I've stopped trying to find a reason for Roman's buys a long time ago.
The Chelsea Thread
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I guess it's because, of the strikers we have:
1 is out of form
2 are actually starting to look old now
1 needs a year or two to develop to first team standard
1 is showing a lot of potential but probably isn't ready to be the team's main forward yet.
Mata would play well on his own upfront but then we'd have to return to having Malouda on the left which isn't great. I'm not saying we should buy him but I guess Roman is looking at the depth of Man City, Barca and Madrid's frontline and thinking we should have something similar. It's all kind of irrelevant because this story reeks of tabloid stirring.
1 is out of form
2 are actually starting to look old now
1 needs a year or two to develop to first team standard
1 is showing a lot of potential but probably isn't ready to be the team's main forward yet.
Mata would play well on his own upfront but then we'd have to return to having Malouda on the left which isn't great. I'm not saying we should buy him but I guess Roman is looking at the depth of Man City, Barca and Madrid's frontline and thinking we should have something similar. It's all kind of irrelevant because this story reeks of tabloid stirring.
Torres isn't out of form. He was, but not any more. Even if we write off Drogba and Anelka, you still have Torres, Lukaku and Sturridge supplemented by youth players, and that's competing for one spot. Buying another forward of around the same ability as Torres (for an astronomical price, too) would cause more problems than it would solve. Even Barcelona and Madrid don't have another striker of equal ability to call on when the first choice gets injured.
Chelsea have no need to sign another striker considering the plan going forward is a team built around Torres and Lukaku getting gently pushed into it. Buying a striker just makes no sense and buying a new striker doesn't cure the problem of Malouda/Kalou/Anelka still kicking around the first team.
Signing a new RB, De Bruyne and central playmaker should be the aim in January. I'd personally like to see a RW bought in because I'm very skeptical that Sturridge can fit in to a right winger especially considering he is constantly saying he wants to play central which - let's be honest - is not viable at all. Torres has been speaking about how he left Liverpool anyway, he did not actually say why but I'm assuming we'll find out in his next Auto-Biography...
Prediction - 3-0 Chelsea, Torres to score at least one and another from a midfield runner.
Can't see Liverpool beating Chelsea, the tempo and pace in Chelsea's midfield should be too much for Adam and co to cope with especially if a 4-2-3-1 system is played. But Chelsea will be vulnerable but if there's any team to play a high pressure line against in the Premier League it's Liverpool.
Signing a new RB, De Bruyne and central playmaker should be the aim in January. I'd personally like to see a RW bought in because I'm very skeptical that Sturridge can fit in to a right winger especially considering he is constantly saying he wants to play central which - let's be honest - is not viable at all. Torres has been speaking about how he left Liverpool anyway, he did not actually say why but I'm assuming we'll find out in his next Auto-Biography...
Prediction - 3-0 Chelsea, Torres to score at least one and another from a midfield runner.
Can't see Liverpool beating Chelsea, the tempo and pace in Chelsea's midfield should be too much for Adam and co to cope with especially if a 4-2-3-1 system is played. But Chelsea will be vulnerable but if there's any team to play a high pressure line against in the Premier League it's Liverpool.
He's been getting back into form, but he's by no means there yet. There are these little moments when he wriggles free and looks incisive but that's not his general play at the moment. In the Spain game for example, he was fairly anonymous until the final section where Spain in general just picked a gear and started to look dangerous. Personally, I believe he will work his way back into form within the next few months, but for now he's still a little underwhelming. Maybe I'm just letting my judgement get clouded by those little moments where he suddenly looks unplayable again because they make his general play look lethargic.
Lukaku isn't ready yet and he has to adapt to the new way that we're playing. Watching him in the Fulham game, he seems like he has the potential to be quite a complete player but he was let down by the occasional moment of indecision, something age, experience and tutoring should help. I try not to judge him too much on that performance (being a man down and having Malouda and Kalou as your support isn't easy), what I'm trying to use it to suggest is that Lukaku needs time to fit into a less direct style where he has to contribute more
Sturridge is good and will get better.
I generally keep a fairly close eye on the youth team (cheap tickets, I think the cup final was a fiver ^^) and none of them is good enough to play in the first team yet.
I agree. The point I responded to was why would Abramovich buy Higuain. He'd buy him because he'd want world class players to replace world class players, something he has probably noticed at City.
But that's less to do with their depth of quality, than it is to do with the sheer ability of their first choice. If Messi or Ronaldo were injured, both sides could arguably still field a frontline as good as Chelsea's. (is Sanchez still injured?)
