Chelsea 3-1 Norwich

[DYC. 7,542]

Just thought AVB should use the Norwich game to rotate the squad and give some of the fringe players some much needed game time.

Ohw good, was afraid you thought Cole was underperforming.

I'd support that for sure, sadly I don't see it happening.

[Domino- 116]

Congratulations Jim, nice graphics and nice layout

[Ollie 4,400]

Maybe Lampard should be the holding midfielder, i mean seriously he does it for England sometimes when Gerrard is with him and does a very good job which nonody notices. They say those 2 can't play together because Lampard does a different job for England than he does for us and when you need someone on the ball to just calm things down and pass the ball on or set something up, he can do it. He is still the best player in our squad at distributing the ball and his vision and range of passing is still there. What lets him down is a yard of pace but u don't have to be too agile to do the holding role.What Lampard does now is receives the ball, looks up, and plays it. I'm not saying he should do this every match because we have Mikel but Romeu hasn't played too much football so maybe this year, Lampard and Mikel can carry the water.

[manpe 10,861]

Maybe Lampard should be the holding midfielder, i mean seriously he does it for England sometimes when Gerrard is with him and does a very good job which nonody notices. They say those 2 can't play together because Lampard does a different job for England than he does for us and when you need someone on the ball to just calm things down and pass the ball on or set something up, he can do it. He is still the best player in our squad at distributing the ball and his vision and range of passing is still there. What lets him down is a yard of pace but u don't have to be too agile to do the holding role.What Lampard does now is receives the ball, looks up, and plays it. I'm not saying he should do this every match because we have Mikel but Romeu hasn't played too much football so maybe this year, Lampard and Mikel can carry the water.

The problem is Lampard himself said that he has no trouble with it until he's permitted to make runs into the box. I don't think you can deny him his trademark move, which is arriving into the box at the right time.

[lionsden 4,689]

Maybe Lampard should be the holding midfielder, i mean seriously he does it for England sometimes when Gerrard is with him and does a very good job which nonody notices. They say those 2 can't play together because Lampard does a different job for England than he does for us and when you need someone on the ball to just calm things down and pass the ball on or set something up, he can do it. He is still the best player in our squad at distributing the ball and his vision and range of passing is still there. What lets him down is a yard of pace but u don't have to be too agile to do the holding role.What Lampard does now is receives the ball, looks up, and plays it. I'm not saying he should do this every match because we have Mikel but Romeu hasn't played too much football so maybe this year, Lampard and Mikel can carry the water.

Or maybe Lampard is past his prime and should be relegated to squad player instead of finding a way to play an aging and out of form player week in week out of position to accommodate a new competition. Seems illogical especially when we are not lacking in DM position with Mikel and Romeu occupying that role.

Giggs's limited role at United has been extremely effective in getting the best out of the veteran and most Chelsea fans feel it's time Lampard take a back seat to the next generation/ new playmaker.

[Tortilla9 390]

Every club goes through a time when they look at their more experienced players and ask the question of can they still contribute at the same level? are they still a starter? are they a bench player? who can we replace them with? do we need to move them on? do we need to take a different approach?

Chelsea seems to be at a crossroads with a few of these players. Do you keep starting them because they're club legends who have contributed to trophies and past success? Is that reason enough? Do you keep starting them because what you have on the bench isn't better? How do you get your bench better unless you give them experience? Is it status quo because a lot of players are comfortable?

Chelsea fans/supporters have been begging for youth, fresh new faces. They're here. What do you do with them? The big question for AVB in my mind is how he continues to drive toward winning while incorporating the new faces. How slow is the bedding in process?

Chelsea need to make some tough decisions or it may be more of the same from last season.

[Madmax 9,219]

I think this club needs to move away from sentiments if it wants to be successful in the long run. To be successful you need to be ruthless and need to have a single minded focus towards achieving that success. Look at Ferguson. How many times over these years has he discarded and rebuilt sides? Barcelona as well. It is absolutely vital to be able to freshen up the dynamic of the squad and move along with the times. Is there any doubt those two are the benchmark for the others in the two best leagues in the world? We on the other hand are in constant limbo, enveloped in a time warp. Cech-Terry-Lampard-Drogba was more or less the core of the back-to-back title winning squad and they're still here playing 90 mins week in week out.

