SeB

I don't fully agree, Jones is a fantastic player and I think so since the guy did make his debut for Blackburn against Drogba. Although I wasn't convinced by Cleverley at Wigan (I was more when he was at Watford though), he is an evidence than Fergie did one more time manage to mix youth and experience with success. Anyway it's our turn, Sturridge, Bertrand and Mata can prove him he hasn't the monopoly anymore We face for the first time for long, a real unknown about the starting XI. If we plan to play in counter attacks, playing a 3 midfield with Lampard, Meireles and Ramires who would allow to go forward quickly is a good option. Meireles and Ramires' incredible quality in the vertical play makes of them must-play in this approach. However, Lampard and Mikel are needed for their tactical science. The plan to use the full backs' massive contribution requires then the presence of Mikel to cover the runs upfield. And we can notice a crucial point, a lot of people are wanking on Manure whereas there is no real reason to do so. They played 3 teams in a row who did start without DM ; we can list Kranjcar/Livermore then Coquelin/Rosicky/Ramsey and after that Reo-Coker/Davies. People may say that NRC is a DM but Coyle's main present issue is to find the best formula in his midfield, none did work for the time being (except Pratley/Reo Coker for the little time they did play together). It did mainly allow Rooney to leave his position and have then all the liberty he wanted between the lines. So Mikel could be a massive drag for Rooney. I did not watch Manure's hold-up at WBA, if someone did watch it, maybe he can enlighten me. MU's poor performance could have been due to the constrain provided by the 5-man midfield of the Baggies ? So then, playing Mikel would be required for the tactical aspect, the fact that he is a hub in the game and allows the transformation from poor passes to good distribution and also the Rooney factor. I wish we did not kept Zhirkov because he would be the perfect player for that lineup because of his ability to follow the touchline and provide support. Anyway Mata could have the same role, it's just a matter of instructions (and he could prove that his versatility could be synonymous with rigor): CECH BOSINGWA - LUIZ - TERRY - COLE MIKEL RAMIRES - MEIRELES - LAMPARD - MATA ANELKA I would play Anelka upfront instead of Torres or Sturridge because Nico has the best ball protection of these 3 forwards, this could be the key like it was in 2010, Anelka was lower than the 2 wingers on the pitch because he did aspire the defenders and did let the way free for Cole and Malouda. And like Drogba did, I would play Sturridge as an impact player. Playing counter attacking football with a modular consolidated 5-man midfield seems to me the best tactic to adopt

But Ramires is also a great counter-attacking player, but it does not prevent him to be usefull in another domains such as the defensive aspect, cut the transmissions and cover the runs upfield of Bosingwa. Torres is perfectly able to play relays on the width of the pitch, he is a mobile striker and at the top of his form one of the most complete #9 in the world, he is a clinical finisher and he is able to score smart goals that can bring an extra 10 or 15 points in a season when he unlocks a situation, thing we lacked last season, our struggles in the box in front of the goal were obvious at several moments such as at Wolverhampton. He is a generous striker and can really be the first player to rely on in the new philosophy to press higher and smarter. Kevin Davies would agree with me, strikers are the first defenders on the pitch So yes, some people may say that for £58m we can expect more, but that fee was interdependent of the situation where we did buy Torres. I don't especially see him as a player with a limited palette or playing style, he is not Drogba but he is not totally useless. The 15-20 goals he will score this season (and more than 20 considering the other tournaments) will be fully enough for what we need from the player who scores the goals, thing that was not that clear or defined the last 3 seasons and was dependent of the form or the role of the several players able to provide these goals (Drogba, Lampard, Malouda, Anelka...)

