The Chelsea F.C. Thread IV

Original post by Nickini

Mikel is one of our most consistent players, today was the first bad game from him I can recall for awhile, but then again everyone was **** bar perhaps Azpi and Hazard, and they weren't at their best. KDB looked good for his cameo which is encouraging but then again that was literally 4 minutes.

I feel that Azpi on the right would have stopped that goal, he'd have had a bit more recovery pace if he went to sleep if Ivan did, it wasn't such a high pressure tie that bertrand couldn't have started either.

Yup. This season I've been watching games on honestly struggling to decide what Lampard brings to the side that justify starting him over someone else, or not taking him off towards the end of matches in particular where his standard of play noticeably drops due to his age/fitness.

Lamps, it's a weird thing, he gets goals, best expansive passer in CM/DM(due to lack of options) but he probably costs as many goals as he scores. Surely he needs to be playing less games and be kept fresh, he talks about being a ryan giggs for the club, but ryan giggs is often on the bench and comes on when they need a cool head and to play the ball. I don't know if the decision is sentiment on mourinho's part, or lampards desire to play, but eitherway they needs to get their heads into 2013.

Agree with your team though. Should use it against bucharest. Or at least switch into it. Should try 3atb more as well, that worked out for us well when we chased for a winner earlier in the season.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 7985

The Assassin

18

Original post by Nickini

Would quite like to see us try this 433 but with Mata taking Oscar's position, with Oscar sitting deeper replacing Lampard. Think Oscar definitely has the work rate to cope (7/8 tackles against West Ham, had a similar ratio against Villa/someone earlier in the season IIRC), and the fairly central positioning of Mata shouldn't stifle him as much as when placed on the wing in a 4231. The the 3-man midfield, particularly with the workrate of Ramires and Oscar should also help him with some of the tracking back responsibilities too. Something like:

Ivanovic---Terry---Cahill---Azpi--
----------------Mikel-------------------
----------Ramires---Oscar-----
--------Mata------------Hazard--------
-------------------Torres------------

Could potentially work quite well IMO.

Agree with this. The idea of Oscar sitting behind Ramires is also an interesting suggestion; I believe many feel it's worth a shot with a 4-2-3-1 as well. Think his passing has improved and like you said he's very good at tackling + working hard.

We should really try Mata more. Yes he doesn't track back well but it's not like our defence has been great otherwise, so might as well take a bit of a risk. KDB could very well play in Oscar's position in the 4-3-3 as well; I believe he did that a bit in Bremen + Belgium. We really need to upgrade that area though.

--

Not too confident about Ivan playing RB anymore tbh unless we create more chances through our midfielders. Defensively he's sound but going forward he's as bad as Sagna. We keep playing our threat through him as well which is rather irritating. If we wanted to get our fullbacks to contribute we should've, last season, bought Coleman instead of Azpi (or just use him more since he's a lot better going forward) and start playing Bertrand more. No idea why we're doing this esp. considering we've got proper wingers now in Willian and Schurrle rather than inside forwards/versatile players. (0 out of 5 crosses completed for Ivan today, and overall none of our crosses reached our target, ah...)

And Mourinho talking about players being tired, well, I don't agree with the selection. We have so much depth so if the players are tired then what's the purpose of playing the same ones when we can add ones who are just as good, if not better. Believe it or not KDB has actually outplayed Hazard in almost every game in a Belgium shirt. Should really be used more.

edit: and my oh my, didn't Ramires look lethargic today? Not like him!

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 7986

Original post by The Assassin

Not too confident about Ivan playing RB anymore tbh unless we create more chances through our midfielders. Defensively he's sound but going forward he's as bad as Sagna. We keep playing our threat through him as well which is rather irritating. If we wanted to get our fullbacks to contribute we should've, last season, bought Coleman instead of Azpi (or just use him more since he's a lot better going forward) and start playing Bertrand more. No idea why we're doing this esp. considering we've got proper wingers now in Willian and Schurrle rather than inside forwards/versatile players. (0 out of 5 crosses completed for Ivan today, and overall none of our crosses reached our target, ah...)

And Mourinho talking about players being tired, well, I don't agree with the selection. We have so much depth so if the players are tired then what's the purpose of playing the same ones when we can add ones who are just as good, if not better. Believe it or not KDB has actually outplayed Hazard in almost every game in a Belgium shirt. Should really be used more.

edit: and my oh my, didn't Ramires look lethargic today? Not like him!

I wouldn't call willian and schurrle proper wingers, they're hybrids of the two imo. I think while schurrle stretches play, at times he can come narrow, cut in and take a shot. Essentially theo walcott type inside forward, nowadays anyway there aren't many out and out wingers, bale e.g. changed his game from a winger to a free role player.

I'd say willian is more of a playmaker, but his speed means that he can be utilised as a winger, but again I think he's best in a free role stringing the play and drifting from wing to centre like mata does for us, he did that well against us last season and I think we would see the best of willian in that role, who while he has impressed and showed that he's a 30m player, isn't really wowing us due to the plethora of talent we have in the role.

