Who to blame?

[kakuta44 16]

i was watching the replay of our 4-2 win over barcelone which is one of my favourite matches ...... i realised how good we used to be and how far have we dropped !!!!!

we used to be very inspirational very confident we gave any opponent a very hard time not just because we were strong or because we were invincible but because we used to jump on the back on every player who had the ball that he wouldnt have any time to think what should he do we made them made mistakes we had loads of confidence and the players were magnifecent may be some of them wasnt as great in name as our squad right now but they did whatever it took to earn thier places statistics back then were magnifecent i remeber times when i see makalelele running 13 kilometers as well as lamps and godjunsen.......

unfortunately those days are long gone and now we look like an aging side i think we have a confidence problem as well you can see that in the players eyes me myself i can see it easily in lampards eyes so what is the problem and who is to be blamed ...????

is it the players like ballack deco anelka joe cole kalou and even sometimes cech who are supposed to be a group of the best players all over the world but instead they always seem to look less than average and they slip a lot ....

or it is ancelotti who couldnt get the best out of his players and who couldnt give them the needed confidence and motivation before matches like man city everton aston villa and lately inter milan when our players looked like they didnt wanna finish the match and just wanted to go home ....

or all of this is a result of abrahimovic and the sacking of mourinho then changing three different managers ......

or its just because all of the above ??????????????????????????????????????????????

[Term-X 7,891]

interesting..

well first off at least we are finally digging into this subject, the majority of members on here would rather stick their heads in the sand and argue with those who are asking these questions by referring to harder times at the club.

imo the older players in the squad no longer have the mentality to win the champions league and the league, when you reach a certain age you need young and hungry players around you. We don't have the age mix that man-utd have.. If Giggs is underperforming he will look around the pitch and see the future (literally) and step his game up. Ballack looks around and he sees the same person.

Scolari had done his thing in the game, all he wanted was the money and he even admitted it in his first press conference. Mourinho's sacking was a result of Romans ego trip but who would you rather have?.. I just hope now roman has his favourite manager he will give him the funds for younger and hungrier players in the summer.

[5354 204]

I personally feel the players are the bunch to be blamed. I mean they received high wages, it should be them delivering what Roman wanted.

We have sacked a few managers, however, I think it is time to stay with Ancelotti. Give him a few more seasons and funds to replenish a squad that he seriously wants and could fit to his tactic. Currenlty, did Ancelotti really sign any players that he wanted?

I don't think Sturridge/Turnbull/Zhrikov was the players he brought in.

[Blueboy 14]

Difficult one, i think all things mentioned above by Kakuta44, play(ed) a part.

What's the most important thing to do this summer is to give Carlo Ancellotti his chance to build his OWN one.

I dont get very cheered up from the rumours that he wants to spend his money on Kaka though, he has been seriously overrated since that 1 particular season in Milan .

Edited March 19, 2010 by Blueboy

[EskWeston 696]

I will re-post this from another thread because i think it sums up where we differ from the 2 title winning seasons and now:

As i have just finished writing in my FA Youth Cup match report that team has highlighted to me what the 4-3-3 is all about and how we had it right in Jose's first 2 seasons. 2 combative midfielders with 1 creative player ahead of them, 2 fast and tricky wingers with 1 target man, a simple formula that reaps massive rewards with the right players.

With the youth team they have:

......................C.Clifford..............................

.........................................Kaby.................

.........McEachran........................................

Sala/Lalkovic....Mitrovic...................Tore...

The first team used to have:

........................Maka.................................

................................ Lampard..................

..........Tiago/Eidur.....................................

Duff................Drogba...................Robben

Both of these teams have/had the balance perfect and both cause headaches for the opposition. The current line up is missing the creative midfield role and the cut and thrust of proper wingers.....

........................Mikel.................................

................................Lampard...................

.............Essien.........................................

.Anelka............Drogba.................Malouda

The team is too "functional" without the spark to break teams down.

[Fulham Broadway 16,977]

I will re-post this from another thread because i think it sums up where we differ from the 2 title winning seasons and now:

Brilliant analysis there. Combination of lack of creatives and desire has been around for a while now.

Against Inter (dragging it up again) -cheating UEFA didnt help -and another thing ! -Only one added minute in that first half -just as we were more than likely to score when there should have been at least 3 and only four added minutes in the second half when their keeper was down for 5 minutes ??

Still, win the next two games, 6 points, and back on track ....

