Chelsea Football Club (II) | Moises Caicedo + Romeo Lavia Appreciation Thread

[stormi]

Part two: redemption.

[stormi]

[stormi]

Current events:

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Double dip Sporting splash.

A] Dario Essugo, #6

Dario Essugo looks a proper Moises Caicedo alternative. Springy, aggressive in challenges, can use his athleticism to progress via the carry, competent in possession. Breaking lines and shooting from range with the left as well.



Massive pro that he's in the upper quartile of his 'build up score' and not trapped down below with the bouncers: A Onana, Gallagher, Rice, Ugarte, Cardoso, Mainoo, Lepenant etc.

During our run in the first part of the season we were simply overwhelming teams in the middle of the park with Lavia + Caicedo. With Lavia going down we lost a lot of our bite and the counterpressing that was pivotal to our philosophy.

The additions of Essugo and Andrey Santos into the fold for next season provide much needed reinforcement.

B] Geovany Quenda, LB/RB/LM/RM/LW/RW

Referred to as a 'generational talent' coming out of Portugal. Already a first teamer for Sporting at 17 years of age. Not set to join the club until the summer of 2026.

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Looks like a Sane x Saka hybrid. Has some experience at wingback so his defensive workrate is impeccable. Brings much needed pace & power on the flank without sacrificing technical ability.

Amorim integrated him at wingback, but Borges has been deploying him as a winger and it's being reported that's the intent for him once he joins the club.

It's like figuring out what your presents are but being forced to wait until Christmas morning before you can unravel them.

[stormi]

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A lot of smoke around Sancho and his non-obligation obligation. Praying to my lucky stars that there's fire to all of this smoke.

It seems ridiculous that we'd flat out come and say that he's returning to United at seasons end at risk of disrupting squad harmony but he's been a massive disappointment and his build isn't one that I prioritise out wide. He's a misrepresented #10 that doesn't have the determination to do the work required of a modern winger and without the pace to harm fullbacks 1v1.

Kiss of death was watching him get punked by Rico Lewis.

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Getting absolutely nothing out of that LHS.

Players like Nkunku and Sancho are silent killers. Not doing anything particularly noticeable, but silently killing you with their physical or technical deficiency.

No pressing or running, not generating anything, no defensive workrate just low level rondo session with Cucurella on the pitch. It's imperative both go in the summer. Our levels since Jackson got injured are directly correlated to those two and their inability to impact the game whatsoever.

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In terms of the winger I'd love a player like Antoine Semenyo. He's someone that can integrate and help build a culture. No more Leao, Sancho, Sterling types.

Semenyo works selflessly for the club, excellent defensively and going forward, is top 10 for duels won and top 3 for dribbles completed in the league, can play both flanks, ambipedal & quick.

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The perfect contrast to someone like Estevao on the other side and a striker like Jackson or Delap who loves to drop deep to create space for his wingers to run in behind. Can have an Anthony Gordon type of impact at his next club.

[Baseline81]

Well, well, well... look who finally has decided to post again.

[stormi]

Stormi's squad temperature (as of March 25th, 2025)



Top tier are reserved for players that have a claim to being the very best in their position in the world across Europe. Caicedo / Lavia / Cucurella / Palmer are all S tier footballers and were integral to the fantastic first half the season established under Maresca.

Lock are players I consider to be apart of the first XI more often than not or barring unexpectedness in the transfer window.

Earned 25-26 are players I consider to be worthy squad options.

Out of favour is an interesting bunch, names I've arranged for reasons that vary.

Injury — Wesley Fofana, Carney Chukwuemeka, Benoit Badiashile, Mykhailo Mudryo.
Cannot continue heading into league campaigns with unreliable men apart of your cavalry. I'm giving Romeo Lavia the benefit of the doubt, WRT Benoit Badiashile and Wesley Fofana it's season after season of fitness unreliability and they aren't good enough footballers (i.e, Reece James) to justify the headache.

