What's your diamond midfield

[ZanSnake 1,211]

I woulD put Joe Cole on the point and Lampard on the side, just for a bit to see what it's like.

It helps Lampard have more room and can cut in and put Joey's creativity in a vital position where he can help the forwards and have a go himself.

[Alee. 182]

Lampard on the side? i dont think so :s

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Ballack was our best midfield player yesterday by some distance, which gives the manager a selection headache. I personally think it should be:

Joe Cole

Lampard, Essien/Ballack

Mikel/Essien

[Ollie 4,400]

Lampard top, Malouda left, Deco/Ballack right, Essien Bottom.

When everyones fit....

Lampard top, Zhirkov left, Joe Cole right, Essien bottom.

Could be switched about tho, maybe even having Joey at the tip behind the strikers, might actually work awesome that

Edited August 16, 2009 by OllieCFC

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Lampard shouldn't play at the top of the diamond, it simply just doesn't suit him.

[Badboy 1,526]

Lampard shouldn't play at the top of the diamond, it simply just doesn't suit him.

I agree his main wepon is his LATE RUNS, him playing that forward makes it a bit more obvious.

[diskoviolente 425]

I wouldn´t even play the diamond.

The good old 4-3-3 looked good with us i think. Gives us the option to move the formation to a 4-4-2 during the game, which is always important i think.

look

bos-terry-alex-a.cole

ess-lamps-zhirk

j.cole-drogs-anelka

then, for the 4-4-2 replace either joe cole or zhirkov with belletti for a more defensive 4-4-2 or, for a more attacking but also strong back tracking formation let Joey drop deep besides Essien and Lamps who´ll a double 6 then, or replace Joey with Ballack or MIkel in games like against Barca.

of course, Malouda can play as well.

i just took my favourite line up

[BlueLion. 21,491]

I agree with you there, DV, but the way Riccy has played the last two games, we have to keep him in the side, as good as Alex is.

[Ollie 4,400]

I like the diamond, even tho we almost blew the first game of the season we tore em to bits and it coulda so easily been 5-0. Gives us 2 strikers, the 2 in the middle can go out wide and do as they please. Lampard was excellent at the top of the diamond on Saturday, as Andy Gray showed on the last word. He still kinda stays deep so theres 3 across with Essien holding they when we nick the ball, he pushes up more. Still does exactly the same except we have the 2 strikers as well. The diamond is perfect for us

[The Big Drog 1,110]

I like the diamond, even tho we almost blew the first game of the season we tore em to bits and it coulda so easily been 5-0. Gives us 2 strikers, the 2 in the middle can go out wide and do as they please. Lampard was excellent at the top of the diamond on Saturday, as Andy Gray showed on the last word. He still kinda stays deep so theres 3 across with Essien holding they when we nick the ball, he pushes up more. Still does exactly the same except we have the 2 strikers as well. The diamond is perfect for us

I thought Andy did a wonderful job of explaining the diamond to those who dont understand it. As he rightly said we do lack width but Joe Cole is the perfect man to play out of the right , he is almost tailor made to play on the right hand side of a diamond. As Gray rightly pointed out , Essien is far better in that holding role. However I would rather Zhirkov on the left than Malouda once he is fit.

[Ollie 4,400]

Absolutely, Zhirkov and Cole would be exceptional on either side, they can still go wide and come inside, they both like to cover lots of different areas on the pitch so its perfect for them. They have both played as wingers and Center Midfielders too so they can do the role easy either way. Essien, Zhirkov, Cole, Lampard = Perfect.

Edited August 17, 2009 by OllieCFC

[The Big Drog 1,110]

This will come off sounding like an over excited fan but I think that if we get the diamond of Essien , Zhirkov , Cole and Lampard and we stay relatively injury free for large parts of the season , I honestly think itsa side that can win the premier league and champions league.

[diskoviolente 425]

yeah you right Big Drog.

If you look at our statistics in England and the Champions League over the last, lets say 5 years, we´ve been one of the most consistet teams in Europe, even though we hat lots of changes in the club manager-wise.

I think if adjusted right Chelsea can go for everything this year

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Let's not forget we played with a diamond midfield for much of the 06/07 season - which also happened to be Frank's highest-scoring season.

[Rambo 1,729]

Diamond formation is not an easy one to play in.