Chelsea Legend 11

I brought it up because you said he disappeared in games and how bad he looked. You can say that about virtually every player on our squad the fact is Mata was our most consistent.

buddy, West Ham we played 4-3-3. Its a formation I feel is our best, can we stop going around the mulberry bush now?

So who last year or the year before would you say was more consistent than Mata?

You are kidding yourself dude... 18 goals 35 assists. Those stats are otherworldly. Edit: Squads win leagues not individual players.

You're not telling me anything I don't know, I know there are a lot of games. This is about getting the best out of our best players. To me if you play Mata on the right with Oscar in Frank's role in a 4-3-3 we would be a very dangerous team... Just my opinion not based on anything I've seen on the pitch since we haven't done it

The same can be said for any player in our team... The reason Mata was our two-time player of the year is because he was our most consistent performer. BTW my favourite player is Oscar! I absolutely LOVE HIM. This is about finding a way to incorporate our best players. Its badge before names for me, 100%

I covered this in previous posts with Barbara. You can agree or disagree, I think Mata can play there and be highly effective too. He's a fantastic player seems some of you are forgetting that because he isn't playing.

I doubt Jose will rest anyone of the key players. The game to rest players is after qualification is assured.

In my eyes 4-3-3 is our best tactical formation and we played it with great success on the weekend.

In a 4-3-3 you'd have Ramires and Ivanovic behind him.

Precisely why I'd play Mata on the wing in a 4-3-3

Mata is our best best playmaker by a mile. If you give him time and space he will pick a team apart. I like Schurrle and Willian but there is no doubt in my mind Mata impacts a game more than either of them.

PROVIDED WE HAVE SIGNIFICANT COVER BEHIND HIM.... And Mata wasn't to blame for Newcastle, that was an all around poor effort.

He also played winger at Valencia. If Mata's only option to get on the pitch is playing the wing then I'd play him there ahead of Willian and Schurrle because his contribution greatly outweighs there's provided he has significant cover behind him.

Doesn't mean he can't play the wing.

For most of Mata's career he played as a winger.

Here is the difference. We've had 5 coaches in 3 yrs. When we have ONE dedicated philosophy for a number of years you will see a huge difference.

The heating chart perfectly illustrates exactly what I am saying. I feel much better about how I saw the game having viewed this, thanks. If you look at Lampard's average positioning you will see that he spent most of the time occupying the area on the pitch where normally Hazard would be forced to track back to. Mikel basically came into compensate for any gaps left by either Ramires and Lampard(usually the job of Makalele role) So to answer your question its a committee of people who compensate for Ramires who is taking up areas on the pitch that in a 4-2-3-1 our wingers would occupy. As for the action areas, the second 3rd isn't exactly operating from a defensive position... Like I said in a previous post the difference was where the active zones to win the ball back were. In the past it would've been deeper on the weekend it was above the centre circle. The reason Oscar came deep wasn't always to occupy a defensive posture, he was also used as the deep lying playmaker charged with coming deep to initiate the attack. That's also why Ramires had so much work on the right flank he was the release when Oscar went deep. Again nothing in a fluid formation is as static as we'd like to think it is, my point is Mata can definitely function in a 4-3-3 if we have the right cover behind him... Its hard to dispute it. He is a dynamic attacking force who can carve up a defense when given any time and space. By far our best play maker in my eyes...

Yes I would actually. And I didn't say they didn't track back I said the responsibility was lessened because we had extra legs in the midfield and that that active zones to win the ball back was higher up than normal

while I agree that Hazard had a free role on the weekend what I don't agree with is three midfielders were charged with working harder to compensate. We had an extra pair of legs in the midfield that made for less running and tracking for the flank... Azpilicueta also did loads of work to win the ball back same with Brana, wouldn't say they're job was any harder the active zones for the press was just higher up the pitch. In the 4-3-3 Mata's main defensive responsibility would be pressing the ball in the attacking third... He can definitely do that, perhaps not as good as some of the others due to speed but he certain can. What you're talking about is our AM's in a 4-2-3-1 that is completely different to the responsibilities of our AM's in a 4-3-3. I'm about the badge however I do believe our best formation is 4-3-3 and that our best AM's are Oscar, Hazard, Mata, Schurrle/Willian in that order. The fact that Oscar seems to be highly adaptable is why I think he can help alleviate the glut of AM's by playing in the CM area. As for Mata he does need to improve his press but you can't do that unless you play, he is too good not to play and in my opinion can function well in a 4-3-3 where the burden of the wide men is less demanding.

