but United get more clicks. Still it's impressive how quickly they've imploded.

[@matijasmiljanic9387]

Naah, it ain't just that. It's how Man Utd treats players (legends) and how cocky they are while being so sht. Talking as a long time Man Utd fan... still a fan of club, just not of this bunch of idiots who run em at this time.

[@archaicrapture]

Chelsea hasn't been in crisis for the past decade 😂😂😂

[@PH-jv4ik]

I was wondering when Alfie would do a video on Chelsea. It's truly impressive how badly they've done and just how poorly their recruitment has seemingly been.

[@brightsideeventsandmedia7245]

They’ve saved Liverpool a fortune in flops……😂

[@PH-jv4ik]

@@brightsideeventsandmedia7245 They really thought they'd won when they got Lavia and Caicedo 😂.

[@shotti50]

damn alfi worst of all time lol dam a bit harsh but fare

[@Freestyle80]

see what American Arrogance gets you.

[@shotti50]

@@Freestyle80 Christ lord preach

[@badgermanization]

To spend over a billion pounds to get worse is actually quite impressive in a weird/peverted kind of way. It's phenomenal how Chelsea have been able to achieve so little with so many resources 😂😂

[@daniel_debo]

Chelsea aka Monopoly F.C 😂😂😂

[@johnjohnson9182]

Very true 😅 I'd almost expect anyone who plays fm to be able to make better signings than they have 😂

[@daniel_debo]

@@johnjohnson9182 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@corvus2512]

Has anyone considered maybe they are laundering money? Surely that is a better answer than sheer incompetence

[@westington1]

@@corvus2512That’s something that’s crossed my mind, and perhaps some of the transfers have elements to that. But they aren’t massively overpaying for each player, and they’ve not all come in from the East, or just the same set of clubs. It seems the only way this would be possible is that there is a large money laundering ring existing around clubs in the world (there is almost certainly something like that in existence), but the thing I can’t really work around there is the fact that there are players that were performing well at the clubs Chelsea bought from, who are happy enough to let valuable players go (who are massive financial assets), with no obvious gain if they’re doing this to help someone else launder money, and that’s even if it’s somewhat of a mutual thing…….you surely lower the selling clubs value if they lose valuable players but then don’t actually have the money to replace said players as - and this is surely even if both respective owners are washing money on the transfer - as the selling club wouldn’t have money to buy replacements…… So I’m stumped there, but at the same time I’m more readily willing to believe that a rich Russian billionaire is washing his money than he’s just gone on a mad spending spree just to worsen the team he’s just bought …. So yeh, I’m stumped - and would love to hear a more detailed analysis of how this could be a money laundering scheme, that actually makes sense……as my version doesn’t 😂

[@leediaper438]

The worst thing is we're not in a transitional period. The rebuild is pretty much complete and pretty much every player we have is worse than the previous squad. The recruitment has been absolutely crazy. The whole squad has at most 2 experienced players who are fit in Silva and Sterling

[@Noobie2k7]

I remember on FM16 seeing Chelsea get relegated by 2031 and thinking that was the craziest and most unrealistic thing id seen on the game. Turns out it could actually happen if they keep on like this.

[@joshuamuhuthia7437]

For me, the biggest red flags came in the club's investment in the goalkeeping department. We let go of two decent but not elite goalkeepers in Mendy and Kepa, and downgraded to the 3rd choice keeper for Brighton and an anonymous MLS keeper for a total of 50 million euros. If we compare them to Onana, Pope, Pickford, Ederson, Alisson, Vicario, Raya, and Ramsdale, it makes me sad to say that we might never see them play champions league football for the next 3 seasons.

[@magentaurous4025]

This guy wanted to keep kepa?

[@nicolassalamanca8051]

​@@magentaurous4025says the guy who also played for real Madrid the biggest club in the world Oh wait...

[@nicolassalamanca8051]

Bro wtf how did they let those two go like that? Changing keepers is rare enough nowadays but to get rid of two like that!?

[@Carson-pv4hr]

Chelsea will go back to the Denis wise days spending money on guys like Sutton fossel a super sub along with big flo but a FA cup win would be the highlight of there season and trying to qualify for the uafa Cup..can't see them dominating the league again unless a miracle happens new owners. Chelsea thst let go salah and Kevin de .. and others who then went on to prove they were more than good enough to plsy in the epl at the top level but Chelsea didn't think so let them go 😂🫣 morrata Diego Costa torres who cost them 50 million salah was a better finisher goalscorer than all of them

[@Hyde_Hill]

@@magentaurous4025 Kepa was actually one of the better goalkeepers stat wise last season in the premier league.Having for instance the third best PsxG - GA and 6th in Save percentage In the league. Some of his other stats where pretty good as well. If it wasn't for Kepa things would have been even worse for Chelsea.

[@FashionRoadman]

Even as a Chelsea fan I can admit that we are a horror show right now. The way it’s going we will be fighting for relegation if we’re not careful. You know something is wrong when fans are celebrating Everton’s point loss because they would’ve been ahead of us otherwise

[@evonne_o]

You are ALREADY fighting for relegation

[@Batasz]

@@evonne_o How? We have 10 points more than luton.

