New Midfield/Defence

[LDN Blue 7,903]

That's a massive 'if'.

I don't think he deserves to walk straight into the team just because he's fit now. Romeu and Ramires are pretty much the first two names on the sheet now, and for a good reason. That leaves the no.8 role where Essien's been played before (City away last year being a prominent example), with dire consequences. What worries me is that the manager in one of his pressers said we're not looking at central midfield (when asked about Modric), because Essien is due back.

For me, he is a standby option at the moment, useful for rotation and such.

P.S. If Ivanovic is still out for a couple of games, RB wouldn't be a bad position to play him.

I know, I know. I don't dare suggest that he has a right to walk in the team straight off the bat, he does have a lot to prove, especially after last season. However if we do stick to a hypothetical scenario, where do you see him coming in?

[Madmax 9,219]

I know, I know. I don't dare suggest that he has a right to walk in the team straight off the bat, he does have a lot to prove, especially after last season. However if we do stick to a hypothetical scenario, where do you see him coming in?

Then I'd be more inclined towards him as the holding midfielder. Ramires' energy and drive are too badly needed in that midfield and it's not something Essien could replicate.

[SeB 1,281]

It's difficult, for me Mikel has to regain his spot in front of the defense, he's too important tactically. Then Ramires is too important to be dropped (Chelsea is poor without him, Chelsea has never been good without a good Ramires for 1 year) and then it leaves the Lampard/Meireles spot.

I don't doubt Essien's passing palette, lateral, vertical, long or short... When we look at Scholes' "reconversion" in a more static midfielder, it's a good point to consider. I doubt his speed and speed in his play, we'll come to the same point as we are with Lampard at the moment

[Sheva. 5,373]

I want to use this thread to open a debate about Essien.

If he does recapture his best days, what position (thus, for who) do you all think he should play? We all know he's a renowned DM, but he's also got the capabilities to play ahead of Romeu. This means he might be battling Ramires for his position. I can never envision starting a game with Romeu - Ramires - Essien, it's simply too negative, despite Essien's attacking instincts.

If it were me, I'd replace him for Ramires. I like Romeu in the holding role, and I think it's unfair to take it away from him, Essien's got better qualities than Ramires, in my opinion of course.

Romeu's place.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Bosingwa defends like the ones on FIFA 12, he just stands there and sticks a foot out.

[Slam Dunk 1,442]

As far as our current midfield players go, we have 2 orthodox holding midfielders (Romeu/Mikel), 2 box-to-box 'engines' (Ramires/Essien) and 2 attacking central midfielders (Lampard/Meireles).

We have finally found some consistency in the holding position with Romeu, who, despite a slight dip in form lately, has been on the whole, very impressive in the position. We have Mikel as capable backup, and i'd personally argue that Mikel's absence from the team could also contribute to the anxiety we've been experiencing when 1-0 up and defending the lead, we miss his strength and calmness on the ball. When Essien was in form, he was the 'best of both worlds' if you like, calm and assured with a range of passing that could set an attack going immediately. Obviously it's unlikely that he'll ever rediscover that magic that we remember (i.e his performances against Barca), but he's able to cover if need be (I'd certainly play him at holding midfield over Meireles).

We've also seen how much we've missed Ramires' energy and dynamism in the centre of midfield. Arguably our best player so far this season, his pace and stamina is making him one of the first names on the team sheet.

This leaves us with the final spot, ideal for an attack minded midfielder, one of which is a consistent goalscorer and one that, in my opinion, doesn't add enough to a team like ours. I'd love for AVB to try Mata in the midfield, but, obviously, we don't have enough quality on the wings to change the formation of the team to a variation of a 4-2-3-1. If, for example, we were able to pull off a coup in signing a player in the mould of Eden Hazard or Di Maria and, to a lesser extent, Kevin de Bruyne, the dynamic of the entire team changes, with Mata taking the central role, and Essien and Ramires in the 2 'holding' positions.

One notable problem with a 4-2-3-1 formation, is I don't think Romeu suits a shared holding position particularly well. Having progressed through his youth career with two central midfielders in front of him and having the option of playing it either left or right, he is going to have to adapt his entire game. Essien, in my opinion, is suited perfectly. Thinking of City's formation, and how impressive Yaya Toure has been in that role, I think Essien (if he does discover his best form) could replicate this for Chelsea.

