Do Chelsea Really NEED This Many Players

FourFourTwo

From summer 2022 to summer 2024, Chelsea have spent over £1 billion on transfers! So is it any surprise they find themselves with a 43 man squad? With new signings Jamie Gittens and Joao Pedro joining the club, coach Enzo Maresca has a big problem on his hands of how to keep everyone happy and how to cut his squad down to size.

Transcript

00:00I have never seen anything quite like it.

00:02Chelsea Football Club have enough players to form a country,

00:06a functioning one, with a bench and a B-team,

00:09and a decent chance of qualifying for the World Cup.

00:13Papa Pink is here with 4-4-2. Let's talk about it.

00:18Since Todd Bowley took over Chelsea in May 2022,

00:22the club has chucked money about like Monopoly notes.

00:26Only this is real, and Stamford Bridge is the board.

00:29From summer 2022 to summer 2024,

00:33Chelsea have spent over a billion quid on transfers.

00:36To put that into context, that's more than the GDP of some small nations.

00:41More than Arsene Wenger spent across two decades at Arsenal,

00:45and it's the highest net spending in Europe over that period comfortably.

00:49But guess what? They ain't stopping. Let me read you their squad.

00:52Georgi Petrovic, Robert Sanchez, Filip Jorgensen.

00:59It can't go on like this, can it?

01:07It can't.

01:07Armando Broya, Marc Gui, and David Datro Fafana.

01:19That's 43 players.

01:2243!

01:23That's not a squad.

01:25That's a census.

01:26That's not depth.

01:27That's a population crisis.

01:29And they are still not done.

01:30Jamie Gittins and Joao Pedro are on their way to West London.

01:35Of course they are.

01:36Because when you've already got 16 wingers and 13 strikers,

01:39the one thing you clearly need is more wingers and more strikers.

01:44Now, let's try and make some sense of it.

01:46If we assume Enzo, Caicedo, and Palmer are locked into that midfield and half space,

01:51as they should be, by the way,

01:53then who's the ideal front three ahead of them?

01:55If I'm setting up Chelsea's attack right now,

01:58I'm going Baino Gittins and Pedro Neto on the wings

02:01and Liam De Lape through the middle,

02:03rotating with Joao Pedro, depending on the game state.

02:06And let me break down why.

02:08You've got Gittins on either side,

02:10who is explosive, vertical, chalk on his boots.

02:13I think Gittins has been brought in to hold the width

02:16and pin the full-back deep.

02:18It's not just about flair on the flank,

02:20it's tactical warfare.

02:22That one move stretches the defensive line

02:25and cracks open the game for the players inside.

02:28All of a sudden, Enzo and Palmer have space between the lines,

02:32the centre-backs being pulled towards touchline,

02:34the full-backs glued to Gittins,

02:36and in between, gaps, half-spaces, passing lanes.

02:40It gives Enzo more time on the ball,

02:43Palmer more pockets to operate in,

02:45and it invites those underlapping runs from full-backs or midfielders.

02:49And I think that's exactly how Mareska wants to hurt teams

02:53through manipulation, not chaos.

02:56And Gittins, by just standing wide and demanding attention,

03:00becomes the spark that makes it all possible.

03:03And on the opposite side, Neto, he operates as an inverting winger.

03:08He wants to drift inside, combine, and attack the half-space.

03:12That contrast is so key.

03:15One gives you raw width,

03:16the other gives you sharp diags and final third craft.

03:20Now picture those two running either side of the lap,

03:23who doesn't need to be flashy, just functional.

03:27He presses, makes selfless runs, and occupies both centre-backs.

03:31Like Gittins, his presence, it pins defenders,

03:34which gives Neto more room to come inside

03:37and Gittins more space to isolate one-on-one.

03:41Mareska wants positional discipline,

03:43quick passing triangles and higher pressing.

03:46And this trio actually fits.

03:48You've got verticality, pressing, intensity, 1v1 threat,

03:53and most importantly, off-the-ball intelligence.

03:56All three are willing runners.

03:58All three can rotate mid-game,

04:00and none of them clog the same zones,

04:02which has been Chelsea's biggest problem

04:04when they try to cram flair players

04:07into the same 20 yards of space.

04:09And then there's the other new man,

04:11João Pedro, £60 million from Brighton.

04:15I think that's a superb signing, by the way.

04:17This bloke offers something completely different.

04:21Pedro's all about control, patience, and intelligence.

04:25Think of him as more of a false nine,

04:26not just a striker waiting on service,

04:29but also a creator who drops deep,

04:32pulls defenders out of position.

