Squad balance and squad complementarity

[Peace. 4,352]

Well, I want to begin a debate over the balance of our squad, or rather its off-balance. My view on the subject isn't out of panic, and I neither mean we should fix all of our problems in this transfer window. No, I know that to rebuilt a team basically from A to Z (yes, from the squad whom we had last year, there's a lot more to change than to keep) can't be done in one year. On the one hand because economically speaking, we cannot buy ten players, and on the second hand, we cannot throw ten new players in the mix and hope it will work like on FIFA. I merely want us to discuss over what we could do in the near future, i.e. this summer (I believe we can sign one more player) and the next one.

And, on the same account as the squad balance, the complementarity of the squad is an important thing, into my eyes. Indeed, it allows us to adopt our tactics on how is our opponent's philosophy (whether they'll go full attack or park the bus), and change our tactics during the game (whether we'll need to run after the score, or to maintain our lead). Furthermore, I find we only talk about individuals, and make fanciful starting line-ups. Thus, I thought it would be interesting to see the bigger picture, to talk about the squad as a whole, and to talk on both short/long term. Since we are in the middle of the summer mercato, I thought it was the good moment to talk about it...

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To start off, I'll treat our squad according the four following categories : back-five ; central/defensive midfield ; attacking midfield (CAM + wingers) ; strikers.

• First things come first : the Back-Five. We currently have : Peter Cech ; David Luiz ; Branislav Ivanovic ; John Terry ; Garry Cahill ; Ashley Cole ; Ryan Bertrand.

If we buy a Righ-Back - which is likely the case with Azpilicueta - we will have a pretty good Back-Five, both in term of quality and quantity. Well, if Terry gets suspended, we might be a tad lightweighted, but, minus a serious injury from one of the other defenders, we should be fine. And, even if Terry and Cole are on the decline, I believe we won't need to look far away for replacements (Kalas, Bruma). Therefore, we are more or less fine with our defense, we will likely not having problems in the forth coming years, and thus, the defense shouldn't be a worry.

As for the complementarity/variety. I see both Cole and Bertrand as complete players (good at attacking and defending), at some extend. Plus, with the likely to come Azpilicueta, we will have a defensive Right Back in Ivanovic, and an offensive in the spaniard.

• Secondly, our Central-Midfield. That's where the worries begin, into my eyes. We currently have : John Obi Mikel ; Frank Lampard ; Portuguesh Hipster ; Micheal Essien ; Oriol Romeu ; Ramires.

If you only look at how many they are, it would seem to be fine, not the most over-crowded midfield, but fine. Although, when you start to look at the level... Ahem. When I look at it, I cannot help but think we are very much "ManUtd lool-a-like", i.e. a non-existant midfield and good wingers, to oversimplify. In my honest opinion, our central midfield is simply not good enough, quality-wise. But let's analyse each individual case :

• • Essien : I won't spend to much time on him, since I think I have well enough explained my point of view in his thread. But to put it shortly, I don't se how his presence could improve the squad, and how he could be useful.
  
• • Bad-boy-wanna-be Meireles : his tackling ability his just horrendous, he is so careless in his passing and he is neither build like a tank. The only quality I can see in him, it's is agressiveness, and a matter of fact, he is only useful when we need someone to chase after the ball like a wild dog.
  
• • Romeu : I like his abilities. But, he is a big question mark, I believe. There's Barça's shadow lurking around him, and I deeply believe he will be back to Catalognia sooner than later. So, while he could be a good option for us this year, I think we shouldn't count on him for next seasons. And still, for some mysterious reason, all of a sudden he didn't play anymore last year. In my mind he will be overlooked this year again. But this is really a shame, because I strongly believe he is the best option for the DM spot !
  
• • Lampard : For the past two seasons I kept saying he wasn't that good anymore, and that he was rather average than class. I don't see how could I change my mind, and I still stand by this. In my point of view, he doesn't have the attributes to be good in the double-pivot role. Indeed, I don't believe he has the pace and the speed it takes to play there. Plus, he isn't a very good playmaker. And finally, I do think that his will to go high on the pitch, in order to play more or less like he was playing some years ago, is dangerous : he leaves spaces and thus we are in jeopardy in counter attacks (he doesn't have the speed/pace to track back soon enough). If he can inhibit his willingness to do so, then he could perfectly be a utility player for this position. I only see him be good enough in his old role in a 4-3-3.
  
