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Foreign. Welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me, Ayo Akimolere Chelsea turned halftime boos into full time cheers Coming from behind to beat West Ham Liam Rossini said he hopes his appointment as Chelsea boss will be the best decision the club has made with six wins from seven. Could he be right? Joining us now in the studio, we've got Liam Toomey. We've also got Adam Crafton in New York as well. It was a weekend of incredible drama in the Premier League, a weekend of two new leads being squandered, but incredible fight backs as well. At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea made club history by coming back from 20 down at half time to beat London rivals West Ham. The comeback complete thanks to Enzo Fernandez.
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Caicedo Pedro.
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Enzo Fernandez what a moment for Enzo Fernandez.
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E
And these Chelsea fans have gone from.
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D
Booing to bedlam in 45 minutes.
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B
Yeah, Liam, you're at Stanford Bridge for the Athletic. Great game in the end. How big a result was this for Liam Rossinia considering he's still early into his Chelsea tenure?
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D
Yeah, I think it was probably his biggest yet. Even bigger than Napoli because while that was very important for Chelsea to get a top eight seed in The Champions League get a couple of midweeks off as well. This was important, I think, because it was at Stamford Bridge and it was Rosinia's first moment really at Stamford Bridge with these fans. And it didn't look like it was going to go that way, to put it mildly. At half time, Chelsea were really poor. They didn't match West Ham's intensity, but it looked like there were tactical issues as well. And you could see by the speed at which Stamford Bridge turned. I mean, it wasn't. I've seen it more toxic, but it certainly was not happy. You could see the level of patience with the Bluco project generally more so than with Rasenia. And I think it was clear Rossinia needed to change something. And he made triple substitution. He made some tactical tweaks, but more importantly, as he said afterwards, he stressed the importance of them upping the intensity. And he said, we can turn the worst feeling of the season into the best feeling of the season. And they did. They overwhelmed West Ham in the second half, not really with this positional play, blue coast style, but with aggression, intensity, forcing West Ham into their defensive shell, piercing it and then crushing it, really, with three second half goals. So it was a really big moment and by the end of it, you had players celebrating with fans pumping up the crowd. You had Rosinha going around the stadium clapping. It felt like a big moment and a moment that potentially bring everyone a bit closer together.
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B
Yeah, Adam, I mean, look, this is a big job for him coming from Strasbourg. We've seen what he can do there and we've had had him on this podcast. Seems like a really interesting guy. Great result against Napoli. Coming from behind to win the game. Same again here in London. I mean, are you convinced by what you're seeing from Liam Racino, at least what he's trying to do with this squad?
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E
Yeah, it's like it's so early to tell what he's trying to do. I don't think you can really tell from the first few games what a Liam Rossini team is going to look like. I mean, we know he said that. You know, I think his ambition is to try and play a bit more of that positional style, which I guess in understandable English means like play a bit more like Pep Guardiola's Man City at some point. But they came back on Saturday playing 4, 4, 2 in the second half almost. It was like a throwback of, you know, you put two forwards on the pitch, you get the ball forward, you play fast, you play forward. A bit like a few different teams have done over the past few weeks. You have partnerships all over the pitch. I still thought West Ham in the second half should have won the game. They still had other chances to go and win the game. I thought they were the better team over 90 minutes than Chelsea, but it's a great result for Chelsea, given where he was. I think the other thing that he did on the day was make all these changes and I guess in some ways trust his squad, which rebounded on him. But, you know, when you've got so many games, I guess you've got to do that at some point. And he probably misjudged that in the first half and corrected at halftime.
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B
Yeah. I just want us all to talk about, you know, a clip that's doing the round on socials at the moment. Robert Sanchez, the goalkeeper at halftime, I guess fans hurling a bit of abuse at him for what they'd seen. Chelsea were currently at that point, two nil down at halftime. But here he is trying to calm the crowd down, saying, like, you know, it's still another half to go in many respects. I mean, what do you make of that? Is that towards the players or is that more towards what they're seeing from Bluco, Liam?