We are at a pivotal time in the history of the club. Make no mistake, what we do now will pretty much determine if we continue to challenge for major honours domestically and in Europe over the next decade or so, or just fade away like previous teams that threatened to, but ultimately failed to upset the established order eg Arsenal. We can either decide that these veterans need to be phased out and replaced with younger, hungrier substitutes or continue to cling on the romance and sentiment of the wonderful few years they've given us and keep playing them regardless of form and attitude.

[Gianfranco_Z 202]

Chelsea 2-0 Norwich. Torres, Ramires.

[Slam Dunk 1,442]

Hope to see Romeu and Lukaku on the bench for this one. Don't think either will start. Might be a bit early for Mata (depends on when the deal is completed), hopefully he could also make the bench. Expect Ivan to partner Terry, and with any luck Luiz could also make a sub appearance.

[Gianfranco_Z 202]

I think it will be same team but replace Malouda with Kalou.

Hilario

Bosingwa --- Alex --- Terry © --- Cole

Ramires --- Mikel --- Lampard

Anelka --- Torres --- Malouda

[Sheva. 5,373]

^ Want Bane instead of Alex, and not just because of that mistake

Also Benny or Josh instead of Ramires. And i think Mata will come on as a sub (Hopefully)

[lionsden 4,689]

I hope AVB is taking note from fergie on how to ease the youth into the starting X1/1st team. Can anyone seriously tell me that Wellbeck would not have been overlooked for Drogba and Lampard selected in place of cleverly for tonight's game (in Chelsea's context) instead the generic argument from some fans and AVB (if his decision was questioned) would have been "they are not ready to start premiership games yet", "experience is highly crucial at this stage" . . . .

[Tomo 21,751]

2 games in and we are already doubting his youth policy jesus christ.

If we have a injury crisis and he plays Ferreira in centre midfield instead of McEachran then fair enough but come on .................

[lionsden 4,689]

2 games in and we are already doubting his youth policy jesus christ.

If we have a injury crisis and he plays Ferreira in centre midfield instead of McEachran then fair enough but come on .................

How many games did it take Fergie to start having 100% confidence and faith in the youth. . . .right from the opening game of the season. Josh should have started ahead of lampard for the WBA game factoring Frank's dramatic drop in form. Fergie could have easily chickened out tonight and opt for their experienced and league's joint highest goal scorer last season (berbatov) instead of wellbeck against a superior opponent to WBA (spurs) but no He didn't and the faith he showed in the youngster(s) paid off.

[manpe 10,861]

How many games did it take Fergie to start having 100% confidence and faith in the youth. . . .right from the opening game of the season. Josh should have started ahead of lampard for the WBA game factoring Frank's dramatic drop in form.

We have had so many managers coming in and out and everyone doing their own assessment on the squad. If we had some stability, there might have been breakthroughs already... but now every manager opts to start safely so not to disappoint fans and his bosses, and they don't know the academy through and through... with teams like Arsenal and ManU they have a manager they trust in and they have had time to work out their plans and bring them to life in time. With Barca the same, their manager was promoted from their youth team I believe. If we don't have 7 new managers by 2016 we might see a change in our youth policy sooner. I don't believe AVB feels safe yet, how could you on one of the most unstable jobs in world football? If he gets the backing of the board, he might feel encouraged to take more risks... we don't know YET if he's planning to play it safe in his first season.. if he was to experiment and not win any titles, he can have a boot up his ass as quickly as Carlo. Since Roman's arrival we have never put much emphasis on bringing up our own players, but rather patch the team by splashing the cash. This summer's signings hint some change in club's policy, and hopefully it is to show faith in AVB's long-term appointment.

[Tomo 21,751]

How many games did it take Fergie to start having 100% confidence and faith in the youth. . . .right from the opening game of the season. Josh should have started ahead of lampard for the WBA game factoring Frank's dramatic drop in form. Fergie could have easily chickened out tonight and opt for their experienced and league's joint highest goal scorer last season (berbatov) instead of wellbeck against a superior opponent to WBA (spurs) No?

Did Welbeck just go to traning one morning and end up a regular first team member? no he had to work hard, he made his debut in 2007, 4 years later via a loan to Sunderland he is looking a decent shout. He has a lot more expierence and is older that Josh. Even Cleverly had to go on loan to Wigan before Fergie started trusting him, and also add he is 22, when he was 18 he was no-where near the first team.

