CHOULO19

Great analysis @, but I think those graphs tell us a bit more. What I notice from the pictures is the lack of defensive runs, interceptions , and generally lack of presence of Mata and Hazard in our own half. Which would imply that they rarely tracked back to defend (I'd love to compare this to a chart about Moses if you have access to one by any chance but even when you compare it to Oscar you can see what I mean). Another thing I notice is that the red areas where they have touched the ball is much much more around the box than around the halfway line meaning that those two did not drop off too often to receive the ball (this is what I meant the other day when I said that passing takes two parties: the passer and the receiver). And I personally think that these two problems are bigger than the absence of a DPL in our team or our striker problems. This is what is "missing" from our midfield, imo: the closeness of our lines and our midfield working together as a team. Under RDM, we literally defended with only 4-5 players and our defending started at the edge of our own penalty box! Benitez managed to improve on this by moving the block deeper and making some adjustments like having only one of the fullbacks attack at once and we even saw Hazard tracking back more often (but still not enough and not near what Jose will probably request of him). He realized that Mata could not do this and gave him a different role as a second striker to free him of some defensive duties. Concerning the "slowness" of our pivot, while some of it is indeed down to the technical abilities of the players playing there, I think the larger part is due to the huge spaces between the lines of our 4-2-3-1. Under RDM, not only was there no one dropping to receive the ball from the pivot, but we completely lacked any sort of offensive system. Our whole attack plan at times seemed to be "give the ball to Hazard and Mata" and while that worked some time at the start of the season (aided by the fact that we had so many people in attack and out of position), we could not rely on individual brilliance forever and at times, Juan and Eden just ran out of ideas (the game against Liverpool comes to mind) which is evident by the drop in form and results towards the end of Robbies time here. Again Rafa tried to fix this by creating triangles between the CB's, pivot and fullbacks to get the ball out of defense; he also tried to rely on Luiz's dribbling and passing ability to get the ball to the offense (but we still lacked any real effective system and still heavily relied on individual abilities once the ball got to the offense.) But this was only a small step in the right direction*. The consequences of all this is that the team often looked unorganized and dismantled, and the pivot was often left isolated and exposed. Every single one of our players who played in the pivot this season has come under insane criticism and even players who we know have the technical ability of great passers like Lampard have been accused of slowing down our attacks. But it is easy to criticize two isolated players who are often under pressure up against 4-5 opposition midfielders. But the problem, imo, is elsewhere; without denying that we do have some issues in the pivot. Now, I think you are right that a lot of this is down to management mistakes, but I also think that the players themselves must share some of the blame. I don't wish to come across as cynical and unappreciative, but you already covered the parts about praising our young attacking midfielders and I agree with most of it. But I also think that what is best for them is that they not only receive praise, but also criticism as well so they can grow and develop as players. And atm, there are a few areas in the game of our young AMs that they NEED to work on if they are to reach the next level as players. *: This is why I think that the work that Rafa done here was crucial to 'pave the way' for the work Jose needs to do. I wrote an article about this a couple of months ago explaining this more, but I wrote it before we won the EL and secured a CL spot so I was absolutely slated for it even though most people were saying the exact same thing less than a month later PS: This came out way too long, sorry..

But can he be as effective coming off the bench? I think the best we can do for him is how Benitez utilized him as a squad player. He can start the easier games and be effective in terms of scoring.

Brilliant again Barbara. I have a few points I'd like to add. I'll write a reply later.

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Getting here to play with reserves and go on loans would only ruin him like it has ruined many players before him. The best thing for him would be to stay in Portugal for at least a couple of seasons.

There is absolutely no room for him here. Our name is often thrown around in these kind of situation to raise the price and add interest.

He will be coaching with U21s next season according to Dermot Drummy.

Welcome Tom. Join the discussions!

Didn't we just sell a Bruma the other day? Never heard of him, but being nicknamed "The New Ronaldo" is never a good thing..

So if the French decide to jump off a bridge we should do it too?

Well it's not like he called for a press conference to say this. He was probably asked by the reporter if he is going to leave or stay and he gave the obvious diplomatic answer of saying that he has a 4-year contract here but in football you never know what could happen.

Great shouts. Both are excellent members who deserve some recognition.

We already know there are offers. He said himself that he was aware that Galatasaray have made an offer. The 'news' in Sky today is just a non-story.

Seriously though, Stingray

So he's either staying or not staying? Wow, I would not have guessed that! How in the world is the above 'news'?

Good signing for Spurs but I can't imagine he would have been anything more than a squad player here. We already have Ramires who for me is much better.

I just love how on twitter you can write some complete bullshit and then put (Telegraph) or (SSN) at the end and it becomes reliable. How about an actual link to The Telegraph actually saying this?!

No one, you're all shit!

I fully realize that, but I was just trying to debate with you why you think those two have a better chance than Holland. I think when you look at player quality alone, especially in attack, you have to put Holland ahead of them, for me at least.

Alright. One more thing you might not have noticed mate, in some of the subsections of the "Archives", the page is a little messed up: http://www.talkchelsea.net/_/transfers/ http://www.talkchelsea.net/_/opposition-views/

I don't think they'll go far either, but I also think that logically, you have to give them more chance of than Russia and Colombia at least.

Jim, is the twitter 'box' supposed to show the tweets from out twitter account? If so, then it's not working (at least for me).

I do not think either is going to win it, but if I had to chose who has a better chance at doing so, I'd say Holland without hesitation simply because the quality of players they have is better.

In terms of quality of the players, Netherlands is one of the best NTs. If they can find the right system, they can beat anyone. You seriously think that England have a better chance at winning the WC than Holland?

Netherlands?