Diamonds Are Forever

[The Big Drog 1,110]

Last Summer Carlo Ancelotti traded Milan for West London , he brought with him his legendary diamond formation which he had perfected at Milan , winning two champions league’s and a Serie A title.

Chelsea had employed the 4-3-3 to great success since Mourinho dazzled the world with his arrival at Chelsea , what kind of impact would this change in system have of , what is essentially , the same group of players that have been at Chelsea for a number of years now. Critics and doomsday predictors had the knives out , comparing Ancelotti to Scolari. However the two men are nothing of the sort , neither is their approach to the game. With Scolari , style came first , the result came second. For Ancelotti , the result is the most important thing. The best way to describe Scolari’s system was one dimensional , he added attacking full backs to the Chelsea play which is something we had not seen under Mourinho , however the samba style he wanted to introduce simply was not possible with the group of players he had. This was all made worse when he dropped Didier Drogba and Joe Cole went down injured. The side never recovered from the loss against Liverpool. Fast forward a year and you have Carlo Ancelotti at the helm against Liverpool. Chelsea enter an excellent , professional performance , Ancelotti gets his tactics absolutely right and Drogba is the man who ends up shining. Its just all so different.

A key difference from the 4-3-3 to the diamond system is that rather than using one striker up front ( often Drogba ) , the diamond means that both Drogba and Anelka play up front. Its quite a deadly duo , thus far this season they have directly linked up for 6 goals , an excellent return thus far when you consider that last season Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov only linked up for 2 goals for Man Utd. Anelka is a lethal finisher , he also adds pace to the Chelsea attack and he has the ability to lure defenders in and go past. Drogba is the best centre forward in the world , big , strong , powerful , fast and with an eye for goal , he is the perfect front man for Anelka and the Chelsea midfielders to play off. In his short term in charge , Guus Hiddink experimented with playing Anelka and Drogba together and it worked , however his method was slightly different as he played Anelka from the left with a free role to drift inside. Under the Anecelotti system Anelka is in the centre but is still allowed a freedom to float around Drogba. At the moment its arguably the most lethal striking partnership in the Premier League.

One area of the diamond that has come under some criticism is the tip of the diamond. Frank Lampard was earmarked to play the “ Kaka “ role in the diamond when Ancelotti took over. However at this stage of the season , with only a single goal under his belt , doubts are beginning to rise. Ordinarily a 20 goal a season player , Lampard has really struggled for goals. To be fair to Frank , some of the criticism is unwarranted , he has played quite well in some games , most noticeably the 2-0 away victory against Fulham. Ancelotti has spotted problems though in this position too , as he has switched it around a bit , he has tried the likes of Deco and Malouda in the role to different degrees of success , while playing Lampard on either side of the diamond ( the majority of which has been on the left ). With Frank being such an important player to Chelsea for quite some time now , Ancelotti is right to be concerned about his lack of form at the moment , though Franks disciplined performance on the left of the diamond against Liverpool will likely lift his spirit on this situation somewhat.

The position in the diamond that is up for grabs is on the left hand side. Malouda , Lampard and Deco have all played in this role at different stages of the season thus far. There is also new 18 million pound signing , Yuri Zhirkov , to take into account , his natural position in the diamond would be the left hand side of it. A huge benefit of the diamond is that by the very nature of the formation , its tight and thus a team mate is never too hard to find. I think this is a great help to Florent Malouda. Malouda has proven himself a reliable player in a defensive sense , as his two excellent performances against Barcelona last season prove. I always thought though that in the 4-3-3 system , where there was so much of a reliance on him to produce from the left wing , with him so high up the pitch , the pressure and the nature of the position was simply too much for him. In this diamond , with Ashley Cole supporting , Anelka drifting out from time to time to help him and Lampard close by , it really has benefited his game and as a result it has benefited Chelsea.

A massive factor in the success of the diamond formation so far at Chelsea has been the return to form of Ricardo Carvalho , Deco and Michael Ballack. Ricardo Carvalho has been immense this season , playing like a man with a point to prove , Carvalho has arguably been the star of Chelsea’s season so far. The crown jewel of these performances came last week when he marked a red hot Fernando Torres out of the game last week at Stamford Bridge. Suck class and certainty really does aid the entire Ancelotti system as it gives the wing backs confidence to get forward as they know they have two genuinely world class centre backs holding down the fort at the back. I must say I have been a critic of Deco and Ballack in the past , however credit to both men , rather than treating Chelsea like a retirement home with big benefits , these two have shone in the diamond system so far , in particular Michael Ballack who’s physical presence and intelligent football brain have been a big asset to Chelsea. His absence in the 3-1 loss to Wigan was noticeable.

Phil Scolari’s main concern was beautiful football rather than results. Carlo Ancelotti has delivered some beautiful football this season , in particular in the games against Sunderland , Fulham and Spurs. What Ancelotti has delivered that Scolari could not was results , he has managed to grind out results , most significantly against the side who started Scolari’s downfall , Liverpool. Apart from the freak loss to Wigan ( which Ancelotti seems to have addressed ) , everything looks good , green and rosy in the Stamford Bridge garden. With players the quality of Joe Cole , Alex and Yuri Zhirkov yet to start in the premier league this season , with two quality holding players to choose from in the form of Michael Essien and John Obi Mikel , and with players really hitting their stride this early in the season , full credit must go to the Italian tactician who has revitalised a football superpower named Chelsea.

[caesarblues 51]

:goodpost:

yes, diamonds looks so shine now...

i can't wait until January when the africans go away, what certainly Carlo do with Chelsea diamonds??

[The Big Drog 1,110]

Thanks mate

I cant see Ancelotti changing his sytem even when the Africans leave , though I think it will take some adjusting , in particular we wont have Drogba up front to terrorise defenders in a physical sense. With Di Santo returning from his loan I wouldnt be too surprised if he got a few run outs in the side , if not then I hope it will be Sturridge and not Kalou who plays up top with Anelka.

I think Ballack or Matic or even Belletti can handle the holding role for a few weeks , when you look at the sides we are playing during the absense of the Africans , I cant imagine there being too many problems for the defenders or the holding midfield player.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Moved Good article mate.

[The Big Drog 1,110]

Moved Good article mate.

Thanks mate.