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D
I think it's a bit of everything. The players always bear the brunt, particularly around the press box, around the tunnel at Stamford Bridge, because they're. They're coming into. So they're coming into such close proximity. Sanchez got it. Garnacho certainly got it. Trevor Chaliba got into an angry exchange with one fan that he took exception to. But it was clearly passion of the moment and it was completely transformed at the final whistle. And, you know, I asked Rosenia about this after the game and the point was kind of, don't you sometimes need that really, from a crowd to try and hammer home that things need to change? And he was just saying, well, yeah, you just have to look at how early in the second half the fans were with them to know that it wasn't really a super toxic atmosphere. It was frustration with how badly Chelsea had played, how clearly they were being outplayed and out fought all over the pitch by West Ham and the fans. As much as Rosinha got the reaction that they were looking for in the second half.
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B
Yeah, I do think about what we're talking about last week, Adam, in terms of fans and impatience in many respects, I mean, Chelsea are in a pretty decent spot. They looked to be gathering momentum. Don't get me wrong, that first half was Awful fight from a Chelsea perspective at home. But, I mean, there was still another half to go. Who knows how the game would have ended.
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E
Yeah, and this was their fifth win in a row, so it's not like they were in losing form. I just think I actually look more at the players in this situation, both for the performance and how they responded to the crowd. Because ultimately, I think any if that was a Liverpool at home, Man United at home, Arsenal at home, you put up that performance for 45 minutes against one of the teams who have been the worst in the league this season, either have been better form the last few weeks, you're going to get that sort of response. To be honest, they were really bad and I think they are an incredibly immature team.
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B
Well, the edge profile will probably stay there.
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E
Yeah, for sure. And also I think we see that in their disciplinary record. I think we see it in the inconsistency that they show both within games and between games. And it's entirely understandable because they don't have those kind of key, experienced players in key positions, in one or two positions over the pitch that can just keep things calm. And Saturday was a particularly young team, you know, with the changes that were made. And when you have a young team, it means confidence is very important. It means that there is a kind of anxiety that can creep in and it is that, you know, that disciplinary thing that again, you know, obviously it was the West Ham players that lost it more at the end, but the Chelsea players were really involved as well. And I do think that's probably going to be one of the big challenges for a senior, himself, a very young coach as well, to try and handle that between now and the end of the season, because they do, you know, if you look at their next three Premier League games, Wolves, Burnley, Leeds, they've got a chance to really build some momentum. But you just wouldn't be that shocked if they slip up in one of those games unexpectedly.
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D
Rosinha's first public comment, really, on arrival at Chelsea, when he was asked, what have you stressed with the players after that, that Charlton win in the FA Cup? It was responding to setbacks in the right way, intensity. And by Rossini's definition, a setback is not necessarily a goal conceded. It can be as little as something going against you in the game. You know, a misplaced pass, losing the ball. He wants those reactions to be instinctive and positive, so you're. You're hunting the ball back immediately. At times under Maresca, they could feel oddly passive in games, as if they Were letting the game happen to them when things started to go against them. And there have been times this season where they've let go of the rope. And I think that speaks to what Adam was talking about with the, with the age profile of the team. I would say there, there is a kind of leadership core that's slowly emerging. The problem in that first half was basically none of them were on the pitch. Enzo and Fernandez and Caicedo were. But you know, you saw some of the other substitutes that brought them back. Mark as one of the bigger personalities in the squad as well. So they are getting there. But, but it's interesting that that was Rosinia's first point of emphasis. He was like, nothing technical, nothing tactical. It's about how we respond to setbacks. And that will be, yeah, I think maybe the defining thing between now and the end of the season.
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B
Yeah, I wonder. One of those big things in terms of the lack of experience here, Adam is, is basically the, the idea that Blukov brought in all these players, but fundamentally also let go of a fair bit of experience. You think about Thiago Silva, you think about Raheem Sterling, he's now left the club. You think about Madwaque, who on the weekend actually created a desist and scored for Arsenal for the first time this season. You know, and then you've got someone like Garnacho who's still trying to find his feet in many respects. It's not that the players are. Weren't there. You got rid of them.
