A striking partnership?

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

I think that every Chelsea supporter knows that there is one thing that Chelsea sincerely lacks. Creativity. Both in terms of tempo, where we simply play so slow and every player takes 5 minutes and 20 touches before making their next move. And in terms of creative passing, we never seem to give a good pass that can split a defence and allows a striker a chance to score a goal. When you play a system like 4-3-3 where you have just one centre forward, it’s vital that you have a good amount of creativity from the midfield and wings.

At the moment it is not the case and clearly shows with our Strikers. Torres either has to come into the midfield or out wide to just to get a sniff of the ball and to try and create chances himself (when he is not missing sitters) and Lukaku will be the same too, most strikers need service and he is no exception. Even if you think Drogba is the type of striker who can do something on his own, he clearly has lost a lot of that apparent ability and looks uninterested most of the time. It’s awkward when you rely on a near 34 year old Lampard to get a lucky chance to slip one in. And even though Sturridge has scored 10 goals even though playing out wide, he has a tendency to be anonymous after that, which was shown especially against Norwich where he was lucky to play the full 90 minutes. Even though we brought Mata who is the only one who seems to be able to do a remotely good pass forward, the 4-3-3 is forcing him to play wide even though he prefers and naturally wants to be more central of the field to influence games. I'm starting to think that other teams know that if they can force Mata to stay wide, then he has far less influence.

Since it looks like the manager has no intention of buying more players that can perform and have the ability to play more creative football, and that leads to our strikers not being a threat they can be on their own. I think we need to ditch the 4-3-3 formation to play a formation that has two strikers playing in a partnership. Whether it is 4-4-2, 4-3-1-2, 4-2-2-2 will not be discussed here, but when done right a strike partnership can make up for a lack of creativity. You can easily see this with Norwich between Grant Holt and Steve Morrison. Despite having no expensive world class players, the partnership between these two puts us to shame. They were creating chances for each other, finding space for each other, putting them on for goal, all while at a high tempo. Even though they were playing a rigid 4-4-2 system that was more about stopping Chelsea scoring. The partnership between Holt and Morrison made Norwich more threatening on the attack then Chelsea most of the time. If we can't get our midfielders and wingers to play anywhere near like that with the one striker, we surely must try two strikers that can feed off each other.

Of course if we do decide to go for this, you can't just play any two strikers and expect it to work. Each striker reacts different to certain strikers, playing better with certain partners and worse with other types. The problem for Chelsea is that since 2004 we he have almost always played with just one striker, mostly it being Drogba, if another striker (like Anelka and Sturridge) is on the field they are always forced out wide in the 4-3-3 system. The last time we really had a striker partnership was when Carlo went 4-4-2 and put Torres and Anelka together, and even though it showed signs that they could work together, was only used for a few games before we went back to 4-3-3. So who should be partnered up on the field?

I will get it out of the way by stating that Drogba should be completely excluded from this. For the simple fact is that strike partnerships never work with him. It involves both sharing the attacking spot light which is not in Drogba's DNA, he simply will not accept having a partner and his big personality will push the other striker out and become mainly useless. When Carlo partnered up Drogba and Anelka upfront in diamond, Drogba was mostly centre staged and forced Anelka out wide or midfield. We need the two strikers to work together, not simply for one having to do what the other wants him to do. Otherwise we don't get a dynamic attacking force going and instead be almost like the current predicament we are in now. And with Drogba being slow, lethargic and uninterested most of the time but still demanding to be the main man, I fear this is what will happen.

Even if you think that Torres is done and is just getting poor excuses with the lack of creativity and support argument. It has been shown (with David Villa and to an extent Anelka) that he can work in a strike partnership. Infect with his lack of confidence but having the knack to create chances for others, I believe switching to a system that uses 2 strikers just might be the thing that saves Torres' Chelsea career if we can get something dynamic like the Grant and Holt partnership going. For Lukaku it’s still unknown how well he would do. From what I understand during his time in Belgium, he was mostly played in a lone striking role similar to the system that we use. With everyone comparing him to Drogba, the trait I hope he does not share with Drogba is the inability to work with another striker and try and force them out of position. However if he can work with another player then it could play a vital role in helping him settle in English football and help show any talent he has that decided was worth paying £18 million pounds for. But it may be the case that he needs the right partner

This brings me to the case that a partnership of Torres and Lukaku will probably not work. Since Torres needs to have someone who can be dynamic with him and can feed to him chances - it will probably be a case of Torres benefiting Lukaku but not vice versa, making it useless to start with them together. However, one player that would defiantly work with both of them is Daniel Sturridge. It seems that Sturridge is best when playing with a partner and not on his own. The few time we have seen him pay as a lone striker he looks completely lost and when on the wing, despite scoring at a good rate, has a tendency to be anonymous for large periods. When at Bolton and playing with Kevin Davies not only was he scoring at an exceptional rate, but the team seem to function well with him due to his pace and skills bringing others in the attack when not selfish. Of course that’s the main problem potentially stopping it working. He will need to lose some of the selfishness that has become a delight/annoyance for some. But we could see him not only helping the other striker with chances due to his pace and skill (potentially helping Torres find form or help Lukaku set in), but him giving a much full performance.