I must say that you are a bit excessive, we all know that Torres is not Drogba. But Torres does not want the team to catch the moon, you put a lot of strikers in front of a team with no movement and with no support and this lot of strikers will struggle. And these strikers will leave their position upfront I can tell you an example of that, Anelka with France was blamed for leaving his upfront position whereas he had no good balls and no player able to give him. Torres only needs a support player like Mata, and like many others strikers... I don't really see that as a playing style exclusively tailored for one player... Torres in his last months at Liverpool became static and less usefull in the play... When he is in good condition he is a really good striker, present in the play and able to call the ball on the entire width... When he is full of energy he can make the difference on short distances so he can be usefull in all the last tier of the pitch. He really isn't just a counter attacking striker or a goal hunter very poor with the ball à la Javier Hernandez or Pippo Inzaghi

Who said William Gallas ?

It's not the case of every French, especially footballers, so I see that first of all as a quality

Yes I do

Lampard is a diesel for f***'s sake, he is increasing his fitness form and is better only when he plays a couple of games in a row... He is at the origin of nearly every goal occasion or dangerous situation since the start of the season. Really can't understand why people want to drop him, especially because it's obvious he adapts to the pass and move (it's very clear against Sunderland) even if it's not the great Lampard we used to see in the past

I know a Alain Litumba who is a Chelsea fan So nice to meet you (again maybe xD)

The motivation makes of a good player an even better player, thys young lad had/has everything and the fucking Dane did throw him spanners in the works... No need of a 200k/week player, who knows if Borini could also have done well with us ?

I'm really disappointed to be frank, I expected a bit better Even more than O'Connor's coke problems are not recent and are well known, I did already read about it several times.

I don't know where is the matter with Steven Fletcher, he is one of the players that I mainly see as a possible replacement for Anelka next summer. But all depends to Sturridge's evolution. Fletcher is an incredible striker, he has the vision of a genuine #10 and is a clinical finisher, his controls and first touches are just excellent Otherwise I think you should go to Torres' thread, laura90 has just made an excellent post. I doubt it will change your mind but one never knows

He did not remind THAT goal at Old Trafford against Blackburn Anyway I have not forgotten

It was the same in pre-season, I already knew he was methodic but he played every one the same amount of minutes ! At the moment it's maybe an explanation of the phisical improvement and increasment of the team because usually the pre-season's aim is to sketch what the team will look like. But in Chelsea's case it would have mean again that some playes would not have the same status than others. Because Villas Boas' aim is to build a project on long term basis, we can only enjoy this coaching/management You are right, it's pretty impressive and even more that he is only 33 and that he did not hesitate to drop players and make real choice (it's true that the size of the squad allows the changement). He reminds me Owen Coyle who could die with his ideas (taking off Davies two games in a row at 60mn, put Elmander on a flank...) , I'm sure that they spoke a lot when they passed their coaching diplomas. A lot of older managers are far more chilly than AVB and I must say that even if I was a big fan of King Carlo ; this fresh wind carried by Villas Boas is truly... refreshing !

I voted Sell him, he is a big flop. The only thing that makes me happy is to think now are the last moments where we will find Fernando struggling. He has the fitness and the energy, seeing him play alongside Mata against Leverkusen (for me it was that AVB's coaching meant at the Stadium of Shite) is very positive and I'm sure he will launch his own season tomorrow. Or until a little 2 or 3 weeks to be wide

But my point wasn't about last season, I just did hit the roof when you spoke about Scharner who is as much a cunt as a average/mediocre footballer that cannot be subject to compare Ballack with. For me he was instrumental and far much decisive than a lot of people think (like Deco) at Chelsea, we owe him some fantastic periods such as the end of the 2008 season and we can only admire his versatility which was capital and without which we would not have won the PL/FA Cup in 2010. You may be right when you say that he had already a reputation before and he was a "name" but this takes nothing away from what he did at Chelsea and the what he helped the club to achieve. To be frank it's very difficult to have an opinion about his departure... Some people may say that he was going to do the season over and would be out of form when not injured... Some other may say that his tactical strength and experience could not have penalize Chelsea... We can think that if Boateng the bitch (shame because he is a good footballer otherwise, I was impressed by him at Portsmouth) hasn't injured Bally, the negociations about a contract may not have stopped such suddently because of financial matters.