Scheme fit — Malo Gusto, Joao Felix

Rapture is as it describes. Need to be evacuated out of the club in as disrespectful a fashion as possible. Similar treatment to cancers Mason Mount and Mauricio Pochettino.
Trev Chalobah is absolutely rapture tier as well, just wasn't apart of the tiermaker

Replacements?

Dewsbury-Hall has a natural replacement already within the BlueCo ecosystem. Enter, Andrey Santos.

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It wouldn't be erroneous to say that Andrey Santos is the best non-PSG footballer in L1. 20 year old prodigy helping carry the youngest team in the T5 leagues into Europe.

Swiss army knife 6/8/10, robust physically, extremely progressive, has proven match winner quality. A leader of men as well, has gained that reputation in Brazil at Vasco and for the NT. He isn't far away from making his debut cap for Brazil.

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Robert Sanchez also has a natural replacement within the BlueCo ecosystem. Enter, Đorđe Petrović.

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Petrovic is another pivotal cog in Strasbourg's resurgence this season. Petrovic has the best Save% in L1 and is essentially top two in every meaningful goalkeeping microstatistic.

The springy Serb's ability to stop shots has never been a question coming out of the MLS but his ability to adapt to modern football, sweep, claim crosses and act as an extra CB in possession was an adventure at times last season. He's been showing real growth during his loan spell and he's ready to return and fight for the mantle alongside Jorgensen (until baby Courtois - Mike Penders arrives).

We're a couple of tweaks away from seeing exponential growth in this project and it's exciting to witness as a fan.

[Baseline81]

Quick question, stormi. Which of your two £100m midfielders does Santos displace -- Caicedo or Fernandez?

[stormi]

Quick question, stormi. Which of your two £100m midfielders does Santos displace -- Caicedo or Fernandez?

Nobody in world football displaces Caicedo.

I would say Fernandez, just due to the fact that we aren't even utilizing him properly. He's a DLP that's supposed to split CBs and have 100 touches a game. Think Cesc, Parejo, Kroos.

He's being shoehorned into an attacking midfielder role which just doesn't suit him. Can see him going to Atleti with Julian Alvarez in the next few seasons.

Funny because when he goes to Argentina and gets to play in his '#5' role he's their best player by a long shot.

Santos/Caicedo/Lavia is our long term midfield three with Palmer playing in front of them.

[stormi]

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Clearlake have had a lot of nifty signings (yet to be recognized by gen-pop as they're still fledgling) but Santos for £13m is a wonderstroke.

Mental profile is something that goes under the radar when making a signing. It's hard to quantify intangibles like desire and commitment to your craft.

I've never been more sure of a prospect making it here at Chelsea.

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He was taking English lessons every single day when we bought him and he learned how to speak it before he even came to the club for the first time

Then he picked up French just 6 months after getting to Strasbourg.

Right to the very top.

[stormi]

on cue, MOTM and a brilliant assist to Mac Allister. Reminiscent to his Benfica days. I would welcome a sale of Enzo Fernandez, he deserves to be playing at a top side in his position. We saw him bossing games in the UCL against PSG at Benfica; we've seen him run games at the highest level in the World Cup.

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Please, let him be free.

[stormi]

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I could very easily see this becoming a reality. We pretty much have first dibs for any player that belongs to Jorge Mendes and Leão's time at Milan has been growing stale.

It's no secret that our wingplay has been underwhelming for years and we have room on that left hand side. Mudryk is still battling a drug case, will we ever see him again? Remnants of Adrian Mutu. Sancho is gone after this season (thank the stars above).

Leaves us with Madueke and Estêvão for that RHS and only Neto for that LHS.

Rafa Leão is a unicorn of a footballer. He has the ability to change a game with a solo counterattack. I do question his career trajectory and his commitment to putting in the hard yards for his club. Also it has to be a bit worrying watching a player who, while I did personally like, wasn't considered good enough in Christian Pulisic walk over to his team and straight up out perform him for over a calendar year. I've been lukewarm on Leão for a few years now, could very easily see him being another name in a long list of big money flops at Chelsea.