• • Ramires : To be clear, in my pupils, the only position which fits him is the right midfield in a 4-3-3, when there's two other players to help him in defensive duty. As for a role in the double pivot, I do not think it will work. If my memory serves my right, he was really bad for Brazil, when playing this position. And, in the double pivot you need a player who defends, and the other who takes care of the passing. Firstly, he can't be the second type, for obvious reasons. Secondly, he can't be the one who does the defensive duties. Indeed, I don't see him as enough aware in term of tactics : he will leave his position, due to his willingness to make long runs up to the box, among other things.
  
• • Mikel : As Spike a few days ago, somewhere where I don't know, he is a really good option to have when it comes to play the catenaccio or park the bus. But I'll be honest here : I do not think he is good enough when we have to play teams who park the bus, and thus when we have the ball possession (and for the vaste majority of the season, it will be the case...) He doesn't deliver the ball quick enough, which slows down the attack. Furthermore, he isn't agressive enough ! It doesn't really matter when we sit back, but, when we have the game domination, it makes us lose time (a time which can be precious).
  

So, to summarize. Out of six "denfensive minded" midfielders, three of them are either not good enough, or/and too old (-> short-term). For the DM spot, we have the complementarity in Romeu/Mikel. Although, we have to meditate over the Romeu situtation, to work out whether we can count on him in the forth coming seasons. That being said, I think we need a big lad who can impose his physical strength and his agressiveness. And finally, we lack a guy who can organize the play from deep. In my opinion, a big reconstruction process awaits us for next year in this department.

• Then, the offensive midfield / wings. We currently have : Eden Hazard ; Marko Marin ; Juan Mata ; Oscar ; Florent Malouda ; Yossi Benayoun.

In case Malouda and Benayoun : we are pretty much okay, both in quality and quantity. It makes six players for - at most - three positions, and Sturridge can also play there. The French and israeli won't last long, but KDB will surely be a part of the fun in a few years, along with some of our youngsters (Piazon maybe ?). If you look at the complementarity, we have it (to oversimplify ->) : the playmaker ; the pacy out-and-out winger ; the dribbler ; and Mata (don't know how to label him...). Furthermore, we have three experienced players : Juan ; Yossi ; Florent. And, even if they are yet to be used at the biggest stage, Oscar, Marin and Hazard have already a preview of the highest level.

I cannot see this department of the squad reach their potential this year. They'll need time to gel together, and to mature. Nonetheless, they'll surely do a good job this year, and, unless we make up too high expectations, they won't disappoint us. As for the long term, I believe we won't have any worries ! We just have to make sure of their succes, and react quickly if one of them - unfortunately - doesn't make it.

In case both Malouda and Benayoun are sold, I gotta admit I'll be a bit worried. Not only it will leave us short in number, but also it will leave us only with young players. One or two oldies are always good to have in the team... That's why I hope we at least keep one out of the two.

I believe a powerful player, à la Antonio Valencia, wouldn't be a luxury, but, I do not think it is the most urgent of our need, not at all. The offensive midfield / wings are pretty ok, and we should concentrate ourselves on the central midfield and on forwards (case which I'll tackle below, without transition) which are, into my eyes, a genuine concern.

• Finally, let's talk about the strikers. We curently have : Romelu Lukaku ; Daniel Sturridge ; Fernando Torres.

• • Well, Ima start by the most expensive of them. To make things clear, I do not trust him at all. He has been below each and every expectation over this one and a half past year. The probablity he will continue this way is much more likely than him being, all of a sudden, word-class. And, as a top club, we cannot fancy to build castles in the air over a striker who has more chances to go through a goal drought than to lead the goal-scoring chart.
  
• • Lukaku : I'll be concise : he definitely needs to go on loan for one year (at the very least !).
  
• • Danni : He is the better striker we have at the moment. The position which suits him to most is the second striker role. I see him a bit like Rooney. He gravitates around an anchor, and comes deep to take the ball and involves himself in the play. I question his ability to play has the target man. I don't think he will be good at it. He also can play as a right winger when we play with an attacking philosophy. He isn't good in the air, we should work around his speed/pace and agility (which means, balls in the feet, and through balls).
  

