The Big Drog

Considering our long, drawn out, Ramires transfer saga from the Summer, I wont be holding my breath mate.

Realy hoping that Daniel Sturridge gets a start, after his performances last week against Spurs reserves and Ipswich he more than warrants a starting spot, I just dont understand what Kalou has over him. Drogba (if fit|) will certainly be returned to the starting line up, hopefully Essien will be back too, though if he is missing then there would be worse things than starting McEachran.

I think it would help the right back situation as we could then move Ivanovic across to play at right back, Luiz, while a classy centre back, can also play at wing back if needs be. 2 newspapers reporting that this move could be on this morning, with the fee in both being 21 million and Paulo Ferreira, Im really hoping we can do this deal, he is the best young centre back on the planet, he will be the main man at the heart of the Brazilian defence for years to come and he is exactly what is needed to sure up our leaky defence,

While I have no doubt that the fans of the respective countries involved would enjoy it (myself included, being Irish and all) but if this were to become a permanent fixture I dont think it would really be of any aid to any of the sides involved, most of all England. England's big tournament problem is not against scrappy, long ball sides like Ireland and Scotland, rather it is against technically superior sides like Germany, the only way you can learn to play against sides like that is to actually do it and playing against Ireland and Scotland would mean less chances to play friendlies against technically better sides and thus imo wouild be of little use in preparing England for a major tounament.

Thanks Alex, much appreciated by myself and Im sure by everybody who you commented on cos that is a hell of a lot of writing.

Id love to see David Luiz at the club, he will eventually become the best defender on the planet, there can be no doubt about it, the lad has it all. However for the money Benfica are asking for I dont think that move will happen, Phil Jones is one that also merits a mention. he looks the part at centre back and can also play in midfield if needs be. Gary Cahill would also be a good signing, looks a good, solid player, not particularly spectacular but playing in a side like Chelsea and working alongside the likes of Terry and Alex on a regular basis could only benefit him.

Id love to see David Luiz at the club, he will eventually become the best defender on the planet, there can be no doubt about it, the lad had it all. However for the money Benfica are asking for I dont think that move will happen, Phil Jones is one that also merits a mention. he looks the part at centre back and can also play in midfield if needs be. Gary Cahill would also be a good signing, looks a good, solid player, not particularly spectacular but playing in a side like Chelsea and working alongside the likes of Terry and Alex on a regular basis could only benefit him.

Lets pray Paulo doesn't start at centre back. However I also dont want Essien to start at centre back either, for 2 reasons. The first being that he isn't a very good centre back and the second being that when he is taken out of the midfield we lose so much of his energy, drive and ball skills. Bruma is well worth a start.

Spot on, it was also fantastic that not only did we have Essien getting about the pitch and making tackles but alongside him Ramires was flying into tackles and charging about the pitch too. Not only were their defensive contributions commendable but so too was their on the ball play, Ramires played some lovely passes and had some really neat touches as did Essien. Id go as far as to say that was Ramires' best game for the club so far.

Out of the title race? Not a chance. Suddenly things aren't that gloomy, Man Utd drew last night, Arsenal drew tonight, Lampard is back, we got to see the Essien, Ramires and Lampard midfield which I like alot and Kalou was on the bench, perhaps all is right with the world again? I will however say fair play to Bolton, they were excellent tonight, the better side in the first half and probably unlucky not to get something from the game, I was particularly impressed with American midfielder Holden whose energetic display definitely caught the eye. The stand outs for Chelsea tonight were John Terry, Ashley Cole, Ramires but my pick for man of the match would be Michael Essien who entered his best display since our last Premier League win, against Fulham. He looked right up for it tonight and bounded around the pitch like a mad man. Good to see Florent Malouda back on the scoresheet, another assist for Drogba who also looked the part tonight and as usual gave us a focal point to our attacks. Tonight confirmed a few things. We play better without Kalou (but then you already knew that), that Ancelotti should stick with this Essien, Ramires and Lampard midfield because it has a lot of good things going for it, not least of which being the energy it consists of and that with Essien playing through the centre he gets far more involvement in the game than he does when he is playing on the right side of our midfield 3, getting Essien on the ball more can only be a positive. The few negatives from tonight were Nic Anelka's positioning which, considering his goalscorer reputation, is baffling. Also Bosingwa looked entirely unsteady defensively and Ivanovic had a few moments where he looked a bit shakey. All in all though its a huge win, its a win that has potentially saved Carlo Ancelotti's job, its a win that has gotten us back in the title race (helped by recent results of title rivals) and its a win that hopefully will give us the confidence to kick on.

