robsblubot

Sure, Jose is the manager now. However, Roman as the owner sets the long-term vision for the club and if Jose does not deliver, he will find someone who can. Jose himself said that there will be a transition period a couple of weeks ago; that he cannot deliver the change of style because we've been playing the same way for so long - according to him, since he last left. yeah definitely a valid strategy in certain occasions. The irony of it though is that it did not work! We've managed to still only scored one goal missing a number of chances some with Ba himself. We won the game with Eto and a bunch of mobile players on the pitch applying pressure in every corner and playing short quick passes. As a target man, I see Lukaku (for example) win far more headers and actually scoring with a header than Ba ever did.

Ba is not good enough. Yes, he is a target man, just not a very good one. He's a target man who is not that great in the air (can't remember him heading the ball in the back of the net actually). He also goes to the ground very often and has a history of injuries, if not mistaken, had problems with his knees. I really don't think Roman wants us playing target man - quotes from AVB time - so Ba will be a rotation player at most, prob a backup when all strikers are available.

He's also very slow... (he's prob one of the slowest mids in the league) he's got no pace or acceleration. That's why I think he will never make it for Chelsea esp in the premiere league where pace is so important. Once again, I'd be extremely happy to be proven wrong.

Indeed, but then he might still not be good enough for Chelsea and the characteristics of the premiere league (pace + pace and more pace). Frankly I'm surprised he's been given this much time to show his qualities, which hasn't really happened thus far. We are not talking about a season, or a manager, but several.

No, I understand where you are coming from. It wasn't a critique of your post at all. Just saying I'm not sure he's been able to do the defensive work you say we need against top sides, and I agree we do need extra defensive work in those matches. Just not sure Mikel can really do that Makelele work. At least he hasn't been able to do that so far.

I used to think exactly the same way, but I don't think he's been good enough defensively either. A player as slow as he is must position himself perfectly, and stay very close to the CBs, immediately in front of them actually. Because if he is high up the pitch he has to chase the play when beaten and he does not have the pace to do that. This happens very often I'm afraid. That's the problem with Mikel IMO. He does NOT play like a DM for Nigeria. Many have stated he started off as a CAM, or more of a pure CM. That may explain why his positioning doesn't quite work for him nor Chelsea. I've seen good things of him when playing for Nigeria, but the level of play (spec speed) as well as circumstances are completely different. He will never have the same freedom at Chelsea. He'd need a smaller side to play to his strengths and I reckon he is just not good enough for Chelsea to do that. At this time I believe he may do better - again not really sure ever good enough but better - as a CM partnering a dynamic player like Ramires for example. This way the team won't expect him to be the "protector" of the defense which clearly hasn't worked so far. One thing that I fully agree with Phil is that it's all about the team, so if the team does not work when Mikel is on, if we cannot find a way to use him, then he has no place on the team.

touche though it's the same as citing Franco Baresi to make a point CB's don't have to be tall...

right but the interesting point here is that United have messed up. They've played this 18yo kid who's got great potential, but he does not have one thing: a long term deal. So come end of next season he can sign with anyone. Why United are playing him, considering his contractual situation, is beyond me. The only leverage clubs have is playing time, where players, especially young ones, can showcase their talent.

Sorry I don't really get that excited about professional players' whims - especially of a 21 year-old.

^^ [knocks on wood] hope no injury for Terry this season... I had an idea of how good Oscar was going to become, but I have to admit at this moment I don't know. His ceiling may be higher than I anticipated. so, how good is Oscar going to be? I mean, he's only 22 and his performances have been of an established world class player...

He will be back next season and far more ready having played countless matches for a good side. While it may hurt Chelsea, because he might very well be already better - at least in some aspects of the game - than the ones we've got here, it will be good for his development. Although the the exciting question would have to be, "how good Lukaku is going to be?!"

When in doubt, let the transfer marker speak... We paid 50m for Torres, so we could indeed expect world class performances from him, but we all know they did not come. He shows flashes of quality here and there, but only hits any sort of form for short periods of time. He does better against weak opposition, but has trouble finding the net against tougher sides. Then we have our 7m 27yo (now 28) "bargain" buy. Was he the deal of the century or just an average striker who is prob not Chelsea quality? I'll go with the more likely. We lost quality by replacing Daniel with Ba, but suspect other factors were at play. Eto'o was a free transfer, so in itself a huge bet. He was a striker who relied a lot on his fantastic pace, which at 32 might not be the same. So, yes, we still have a striker problem esp when comparing our options to the ones of the other top sides out there.

besides, Cole isn't getting any younger. Either we start playing Bertrand or we need to find a fit replacement. Fullbacks can't really go much further than 32 I'm afraid; they just rely too much on pace.