Well, well, well... This department is abysmally not good enough. We do not have a target man now Didier is gone. We neither have someone who is good in the air. And, we lack a poacher. Adding to this the fact we will only have two strikers for the upcoming season (I don't considere keeping Lukaku as an option) and the fact the two of them won't carry us : the first one because he has been poor for the two last years ; and the second because he his yet to be world-class, and is young, thus he will have downfall periods. Finally, it leaves us with only strikers for the long-term.

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To put things together and conclude.

Our squad as a bad balance. There's is a too big difference of level between the four departments I mentionned higher in my post. It will cost us a lot, I believe, because our team will be jerky ; it will lacks coherence, cohesion and articulation between the different sectors of the team ; it will lead to a dysfunction. The defense will suffer from the lack a quality of the central and defensive midfield. The attacking midfield will suffer from the lack of solution they have in front of them ; they'll suffer as well from the fact the ball won't come quickly enough into their feet because of the central midfield. The lack of balance put the team's harmony, the flow of the team in jeopardy. I neither consider the diversity and complementarity of the squad is good enough, especially up front. We need a squad more complete.

The back five should be the least of our concerns. The same thing does apply, more or less, to the offensive midfield / wings department. We lack a powerfull player there, but considering the general state of this sector, this isn't the most urgent of our needs.

In my point of view, the two zones on which we will seriously have to work are the following : defensive/central midfield and strikers.

In the central midfield, we desperatly lack, in my mind, a powerfull midfielder. A guy who lets speak his physical strength. A guy who isn't afraid to go to the clash. A guy who harasses the ball holder, and who only stops to run once he recovers the ball. We will suffer from this lack. It allows the opponent's midfield to run over ours, and we don't have what it takes to recover the ball quickly enough. This is the reason why I want us to buy someone of the likes of Tioté or Fellaini. I would love us to fix this point now, but, I would wait next year since I prioritize the fixing of the attacking sector. I also said we were lacking of someone able to organize the game from deep. But, for now, we can wait. Indeed, the quality we have in more advanced roles can compensate this flaw, and, if everything goes well, we could introduce McEachran there...

We'll have to radically recycle this part of the team starting from next year !

But, my biggest concern is up-front. And I'd like to put the emphase on it. We simply can't enter the season with our strikers department in this state. They aren't many enough, nor good enough. I am a deep believer of the importance of having a striker who scores on a regular basis. If your forwards fail to score, then you'll struggle to win games. Take a look at all successful teams in the short past : they all have prolific strikers. When ManUtd won three Premier Leagues in a row, plus the Champions League, Rooney and Ronaldo were on fire. During the first year of Guardiola reign at the helm of Barcelona, Samuel Eto'o was instrimental in their succes : if my memory serves me well, circa 35% of Barça openers were scored by the cameroonian, and the last man scored their first goal against Manchester United in the CL final. During the three brillant other years of Pep era, Messi was scoring for fun. When Inter won their triple, Diego Milito was instrumental. Last year, Madrid won La Liga with Cristiano, Benzema and Higuain scoring a lot of goals. Finally, did I need to remind any of us you where Didier brought us ?

This is why I deeply want us to sign a striker on form, a very good one. To hear Gourlay and rumours pointing to the fact we are working on signing a new striker appeases me. I really hope this is someone of the caliber of Cavani or Falcao. If that the case, we will have a good goal scorer in our hands, and a player who will put in the back of the net the products he will recieve from the Hazards, Oscars, Matas, etc... Furthermore it will add a new dimention to our set of strker : good quality in the air and a goalscoring machine (and poacher ?).

I know we have made a brillant step towards recycling of our squad (and I am grateful for this), with the purchase of Marin, Hazard and Oscar, and that it may appears to be rich to seek for another expensive/worl-class signing. However, I dread the fact we enter a nasty vicious circle, both on and off the pitch, if we struggle to find the back of the net. And, we gotta keep in mind that our creative department can go through a Bad Moment© : in this time, we will need someone upfront who can carry us. Finally, it will rebalance our squad.

Thank you if you have read til the end...

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Your thoughts on the matter ?

