robsblubot

good read: http://eplindex.com/44085/carmilles-chelsea-column-hazard-david-luiz-joses-preferred-xi.html

There are cultural as well as personal preferences at play here. Just watched Spurs game and the commentator declared that a bad tackle from Paulinho led to Newcastle goal. No mention of the terrible pass to Paulinho, of course. Had it been in Spain for example, I'm sure the focus would've been very different to say the least. While I agree that a player needs both technical and mental traits to win in football, a player who lacks concentration like David Luiz can, as he has in the past (for Brazil and Chelsea) stay focused for some period of time. Yes, it demands a bit of extra effort from him, and it would be difficult to maintain that throughout a long championship. Team mechanics can help too. Not to mention players do tend to develop that aspect naturally as they age. Now, there is absolutely NOTHING a technically inapt player can do to correct that. More dedication, more training, nothing will help him have a better control of the football, or pick a pass. I reckon that's what ChelseasMessiah hinted at with his hyperbole (chap from the stands bit). For me Gary is a bit lacking on interceptions/anticipations and a bit too laborious on the ball for a top side. However, even JT struggled in the WBA match, and TBH when the defense line struggles so much, regardless of whoever plays, it's quite obvious the problem isn't there.

Ivanovic is a good CB and a good *defensive* RB. Expecting him to beat his marker and delivering a great cross is unrealistic to say the least. However, playing him should allow more freedom to someone like David Luiz and/or a winger in front of him. Things aren't quite working atm though.

oh man Hernanes would've been awesome! He's a very versatile player who can play deep, almost DM, or move up the pitch and score goals! Hugely underrated IMO. Song as a ball winning mid would be great too! There are certainly options out there, we just need to make a move. I'd keep an eye on Shelvey as well... I know, risky, but cheap enough to warrant a bet. Prospect of an interesting ball-winning CM IMO.

with MvG's injury, I reckon we need 2 CMs. I'd like some definition concerning Mikel also; either he is good enough or he isn't, in which case we'd also need a DM/CM replacement for him. For me: 1 Deep Lying CM - great passer and decent tackler (like Dembele). A ball-winning/B2B player who is a great tackler (Like Ramires). Honestly, Ramires plays way too much football. Essien is there but he doesn't get minutes. Never thought Lampard would still be 1st choice CM at this point. His lack of form for most of last season IMO was evidence enough he should be used sparingly/rotation at this point. Victor Wanyama looks promising... lots of power and mobility though a bit laborious on the ball at times.

Sarcasm aside , this is actually an interesting point; isn't Mikel a bit too comfortable sitting on the bench for player of his age? Isn't his lack of ambition a bit worrying?

Managers only tell the truth in press conferences when it suits them. They will always work morale and protect the players somehow (diluting blame is typical) esp in press conferences. In other words, Managers lie as they are paid to say "the right" things. They can also put pressure on them, like when he said he made 11 mistakes, or the game was easy (both untrue). It's just their job.

well, we are not really unbiased are we?

I've watched countless matches live, when the home side is pressing very high up the pitch against a smaller side. What I never seen done before is leaving a slow player as the last player defending, which almost costed us the point when Brunt skipped past Mikel as if he weren't there. No fault from Mikel btw as he just doesn't have the speed for that job. Why wasn't Ramires there instead was beyond me. It's usually a fullback, but we didn't have any pacey fullback on the pitch, so the obvious choice should've been Ramires.

I hear you, but when we get Willian instead of (several CMs avail at that price) say Fernandinho, you gotta question whether our board and managers know what they are doing. BTW, that was a ridiculous PK call. We actually lost the match; we didn't due to a technicality, and probably due to the "big club at home factor."

Wasn't he on the ground after tackling Yacob? Of course Yacob was nowhere involved in the play. Nah he did not make any mistakes today. He's certainly not good enough to start for Chelsea, but I didn't need this game to know that. He's just a bit too laborious on the ball to play for a top club and too immobile to partner JT IMO. WBA's CBs for example defended well, but you could see some hesitation here and then, which against a top side - playing better than we've been - should have been deadly. And when I say hesitation, I'm not talking about the mental aspect, but technique (pure and simple): wanting to do something doesn't mean you are equipped to do it. Had the LB had a right foot or better technique, he'd have cleared that ball no problem, for example. Honestly I didn't think David was that bad against Newcastle, and I don't think the CBs were that bad today. The team has been slow, predictable, lacking width, and simply not sharp enough. Defenders will suffer because they are exposed which make them easy targets for critique.

Certain Mourinho's decisions have been questionable. Leaving Mikel as the last man was one of those WTF moments. Brunt skipped past him as if weren't there. Don't get me wrong, Mikel IMO should've been on at half time replacing Frank, but a more pacey player should've been covering counters at the back. Perhaps Ramires for example.