Reply 7987

Cannotbelieveit

15

Original post by bammy jastard 27

Seriously man, do you really have to do this all the time? You can put up your pile of gas when we face each other in a couple weeks time, if you beat us I'll man up and take your WUMming like a man. Otherwise just focus on your own team or contribute positively to this thread. It's almost an obsession the way in which you and others flock here whether you win or lose.

Funnily enough when posters here do the same in reaction to your Wumming, you guys complain and say they're hypocrites. I think a certain poster knows what I'm referring to by this paragraph, or the precise term I'm looking for here. I won't say it before it causes the inevitable ****storm.

Spoiler

Arsenal fans have developed a massive superiority complex when it comes to Chelsea. Obviously can't bring themselves to admit that Chelsea are the top club in London.

Anyway, tonight was very poor, but hey we qualified. Bring on Southampton.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 7988

What does Mourinho see in Ramires? Most times we were through on goal and he ****ed up. Slipping/not shooting/ karate kicks. He's not good enough to play for us regularly.

Btw, that was our worst performance this season. Second half we were in control but our final pass/ finishing touch was off.

Reply 7989

username912610

2

Am I the only one that thinks Lampard has been poor this season.

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Reply 7990

Original post by Kruz

Am I the only one that thinks Lampard has been poor this season.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Read the last 2/3 pages.
His time is up as an automatic starter, should play the giggs role from now on. He knows it, Mourinho knows it too but they're taking a time trip back to 2007 if he keeps on playing 2 games a week.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 7991

Original post by 9MmBulletz

What does Mourinho see in Ramires? Most times we were through on goal and he ****ed up. Slipping/not shooting/ karate kicks. He's not good enough to play for us regularly.

Btw, that was our worst performance this season. Second half we were in control but our final pass/ finishing touch was off.

Work rate and pace obvs.

We'd have won the game if we put hazard on at the start. He is getting into form rather quietly i feel. Since oscar has played 2 matches in a week, played like around 100 or so games since the olympics last year, the kid needs a rest, we should play mata in a 4-2-3-1.

Considering the poor game oscar had, while he was good last week he should be dropped if Mourinho really is a person to pick on form.

Reply 7992

Skkc16

17

Original post by bammy jastard 27

Considering the poor game oscar had, while he was good last week he should be dropped if Mourinho really is a person to pick on form.

With the way he "consoled" him when he took him off I'll be surprised if he does. Mourinho's got Oscar fever and with about 4 days before the next game he'll probably say he's rested enough

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Reply 7993

Original post by bammy jastard 27

Work rate and pace obvs.

We'd have won the game if we put hazard on at the start. He is getting into form rather quietly i feel. Since oscar has played 2 matches in a week, played like around 100 or so games since the olympics last year, the kid needs a rest, we should play mata in a 4-2-3-1.

Considering the poor game oscar had, while he was good last week he should be dropped if Mourinho really is a person to pick on form.

I just don't like Ramires because he's a central midfielder and he can't

a)pass
b)control the ball well or
c)shoot

He has no composure on the ball, and all the aforementioned is what Yaya Toure has alongside pace and energy.

I'm not really a fan of what Mourinho's doing at the minute. Mata has done nothing wrong and yet he's being frozen out. Couple that with the fact that our results haven't been great (he's doing the bare minimum atm) and you have a concerned Chelsea fan. He's got the Oscar beer goggles on and he dare not take them off even if Oscar hasabad game.

There's also strong rumours that Mata is going to PSG either in January or the summer which doesn't please me. If they give us Pastore I may not mind although I'm not sure how out of form Pastore is seeing as he hardly plays

Reply 7994

Malevolent

19

Pastore for Mata would be a real bad piece of business.

Reply 7995

Original post by Malevolent

Pastore for Mata would be a real bad piece of business.

Why? He's lazy I guess but his ball control is probably better than Mata's. He's slow but he's got quick feet, good vision and is only 24

If it's Pastore + 15/20 it really isn't. Plus, if Mata isn't playing Mourinho will cash in anyway

Reply 7996

cleveradam

9

Original post by The Assassin

What utter drivel :laugh:

. No sense of logic to this tbh. Sounds like a load of angry thoughts compiled into one silly comment for no good reason. Embarrassing really...

fam you need to relax. Every time we get a bad result you come up with crazy comments like this. Patience.

