Rahul Haque

the second formation is basically a 4 2 3 1 with more emphasis on defensive organization- which is exactly what rdm did last season. i don't mind that. but it has to be more offensive then last year. using either one of mata, hazard or oscar centrally is fine by me as long as we keep the 4 2 3 1 and allow our flair players to dictate the outcome of the game. we have all this talent and every pre season game the ball is with mereiles or mikel most of the time. so frustrating and disappointing.

i think it's just so simple. rdm needs to stop making it complicated. it's very simple. he already has the formation 4 2 3 1. we have the talent required to play this formation. there is absolutely no need to tinker and play old players in the '3'. why? they look out of place there. there is no requirement to play mereiles as a CAM. why did rdm even try it? a bit confusing. cech ivanovic cahill terry cole mikel lampard oscar mata hazard torres it's that easy. if we are going to play mereiles, we have to play him as a double pivot because he is simply woeful as a CAM. he doesn't have the quality and is a massive downgrade from mata. ramires, marin and piazon, moses? can compete for the 'three' behind the main striker- torres/sturridge/lukaku so simple! why over complicate it with 4 1 4 1 or 4 3 3 or 4 3 1 2? this team has been constructed for the purpose of a 4 2 3 1, to get the best out of torres and sturridge.

4 2 3 1 > 4 3 3 we don't have the players for a 4 3 3, none of our wingers like to be so far off the ball, they dont want to be that outside forward who plays almost as an outside striker apart from maybe marin? we are best suited as i've said countless times to the 4 2 3 1, where the 'three' influence the outcome of the attack. we have the talent now. all we need is to give them the freedom to do so. please no lamps or raul in that position. they are too old and slow.

in a 4 2 3 1 we wont play with out and out wingers. mata hazard and oscar all have the technique, pace and quickness to play as an attacking three behind torres. de matteo has to inject 'hard work' off the ball into those players and the rest will come naturally because they are all that good. also marin, ramires can come off the bench to make the difference.

fascination with mikel? he doesn't lose the ball and is simply solid. lampard and mikel is by far our best CM duo. lampard has been our best player arguably in a miserable pre season. the problem is with lampard at 34, he has his limitations and cannot dictate the game on his own. he looks so much better with mata ahead of him and soon enough he will have mata, oscar and hazard ahead of him.

the big question is can ramires play as a pivot? he wasn't particularly impressive against napoli there but then again his partner was raul mereiles. i would like to see him along side romeu/mikel in that role.

just how good is moses? is he an out and out winger? will he give us width? what does this mean for our striker situation? surely we have to keep lukaku if this is the case.

anybody seeing the cordazo links? he would be a good short term solution no doubt. cordazo, torres and sturridge is a world class strike force. one that has around 50 goals.

i am absolutely imperssed with his consistent roaming and movement in the final third. he has to be on the pitch from whenever he comes. i dont care if it means ramires or mereiles or whoever gets dropped. he has to be on the same pitch as mata and hazard. the prospect is too mouth watering. i really hope rdm does this. but i get the feeling he will always play a work horse instead of flair which will mess everything up.

we need to get back to basics and play the 4 2 3 1 properly. we need creativity behind torres/sturridge. mikel-lampard -hazard-mata-marin- -torres- i can't believe we haven't seen something like this already. playing the likes of mereiles or essien is just a waste of time really. they slow the game down. mereiles goes for needless hollywood passes and he is simply not chelsea quality. sell malouda and mereiles...keep benayoun. benayoun in the final third is a heck of a lot more effective then mereiles.

lampard mikel combination is far better with mata ahead of them. clearly, in a 4 3 3 mata cannot be deployed as a CM. he's wasted there. he has to be advanced. 4 3 3 is done man. face it. we've moved on from it. we don't play like that anymore. it doesn't suit us.

hazard is not an out and out winger, nor is mata, nor is oscar. they can all play wide but as a creative midfielder. 4 3 3 requires width. we have no width if it's not from the full backs. 4 2 3 1 is the best formation. also in a 4 3 3 the 3 in the middle needs to be agile. essien and lampard have lost all their quickness over the years. all in all, if it's a formation we have to play- it's 4 2 3 1. it's what suits our team the best. we have the players for it and lastly, torres is actually very good in it. in a 4 3 3 without any width and any natural crosser of the ball, we have nothing.

its absolutely clear after today that 4 2 3 1 is our formation. absolutely scrap, throw, clean, flush the 4 3 3 and it's narrowness out of this team.

i'm sorry but players from lower leagues are not good enough for chelsea. it's a crazy jump and quite frankly there's just better options out there.

oscar has far too much attacking thrust to deployed as a deep lying playmaker. he will be used as the three in the 4 2 3 1, i think he will start on the right.

basically, he is not chelsea quality and he is not a striker. if that's the case we should be going for a striker.

i would have him ahead of mereiles anyday in the pivot role. mikel, lampard, mceachran, essien and romeu is good enough for me in terms of CM

not a requirement. if anything, we should be selling mereiles to make space for josh mceachran. we don't need sahin.

he's not first team material, but he is good enough for a third choice striker and has the potential to be a premiership hit, he is aerially very strong.

this deal; if it happens will happen around deadline day, or a day or 2 before that. won't happen now. only deal we can look forward to now is azpilicueta.

romeu is a better tackler than mikel and as someone has pointed out far more suited to a 4 3 3 system. in a 4 2 3 1 obi is perfect, he is the silent destructor in that system. he allows lampard to roam and mata to dictate the pace of the game. but in a 4 3 3 romeu's best suited because he is more aggresive, and covers a lot of ground.

for 10 million? seriously, this deal should be done and dusted. his wage bill will be considerably lower then most strikers. a good enough third choice striker that gives us depth and space for rotation.

30 million maximum. he would fit the puzzle. 4 3 3 with hulk (yes another team line up coming up) cech ivanovic cahill terry cole romeu oscar mata hulk torres hazard

not having one of romeu or mikel in CDM is crazy!

cech ivanovic luiz terry cole oscar mikel lampard mata torres hazard subs: turnbull, ramires, cahill, essien, marin, sturridge, rondon reserves: hilario, azpilicueta, ferreira, bertrand, hutchitson, romeu, mereiles, benayoun, piazon, bamford