Andre Marriner was MOTM for me. Not only for the ridiculous penalty given, but he allowed us to get away with pretty much anything in the dying minutes until we scored.

Double

Agreed. Playing attacking with lots of possession doesn't meant lots of goals (Spain). Likewise, scoring many goals does not mean possession or attacking football. Plenty times managers have been able to score a lot by defending high up the pitch. Personally never associated Mourinho with attacking football but ymvm

Why is this a tough game? It's certainly not a walk, but I'd not call it tough. Tough is United, City, Arsenal, and Tottenham these days... especially @ the bridge. If we call a match against WBU at home tough, we might not be contenders then. Let me put is this way: if we lose it, it's a freaking disaster; if we tie, it's a bad result.

disagree with a few points... I don't think it was that easy, despite of what Mourinho said. They managed to at least block the final pass didn't they? Without someone blocking, the pass is always made. You value possession way more than I do. Possession is only important when it leads to goals and/or to keep your opponent from attacking you. Possession counts for nothing if you lose the game. It's hard to make a case for Shalke after they concede the number of goals they've conceded against us. A team that can crumble like that, being after a mistake from the GK or not, is an easy prey in my book. Agree about the attitude. I'm sure the attitude was different for the Shalke match; my point is that the same attitude at newscastle wouldn't have guaranteed us the 3 points much less a 3-goal lead. It was a different game, with its own difficulties. How do you know we wouldn't score 4 goals after conceding the first against Shalke? I thought if they showed one thing is that they can't defend. Think they are going to go home very quickly in the CL.

sorry I don't go with the idea that we win when we want. Newcastle defended in the their own half, played a very physical game. Let us have the football but allowed us no space in the final 3rd (where it matters). Were we sluggish only because it an off day, or Newcastle had something to do with it? I like to think that our opponents have some influence in the game we play, even when they are technically inferior. It's not the only match we are going to struggle against an inferior side, especially away from home. Shalke were embarrassing against us esp if you take both matches. Because they let us play while newcastle decided they could not beat us, so they tried not to let us play. Completely different strategy and big teams tend to struggle more when the smaller side takes newcastle stance. It ahs happened one too many times.

It was good run but not that special; there are a number of strikers and FW that can do the same move, esp the pacey ones. It's a very common play for South American players. Even Corinthians' Guerrero did that against Cahill a few times during the WCC match. I can remember Defoe, and others benefited from Garry's slowness before. The fact that JT is certainly slower than Cahill, but is not so easily beaten is just proof of how good a player he is. People only talk about the reading of the game here, but technique is also very important: not only to pass the ball once you take it, but also to take it in a way you can keep it. Can't regain possession with blocks...

Agreed, but I'd say Mikel should be a rotation option for Ramires - who plays way too much. Lampard offers, or used to offer, a lot in attack an work rate, but not much defensively; and Mikel is completely ineffective in attack. We need a balanced player, prob with a bit of flair in distribution instead of another Ramires I think. If Luiz were 21 we could perhaps turn him into that player I believe.

disagree - not really talking about quality, but pressure, physical game, etc. Away matches are always tricky, especially defensively. Evidence A: We killed them in the away game Evidence B: look at their line up? Would you take any pick? For our B team perhaps?

not playing this match was punishment - it was an easy game. must not compare this with Newscastle away.

agreed, but like I pointed out in the few posts above, his bad form isn't really the reason he gets so much criticism. It's more about style than form, at least that's what I think.

yes, because England is special... How many English players start for Chelsea, City, United, or any other top side? Once you go to the bottom half of the table and Championship, then you see more starters, but there is a reason for that.

The mental aspect of the game is extremely overvalued in England for whatever reason. Whatever, just don’t hold your breath until you win a trophy at international level or play good football because you really need technique for either. As a Brazil supporter, I’m not worried at all about David’s progression. I reckon a move away from Chelsea would have been very good for him, especially to a more flamboyant team like Barcelona. I’d not say move away from England, because I think he’d do very well in other systems such as Arsenal's or even City's for example. IMO he made a career mistake by not forcing his move away when Barcelona offer came in. Not playing him will certainly force him out by Jan - pre world cup is a great time to force players out actually. So, in 5-10 games we will see how things stand. He either starts or he will move on, and we will need to shop for another defender to start or perhaps move Ivanovic back to CB and buy another RB - he’s also a lot better than Cahill. While I think David has been playing poorly this season, supporters and pundits have more of a problem with his style not his current form; his characteristics as a player hasn’t changed and will not change much. That’s actually what Chelsea bought for 25m, because he was exactly the same at Benfica. Not to mention that some of the criticism stems from the push to start the fantastic Gary Cahill. The irony of it to me is that the style these same pundits and supporters want Chelsea to use does not match the type of players the club have been acquiring. David being just one of them. If you can’t see the trend there, oh well.