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P.S. To make a few things clear : Since it's the new trend to counter balance an argument by saying that X is basing his opinion on pre-season games, I want to make clear it isn't the case here, and I don't give a flying fuck about the pre-season tour ; If you're only there to make fun of people who don't share the same point of view as yours, and your only counter argument is "you are an idiot" or "you are pathetic", I invite you to look to post elsewhere. Thanks.

[Sheva. 5,373]

Fucking long, but i totally agree, especially about the strikers.

Just not confident enough in those 3, and one more example you failed to mention is Aguero firing City to the title last season.

[Tomo 21,727]

Fantastic article.

The adopting tactics is vital, as you said it gives us the chance to adapt to the opponents weakness and as RDM showed in his caretaker role he does seem pretty good at making use of his resources.

The defense is fine and now if Ivan needs to go into the centre again due to injuries or bans to 2 of our 3 centre half's, we don't need to worry about Bosingwa being there, even more so is Azpi is around.

You hit the nail on the head with the defensive side of midfield, the defense really do not get enough protection by the midfield, Mikel although i am by no means a Mikel hater, there are better options out there. I really do think we should ditch the double pivot formation and revert back to 4-3-3, we have players more suited to do it now. But regarding the defensive side of midfield, i really do think it will be a position which will be seriously looked at next summer once the flair players have settled. Would not be surprised to see Vidal here next summer.

Fully agree with your points about Malouda and Yossi, they are experienced internationals who have been around the block, that aspect of the game is really under-rated. If there is anything we should have learned from laughing at Arsenal's failed build a great young team policy it should be that.

Im not going to say much about the forwards because you have pretty much said what i have been thinking all summer.

There will without doubt be inconsistent results this season and i don't think there is much chance of league success this time around, genuine domestic progression, the world cup cup and if im being extra greedy The FA Cup (really don't know why that competition is downplayed, i love seeing us win it) would be a fantastic season.

The future is bright, as good as it's ever been, but the frustration's we have endured the last 2 years is not completely over yet.

[communicate 2,703]

I agree with your assessment especially in the double pivot position.

Like last year we have bunch of box-to box player who cannot pass.

I really hope we can get xabi alonso/Bastian Schweinsteiger type player before the season start

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

Defense---for me, i think that the scariest part for all CFC fans will be Defense. i mean when the time comes to give Cahill and Luiz the starting pair in central defense we will notice just how important JT is if we didnt already. Cole aswell, i mean dont get me wrong bertrand and luiz and cahill and whatever new rb will surely be 'good enough" but GREAT enough, well thats gona be hard as hell. it will be hard to cope seeing a back four without that soli and looking down the road i really do start to hope luiz calms down more and more cuz he wont have that daddy in the field (JT) being able to stick it to him. hopefully cahill pans out.

Midfield---in terms of short term, i think we are really set, a future core of mata, marin, hazard, oscar look like they can cause havoc to anyone in any position at any time. but hopefully a lampard (in terms of leader) emerges. i know what i've got at so far have been intangibles, and they can't be taught, there either in you or there not. i fear, just fear, that one out of those mids could let stardom, (presuming one reaches that level) get to their head.a rw/st is needed, and not in terms of a rw OR a ST but a RW that can play ST. like studge or Jovetic maybe?? haha but realisticly,

Striker---up front- well, i hope in future a lukaku-studge partnership could be in the cards. but torres just needs to go. its his price tag and attention that is holding us back from a real re-vamp. i understand we have to do whatever possiblle to ensure we get most out of that 50 mill but this transfer has screwed us over BIG TIME. lukaku shouldnt be mentioned till he's 22/23 , but studge is left in limbo. we all want that marquee striker however with torres and that signing alternating he's pushed back to rw. and most of us want him givin his fair shot at st.

i like our direction, and feel that board has done good job, but one of our attacking young uns may not fit exactly. i mean how would piazon and kdb fit after the all expected rw signing. one or two attackers will be let go i expect but that would be really down line.

[communicate 2,703]

Fantastic article.

The adopting tactics is vital, as you said it gives us the chance to adapt to the opponents weakness and as RDM showed in his caretaker role he does seem pretty good at making use of his resources.

The defense is fine and now if Ivan needs to go into the centre again due to injuries or bans to 2 of our 3 centre half's, we don't need to worry about Bosingwa being there, even more so is Azpi is around.