I know we've been shit the last 2 months, I know that but that defeat to Arsenal was rock bottom, thats as low as the team can get, from there it must be onwards and upwards. I feel confident going into this one, maybe its because Man Utd dropped more points tonight or because Frank Lampard is back but playing at the Bridge, I think we could go out there and smash them. Gotta be optimistic in hard times.

Spot on. Lets face facts, when Mikel joined us he was an attacking midfielder, a playmaker. We turned him into a holding midfielder, there is no way that anbody can honestly tell me that Mikel inspires you with confidence from a defensive point of view because if he does then you are easily satisfied. In the league we play in, with the way we play, the opposition will have possession from time to time, they will get chances to attack and when that happens I think we could do with a holding midfielder who can actually tackle, who can get about the pitch and who is generally solid from a defensive standpoint. Personally I think Essien's talents a re a bit wasted on the right hand side of the 3 man midfield, we should be looking to get him on the ball and as involved in the game as much as possible such is his talent, it was noticeable that his influence in the game grew more in the second half when he was put into the central defensive midfield position. The man is tailor made for that role.

Like yourself I dont think Carlo will change the shape or formation of the side but I honestly believe Essien could play as a deep playmaker every bit as well as Mikel can but also be a much more secure player defensively than Mikel is. Well he gave it his best but realistically he is always going to be the weak link in the back four and the obvious weakness for opponents to exploit, his performances never fill me with a huge amount of confidence and unless there are serious injuries I would not have him in a starting eleven, especially in the big games. To sum it up, great servant to the club, always gives it his best but he is not, nor has he ever been up to the level required to warrant a starting spot at Chelsea.

Granted Makelele did have better players to work with but at the same time there was no questioning his defensive abilities, again there is no way you could say the same for Mikel. Personally I thought Cch, Ivanovic and Lampard were our best players on the night and on the whole probably Cech, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole and Maloda (early season form more so than current) have been our best players this season thus far. Its not down to simply 1 mistake or 1 poor performance but my opinion is based on what I think would be for the betterment of the team. Like I said, I dont think a 3rd centre back is needed, I dont think a deep lying playmaker is required (particularly when Essien can do such a role just as well) I think our midfield has lost a bit of its bite, its energy and its drive and I think with Essien in the holding midfield role and Ramires playing alongside Lampard in the midfield 3 you would see a lot more bit, energy and drive about our play than you do with Mikel.

Exactly, Barcelona are the only team I can think of who successfully use a third centre back (Sergio Busquets) at the highest level. We are not Barcelona, we dont keep the ball as much or as well as Barcelona do, which is why we need a ball winning holding midfielder and that simply is not Mikel, thats not his natural game and he doesn't do it very well. Anyway I dont want this to sound like a Mikel hate thread because I like him but I think its something which is hindering the team and needs to be changed.

Ancelotti's "bad moment" press confrences are another thing that needs changing fast!

To be honest I dont think it is trivial. I dont think its any coincidence that our most successful time was when Makelele played the holding midfield role, Id much rather an active, energetic and defensively sound holding midfielder than a deep lying (in Mikel's case very deep lying) playmaker.

I just dont understand what he can do that Essien or Ramires cannot. If you tell Essien or Ramires to sit and protect the back four then they will and I believe they could do that job better than Mikel because they are better defensively and because they can get about the pitch much better than Mikel. I think Ramires and Essien can both start attacks from deep, Essien's passing range in particular in excellent. I think Mikel's position and his playing of that position is a bit pointless at times.

I definitely agree with that. Too often tonight when we got possession we were instantly thinking about playing it over the top for our forwards to run onto, we didn't hold onto the ball well enough, we didn't work it up the pitch well enough and we didn't work it into the right areas often enough. Had the balls over the top to our forwards been good then none of us would be complaining but they were bloody awful.

