Less is more

[dodojojo 510]

I have been saying this for nearly a year. Malouda, Anelka, Lampard and Drogba need to accept a lesser role as they are getting on to stay more fresh and prolong their career's. I reckon with less playing time they could still play a big part for us this season because the quality does not go away overnight.

Starting with Lampard, his goal record seems to have gone up in the last couple of years despite supposed decline in his over-all play, in 09/10 he got 27 from midfield and last season despite missing half of it and not playing that great he picked up a respectable 13 goals.

With careful management by AVB i honestly believe Lamps still has 3/4 good season left in him and possibly 15 goals a season aswell.

Anelka seems revatlised the last few weeks and is seemingly reaping the benefits of being more fresh, Malouda's slowly getting there and hopefully Drogba will in the next few weeks aswell.

Add more competition for places and with lesser game time they will be more fresh, they can all play a big part this season, less infact is very often more.

Far too sensible, I won't be reading your sensibleness anymore.

So many threads seem to devolve into "oh, we can't drum out Lampard, he's a legend!". But I suspect the majority of us are only saying he and the other veterans can't start 40-50 games anymore. It's time to get the best out of them for fewer starts and truly begin to integrate the next generation of great players. That's all.

I would say a very valid reason for letting a Drogba or Lampard leave is if and when their current superstar salaries do not match their squad player roles. Sensibly at that point, it'd be beneficial to Chelsea to kill two birds with one stone--give a squad place to a much younger player at a greatly reduced salary. Hopefully that player has been given time to bed in while the likes of Lampard have had their roles gradually reduced.