What's your diamond midfield

[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.

[Badboy 1,526]

The jury is still out for me regarding the diamond formation. Yes we did create lots of chances, but at the same time i think we look congested in the middle and zhirkov is more of a wide player. I dont think the left of a diamond will suit him from what i have seen he likes to run at players like robben and overmars it would be weird for him to play in a midfield.

[Shane 2,275]

The diamond should work aslong as we get some wingers in, Michael Essien is not a winger! Zhirkov over Malouda when he is fit, Malouda is very incosistent.

People say it doesn't suit Frank but when you look at it is lethal with shots from outside the box, The diamond will posistion him there. All he has to do is make the space for himself. I think it will be like Frank's usual role without the tracking back and defending, Shooting from outside the box and playing 1-2s with Drogba and Anelka.

[Clevemayer 764]

I think the Diamond could work as long it looks like these formations:

-----------------------Mikel/Essien----------------------

----------Joe/Ballck/Lamps---Malouda/Zhirkov----

------------------Lamps/Deco/Ess/Mikel---------

you should all bear in your Minds, that Mikel is an attacking Midfielder.

greets

Edited August 18, 2009 by Clevemayer

[the wes 7,212]

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has claimed that key player Frank Lampard is less effective in the 'hole', and has plans to move him to the left side of his fabled diamond midfield.

"When there is not a space, it's difficult," 'Carletto' is quoted by The Irish Independent as saying.

"Not just for Lampard, but [also for] Kaka last year at Milan, it's very difficult to play with no space. It's much easier to play in front of the defence because you have space."

Ancelotti went into the details concerning his decision, and elaborated on his thoughts regarding the Blues' midfield.

"When we play with two players behind one striker, they can do better and press without the ball," claimed the former Rossoneri boss.

"These two players, Deco and [salomon] Kalou, can work on their central midfielder.

"In the diamond, it's difficult because offensive midfielders have to play against two, so it's harder to close the space and press the game."

Lampard has a goal scoring record that many strikers would be happy with, and recently levelled his tally with Jimmy Greaves', but the 31-year-old has his eyes set on much bigger records.

"It is a great honour to match Jimmy Greaves, one of the all-time great goalscorers," Lampard remarked.

"Peter Osgood and Roy Bentley are on 150, Kerry Dixon [is on] 193 and Bobby Tambling [is on] 202.

"That feels a long way at the moment, but you never know."

The former West Ham United player will overtake Greaves if he manages to find the back of the net in the Pensioners' next game, which happens to be the London derby against Fulham.

Goal.com

[TylerCFC 7]

Why did we buy Zhirkov and extend Malouda's contract if Lamps is going to play on the left?

[5354 204]

Its a midfield diamond, never the wingers. If thats the case, whose going to play at the tip?