You hit the nail on the head with the defensive side of midfield, the defense really do not get enough protection by the midfield, Mikel although i am by no means a Mikel hater, there are better options out there. I really do think we should ditch the double pivot formation and revert back to 4-3-3, we have players more suited to do it now. But regarding the defensive side of midfield, i really do think it will be a position which will be seriously looked at next summer once the flair players have settled. Would not be surprised to see Vidal here next summer.

Fully agree with your points about Malouda and Yossi, they are experienced internationals who have been around the block, that aspect of the game is really under-rated. If there is anything we should have learned from laughing at Arsenal's failed build a great young team policy it should be that.

Im not going to say much about the forwards because you have pretty much said what i have been thinking all summer.

There will without doubt be inconsistent results this season and i don't think there is much chance of league success this time around, genuine domestic progression, the world cup cup and if im being extra greedy The FA Cup (really don't know why that competition is downplayed, i love seeing us win it) would be a fantastic season.

The future is bright, as good as it's ever been, but the frustration's we have endured the last 2 years is not completely over yet.

Last year we tried 4-3-3 but it did not work because we had a no 10 in mata, and now we have two no 10 so I think we will keep playing 4-2-3-1

[DDA 9,675]

This is a very important process that will define our next few season's and how fantastically written Peace. You really have managed to provoke a underlying issue most do not care to think about when debating the 'overhaul project' that the men behind Chelsea talk of.....'keeping balance'.

The Back-Five like you said seem's to be ok with no real issues having the balance of power, speed and skill, hopefully with the addition of Azpilicueta reinforcing what i consider as the strongest defense in the EPL. I won't go into too much depth about this area of the squad because Peace has mentioned all that could be said on the matter.

Funny enough the center of our midfield doesn't seem as much as a problem to me as it may do for most posters here. Something inside me, call it my 'gut feeling' says that Essien is going to have a significantly different season to the previous injury plagued years he has been forced to endure at Chelsea. All be it could be his last but never the less i really do think he is going to have a good season. Mikel is improving vastly and if Robbie can somehow sustain a high level of confidence in Mikel by showing belief and loyalty to him then there is no doubt in my mind that Mikel can become as important to us as Makelele once was. Ramires has all the qualities to play in the defensive midfield role and I hope to see him playing there this season when called upon. With Romeu and a 'seen it all' Lampard our central midfield possess experience, skill and strength with only confidence being the factor that could effect how these players perform this coming season. Having said this we must not forget that Romeu has a clause in his contract similar to that of Fabregas in which Barcelona could come calling for Oriol if and when they wish to. This would mean that maybe we should look at bringing in another defensive midfielder or two preferable young but proven within the next two transfer windows as we ease Essien and dare i say it Lampard out of the squad. Meireles, well his name says it all......

With the addition of Oscar and Eden Hazard along with the heart winning Mata does that attacking central role look at all fragile? Yes Oscar is unproven in Europe and it seems that everyone has an opinion on weather the 'lightweight' Oscar will be able to handle the brash physicality of the EPL and who am I to judge! After all I have only seen Oscar play in a handful of International friendlies and a two competitive Olympic games but from what i have seen so far I for one think the boy looks a real handful. If we can integrate Oscar into the CAM role in the preferred 4-2-3-1 at Chelsea this would allow Eden to work wizardry out on the wing. We should keep hold of Yossi as a squad player for the beneficial factors of experience and squad rotation throughout all competitions but for me I think Malouda has had his day and it is time for him to move on. Mata of course has experience in the EPL and this could be important to the balance of our attacking trio as he can show Oscar, Marin and Eden how to keep composure under pace which is vital in forming a penetrative attacking midfield to combat the crowded and organised defenses of the EPL. So wing wise we have Marin, Eden, Mata and i know some won't agree but Ramires who when forced to play there last season under Robbie actually performed quite well scoring that ridiculous goal against Barcelona which i won't forget in a hurry. He isn't a natural winger by all means and i would definitely prefer to see him as our ball winning mid in a more central role but his work ethic is effective on the wing. Maybe over time we should look at bringing in a strong and aggressive winger maybe in the form of Hulk but for now I wouldn't be too disappointed with what Roman has given us for the forthcoming season in terms of pace, vision and skill I think it is enough to take us to the top of the league once again where we belong.