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E
Yeah, I guess. I mean, Thiago obviously had to go just because of age at a certain point. And Sterling, I think was a mistake in the first place. They brought him in at a stage where Todd Boehly was the sporting director of the club. And it was that first summer. And I think that's a summer they look back on now with a lot of regret. First of all, that Todd himself became sporting director, but secondly, that they made some very high profile signings on very big wages mistakes. Their age profile of their signings has completely pivoted since then. I still think like whenever I watch Chelsea, you watch them in periods within games where you think this team could beat anyone on their day. As we've seen over the past year, whether it's psg, whether it's Barcelona, lots of big high profile games that they've really turned up in. Beat Liverpool, beat Napoli and then they have periods within the same game as they did, you know, the other day, where you're like, this team look like they've Never been coached. Look like they don't have a kind of a bond and an identity. They look short of confidence, they make very basic mistakes and they look like they could go under. And it's that inconsistency within games which is I think completely understandable given the makeup of the squad. And I think that's probably where the frustration from the fans comes because you watch them thinking we can see what they might become, but it almost feels like they're being held back from that by not having those two or three key. Not easy to sign players, expensive players to hold their hands and guide them through it. You know, in the same way that Liverpool, when they were on the up under Klopp, they went and got Van Dijk and Alisson and that just completely elevated them. If you were to go and get, I don't know who they are, but the equivalent now of Van Dijk and Alisson into this Chelsea team, they win the league. I think. I really do think that. That capable of doing it. Maybe, you know, another center forward of real quality as well. But you know, they aren't that far off. They're just missing that bit to get them over the line. And you just wonder whether the club's model will allow them to do that. Yeah.
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B
Do you think the club's model would allow them to do that? Bring that experience? I know you said there's a. There's a leadership core emerging, but just one or two players that can have been there, done that, been through the trenches.
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D
There were suggestions last summer that Chelsea actually looked at signing Van Dijk on a free transfer and his preference was obviously to go back to Liverpool.
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E
Sorry, to be clear, I mean, the equivalent of a Van Dijk from five, six years ago.
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D
Yeah, of course, of course. But there aren't, as you say, Adam, there aren't that many of those proven characters around who are also elite performers.
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E
Marc Gay.
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D
Yeah, could have been, I think. I think his salary at Manchester City was probably out of bounds for what Chelsea are looking to pay now. But yeah, there are players out there that you could go for and I think in. In the past when they've gone for slightly older faces, they've done it on a budget like with Tosin. And I think they like a lot of the character elements that he brings to the squad, but he's not necessarily good enough to be a certified starter all the time. So I think that that will be the case. You, you either go and get those players or you wait for the key players that you've got to grow up to the degree that they actually become those figures and they sign most of them so young that that will take.
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C
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I hope in time they'll say it was the best decision this club's ever.
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Made, but I can't focus on that.
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E
This is a really proud club with incredible tradition, history, recent history of winning trophies. They want that and I want that too. So for, for a start, for a manager to come in midway through a season with not many sessions and have six wins out of seven games, it's not a bad way to start.
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B
Yeah, that was Liam Rossini post match. He spoke of his hope that Chelsea fans will one day see his appointment as one of the best decisions they have made. Adam I mean, look, Chelsea, big club, won five Premier League titles, two Champions leagues and many more major titles in the last 20 years or so. That is a massive statement coming from someone who hasn't quite won anything yet to that stature. But we've interviewed him on the Athletic, we've said how incredible he is as a speaker and the confidence and the ability that he sort of puts out in many respects. What do you make of the way he speaks in that respect? Because I got to highlight the word hope. He's not saying he is, but he's saying he hopes to be that in the future.
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E
It's a really difficult one because I think when other clubs of Chelsea's Level are looking for managers. So if Liverpool, for example, were to choose on a slot to leave the club this summer, I don't think you're going to have a situation or Real Madrid this summer looking for a manager. Manchester United, I don't think any of them would have looked at Liam Rosenhea. And I don't mean that as a sign of disrespect towards him. It's just where he is in his career. So he is always going to be perceived as a kind of the Bluco man, because he came in from Strasbourg from a kind of a club that is perceived by part of the fan base as in some ways feeder club, the child club of the parent club in some way, fairly or unfairly. And I think that is something as well, that he's kind of having to fight against this idea that he is like, you know, part of the Bluco furniture. And there's these kind of anxieties around what Bluco is and what they're doing with Chelsea. So I think that makes it harder for him. And I think when you actually take a step back, like, he has done exactly what you would want a young coach to do. You know, he started as an assistant. He was actually, I think, with Wayne Rooney at Derby. Wayne Rooney speaks very, very well of him. Did very well at Hull as well. And then also then goes abroad, which, you know, not that many English coaches do. Took a chance, goes to Strasbourg, did reasonably well. He wasn't amazing there. He did reasonably well and now he's got an amazing opportunity. And I'm not sure he's necessarily earned an opportunity at Chelsea, but he's definitely put the yards in to deserve a chance in the Premier League. And, you know, the early signs are that he's just absolutely determined to take it.
