Our 'team'

[YouNameIt 1,511]

Well, after watching tonights game I cant help but to think AVB needs to make some serious tough decisions. It has become quite clear that some of our players just dont cut it anymore or they are just not motivated enough.

Mikel:

First of all, I dont see how Mikel is even considered to have a spot in the team at the moment. He is very slow, sloppy and really brings nothing to Chelseas "new game style".

Terry:

I got huge respect for Terry but lately he has been making some very stuipid calls and does not bring the stability in the backline anymore. Yeah hes aging, but still...

Malouda:

I think Malouda has been given quite alot of chances but in my opinion he just doesnt deliver. Tonight he should have netted at least once.

Defensively:

1-2 seasons ago we looked really strong defensively while struggling with the midfield. Nowadays it is reversed and we really do need to do something about our backline. This doesnt cut it if we are supposed to challenge clubs like City, Man U, Barcelona, Bayern, Real and so on..I simply dont understand why we keep our backline so high, it opens up spaces and alot of chances for the opposite team, we saw that tonight, against Arsenal and so on..

General:

Chelsea is struggling to find their new style, and to be honest, its not a surprise. I dont understand why AVB chose to play Mikel in a 4-3-3 formation, he slows the game down every single time. And overall, and this is something i see in practically EVERY SINGLE GAME, most players are very STILL. There is not alot of movement and the ball goes very much back and forth instead of being pushed forward in some situations. I do believe its time to think about seriousley giving some players a better chance of proving themselfes and do some changes.

I would like to see something like this, as far as the formation is concerned:

4-3-3

Mata --- Torres --- Sturridge

Lampard --- Meireles --- Ramires

Cole --- Terry --- Alex --- Iva

--------------- Cech -----------

or

---------------Torres-------------

----------------Mata----------------

Lampard---Meireles---Ramires/Romeu

--------------Luiz-------------

Cole -- Terry -- Alex -- Iva

------------- Cech ------------

The basic idea here is that i think Luiz could be really useful in Mikels spot. He is good defensively but we've also seen he does really great runs forward and creating chances/scoring. Secondly we should use players with more pace, the starting eleven today certainly did NOT. Also we were somewhat unable to utilize Mata.

To put it in short, we need stability in the backline asap and bring it down, dont keep it so high and also use players with more PACE. Get the players moving alot more. Looking at i.e. Barcelona they are moving constantly. Looking at Chelsea there isnt alot of movement and i think that is what we are lacking. You can tell Mata is trying to create alot but sometimes he isnt able to and the ball just goes back and forth.

I dont expect us to win anything this season, but if we keep going like this we will really struggle to even qualify for the CL..

[Madmax 9,219]

7 players from Jose's days started today. Think of the managers who have come and gone since Jose left to AVB today. Yet 7 players from Jose's days started today. Are they all that fantastic? Are the 7 who didn't that crap? 7!!!

I kept banging on about this during the last days of Carlo's time. If a squad that retains an overwhelming percentage of Mourinho's signings wins the title only once in the next 5 years, who are the real underachievers? Those players or the multiple managers employed in the meantime?

But again, this sentiment will be ignored and more and more people will question AvB, the manager is always the scapegoat.

[TacticalBlues 2,817]

Posted accidentally pushed submit :S Will edit

[teignman 441]

In the not so distant past our strategy has been geared to the strengths of our personnel, i.e. power and pace. Now we have the virtually the same nucleus of players, but we are trying to utilize them in a system where technical ability is essential. A lot of square pegs and round holes on the pitch.

[Henrique 9,133]

The big problem with AVB is that he doesnt realize that we dont have Barcelona players, he is trying to do stupid things with this squad, thats why our defence system is a mess.

What is he trying to do with a midfielder with Ramires - Mikel - Lampard ? Beautiful and offensive football? When our two main striker both have only 3 goals together in all games in PL ? when we dont have winger ? what is he thinking ?

[bababoom 4,478]

The big problem with AVB is that he doesnt realize that we dont have Barcelona players, he is trying to do stupid things with this squad, thats why our defence system is a mess.

What is he trying to do with a midfielder with Ramires - Mikel - Lampard ? Beautiful and offensive football? When our two main striker both have only 3 goals together in all games in PL ? when we dont have winger ? what is he thinking ?

I actually agree with you, nice post.

[chrismada9 1,948]

I'm kind of beginning to understand what Terminator X said right after the transfer window had ended, that "Meireles is a stand in signing because we didn't get Modric" .... no disrespect to Meireles because he's been really good for Chelsea when he's played, but the real villain is Daniel Levy! Had Modric have signed for us back then, our midfield would have an "engine", which Sh0n3x so rightly put it in his post! Even with Mata in the attack, there is still no creativity in our midfield. You have to understand, that even though Mata plays as though he can sift a ball into the penalty box, he is still a winger. Lampard is definitely not the same midfielder player he was 5 years ago, and Michael Essien keeps getting the recurring injuries, making him religiously injury prone, and that's not what we want in our side... and at some point or another, we are going to have to replace them!

We NEED someone creative, and after watching the first 12 league games of the season, there's hardly anyone in our side that does even that!!

[manpe 10,861]

I'm kind of beginning to understand what Terminator X said right after the transfer window had ended, that "Meireles is a stand in signing because we didn't get Modric" .... no disrespect to Meireles because he's been really good for Chelsea when he's played, but the real villain is Daniel Levy! Had Modric have signed for us back then, our midfield would have an "engine", which Sh0n3x so rightly put it in his post! Even with Mata in the attack, there is still no creativity in our midfield. You have to understand, that even though Mata plays as though he can sift a ball into the penalty box, he is still a winger. Lampard is definitely not the same midfielder player he was 5 years ago, and Michael Essien keeps getting the recurring injuries, making him religiously injury prone, and that's not what we want in our side... and at some point or another, we are going to have to replace them!