You must be joking, Ballack had one of the greatest tactical understanding I have ever seen of a player, he was the only one player able to stabilize the midfield when we used to play in the diamond shape, his movements were absolutely brilliant to cover the full backs by example. Don't insult him by comparing him to this cunt Dont you remember that every time he wasn't there in the double season, the team had a huge counter performance because nobody was able to play well on the right flank of the midfield ? Essien by example was aspirated by his willing to go to the axis and unbalanced then the team. Ballack was excellent at several roles, in front of the defence, beside Lampard or on the right of the midfield. I'm surprised to see how some people can't see how important he was in the double season. And of course he was also an excellent footballer, two footed midfielder with charisma and experience. He really is a true Chelsea Legend

Glad to learn this, I did not know :tophat: The débutante is also proper ? In french it refers to a feminine name

I think we won't be friends any longer, you are a you are a pale imitator, my post was before yours Alex, can you explain from where comes débuts and débutante ?

Malouda, great shooting instinct and great assist for Torres I did vote Tomahawk Meireles because he is decisive on the 2nd goal and because his adaptation had to be underlined, he did train normally maybe just one time with the entire squad and he had no positionings problems, he was find very easily and he had no difficulties to play in one touch ; he used brillantly the space and he did not slow the game at any moment. I must admit it's also for his fantastic hair But of course I could have put Mata or Sturridge, or even Cole who is growing increasingly since the start of the season. But Mata's debut was last week, Meireles' was this week

I also don't give a fuck about Basket to be frank Like with the French treble in handball last year

In France we do only get 3 lines to learn that we were unconvincing

I do completely agree, especially with the bold part Put this in your bookmarks http://www.soccersho...rum/59-england/ Last months for Kalou I think, no other reason to pick him in the CL Squad if it was not to grow his value on the market in allowing him to score 3 goals on the games against Genk or Leverkusen And I hope it will continue for long it's quite impressive how it frees space in the medias and the press for Chelsea then

The Torres problem is wide, the tactical aspect is a part of that problem. I'm of the opinion of those who thinks that we can only judge him when he would be in proper fitness form and with a playing style own to look like a bit how he did perform at Liverpool, I mean that we bought a player who used to perform in a specific climate and surrounding: on the field with support (Gerrard), with fans who used to cheer him, as long as he liked to assume the weight of success (goals) on his own shoulders in a team able to contend for the title. We did not only bought just a player, we bought a player who used to be good and whose mind was disrupted by the climate at Liverpool. The fact is that he was enhanced since the start by the fans at Liverpool and he did not have this greeting when he signed... People may have question or wonder the good things (it's the aim of any football analysis) but overall it did not contribute to create a good atmosphere around him because too much Chelsea fans were skeptical for wrong reasons or because of clichés. And this, added to the hostile climate already in place by the world of football did make the thing even more difficult for Torres. I do not budge, some Chelsea fans use to go too far and are too harsh to try to justify they are only "making observations" But despite all this I did always think that we had to wait him to be in good conditions to perform on the field before being able to judge him on proper basis. Torres is not my father or my friend, so considering he is in good conditions we can judge him and he can not then benefit from any kind of favoritism. The only good observation to make is that he is not yet in these conditions but after a couple of games where he will be in good fitness form (that he did recover in pre-season), in a good mental form (so the state of mind he began the Stoke game with) and with direct support provided with Mata, Meireles, Anelka or Sturridge... He could then finally be judged properly with reliable arguments Another piece of evidence that some people forget to remind that money can not forget the essential role of time in that kind of situation. But now it seems to be finally the right time where all the basic conditions required for Torres to shine are gathered

I noticed it, he tried to play in one touch, more speedy...

Somebody did underline that last season, although Malouda was the Prem best creating chance player, he was the player who did pass the less trough Torres. Your explanation is pretty direct but I don't really undestand why Malouda would be closed to Torres like that...