I like Mikel, I was quick to praise him earlier in the season like the vast majority on here. However truth be told Im not a fan of the role he plays, the 3rd centre back position, I think a holding midfielder should be able to get about the pitch, get some tackles in and be generally solid from a defensive standpoint, you couldn't honestly say any of those things in refrence to Mikel.

That was more a freak bit of luck than a poor piece of play. Granted though Essien was quite poor tonight but he is a much more solid defensive midfielder than Mikel, far more assured, gets about the pitch much better and offers something going forward too.

Unfortunately neither do I. Two changes that would be so easy to make and may have a positive effect would be to drop Kalou and Mikel for the game against Bolton and bring in Kakuta (or if Sturridge has recovered by then bring him in) to play on the right wing with Essien playing the holding role and Ramires and Lampard alongside him in midfield, maybe a subtle change like that could really help us. In the long term though we need to buy well in the January window and later in the Summer window. I hope Roman gives Carlo the January window to bring in his signings and se if they work out, if they do then great but if they dont and these poor results continue then a managerial change will be a must.

I woldn't be a huge fan of Van Gaal. His teams play great attacking football but really our success has always been built on our defensive stability. Id like to see Martin O Neil get the job, I think he could put his own stamp on the side. I've always been a bit of a fan of Rafa's so I wouldn't say no to him either. If I could pick any 1 manager in the world right now it would be Pep Guardiola who has done a wonderful job at Barcelona, is a young coach and would instantly have the respect of the dressing room, closely followed by Guus Hiddink.

Change. Change is the word that arose tonight following the 3-1 defeat to Arsenal. All different kinds of change, the impact that changes which have already been made have had on the club, the changes that need to happen now and the changes which need to be performed for the future as Chelsea’s poor run of form has gone from being a simple poor run of form to now being an outright disaster. Changes made in the past which have led us to this disaster are things like allowing the hugely experienced and talented Michael Ballack, Ricardo Carvalho, Deco, Joe Cole ect. Leave in the Summer and not filling that gap, yes our kids have talent but you simply cant throw them in at the deep end and expect them to swim straight away, that’s not how you blood youngsters into first team action at this level. Ray Wilkin’s departure has likely had a negative effect on the side, I don’t think the effect its has is as much as is being made out in the media but its still had an effect. Changes that need to be made right now are. Dropping Mikel, again tonight his positioning for the first goal was dubious, his passing not up to standard, too slow on the ball and he hasn’t got the legs to get about the pitch and make tackles ala Makelele. Surely against Bolton, starting with Essien, Ramires and Lampard would not be the worst thing in the world? Banning Kalou from all future Chelsea games and training sessions, I mean literally have a team of security guards at Cobham for when Kalou arrives and just don’t allow him into the ground. Telling Florent Malouda that though we made a terrific start to the season that the season is still actually going on and we havent been awarded the title. Changes for the future. A right winger at some point, be it in January or the Summer is an absolute must. A ball playing central midfielder. A centre back, preferably a highly rated Brazilian by the name of David Luiz….. No matter what following the game tonight and the last 2 months as a whole there must now be change. Its all well and good for Carlo to do his post match press conference and remind us all that “we are in a bad moment” while its true what now needs to happen is that we need to change things to get out of this bad moment because trudging on with the same routine, the same selection, with nothing being altered will only lead to more bad results. If those changes have to occur in our playing personnel, our management personnel or our set up, Roman will be very aware that something will have to change because this “bad moment” has lasted too long. Anyway being the positive guy I am, the positives I took from tonights game were. Petr Cech, Branislav Ivanovic and Frank Lampard are really the only players who you could give a modicum of positive feedback too on the Chelsea side. Gael Kakuta came on and an awful backpass aside he looked lively at least. Its looking more and more like this season is going to become one of transition for Chelsea, if that is the case then Im hoping McEachran, Kakuta and Sturridge get more and more playing time this season so that they will gain experience. And we could always do a Liverpool and just drop our focus on the league and put all of our attention into winning the Champions League, if we finish 4th but Terry ends up lifting the Champions League trophy at Wembley then the season would go down as a huge success so….positive thoughts and all that.