- [20:42]
B
Is that the worry that because of the circumstances of the way he's coming, that's why we're seeing a fair bit of skepticism to someone who actually clearly backs himself.
- [20:51]
D
Yeah, I think there is skepticism within the Chelsea fan base, as there always would be for Rosinha coming in, given the path that he's taken and his track record to this point. But I also think the Chelsea fans have been very, very fair with him so far. His name has been sung, a couple of away games by the match support, which I don't think you would have predicted because that maybe happened once or twice under Maresca his whole time there and never really. You always got the sense it was kind of reluctant or grudging. But I think Rosenia has. Has done Some smart things. Since he's come in, he's, he's leaned into the, you know, I'm from this part of London. I'm. I'm kind of one of you. Even if he's not necessarily claiming to be a Chelsea fan growing up, but I think he's, he's emphasizing the points of contact, the points of connection with the fans. And even at the weekend, you know, he was saying, I would have booed us at halftime. He was given a point to comment on the way the fans were interacting with the team. And I think he said exactly what he should have said, the line that he has to walk. And this goes to what Adam said. He has to be a Bluco man. Because we've seen with Enzo Maresca that if you're not, if you stop being a Bluco man, you won't be at that club for very long. You have to be prepared to work in that structure with the ownership, with the sporting leadership. But you also can't afford to be seen as a Bluco man by the fans or by the players. If you want to be taken seriously long term, you have to be seen as more than that. You have to be seen as your own man. And I also think at the top end, this profession, elite coaching, is not one that rewards grounded, introspective, modest figures. And I think if Rasenia hadn't come in, projecting that kind of confidence, he's almost dead on arrival. There were many reasons why Graham Potter's job at Chelsea was impossible, but I think one of them was he came in with this air of, wow, this is amazing. Kind of like almost. I'm really grateful to be here. And I, I just think players quickly go see through that and, and fans won't go with you. So I think he's. He started in the only way that he can if he wants to succeed.
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B
I don't know. We're used to seeing English managers come out, giving it the big and like, you know what? Yeah, I can see what we're doing here. This is what I want to achieve, blah, blah, blah. Because, you know, you, you live in America. I mean, that coming out of an American coach, I mean, for sure they'll be like, great, these guys are leader of men here. There's this kind of skepticism to be like, well, I mean, look what Michael Carrick's doing. He's just, you know, keeping it calm before he actually gets some results.
- [23:19]
E
I think you're right. I think there is a discomfort about seeing young men be that sort of authoritative, confident, Sort of strut in, slightly give the impression that they basically have everything planned out when he doesn't, you know, no one has everything planned out, but you've got to give that kind of impression. You've also got to remember that you're dealing with a lot of individuals who are almost like brands in themselves and they need to be sold on whatever they're being told, even if you are making it up as you go along a little bit. We've seen some stuff. When you watch the Arteta Arsenal documentary that Amazon did a couple of years ago, there's times where I watch that from a sofa. Having never being part of an elite football environment, where you're a bit like, what the hell are you doing? But the players respond to it. And if players respond to it, then that shouldn't be seen as a negative. And it's one of those which will just be judged entirely by results. Right. So if he gets the results, then he'll be seen as confident and fantastic. If he doesn't get the results, he'll be seen as overconfident and a waste of time. Right. Because that's the way the world sees kind of these idiosyncrasies. It was interesting. There was a clip the other night after the Napoli game where Joao Pedro was giving interview and Rocinha kind of goes up to him, almost stands in front of him in his face. I was watching it, cringing. Bour Pedro gave him a hug. So the players seem to quite like it at the moment. At least everyone likes a new manager. But there is this kind of like slight unease, you know, when you watch it, where you feel like a kind of walking LinkedIn figure is kind of strutting into kind of a press conference or a training ground. But you can't knock the results and the performance.