Essentially we will see the direction that AVB wants to take the formation of the team by the next signing, be it this window, or the next.

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

If Romeu continues to be our first choice holding midfielder, I think Essien should start playing as a right back. I honestly don't want to see both Romeu and Essien in the midfield because not only are we leaking goals, but we are also lacking goals at the moment, and it really wouldn't help if those two played together.

Shitty play 4231. And their creativity come from the AM, LW,RW,and ST. Looks at the goals they've scored this compaign. Then comes one if holding mids and is the Late runner in the box, I think we're smart enough to know who that will be for us. Soo what we really need is a true winger, end of discussion. Someone who will atract a double team (like a nani or bale) and also beat a man!! Cuz frankly lamps isn't pulling no tricks out of the hat, neither is mata or Studge, it's just pace and attackin position which is helpful but a real team needs a mix of both.

[warnie_666 1,081]

Essien is past it. Stop wasting your time on him. He will be injured again next season for 6 months. I would rather have Robben back.

We need creative midfielders not the box to box types.

[francozola 2,040]

Essien is past it. Stop wasting your time on him. He will be injured again next season for 6 months. I would rather have Robben back. We need creative midfielders not the box to box types.

Such wonderful optimism!

[warnie_666 1,081]

Such wonderful optimism!

Thanks for the sarcasm.

But I would rather pin my hopes on a young hungry creative midfielder than a has been box to box midfielder who has been out for 6 months 3 times in last 4 seasons.

Thats called being realist and looking at future...

[francozola 2,040]

Thanks for the sarcasm.

But I would rather pin my hopes on a young hungry creative midfielder than a has been box to box midfielder who has been out for 6 months 3 times in last 4 seasons.

Thats called being realist and looking at future...

I'm not 'pinning my hopes' on Essien. I too recognize that we need a creative midfielder and have been saying that for months as well. But it's nice to have Essien back. And like you, I am skeptical about whether he'll ever return to the Essien of old. But it's nice of you to simply write him off without even giving him a chance.

[Fernando 6,616]

Tittle contenders and CL contenders....getting a bit too early says me.

Even if we where to get Hazard and Goetze in this transfer window i will not put us in that category.

This season is for Chelsea to either finish 3rd or 4th. Anything else you are setting yourself to be disappointed.

My expectation for Chelsea with AVB in his first season was no trophies and 3rd or 4th place.

Second season an improvement of the team. Better game playing, and an improvement of position in the table. 3rd or 2nd place finish. With maybe one trophy going our way like Carling Cup or FA Cup.

And third season is when AVB should really brake loose and start killing everything.

I think that is a modest goal for a team in transition.

[warnie_666 1,081]

I'm not 'pinning my hopes' on Essien. I too recognize that we need a creative midfielder and have been saying that for months as well. But it's nice to have Essien back. And like you, I am skeptical about whether he'll ever return to the Essien of old. But it's nice of you to simply write him off without even giving him a chance.

The difference between Chelsea and Man UTd is Sit Alex immediately puts a player on sale if he sees any hints of the player losing his touch. We on the other hand keep our so called legends and keep giving them chances after chances. There is a reason why our team remainders same over last 6 yrs. I am not for giving a crock player a chance. He may survive till may but he has to be on the outgoing transfer list in summer. Sell him while we can get some money back on him. 3 times out for 6 months in 4 seasons. Even last season he was out for two months. We would be lucky to even get anything over 10m

[Fernando 6,616]

The difference between Chelsea and Man UTd is Sit Alex immediately puts a player on sale if he sees any hints of the player losing his touch. We on the other hand keep our so called legends and keep giving them chances after chances. There is a reason why our team remainders same over last 6 yrs. I am not for giving a crock player a chance. He may survive till may but he has to be on the outgoing transfer list in summer. Sell him while we can get some money back on him. 3 times out for 6 months in 4 seasons. Even last season he was out for two months. We would be lucky to even get anything over 10m

And further difference is that United keep a same manager, while we fires our manager after every bad spell, and thus new managers cannot really see what an old manager saw for a whole season....

