Formation and Tactics Discussion

[mickaaa7 10]

-----------------hazard--------------

marin-----------------------ramires

--------oscar-------------mata----

------------------mikel--------------

cole---terry---------luiz-------iva

---------------cech

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

no. don't be fooled by a poor pre season. we played mereiles as a no 10 for god's sake and lukaku was our main striker all pre season long. these are not players who will feature next season for our team. not crucially anyway.

when mata, oscar, sturridge comes back- you will notice the difference in pace and movement.

Mata, Oscar and Sturridge will have to earn their places in the team again and then gel with the players so we will have to wait even longer.........

Meireles has played the #10 role for us before, he turned a few times and got a few passes off but I think hes much better as a box to box midfielder where he can pick up on the loose scraps and try and kick start a move for us.

[Strike 7,489]

the 4-2-3-1 is a poor tactic on the offense. What makes it tick is the double pivot and to be fair Chelsea were extremely poor in the first half of the Milan game as the double pivot sat deep. The second half was much better mainly because the midfield started to drive forward.

I hope we try other systems in the game against Brighton at the very least.

[Strike 7,489]

no. don't be fooled by a poor pre season. we played mereiles as a no 10 for god's sake and lukaku was our main striker all pre season long. these are not players who will feature next season for our team. not crucially anyway.

when mata, oscar, sturridge comes back- you will notice the difference in pace and movement.

this coming from the man who said that the 4-2-3-1 will work with better/faster players. Torres for Lukaku and Mata for Meireles wont change a thing. the limitations of the 4-2-3-1 system will still be there. Attacks will fizzle out in the final third and we will struggle to break down stubborn defences. its time to change the system

[HRiver 1,512]

Torres

Hazard - Mata - Ramires/Oscar

Lampard - Mikel

Cole - Terry - Luiz - Ivanovic

Cech

[KonohasOrangeFlash 2,607]

Torres

Hazard - Mata - Ramires/Oscar

Lampard - Mikel

Cole - Terry - Luiz - Ivanovic

Cech

NO MORE RAMIRES ON THE RW!

[HRiver 1,512]

NO MORE RAMIRES ON THE RW!

Why?

[Spike 12,049]

Why?

His technical skills make me cry.

[Hutcho 8,443]

NO MORE RAMIRES ON THE RW!

I agree with Konohas, i think, providing everyone is fit, oscar has to play ahead of him if we play a 4-2-3-1.... It's a shame for one of our best players last season, but has to be done i think. One of our best box to box midfirlders, but it doesn't give us much width and isn't his best position by far.

[Strike 7,489]

I agree with Konohas, i think, providing everyone is fit, oscar has to play ahead of him if we play a 4-2-3-1.... It's a shame for one of our best players last season, but has to be done i think.

Nah, Oscar is best suited at CM. Marko Marin on the right would be better seeing as he relies solely on his right-foot

[Waterfall 893]

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

Hazard----------Ramires

-----Mata----Oscar

----------Mikel----------

Cole-JT-Cahill-Ivanovic

[Hutcho 8,443]

Nah, Oscar is best suited at CM. Marko Marin on the right would be better seeing as he relies solely on his right-foot

Sorry, yeah i mean i would play Oscar ahead of ramires, but i would probably play Oscar at Cam and Hazard on the right if i was putting it in a formation, though as many has said to me, he plays there for brazil, which is good credentials, so may even play RW/RAM

[Hutcho 8,443]

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

Hazard----------Ramires

-----Mata----Oscar

----------Mikel----------

Cole-JT-Cahill-Ivanovic

If you were going to do that line up i think it would be better to swap ramires with Mata, so Ram can play in his best position, though i think that is too attacking, and would require a lot of defensive work from mata and oscar...

[GhanaBoy 104]

at last we can come to the coclusion lampard and mikel do not fit the bouble pivot. neither wants to deffend and neither moves the ball quick enough. we may have bought players for our attacking thid but the crucial part of the midfield is still lacking, and as such our deffending hasnt been great. I wish Robbie would use Mceachran and Romeu (ala Swiensteiger and Gustavo)as our new double pivot. Its no wonder our best performance so far ( Seattle) came with him in midfield both dictating and controlling the game. And we know Romeu is quicker in his passing and deffencive qualities. While lampard still gets forward and neglets his deffencive responsibilities, while Mikel even though 25 has not learned that when one goes up the other stays home, or ( Like last year)when Luiz goes up drop in to cover.

Pweople will say its only preseason but this was our fouth match while AC Milan this is their third. Plus arguably in our whole line up ( first half) we had players all fimiliar to each other over the year(s) with the exception of Hazard.

We are trying to move in a new direction yet we are stopping at the half way house ( aka Lampard, Mikel Essien Etc... ) As our slow labored play still constrives us to the past. As we all saw the new players and young once were the brightest and imaginative of them all.

