When will Chelsea be good again? 

What team shall we breakdown next week? (That's right, long form is back on the menu, team) 👇

I mean…have you guys ever considered doing a weekly podcast? I bet it would be massively popular 😏

It's been a long time since we've heard the dulcet tones of Joe Devine!

Excellent video but special mention to Joe, who is always sorely missed from discussions like these when absent. The analysis from John is superb, but Joe's levity is what humanises these long-form chats. The common folk like me always love someone like Joe chiming in with 'and that's not good is it John?' to make me chuckle and helps keep the discussion grounded and flowing without wandering for too long into the analytical deep end. Please encourage more warm hands and cool embraces.

Oh how I missed his warm embrace

Yeeeeeess the boys are back with a long form video

The man, the myth, the legend. Joe Devine

we missed you joey

This could make a great podcast

Finally an old school Tifo video, you redeemed yourself Athletic, if that is your real name

The JJ / Joe / John / Guest dynamic is great. JJ with the chaotic energy, Joe with the levity and John keeping it insightful works so well, and it’s those parts working in balance that made Tifo so great

Long form videos with the whole gang is a great start to get back to the good old days. Seeing Mr Devine back on my screen is always a pleasure too Hopefully there's scope for less... Serious tone? This has the atmosphere of a quarterly financial update when we know they can be silly, funny, and educational at the same time!

Joe Devine’s voice should be narrating commercials for male-luxury perfumes. It’s soo smooth.

Loved the episode but the branding isn't distinct enough from the main athletic channel. I nearly scrolled past this thinking it was a normal video version of The Athletic podcast

For a programme including Joe Devine, JJ, and Jon, this was too much like a proper football podcast for my liking

Longform videos are back THANK GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

That's a really interesting point from Jon - that the 'underlying numbers' argument might not be right because teams with good players *will* tend to have good underlying numbers simply because they're likely to be doing the things that get the numbers - it doesn't mean that they'll be coherent as a team. I'd love to see a piece picking apart the effect of the stats revolution on football - where the stats don't capture the reality, how they've warped football, what the long term effect will be. I have a fear that we'll see fewer and fewer really genius players coming through, because any high risk play will be coached out of them. See Grealish at Man City, a theoretically 'better' player but far less thrilling than at Villa. Imagine that effect but starting in the academies - and everyone playing percentages all the time. I feel like we don't see many of the great moments of instinctive skill that made football amazing, like chips from the edge of the box, because they're so low probability.

Joe Devine in the flesh?! My weekend has been made

It's great to see/hear Joe in group discussions like this again. The gang is back together! Would love more content with you all chatting old school Tifo style.

I'm proposing a video series idea - a spotlight on often overlooked teams such as Fulham, Luton Town or even championship clubs like Ipswich Town, showcasing how they can rise into top teams. It can help us understand the small scale structures and the inner workings, often challenged by limited resources. This way, the Athletic can enhance media equity. While content focused on the top six clubs may draw views, as an established media house, I am sure The Athletic has the expertise to innovate and engage audiences with compelling stories from less prominent teams. Also, I would love to see videos covering women's football because I believe the content quality here can attract an audience for it.

great to see Joe devine back, thanks AthFC.

More of this please. Great to have the old gang back doing what they do best 🎉

thank god for informed, tactically astute commentary on Chelsea's problems...rather than screaming 'get Poch out!!'

There’s a large Tifo shaped hole in my podcast listening heart. Bring back the old format. ❤️

Literally the perfect video, exactly what I want to watch

Here I am, a Spurs fan, watching this episode on Chelsea... such is my thirst for the dulcet tones and warm embrace of Joe Devine!

I missed this John, JJ and Joe format! A bit less fun that we are used to but great to see them together! Maybe the producers/bosses from The Athletic will let them add a bit more fun to this and you have a perfect football podcast!

