Weekend reflecting, what now?

[ChelseaJosh 45]

My name is Josh, I'm 21 and a blues fan since birth.

This is my first post, so give me a chance.

Like the rest of you, I watched the game this weekend and I've got these main points to cover:

1. Our defence
   
2. Malouda
   
3. Torres
   
4. AVB
   

Our Defence

So with JT and Cole out, this weeks back four was always going to look a bit slap dash. And for the first half an hour, we looked awful at the back. I wish someone would tell David Luiz that trickery in the penalty area is fine, as long as it's not YOUR penalty area. Once or twice a simple clearance would have sufficed, but instead he tried to dart in and out of United's strikers. One slip up here and it's last years Champions League QF all over again!

Iva looked solid as usual, and was incredibly unlucky to give away the second "penalty". He's probably my favourite player at the club from the last few years. He is consistent and rarely puts a boot out of line.

Bosingwa was his usual self and looked very good up in attack. His high line playing style does worry me occasionally though. United play a very good counter attacking game and I don't like the idea of us having one defender down every time he bolts up the right wing.

I don't really have a lot to say about Cahill's debut. His tackle on Welbeck in the first half was fantastic (definitely not a penalty), and his dipping shot in the dying minutes of the game was only kept out by a great De Gea save.

Malouda

I think it's time for Malouda to move on. It's been rumoured for a while that we are looking to offload him, and I've been thinking it since the middle of last season.

At the start of last season, he looked amazing. Potentially our most feared player for half a dozen games. But what happened? Every time he gets the ball on the left flank, he tries to dart in and out of the oppositions defence and it is almost never successful. I think it's time to cash in on him, even if we only get £10m for him, it'd be money we could invest in a Hazard or a Ribery. I know AVB doesn't have really much choice but to play him at the moment as he's our only natural left wing player at the club with Mata now (finally) playing in behind the front two.

Torres

There have been a thousand blog posts about whether or not Torres is value for money. The simple answer is no, BUT, I do think he's worth having on the pitch. You can see how hard he's trying when he's on there, and if he was an attacking midfielder everyone would say that he's one of the best on the planet. His passes are excellent, his movement is very well thought out, and his commitment is very visible. One example yesterday was when he sprinted back to catch up with one of United's midfielders. He dived in and his tackle was absolutely fantastic, but naturally United's 12th man on the pitch thought otherwise and gave them a free-kick. No Chelsea fan can admit that they've stayed loyal to him for the entire past year. It's been hard, but I have warmed to him a lot. In a CTV interview the other day he said his greatest moment at Chelsea was when he was on the bench again Wolves and we were chanting his name because we wanted him on. It says a lot about him to me, and I do feel sorry for him.

AVB

Now the question every Chelsea fan is asking. Do I want AVB in charge next season, or is the prospect of a Mourinho return too good to turn down?

Personally, as much as I'd LOVE to see the special one back, I think AVB deserves another term in charge. Since José left, the spine of the team has hardly changed. Cech, JT, Lamps, Drogs, Essien. No-one can deny how good these players are, but it's not healthy to have players more in control of a team than the manager himself.

I don't like seeing Lampard dropped, but I do see the rationale behind it. Since AVB arrived it's been all about authority. He took pictures off the walls of past achievements and hasn't 'buddied up' with any of his players, unlike José with Lamps and JT. Though he is young he wants everyone to know that he is in charge regardless, and dropping a living Chelsea legend from the squad was the perfect way of letting everyone know who's boss. It's good to see a transition. It's not a pretty one at the moment, but with this summer’s transfer window opening, I am very interested to see who he brings in. I don't subscribe to the idea that because he's young and inexperienced, he doesn't know what he's doing. I've enjoyed the attacking football we've played this year, and if he can bring in a new defensive coach (like what was done in the past with our goalkeepers), then I think next season we can look forward to a totally rejuvenated team. With Drogba also leaving in the summer, we can hope to see Lukaku featuring more, and potentially Piazon who looks fantastic for the reserves.

KTBFFH

(and thanks for reading)

[termninja 5,290]

Welcome mate and enjoy your stay

Some good points mentioned.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Good read, some excellent points made (bar Torres for me. I have lost all faith). I think this deserves to be moved to the article section.

Welcome mate, and keep it up .

[Kez 2,727]

Welcome to TC!!

I'd bite your hand off for 10mill for Malouda, he's simply not good enough or worth that much anymore.

Keep posting!

[ChelseaJosh 45]

Welcome to TC!!

I'd bite your hand off for 10mill for Malouda, he's simply not good enough or worth that much anymore.

Keep posting!

I reckon he's still worth that much if we flog him to the right club this window. PSG possibly? He is French after all!

[Kez 2,727]

I reckon he's still worth that much if we flog him to the right club this window. PSG possibly? He is French after all!

I hope you're right!

[Sheva. 5,373]

Very good post.

[francozola 2,040]

I reckon he's still worth that much if we flog him to the right club this window. PSG possibly? He is French after all!

Unfortunately don't think he can go to PSG as he owns (or whatever) Dijon, amiright? Sigh.

Anyway, welcome! hope you stick around. Some very good points mentioned.

[ChelseaJosh 45]

Unfortunately don't think he can go to PSG as he owns (or whatever) Dijon, amiright? Sigh.

Anyway, welcome! hope you stick around. Some very good points mentioned.

I know he's a shareholder, which I suppose could be considered a conflict of interests if he played against them. I'm sure he'd rather sell his stake at Dijon to double his wages at PSG though!

[francozola 2,040]

I know he's a shareholder, which I suppose could be considered a conflict of interests if he played against them. I'm sure he'd rather sell his stake at Dijon to double his wages at PSG though!

lol I hope so. I'm sure Carlo would love to have him there

[Peace. 4,352]

Unfortunately don't think he can go to PSG as he owns (or whatever) Dijon, amiright? Sigh.

Yeah, Dijon (he "helped" in the Kakuta case).

[Steve 10,227]

Welcome to the forum, stick around and keep posting like that

[Owizzy 19]

Hi fellow CFC gang. "In this moment" it is not news that our darling team needs an effective surgical overhaul to be able to get back to the once formidiable status we had in the 05/06 era. Yesterdays game with MUFC (...name sounds like motherf#@#@..er), just lends support to this even further. Anways yes we lost because we didnt play well enough to win, even with the god of soccer on our side by giving us a 3 goal lead we couldnt take home the 3 points. I will give my assessment on the players in another post.

Now my major issue is this when will the FA start giving suspensions to referees who need 'eye operations'? Yesterday Howard Webb gave 2 unjust penalties against us and IMO he should be PUNISHED for that ineptitude. Both MUFC players who 'bought' the penalties did so by running into Chelses players. Blatant robbery not minding our teams ineptitude.

I am trying not to talk about players in this post but I can't help but ask Torres?, Torres??, Torres???, .... when when when?. When you were liverpoollian i used to praise you as one of the most effective finishers of the league but now.....? (this leave to ask you, Torres is it for your love for Liverpool FC, that you decided to go on sale and make the club 50million pounds richer, to rescue them from dire straits..... so you can go back and join them later?). You are really hurting us CHELSEA, if you have been scoring (which is what you are paid to do) we will have averted a lot of draws and losses and we will probably be on top of the table or @ worst runners up, but look at where you have put us now .... struggling struggling struggling.... I suggest you go on a mediation trip on the mountains in isolation and start to re-enact your lethal strike-dom.

[Melanicus 5,208]

Welcome!

:cfc: