Wingers

[Guest justin_3d]

I can't see why we can't hijack Villa's chase for N'Zogbia, he'd slot right into our team and his ability to dribble and his consistency on either side of the pitch would be ideal. But because he plays for Wigan he is ignored. The fact he plays for a club that just avoided relegation belies the fact that like Rodallega, he is absolute class.

I would take Arda or Nzogbia.

If AVB does not sign a winger, then he will have a hard time in this season.

[5354 204]

I still believe kakuta is more than capable of being our main winger next season even though he operates better as an AMF

Yeah I agree with this.

Might be time for Kakuta to step up if Sturridge can't fill that void.

[lionsden 4,689]

Yeah I agree with this.

Might be time for Kakuta to step up if Sturridge can't fill that void.

After all the promise sturridge showed last season at Bolton, I will be very disappointed if he fails to flourish at Chelsea next season.

[Peace. 4,352]

I add that Bosingwa was awful before January because he didn't have direct support from his right winger in front of him (he was frequently in front of the adverse winger and the left back), because of his knee surgery he lost his stamina and his defensive marks. After January and this game at Bolton where the team played in a 4-4-2 shape in second half, Bosingwa was a bit better because Ramires could help him on the flank, he could block the wing and come back defending.

1 - No, he wasn't awfull because he lacked support, but because he lost the bases of football.

2 - No, in the second part of the season, he wasn't better....

So, if Bosingwa is that poor, it isn't because he ain't got no right winger ahead of him. I could understand this argument for someone else, for exemple if you tell me Ivanovic struggles there sometimes because he has nobody in front of him, I would be agree. But for Bosingwa, that just don't go. Why ? Because he has lost all the bases of football, and thus he became a liability and shouldn't play (or even be on the bench) of a major team like us.

First of all, on a defensive notion. He seems to be unable to track down the opponant, he seems lost, he doesn't have a clue to where position himself to intercep the ball or to tackle.Plus, he always bombs forward but takes too much time to come back. An action which proves my last point is the goal we have conceeded against Stoke City. On this action, Luiz was made the culprit, but actually he had nothing to do there, that was Bosingwa who was missing, he was just covering the portuguese.

Then, on an offensive notion (which is as important as the defensive on, for a full back imo). In the dictionary, his name should be down along side the "headless chicken" definition. All he knows to do is to run in straight line. His crossing ability isn't awful, it is non-existing. I even wonder if he targets a zone when he hits the ball or if he just throws the ball somewhere. When he tries to dribble the opponents easily handle him. When he starts dribbling, he pushes the majority of the time the ball too much and it ends up in the feet of the opponent. Finally, I don't find his decision making very smart...

My words : you can even play Messi ahead of him, nothing will change.

[SeB 1,281]

Don't worry, I do completely agree with you, what I said is for me a part of the explanation why he is so weak since he came back from his injury. He lost all his defensive marks and his stamina, the rythm, he has also a huge confidence issue because he plays as if he wanted to prove again and prove to the others that he has still the level... Finding himself two vs one merely pushed him down, it's not the major explanation for all that

I did not say that he was good in 2nd part of the season, I just noticed that it was a little less worse when Ramires came back helping him. But it didn't prevent him from commiting gross errors of appreciation

When he arrived at Chelsea he was a strainer, he acquired some defensive and tactical rigor quite quickly after that and this injury and the long period of recovery broke his momentum, his rythm

His worries comes from a complete loss of bearings, we have no other solution than keeping him and put him in good conditions this season because there isn't any decent players available on the marker if we want to replace him.

I'm disappointed because he was a player that I liked much, even if he has lost everything that was part of his strength in the past...

Messi would'nt have helped him, just a player who defends on his wing, as Ramires...

[GodZola 630]

I can't see why we can't hijack Villa's chase for N'Zogbia, he'd slot right into our team and his ability to dribble and his consistency on either side of the pitch would be ideal. But because he plays for Wigan he is ignored. The fact he plays for a club that just avoided relegation belies the fact that like Rodallega, he is absolute class.

I said the very same about N'Zogbia & Rodallega just before we played Wigan at home last season - it didn't get any legs then! I was pointing out that they wouldn't cost us a fortune for 2 players that have performed on a regular basis in the PL. Both have pace & score goals in a struggling side, 9.5m for N'Zogbia is a steal for Villa.

I can't see Kakuta getting a run this season apart from a loan somewhere, but I would welcome his inclusion. The boy needs games & experience to take him up a level & I for one think he has the ability but won't prove it playing in the reserves.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

We should offer Wigan a loan deal for Kakuta... it wouldn't cost them a thing to replace N'Zogbia then.

[bigbluewillie 1,859]

i agree we need wingers and have for a long long time.

in spite of what is being said we don't look like signing anyone.

so who now are we going to play up front.............................omg any of these.... kalou malouda anelka aint no wide man and then the man himself the drog 30 mins on the left might work..............i quite like sturridge (as a player i mean :541: ) so with what have we've got, what's the front line going to be?

regards: JBD

[Kieran. 6,317]

Drogba would be better on the wing than both Kalou and Anelka.

[bigbluewillie 1,859]

ok so assuming we mean Torres is center who's gunna be on the other wing? sturridge?

Drogba Torres Sturridge.

regards: JBD

[manpe 10,861]

Drogba would be better on the wing than both Kalou and Anelka.