Finallyyyyyy the podcast is back

The eagles absolutely delivered the ring with this video

Long form vid + Joe Devine Thought it would never happen again, Im happy :]

I needed your analysis, thanks 💙

Glad the Athletic have realised that Joe is an integral part of why Tifo was successful in the first place. Hope to see more of this format again

I have commented on three videos in my RU-vid life, your last podcast, a long form you did shortly after ending the podcast and this one, all to say keep or bring back the podcast! I can only imagine how difficult putting together the podcast is so I understand if you can’t do it but if you can, please do!

Nice to see the lads back together, one of the best football channels on youtube 😂

really appreciate the long form video ! keep up the great work guys 🙌🏻

Really enjoyed the video. Love having Joe, the bull, and the goblin king all on at the same time. Always fun and educational!

Brilliant We need more of these

The cutaway to Alex's segment about Ruben Amorim was pretty smooth, more of these videos please 🙏

It feels like I'm seeing a passed loved ones face in a crowd. The tifo podcast, as beautiful as the day I lost you.

Oh how I've ached for the warm hands and the cool embrace of Joe Devine...

This long format is awesome! Will be glad if u continue to do It

Love the long form video. More pleasee

Excellent Video Outlining how We play. That has been a major issue all season. Caicedo is always left isolated in Midfield and there’s always a huge Gap in midfield

Thank you so much for making a normal video

Incredible content. Please keep videos like this coming. Love the more detailed break downs on focused topics.

Let’s go, Joe Devine!!!! We all hope you’ve been well

This is exactly what I have been waiting for. - Stephen A. Smith

Its about god damn time...... For Joe Devine

I really missed you guys

having long form content with the gang back together genuinely made my week. cheers lads

Big fan of the gang being back, also really like the long chat/Tifo video hybrid there

The cool hands, and the warm embrace, of Joe Devine. Love it.

This Chelsea team has also been decimated with injuries. The one worrying trend is Chillwell has been fairly mediocre.

Love seeing this group!

love that you are back. And the POD is really good

Oh how I've missed Crow Devine's warm hands and cool embrace!

Poch should watch this video please.

So nice to see the long video back

The Tifo tea cup has sneaked in 😊

It should be noted that Amorin has shown the ability to adapt his systems to his opponents. The Taca de portugal semi final against benfica has proven this. In build up, he switched to a 3-3-4 and OOP he played a 5-2-3 mid block and allowed benfica to have the ball more and threaten. This is very similair to wt bayer did against bayern. It allowed for around 20 shots while only conceding 6. I think they would need a change in personal though to have Amorin to succeed at chelsea, and hed need a proper structure for long term.

yay long form vids are back :3 hopefully we dont need to wait for another month !!

Welcome back boys!!

As a chelsea fan this was a treat!

The stealth return of the Tifo Football Podcast!!

THE PODCAST WILL NEVER DIE!! 😭😭😭 GUTEN TAG BOYS

I must say it feels like somebody told Joe to be less... well Joe. If so, please let him be the funny, charismatic speaker he is. unshackle Joe Devine!❤

I think one thing of note about the midfield situation is that Enzo and Caicedo are kinda playing too many minutes, Enzo especially

Great video from you guys pls do more🤝is it fair to say Joe isn’t quite particularly a fan of chelsea? 😂 what team does he support

One day I will tell my children about the Tifo football show and they won't believe that such a conceptually flawed and stupid series ever existed. Here's to the good old days 🍻

Thank God they're back. Haven't watched Tifo in a looooong time.

We got into a final. That is going unnoticed. Not an easy thing to do

fantastic video

nice job lads

Joe Devine is undoubtedly the standout moderator across all of The Athletic podcasts.

joe!

de Zerbi is the man. Without any interference from the hierarchy, he’d solve most problems tactically. He’d bring a tactical identity and has the mould of players whom suit his style

Amortization mentioned within 90 seconds. This is the tifo content we love.

Great video

Thank god Joe is back. This channel was getting far too serious.