[@Mesjach]

@@Batasz In this contest, that almost sounds like an achievement :D

[@jazzrockr]

It's not a matter of if but when and in what division. And it may not be this year or next. But it's coming.

[@WGK90]

Hopefully it wont be long before they are again. fuck chelsea

[@makkrohero59]

I remember I wrote a post on Reddit or Twitter or something like that during last season. Claiming we were one of the worst ever Premier League sides. No, we did not finish with 11 points, like Derby. But in terms of expectations, money spent, quality of the squad etc. we really were awful. But I got scrutinized on that post. Not a single person had some sort of agreement with me. Well look at us now. More money spent, not gotten any better. We really are a joke. It’s in times like this I kinda regret being so emotionally invested in Chelsea. They really take a toll on my everyday life. Great video as well, Alfie.

[@riccardodiluca6862]

Being a Sporting CP fan and hearing about Chelsea's interest in our top striker Gyokeres, I can easily believe that even if they go for the 100M clause, the player wouldn't be that excited to join them

[@Pengi_SMILES]

it would, however, be a very Chelsea move to sign a player for 100m 12 months after they had moved from an English club for 20m.

[@riccardodiluca6862]

@@Pengi_SMILES totally 😆

[@maciejbala477]

@@Pengi_SMILES Enzo Fernandez chapter 2

[@Freestyle80]

you got him from Brighton yeah? Boehly gets really hard whenever he thinks about anything related to Brighton

[@riccardodiluca6862]

no, he was playing at coventry@@Freestyle80

[@HHHBFResurrected]

It's funny that you say "deluded Chelsea fans" would've been expecting a similar turnaround to 16-17 this season when (in my experience) that's what 99% of other fans were telling themselves this summer & it was the Chelsea fans trying to assure everyone that no, we are that bad, this ownership is that clueless, and we won't be getting significantly better anytime soon. It shows what a remarkable legacy Abramovich left behind, a fear factor that lingered against all rational explanation - NEVER underestimate Chelsea. Perhaps the most insane thing this ownership have done which set the tone right from the beginning was takeover one of the most stable clubs in world football (which might as well be a unicorn for a club actively up for sale) & thought to themselves "yeah this needs total revolution". Board members, directors, the manager, the squad, scouts, physios, kit man, dinner ladies, all of it needs replacing within the next 12 months! It's not like the club over the past 25 years didn't have this cerebral mentality of continuously winning despite themselves, nah we need to rip that stupidity out root & stem. Truly unbelievable to me. The really scary thing is I do believe this owners care, they are Roman's spiritual successors, they're just that woefully incompetent.

[@oldskoolmusicnostalgia]

Man Utd and Arsenal who were massively successful before became also-rans under American ownership. Looks like Chelsea will suffer the same fate.

[@SandDune11]

Tbf he didn’t call Chelsea fans deluded he said deluded Chelsea fans might’ve expected you to turn it around after the bad season like you did under Conte, assuming you’re talking about around the 16:20 mark

[@SandDune11]

And no I didn’t go through the whole vid to find that, I just happened to read your comment as he said it 😂

[@HHHBFResurrected]

@@SandDune11 The point is, on the whole, it was fans of other clubs who expected that (I actually saw the 16-17 season referenced more than once), I didn't come across a single Chelsea fan all summer who thought we'd recover to that extent this season. A whole lot thought we'd be better but not even top 4 better let alone title challenging. We've known we're broken for awhile, it's everyone else that's catching up.

[@stnbch3025]

Abramovich his era peaked pre 2011. He created a polished turd of a club on financial steroids for delusional glory hunters. Since 2011 Chelsea are collectively in denial about how the last 12 seasons really looked and inflate in a delusional manner how good they were. In the last 12 seasons Chelsea in the PL only produced two top 2 finishes and only reached 80 points 3 times.64+75+82+87+50+93+70+72+66+67+74+44 = an average of 70 points. Apart from 4 proper runs in the UCL they were insignificant. The fact is they won the Europa League twice because they weren't good enough for the UCL. They fluked the UCL with Di Matteo and imploded. They won the PL with Mourinho and immediately started imploding. They won the PL with Conte and immediately started imploding. They won the UCL with Tuchel and immediately started imploding => every big trophy is an isolated result because a typical Chelsea season was spend, play shite, sack manager and have a go at usually the FA Cup and try to qualify for next years UCL. Chelsea fans use the trophies to polish their image and to deny the fact they were usually too shite and busy sacking and finding a manager. This is the culture and way of working Abramovich created. It's pathetic and why Chelsea is a polished turd of a club.

[@nu-metalfan2654]

When it comes to spending money for a football team, it’s not how much you spend, it’s how smart you spend. Chelsea spend money for the sake of it with no plan. Also I think Reece James will be one of those players to retire at a young age, as he’s far too injury prone for a long career.

[@vaiyt]

It helps to have more money to spend smart though 😅

[@tempejkl]

@lmaomoofeq2505keep telling yourself that

[@nu-metalfan2654]

@@vaiyt Well that is what I mean. You need to spend smart even if you’ve got all that money to spend. Where Chelsea just throw it all away, like a drunken night bender on Amazon.

