The Chelsea Thread

[CJACKO11]

Surely Roman being a successful businessman that he is and must surely see this, he must make the final decisions on hiring and firing!. It looks to me that Chelsea is a small club trying be big club with no long term project!. When was last time a Chelsea youngster to come through the ranks!, could be John Terry now in thirties!, It seems buy, buy, buy!!!!, even the young players in the Chelsea squad have been brought!. It's not down to managers because they never their long enough to set up a youth set up!. If look at the bigger clubs around the world most of them produce their youngsters, ie clubs like FC Barcelona, FC Bayern, AFC Ajax, Manchester United & Arsenal with history producing good young players and winning trophies!. With not just buy success!, I know do buy players but it is mixture of both!.

The constant changing of managers is what has hurt our youth players making the grade at our club. Manager comes in has his own players he wants to youth gets over looked he then gets sacked the the process starts again.

My word, you're evading hard. Not only did you pretty much just skate over the Rafa tactical debate, you also erected a straw man with the booing. Frankly I don't give two ***** who boos who, I don't think it effects performance that much.

Marin is one player, yes, but he's hardly someone you can regularly look to to change a game. He's shown nothing on the pitch so far - and judging by his lack of appearances, in training as well - to show why he should be given minutes. It would've just been a change for change's sake.

Ramires was shocking, was he? Despite the fact that he pretty much single-handedly held your midfield together, covering for the (dire) Lampard and trying to actually give some structure to your team. I could cite lots of figures at you to defend Ramires (over double the amount of aerial duels won by anyone else on the pitch, 88% pass accuracy, 4 tackles, 2 interceptions, for example) but even looking at it with the naked eye he was markedly your best midfield performer apart from Hazard.

And finally: Lambert was only a threat because Chelsea utterly failed to deal with his supply. That was the problem; with Lampard going walkies in CM, Ramires was unable to cut off all supply to the Southampton high midfielders. With the likes of Cole and Azpilicueta left exposed by their wingers and Davis, Schneiderlin and Cork outnumbering Ramires and Oscar (the only other member of the midfield to do any ****** defending), it was no surprise Lambert wrecked havoc.

Bottom line for me is that he is not a great manager, i have always said this so why would i think differently just because he is in charge at my club. No win in the league at home since he has turned up says all is not well with him surely? Whether you agree or not its the same mistakes he makes every home game for whatever reason. Both he and Robbie struggled with certain tactical things but the difference is Robbie had the trust and backing of the fans and the players. Roman royally ****** this one up just because he didn't want to see his 50million pound investment fail, that is not how football works Roman!!!!

 

[CJACKO11]

Unacceptable. You have come up with an approach that shows Rafa was not the downfall of Chelsea tonight. This will not do.

I don't just blame Rafa even though you seem to always try and point it out. There are many people i blame before Rafa. 1. Roman. 2. Buck and Gourlay 3. Emenalo and then 4. Rafa. Anger is being distriputed around trust me, its just when the manager keeps making the same mistakes a man who slated us is an easy target.

 

[Alcaraz]

Lampard played well in two games. He is a key player in the squad and should be offered a new contract. It's that simple.

 

[Alcaraz]

Ok, Wow two players in last ten years or more.

Whats this fascination people seem to have with youth players coming through the ranks. Frankly I would dump Bertrand if I had the chance to get David Alaba.

Because I want to see the best team out on the pitch. Not a team which has the most players who came through the Youth system. If you can combine the two like Barcelona have done in recent times then good for you.

 

[Alcaraz]

Certainly the latter.

The striker issue has been addressed. Now Chelsea need to sort out their awful midfield shape. They could do worse than a certain Yann M'Vila, actually...

Should definitely be taking a look at M'Villa considering how it seems all the other major clubs have backed out. Attitude is not something that cannot be changed.

 

[Alcaraz]

It's not his fault Chelsea decided to give him 150K P/W and 50 million.

I am merely pointing out that the club has worked tirelessly to create the best environment possible for him to play in and he has failed.

 

[Tyton]

Lampard played well in two games. He is a key player in the squad and should be offered a new contract. It's that simple.

That's about two more good games then most of your squad has.

 

[zzeezzy]

Should definitely be taking a look at M'Villa considering how it seems all the other major clubs have backed out. Attitude is not something that cannot be changed.

