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    Why Joao Felix To Chelsea SHOULDN'T Work... But Does
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    Why Joao Felix To Chelsea SHOULDN’T Work… But Does



    In one of the strangest signings of the summer, Joao Felix has rejoined Chelsea from Atletico Madrid. Returning to the club where he had an underwhelming loan spell two seasons ago, Felix is reportedly an expensive makeweight in the deal to take Conor Gallagher to Madrid. But where others see confusion (and an increasingly bloated squad), Adam Clery explains why, against the odds, this is actually a transfer that might work out well for Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea.

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    View 24 Comments

    24 Comments

    9. @nicolasyeandle4816 on

      I’m here just after the Chelsea-wolves game. That Felix goal happened EXACTLY as you predicted, in a central position, running into the box, first touch rocket. Excited to see more of this team COYB

    16. @shalompal8731 on

      Adam you little wanker. Love your videos, appreciate how thorough you are. But to say Felix underwhelmed at chelsea the first time is not true. He came into to a very turbulent team and was usually very positive. He scored 4 in 16 games, not great but based on how Chelsea were playing then expectations should be lowered

    22. @martimafonso9300 on

      I love Félix at chelsea, i think its a great fit, hopefully maresca plays him in his preferred position. He is truly a world class player and one of the most exciting players alongside palmer and nkunku and madueke and mudryk, there are so many great talents 😅

    23. @JustMeSach on

      This might sound extremely bizarre, but I think this Chelsea squad doesn't have a concept of "guaranteed starters". What it does have, is a squad that is extremely varied in player profiles, and that makes them so tactically flexible, that you could pretty much shoehorn any possession based tactic and this squad can take it up.

      Wanna play a back 3 with wing backs? You've got Reece and Gusto, both amazing at overlapping. A back 4? You could have the FBs in Cucurella, Veiga and Reece who can invert, or Reece and Gusto could overlap.

      The midfield can be a 433 with Lavia or Veiga as the DM, and Enzo and Caicedo as box to box players. Or, if you need an attacking 8, replace one with KDH or Palmer. Wanna play a double pivot? Lavia can play with both Enzo and Caicedo, and while Enzo-Caicedo as a pair has its issues, I think they could develop into that role too.

      Want a striker? Jackson and Guiu are your boys. A false 9? Nkunku and Felix can both do it. Want to play 4 attackers? Throw in Jackson/Guiu with Nkunku/Felix/Palmer as a 10 behind them centrally. Want the wingers to cut in and play in the half spaces? Nkunku, Felix, Palmer and Sancho can all do that (and Mudryk but uh…). Want them to hug the touchline and play out wide? You've got Neto, Madueke and Sancho to do that job.

      As for starters, who realistically expects that in the squad? Felix and Sancho are here to prove a point after a disastrous spell. Jackson, Neto, Madueke, Mudryk and Guiu are hardly players who will. Palmer and Nkunku, maybe, but they're flexible enough to play in pretty much any system. Don't see any one of Enzo, Caicedo, Lavia or KDH doing so. Reece is hardly fit, Cucurella can both play in a back 3 or invert, Colwill can play both in back 3 and 4. It's a squad full of youngsters with potential, and hardly anyone will have egos making them believe they need to be guaranteed starters. At least not for a season or two.

      Is this a good thing? I honestly don't know. Ideally, and based on what we've seen in football so far, you have a squad that suits a style of system, and you play that system. This is certainly unconventional, to say the least. But maybe you bring in a manager who is smart enough and has worked under a lot of different kind of great managers, which is what Maresca's history seems to be, and maybe you suddenly have someone who can leverage all of this. What you need for it to work though, is a squad that's one cohesive unit, and who better to prepare that for a future manager to use than Pochettino, one of the best man managers in football? Suddenly this plan doesn't look so bizarre and ridiculous.

      Or maybe I'm completely wrong, and Chelsea is just a mess and all of this comes crashing down and they become a perennially mid table team in the future. Who knows. All I can say is, this is interesting to say the least. Very curious as to how it all goes.

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