Again, I have to point out that I never said we should sign Higuain- personally I think he would struggle with just Mata feeding him- I was just pointing out that Roman wants to be able to compete with the best and, as his past purchases have shown us, this often means securing the greatest players regardless of whether or not they're truly needed.
But Subtle, that policy really hasn't been the prominent forefront policy at Chelsea for years. Yes he spent 70+ million in January but before that it was all about supplementing the squad with Ramires/Zhirkov coming in who I would argue when they were signed were not regarded as great players - not in the elk of a Shevchenko or Crespo - so the direction Chelsea are heading is pretty clearly a restructure guided by Villas-Boas with youth at the forefront.
All I'm saying is the policy of spending 30+ million on a striker when it's not needed is not the policy Buck in particular has followed. The appetite to spend unnecessarily has been dampened even more by FFP and the Arnesen era youth project. Torres and Luiz were needed last season, make no mistake about that, and long term they are investments which secure Chelsea's future as a 'big club' a lot more than any new contract for Anelka or Drogba ever would.
Meireles in the summer was purely AVB's buy because Modric was off the table, granted Roman wanted Modric pre AVB but 90% of managers in world football would take Modric, and Meireles is not someone I would deem as a great player but he is an extremely good player. In the past Roman would have met Porto's asking price for Pereira and signed him but with Buck in charge fiscal responsibility for FFP has to be at the forefront of everyone's mind.
Lukaku proves the point perfectly, Chelsea scout a player and secure first option then when they feel the time is right they sign him something which 4-5 years ago did not happen and Chelsea would have overpaid for a 15 year old and the guy would have been lost in the system.
De Bruyne/Lukaku/Meireles purchases are the purchases of a manager looking to build a philosophy not just a 3 season through-the-motions team. To go out and buy a Higuain/Llorente/Amauri would just go against everything Chelsea are doing. Torres is on something like £190k per week and his contract runs until 2016/2017 the investment in him is huge and something which Chelsea will not throw by the wayside because of a bit of bad form to be honest. The world class players for world class players point, I think the idea is potential to be world class players for world class players. Pedro wasn't considered world class until he bedded into the Barce team and Sanchez is not 'world class' in my opinion, not yet, he has potential but at Udinese he had Di Natale to feed off and slow defence's to run at.
Chelsea' current first choice 2 widemen and striker is Mata, Torres and Sturridge. Now Sturridge is not world class, not close to being yet, Mata you could make a case for and Torres has proven himself to be World Class. You replace them with Malouda/Kalou/aged Drogba and the standard drops even further which is why Lukaku was bought and why I'm sure eventually people like De Bruyne will be bought.
On the Hiddink rumours - There is only really one man that wants Hiddink back at Chelsea and that's De Visser, arguably the most powerful man day to day at Chelsea Football Club, who has Roman's ear and is great pals with Hiddink. No one really cares for Emenalo amongst the fans so a move to get Hiddink into Director Of Football could be a good thing but I don't want him near the coaching set up. He's far too rigid and old fashioned to take Chelsea forward, if he was the manager they would just stagnate.
All I'm saying is the policy of spending 30+ million on a striker when it's not needed is not the policy Buck in particular has followed. The appetite to spend unnecessarily has been dampened even more by FFP and the Arnesen era youth project. Torres and Luiz were needed last season, make no mistake about that, and long term they are investments which secure Chelsea's future as a 'big club' a lot more than any new contract for Anelka or Drogba ever would.
Meireles in the summer was purely AVB's buy because Modric was off the table, granted Roman wanted Modric pre AVB but 90% of managers in world football would take Modric, and Meireles is not someone I would deem as a great player but he is an extremely good player. In the past Roman would have met Porto's asking price for Pereira and signed him but with Buck in charge fiscal responsibility for FFP has to be at the forefront of everyone's mind.
Lukaku proves the point perfectly, Chelsea scout a player and secure first option then when they feel the time is right they sign him something which 4-5 years ago did not happen and Chelsea would have overpaid for a 15 year old and the guy would have been lost in the system.
De Bruyne/Lukaku/Meireles purchases are the purchases of a manager looking to build a philosophy not just a 3 season through-the-motions team. To go out and buy a Higuain/Llorente/Amauri would just go against everything Chelsea are doing. Torres is on something like £190k per week and his contract runs until 2016/2017 the investment in him is huge and something which Chelsea will not throw by the wayside because of a bit of bad form to be honest. The world class players for world class players point, I think the idea is potential to be world class players for world class players. Pedro wasn't considered world class until he bedded into the Barce team and Sanchez is not 'world class' in my opinion, not yet, he has potential but at Udinese he had Di Natale to feed off and slow defence's to run at.