[zolayes 14,489]

I really hope we keep AVB for the full length of his contract at least

[TacticalBlues 2,817]

I want to use this thread to open a debate about Essien.

If he does recapture his best days, what position (thus, for who) do you all think he should play? We all know he's a renowned DM, but he's also got the capabilities to play ahead of Romeu. This means he might be battling Ramires for his position. I can never envision starting a game with Romeu - Ramires - Essien, it's simply too negative, despite Essien's attacking instincts.

If it were me, I'd replace him for Ramires. I like Romeu in the holding role, and I think it's unfair to take it away from him, Essien's got better qualities than Ramires, in my opinion of course.

Yeh this is quite an enigma. Especially if you add Mikel TBH though he needs to come in and show AVB. Ramires an Romeu deserve their spot, and whoever he picks will be a great option. But as for now Ramires woul pip it.

[The Big Drog 1,110]

I definitely think a title challenge is out of the question this season. We are way too far off the pace to l;a credible title challenge at this stage, our priority in the league is securing a top 4 finish. In terms of the Champions League I hope we can beat Napoli, but over two legs it will be very tough and they will pose a very serious threat to us, if we do make it through I cant see us beating Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich, all of whom are on a completely different level to us.

Essien might help but at his age, with the injuries he has had, Im not expecting him to pull up trees. The defence is pretty shambolic, it's a million miles away from what it once was under Mourinho. We still aren't scoring freely either, Torres has showed some promising signs lately but to say he is "back at his best" is a vast overstatement and the midfield problem remains, Romeu is an excellent holding midfielder who should start ahead of Essien, Ramires offers a lot of energy, Lampard, though he isn't as effective as he once was, is still a goal scoring threat but the big problem is still a lack of creativity through the middle and the over-reliance on Mata to constantly single handedly create some thing, as good a player as he is, it's too much to ask of him, it also doesn't help that he is stuck out on the wing when he would be far more effective through the centre. He cant be moved into the centre until we find a decent left winger who can go past people (aka not Florent Malouda)

[YankinBlue42 72]

The only reason we can't say definitively that Torres is back to his old form is because he's not scoring, and the reason he's not scoring is because he's not getting service. He's doing everything else splendidly. Buy a winger, slot Mata behind #9 and watch the goals come.

[Peace. 4,352]

@ LDN : To my mind, Essien being a part of our starting XI this season is out of question. Even if he manages to find a form similar to his old self (not his self of last season of course). We shouldn't consider this option for the mere reason we are meant to be in a transitional season, and Essien is 30 years-old next year, so we should focus ourselves to play players who will have a long term role at our club.

At the moment, our formation is a 4-3-3 and I don't think we'll change that any time soon (at least not this year). So, there are three spots where Essien could play. The first one, is the holding midfielder spot. At the moment, this spot is occuped by Romeu, who - despite the risk of him returning to Barça - is a long term choice for playing this role (add to that the fact he is doing pretty well at the moment). The second one is the right midfielder spot. That's where Ramires plays. At the moment, Ramires is by far our best midfielder. Plus we have seen the influnce he has on our game when you compare our midfield with him and without him, that's the day and the night. Games after games he seems to be more influential, and somehow he is now the boss of the midfield. Furthermore, just as Romeu, he is also a choice for the long term. Therefore, we shouldn't break his dynamic by benching him at the favor of Essien. Which leaves us with the third and last spot, the left midfielder spot. This is a non-starter. Even though Lampard is far away to be great, we have to start him otherwise a midfield Essien - Romeu - Ramires would be dramatically way too much negative and uncreative.

To conclude, he could be a good choice to rotate the squad and thus to give a rest to our starters, but he shouldn't be considered by any means a part of the starting XI. And we should sell him in the summer while we still can get some money out of him and before we have to amputate his two legs.

[manpe 10,861]

The only reason we can't say definitively that Torres is back to his old form is because he's not scoring, and the reason he's not scoring is because he's not getting service. He's doing everything else splendidly. Buy a winger, slot Mata behind #9 and watch the goals come.

The reason why I'm not saying he's back yet is because we've said that 2-3 times before and got disappointed every time. I have my guards up about him, interesting to see if he can stay consistent.