Had Studge not been banned Andre would be playing him and were be here now singing his praises for unleashing him.

[lionsden 4,689]

We have had so many managers coming in and out and everyone doing their own assessment on the squad. If we had some stability, there might have been breakthroughs already... but now every manager opts to start safely so not to disappoint fans and his bosses, and they don't know the academy through and through... with teams like Arsenal and ManU they have a manager they trust in and they have had time to work out their plans and bring them to life in time. With Barca the same, their manager was promoted from their youth team I believe. If we don't have 7 new managers by 2016 we might see a change in our youth policy sooner. I don't believe AVB feels safe yet, how could you on one of the most unstable jobs in world football? If he gets the backing of the board, he might feel encouraged to take more risks... we don't know YET if he's planning to play it safe in his first season.. if he was to experiment and not win any titles, he can have a boot up his ass as quickly as Carlo. Since Roman's arrival we have never put much emphasis on bringing up our own players, but rather patch the team by splashing the cash. This summer's signings hint some change in club's policy, and hopefully it is to show faith in AVB's long-term appointment.

Fair point but what baffles me is that some of the so called experience or as you put it "safer bet" have been mediocre. Using Lampard as reference, do you honestly believe that Josh could/would have played anymore poorly than Lampard in our last 2 games? I can totally understand his conservation to play youth if the experienced players are playing well but that hasn't been the case.

[manpe 10,861]

Fair point but what baffles me is that some of the so called experience or as you put it "safer bet" have been mediocre. Using Lampard as reference, do you honestly believe that Josh could/would have played anymore poorly than Lampard in our last 2 games? I can totally understand his conservation to play youth if the experienced players are playing well but that hasn't been the case.

Well, we won't know if Josh would have done better, will we? AVB might have shown faith in Lamps in hope that he would gain confidence and perform. We don't know what's going on in the training ground or in AVB's head. Modric might be the more permanent replacement for Lampard, because it would be too soon for Josh to start playing every game at 18 I believe.. we don't know yet.

[lionsden 4,689]

Did Welbeck just go to traning one morning and end up a regular first team member? no he had to work hard, he made his debut in 2007, 4 years later via a loan to Sunderland he is looking a decent shout. He has a lot more expierence and is older that Josh. Even Cleverly had to go on loan to Wigan before Fergie started trusting him, and also add he is 22, when he was 18 he was no-where near the first team.

Had Studge not been banned Andre would be playing him and were be here now singing his praises for unleashing him.

Fair enough. I'm just tired of the same old shit. I don't care about us winning trophy this year as long as we use this season as a transitional period to integrate youth with experience and change our style of play. that's all I'm saying.

[Blue Armour 4,474]

Even with so many options I'm a bit peeved about our "forwards" situation.

Torres seems to be playing with his heart out, and very well deserves to score. But even with his improved form he still hasn't a got a goal. Its only been two matches but Anelka and Malouda have found the net so there's something wrong. Lot of people talk about the team around him being bad, so what do you do? Transplant the rest of the team to suit just one man? That's not going to happen according to AVB. Remember what he said about the team functioning as a unit, and that he didn't care about individual records?

Then there's the Drogba issue. Everyone, AVB included, seems to be in universal agreement that the two strikers can't play together, which is why you never see them start together. Personally I think he's just rotting away on the bench, with hardly any game time, but I suppose no-one will care if Torres or someone else starts scoring regularly.

From the looks of it this seems to be the end of the Malouda-Anelka-Drogba combo. It was pretty good during the end of the 09-10 season and the start of the 10-11 season. When it started to fail, I've always put it down to the fact that the backup within the squad wasn't good enough, or simply, like in Sturridge's case, wasn't used well enough. Now we have more than just backup. We have replacements in the form of Mata and Lukaku.

I just hope these additions, together with Danny, can link up just like the old MAD combo, because 4-3-3 isn't going to be of any use otherwise.

Then again, the entire problem might be with our central midfield..maybe we need to use Josh like Utd use Cleverley.

I'm sorry if the post seems too negative...I'm probably just irritated after watching that Manutd-Totten'am game, seeing the manc forwards linking up so well with the rest of the team...

I hope things start getting better with our next game...