[NattyBlue 44]

I do think the players are to blame lately, they up their game for smaller teams which is annoying and play with intensity from the beginning vs the likes of Wolves etc.

But that's not all the time, I agree where we do take longer to close down teams but hey what can you do, I don't know what more motivation some of the players need...taking in enough money a week to play with all their heart every game fucking hell

[kakuta44 16]

I do think the players are to blame lately, they up their game for smaller teams which is annoying and play with intensity from the beginning vs the likes of Wolves etc.

But that's not all the time, I agree where we do take longer to close down teams but hey what can you do, I don't know what more motivation some of the players need...taking in enough money a week to play with all their heart every game fucking hell

money was never enough motivation ..... as a football player i am most motivated when i know for sure that if my work rate isnt gonna be 120 % every match i will lose my place in the team ...... but as long as i know that i m untouchable i wont be able to keep doing that while seeing no good reason hope you get my point ....

[BlueLion. 21,491]

You can't really blame anyone but the players. That being said we need some fresh blood. For that reason you could blame some of the managers, or even Roman, for not splashing the cash, but at the end of the day our team, on paper, is good enough to beat anyone.

[Laylabelle 9,407]

Agree about the players.Yeh Ancelotti may pick the team formation etc but they're the ones out there on the pitch with a job to do.And seems some days they do it others day its seems a bit of a bleh attitude.We're way to incositent this season and god knows why.

Defintly need fresh blood though and with the transfer ban lifted hopfully in summer we will take the opportunity to do so.

[kakuta44 16]

i see a lot of people here blaming the players ...... but back in 2005 when this team was built..... was it expected that in 2010 it will be the same team with very few additions that cant even count as you have lost some great players like makalele and robben .....

so you think the same players terry lamps drogba cech should keep doing the job without even having some decent additions to help them .... ?????

Edited March 21, 2010 by kakuta44

[Matterz 67]

While it pains me to say this, having thought about it long and hard, im am coming to the conclusion that perhaps it is Didier Drogba who is the problem! Undoubtedly, he is one of the very best in the world, he scores many goals, but, his moods seem to have a massive influence over the Chelsea side. When he is in the mood, we all know what he is capable of, but when he is not my word is he frustrating to watch. With him in the side I feel like we are too one dimensional, and I believe this counts against us a lot. Beside the fact that he spends half the game on his arse, I think he hampers our ability to play more attractive, goal scoring football. Yes he does get back and defend a lot and I am not for once questioning his commitment to Chelsea, afterall he is and always will be a Chelsea legend. But if we really want to up there with the likes of Barcelona then we will need a player of a different mould upfront, one who does not have the same sort of influence over the squad and mood of the team.

[zolayes 14,489]

money was never enough motivation ..... as a football player i am most motivated when i know for sure that if my work rate isnt gonna be 120 % every match i will lose my place in the team ...... but as long as i know that i m untouchable i wont be able to keep doing that while seeing no good reason hope you get my point ....

I played professional rugby league ...(long time ago) we were part time pros ..the money was a motivation

the basic wage wasnt great and you got paid only ifyou played ...but win bonuses were on a sliding scale ..and did help motivate many ..but my main motivation was a driving desire to WIN and keep WINNING..

[benji_blue 3]

My first post in a long time so my apologies for that.

I feel we have a big problem at the Bridge, I am not going to single out players because in my opinion it is everyone from the players to the coaching staff. It absolute kills me to see Arsenal playing with so much belief and passion (even more so cause my whole family are Arsenal), where is our belief and our passion, I think both of them left the club when Jose left. Now I am not going to knock Carlo's CV, as he has won it all with Milan, but I think what we miss is the man management of our players, with Jose we had a leader someone who installed the belief in the players who would always give the players on the pitch confidence. I am not going to jump on the "Bring back Mourinho" parade as realistically I dont think he would ever think about coming back but we need someone who can install the belief, the passion and the confidence back into our players. We need someone with in the club who will not stand for the crap which is being displayed on the pitch and off.

I think we need some new blood at Chelsea, players who want to play for blue shirt, who will show passion for playing for Chelsea, as I cant see anyone doing that right now. I dont want to name a lis tof player we should get rid off and who to replace them with cause we could be here for years discussing but I think we need to re-assess in the summer and remove the dead wood and keep the players who want to be with the club who want to fight until the bitter end of the season who wants to win everything for the club.

