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Townsend frustrated with Bridge

Former Chelsea midfielder Andy Townsend told Setanta Ireland that he feels Wayne Bridge needs to take on more responsibility when replacing Ashley Cole in the side.

The ex-Republic of Ireland international believes Cole's attacking impetus is sorely missed when Bridge steps in at left back and is happy to go through the motions rather than promote his claims for a regular place.

Luiz Felipe Scolari's side failed to impress in a 0-0 draw with Romanian outsiders CFR Cluj on Wednesday and Townsend pinpointed the absence of key players as the main factor for a disappointing display.

"They really did look tired," he told Setanta Ireland. "Even the players you usually expect to be full of running.

"It was another great result for Cluj but Chelsea are going to have to improve an awful lot.

"When you take Ashley Cole's ability to get into the last third out, Wayne Bridge is only ever a supporting player.

"What Bridge does is he's waiting on his heels to get a game and, when it comes along, he only wants to do a steady job for me.

"They miss Cole in terms of getting to the bye-line and Jose Bosingwa will do that all day long. And they miss Deco and Joe Cole to get the passes in and to sprinkle a bit of stardust over the performance. There was nothing there.

"The problem is the key individuals who play the Scolari way are missing at the moment.

"It was a flat performance, it was boring and horrible to watch but they haven't got beaten and are still in a very strong position."

What a pile of shite.

For me over the past 2 years Wayne Bridge has been just as good, if not better than Ashely Cole when he's been called upon. Only this season have I noticed Ashely Cole looking like the player he was at Arsenal.

The tactics Cluj used on Wednesday didnt allow us to play our flowing game, and many other teams who have played that tactic showed us up to be slightly lacking in imagination. I dont blame Bridge for one second for a below par game. The whole team was way off the mark.

So to single out Bridge as a player who's happy to go through the motions is laughable. He's showed he wants to fight for his place and is still getting into the England squads, so he must be doing something right.

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To be honest though, Bridge has shown a lack of ambition on deciding to stay at Chelsea and sign another contract despite it being apparent that he will never regain his first 11 place taken by Ashley. That's fine in itself, but I can see why he might not try as hard as he used to in games.

Still it's not as all bad as Townsend is trying to suggest. Bridge had a poor first half, but once he came to grips with what Cluj were doing to hold him back he played quite well I thought.

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I really dont take any notice of Townsends ramblings. Ok he played for us, but he seems bitter that he was trophyless or something, and never fails to cunt Chelsea off when on ITV.

that's exactly how i feel about him <_<

Edited by terry26
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He chats bollocks, Bridge always plays well when he fills in at left back sometimes he plays better than Cole.

The way Scolari plays suits Cole better because he is a more attacking defender.

Pretty much everyone had a bad game the other night so to single out bridge its not fair at all.

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Agree with FB..he's a nob, bitter at not winning anything, even if he does make a slight point. There's no doubt when Bridge is in the side there are notable differences in the way we play ie: We don't see him ever overlap and go into the opposing 3rd, and when he does, he is just there to support.

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We can't exactly expect Bridge to come in the side and link up with Malouda because the pair of them have hardly ever played together! Bridge is a different style of left-back to Ash, in the fact he is an out-and-out full-back whilst Ash is more of a wing-back who goes forward more often. Bridge is a great utility player because he would willingly play LB or LM for us, but considering he plays only about a dozen times a season, it would be unfair to expect him to come into the side and play as well as an on-form Ashley Cole.

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