Is there a "stale" squad of players at Chelsea?

[chrismada9 1,948]

What do people think??

I believe so because of the huge amount of peaked players we have at this club (Ballack, Drogba, Deco to name a few) there just isn't enough younger players. The only real young players we have in this team are Miroslav Stoch (isn't English but is still a decent young player), Scott Sinclair and Michael Mancienne.

If you look at teams like Manchester United and Arsenal. They have young potentials all over the pitch, United have Ryan Giggs still, and at 35 years of age, he's playing like a player who has just come out of a youth academy!

I believe we as a world class football club need to rely more on not just our youth academy to bring out the best in young potentials, but also increase the amount of English we have.

And if Guus Hiddink is the world class manager everyone says he is, then I would advise him to do what Ferguson does at United, and look at the squad of players he has and put them into shape. Tell them that if they don't have the right frame of mind to go out there and get them good results, then they don't play next game.

Against Watford, I saw a massive improvement when Ray Wilkins played a 4-4-2 rather than the defensive midfield approach to games. We looked more attacking, we provided more, we got into the opponent's attacking third, and as a result of that we scored 3 goals on the night. Pity we didn't score the first goal of the game, but at least we're in the sixth round now.

To summarise, I just don't think Scolari was hard enough on the players, and it's no wonder he got sacked, and a majority of the players just seemed to have the wrong mind at times. Moaning because the team wasn't performing well week in week out. Hiddink won't stand for all that nonsense, he will expect them to earn your wages every week and actually perform, rather than acting like cry babies all the time.

I would like to know what everyone else thinks on this matter. Do we have more stale, undriven wimps than young hungry players at Chelsea?

(p.s. could someone remove "have" in the post title please, bit of a typo there)

Edited February 15, 2009 by CJ Revo

[Fulham Broadway 16,392]

What do people think??

(p.s. could someone remove "have" in the post title please, bit of a typo there)

Done.

In answer to your question CJ -I think, like most people there is a an ageing squad , some who have already won things and got the T shirt, and perhaps dont have the hunger to go on. All multi millionaires, set up for life financially, and are fairly content to drift along.

The press would have us believe that this is down to Abramovich wanting instant success. There is probably some truth in this, and although Abramovich has made Chelsea the club they are, I dont think he has that much knowledge about football tbh. he rules the club in an autocratic way. His lawyer is the club chairman ffs.

He could learn some things from ManUtd and Arsenal whereby you dont interfere with the manager, you let them control who comes and goes, and let them control the day to day occurences on the training ground -and both Ferguson and Wenger incorporate a blend of experience and youth with long term aims.

On the positive the club will probably adopt this idea now, with Hiddink and the next manager hopefully usoing some our vastly talented youth. -but whether Abramonvich leaves the day to day running of the squad alone remains to be seen....

[chrismada9 1,948]

I definitely agree with a few points you've made FB, especially the point you mentioned about "Abramovich not intefering with your manager". That's what drove Jose Mourinho out of Chelsea, because of the appointment of Avram Grant as a coach.

But what does move me is that players like John Terry, who is being linked with a move to Manchester City in the summer, so I was reading at the back of papers this morning.... realisticly could be a mere possibility because, 1. it's the kind of player Manchester City would need to build a so called "big club" and 2. Maybe the time is right for Terry to move because he's already had success with us. Maybe he could be tempted to win something with someone else while grabbing a bigger wage every week.

However, players like JT who come from the ranks and stay loyal to big clubs like Chelsea, want to stay at their club for however long they're allowed to play. i.e. for the rest of his career. Just look at players like Ryan Giggs who's still going. Just look at players like Tony Adams, who stayed loyal to Arsenal throughout his career. Just look at Steven Gerrard, who has not only stayed loyal to Liverpool, but also drive the side to Champions League glory.

But if course, whether or not Terry wants to go about doing that is another matter. I would have suspected the same would apply to Frank Lampard.

He was linked with a move to Inter Milan but said that if he went there during last summer, it would be for the wrong reasons because he couldn't walk round London without being reminded constantly of his mother. He wouldn't be going there for a fresh start, to experience something new because he knew he had something to play for at Chelsea.

Edited February 15, 2009 by CJ Revo

[misschief 24]

I remember Fergie saying in the summer that the squad we had would probably find it a lot harder to compete this season - not necessarily because they were old, as the headlines suggested, but mainly because they'd been there and done it already and the desire wouldn't match that of players with their careers ahead of them. Unfortunately, he got it right. There's no hunger in the first team, who generally know they'll be picked however they play and subsequently, they don't need to put in the effort.

[Fulham Broadway 16,392]

"The style of how we play is very important. But it is omelettes and eggs. No eggs - no omelettes! It depends on the quality of the eggs. In the supermarket you have class one, two or class three eggs and some are more expensive than others and some give you better omelettes. So when the class one eggs are in Waitrose and you cannot go there, you have a problem."

I suppose the other thing is even Waitrose eggs have a shelf life.....

[Luke 60]

i agree with alot of whats being said here. players like ballack, deco, drogba, belletti have been there and done it, they are now picking up HUGE wage packets, living in the finest city in the world, they are kicking back and relaxing, they have no hunger and drive! which is exactly what a team wanting to win trophies need. when players like stoch, sinclair, and mancienne do make brief appearences they chase every ball and work hard... ok they might not be able to do fancy flicks like your Deco's but me personally would prefer to see players on the field that are committed to the cause. after all, we pay our hard earnt cash to watch them play, we want to see hunger, drive, and commitment to the cause! something we dont have at the minute!

myself, like many Chelsea fans would work during the week and play for the blue shirt on a saturday afternoon for free, only JT, Lamps and Joe would do that in our squad i believe