Real concerns

[Rmpr 8,977]

Deep-lying playmaker would solve a lot of problems imo. While the Mikel-Ramires duo has performed admirably, a player like Modric next to Mikel would take a lot of pressure off of the 3 maestros and would allow them to do their thing without having to drop deep to get the ball.

The player who loses out would be Ramires as he would be stuck with substitutions and the odd start, but our team would be in a lot better shape with a deep-lying playmaker.

Although I agree (I have discussed it with Toronto already), it would not solve our width problem.

[Kieran. 6,317]

Although I agree (I have discussed it with Toronto already), it would not solve our width problem.

I don't think we have as big of a width problem as a lot of people do. We just lack the proper striker to take advantage of the width we actually have right now. Hazard and Mata do play fairly wide at times and can cross the ball extremely well. There was an article on weaintgotnohistory that showed Torres having two opportunities to score on Sunday thanks to our wide players (I think Bertrand created one and Hazard the other) but he made terrible runs resulting in wasted chances.

[Reddish-Blue 2,225]

I don't think we have as big of a width problem as a lot of people do. We just lack the proper striker to take advantage of the width we actually have right now. Hazard and Mata do play fairly wide at times and can cross the ball extremely well. There was an article on weaintgotnohistory that showed Torres having two opportunities to score on Sunday thanks to our wide players (I think Bertrand created one and Hazard the other) but he made terrible runs resulting in wasted chances.

Exactly. Torres has good link up play, passing ability..etc but when it comes to making runs in the box and his positioning, he stuffs up so many times.

I don't get why Torres doesn't make early runs, he'll either receive the ball, cause a save from the GK/score a goal or he'll be called offside. At least he'll get the opposition's defence thinking about his presence on the pitch..

[Rmpr 8,977]

I don't think we have as big of a width problem as a lot of people do. We just lack the proper striker to take advantage of the width we actually have right now. Hazard and Mata do play fairly wide at times and can cross the ball extremely well. There was an article on weaintgotnohistory that showed Torres having two opportunities to score on Sunday thanks to our wide players (I think Bertrand created one and Hazard the other) but he made terrible runs resulting in wasted chances.

No, it is not an attacking width problem, it is defensively. Any width we look extremely vulnerable.

[Kieran. 6,317]

No, it is not an attacking width problem, it is defensively. Any width we look extremely vulnerable.

It was always going to be a problem by playing 2 defensively inept wingers. We could go back to a 4-3-3 with Ramires and Oscar on either side of Mikel for more defensive solidarity, with Hazard and Mata playing as inverted wingers.

[Rmpr 8,977]

It was always going to be a problem by playing 2 defensively inept wingers. We could go back to a 4-3-3 with Ramires and Oscar on either side of Mikel for more defensive solidarity, with Hazard and Mata playing as inverted wingers.

I agree, it would improve a lot. I just dont see any chance of RDM changing his formation, so we will have to solve it in another way. If we had players like Nani and Valencia (tactial wise), it would solve our problems, but we dont. We either sub Rambo and put Oscar there, make Hazard track back and play Moses or play half zone half man marking.

[didierforever 7,349]

Your post was stupid. Nothing you said in it had any relevance to what i had said. This post is better, still as stupid, but at least its on topic.

so u mean saying anything as far it is related to torres is relevant right? no matter how idiotic it is. saying that torres is better than sturridge is an insult to that guy. moreover u said torres puts an "effort"... well that is just lol.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

It was always going to be a problem by playing 2 defensively inept wingers. We could go back to a 4-3-3 with Ramires and Oscar on either side of Mikel for more defensive solidarity, with Hazard and Mata playing as inverted wingers.

I think it would solve one problem (lack of width) but create others.

1) Going forward, we really want Hazard and especially Mata running our attack and they moving them to the wings de-emphasizes their importance.

2) A serious lack of central midfielders. Right now, we have a big lack at one spot with just Ramires and Lampard to cover it. We'd move to having a lack of depth at 2 spots with Oscar, Ramires, and Lampard to cover them.

3) In the 4-3-3 with Mata and Hazard, our natural width would need to come from our fullbacks. This is what's happening right now, but that's due to personnel rather than system issues. The 4-3-3 needs attacking fullbacks which means more risk in the back 4.

