Farzad Stoned
Self-appointed Deprogrammer for the Cult of Mik 🟥
Country: USA
Player:Havertz
Since the change of squad direction, Edu has done a PHENOMENAL job. One can look at missed targets, scoff at the context, point to no blockbuster signings. The results speak loudest, we have the youngest starting 11 and are putting in a legitimate title challenge. This squad took how long to build? 2-3 years? It's actually incredible, people sleep pretty heavily on how massive of a turnaround this is.
It seems like there is a (general) agreement that Edu has done at least a decent job until this point.
A few things I'd say (I've skipped over a lot of the conversation, so apologies if any of this has already been combed through):
1) I'm not sure there are "easy" transfers. Think someone referenced Gabriel Jesus and posted the link about 6 other teams being interested. It's overly simplistic to say that a deal is easy because it went through, and difficult because it didn't. If you're going to be harsh on the misses, be fair with the wins.
2) Being opportunistic is absolutely a massive W. The best way to "beat the market" so to speak. This shouldn't be - and I hope isn't - in contention. Is every deal going to be a massive opportunity grab? No, but not all of our transfers have been.
3) Being first without having had to completely blow the bank on singular players is also absolutely a massive W, NOT a knock against Edu. All this talk about how he hasn't been able to get a tough massive transfer through - he clearly hasn't had to in order for us to succeed this season (although, as previously mentioned, not sure what a "difficult" transfer really is, or how anyone would care to define it). That's a fantastic sign of the great work thats been done squad building wise. Will we be able to bring in big players on massive fees and wages? Seems pretty likely, no real reason why we couldn't. Calling for his head in the meantime though is pretty wild. Especially when all things considered, we had an extremely solid January window. We needed cover on the wings, at LCB and at CM. We got all of that, perfect to keep our title push sustainable. This resoundingly negative alter-narrative seems more rooted in anxiety of the future than any real current substance. Our current reality points to a very steep upward trend.
4) I disagree that we are going to need a mythical DoF that signs every major top target in perpetuity in order for us to succeed. In fact, the strategy and pattern of our transfers seem to indicate we are due 2-3 big transfers, and then I'd expect our spending to settle down. We have a first 11 thats capable of throwing down with the best, and is incredibly young and settled. The squad is only going to get better as they mature. Keep who we have, add in a couple midfielders as needed and we really are set for the next 5 years. Additional transfers will just be dependent on outgoings at that point.
5) Regarding missed transfers - if we hadn't bid for Caciedo or Mudryk, would anyone have been crying out for Edu to try to sign them? At the fees it would take to sign them? Hardly anyone knew who they were before this transfer window, and no one thought they'd be worth the amounts they apparently currently are. But if you weren't crying out for him to sign them before, what's the issue that he tried and failed? It's net neutral if you miss out, possible net gain if you sign them and it works out (****since we still strengthened were required****). Mudryk had been twerking harder than Kiwior's wife, and Caciedo made a public instagram post about wanting to get a deal done. If these are the "difficult" negotiations you all are talking about, I think you have misled yourselves. These transfers didn't fail because of a negotiation breakdown, they failed because we didn't pay up. That is an incredibly different criticism than the one that's being posed against Edu, implying some ineptitude in "difficult" negotiations. The reality is that we simply didn't value the players the way their clubs did - what's the issue there? All Edu had to do to sign Mudryk for e.g. was drop 100M from the get-go. Not particularly difficult.
I had more to say, but I'm absolutely disgusted in myself for typing all of this. Hope it facilitates some more healthy discussion. Going to go cry in the shower now.
@Blood on the Tracks @db10_therza @Trilly @drippin tagging you lot since you guys drove this discussion and I'm posting this during off peak hours. I just wrote a novel so at least one of you better take the time to read it
By the way by simply bidding on Murdyk we made Chelsea pay 20-30 percent more for a guy with 12 goals i will happily kick CFC and Boehly into the grave they dug for themselves