New Midfield/Defence

[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 10,855]

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.

[Blue Armour 4,164]

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.

There's a big IF regarding Essien...

If Essien were to return to 100%, then I would remove Romeu, Ramires and Mikel and just play two attacking mids in front of Michael in the 4-3-3. This is because he can be the shield, and also bring the ball out of defense quickly.

We don't yet know in what capacity he has returned, and that's why we're in this dilemma. Ever since his previous injury, he seems to have lost some of the tenacity to break up attacks and win the ball back. That's part of the reason why we used to concede possession so cheaply last season.

Like Jaimin said, Essien can't just walk back into the starting 11 without proving himself.

The same would go for Gary Cahill. Him and Terry should have a good understanding from the England games, but the defense doesn't revolve only around the centre-backs. Also, its not fair to write off Luiz just because there's another option.

[Blue Armour 4,164]

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

Bosingwa defends like this:

With his back facing the attacking winger

[Naked Mole Rat 437]

Essien should not play RB, and him and Romeu can easily play together as long as Mata or another player is used as an CAM. That's where the creativity would be in our Midfield. Seeing as how Essien and Romeu are both solid DM's it would allow Mata to play very high up while our midfield would still be pretty solid with Essien and Romeu

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

Winger ---- Mata ---- Sturridge

What about this huge gap here?

-------Romeu----Essien----------

[Fernando 6,376]

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

Winger ---- Mata ---- Sturridge

What about this huge gap here?

-------Romeu----Essien----------

Depending how Josh does in his loan with Swansea, we could easily see Josh and Romeu in that double role.

They even did play in that role in the first Carling cup game.

All we will be missing is that LW, which I am sure AVB will figure out by the summer transfer window.

P.S. Can't forget about Kakuta. If somehow the boy finds his game back in France, then we will have to consider our midfield formation.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

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.

Offered more in 15 minutes than Ramires, Oriol, Lampard and Meireles did. Can't be that bad.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Offered more in 15 minutes than Ramires, Oriol, Lampard and Meireles did. Can't be that bad.

Parataxic distortion is a psychiatric term first used by Harry S. Sullivan to explain the inclination to skew perceptions of others based on fantasy. The fantasy is created in part from experience and from emotional stress.

I know we all love Essien and want the old Bison back. But to say he offered more in 15 mins than all of our midfielders is beyond exaggeration.

[warnie_666 1,081]

Offered more in 15 minutes than Ramires, Oriol, Lampard and Meireles did. Can't be that bad.

I don't see what he offered. No matter how well he performs from now until may. He should just go. Whenever radian has come back from his 6 month spell he has been good. Only to get injured for another 6 months.

[cujo101 75]

Chelsea need a RB, LW (allowing Mata to play central - Hoilett would be a good low cost choice) and a RW ( to give Sturridge competition - Krasic on loan with option to buy would be a good choice) Of course Hazard would be a fantastic addition but with the ever growing list of clubs chasing him, it could difficult to land him. In order to do this we need Kalou and/or Malouda out of the door.