04:34His ability to read the game and find those half spaces

04:37adds a subtle but such a crucial dimension to the attack.

04:41When the game is stretched,

04:43you bring Gittins or Neto to push wide and rip it open.

04:47When it's tight,

04:48Pedro can unlock defences with his movement,

04:50clever passing.

04:51But here's the real question.

04:53Do they really need this many attackers?

04:56The short answer,

04:57probably not.

04:59The long answer,

05:00maybe.

05:01If they're genuinely planning to go deep in the Champions League

05:04and compete on four fronts.

05:06They did just win the Conference League,

05:08and to their credit,

05:09they did it by rotating almost an entire 11

05:12every Thursday night.

05:14So maybe this is the model.

05:16Maybe Maresca builds a mid-week team and a weekend team,

05:19fully interchangeable like a footballing hydra.

05:22But the fact of the matter is,

05:24this isn't football manager.

05:25You can't keep 43 players happy,

05:29rotate them all in,

05:30and expect everyone to run smoothly.

05:33Real-life football isn't career mode,

05:35where everyone gets minutes and morale stays high.

05:37Managing that many egos,

05:39keeping players sharp,

05:41and building proper team chemistry,

05:43that's a whole other level of challenge.

05:46And while they're stockpiling attackers,

05:48like Pokemon cards,

05:50what about the goalkeeper situation?

05:52The goalkeeper is your last line of defence.

05:55The guy who needs to inspire confidence throughout the team.

05:59And I think Sanchez sometimes struggles with that.

06:01Look at the best teams.

06:03Real Madrid with Courtois,

06:04Liverpool with Alisson,

06:06Arsenal with Raya.

06:07These keepers do more than just save shots.

06:10They lead, organise,

06:12and start attacks.

06:13Chelsea need that.

06:14But judging by Maresca's quotes,

06:16it doesn't seem like anything will be changing.

06:18He said, and I quote,

06:20the keeper situation is simple.

06:23Robert is number one.

06:24Philippe is number two.

06:26And we will analyse and judge Penders.

06:28My nan and different players at other clubs,

06:31I don't think it is worth talking about them.

06:33Now look,

06:34if Chelsea are going to make this whole thing sustainable,

06:37outgoings have to be a part of the equation.

06:40You can't just keep hoarding players

06:42like it's a car boot clearance sale.

06:44At some point,

06:46people need to leave.

06:47One name that's trending at the moment,

06:49Nani Maduweke,

06:51linked with a move to Arsenal.

06:54That's not a small rumour, by the way.

06:56Arsenal are reportedly in advanced talks.

06:59It's no secret Mikel Arteta is in the market for a winger

07:02who can play on both flanks.

07:04Maduweke ticks that box.

07:06Look, despite the outrage from 99% of Arsenal fans,

07:10honestly, I get it.

07:12Maduweke has the talent.

07:14He's got that slinky left foot.

07:17Unpredictability in those 1v1s.

07:19And when he's on it,

07:20he's electric.

07:21We do have to bear in mind though,

07:23Maduweke is not Arteta's first choice.

07:24That is, of course, Rodrigo, we think.

07:27But one to keep an eye on for sure.

07:30So many Chelsea players have been told to leave

07:32in recent windows

07:33that it's genuinely become difficult

07:35for clubs, agents, even fans

07:38to know what any individual departure actually means.

07:42Are they being sold because they're not good enough

07:44or because there's literally no space left?

07:47You've got Champions League level talents.

07:49Champions League winners, for God's sake.

07:51Look at Ben Chilwell

07:52being pushed out simply because

07:54there are too many bodies there.

07:56Joao Felix, another one.

07:58I mean, why?

07:59Why did they sign him?

08:00Is he not good enough?

08:01Or is there not enough space?

08:03If I'm United, if I'm Spurs, if I'm Arsenal,

08:06I'm taking a Joao Felix any day of the week.

08:0925 years old, we know he's got bags of ability.

08:12And people forget,

08:13this guy cost £113 million when Atletico signed him.

08:18There's a reason for that.

08:19You don't lose that quality overnight.

08:21And maybe he's just been stuck in the wrong ecosystems

08:24with gaffers who either don't trust him

08:27or don't know how to unlock him.

08:29And now Chelsea, in the middle of their super squad era,

08:33seem to have no time for him either.

08:36Look, I think this season is a massive season for Chelsea.

08:39How do you think Maresca is going to deal with this squad?

08:42Let us know in the comments below.

08:44That's all for now.

08:45See you next week.

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