I agree, he certainly has the ability on the pitch, if truth be told a man manager like Redknapp would be perfect for him. But my gawd they are getting a steal with him and Remy going to QPR. Although M'Vila hasn't signed yet so maybe he is waiting out for other options, who knows.

 

[GodCubed]

Bottom line for me is that he is not a great manager, i have always said this so why would i think differently just because he is in charge at my club. No win in the league at home since he has turned up says all is not well with him surely? Whether you agree or not its the same mistakes he makes every home game for whatever reason. Both he and Robbie struggled with certain tactical things but the difference is Robbie had the trust and backing of the fans and the players. Roman royally ****** this one up just because he didn't want to see his 50million pound investment fail, that is not how football works Roman!!!!

Oh, don't get me wrong, I KNOW you won't ever change your opinion on Rafa because you're stuck in your ways and refuse to see facts. What amuses me is how you've come up with debate point after debate point and all of them have been totally incorrect, and easily proven to be so. Now you're just saying "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED NOT LISTENING NA NA NA NA NA" which is a debating tactic on par with an eight year old.

So, if we take into account that Rafa hasn't actually made any tactical mistakes - as we covered earlier - it can only really be one thing. The squad just isn't good enough to live up to your expectations. And it makes sense; Chelsea are lethal on the counter, which aids them immensely when away from home. When AT home, however, things get a little unstuck. With a deep midfield based around energy rather than guile, and the top of the team hugely lacking in natural width, Chelsea can't find any space high up the field to get their playmakers free, and there's nobody deep in midfield to offer another point of attack. THAT is Chelsea's big tactical problem now, and it is also not Benitez's fault. In fact, he's trying to remedy it by adding Luiz as a vertical shuttler in midfield and adding width through Victor Moses.

 

[zzeezzy]

Oh, don't get me wrong, I KNOW you won't ever change your opinion on Rafa because you're stuck in your ways and refuse to see facts. What amuses me is how you've come up with debate point after debate point and all of them have been totally incorrect, and easily proven to be so. Now you're just saying "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED NOT LISTENING NA NA NA NA NA" which is a debating tactic on par with an eight year old.

So, if we take into account that Rafa hasn't actually made any tactical mistakes - as we covered earlier - it can only really be one thing. The squad just isn't good enough to live up to your expectations. And it makes sense; Chelsea are lethal on the counter, which aids them immensely when away from home. When AT home, however, things get a little unstuck. With a deep midfield based around energy rather than guile, and the top of the team hugely lacking in natural width, Chelsea can't find any space high up the field to get their playmakers free, and there's nobody deep in midfield to offer another point of attack. THAT is Chelsea's big tactical problem now, and it is also not Benitez's fault. In fact, he's trying to remedy it by adding Luiz as a vertical shuttler in midfield and adding width through Victor Moses.

Crying out for a Joao Moutinho, no doubt available and wants to come to Premier League if willing to pay good money.

 

[Alcaraz]

I'll say it once again. Back Rafa in the tranfer market this month and he will bring Chelsea back into the title race. He is that good in my opinion. Season is only halfway through.

 

[Alcaraz]

I truly sympathise with Rafa. He had one pretty useless striker when he initially came in which he tried but could not do anything about. Not to mention the fans are booing him for things he said years ago. Plus he came in mid-season and as any other manager, needs time to settle. I admire him. He is being very proffessional and carrying out his job to 100% of his ability.

Fans should honestly be backing him instead of getting on his back. He has done no wrong unlike a certain Spanish striker.

 

[zzeezzy]

I'll say it once again. Back Rafa in the tranfer market this month and he will bring Chelsea back into the title race. He is that good in my opinion. Season is only halfway through.

IMO Benitez shouldn't be judged on success this season, you are practically out of the title race so best hope is 3rd.

 

[Subtle]

The problem is that he needs time and stability to succeed. His chances of getting either are non existant. Both require the support of the club's hierarchy and it's pretty clear that they consider Rafa to be nothing more than a handy stopgap. The noises from the bridge at the moment are suggesting that we will wait until the summer for our big purchases so Rafa is not going to be trusted with bringing in a player of Moutinho's quality unless Roman also wants him.