The striker problem that is Fernando Torres has become nothing short of a debacle and the amount of times I have found myself willing Nando to succeed when watching him either in the stands or on the TV has weakened my belief that he will become the prolific goalscorer for us that he once was for Liverpool. Either way he is staying for another season and at least he was back in the goals for club at the end of the season and now for country and that is a promising sign for the season ahead. With Lukaku looking to go on loan Sturridge is another kettle of fish entirely, I just cannot work out what is true wishes are. Weather he wants to succeed with us as a striker I just don't feel safe with only having Danny as our back up forward going into the new season and this is why I think we should reach into our pockets and buy a striker in the form of Cavani now rather than leave it too late considering we don't have the Great DDA to rely on anymore. I say Cavani because he is a proven goalscorer who has experience in the Champions League and seems to deliver on the big stage. We are going to need a striker who can deliver in the big games because now we are European Champions every team is going to be gunning for us even more than they already do which probably means more defensive tactics and more walls to break down. Will and can Torres be the one to do this for us? God only knows!

In conclusion I think the foundations have been there for a while and with the summer signings I was crying out for Roman to make last season this forthcoming year or so could be the vital 'overhaul' in which we see Lampard, JT, Essien, A.Cole and Cech nurture a new Chelsea team on and off the pitch. Now crowned European Champions I believe they will feel it is their responsibility and the only thing left to achieve here will be for them to help ease the new guys and what already has been built here in the form of Luiz, Cahill, Ivan, Ramires and Mikel to leave a solid spine for many future teams at Chelsea.

p.s. Sorry If i missed out any specific players or formations to suit, I kind of run out of steam when editing the post. I will try and touch on other areas when considering how we can maintain balance with easing out the old and settling in the new.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

We definitely need another striker. But I think our pivot problems won't be that bad this year because I'm really digging Essien so far. We have Romeu and Meireles who can do a job in the pivot too so if they aren't utilized then that's a coaching problem not a personnel problem imo. Yeah, no one is world class but they should be able to do the job imo.

[Kezza 1,965]

Excellent Peace (exuse the pun)

To me the most important is the central mid field area, more important than a striker. Theres next to none in terms of link up play between the defenders and attacking midfield, which in turn leads to our only option of hoofing the ball up to the front 3 or 4. As we all know that doesn't work without a target man. Either we purchase a

player that can accomodate for this type of play, or the logical and ideal senario, purchase a central midfielder who can be the white stuff in an Oreo. Fellani would be my ideal player.

[Amblève. 4,995]

Good read, Peace.

The biggest problem I see, and I have been saying this for more than 1,5 years now, is our midfield where we desperately need new QUALITY players. Back in 2008 (when we had the strongest midfield I can think of, with the likes of Ballack, Lampard, Essien, Makelele, Mikel) we were an absolute force in this area and I fully believe that this is the standard we should be looking for in future. Three of those midfielders from 2008 were in their prime, one was at the end of his career but still one of the top players in his position and the last one was a very promising talent.

Now we've got Mikel (who's 1-2 years away from his prime), Lampard (who will just get worse), Essien (who should be sold ASAP), Meireles (squad player, nothing more), Ramires (who is very limited in regards of his position and technical abilities, thus it's very difficult to use him correctly) and Romeu and McEachran (two very talented players but their futures here are in doubt). So, we don't have ANY world class midfielder whereas we had 4 of them just 4 years ago. I know this is past, and I also know (like Term X once said) we should have strengthened our team when we were on top of our game, my only intention was to show up how crucial our situation is, as many Chelsea fans still think our midfield is good enough.

I really did expect us to look for a world class midfielder to buy this summer but when I saw that we were after Oscar I was, tbh, shocked. I know 90% of all users will go mad at me because I said this but let me clear things up before you start with your rage: I like him as a player but I don't like this transfer as Oscar doesn't fill our team biggest need. Instead of signing a world class player we signed another project who could turn out to be world class, but only in a couple of years, and is a CAM or RW. We have been witnessing the lack of creativity from our midfield for 1,5-2 year now, and we still haven't solved this problem. I can't see us doing better in this upcoming season because we haven't done ANYTHING to get better in this area of the game. You could say we'll become even worse as players don't get younger. Thinking of our double pivot I have read a lot of times that people expect Oscar to play alongside Mikel and therefore take over from Lamps. It's not that I highly doubt this, I know for sure that it won't happen this season. We’re talking about the most important position in the modern football game, so how on earth can anyone think that a lad, who has to bulk up extremely, get used to a new country/culture/lifestyle and league, learn how defend and to play in a new position, will be our messiahs?!