Chelsea' current first choice 2 widemen and striker is Mata, Torres and Sturridge. Now Sturridge is not world class, not close to being yet, Mata you could make a case for and Torres has proven himself to be World Class. You replace them with Malouda/Kalou/aged Drogba and the standard drops even further which is why Lukaku was bought and why I'm sure eventually people like De Bruyne will be bought.
On the Hiddink rumours - There is only really one man that wants Hiddink back at Chelsea and that's De Visser, arguably the most powerful man day to day at Chelsea Football Club, who has Roman's ear and is great pals with Hiddink. No one really cares for Emenalo amongst the fans so a move to get Hiddink into Director Of Football could be a good thing but I don't want him near the coaching set up. He's far too rigid and old fashioned to take Chelsea forward, if he was the manager they would just stagnate.
Jamie, you just can't resist naming amauri when it comes to buying strikers, can you?
To hear Jamie saying "Higuain/Llorente/Amauri" is like hearing a judge jail someone for "Murder, Arson and... Jaywalking."
To hear Jamie saying "Higuain/Llorente/Amauri" is like hearing a judge jail someone for "Murder, Arson and... Jaywalking."
My thoughts exactly. Next thing you know he'll ask for Gary Kagelmacher to replace John Terry!
@Jamie
Very good points, I was just trying to work out why we might be interested but you're right those days of reckless, "I want it!", spending are largely over. Great post though, really made me think about how much our policy has changed! ^^
Very good points, I was just trying to work out why we might be interested but you're right those days of reckless, "I want it!", spending are largely over. Great post though, really made me think about how much our policy has changed! ^^
I'm trying not to get excited (have too many things I have to finish today to get distracted) but I'm starting to feel that buzz. Wish I could have gone, I have the money for once and then I ended up getting extra work on Friday just before I could get a ticket >.<
Got my Torres 9 shirt on aswell He might not be in the right frame of mind to play I guess. Tbh though, I don't want to see him mollycoddled; unless he's in pieces and can't do anything right Torres should be starting. He needs to accept the responsibility of becoming the team's main striker and the only way he's going to get a good run of form going is if he plays week in, week out and isn't rested for the big games.
I know AVB is probably trying to show Torres that he isn't afraid to bench him, but we've also got to show him that we have faith that he'll come good in the big games.
I know AVB is probably trying to show Torres that he isn't afraid to bench him, but we've also got to show him that we have faith that he'll come good in the big games.
If Torres is on the bench I don't think it's anything to do with him being in the right 'frame of mind' to play, or that AVB isn't scared of benching him because he's already shown that before, and I'm sure Torres is aware that AVB will bench anybody if he doesn't think they are up to it. More likely that AVB is trying to spring a surprise on Liverpool by not starting him.
TBH, now I just can't wait for the Jan transfer window. We probably won't sign many, but just 1 maybe 2 creative players would do me. Obviously I'd love Hazard or Götze, but the chances of them leaving in Jan are very slim, Hazard will nearly 100% leave in the summer, I doubt to us though, most likely Real Madrid, so I would like Hoilett, and Reus in as direct replacements for either 2 of Malouda/Kalou/Anelka. They are young and SO much more unpredictable than the players previously mentioned. And while they wouldn't be that cheap they would be a lot less than some, and I'm sure both would be interested in joining us.
Looking forward to today's match now - just hope we put in a good performance, if we do, then I can see a good result, but if we play poorly I think Liverpool will make us pay.
TBH, now I just can't wait for the Jan transfer window. We probably won't sign many, but just 1 maybe 2 creative players would do me. Obviously I'd love Hazard or Götze, but the chances of them leaving in Jan are very slim, Hazard will nearly 100% leave in the summer, I doubt to us though, most likely Real Madrid, so I would like Hoilett, and Reus in as direct replacements for either 2 of Malouda/Kalou/Anelka. They are young and SO much more unpredictable than the players previously mentioned. And while they wouldn't be that cheap they would be a lot less than some, and I'm sure both would be interested in joining us.
Looking forward to today's match now - just hope we put in a good performance, if we do, then I can see a good result, but if we play poorly I think Liverpool will make us pay.
Annoyed a little at Malouda but I think it may be the right choice because Studge hardly helps out in defence usually. Just hope that it's Mata on the right because whenever AVB has tried Malouda on the right he looks even more predictable than usual.