Blue Armour

True..but I think a lot of his resentment was towards the board, rather than the club and its fans.

I swear a lot of this is because they both have names that sound similar...

Well he was a fan as a kid...some things never die

Its from the Sun: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4154384/Joe-Cole-Harry-Redknapp-should-be-next-England-manager.html

Joe Cole on AVB and Chelsea:

No disrespect to Torres, but I hope he leaves just to get rid of the annoying fan-boys...

Despite his quicker reactions he seems incapable of tackling or stifling the opponents attacks like Lampard did today...I know he would be better upfront like Ramires,but he isn't suited to the role that AVB currently demands from him And if I remember correctly it was his horror show that led to the Napoli equalizer

Where's the "dislike" option when you need it....

A CF who can score..... yeaaahhh!!!

Drogba looking sharp...that can only be good. Ivanovic should have stopped his run, he was coming from behind Drogba and should have done better. Need Mata to step up his game.

Isn't this the first time in a month that Meireles is not starting? Just hope Essien can find his legs in this game...

Meireles is MEIRUSELESS as a holding mid!!

Meireles is MEIRUSELESS as a holding mid!!

He did switch from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1, that's a slight improvement I suppose...for a change he could start a PL game by pairing two from Drogba/Torres/Sturridge upfront though.

That's the idea. Pairing them up means they can compensate for each others weaknesses (not completely, but certainly to an extent),and the team can utilize their strengths.

You should see the one for Liverpool FC

Exactly why it would be difficult to clear the dead wood.

I know it hardly helps with creativity, but like you yourself said, when has the midfield really been involved in producing our goals ? Lampard and Ramires are both very good at getting the final ball, but they haven't created much for others. I thought of this with mainly the defense in mind. Terry is out for a month, and like Ivanovic said, Cahill and Luiz are still getting used to playing together. I think for the next one month, having Romeu and Mikel in front can help restore confidence and organization to our back line, by shielding them from rapid counter-attacks,etc. This something we desperately need before the return leg against Napoli.

I could have posted this in the start(l)ing 11 thread but I felt this could be worth a little bit of discussion on its own. I think its pretty clear from our recent results, that our time with the 4-3-3 formation is more or less done. The failure is largely due to the fact that we lack genuine wingers to add width, the inability of the 3 man midfield to retain possession and the inconsistency of the target-man. 4-2-3-1 seems to be the order of the day, and although it might not solve our issues with productivity in attack, it certainly helps in retaining possession. However that wasn't really the case last Tuesday, when the two holding midfielders in our formation were swept aside. Its clear neither Raul nor Ramires are suited to the role. The former can't tackle to save his life, while the latter will simply be restrained in this role. So who are the other contenders? Essien is a good choice but he doesn't seem capable of surviving the whole 90 mins, or playing two consecutive matches in a week. Plus, he seems to have lost the tenacity in chasing down opponents and winning the ball back. There's Lampard, but I don't think he enjoys that role very much. That leaves us with Mikel and Romeu. Now there are a lot of people who are disappointed with Mikel, and rightly so. He's slow, too sluggish in attack and doesn't seem to offer anything in terms of creativity. Then there are the moments of carelessness, where he misplaces a pass. But, credit where its due, he can definitely shield the ball well when he wants to and is very capable of being an obstacle for his opponents. Romeu is in a slightly different mold. He too offers hardly anything in terms of creativity, but is faster and knows how to get in the face of attacking players. The bottom line is both these two can effectively pair up to form a good shield for our back four. This will lead to clean sheets, and build up the confidence of our defense. This ia absolutely vital for recovering our form, before the second leg against Napoli (in a month's time). The obvious con here is that the distribution from midfield will lack creativity but I believe the priority as of now is to ensure clean sheets and retaining possession. Once these aspects are taken care of, Mata, Sturridge and the rest of our forwards can concentrate on putting the ball in back of the net. Lets also not forget, that these two players are relatively young and can still realize their true attacking potential if AVB gives them more game time and encourages them to make those forward passes. (Remember Mikel the attacking midfielder?).Their distribution will only get better with more game time. I know it would be best if we had a Joao Moutinho or Modric, but until the next transfer window, I think this our best option.

Was talking about full-back positions in general. Never saw that game, but I've heard that before. Maybe he's not fast enough for a full back,... and of course he doesn't have the strength to impede wingers like Ivanovic. Still, it won't hurt to try. I mean, we've even used Malouda as a full-back before.

I wish Torres could think like that.

He's agile, and does burst quickly from the deep, but somehow I can't visualize him running up and down the pitch like Cole does...then again, not many people can imagine Ivanovic doing it either...the latter is built like a locomotive though...

If I'm correct, he has played for Left Back at Benfica..I'm surprised no-one has handed him the role at least once in Chelsea...

Every Chelsea team needs a Bolton game to turn things around.....