To what you said at 31:30 When Klopp went to Liverpool why were they his best option, they were horrible for years, but still got Klopp, how did a newborn city get Pep after Barca and Bayern? Was city his best bet.

The gang is back!

He is back 😊❤

I'm a Chelsea fan, but I have also worked on Wall Street as an investment banker. Clearlake and Boehly are clueless. They have destroyed value. The club is not worth what they paid for it. Somehow, by turning the club into Brighton 2.0 they expect to win major trophies. Brighton is a mid-table side and so now is Chelsea. They have broken the club. Some bad American investors do this. They a premium for a business and then fire the management team, and bankruptcy can often follow. Abramovich's club was successful because of the management team he created. Clearlake was buying that expertise. They will struggle to hire a top coach to replace Pochettino, anybody good will want CL football

Glad to have Devine back in the studio.

The issue is a lack of leadership, which stems from a lack of players being established enough to be a leader. Most have only been there 12 months, and when you start somewhere you naturally focus on yourself before you start getting involved with other people. It's hard then when the 2 longer serving players James and chilwell both aren't really that outspoken and obviously also have injury issues. Then the senior players, you have Silva who maybe still doesn't speak English? And sterling. With sterling maybe we'll just blame the position, as you don't get many captains who play on the wings unless they are truly remarkable players. It's reached a point now where those 4 pre season leadership contenders are probably not playing either through injury or just not being better than the younger players in the same position. So it will take 2+ years I think as someone becomes comfortable leading the team. That will probably be colwill and disasi, as they both look to have a bit of personality and leadership. Enzo will hopefully grow here too, and not look like Bruno too much , and actually Jackson seems quite popular and outgoing, so he could be a big figure if his form holds. Palmer's just a good player, a bit more independent which is fine, and Gallagher I feel is a bit of a struggle as he's not a big name and not that technically great. For example how much would world cup winner Enzo Fernandes want to listen to Connor Gallagher? But if he puts in another good season then he could become a respected figure. I just think that they didn't factor in squad relationships when overhauling the squad

Love this format! Would love to see an arsenal centred long form with the three amigos and James McNicholas pls

Fantastic analysis, the problem is trying to rush something that cannot be rushed. Time is the only answer to Chelsea's problems and changing managers is meaningless as the 5th change 5 years later or no manager change in the same time frame has the same effect but a seemingly different reason for the success

I missed the gang as is. Joe, JJ Bull the Bullet, and Jonathan Ross "Dog" Mckenzie

It is ridiculous how a man of Pochettino’s intelligence has overstretched poor Caicedo in that thankless midfield role. It’s almost like Pochettino has sacrificed goals being conceded so that the team scores more. Last season if you recall, the team really struggled registering a single in most games.

Nice tactical video with a lot of banter. More like a podcast than anything else.

i like how the quality has improved from 1080p to 720p

Sounds like you're saying the "problem with Moise Caceido" is Gallagher playing out of position. Interesting.

Thank you for this. You put a real analysis to what I’ve been observing all year. A suggestion for the next manager for Chelsea is Thiago Motta. I believe his tactics and beliefs can get the most out of these talented young players for Chelsea. A bonafide striker and Motta, Chelsea could compete for top 6 next season.

John Mackenzie + a tanning bed = Jason Statham

How good is it to see joe presenting on the podcast 👏

You are wrong to assume Amorim would simply extrapolate his Sporting tactics to Chelsea. He has adapted his style to different teams and their relative strenght in their division and he would do the same with Chelsea. Amorim is a smart coach and he would do a LOT better than Poche with the same squad

So weird seeing them stay on topic for this long of a video 😂

Wow, Joe comes back and suddenly I’m interested again!

Are there going to be a post game pods for EUROs

When it’s the On-the-spectrum nerds or the breathless breaking news journos I don’t even bother. Devine knows the truth - it’s all madness, MADNESS I tell you