What a waste it would be using Drogba as a winger, how desperate must we be. His full ability comes out as a target man or a free-roaming forward. I would rather have Benayoun, Ramires or even Bosingwa playing as pure wingers. But as it stands, I can't see that happening. I'm pretty sure our main wide players will be Malouda on the left and Sturridge on the right if we don't sign anyone. I'm absolutely sure that AVB knows the need for pure wingers, but I have a feeling there's more to it as why transfers aren't happening at the moment than AVB being simply too optimistic... he was and is too good of a scout to be so blind. That's why he threw Sturridge on the right ahead of Anelka and Kalou, he'd rather convert a promising striker into a winger than play either of them there. He's probably been told by the board that negotiations aren't going smoothly, or that there are financial obstacles (perhaps Kalou and/or Anelka are threatening to pull a 'Bogarde' on us, we don't know).

[Kieran. 6,317]

Well we are desperate. Kalou and Anelka are absolute shit wingers.

[TacticalBlues 2,817]

IMO for a long time we've lacked something on the wing, Malouda can be great at times but since Robben left, we lost speed, flair and creativity their. Even Cole for that matter (before his injury woes). Thats why I was so excited when we were being linked with Neymar I mean a

Anelka/Kalou/Malouda - Torres/Drogba/Lukaku - Sturridge/Lukaku

Compared to a

Hazard/Mata/Neymar - Torres/Drogba/Lukaku- Sturridge/Lukaku

the difference really is huge, we'd have someone beating players, speed and better deliveries for sure. Maybe not so much Neymar yet, but he can run past all of them to score However, if we don't sign any wingers this window than Kakuta being given a chance adds something different, more like the 2nd suggestion:

Kakuta - Torres/Drogba/Lukaku- Sturridge/Lukaku

Not really the finished product yet, but he can definitely do better than what we've been deploying. Plus I think if we can nurture him to fulfill his potential than he can easily become one of the best. I've always wanted to give him a chance, even if we sign a winger he needs some more game time. Don't see why we should loan him out when that is a spot we struggle in.

[lentherussian 86]

IMO for a long time we've lacked something on the wing, Malouda can be great at times but since Robben left, we lost speed, flair and creativity their. Even Cole for that matter (before his injury woes). Thats why I was so excited when we were being linked with Neymar I mean a

Anelka/Kalou/Malouda - Torres/Drogba/Lukaku - Sturridge/Lukaku

Compared to a

Hazard/Mata/Neymar - Torres/Drogba/Lukaku- Sturridge/Lukaku

the difference really is huge, we'd have someone beating players, speed and better deliveries for sure. Maybe not so much Neymar yet, but he can run past all of them to score However, if we don't sign any wingers this window than Kakuta being given a chance adds something different, more like the 2nd suggestion:

Kakuta - Torres/Drogba/Lukaku- Sturridge/Lukaku

Not really the finished product yet, but he can definitely do better than what we've been deploying. Plus I think if we can nurture him to fulfill his potential than he can easily become one of the best. I've always wanted to give him a chance, even if we sign a winger he needs some more game time. Don't see why we should loan him out when that is a spot we struggle in.

i agree, think sometimes we as fans feel everyone has to be a superstar but i believe we just need balance. If we dont sign anyone then i think we might aswel give kakuta some game time and confidence and see if he developes. In our best sides of recent years weve had robben(who was WC) but also duff, swp, joe cole and its always gave us another outlet/option. Man utd are the prime example of giving ppl the stage to improve, ronaldo looked wasteful and a showpony at first, nani stepped in when he left and looked out of his depth now look at him. Ferguson done it to players all over the pitch we give players a few sub appearance a carling cup start then decide there not upto it, so sad IMO. Hope things change under new regime and we get behind these sort of players even if they have bad games.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Its obvious that AVB is either happy with our current wing options or he doesn't intend on playing a wide 4-3-3, instead a narrow 4-3-1-2 like Hiddink played - where Malouda or Kalou played deeper than Anelka and Drogba. That would be the formation to get the best out of both Torres and Lampard, I believe. It relies on an awful lot of width supplied from the full-backs, so we definitely need to employ a dedicated CDM, and an attacking midfielder wouldn't go amiss...

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Its obvious that AVB is either happy with our current wing options or he doesn't intend on playing a wide 4-3-3, instead a narrow 4-3-1-2 like Hiddink played - where Malouda or Kalou played deeper than Anelka and Drogba. That would be the formation to get the best out of both Torres and Lampard, I believe. It relies on an awful lot of width supplied from the full-backs, so we definitely need to employ a dedicated CDM, and an attacking midfielder wouldn't go amiss...

That's a worrying formation, I see no depth or creativity in there. Normally I'd say Ramires for Lampard, but a midfield of Ramires, Josh & Mikel wouldn't be a good idea against Stoke either. We're short in numbers in this midfield area, it needs to be addressed :\

[Styles 9,790]

Besides McEachran, who we know isn't going to start, that is the same team that failed so miserably last season. Anelka in the hole? Really? Who wants to see that again? I don't.

Absolutely zero balance in forward areas. We have too many strikers and not enough variety in attack. We're likely to play 4-3-3 and have five strikers (Drogba, Torres, Anelka, Lukaku and Kalou) for one position. I wouldn’t want to see any one of those players play in the RW or LW positions next season. So we have just Malouda and Sturridge for the wing positions. How can the manager be happy with that? How can the manager be happy with having a player as bad as Kalou in his squad?

Cech

Terry

Cole

Ivanovic

Sturridge

Ramires

Those six players are in my prefered first 11. The rest I'm not so sure about.

[francozola 2,040]

^ I agree. When AVB said that he was going to evaluate the squad during the Asia trip, I felt confident that he would realize how useless anelka, malouda and especially kalou are. It's kind of baffling that he wants to keep ALL THREE. would have thought he'd get rid of one at least, maybe two. Not sure how I feel about it. I'm hoping that he can motivate anelka and malouda to perform better than last season