[@madaxwayne]

@@tempejkl deffo the better rb on his day but the best ability is availabilty so that means fck all

[@Noobie2k7]

😂​​@@madaxwayne Exactly. You could be the best RB in the world but if youre only available for half your clubs games in a season you're not going to be all that valuable that team.

[@edwardjones532]

Trust me I am under no illusions about how bad Chelsea are

[@brucesmith1695]

#twelthski. 😂

[@AtTheBridgePod]

Honestly could see Chelsea fighting a relegation battle in the next 3 seasons, current ownership have no idea how to run a club.

[@connor4435]

Only thing they have is high class young players who might be able to come into their own in the next couple years

[@evonne_o]

​@@connor4435Nah....

[@ronnynoneofyourbusinessgoo7892]

Does Roary still have his Chelsea fan channel??

[@MihailBFC]

they won't; team will improve,but they need to stop buying 1000 players like almost every season.

[@F1Krazy]

I don't think Chelsea are *quite* bad enough to end up in a relegation scrap on merit, but if they breach FFP and get hit with a points deduction - which, at the rate they're going, is quite likely - that could well be enough to pitch them into the relegation zone. Last season they were only 10 points off the drop, and while they're already 10 points clear this season, that's mostly thanks to an abnormally weak bottom three. I can very well see Ipswich and Leicester hitting the ground running in the Prem next season, and a points deduction for Chelsea then would be a lot more dangerous.

[@SuperMickyChow]

The list of "could have bought" players at 7:19 is incredible. To think what the Chelsea First XI could have looked like and where they might be instead... not to mention having over 400 million still to spend... mindblowing

[@jajasking9652]

Yep, and mudryk gotha be the worst Transfer ever, or well, at least second worst behind a burger eater that was notoriusly great when playing for Chelsea intself, or arguably third with Coutinho

[@Noobie2k7]

​@@jajasking9652You're forgetting about Utd spending like 80m on Antony when he'd not even played a songle full season at a club not even in a top 5 league.

[@jajasking9652]

@@Noobie2k7 mmm true

[@daniel_debo]

​@@jajasking9652 Chelsea given Mudryk silly wages and a ridiculous contract lol. I am glad Arsenal didn't get him dodged a flop Chelsea will sell him soon.

[@redboyjan]

​​@@jajasking9652good point. But I raise your Mudryk and give you Mason Mount

[@luishernandezblonde]

Alfie, a bit curious but a video about Lebanon's struggling situation with football is needed. Despite football being the most played sport in every West Asian nations, this doesn't seem to be the case of Lebanon. In fact, Lebanon may have one of the worst football development record in West Asia, their U17 and U23 teams have never been to an U17 or U23 Asian Cups, while the U20 have only qualified twice for the U20 Asian Cup. Simultaneously, Lebanon has performed very poor in Asian Cup for senior nations. This is even more shocking when, by the irony, Lebanon has the oldest continuing football league in Asia, the Lebanese Premier League, which has been running since 1932 and even far older than the more successful J.League or K-League.

[@lordvadertheleftie9703]

Perhaps they need more traditional Lebanese cuisine like sheep's testicles 😂

[@Howknows78199]

Abramovich leaving was the beginning of the end. Firing tuchel was the final nail in the coffin

[@jazzrockr]

Abramovich could have also gotten bored too as do most of the oligarch owners. But at the time of the forced sale, you were right.

[@Braunbaer01]

Well he had to or he should called of his warmonger friend.

[@petesmart1983]

He's too busy now in Israel building settlements on palestians land

[@xavier1752]

Firing Tuchel wasn’t a wrong decision

[@Thrill_Hou]

@@jazzrockr 😂 I don’t think he was going to get bored, mate. He spent 20 years at the club 🤣🤣

[@boghianvalentin7687]

0:29 Imagine how much Chelsea's next owner will spend,maybe around 5 billion in the first period of transfers. 😂😂😂

[@ezraezra2928]

I'm still desperate to see you making this video about Santos FC, the club that brought the football icons like Pele and Neymar who were recently being relegated for the first time in 111 years of the club's history.

[@badgermanization]

I've really been wanting to see a video on this also!

[@carltonthesponge]

This! Or a video on how Botafogo pulled an Arsenal

[@badgermanization]

@@carltonthesponge What happened? Were they rubbish and then became good again?

[@maciejbala477]

@@badgermanization nah, they were well clear in the title race and bottled it (way worse than Arsenal too, they finished 5th)

[@MrYungJoey]

Hey Alfie am a huge fan of your football essays. Thank you for being so consistent and informative. I have a question that has been bothering me for a while, Please discuss; Whatever happens when a reserve team plays in the second tier and gets promoted. Is it possible for Barcelona and Barcelona B to play in the same competition or a Ajax and Jong Ajax for instance? What about if Ajax gets relegated, can they play in the same league as their reserve team? What are the rules and aren't there conflicts of interest ?? Thanks for being awesome. Love from Kenya

[@0TheFinal]

I know is Spanish football the b team can't get promoted to the top league

[@themanthemyththelegend1982]

no b team can play in the same division as there parent club doesn't matter where you or what league you play in

[@adamclark1972uk]

Having B teams play in the same league, albeit at a lower tier, seems like a really rubbish idea to me. Imagine if we had Man City B and Liverpool B in the Championship. Would devalue the competition.