I’d like to go on, but I’m tired now. Maybe tomorrow. I just want to say a last thing: Our squad is far from being balanced (like Peace. already pointed out) and IMO it’s our midfield where our biggest concerns lay. Whereas strikers can be influenced by the rest of the team and jump on the bandwagon during the season and start scoring like crazy, the midfield is the part of the team where everything starts, every attack, every defensive effort.

[Madmax 9,219]

I think Oscar should be seen as more of a central midfielder than an attacking one.

Everything i've seen of him so far tells me he is built for playing alongside a more conservative partner in the middle of the park ( lampard or mikel). He drops deep to collect the ball and uses his poise and intellihence to dictate the play. He 's thinking two passes ahead all the time...let him develop the game while unleashing the flashier Hazard/Marin types to wreak havoc in the final third. To my mind we couldn't have made a better, more appropriate signing.

He goes a long way in addressing the balance issues the OP expresses. With him in the side there's space for the legs of Ramires, the guile of Mata and the flair of Hazard. I sincerely think we've hit the bullseye with this guy.

[BlueDutchy 63]

Excellent post. One thing you didn't highlight enough (imo) is the lack of diversity we have now that Didier left us. Last year we won against Barca for several reasons, but one of them is the lack of tactical diversity at Barca. They can only play one way and that is their 'tiki-taka' (or something). We managed (succesfully) to counter that and we end up winning the cup. In the whole run to CL victory we showed our tactical diversity. Our approach against Napoli was very different from the one against Barca. Didier gave us the options to change our playing style. Lukaku, Sturridge and Torres won't give us that kind of diversity because they are either not good enough or the playing style doesn't suite them (i.e Lukaku is in a way similar to Drogba, but isn't good enough to carry us like Didier did).

Furthermore, just an excellent and complete post. I still miss a playmaker in central midfield. I know pre-season doesn't say a lot, but everytime PSG pressed our double pivot the forward 4 became isolated. I believe that wasn't just an incident in preseason, we will struggle with that fact coming season. Opponents will notice that our double pivot is weak and they can beat us by pressing far up the pitch.

Last thing, Ramires can play as right winger as well (imo). He gives (more) defensive security and his runs will be less of a risk as a right winger.

[Django 83]

Good read but overly pessimistic in my opinion. For what we are trying to achieve, our squad looks pretty healthy from top to bottom. To win the league (which should not be expected this year, after all we did finish 6th last season) we could do with adding a more prolific goal scorer. But they don't come cheap and Roman has already invested heavily this summer. I think if we can secure 4th this year, perhaps bringing in a young-ish forward below £12 million before deadline day, we can be pretty happy and put the feelers out for an out-and-out scorer in that summer window, should one not have emerged from our current squad.

One thing that does annoy me though (not so much in the first post, but in general) is the negativity around players like Meireles and Essien. Both are international quality and we are lucky to have players of their calibre as squad players. If they were automatic starters, I could maybe understand, but we are never going to have a team of superstars. A lot of our fans put down what we have, and romanticise the players we do not.

[Peace. 4,352]

Fantastic article.

You hit the nail on the head with the defensive side of midfield, the defense really do not get enough protection by the midfield, Mikel although i am by no means a Mikel hater, there are better options out there. I really do think we should ditch the double pivot formation and revert back to 4-3-3, we have players more suited to do it now. But regarding the defensive side of midfield, i really do think it will be a position which will be seriously looked at next summer once the flair players have settled. Would not be surprised to see Vidal here next summer.

Thanks.

I am fully agree with you about the formation. Some weeks ago, I wasn't too sure about the formation we should adopt. But as the weeks pass, I am more and more growing into thinking we should revert to our trademarked 4-3-3.