My preferred fix is just moving Oscar back into the pivot. I think this would solve a few key issues

1) Width-It brings Moses into the starting XI which gives us naturally better spacing a well as some needed physicality.

2) Our biggest issue recently IMO has been in the double pivot. It's solid defensively but doesn't create anything, can't control the tempo of a game, and moves the ball too slowly and predictably. Having Oscar as a real deep-lying midfielder there would change that.

3) Combine the above two and it creates many different ways to score. Our main way to score has been on set plays This change would allow us to score more from crosses from Moses, from long balls from Oscar as well as the usual magic from Mata and Hazard.

[Kieran. 6,317]

I think it would solve one problem (lack of width) but create others.

1) Going forward, we really want Hazard and especially Mata running our attack and they moving them to the wings de-emphasizes their importance.

2) A serious lack of central midfielders. Right now, we have a big lack at one spot with just Ramires and Lampard to cover it. We'd move to having a lack of depth at 2 spots with Oscar, Ramires, and Lampard to cover them.

3) In the 4-3-3 with Mata and Hazard, our natural width would need to come from our fullbacks. This is what's happening right now, but that's due to personnel rather than system issues. The 4-3-3 needs attacking fullbacks which means more risk in the back 4.

My preferred fix is just moving Oscar back into the pivot. I think this would solve a few key issues

1) Width-It brings Moses into the starting XI which gives us naturally better spacing a well as some needed physicality.

2) Our biggest issue recently IMO has been in the double pivot. It's solid defensively but doesn't create anything, can't control the tempo of a game, and moves the ball too slowly and predictably. Having Oscar as a real deep-lying midfielder there would change that.

3) Combine the above two and it creates many different ways to score. Our main way to score has been on set plays This change would allow us to score more from crosses from Moses, from long balls from Oscar as well as the usual magic from Mata and Hazard.

I would like to see Oscar in the pivot too. He's got the defensive ability for it and could really control the game. When Oscar first came here, I think he said Chelsea's plan was to play him in the "Lampard" role. Whether if that's current Lampard or past Lampard, I hope it's current because I think he could make the difference in the pivot!

[Joker10 946]

Would like to see the return of Ancelotti Christmas tree formation personally, would believe our squad is very suited for that.

[RamiCFC9 258]

I would like to see Oscar in the pivot too. He's got the defensive ability for it and could really control the game. When Oscar first came here, I think he said Chelsea's plan was to play him in the "Lampard" role. Whether if that's current Lampard or past Lampard, I hope it's current because I think he could make the difference in the pivot!

In 4-3-3 Oscar in Lampard's old role is the perfect successor, it would be tailor made for him imo.Osca-Ramires-Mikel looks respectable.We need better crusher then Mikel but not main issue atm.

[communicate 2,703]

It was always going to be a problem by playing 2 defensively inept wingers. We could go back to a 4-3-3 with Ramires and Oscar on either side of Mikel for more defensive solidarity, with Hazard and Mata playing as inverted wingers.

Nah it won't change anything. Oscar natural game is to go forward and play as no 10 so he will stay higher than ramires and we are back to 4231

[TheCount 146]

so u mean saying anything as far it is related to torres is relevant right? no matter how idiotic it is. saying that torres is better than sturridge is an insult to that guy. moreover u said torres puts an "effort"... well that is just lol.

No it was stupid because you didnt explain why you thought i was wrong, you just made a really poor attempt at mocking me instead with things i'd never said or suggested. So yea it was stupid and not relevant.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

I was listening to Owen Coyle talk about Sturridge today on a football show on SkySports (forgot the name now. Something like The Football Presents Show)

He was making a very good example for Sturridge. He hasn't been given the platform to play down the middle & even had a run of games. When he was asked to play on the right of that front 3 he was very professional in doing so.

He is a defenders nightmare because he's so quick off the mark, to show such an immediate burst of acceleration with ball control is so hard and he makes it look like child's play almost. He deserves his chance down the middle.

Just look at Walcott as an example. He's been raging on forever about wanting to play through the middle and when Wenger gave him the platform to do so he's been on the form of his life. I still think he's an average footballer, but he's excelling in the center-forward position that he's been rewarded.

I don't buy this notion about Sturridge's bad attitude. I believe he truly deserves his chance up-front and it's very frustrating to see he isn't getting it. He should move to save his own career because it's crazy to think we're using Torres as our forward, despite his poor-continuous-form. Sturridge deserves his chance, he deserves a consecutive run of games up-front like Torres has.

[kellzfresh 7,226]

Deep-lying playmaker would solve a lot of problems imo. While the Mikel-Ramires duo has performed admirably, a player like Modric next to Mikel would take a lot of pressure off of the 3 maestros and would allow them to do their thing without having to drop deep to get the ball.

The player who loses out would be Ramires as he would be stuck with substitutions and the odd start, but our team would be in a lot better shape with a deep-lying playmaker.

i made a topic trying to get people to relax and be realistic in where we should be right now and i stand by that i am proud of where we are, but we do have problems

Obviously, the striker position is a main problem because torres just obviously isnt getting the job done and needs to be in the right position so much more often that it's embarrassing, but i dont want to talk about torres. that debate is old and useless

A deep-lying playmaker is necessary for us and would help alleviate all sorts of problems. We need someone who starts attacks and makes plays from there. we need a playmaker in the double pivot. I think that once rami and mikel get the ball, our 3 attacking midfielders have to come too deep to receive the ball and then just dribble up towards the opposing defenders. by the time we get in to really attacking positions, the defense is already set and we dont have too much to do. I think this is why we have had problems creating chances.

if we had someone who could really pass and even find a killer pass from deep, it would make us so much less predictable and the 3 attacking midfielders could stay higher up the pitch. We have to transition from defense to attack faster for us to be more successful and we cant do that with mikel and rami in there. as much as i love them and know that they are giving great individual performances, we need another type of player to help how the team plays. Once of the 3 maestros drops deep to get the ball it creates a problem. we dont have enough options to pass the ball forward. the opposition has enough people back they can man mark or even double team players.

i think teams have started to figure out that if they pressure our double pivot and make them get rid of quickly then it greatly reduces our chances of attacking successfully. if they continuously press them, then hazard, mata, and oscar have to come deeper quicker and therefore eventually stay deeper in general during the game.

The last thing is that we should start to press higher up the field. if we do this right, we can win the ball higher up the pitch and counter a lot faster. i think moses would help a lot in this sense because he is built for the counter and he would be a great outlet for it. this will also allow our 3 attackign midfielders to stay in a more natural and attacking position. this is my view on it anyways and i think that kdb would be perfect for the double pivot so i dont want us to buy anyone else for. oscar could do the job there now too.

Good analysis guys.

This is the reason we are not a complete attacking force.

I posted before that most big attacking teams have this.

Barca - xavi

Madrid - alonso, modric

Bayern - schwienstieger

Juventus - pirlo

Manutd - scholes

Chelsea - ??

This is why I've suggested fernadinho will solve this problem at a cheap price.

We don't have those type of players for years, so like u said our attacking players have to come back to collect the ball and it reduces the bodies up front.

Another solution is if RDM can try oscar in the pivot against bottom teams FOR NOW, bcos he has modric qualities in him. Maybe it can help solve that issue, after all scholes is a worse tackler than oscar.

I'm sure fegurson will play oscar with carrick if he was in manutd.

Oscar. Mikel

Moses. Mata. Hazard

Torres

I wish we can see this against teams like norwich.

A true defensive playmaker like fernadinho will help our possesion game massively and give defence splitting passes like he did against us.

[RamiCFC9 258]

There is a statistic table wich shows that in every PL game which we had more possession than the opponent we've won.And what is RDM doing ? Setting the team deep to defend and play on counters (against average teams like Shakhtar, Liverpool, Swansea) ... brilliant manager.Pep can't come soon enough.

[didierforever 7,349]

No it was stupid because you didnt explain why you thought i was wrong, you just made a really poor attempt at mocking me instead with things i'd never said or suggested. So yea it was stupid and not relevant.

u need an explaination to know y torres has been shit? or do u need an explanation on y sturridge is still unused this season. your comment was totally torres biased. we are CHELSEA FC not TORRES FC, so for once think what is best for the team and not for the blonde bitch.

[TheCount 146]

u need an explaination to know y torres has been shit? or do u need an explanation on y sturridge is still unused this season. your comment was totally torres biased. we are CHELSEA FC not TORRES FC, so for once think what is best for the team and not for the blonde bitch.

Torres has been shit, but he's still shown more worth then sturridge. If you dont think so how about coming up with some reasons why.