And why are we playing Ramires on the wing? Were we playing Barcalona or was it AC Milan I saw. Love the guy but he is limited, and only works for a strategic required gameplan. Not the Wigans of the world. People need to put their sentimentalism on one side and remember its a squad game not my favorate eleven squad.

I thought thrugh out this preseason Robbie would show us something diffrent, change of tactics, formations , and his own brand of philosophy but in the end , nothing . I am quite dissapointed and so will Roman.

[Strike 7,489]

Sorry, yeah i mean i would play Oscar ahead of ramires, but i would probably play Oscar at Cam and Hazard on the right if i was putting it in a formation, though as many has said to me, he plays there for brazil, which is good credentials, so may even play RW/RAM

he certainly seems confident in playing in different positions but i think di matteo should tie him down to one primary position and use him in other positions only if needed. preferably CM.

[Hutcho 8,443]

he certainly seems confident in playing in different positions but i think di matteo should tie him down to one primary position and use him in other positions only if needed. preferably CM.

I agree, i think his best position with his range of passing has to be in the middle, but tbh i have only seen him play around 4 times before so am probably not the best to judge, but thats what it looks like to me anyway... Will be a great prospect for us wherever RDM puts him..

[Rahul Haque 57]

my first team barring injuries

cech

ivanovic cahill terry cole

mikel lampard

marin mata hazard

torres

beast team.

just need a back up rb and striker.

[GhanaBoy 104]

And also stop switching Oscar's potion. He is a CAM. and can play across the Band or " the three" not cm as people seem to think ( I believe with chance that position will go to either KDB or Mceachran). Let me sound it out loud he is the CAM and the creative outlet of the great BRAZILIAN NATIONAL TEAM!!!!!!!!!!! He also is been giving the #10!!!!! shirt for BRAZIL!!!!!!! Have any of you followed his career and his stile of play. Becuase if you have you would know he is the true #10 we have been looking for , not MATA. ( I think over the last decade Chelsea fans have not been treated to a real #10 that why when Mata apppeared we have come to the assumption he will be our pure #10) I asssure you with time Oscar will surpass Mata just like Hazard will. And I beg you guys to go and check out Mata for the U21 championships, early Valencia years with David Silva, and all his appearances for Spain . What they all have in comming is Juan Mata playing wide ang succeeding ( just like in the early days of AVB.. only flow was his deffencive work which has improved quite well) Plus during our run to the champions league he became missing as he is not a true #10 , rather a player that likes to play between the lines.

My formatoin: 4-2-1-3: Back 4: Romeu, Mceachran: Oscar: Hazard, Torres , Mata

[dee25 1,044]

And before anyone gets angry, this isn't any kneejerk thread or any anger towards any previous matches.

Do you think we should keep this formation or change it?, i think we should change it. With our current players we cannot hold a good double pivot.

Lampard-Mikel not good enough, that will cause problems. Any other alternate decisions are still not good enough, probably our best one is...

Ramires-Mikel, still for me this isn't good enough but probably our best one.

Maybe it's time to change to a 4-3-3?.

Hazard-Torres-Marin

Mata/Oscar-Ramires

Mikel

Cole-Terry-Luiz-Ivanovic

Cech

I think we need to change the system and with our current players possibly our best line up there. But i think we definitely need a new DM, and you've heard it before from me i want Tiote. And people disagree and think Mikels good enough, fair enough if that's what you think.

But what do you think about 4-2-3-1?, is it wise to keep this formation?, or should we revert to 4-3-3?, or any different formation.

First time posting on this forum but I actually agree with you 100%. So glad someone else notices this. The 4-2-3-1 would be an effective formation if we had a strong and solid defensive midfielder. I'll be brutally honest - mikel should not be allowed anywhere near the double pivot, yes he put in a great game against bayern and yes he's improved significantly, but in the double pivot he's just not capable of holding the midfield. It was just far too easy for the opposition to get past him and this risked exposing the back four.

Just look at when Essien played against MLS or PSG - the moment possession was lost he was on the ball, he created problems for the opposition. Mikel (bless him) just lacks this aggressiveness that's required to slow down a counter-attack. He's just far too passive, slow and really doesn't work all that hard. While his weaknesses might not have been too much of a problem when we played a 4-3-2-1 formation, however in double pivot he creates a huge gap between the defence and the forwards. If we're going to stick to the 4-2-3-1 formation then it is crucial that sign a quality defensive midfielder who has a good work rate, is prolific at winning the ball and can tackle well. My pick would be Etienne Capoue.

[communicate 2,703]

It isn't.

I discussed this in my new season thread, Mata can adapt into midfield ,more work rate more deeper. Obviously he's a free roam player but he can do it. Oscar even better for it in my opinion.

Where as 4-2-3-1 is 3 attackers, 3 midfielders would be much more suitable, because getting dominated in midfield is what could be our true weakness by buying all these attackers.

I highly doubt mata can play as CM. Defensively he is very poor and his natural tendency is to go forward,not sure about oscar.