Indeed, considering the set of players we had before entering the summery mercato, and the players we have signed in this transfer window, the formation which Mourinho has established deep down in our foundations appears to be best option. I believe the good old 4-3-3 is more suited to the current squad we have, and, the unbalance of the squad I have exposed in my first post could be significantly softened with this formation.

As things stand, I frankly see the 4-2-3-1 to be a risky formation to play in ; and I think we would be too many times caught in deadly counter-attacks, thus we would uselessly drop points against average/weak sides of the likes of Wigan, Villa, etc... As I said in another thread, the midfield-two we would play (no matter of the players who will play) is not good enough, and there isn't a player in front of this midfield partnership with a big enough volume to help them for the defensive work. As a consequence, the team would be split in two parts (4-2 // 3-1), leaving our central midfield outnumbered and exposed.

-> The conclusion which has to be drawn from this, it's that the midfield is unequally balanced between defense and attack.

To prevent this, we should, in my opinion, play two defensive-minded players, in order to keep a balance between attack and defense in miefield. I mean two players who will have for job to recover the ball and provide a cover for the back four. The 4-2-3-1 doesn't allow this, because it requires (to simplify things) a playmaker and a defensively hard worker. The 4-3-3 springs to my mind. This way, we would be able to play two defensive midfielders alongside a playmaker. As a matter of fact, we would have more defensive stability, and thus we would have a more or less good balance between defense and attack.

All in all, I still think we will have to work in irder to create a worl-class midfield, by : search for another DM and/or make sure Romeu is here for the long-term. But, the way I fashioned how should be our midfield, I believe it will be good enough for this year, and will allow us to wait next year to concentrate ourselves on its rebuiding.

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

^ basicallly why we need ramires in the starting 11 no matter what and his best position is in box to box so its 433 by default.

and i agree Peace and many think this......only not put as well as above post.

[communicate 2,703]

I think Oscar should be seen as more of a central midfielder than an attacking one.

Everything i've seen of him so far tells me he is built for playing alongside a more conservative partner in the middle of the park ( lampard or mikel). He drops deep to collect the ball and uses his poise and intellihence to dictate the play. He 's thinking two passes ahead all the time...let him develop the game while unleashing the flashier Hazard/Marin types to wreak havoc in the final third. To my mind we couldn't have made a better, more appropriate signing.

He goes a long way in addressing the balance issues the OP expresses. With him in the side there's space for the legs of Ramires, the guile of Mata and the flair of Hazard. I sincerely think we've hit the bullseye with this guy.

In term of attacking and bossing the game, oscar definitely can play as cm.

The big question is can he defend, we are not Barcelona who dominate possession which allow them to play with only one DM

[Strike 7,183]

Portuguesh Hipster

that made me laugh . Great article, mate

i agree with most of your views. the squad is not balanced. the centre midfield and striker positions especially. We have too many defensive midfielders and all of them average at best. Maybe di Matteo will realise this as the season begins and play Oscar in a deeper midfield position but i fear the damage maybe done by then. We need to upgrade the midfield from Meireles to Moutinho, in a manner of speaking. As Tomo mentioned, we need more players at the 24-39 age bracket as well.

As for the striker role, I don't see how signing Moses will make much of a difference seeing as he will be a back-up and will most likely be used on the wings when brought on. We need to sign a top striker. Banking on Torres to fire this season is walking a tight rope and a top club like Chelsea should know better. Daniel Sturridge is an interesting option. He has obviously got the skills and I think he will do good in a "Rooney" position (when he plays just behind Welbeck) but that will make Mata obsolete at CAM.

[royg 96]

Great article Peace! I agree most of your views and I fully agree with Tomo-91 that we should prefer 4-3-3 formation.

Basing on my observation during our US pre-season we were more lively and effective whenever we do pressing, and IMO 4-3-3 will surely accomodate our pacey players (Marin, Hazard, Mata, Ramires) to do the pressing and transition from defense to offense.

If we dont get another world Class striker then it will surely be a make or break season for Torres, with all the creative players behind him and no more Drogba's shadow then there wont be anymore excuse for him not to suceed. Roman will be closely watching him and preparing the money for January if Nando wont progress. 12-15 goals (1 goal each against top 4 teams or 5 match changing goals) and a bunch of assist would be enough justification til January.