[@kingu687]

They can’t get promoted to the same division if Barca get relegated their b team gets relegated too regardless of their league position

[@trelhmpougatsa4745]

Fun fact: Real Madrid played once against Real Madrid Castilla (second team) in Copa Del Ray final. Back then in Spain B teams partcipated in the Spanish Cup. Also, because Real Madrid made the double this season, Castilla qualified for European Cup Winner's Cup and they got knocked out by West ham (despite winning 3-1 in home).

[@AdamOBrien29]

The only tiny glimmer of joy from Chelsea's 04 takeover was the fact that Damien Duff got medals, Irish legend

[@jmacdon4]

He was very good. I remember that Chelsea fans didn’t want the club to buy Arjen Robben because that was Duff’s position

[@daniel_debo]

I rated Duff he was class couldn't stand Chelsea though lol

[@harveyholmes9533]

Remember when Chelsea first started giving out long contracts and everyone said it was ridiculous and risky and Chelsea fans said everyone was just mad because their genius owners had found a way around FFP? Good times.

[@ruthlessalbo6113]

Were they wrong? Prem just banned longer contracts and must be amortized for 5 years so they did find a way through ffp… just not all proper signings

[@harveyholmes9533]

@@ruthlessalbo6113 they were wrong because the assumption that it would avoid FFP relied on 1. Them qualifying for Europe and 2. Them not needing to sign more players over the following seasons. They’ve failed on both fronts and now will struggle to meet FFP criteria and will struggle to compete with the squad they have

[@rmh032]

They won nothing, finished 12th and are 12th now. Yes they were wrong.​@@ruthlessalbo6113

[@olafharoldsonnii4713]

@@harveyholmes9533Todd boehly is a clown

[@johnwhittaker311]

The two red flags for Chelsea for me are: a) signing Cucurella, who I was never convinced about even when he was at Brighton and b) persisting with a club captain who is made of glass. One of the best players I’ve seen play for Wigan, and has the potential to be an all time RB, but he has so many injuries how he can possibly be club captain is a mystery

[@mattimeo117]

Cucurella genuinely was unbelievable for us at Brighton However he was mainly playing as a left wing back rather than just a left back, alongside a v strong central defensive pairing who could guide him Also think you overpaid, but that was a function of the fact he was on a 5 year deal with us and we really didnt need to sell

[@someguynamedmike4766]

Trust me we know, so many bad decisions in terms of recruitment already it's unbelievable; weakening our goalkeeper position somehow, no good left back, a right back that can't stay fit, no creativity in midfield, striker that can't score & I could go on...

[@txbill2512]

Everton: "Watch, we're gonna blow 500M pounds over 3-4 years and have absolutely nothing to show for it." Chelsea: "Hold my beer."

[@blepala]

From winning the international cup treble (ucl, supercup and club world cup) and constant top 4 finishes plus in the 21-22 they finished 3rd with a ten plus lead. To now being in the bottom ten after spending more than £1 billion

[@Alfie_1]

If I were the Premier League, I would be quite insulted by the assumption of Chelsea's new owners that there would be financial rather than sporting sanctions, so I wouldn't be surprised if they have a points deduction.

[@barrybarrybannan]

For what?

[@Alfie_1]

@@barrybarrybannan For breaking the financial rules, unless you think that they won't lose more than 100 million pounds over the three year period from 2022/23 to 2024/25. Considering they have lost, on transfers alone, 700 million, and their revenue is like 400 million, due to no Champions League income, unless they have a miraculous season, where they bring in around 700 million pounds in total, them not breaching the rules seems unlikely. If they do qualify for Europe, say the Conference League, it would be even worse, as UEFA's regulations are far stricter, but without the added bonus of UCL income.

[@samhuggins2656]

@@Alfie_1they haven’t broken any rules you muppet

[@ruthlessalbo6113]

You’re delusional to think they’d be deducted any points considering they’ve already paid off fees and reported these losses before anyone even looked…

[@maciejbala477]

@@ruthlessalbo6113 nah, they'll be deducted points eventually if they keep pushing their luck

[@hulkingmass]

Correct me if Im wrong, but I believe Chelsea were objectively the most successful English club during Roman's tenure at the club. They literally just won the champion's league, and he was immediately forced out of the club. Having such a drastic organizational and cultural change forced upon the club so suddenly is obviously going to destroy it without a miracle. The money is a bandaid. PS: the fact that Roman had to go, but City and Newcastle are fine is a sick joke. I guess the rivals don't have to worry about Chelsea anymore. Congratulations, you won.

[@fireproximity4225]

Chelsea fan here, I oddly like the chaos as I get to experience the thrills of surviving relegation (hopefully). In all seriousness, I think or rather hope, Boehly and Co. realize reckless spending on young potential is not the answer to points. Even pre-Abramovich Chelsea between 96/97 and 02/03 finished in the top4 3 times and 4 other times in the top 6 with a couple of cup victories and runner up medals because those were teams built on experienced players (Zola, LaBeouf, DiMateo, Vialli, Flo, Hasselbaink). The 98/99 team especially had a thrilling season in a 3 way race for the title with ManU and Arsenal finishing 4 points off the top. Regardless of how much they would actually improve the team, I’d much rather have Giroud, Kova, RLC, and Pulisic (when healthy) back on the team, guys that would make that extra run and give you their all. And despite the low output, I also saw Felix put in actual effort. Chelsea will get it right eventually, but strap in boys, it may take a couple of seasons.

[@user-fj6og6tw5y]

As a Chelsea fan I’ve hated the new ownership since the day they sacked Tuchel. Clueless overspending on players in the first window with players like Wesley Fofana who was a known injury risk and Cucurella who was average at best to anyone who watched Brighton. Putting faith in an inexperienced Potter at a big club and then making him work with an oversized group of 30+ players! Like his job wasn’t hard enough ffs. And then in summer even with a proper manager & sporting directors appointed we sign an unproven centre forward which felt like a massive gamble but the recruitment genius’s Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart thought it was one worth taking and just disregard Lukaku with his 100+ PL goals. On the positive side we have a good bunch of players that I believe will gel together and we will turn in to a serious team eventually.

[@Test-p2v7c]

This is the video that I have been waiting for so long. For me as a Chelsea fan it is often very frustrating how other Chelsea fans and especially Chelsea KZbinrs view the current situation. They have so many excuses why it is not Bohleys fault instead of just agreeing on the fact that Bohley is a really bad owner. Cheers

[@jazzrockr]

Unfortunately, the vast majority of the teams that spend recklessly/over the top for players do end up having the same fate. Sure, they may get lucky. But owners can get bored and those who do so often get bored with the projects. Some delay that inevitable downfall better than others. And the clubs who have had to constantly replace personnel not on their terms end up being better off only in that they've had to learn to really build toward what matters and knowing what they actually wanted or needed in markets and communities where theoretically many, many players, scouts, managers, etc.. could fill those roles. I'm the Chelsea supporter who lost motivation to support them once I got a glimpse of what Boehly and company were doing. I figured I'll wait for them to fall down the English football ladder so that things wouldn't be as pretentious there.

[@zachharrison35]

This aged well! The projects are complete different and the game is so much different back then. Completely ignoring context and just pushing agendas

[@niksur7113]

Now the football is more about possession and passes rather than shots and number of goals scored.

[@riazagahi3862]

In terms of points per game, chelsea have actually improved marginally, and they have done a decent job of trimming the wage bill. I think the issue is of course the recruitment, 1. signing players who have poor injury records, 2. signing players based on potential, which may not be realised. Signing young players with potential is a perfectly good strategy, just not when such inflated fees are being payed

[@RwandaBob]

who could’ve thought a team captained by a different person every week with a 39 year old center back and no real striker would be heavily struggling in the premier league

[@Q-hv2cb]

But at least they got the Larry Bird of Soccer. Modric, Mudryk or whatever his name is. They are gonna win the superbowl of soccer with the dream team

[@Christians9955]

As i said before about the club i follow, Manchester Utd. You cant just buy players are good, you need to see if they will work in the system. Though when the club doesn't have a clear vision on how to play and where manages get sacked ebery 1 - 3 years you will start getting different type of players from different coaches over the years who have different vision of playing.

[@davidcarr2013]

"And Saudi Arabian Town squares its all about execution" I think I just pissed myself

[@ValueNetwork]

I don’t think football will ever shake away the system of rich club dominance. but I do think the dynamic is shifting towards clubs creating smart management and player portfolios with that money. The money can put you in Europe without any effort: but it’s up to the actual management to maintain that position or you will slip just as easily

[@dazzaMusic]

The funny thing is Newcastle have done the complete opposite and have taken their place in Europe

[@animalsofherewood]

And Newcastle usually has 7-8 English lads playing, they might be the club to put a full English 11 out, been quite a few years since that's happened.

[@brendandarkside1207]

Can we have just a few more of those visual puns pls Alfie. I really enjoyed "on balance" this time bug you missed "Bayern Large" and of course a couple of Dennis Wise. Cheers!

[@willcomrie2853]

My brain had completely wiped Crespo being at Chelsea. Huh.

[@mullenio4200]

If nothing else, I'm really happy to see the two players that binned off Liverpool for Chelsea rue their decision. It's easy to forget how many people thought that this double gazump on Liverpool had many people thinking Liverpool would be in big trouble this season.

[@Thrill_Hou]

Still salty? 😢

[@ChronicTheHempHog-mf3nh]

@@Thrill_Houwhy would they be salty there at the top of the league 😂

[@danielainger]

Yep and lavia hasn’t even played a game.

[@neilfitzsimmons1800]

Players go to Chelsea to retire and enjoy The London nightlife. Earning £500k a week for 8 years without having to play football. Genuis.

[@Thrill_Hou]

@@ChronicTheHempHog-mf3nh They’re top of the league yet still talking about the players they missed out on in the summer.

[@gm2407]

You have to actually buy the right players, spending on any old hype shows the problems with Chelsea.