I'll have to steal your ratings because I pretty much agree with everything except regarding Ba. I just knew that his misses would cost us in the second half because Norwich would be back in the game. I also don't understand why a guy of his build goes to the ground so often. Although I agree with the rating, don't think David's runs were bad, but the striker was obviously instructed to try and stop them. David and the team must realize this will happen in the future. Remember Corinthians match? Ramires' game was so bad that I think he actually did commit a penalty in that strange challenge; he completely missed ball there, though norwich player perhaps made a meal out of it.

he's older now and fullbacks need pace; he will regain his fitness in a bit. Voted Oscar, but MotM for me really was Jose Mourinho.

Good assist, not sure whether it was a handball though as he used his arm to control the ball after the first touch. I first thought the first touch was fantastic, then I saw the replay and think he used his right arm to control it. I obviously did not like his finishing and thought he dived a lot.

agreed. In truth the defense got overwhelmed, which raises the question about the midfield, but if we go by the defensive mistakes alone, Terry lost the first header and then put David in on the wrong side of the striker. That type of ball is very difficult to defend against, but I wouldn't blame Terry either, because the cross was perfect. On other areas, I thought he was pretty good and Norwich manager obviously asked their striker to try and prevent David's runs. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I think every player in our defense was 1x1 against his marker. That's just asking to concede.

Sure, fair enough. That's why we discuss player's potential so much around here. We even discuss player's current ability in some very busy threads too. Some see potential in some players others don't. My point has always been that we don't really know what took place behind the scenes, especially concerning contract negotiations or perhaps some demand that Daniel may have made then. I know his contract was running out, so they would either offer him a new deal or sell him. Chelsea don't seem to have a good understanding of the players market. I don't see much logic in the deals we make; I see Spurs making far better deals for example. Our lack of depth in the center of the pitch is troubling to say the least; imagine if Ramires picks up an injury? [knocks on wood] our season would be down the toilet. didierforever, I am not talking about goals only. I'm talking about general play and even now Sturridge makes plenty of bad decisions and vanishes in tough matches. Lots of room for improvement still.

Lescott is prob one of the worst defenders I've ever seen playing for a top side, Ben Haim being the absolute worst though. With that said, that was a nice move, combined with lots of acceleration. The finishing was good, but Hart should've done better. Lukaku scored a good goal and had a poor/decent performance. His first touch and off-the-ball movement were specially lacking. Opposition is everything when assessing a player. With Jelavic's poor form, it's very likely Lukaku will keep on getting minutes.

Disagree. Players are constantly improving and to me it is clear that Sturridge has. It would've been very strange if a player as young as he is did not improve. We can all be disappointed that our coaches did not see that potential in him, but that happens all the time (potential ability is difficult to assess). However, I certainly did not see this amazing player when he was with us.

no he wasn't. He was a good player with us and should not have been sold aside. At least not based on skill alone, but some of us considered there was more to it than that. Players evolve and he seems to have evolve. Even not considering his ability, look at him, he looks a lot stronger physically than he did a couple of years ago.

He rarely goes forward for Brazil. I reckon it's all about strategy; in some games, especially at home against a team playing 11 men behind the ball, David will get the freedom to venture forward which can be, as it has in the past, a surprise factor. It's an invaluable asset to have a player with such characteristic, who can dynamically switch roles during a match. It's up to him, manager, and teammates to synchronize that movement. Honestly, ppl make it out to be harder than it actually is. Also, people, esp commentators, confuse his (occasional) bad positioning with his ability (and freedom) to go forward - completely different things. He can and should work on his positioning, as it is his weakness. The going forward part is more about instruction and strategy (from manager) than anything else. Update: I've just watched the CL match against Steaua and you can clearly see in the 26" when David makes a run and stays up, Ivanovic then becomes the CB. When David gets back to his position, Iva moves wide again. This is a movement that Azpi for example cannot do. It could be yet another reason Iva is Jose's choice as a RB. BTW, he'd be mine as well.

We got Eto'o because Jose did not trust Ba and Torres, and Lukaku was loaned out because we couldn't move either Torres or Ba. Had we kept Sturridge and not signed Ba, I reckon Lukaku would be still in the squad because Daniel is more versatile (than Ba). Oh well... too many ifs.

yeah noticed that too. Perhaps it's no coincidence that now that he is able, physically, to actually play close to his potential/limit he's picked up an injury. I honestly hope that it isn't so, but I do remember his time @pool and the way they overplayed him.

Which brings up a huge problem actually. With MvG's injury, we essentially only have Mikel and Essien as capable of filling in for Lampard, who cannot play every game at 35. Essien being a big question mark on fitness obviously. So, while Mikel deficiencies do bother me as well, that's what we've got at least until Jan. On paper, Mikel and Ramires both in the CM position should work (their abilities are complementary), even though so far it hasn't. Also, we have no long-term replacement for Lamaprd which is disturbing. Are they expecting him to play until 40? He's not a lightweight guy like Giggs.