More questions than answers

[BLionheart 516]

After our win against Newcastle i have wrote on article , clarifying how reverting to counter attacking football and abandoning the high defensive line has helped our team , the team is best suited for this kind of football and certainly not the possession game AVB was trying so hard to implement .

Another very impressive win , another clean sheet and another 3-0 score-line , but this time it was against Valencia in a game by the description of their manager that was like the final of the UCL for them , this team was a real challenge for the mighty Madrid a week or so ago but wasn't able to cope with the speed , unity , tactical excellence and experience chelsea showed yesterday.

Those tactics will surely help us get back on track and will certainly save our season , only now the fans think we stand a good chance against the likes of city but with our old tactics this season we knew we would have been thrashed against city , BUT didn't AVB stress more than once that he won't abandon his attacking philosophy ?

Is this plan just temporary till we get the players that suit the more fluid , attacking game AVB and Roman are looking for ? if so then why is 33 years old Drogba starting instead of 7 years younger Torres while we all know he is more likely to leave in 2012 shouldn't we be building for the future ? We know anelka and alex are leaving but are Obi Mikel , Kalou and Malouda who are mostly unused leaving as well ?

I fear that it's not gonna be easy to revert back to the high defensive line and possession game even if we add 2 or 3 more players , a bigger problem will be to get this very comfortable defense of DL , JT , Iva and Ash to play with a high line while they are getting the job done perfectly using a deep one , it won't be easy getting Sturridge to adjust his game to receive the ball in the final third while he thrives on the space he has when receiving the ball earlier , Ramires is definitely not gonna be comfortable playing the possession game while his biggest weakness is his 1st touch and passing game , my point is a winning team might be so comfortable using their winning tactics that they won't welcome a change of those tactics .

There are a lot of questions still to be answered about the future of this team , but AVB is certainly building a great team and even if he is using Drogba right now instead of Torres but he is certainly trying to get the best results while keeping an eye on the future as we have seen Romeu , Luiz , Sturridge , Mata and Ramires all being very important players in AVB plans.

[DYC. 7,542]

It would take years to transform into a possession football team as we need a new team and that team would need years of getting used to each other and develop the needed (telepathic) understanding.

Personally I would prefer a Madrid-ish approach. A far more direct approach but not sitting as deep as we did yesterday, though it's probably necessary with the current squad.

We still have a lot of work to do though. Even though we won 3-0 yesterday, that was just one game. Not trying to be a kill-joy but we were very effective in the first half and punished the mistakes made by Valencia (Valencia also played a high line which played right into our cards). But we were very sloppy yesterday and you won't always be allowed to be that sloppy and still win. And we were too dependent on Drogba, who put in a great performance. Again, Drogba won't always be able to perform like he did yesterday. Throughout the game he had too little support and we were only allowed to sit that deep as a team because of the early goal.

So yeah, still a lot of work to do.

[BLionheart 516]

It would take years to transform into a possession football team as we need a new team and that team would need years of getting used to each other and develop the needed (telepathic) understanding.

Personally I would prefer a Madrid-ish approach. A far more direct approach but not sitting as deep as we did yesterday, though it's probably necessary with the current squad.

We still have a lot of work to do though. Even though we won 3-0 yesterday, that was just one game. Not trying to be a kill-joy but we were very effective in the first half and punished the mistakes made by Valencia (Valencia also played a high line which played right into our cards). But we were very sloppy yesterday and you won't always be allowed to be that sloppy and still win. And we were too dependent on Drogba, who put in a great performance. Again, Drogba won't always be able to perform like he did yesterday. Throughout the game he had too little support and we were only allowed to sit that deep as a team because of the early goal.

So yeah, still a lot of work to do.

This is just our 2nd game with this new philosophy under AVB , so the players will definitely get more used to it ... in fact my main concern is that they might get too used to it that it won't be comfortable for them when the time comes to switch back to AVB's more fluid , attacking approach .

[DYC. 7,542]

This is just our 2nd game with this new philosophy under AVB , so the players will definitely get more used to it ... in fact my main concern is that they might get too used to it that it won't be comfortable for them when the time comes to switch back to AVB's more fluid , attacking approach .

I think he realises that's it just not possible to play that way and win trophies with the current squad. It will really take a while before we get ther. Arsenal for example were still a team at their most dangerous on the break in the Henry, Bergkamp, Pires etc. days and became a possession football side when the new generation took over.

We'll just have to wait and see.

[Madmax 9,219]

It was vintage Chelsea from 05 wasn't it? Terry looked a transformed player once returned to a low block, able to see the play take place in front of him, not having to run backwards towards our own goal; clearing everything out of the way with authority. Oriol was great at breaking up play, constantly snapping at the heels of the man in possession. Drogba leading the line like only he can, showing yet again that when up for it, he's still the ultimate centre forward.

