The Chelsea Thread
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Mr Chelsea
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I hope the players aren't taking the same attitude towards the possible league position as many pundits and fans. I think 3rd should be the aim at the very, very least. Whether or not we're playing well is irrelevant to me. The talent in our squad is immense. I think the priority for whoever is on either wing shouldn't always be to cut inside and join the attack, it should be to get crosses in, and not leave it to Cole, Bosingwa and Ivanovic. Aiming for 4th will make us equal to the 02/03 squad, before Abramovic took over. 3rd in the league, semi-final of the UCL and winning the FA Cup is the very minimum we should be aiming for, regardless of the teams in our way.
Really? Let's look at the squad for last night's match.
-Cech: Not the player that he once was. I have a great deal of sympathy forhim but the fact is that he doesn't have the same confidence he oncehad. That's ok when he's just making reflex saves but with our higherline we tend to concede more crosses and more 1-1's than before. You need confidence to deal with both of those things and Cech justdoesn't have it anymore. Verdict: Ok
- Bosingwa: Plays like astereotypical Brazilian fullback but without the quality crossing.His lack of positioning sense and caution is made all the worse bySturridge's poor defensive contribution. Verdict: Poor
-Ivanovich: A fairly good player. Nothing more, nothing less. Verdict: Ok.
-Luiz: Has the potential to be excellent but he will need to bothlearn to control himself and be paired with a suitable partner toachieve what he is capable of. Verdict: Good
- Cole: Debatable. He is not nearly as effective this season as he has beenin the past, whether this is the start of a decline or because of the imbalance in the formation (see my post on this about 10 pages back)is debatable. Verdict: Good/Ok
- Romeu: A youngster with a lot of potential but he does get dribbled a lot (more than anyother player in the Chelsea squad. It's not just a random stat either, the reason I looked it up is because I suspected it would be high, it's quite a noticeable weakness. Verdict: Ok (Will be good)
-Meireles: I'm not convinced by him in the holding role but in theory he should work well as the more attacking member of the pivot. Sometimes he does well, other times he doesn't. Verdict: Ok/Good
- Malouda: Inconsistent as ****, his stats aremisleading; most of his assists in his good years came about becauseDrogba was so hard to stop, not due to any guile on Malouda's part.He has finally settled down this season, the problem is that he'sconsistently ****. Verdict: Kalou 2.0 (poor)
-Mata: Incredibly gifted player, suffers a little from the team's relianceon him and the lack of other creative player. Verdict: In this squad Excellent, with more support World Class.
- Sturridge: Alot of potential but the more the season goes on, the more apparenthis flaws become. He needs to be more of a team player: to cross more, pass more, cut the ball back more, track back moreetc. Verdict: Good
- Torres: Out of form, played in a system that doesn't suit him, entirely reliant on one player forthe type of service he needs. However, he is ******* up some simplechances Verdict: In this squad Ok, with more support Good, may return to Excellent.
- Factor in the fact that Lampard and Torres struggle to work in the same lineup, Essien coming back from aserious injury, Ramires being out, Mikel still being our very own Carrick (good at many things, lacks the polish in most areas to actually fulfillany role properly, doesn't seem to be improving that much), Drogba is getting old and inconsistent now and that we lack any real cover for Mata and I'd say our squad is inferior to Tottenham's, about the sameas Arsenal's, better than Liverpool's. Our pursuit of Hazard shows that we're in for a big money player in the summer, so don't despairwe will strengthen. Until then, stop overestimating us for no reason other than pride and let AVB work.
Butthat's what modern attacking fullbacks do when they're playing in asingle striker system. It's kind of irrelevant anyway as your issueis purely with Sturridge and his inside forward role, Mata puts inmore than twice as many successful crosses a game as any of ourfullbacks.
So? We're going to be ambitious next season, this year is about holding on to CL football. You also can't make the comparison to an earlier squad because competition at the top has increased since then.
We're not going to win it so I don't really care tbph.
FACup would be nice but holding on to 4th is more important.Why do Chelsea fans these days feel we have to win something everyyear regardless of other factors? Our squad is not good enough to winthe CL and we would need a good dose of luck to win the FA Cup. Thisis a rebuilding, what you're doing is walking into your half builtextension and asking your building why you can't take a shower in thebathroom: the project isn't finished, you're not going to be able tohave the same standards as usual until the extension is complete.Perhaps if you had started it earlier and done it more gradually itwould be ok, but you didn't so now is the time where you have to bepatient.
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@Subtle I agree with some of that but there's no doubt we have a very talented squad like Mr Chelsea said. You can't go on last nights performance as a basis for talent, to put it simply the whole team is out of form not just Torres.
For example: Malouda is an awful player now but he has/had talent otherwise he wouldn't of played for the likes of Lyon and Chelsea. Lets look at the season he was outstanding - 13 goals in the Prem for a winger is mighty impressive, 12 the season before that. Did Drogba score those goals for him?
For example: Malouda is an awful player now but he has/had talent otherwise he wouldn't of played for the likes of Lyon and Chelsea. Lets look at the season he was outstanding - 13 goals in the Prem for a winger is mighty impressive, 12 the season before that. Did Drogba score those goals for him?
Malouda it seems is suddenly hated all because Mata has come in and taken his place. Ive seen alot of Chelsea fans who loved Malouda now starting to slate him and wanting him out because Mata has come in and has become one of their fav players. Im still a fan of Malouda even if he hasnt played great this season. He has still been one of the best players in a Chelsea shirt over the past 2-3 years and contributed alot to our title winning season in 2009/10.
Not the kind of squad that can challenge City, United or Spurs though. Arsenal arguably have a better squad also but they have insane amounts of injuries.
His past is irrelevant to the situation now though. I know you're calling me out for saying he's reliant on Drogba for a lot of his impact (I might have been a bit harsh but Drogba coverted a lot of average crosses/passes into goals) but the real point is that our current squad is just about top 4 material. It's not one that can set 3rd place as a minimum achievement.
I've got to be honest and say I've never really rated him that highly. He seems to perform in fits and bursts and if you're going to have that kind of player, they need to be ****** exceptional. During his good spells, he has undoubtedly contributed a lot to the club, I'm not denying that, it's just that he seems incapable of turning in those sorts of games consistently.
But again, that's in the past. He's been terrible this season, I honestly would have rather sold him and put De Bruyne in the first team than have to watch Malouda's every touch of the ball, every run- just everything he does- kill the tempo of our game.
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So, Terry's trial has been pushed back until after the Euro's. Which means he can captain England, and his career won't be affected at all until the trial at least.
Covered this in the thread. Judge pushed it back as it would severly affect both players seasons, and any nearby players who might be called as witnesses
Pffffft Mike, you'd be a terrible journalist/Liverpool fan, letting the facts get in the way of a story like that.
According to Marca (Yes, I know it's Marca), Chelsea tabled a 40m bid for Higuaín on deadline day which was rejected because Mourinho has only two out-and-out strikers, Higuaín and Benzema. Apparently the interest is still there and Chelsea hope to complete the deal in the summer.
What do you guys think?
What do you guys think?
Because Mata and Sturridge are wide players and Drogba looks set to leave in the summer.