[@frumiousgaming]

Spent so much on defensive midfielders to block Liverpool and they don’t even have a striker

[@alphabarre9096]

So Liverpool is the only club in the PL eh? 🤔

[@frumiousgaming]

@@alphabarre9096 Liverpool announced they had agreed a fee for Caicedo which was then gazumped by Chelsea - then days later it was reported that Liverpool had agreed a deal for Romeo Lavia, which Chelsea also swooped in on. So Liverpool are not the only other club in the PL, but they are the only club who had deals in place for two separate central defensive midfielders that were both blocked by Chelsea outbidding them at the last minute within a few days of each other - meaning Chelsea spent over £110 million on caicedo, filling that position, then seemingly pointlessly spent another £58 million on Lavia who plays in the same position when they haven’t even got a proper out and out striker. Hence my suggestion that part of the motivation for spending over £160m on young players in that position was because they knew Liverpool were also desperate to sign a player in that position so by buying both of Liverpool’s top targets they would be hurting their rivals, maybe in a belief that Chelsea and Liverpool would be battling it out for a champions league spot (which obviously hasn’t come to pass)

[@alphabarre9096]

@@frumiousgaming now I understand your comment lmao, I thought you meant counter block them when playing against each other 🤣

[@kevinwhitehead6714]

What an excellent and data driven video. Bravo brother

[@matthewcoombs3282]

I keep hearing and I heard it on Radio 4, that Chelsea "have a billionaire owner". They do not. They have two rich minority owners and are owned mostly by a private equity fund Clearlake. These PE companies are ruthless and do not give soft loans like Roman did to a football club. That money is hard debt and before the PE exit Chelsea in 7 years time (as PE does with a handsome profit) they will want that money back. The fact is the future is bleak for Chelsea. As a supporter since 1978, I would rather than a local business man with shallow pockets brought Chelsea and that they just bumped along with the second tier London Clubs. This ownership could destroy the club with debt.

[@livwake]

It’s beautiful isn’t it

[@magnusthestruperlingsen9288]

Had to put a like in after your observation about football, high end restaurants and Saudi town squares. Absolutely brilliant!

[@earlofdrumer1851]

Mudryk has to be one of the worst players I've ever seen. He'd struggle in league 2

[@Bloodlustian]

That line at 19:15... "Just like in high end Resturants, or Saudi Arabian town squares it's all about execution" Jesus christ man, brutal.

[@michaelkay5268]

Alfie please do a video on Nigeria, why is the squad underperforming and can't score goals, despite having so much good and excellent attacking players, what exactly is the problem with the squad

[@Alfie_1]

Nigeria are one of the biggest underachievers in football, aren't they? To have won 5 u-17 World Cups and yet not to win an AFCON with any of those players, and struggling to qualify for the World Cup altogether, is rather sad, so I agree, I would like to see a video on it. Nigeria have so many brilliant players, and I imagine with just some changes to the way football is run in Nigeria, it could be improved.

[@michaelkay5268]

@@Alfie_1 honestly, corruption and poor sporting infrastructure has also contributed to it to a large extent

[@Igor19485]

Nigeria dominated youth football for ages, especially U-17 where they won several World Cups but they always struggle when it comes to senior team, I wonder what's the problem, why don't their amazing young talent translate to senior football.

[@konradvonschnitzeldorf6506]

​​@@Igor19485maybe they just have a physical advantage at that age

[@Bigbnfgv]

​@@konradvonschnitzeldorf6506nah..sometimes they are overage 😅😅

[@adamdickinson2894]

I'm a Preston fan and we've got them in the FA Cup in January so hope this slump continues!

[@jordibt1789]

Fun fact: 90% of the star led projects, are given up on when they're on the verge of starting to perform as expected

[@nicolassalamanca8051]

What are some notable examples? Genuinely curious

[@jordibt1789]

​@@nicolassalamanca8051 it's a meme, has no basis in factuality

[@whodoyouratemore]

They have a squad of players who look like they should be out on loan

[@jonytm999]

1 Billion spent to see their starting XI is actually pretty hilarious

[@Frserthegreenengine]

I remember when Chelsea fans were laughing at us Liverpool fans and constantly trolling us after Chelsea snatched Caicedo and Lavia from Liverpool. Fast forward to now, Liverpool are in the top 4 (1st at the moment, but I don't think this will last) and Chelsea are 11th. Looks like we got the last laugh in the end. (still doesn't change the fact that we still need to find a proper No. 6)

[@ojiokechukwu7029]

Makes me laugh how for the past 5 seasons our main issue has been strikers (goal scorers) and the only addition we've made is a striker who we knew can't score

[@supertoast00]

I will never tire of the "What's more" Watmore gag

[@420_Emissary]

It's hilarious, it's a tragedy and yes Chelsea have spent more money than some countries GDP however, this level of fluctuation from top to bottom is unprecedented. Sure teams have spent poorly in the past and lost managers but very rarely does the ownership, backroom staff and playing staff all change in the space of a few months. It's easy to laugh from the outside looking in however, if any person had faced the same conditions, along with moving to a new country altogether, it would be difficult to perform at your optimum best. I still remember when Chelsea signed Pedro ahead of Man United and they revelled in his poor performances, as well as "dodged a bullet" they said. He looked a shadow of his former self, however in the season that followed he became one of best performers. An experienced 28/29 year old who came from arguably the most demanding and accomplished Barca team in recent years, yet still failed dismally in his first season of EPL. That's just one player at the time taking a while to adapt....now imagine an entirely overhauled squad, new to the country/culture/customs, unfamiliar with each other and majority in their early twenties. That's cluster f*ck of note! Sadly the best thing this team is a fully fit squad and TIME! Recency bias blinds our need for time. Keep Poch, give him another year. As bad as he seems, he has been he still understands the clubs values and need to still integrate the academy. Gilchrist, Castledine and Golding would not make their debuts under any other coaches. Whoever we get will insist on his own players and scrap this crop ala Mourinho then the process starts again. Just give Poch and this team another season.