[manpe 10,855]

I don't know what all the fuss is about this "joga bonito", why is it so important... Abramovich wants entertaining brand of football but why? To be as famous as Barca? Fuck that, we will merely be seen as wannabe barca copycats... Why not implement a new brand of football, which would see teams copying us instead? I as a fan want what's the best for the team, and if it means playing """""""""boring"""""""" but effective football, then so be it.

[GodZola 630]

I said a couple of weeks back that AVB needed to go back to basics a little which we definitely saw last night, he set the team up with the way that most of the players are comfortable with & got the result his selection, formation & tactics deserved.

I don't see us playing this way for the remainder of the season as I think AVB will now choose certain games to play this way to get a result & play entertaining, attacking possession football in games where he knows we can win. Afterall he has repeatedly said its a '3 year project' so I think he is going to change the squad with a few changes in the next 2 or 3 maybe 4 transfer windows to acquire the players he needs to play 'sexy football' whilst chipping away at the players at the training ground to get them to play to his style & the way his boss wants! Me too I might add!!!

[Joker10 946]

I don't know what all the fuss is about this "joga bonito", why is it so important... Abramovich wants entertaining brand of football but why? To be as famous as Barca? Fuck that, we will merely be seen as wannabe barca copycats... Why not implement a new brand of football, which would see teams copying us instead? I as a fan want what's the best for the team, and if it means playing """""""""boring"""""""" but effective football, then so be it.

attacking football /=/ Barca lol.

[Kostas 1,468]

3 games in and I'm still as baffled as I was after the Newcastle game. I'm neither sure what AVB has on his mind nor what should happen.

On the one hand, I was truly surprised with how Terry went from having one of the worst performances I've seen from him against Liverpool to being a beast against Newcastle and Valencia (nevermind last night's goal). The gap between those performances was so intense and telling that they could possibly change AVBs mindset regarding the current squad capabilities. Moreover the onefootedness and poor tenchnique (lack of agility in the case of Lamps) displayed by some of our midfielders when under pressure raises even more question and obstacles in the attempts to change our play. Currently our midfield can have potentially as many issues with the highline and the possession play as our defense thus a simple nailing down of our best CBs is not going to do much in terms of improving the overall teamplay.

On the other hand, AVB keeps bluffing about staying faithful to a philosophy and with Didier probably leaving in summer or earlier he'll have to either stick to his guns or do what every manager before him did, which would defeat the purpose of hiring him.

Unfortunately the City game wasn't one for tactical analysis and I'm still unsure about whether us dropping back is instructed by AVB or simply an in-game reaction by the players (mainly the defenders).

[Hd123 5]

Winning football is best football. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how you get the points. If AVB is half as smart as I give him credit for, he should have realized by now. He is the manager and not roman.

Deep defensive line = the key forward

[strong centreback 157]

At the moment it seems that the high line has gone and like AVB said a medium block is in but with the defence taking it upon them selves to drop deeper if necessary, in the short term the high line wont be back id expect over the next few years for it to be a touch further forward than it is currently as the players either adapt or are replaced, and the attacking football to develop as well.

We have to remember that AVB has only been here 6 months or so yet, he is working with a team he has inherited which is still largely mourinhos and only recently has started to have investment in it (ramires luiz torres etc) so there is work to be done before it starts to fire on all cylinders, but from what we have seen when it does work, it is going to be something special, lets just hope the club gives him the time (which I think they will) to perform the overhaul of the mourinho philosphy in the team to his way of playing.

[Henrique 9,133]

Honestly at the moment Im concerned about results and about new players being used.

We only have 4 players from Mourinho days playing as a starting XI in last games: Cole, Cech, Terry and Didier. We have results and a different squad on the field. Thats fine for me.

[strong centreback 157]

Honestly at the moment Im concerned about results and about new players being used.

We only have 4 players from Mourinho days playing as a starting XI in last games: Cole, Cech, Terry and Didier. We have results and a different squad on the field. Thats fine for me.

Basically the spine of the team, and likely to be the players that AVB will need to jettison in order to bring his style of play to the club (except maybe cech).

[Hd123 5]

Why do we need to "jettison" perfectly good players because of some silly style we want to play? If we want to play anything like barca, we need to spend another 100m+ unless AVB can come up with 9 other 5m players as capable in their roles as Romeu is.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Honestly at the moment Im concerned about results and about new players being used.

We only have 4 players from Mourinho days playing as a starting XI in last games: Cole, Cech, Terry and Didier. We have results and a different squad on the field. Thats fine for me.

Yes, that is pleasing me also. Soon the core of the squad will shift from Terry and Didier to Romeu, Ramires and Sturridge.