Again it hurts me to see us playing with no passion and confidence, it will kill me even more if the Arsenal went on to win the league so if Chelsea cant do it can someone please please do something to stop Arsenal winning it, even if it meant United win the league. Any way my rant is coming to an end, hopefully we can turn the remaining games around and put in a good run, but we need to show the passion on the pitch to want it, once we have that it will radiate into the crowd and it will let the fans voices be heard which can act as a 12th man on the pitch.

Benji

[zolayes 14,489]

My first post in a long time so my apologies for that.

I feel we have a big problem at the Bridge, I am not going to single out players because in my opinion it is everyone from the players to the coaching staff. It absolute kills me to see Arsenal playing with so much belief and passion (even more so cause my whole family are Arsenal), where is our belief and our passion, I think both of them left the club when Jose left. Now I am not going to knock Carlo's CV, as he has won it all with Milan, but I think what we miss is the man management of our players, with Jose we had a leader someone who installed the belief in the players who would always give the players on the pitch confidence. I am not going to jump on the "Bring back Mourinho" parade as realistically I dont think he would ever think about coming back but we need someone who can install the belief, the passion and the confidence back into our players. We need someone with in the club who will not stand for the crap which is being displayed on the pitch and off.

I think we need some new blood at Chelsea, players who want to play for blue shirt, who will show passion for playing for Chelsea, as I cant see anyone doing that right now. I dont want to name a lis tof player we should get rid off and who to replace them with cause we could be here for years discussing but I think we need to re-assess in the summer and remove the dead wood and keep the players who want to be with the club who want to fight until the bitter end of the season who wants to win everything for the club.

Again it hurts me to see us playing with no passion and confidence, it will kill me even more if the Arsenal went on to win the league so if Chelsea cant do it can someone please please do something to stop Arsenal winning it, even if it meant United win the league. Any way my rant is coming to an end, hopefully we can turn the remaining games around and put in a good run, but we need to show the passion on the pitch to want it, once we have that it will radiate into the crowd and it will let the fans voices be heard which can act as a 12th man on the pitch.

Benji

AGREE with most of your sentiments ,,I think there are a lot of disappointed fans

[EskWeston 696]

The only problem that we have is with our squad. It is just not right and it needs to be dealt with in the summer once and for all. I think Carlo is a good manager and hopefully he will show that next season after being given the chance to build his own team. However if we are to carry on next season without sorting the problem out then there will be serious problems for us.

[kakuta44 16]

My first post in a long time so my apologies for that.

I feel we have a big problem at the Bridge, I am not going to single out players because in my opinion it is everyone from the players to the coaching staff. It absolute kills me to see Arsenal playing with so much belief and passion (even more so cause my whole family are Arsenal), where is our belief and our passion, I think both of them left the club when Jose left. Now I am not going to knock Carlo's CV, as he has won it all with Milan, but I think what we miss is the man management of our players, with Jose we had a leader someone who installed the belief in the players who would always give the players on the pitch confidence. I am not going to jump on the "Bring back Mourinho" parade as realistically I dont think he would ever think about coming back but we need someone who can install the belief, the passion and the confidence back into our players. We need someone with in the club who will not stand for the crap which is being displayed on the pitch and off.

I think we need some new blood at Chelsea, players who want to play for blue shirt, who will show passion for playing for Chelsea, as I cant see anyone doing that right now. I dont want to name a lis tof player we should get rid off and who to replace them with cause we could be here for years discussing but I think we need to re-assess in the summer and remove the dead wood and keep the players who want to be with the club who want to fight until the bitter end of the season who wants to win everything for the club.

Again it hurts me to see us playing with no passion and confidence, it will kill me even more if the Arsenal went on to win the league so if Chelsea cant do it can someone please please do something to stop Arsenal winning it, even if it meant United win the league. Any way my rant is coming to an end, hopefully we can turn the remaining games around and put in a good run, but we need to show the passion on the pitch to want it, once we have that it will radiate into the crowd and it will let the fans voices be heard which can act as a 12th man on the pitch.

Benji

great post there ...... i cant agree with you more about the players confidence thing ..... and about Carlo's CV its not very impressive he underachieved domestically with Milan ........

i can see your frustration seeing arsenal winning the league ....... but i will be way more frustrated seeing man utd keep the title for the 4th time in a row but thats most likely to happen

[Shane 2,275]

IMO the team got overconfident about the 3-0 over Arsenal, Read about how great they were, and believed it themselves.<br>