[@saxbend]

A second video highlighting Chelsea's shortcomings in a short space of time from this channel. Thank you for a lovely Christmas present!

[@Moinul987]

As a Chelsea fan, and before watching this video, I just want to say: we are shite

[@Jay-xw9ll]

If someone gave your club a billion to blow on players, would you buy any of the Chelsea signings? Personally I'd have signed Sterling, that's it. The American, and his Saudi? bosses, have humiliated the club by signing untested players on massive 8 yr contracts. If they all flop, like they're doing now, it could end the club.

[@tobznoobs]

the fact chelsea could have had rice, kane , haaland and bellingham for significantly less than what they spent, is funny and baffling

[@danielainger]

And it couldn’t happen to a nicer club.

[@shawncorley3229]

A lot of the money has been spent on future players… future assets. This Billion dollar narrative getting old.

[@gordao_jogadas]

Love your work, Alfie! Keep it up! Cheers from Brazil!

[@mattquiney8]

I’m a Chelsea fan. I bet on us to finish bottom half last season and have again this season. The squad building is poor and the club is terribly run. It’s embarrassing.

[@fredsystra7584]

it just shows how important having a clinical striker is. Drogba, Costa we’re in a different class then the likes of Jackson and Werner. not to mention Hazard is the greatest player in premier league history and they’ve yet to come near replacing him

[@seandelap8587]

Zola' Vialli, Flo, Desailly, De Matteo, Leboeuf, Terry, Lampard' Drogba' Essien, Poyet, Hazard etc it must be said that Chelsea haven't had a shortage of memorable players down the years

[@AdamOBrien29]

Bosingwa, Cole, Carvalho, Cech, Robben could go on for hours

[@samthemac17]

Kezman, Lukaku, Mutu, Morata, Kepa, Baba Rahman ... We really could! 😂

[@Joe-MT]

Can we please have a video about Maltese Football? Thank You & Happy New Year

[@codywhear7357]

Sculpted out of poppadoms is my new favourite phrase

[@MikeGcdi]

It’s not how much you spend, but HOW you spend it. So many of the big clubs are highlighting that right now

[@SpringsteenRecordings]

26:22 I swear Luke Steele is retired now, do you not mean Jason Steele?

[@Trapattoni21]

It’s a combinations of multitude of things. Careless spending with no planning, lack of structural stability (NO football club in the world had two guys being the head of sporting director and yet here we are), hiring yes man as the manager just to name a few. Chelsea under Roman wasn’t a stable footballing entity to begin with, but the results were there. Simply put, if Chelsea under Roman were operating under one leg, Chelsea under Boehly cut off the last leg that Chelsea were standing on and even chopping off both of the arms therefore making Chelsea limbless rn. And also, the fact that we all know by now that they’re only there for the money and we can’t force them to sell the club for the next 8 years means that it’s going to be a disastrous ride under this ownerships and this is only the beginning

[@BadselS]

Little did we know that when Drogba was screaming "THIS IS A DISGRACE" at camer he was talking about 2023 Chelsea

[@Nqwilliams]

19:10 that line literally made me spit out my coffee

[@francolive5718]

If ever there was an example of throwing money at a problem.

[@David-ys7ip]

as a chelsea fan we are a horror show, todd boeley does NOT know how to fun a football club, he has single handedly fucked up our club

[@LFC_Fan23]

What a time to be a Chelsea and Man Utd hater... I must say, I'm loving it

[@carltonleboss]

As a Fulham fan, the downfall of Chelsea is glorious to watch (even if we did end up losing to them).

[@innocento.1552]

Why glorious? Why the bad blood?

[@adamlennard1828]

⁠@@innocento.1552you can’t be much of a football fan if you don’t realise why.

[@soundscape26]

@@innocento.1552 They're next door rivals.

[@UK_Paranormalz69]

And you're still below them aren't you?

[@thatoneguy9759]

@@UK_Paranormalz69Uh you do realise that Fulham are 10th while Chelsea are 12th right?

[@charliemahoneycfc4215]

no way we have the second highest wage bill in the league, Im saying its at least 5th only ahead of spurs in the top 6. We did a real clear out last summer of players on high wages to bring in players on smaller one. For example koulibaly sold was on 300k and we brought in disease how is on less then 100k and there are many more examples

[@konzza]

Yup. Out of high earners Kanté, Koulibaly, Jorginho, Aubameang, Havertz and Kepa (loan) have been offloaded and all the new players being on relatively cheap contracts, Chelsea most definitely doesn't currently have the second highest wage bill. Transfer net spend is a whole different issue thought.