Half of our goals have been lucky this season.
We've not dominated a game 100% like the WBA game till we had to go out and score, why does it always take the brink of being on defeat for Jose Mourinho to set out an attacking mentality to the side?
It's not 1 game that we've not looked like scoring, it has been many games this season.
Lampard isn't a creative midfielder that he may have been years ago, and with Mikel all he looks to do is pass around and pass the ball back to the defense never creating anything attacking. Mikel is good for games when we need to park the bus, if we need goals it's suicidal to play him because he never passes the ball forward, its either to the wings or back to defense.
I cannot recall a single game which we have dominated completely like City do, after we score a goal Jose Mourinho gets all happy and the players sit back a little.
What if West-Ham actually scored the tap in in the very opening minutes of Saturday evening and we'd gone 1 down?
And not playing 1 team constantly enough is a killer, it doesn't allow the midfield to settle.
Jose Mourinho is the biggest idiot for stating he takes the blame and blames the defeat on the players being tired! - is he stupid in the head? he probably had 6 other options in midfield and could have played Ba or Torres and changed the defense around for Luiz/Bertrand. What kind of bs is that excuse - rather then giving excuses after excuses why doesn't he state the problem and deal with it e.g. my players terrible attitude in the game resulted in the defeat - its not as if we've played terrible for 1 out of 10 games and this is just a 1 off game. The past 5-6 games we've not looked like breaking down a team.
I fully expect us not to create many chances against Southampton because of the high-line they play and extremely fast closing down style they play. Had the problem just been a 1 off day yesterday, no Chelsea fan would be upset, it is the ridiculous excuses he gives in interviews then no reaction since the Newcastle game.
As for Mata, if Man Utd buy him, I wouldn't even be mad because he deserves more respect and alot more game time, any team would jump on the chance of purchasing a player like Mata, hardworking, humble, world-class gameplay, excellent attitude when being treated like dirt.
Essien could be the fix to the lack of creativity, he's passing at Madrid was immense. Too bad he's just a loaf of bread now.
I really find it hard watching this team struggle to even create a single, valid chance in a game.

Reply 7997

little_tom

14

Original post by 9MmBulletz

There's also strong rumours that Mata is going to PSG either in January or the summer which doesn't please me. If they give us Pastore I may not mind although I'm not sure how out of form Pastore is seeing as he hardly plays

Do you know WHY pastore doesn't play? He's been a 40M flop

Reply 7998

Original post by cleveradam

Half of our goals have been lucky this season.
We've not dominated a game 100% like the WBA game till we had to go out and score, why does it always take the brink of being on defeat for Jose Mourinho to set out an attacking mentality to the side?
It's not 1 game that we've not looked like scoring, it has been many games this season.
Lampard isn't a creative midfielder that he may have been years ago, and with Mikel all he looks to do is pass around and pass the ball back to the defense never creating anything attacking. Mikel is good for games when we need to park the bus, if we need goals it's suicidal to play him because he never passes the ball forward, its either to the wings or back to defense.
I cannot recall a single game which we have dominated completely like City do, after we score a goal Jose Mourinho gets all happy and the players sit back a little.
What if West-Ham actually scored the tap in in the very opening minutes of Saturday evening and we'd gone 1 down?
And not playing 1 team constantly enough is a killer, it doesn't allow the midfield to settle.
Jose Mourinho is the biggest idiot for stating he takes the blame and blames the defeat on the players being tired! - is he stupid in the head? he probably had 6 other options in midfield and could have played Ba or Torres and changed the defense around for Luiz/Bertrand. What kind of bs is that excuse - rather then giving excuses after excuses why doesn't he state the problem and deal with it e.g. my players terrible attitude in the game resulted in the defeat - its not as if we've played terrible for 1 out of 10 games and this is just a 1 off game. The past 5-6 games we've not looked like breaking down a team.
I fully expect us not to create many chances against Southampton because of the high-line they play and extremely fast closing down style they play. Had the problem just been a 1 off day yesterday, no Chelsea fan would be upset, it is the ridiculous excuses he gives in interviews then no reaction since the Newcastle game.
As for Mata, if Man Utd buy him, I wouldn't even be mad because he deserves more respect and alot more game time, any team would jump on the chance of purchasing a player like Mata, hardworking, humble, world-class gameplay, excellent attitude when being treated like dirt.
Essien could be the fix to the lack of creativity, he's passing at Madrid was immense. Too bad he's just a loaf of bread now.
I really find it hard watching this team struggle to even create a single, valid chance in a game.

Bro I understand your concern but it's a slight over-reaction.
Mata should be playing. He's been left out of the team for no reason at all and it's really testing my patience with Jose as we're not getting results, so the blame has to be put on him not playing Mata.
I can't stand Mourinho's blind love for Ramires. He's not good enough to be starting in our central midfield. Esepcially when we have the immobility of Lampard and Mikel, with Mikel lacking ambition in passing.

I would say that in the second half vs Basel, our approach play was good, but on 3-4 occasions the final pass was off and we easily could have created 3-4 clear cut chances.
Our problem is not chance creating IMO. The games we have lost (except Basel at home), we were pretty wasteful in front of goal. Against Newcastle, we had enough chances to warrant us a goal at least and against Everton, we should've been 2 up by the time they had their first goal.

Our midfield is not good enough. I'm sorry but when our team is worth 2-300 million in transfer fees, why are we getting dominated in midfield by Basel? I honestly think our main problem is that since we last won the league in 2010, we have been unable to control games in the same way due to not replacing players like Ballack,Makelele, prime Essien. Our points tally since then (71, 64 and 75) shows a clear dip from when we used to be getting 83-90 points each season when we had those players. There's only so much you can do with our team, especially with the absence of quality in the centre of the park. There's a few central midfielders out there we could buy. Ramires and Mikel should not play together, because neither can pass the ball forward well consistently. Lampard slows us down and shouldn't be starting (no offence, but he probably should have left at the end of last season).

Reply 7999