Of course this is all just speculation; football is not about what ifs, but with the team in dire need of something fresh due to lack of creativity. This might be the only way to get a more dynamic attacking force gong. Of course many here will have different views on who should partner who, anything must be better than the current tactic we are using, if only the strikers don't have to rely on the midfield or service. If two of the here strikers can have a partnership that works, we can make up for the lack of creativity. It would also allow Mata to play more centrally, giving us two advantages, so it’s worth having a go.

[manpe 10,855]

You can have a working partnership with 4-3-3, a la Lampard and Drogba... it's just that our Torres can't thrive on a player like Lampard, he needs a witty fucker like Mata behind him all the time. I doubt AVB will be changing his formation, he strikes me stubborn as a donkey.

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

Buts that my point, the system we use is so dull that unless we change the players the we have to change the formation

[coolhead23 1,146]

Completly agree with the change in formation as per the team requirements. One thing which really bring down the confidence in AVB is that he is not ready to try anything else and is hell bent on a formation which needs pace and creativity combined. At time AVB comes across as Wenger who is stubborn with his policies. AVB is trying to play the same formation week in week out like he doesnt have anything else in his bag of tricks. For me thats is worrying.

I completely agree on pairing Danny boy with Torres/Drogba/Lukaku because 1 he is one who has been getting goals (in form) and 2. He would fare well as a striker with an experienced hand beside him.

[zolayes 14,489]

square pegs in round holes or roung pegs in square holes. If we are to play 4 3 3 we need PROPER FUCKING WINGERS

[Henri 115]

4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-1111111 or whatever... it has absolutely nothing to do with system at the moment,

its the lack of being one team thats were the thorn is. If we would be one united we could

fuck up any teams. To many egos, me myself and i, or 2 or 3 other against the rest, or rest groups is

the problem which our coach has to get pass,

[LDN Blue 7,903]

It wouldn't happen until we get some players who are capable of playing proper midfield positions. At the moment we have DM's. For anything with 2 strikers to work we'd need players who can play wide while keeping a good shape in midfield. Ramires can't play wide, for all that he can do, passing and dribbling aren't his best attributes. Over the other side we have Mata, who'd move to AM which means Malouda comes in. Unfortunately, Malouda's too dire to start games, so we'd need a new player on that side.

Then there's the problem where we have Romeu, Essien, Miereles & Ramires fighting for one position.

[Slam Dunk 1,442]

square pegs in round holes or roung pegs in square holes. If we are to play 4 3 3 we need PROPER FUCKING WINGERS

So true. In terms of wingers, the era Duff & Robben would be called glory days. Loved having those two switching sides and running at defenders.

I think the days of traditional 4-4-2 at top club levels is gone, players are not defined by their position on the team sheet anymore. I'd call Mata and Torres a strike partnership as much as Hasselbaink and Gudjohnsen were, because the dynamic of the league and the teams within it are changing.

[Madmax 9,219]

4-4-2 would never work simply because it places too much pressure on the CMs, who in our case find it difficult to control the midfield even when there are 3 of them there.

I'd like AVB to go back to the 4-2-3-1 we've tried sometimes. Mata behind Torres and Malouda wide.

[KonohasOrangeFlash 2,607]

4-4-2 would never work simply because it places too much pressure on the CMs, who in our case find it difficult to control the midfield even when there are 3 of them there.

I'd like AVB to go back to the 4-2-3-1 we've tried sometimes. Mata behind Sturridge and Hazard and Willian wide.

Edited

[zolayes 14,489]

Edited

I dont like people editting other peoples posts , To my mind it isnt witty,its just fucking rude. why not just comment

[LDN Blue 7,903]

I'd like AVB to go back to the 4-2-3-1 we've tried sometimes. Mata behind Torres and Malouda wide.

Therein lies the problem. If Malouda was positionally more disciplined it would make it easier for Mata, but for some reason he thinks he has the ability to cut inside, shoot from 20yard and expect to score.. Which he never can

[DDA 9,570]

Just get Zola and Hasselbaink back up top. Would definatley start scoring more goals than what Torres and Drogs can muster!