A right step in a new route

[BLionheart 516]

Although we did score three against villa, the real reason we are in the situation we are in today is because of the lack of goals up front.

Last season we set records with the number of goals we scored, the number of times we scored 7 goals in a game, the cute interplay between our midfield and front three and Ashley Cole scoring for fun.

So what has changed this season?

Did losing the players we let go in the summer make any difference?

Lets look at the summer clean out one by one.

1. Deco - Was much maligned throughout last season with most of us asking for him to be offloaded like we are saying now bout Anelka and Ferreira now. I personally would have been disappointed had he stayed on.

2. Ballack - While solid and mostly consistent, was also somebody we had to let go as from the reports he did not want to take a pay cut to stay on. He's 34 and to expect anything more from him than what he did for us last season would be asking too much. We got what we could from him in the four years he played for us and it was time to move on.

3. Miroslav Stoch - We could not guarantee him starts and he wanted to leave, so we let him. Would he have been handy today had he stuck around? Yes. Would we have played him regularly in games? No. Why? For the same reasons that Kakuta and Sturridge haven't been getting enough chances!

4. Joe Cole - A player who wanted an improved contract. Given his injury record over the past 2-3 seasons and him not exactly setting the stage on fire since his comeback from his injury, would have been a huge gamble to give him an improved contract. Maybe he would have done wonders for us this season or maybe he would have played like he is playing for Liverpool now. Had to let him go, as it could have triggered another spree of players asking for improved contracts amidst our, current and ongoing, cost cutting outlook.

5. Juliano Belletti - A great squad player who knew his limitations. If we are blaming our lack of goals on his departure, then we're kidding ourselves.

6. Franco Di Santo and Scott Sinclair - Were never going to get a look in. they are not chelsea quality .

We replaced Joe Cole with Benayoun and he got injured. We bought Ramires who is an all action midfielder who can also play on the right. A good buy in my opinion he is starting to come into his own, now that he is playing regularly. Were we wrong to assume that Essien could play the Ballack role and Ramires to become our new Essein? Don't think so. May be we missed a cue in replacing Deco with a creative midfielder, but we discovered Josh McEachran, who has a very bright future ahead of him.

i think that letting those players go was absolutely the right thing to do but it has led us to the beginning of a new era in which we needed one of two options:

1- get some new players in their mid 20s and start building for the future.

2- believe in our youngsters and give em the chance to be squad players because they deserve to and i think they do .

but the best option will be both , we could have bought players and given youngsters chances as well , look at barca , they have bought villa , adrianno , afelle while letting pedro , bojan and youngsters flourish it is not biophysics , and it can be done .

theoretically what chelsea did was choosing option no.2 which is give the youngsters the chance but did they have a chance ?? does anyone believe that kakuta or sturridge stands a chance of starting a game if senior players are not injured but shit.

practically we choose no option , we took a step forward but then we stood still , now time has come to take another step but what will that be ? or there won't be one ??

Edited January 3, 2011 by BLionheart

[LDN Blue 7,903]

but the best option will be both , we could have bought players and given youngsters chances as well , look at barca , they have bought villa , adrianno , afelle while letting pedro , bojan and youngsters flourish it is not biophysics , and it can be done.

In our defence though, it's much easier for Barcelona. They've got world class players, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Villa, Puyol, Pique & Valdes all there when players like Pedro and Bojan are given their chances. So it's much easier for them to settle in and keep up the pace, because they know the pressure is not that big on them to out perform, they can just take 10-20minutes to settle (knowing there's goal threats from all players) and then try and get in.

We don't have such luxuries with our squad. As we've seen, when we bring on youngsters, it's more because we're hoping they'll change the game for us. We put them under such pressure to win the game that, in our eyes, they look like flops. When Pedro first came on, he was chosen ahead of players like Henry, Eto'o (I think at that time) & Yaya Toure. It was an honour, it showed Pep trusted him over such players and he believed in him. When Sturridge comes on it's because our bench is so weak that he has no choice.

Also it's got to be noted. Pep plays the players in their correct positions. Pedro is a winger, Sturridge is not.

Edit: I forgot to mention. The Barcelona/La Liga system is a lot better for the development on young players. The Barcelona B team is largely responsible for the success stories at that club. The B team is the reserves who play in lower league (so The Championship alternative). They're not allowed to be in La Liga at the same time as the A team, obviously. This structure is much more effective in the youth production & experience. It means they don't have to loan out players and it allows them to keep a good eye on the development. How I've wished the Premier League would adopt a similar method.

Edited January 3, 2011 by LDN Blue

[LDN Blue 7,903]

6. Franco Di Santo and Scott Sinclair - Were never going to get a look in. We replaced Joe Cole with Benayoun and he got injured.

As for these 2. I think we gave them enough chances. Di Santo didn't impress anyone, even when he was on loan, he didn't get many goals at all. In pre-season he looked weak, didn't take his chances.

Same with Sinclair to be honest. Didn't impress when given his chances, now he's doing better at Swansea but it's unfair to say he didn't get a look in.

[Wilson 358]

Di Santos footwork and runs were good. His passing was average. His finishing and striking was shit. He was never Chelsea quality. We just have to give Sturridge and Borini their chances.

[Laylabelle 9,359]

Just need to make sure if we do sell/let players go that there are ones there to take their place so we dont become stuck espically when injuries start to come through

Just typical us,we replaced Joe Cole with Benayoun who was playing pretty well imo then got bloody long term injured!

[Madmax 9,219]

Although .....

+1

[Kostas 1,468]

Good thread

I laugh at anyone saying that we shouldn't have had that summer clear-out. Even Ballack, who I've argued that we could have kept , is 34 years old and injury prone, we can't expect such players to play week in week- out just like we shouldn't have gambled on Drogba's fitness.

On the other hand I believe we should have never loaned out so many players. Not after realizing that some transfers were going to fail and that we were going to start the season with 16 senior outfield players.

Having Matic or Cork when we were forced to play Zhirkov and Malouda in the midfield might have saved us. Keeping Mancienne for rotation might have averted Mikel getting exhausted after so many games, the same goes for Bertnand and Ashley Cole.

[BLionheart 516]

Good thread

I laugh at anyone saying that we shouldn't have had that summer clear-out. Even Ballack, who I've argued that we could have kept , is 34 years old and injury prone, we can't expect such players to play week in week- out just like we shouldn't have gambled on Drogba's fitness.

On the other hand I believe we should have never loaned out so many players. Not after realizing that some transfers were going to fail and that we were going to start the season with 16 senior outfield players.

Having Matic or Cork when we were forced to play Zhirkov and Malouda in the midfield might have saved us. Keeping Mancienne for rotation might have averted Mikel getting exhausted after so many games, the same goes for Bertnand and Ashley Cole.

Matic , cork and mancienne couldn't have done better than McEacheran , but they won't be used and i can understand why carlo doesn't want to take the risk but sometimes you have to .

what we need now simply is 2 or 3 players in their mid 20s to increase the depth and quality of our squad , and in the future they will be a great aid and support for the likes of kakuta and McEacheran during their development because within two years may be kakuta and sturridge will get their chances but there will be no Drogba or anelka to help them on the field , may be McEacheran but won't be so effective without a lampard . we have all witnessed the improvement of ramires in the last two games and i think lamps played a big part in that being always available for the pass and mastering the midfield.

that role will hopefully be hamsik's or shweinstiger's in the future untill they pass the torch to Mceacheran and Clifford .