The Chelsea F.C. Thread IV

Today is an absolute must win after last weeks disaster at Southampton, if we don't we are in deep ****. Pretty nervous.

Ones ability at football has absolutely no bearing on their ability to analyse anothers ability.

I think it does.

Justify?

How can a player that was mediocre at best ever truly be able to understand what it takes, and how much ability you have yourself to make it to the top, and by top I don't mean playing in the EPL. I mean where no one argues you are one of the best strikers around. Runner up as the best footballer in the world. Torres came on to the scene ridiculously early and Savage thinks that wasn't natural talent?

You can't understand something the same way if you've never experienced it. You can merely guess. Same goes for most of these awful pundits/columnists.

All they can do is guess and compare it to what their own ability was and how it was like that. You can attempt to analyse all you want but they have no comparison.

I agree that Savage is wrong, but I don't agree that only a top footballer can comment on the ability of another top footballer. If one is aware of the differentiating factors that separate the different bands of players, then surely they are able to apply those differentiating factors to a player to get a fairly accurate estimate of their ability?

If you mean 'natural' talent as 'ability, then I agree, but I believe that using the concept of 'natural' talent once one becomes a professional is utter nonsense anyway. The concept of using 'natural' ability to decide which footballer is better or if a footballer is good is so foolish it should never be mentioned.

For the amount of money Sunderland have invested in their team these past seasons they have an awful squad. Need better scouts.

They needed less Martin O'Neil and they would have been fine.

Chelsea's 56th game of the season. Sunderlands 36th...

I still don't buy too much into this fatigue/tiredness as an excuse. Chelsea have world class players and they should be demanded to have the physical ability to play at this level. We're having a lot of rotation lately so any excuses by Rafa on tiredness is a poor way out. Not acceptable.

Tiredness is perfectly acceptable in football.

If everyone is at 100% and one team plays 3 games in 9 days they might be down to 90%. They then play a team that has had one game in 9 days and plays the game at 100%. Now ability wise the first team is far better than the second but the fatigue added to the lack of time for training and tactical planning is a great leveller in football.

It is a similar level of nonsense as when critics say 'players used to play week in week out and didn't get tired'. That's because every team did that, if one team didn't and rotated fully then they would have had a massive advantage.

Modern footballers could easily play as many games as they do but they wouldn't play with as much intensity to try and ensure they can get through each game to a decent standard.