Its just an idea. Hard to prove one way or other how effective it can be. I'm not of the belief that Oscar, Mata and Hazard can't play together, it all depends on the team philosophy and how rigid the instructions are. And I'm sorry Mata isn't nearly as dependent on mid's as you're making it out to be. Does he need cover? sure but that is not represented in the form of Mikel, Lampard and Ramires! 3 players to make up for one player inefficiencies??! no way. Put Ramires wide on whichever flank Mata plays and its problem solved. As for this game against Basel I wasn't referring to Oscar for this game as much as overall. to me 4-3-3 is our best tactical formation but it makes little use of our AM's. That is lessened if Oscar plays CM. It does require A LOT less work from our wide men! Last game was evidence of that. Hazard had very little work to do defensively... He wasn't tracking all the way back to contain the fullbacks or wingers because Ramires and Lampard(sometimes Mikel) were positionally there to cover. In the past it was required that the pivot protect the back four, in 4-3-3 Mikel is the shield and Ramires and Lamps were responsible for areas in the middle and wide from the half line back to the box. Thats what I saw anyways.

I'm not talking about playing him in the pivot. ------------------- Cech Ivanovic ---- Luiz ------ Terry ----- Azpilicueta ------------------- Mikel ---------- Ramires ------- Oscar Mata ----------------------------- Hazard ------------------ Torres This formation requires less defending from our wide men and allows for Oscar to get forward in the way that Lampard did at the weekend. He's got the qualities to play there it just depends on his awareness and positioning. Only person this effects is an aging Lampard...

Agreed. If you ask me Monaco, Mendes, Chelsea and Falcao had an end game in mind. Get Falcao out of the 3rd party ownership agreement and move to Chelsea when the next opportunity arrived. Everything that's transpired makes so much sense now. - Falcao goes to Monaco who don't play in the Champions League and thusly won't cup tie Falcao in January - Monaco were able to pay top dollar to get him out of the 3rd party deal. (no other team not in Champions League could afford to do it) - Lukaku gets loaned to Everton for the year allowing him the full year to flourish as no.1 and not as a 3rd option. Next year he's no.2(with Falcao alleviating the pressure) - Eto'o signs a one year deal. Will likely be moved on next summer... All speculation but I always thought Falcao went to monaco to get decent return on his 3rd party ownership from and another Russian and friend of Roman's.... We'll see how it plays out.

This talk of DLP being paramount to our success is getting so tiresome. The game has moved beyond the central midfielders, most teams play either 4-2-3-1 or 4-2-2-2 (some cases 4-3-3) The point is in the Prem the need for a strength and ball winning ability is much more important than having a DLP. The reason is we look poor in attack has more to do with our collective movement than it does our pivot... Having said that if we put Ramires next to someone like Pogba we'd be a formidable side and our attacking players can focus solely on attacking(As evidenced by Hazard on the weekend). I firmly believe that the DLP role is becoming less prevalent and the modern CM has to be much more aware defensively than he does going forward, for that reason I would rather us grab another ball winner with mobility(clone Ramires) than get a Pirlo/Benat/Modric... Everyone is screaming for a midfielder who can tackle and link the play from defense to attack from the pivot, that is a skill VERY FEW possess and what's more is its a job very few want to play. If we add Falcao what he will do is provide us with a clinician in the final 3rd, a guy that scores goals when given few opportunities to do so. THAT'S what is missing, grabbing a CM who can pass and is forward thinking will not stop teams from defending deep against us, and unless this player is positionally aware and capable of a tackle it could hurt us. We're seeing it now with Eto'o, he's not at the level of Falcao anymore but his movement and touch is providing our players with more room to exploit in the final third. The only thing Eto'o is lacking right now is power and pace(and a rub of the green). Falcao has the ability to win matches with only a couple touches, that's what I'd like from my striker, the ability to impact a game without having to be involved immensely. Soldado is a perfect example of a frustrated striker who is being pulled out of position in order to have some sort of an impact on the game... its not working and his impatience is showing when you look at the areas he is getting touches and the few times that is happening in and around the box. You compare that to Falcao and you see a completely different chart. He may not get the same amount of touches but the ones he does get are without a doubt in and around the box where he can be most dangerous. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I respect most Chelsea fan's perspective on the matter but for me when you have an elite level striker leading the line the trickle down effect throughout the team is immense! Falcao is of that quality and that's why we're looking to add him(hopefully). A deep lying playmaker for my money is a luxury we don't need unless of course that player is well adept at winning the ball and strong in the defensive aspects of the game. Its more important to have a pivot who have positional awareness and strong instincts as to when to go forward than it is to have a guy who will link the defense to attack.

way too many changes. That won't even be close to happening.