I've been mourning Michael Olise more than usual. He's the most Chelsea-coded winger to grace the transfer market in the past five years.

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He was supposed to be the heir to Robben and Hazard, and it nearly almost happened.

[stormi]

The bermuda triangle. Some of the worst players to ever represent the badge in our history.



Also, at the other end you need to start looking inside the house if the question is, 'why are we facing peak Petr Čech every week?'











Summer 2025:

Striker: Delap, Isak, Sesko, J Pedro
CB: Zabarnyi, Collins, Lacroix, Murillo, Huijsen, Lukeba… Guehi
LW: Leao, Semenyo

[Baseline81]

Chelsea have spent the most on agents fees of all Premier League clubs for the second successive year.

[stormi]

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This guy is a cyborg.

Player of this caliber in every position and you're a centurion.

[stormi]

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Don't want him sold. Essugo should spend a year on loan in France. Lesley brings something we direly lack which is height in the midfield without sacrificing technique. He can play as your deepest midfielder or as an 8. He's comfortable in deep areas unlike the shin kickers splattered around the EPL ala-- Declan Rice, A Onana(, Tchouameni).

He can carry the ball and uses his frame to shield off defenders. The very best players in the world have a blend of technique and physical superiority and I believe he falls under that category.

My only gripe with him is how relaxed he plays at times and I hope it was something he was able to improve during his loan spell at So'ton.

[stormi]

We have a good thing going at the moment, but by god, these attackers outside of Palmer just give me the ick.

Three finals left:

Newcastle (A)
United (H)
Forest (A)

Two wins should clinch.

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[Baseline81]

stormi, I must applaud Chelsea's midfield running through Liverpool's "B" midfield.

I knew there would be rotation once the title was won, but didn't think Slot would swap the entire midfield of Szoboszlai, Mac Allister and Gravenberch for Elliott, Jones and Endo.

You fully deserved the three points.

[stormi]

stormi, I must applaud Chelsea's midfield running through Liverpool's "B" midfield.

I knew there would be rotation once the title was won, but didn't think Slot would swap the entire midfield of Szoboszlai, Mac Allister and Gravenberch for Elliott, Jones and Endo.

You fully deserved the three points.

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We bossed "Grav" and had "Szobo" chasing shadows last time around as well.

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Slot's been remixing this quote all season after that PTSD Lavia and Caicedo gave him.

Don't get it twisted, that guard of honour was purely psychological on our behalf and we're taking that fuel into next season to finish far above you like what's aligned from the stars.

Anyways this is all for naught because next week we go to St. James' Park, probably the most intimidating and raucous away environment and we need to get a result, or else...

[stormi]

Makes things tighter, but still a straightforward path that got eased by Forest dropping points again today.

3. Newcastle 66 pts - Arsenal (A), Everton (H)
4. Man City 65 pts - Bournemouth (H), Fulham (A)
5. Chelsea 63 pts - Man Utd (H), Forest (A)
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
6. Villa 63 pts - Tottenham (H), Man Utd (A)
7. Forest 62 pts - West Ham (A), Chelsea (H)

Essentially matching Villa's form gets us UCL. The gap in goal difference acts as a point in our favour.

Things couldn't be more direct and I'd assume we face an extremely rotated United side as we face them five days before the Europa league final, the only game that matters to them this season.

I have faith in us, but with wildcards like Sanchez and Chalobah in the line-up + bang average attackers it upps the unpredictability.

Jackson straight red card as well, possibly the last season he'll ever come into it as our #1 striker. Hopefully Guiu is fit for the final two.

[stormi]

One left to go.

Will update the table after this weeks games. Really going to go down to the wire.

You won't find a greater supporter of AFC, Bournemouth and The Hammers this weekend. Any points dropped by Newcastle, City or Forest only provide more breathing room heading into the final match week.

Caicedo, Cucurella and Colwill are putting this club on their backs at the moment.

Also an A+ shift by Reece James, lovely player when he's fit.