- [25:08]
B
Yeah. Adam says something which is interesting because it's something I think about a lot with football. If this was Mourinho, for instance, Chelsea managers done very, very well. Says a lot of pretty random stuff, but someone who's always backed himself, don't get me wrong, he's got the trophies to back it. But you almost go, well, as a foreign manager with great ideas, it's an English manager. You go, oh, well, mate, calm down. Are you sure about this?
- [25:31]
D
Yeah, I think if we were hearing a lot of the things that Rasenia said in a Spanish or Italian accent or a Portuguese accent, I think it would be received very differently. I think we're just not used to a British coaches even being in this position. To start with a club of Chelsea size and be talking like this. I do think to an extent, Mourinho has changed the dial for all coaches that are followed in terms of. I mean, obviously motivation. Communicating with your players has always been critical to success in management, but that sense that you are always on when communicating in press conferences, that you've got to sell something to your fans, to the wider public, I think that was always true to some extent. But combination of how globally watched the Premier League is now and figures like Mourinho, who've just generated so many big moments in those settings, I think has influenced everyone to some degree. And when you look at Chelsea in particular, this is a fan base that's very used to coaches with big personalities. They expect it. The last coach that was really, really embraced was Thomas Tuchel, who was a big personality. He was a very charismatic communicator in press conferences. I think that was one of the things that for all of his successes on the pitch, Enzo Maresca was never truly embraced because there wasn't a great sense of charm or charisma that came through the camera to a lot of fans. And if Rosenia can project that again, it's as Adam says, it'll all be seen through results. I think if he wins, there's a comparison with someone like Brendan Rodgers, who could be seen as a bit of a figure of fun when he wasn't doing well, but when he was in his best moments at Liverpool or Leicester, these things were seen as charming quirks of his style that was working. It ultimately comes down to that.
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B
Yeah. Just think about results, Adam. And nationality aside, probably what haunted Amarim in many respects is that he spoke about being a good coach and, you know, sticking to his principles. But inevitably, what you saw on the field really wasn't pleasing to the eye in any way, shape or form.
- [27:31]
E
Yeah, I mean, you can only. You can only sell a story for so long without delivering results. You know, it's a bit like, if you think of, like, major companies, they have 4 quarters a year where they go in and give results and answer calls from investors. In the case of football coaches, they do it about seven times a week. Now, if they're in Europe and they are constantly being quizzed on their performance, their direction, what they want to do next with their mini company, which is this group of players in a dressing room, and you're almost looking for these results and indicators of performance in real time. Now, I sound like I'm on LinkedIn, but I do think there is a Big part of that, which, as Liam says, means you're always on and you're always. Every little thing you say is going to be scraped over, it's going to be aggregated, it's going to be reported on, and I think that makes the job very difficult. And also, you know, even if you just look at Rocinha's playing career, you know, this is someone. He's never been in a place as big as Chelsea, you know, as a player or a coach. He wasn't, you know, he didn't play for England, as in the senior team. You look at the teams he played for, clubs like, as big as it got was Fulham and Brighton. And no disrespect, you know, there's always Brighton somewhere with Chelsea, but, you know, Fulham, Brighton, Ipswich, Torquay, like, this is not like someone who is used to the highest performance environment. So I think some of the levels of scrutiny and attention will surely take him by surprise, because I think until you're in this kind of washing machine of that level of the Premier League, where you're being spun around and every bit of your life, your performance, the team's performance is poured over, I think it's very hard to relate to.
- [29:24]
B
Yeah. I do wonder, though, you know, whether there is a correlation or not to playing at an elite level and being a great coach. Jurgen Klopp, Oliver Glasner, for instance, never really quite made it as players in that respect, but look at what they've been able to offer the game of football. But I also wonder if this is a symptom of being a team as big as Chelsea. You know, you say something and it's going to be picked out naturally, because of the stature of the club.