And he isn't going to get anything from the fans. Most Chelsea fans hate him. People don't seem to get this. It's not because his decisions are suspect. It's not because his tactics seem a little odd. It's because he was manager of Liverpool at the time when they were one of our biggest rivals. Honestly, with the drama in the league and in Europe, there were few teams I hated as much as Liverpool during the noughties. The fact that I have a fondness for Everton was a factor in that, but I was hardly the only one. Rafa clashed with Jose, who is basically still revered as our messiah. And most importantly, he didn't just insult the club or our players, he insulted us and basically called us ****** fans. It's never going to work. Football fans are not emotionless tactical androids. Regardless of what he does for the club, he will never be liked at the bridge. Ever.

You can say: "Chelsea fans should get over it" or whatever as much as you want, but they're not going to, and tbh I'm not sure why we should. He will never be successful in an environment where the board don't trust him and the fans hate his guts. So in context, I don't ever see Rafa being a great manager here. It's all well and good to say if X was Y then it would be all be fine but we have to live by the limitations of the real world.

tl;dr If my Auntie had bollocks she'd be my Uncle!

 

[Average Joe]

Why the **** Essien wasn't kept I cant understand...

Essien and Ramires would be a solid mid I believe. Much more so than Lampard and Ramires anyway...

 

[Tyton]

I agree, he certainly has the ability on the pitch, if truth be told a man manager like Redknapp would be perfect for him. But my gawd they are getting a steal with him and Remy going to QPR. Although M'Vila hasn't signed yet so maybe he is waiting out for other options, who knows.

Well , the price doesn't drop so much without a very good reason. In the summer there were rumours about 25-30 mil , and now its 8? I suspect there had to be a lot more disciplinary incidents than it was leaked to the media.

 

[Subtle]

Why the **** Essien wasn't kept I cant understand...

Essien and Ramires would be a solid mid I believe. Much more so than Lampard and Ramires anyway...

Average day at work for Ron Gourlay

 

[Tyton]

Perhaps he isn't particularly good at using his bench, but considering his bench is ******* **** at the moment I'm willing to give him a little leeway. I mean look at the bench today: Turnbull, Terry, Ivanovic, Paulo ******* Ferreira, Bertrand, Marin and Torres. That's hardly a bench to strike fear into the opposition, and it's certainly not a bench you can use to make big tactical substitutions.

Haha, right, it may as well be that. For some reason i had him labeled in my mind as " bad with impact subs", but he hasn't been exactly blessed with monster benches in his career.

 

[Mike.]

Why the **** Essien wasn't kept I cant understand...

Essien and Ramires would be a solid mid I believe. Much more so than Lampard and Ramires anyway...

I've spent of of the current season laughing about this with Godcubed. Loaned to Madrid with no recall option. Genius.

 

[Mike.]

The problem is that he needs time and stability to succeed. His chances of getting either are non existant. Both require the support of the club's hierarchy and it's pretty clear that they consider Rafa to be nothing more than a handy stopgap. The noises from the bridge at the moment are suggesting that we will wait until the summer for our big purchases so Rafa is not going to be trusted with bringing in a player of Moutinho's quality unless Roman also wants him.

And he isn't going to get anything from the fans. Most Chelsea fans hate him. People don't seem to get this. It's not because his decisions are suspect. It's not because his tactics seem a little odd. It's because he was manager of Liverpool at the time when they were one of our biggest rivals. Honestly, with the drama in the league and in Europe, there were few teams I hated as much as Liverpool during the noughties. The fact that I have a fondness for Everton was a factor in that, but I was hardly the only one. Rafa clashed with Jose, who is basically still revered as our messiah. And most importantly, he didn't just insult the club or our players, he insulted us and basically called us ****** fans. It's never going to work. Football fans are not emotionless tactical androids. Regardless of what he does for the club, he will never be liked at the bridge. Ever.

You can say: "Chelsea fans should get over it" or whatever as much as you want, but they're not going to, and tbh I'm not sure why we should. He will never be successful in an environment where the board don't trust him and the fans hate his guts. So in context, I don't ever see Rafa being a great manager here. It's all well and good to say if X was Y then it would be all be fine but we have to live by the limitations of the real world.

tl;dr If my Auntie had bollocks she'd be my Uncle!

To be fair, there is being emotional, and there is being borderline stupid. And right now it feels like some of the fan base is certainly in the latter category.