We NEED someone creative, and after watching the first 12 league games of the season, there's hardly anyone in our side that does even that!!

Meireles IS a stand in, the obvious sign being that he's mostly on the bench in big games.. or is one of the first to get substituted when he starts. With Modric you know he would've been a definite big-game starter.

[chrismada9 1,948]

Meireles IS a stand in, the obvious sign being that he's mostly on the bench in big games.. or is one of the first to get substituted when he starts. With Modric you know he would've been a definite big-game starter.

exactly my point!

[manpe 10,861]

exactly my point!

yeah i know i was just agreeing with your opinion

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

I kept banging on about this during the last days of Carlo's time. If a squad that retains an overwhelming percentage of Mourinho's signings wins the title only once in the next 5 years, who are the real underachievers? Those players or the multiple managers employed in the meantime?

But again, this sentiment will be ignored and more and more people will question AvB, the manager is always the scapegoat.

Spot on. But having said that AVB has to take some of the blame. Bad vibes were coming out as soon as he was saying that he would not heavily revamp the squad, when it was obvious there was a lot of deadwood. His insistance on keeping players that are past their best and still under the influence of Jose (Lampard, Drogba, Cole, Terry, Malouda) is really starting to show. I will be quite angry if we start buying 3-4 more new players in Jan becuase we should have bought them in the summer.

To the people who keep saying this is a transitional period. Yes I agree with you but how is keeping over the hill players that are only being kept beucase of old sentiments and a worryingg amount of player power becuase of Jose untouchable's policy/ When Manchester United go through a transitional period they actually sell the old and get the new immeaditly and not playing soo poorly they could actually drop out of the top four. We should having been doing this for a few years. But our insistence of keeping the same players for as long as possible (for example with some people wanting Drogba, Lamprd, Terry to all retire here) is really showing. This is may not be a transitional period, bt could be a complete collapse in our team structure and potential future prospects. We could be in a situation where we can't be competative anymore (or atleast getting poor results for 5-10 years) becuase we still have Jose's players clogging up the pipes - unless you go for a dramatic rehaul and spend lots of money to build a completly new squad, then you start the transitional period.

We are not in a transitional period, we are in a period of trying to cling on to past glories. A transitional period would be selling the older players, buying new ones (and promoting some from the youth academy) and giving them time to gel. When I see that 7 players who started today's match played under Jose and that five of them are over 30, we are not in a fucking transitional period. We in the middle of a thick swamp and we can't find a way out. AVB should have been more drastic at the start of the season and told some of the older ones to fuck off. But no, he kept going on about "evolution" and and not "revolution" - big mistake. We should have been evolving since 2008, but we have not and its caught up with us.

[chrismada9 1,948]

yeah i know i was just agreeing with your opinion

alright, fair enough

[cousin benson 76]

we never replaced ROBBEN!

[termninja 5,290]

we never replaced ROBBEN!

We did. With Kalou and Anelka later XD

[cousin benson 76]

Oh yeah that waste of space, Kalou!

[Naked Mole Rat 437]

The best manager is one who can bring the best out of his players, not one who implements a system that requires whole new players. It's still early, but clearly, AVB hasn't brought out the best in his players yet. Instead, he's brought his fancy Barcelona romance thing to Chelsea, which is the total opposite of what we had been doing for so long, and now, our defense, which used to be one of the best in the world, is in shamble, and we're doing well only in keeping possession but not with doing anything useful with it. (YAY now we're like Arsenal!)

I can see how efficient it can be if it works out well, but with lack of discipline and teamwork at the back it's never going to happen. Those aspects of the team he completely ignored and it showed today. Half the time, Ivanovic and Luiz didn't even know where each other was, and Terry, Luiz, Mikel, and Cole tried to do some fancy turns to try get out of trouble instead of using their sense and clearing the ball away. I hate to say this, but I completely agree with what Neville had to say about our defense. (Not that it helps to listen to that asswipe when we're losing. Anyway, who the hell gets Neville to commentate a match between Chelsea and Liverpool?) Anyway, I'm not quite sure whether AVB does or does not have the right players for his philosophy, but either way they are not ready for it. He probably took a wrong approach of hurriedly implementing his style of football before he solved the problems we had since last season, and it's going to be very difficult for him to turn things around now in the middle of the season. In other words, I don't want to sound pessimistic, but we may be screwed... for the season.

[incometax 116]

Obviously no one is a fan of avb's work this season, but sacking him is just unrealistic at this time, and judgment on him should be after at least 1 season and a bit. The thing that worries me is how will we be able to sign a top talent like cavani as someone mentioned earlier in this thread when were playing in Europa league? I have come to terms with not making cl this season, but Christ we are so desperate for signings in certain positions it will be hard to attract quality. Avb and gourlay have considerable work ahead of them this summer, we will have to look at new targets that are willing to join a team not in cl. Possibly targets like de bryne and someone like gaston rameriez wouldnt mind a season w/o cl maybe. I just hope we don't suffer for lack of organization in the summer.

[Naked Mole Rat 437]

By the way, I feel kind of sorry for Mikel. That was a pretty big mistake and all, but it was Cech who unnecessarily put him under pressure, and that always happens. It's not just Cech, but with Mikel being a formidable ball-keeper, his teammates tend to rely little too much on him and put him in situations like that. He usually does well to spin away from opposition players, but it was always going to happen.