[@charliemahoneycfc4215]

Even lofters cheek was on 150k same with Hudson odoi as well@@konzza

[@brittonporter5063]

Disease 😂😂😂😂

[@niksur7113]

​@@brittonporter5063Axel disease is a world class generational talent.

[@ourmonarchy326]

To be frank, what I found from American owners is they suck at managing football. The fact that owners from the United States frequently disregard the law of football then drain the teams they owned are just silly and awful. Not to say football is not even a popular sport in the US. Honestly Europeans should start banning Americans from owning clubs in Europe until Americans learn the basic of football management.

[@rodgermurphy5721]

Glad Pulisic left your sinking ship

[@mcdudely]

A month later and this video isnt aging well. A cup final and 4 pts away from qualifying for European football but sure Chelsea is getting worse. 🙄🙄

[@BiggieTrismegistus]

😆 This video has aged perfectly. If I spent a billion pounds I'd want more than a League Cup final and 9th in the Premier League table. They're also 4 points from being in 11th.

[@sue3245]

Football is funny eh😅

[@benflyde2877]

Top 7 worst title defences would be a good video

[@tibalt966]

It’s so strange because the Dodgers are known for their use of analytics in addition to their huge spending. You’d think Boehly would have learned a thing or two from their success

[@the1HLT]

40 minutes of laughing at Chelsea? Don’t mind if I do.

[@davidbowie5023]

Abramovich was a type of sensible autocrat when he governed Chelsea. He was ruthless and distrustful of managers but he knew to make the good of club first. Sadly the moment his link with Putin was found, it was the beginning of the end. Dude should have abandoned Putin if possible.

[@stanislavfedenko5812]

I strongly disagree with the point. Even though the good comparisons with the beginning of the Abramovic era provided, the conclusions went in all another direction. 1. It took the Russian some time to figure the things out. The wrong hiring decisions still followed him till the last day. 2. Boehly has much less clue about football, so it may take him even longer to succeed. 3. The competition in EPL was nothing like it is today. 4. Everyone reminds about that 1 billion euros, not everyone remembers how many of those are actually available for the game. I mean, mostly Pochettino has only one out of 4 fullbacks available at the time. Nkunku debuted yesterday and Lavia still didn’t. The blues may have the strongest squad in the world, but only potentially, not at the moment. Still they need more experience and quality right now to realize that potential. I believe Osimhen may be a game changer.

[@mkhoicute]

Great video as always, Alfie I was wondering if you could do a video about Real Madrid, on basically anything Thanks and keep up with the work ^^

[@LoganMega]

THE BLUE BILLION POUD BOTTLE JOBS 🔥

[@senseisebb]

that town square joke was out of pocket 😂😂😂

[@oldskoolmusicnostalgia]

I agree. They've managed to make almost every opponent of theirs look good this season, even when they were winning games. No cohesion whatsoever, many players appear to be playing with the knowledge that they'll be discarded soon when FFP bites. No progress from game to game, it's 1 win followed by 3-4 bad matches. Then you have a coach who somehow appears to believe he needs more transfer windows and spending instead of using the 100+ players already at his disposal.

[@brunoactis1104]

For the season they finished 4th, Newcastle spent not much more than West Ham and Nottingham Forest. The main reason they did so well was Eddie Howe, half their team was relegation level ffs. And the half season they had with him, they rose from 19th to 11th with only two new players of note.

[@anophelesnow3957]

It's a fun rollercoaster being a Chelsea fan. Always has been. You are bloody good, Alfie, keep the boot in. We're not allowed to chuck celery on the pitch these days. We'll be back, who knows when.

[@raenico5285]

Cautionary tale for Ratcliffe as he considers firing ETH and signing Guirassy

[@johnholkham2420]

Good managers with sound systems of coaching make some players look better than they actually are. Example Cocarella at Brighton had a hot season , but illness and family issues seem to have reduced him to very average. Like several ex Brighton players he’s seems lost without a system and guidance from the manager. In the past clubs spending big had to balance the hot season v long term performance.

[@texasblue245]

Glad to see someone calling out how bad these new owners strategy is. People like me and Johnny Minerals have been calling this out but glad to see others see it now.

[@concernedcitizens4110]

I totally agree with the assessment it’s like Chelsea is literally emphasizing on quantity rather than in quality when they’re signing players. I remember just last season they have like 50 or so players on their books that made the team absolutely bloated that even seniors like Aubameyang and many others cannot even make the squad. Currently Chelsea is still 50 players strong (30 first team players and 20 loan players) yet they have more injuries than City that only have 23 first team players and played more games than them this season. 🤦‍♂️

[@RyuzakiTaiyou]

Best German players in the premier league of all time. (Day 584) I will not give up until the video is made or Alfie himself tells me to stop. Everyone else telling me that will be ignored. If you don't believe my number, just go back to the previous videos. I'm at the bottom most of the time, but I'm there.

[@leonleung4096]

Spending More to become worse. This is legendary 🎉

[@ReaganKukundakwe]

Does anyone notice Chelsea over the years has become Brentford's punching bag