- [29:46]
D
No, absolutely. Yeah. Just by virtue of being in Europe, you've got three, four press conferences a week, sometimes seeing people like me far too much, answering in some cases the same questions over and over again. And your job is to try and keep it fresh. And while a lot of fans will probably tune out of a lot of that, they will notice if you don't impress, if you say the wrong thing, if you don't comport yourself in the way that they expect from their coaches. And so I think that side of it has never been more demanding than it is right now. I think you can see with, like, the Rosenia memes on. On social media as well, which I think, again, he reacted to in exactly the way he should, which is like, I'm not on it, my kids show me it. We all have a good laugh. I think that that's all you can do. Because if you pay attention to this and all, coaches pay more attention to it than they say they do. But if you pay too much attention to it, it can just send you spinning out when and forgetting about your actual job, which is to coach the team and win games.
- [30:53]
A
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- [33:23]
C
You're listening to the Athletic FC podcast with Ayo Akamolere.
- [33:26]
B
Before we look any further, we are recording on transfer deadline day. So anything can still change. But Liam, we know Chelsea love a deal. What are we hearing so far?
- [33:35]
D
Yeah, I mean the, the inevitable caveat that with Chelsea something big, something unexpected is always possible. It did feel in the final days of this window as if that something big was going to be Jeremy Jacquet or nothing and Jeremy Jacques is going to Liverpool. We haven't got the sense that Chelsea are just going through a list of defenders that they want to sign for £60 million now. I think it was a particular identification of him and as a result they've, they've brought back Mama Du Sa, who they really, really like and really rate from, from Strasbourg. And obviously Liam Rosenheir is very, very familiar with and I'm sure had a role in bringing back. And we've seen actually in the last year or two that Chelsea have favored slightly more quiet Januarys. I mean this, this January has been more notable for changes elsewhere at Chelsea than, than in the squad they prefer to recruit in the summers. And, and even a deal like Xhaki and you see with what Liverpool are doing, it's a, it's a deal being done six months early, which I think is becoming more and more common.
- [34:36]
B
Well, Tariq George we know is heading to Everton. What about Axel Disassi? What do we know about that one?
- [34:42]
D
Axel Disassi is, is kind of the, the last really high profile name that is not in the first team picture now that Raheem Sterling's not there. So it makes sense for him to go somewhere to play. I think Chelsea ideally, and they've probably been waiting for most of January to see if they can sell him. But if that doesn't come to pass, it should make sense for everyone, for him to just go out on loan to play to remind everyone that he can be pretty solid Premier League center back, I think, which is what he showed at times at Chelsea and at times Aston Villa.
- [35:15]
B
Okay, well head to the Athletic for the very latest on transfer deadline day and also we'll have more on the transfer window tomorrow as David Ornstein will also be joining us as well. We'll be wrapping up the big talking points from the winter window and also looking ahead to the summer as well. Right, gents, let's get back to the football because, Adam, on Tuesday Chelsea play the second leg of the Carabao cup semi final with Arsenal. How much of a priority do you think the Carabao cup is for Chelsea right now, considering where they are in the league?
- [35:42]
E
I think it should be a priority, you know, just because if they were able to overturn the 3:2 that they have against Arsenal, I think it would just be such a big statement for Rossinho, such a big moment for him to go away from home there and get that result. So fair enough. You know, if they're. If he's able to do that, it's luck to me that the way he rotated the team at the weekend was clearly with an eye on this game. So it would appear that they're taking it pretty seriously and I think they should because it's difficult because, you know, Maresca won two trophies and it didn't really matter in the end because, you know, the relationships broke down and he lost his job. But I do think, you know, when you think of Chelsea, what Chelsea fans have come to think, their history is over the, you know, the more recent times it is, you know, they keep winning despite whatever chaos may be enveloping, they keep finding ways to pick up trophies. Kind of like the opposite of Arsenal, you know, who have kind of. They can have stability without necessarily winning the trophies to go along with it. Chelsea are like the opposite of that in that they just always pick up a pot here or there. So I do think, you know, it would be a huge thing for a senior to do that, particularly because, you know, they may have a very difficult final as well. So I think as a signpost, it should definitely be a priority.
- [37:04]
B
Yeah, I mean, this is a club used to winning trophies, best in the world at the moment, apparently, according to FIFA. But I mean, if you think about it in terms of statement of desire, the Carabao cup, winning it for a senior, I mean, come on, what better way to get back on the fans singing sheet.
- [37:19]
D
Yeah, it would be huge. And I'm just interested to see how the selection shakes out after the West Ham game because as Adam says, the starting lineup suggested that they were trying to keep a lot of the big players powder dry for the Emirates, but they were forced into action. And at the same time you had what, Enzo Fernandez, moises Caicedo playing 95 minutes. They have massive minutes loads anyway. But it's a lot to ask to then go to the Emirates and, and play for as long as it takes to try and win that game. But it would be a huge thing, I think. I think Chelsea took a lot of heart and it's kind of forgotten because it was immediately followed by the slump that ended in Maresca leaving, by the way that they played against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge with 10 men a couple of months ago. They were in a really difficult situation. You lose not just anyone to a red card, but Moises Caicedo, who's been their best player, really, for the last 18 months. And they adapted phenomenally well, really took the game to. Arsenal are arguably the better team with 10 men. So Arsenal certainly never controlled the game. And I think they. I think they do have Arsenal's respect from the last couple of times they've played them. But the first leg of that semi, they picked a team which suggested it wasn't really an organizational priority to get to the final. And it was lucky, really, to be 3, 2. It should have been more convincing for Arsenal, so the odds are stacked against them. They also have a bit of a problem on the wings now because Jamie Gittins went off injured, Estebao is on compassionate leave, and Rosenha made it clear after the West Ham game that they're not going to pressure him to come back. He'll come back to England when he's ready. And Pedro Neto's been playing a lot. Garnacho didn't have the best of times against Aaron Wan Bissaka. They have a bit more to consider in that area. They'll go into it as underdogs, but as live ones.
- [39:14]
B
Okay, well, Adam, before we go, final whistle, we need to get this one in. I'm just going to get my stopwatch ready. So you've got a minute to tell us what from the world of football has caught your eye over the weekend. So let's get this going. 3, 2, 1. Off you go, mate.
- [39:29]
E
I watched Fulham yesterday play very well again at Man United. Maybe just think about Marco Silva. When we talk about all these coaches who are kind of in the melting pot for some very big jobs that may be up in the summer. You think of around Manchester United, possibly Tottenham. There may be other big clubs coming up around Europe as well, international jobs that might become available after the World Cup. And again, you know, this season they are, I think, eight, seventh, eighth in the Premier League. Playing very well. Interesting that they, you know, they got Oscar Bob in, but they're now pulled out at the end, I think, with Ricardo Pepe. Interesting to see how Silva responds to that and whether Fulham are able to persuade him again to renew or whether he'll be entering that market. I think sometimes we kind of take for granted how good he's been at Fulham, just because we've kind of known him for quite a long time now.
- [40:22]
B
Yeah. Okay, 55 seconds. I'll give the last few seconds to you, Liam. Marco Silva, should he be deserved of a bigger job than he's currently doing at Fulham.
- [40:31]
D
Yeah, I really like him. I think. I feel like he went through the phase of being quite a fashionable name to link with top jobs and has now for some reason come out the other side of it and been forgotten.
- [40:41]
E
It's because he never smiles. When do you ever see him? You never see him smile. It's always that kind of like slightly surly face. I think like if he told a few jokes he and had kind of had that bit more kind of personality that grabs attention than he might be.
- [40:58]
D
We maybe should have touched on that earlier when we were talking about the importance of communication, the importance of just smiling every now and then.
- [41:05]
B
Exactly. It works. A treat, gents. I really appreciate your time and your smiles on today's episode of the Athletic FC Podcast. Liam, Adam, appreciate you joining us. And also thank you guys for joining us too. We'll be back soon.
- [41:19]
C
You've been listening to the Athletic FC Podcast. The producers were Guy Clark, Mike Stavroo, and Jay Beal, with editing by Paul Iliff and Nick Thompson. The executive producer is Adie Moorhead. To listen to other great athletic podcasts for free, including our dedicated club shows, search for the Athletic wherever you get your podcasts. You'll also find us on YouTube at the Athletic FC Podcast, so make sure you subscribe. The Athletic FC Podcast is an athletic media company Production.
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