Waste of Space...

[22mek22 133]

In my opinion the fringe players in the squad are a waste of space.

Players such as Ferreria, Kalou, Benayoun, Ramires, Turnbull etc

I think that this January and Summer we need to get rid of most of these and buy some useful, young talent such as Lukaku, Sanchez, Luiz.

The ageing squad isn't going to be able to cope soon, especially with the rise of Man City and dare I say it, Tottenham!

Any thoughts?

[Slam Dunk 1,442]

Ramires a waste of space? Have you seen his last few performances?

The problem with having players such as Lukaku/Luiz/Sanchez is that they won't want to join us and sit on the bench. They are already established players who will want to play week in/week out. It is all about buying them at the right time. A team needs players such as Ferreira, who are willing to sit on the bench and act as reliable replacements when the team has injuries.

I agree with the ageing squad comment, and it looks like the club are finally acting upon it. Players such as McEachran, Kakuta, Sturridge etc are being given a few minutes here and there, ready for when the current squad retires. The thing is, these young players need time (even Drogba has said this to the media), they need to be gradually integrated into the team.

[22mek22 133]

Ramires has been good the past few weeks and he needs time to grow into the Premiership.

But when we clear these players out, I think there is more of an attraction for these players.

People like Malouda, Drogba, Anelka are going to soon realise that due to their age they are not going to be able to play week-in-week-out.

I think that the squad that Mourinho formed here is soon going to be replaced by a whole new bright, young talent.

[Peace. 4,352]

Lol, for Ramires I can't be more disagree.

First of all, you should give him one season to see if he's really able to play for Chelsea. When Drogba went at Chelsea, he wasn't the player he is now from the begining, the same goes for Malouda. And you have plenty exemples with the other teams. When a player comes from an other league, he needs time to understand how the football is played. Ramires comes from a league where the physical strenght doesn't count, and where you have a long time to make a pass.

Futhermore for 4 games he has been really good. So I don't understand why people want to get rid of him right now.

And for the players that you have mentioned, we must sell them if and only if we are sure to replace them. We already have a tiny squad, we can't afford to reduce it once again.

[cfc-meleady 192]

That's ridiculous saying that Ramires is a waste of space, sure his first few games weren't great but look at him lately..imagin we judged Drogba and Malouda on their first games for Chelsea...

I wouldn't say Ferreria is a waste either, I think he acts as good cover and he's got a very professional attitude, great servant for the club.

[Wilson 358]

How can you say Benayoun is a waste of space? Played one game and scored! He was looking good for us and unfortunately he is now out with an injury.

[22mek22 133]

None of these are a waste of space, but i don't think that any of them are world class, especially not chelsea standard.

I just think that we should get a stronger squad, with stronger backup players

[ChelseaChick 430]

Get away with your bad self! Ramires, Kalou and Benayoun are not a waste of space. I like ferreira but he can be useless....Turnbull can go!

[Tomo 21,681]

This ageing squad thing is overhyped by the Manc loving media.

Apart From Henrique Hilario we dont have a player over the age of 32, FFS Keown was still a regular at Arsenal until he was 36.

Kalou is a very decent squad player and despite his obvious frustration gets around 10 goals a season (not bad for a squad winger) some of his goals he has scored are vital (IE 2 of our last 3 FA Cup wins he scored against Southend and Spuds to prevent early elimination).

Benayoun is a decent squad player, Ramires has already had MOTM performances against Le Arse and Spuds he will be a monster when he settles. Turnbull i agree with (not a waste of space just not quite good enough for Chelsea), nice guy but they dont win you titles, even tho i would not mind him as 3rd choice but 2nd choice is dodgy.

Ferreira aint the player he was a few years ago but he has been a fantastic survent for us, if he leaves in January after the Bolton match (IF we are winning comftably) we have a late pen we should let Paulo have it.

[Madmax 9,219]

Sigh. 'Fringe players' are as necessary for a squad as the star names. Can't believe someone could say this even after having a look at this season. The lack of such 'fringe players' is exactly the reason why the likes of Drogba and Anelka are being run into the ground. That, and Carlo not trusting the youth enough.

[Shane 2,275]

The lack of respect for Ferriera is disgraceful, The man is a loyal servant to the club, Never once complained when other right backs were signed, always remained loyal to the club, the manager and the fans. Never ONCE came out to the media complained. Show some gratitude ffs.

[Tomo 21,681]

The lack of respect for Ferriera is disgraceful, The man is a loyal servant to the club, Never once complained when other right backs were signed, always remained loyal to the club, the manager and the fans. Never ONCE came out to the media complained. Show some gratitude ffs.

:goodpost:

[epicsarah-ous 329]

Seriously ramires as a fringe player?.

TRUST ME ON THIS. you will be eating your words in 2-5 years time when ramires delivers THAT performance that changes a whole match in our favor

as for ferreria the man is so vastly underrated at times its near sad sure hes a cruddy at cb on his worst day but chelsea fans who have seen chelsea longer than me can name at least 3 times hes proved himself useful. Hes had his ups and downs with us but name 10 players that play today that havent had a ups and downs in their careers

think of ferreria as a very Loyal jack russell sure it cant out run a expensive racing greyhound sure it cant outmuscle a russian army dog.But he damn sure is loyal and in dire times like what we just went through you need no player to whinge and whine

Benayoun wise the guys only had like 1 - 3 games since joining us and for me hes not a waste he still has a lot to prove and to me benayoun can be a huge blessing in disguise

but he isnt a waste to me. Yet or not

Trust me the anti chelsea pro united press just want you to buy a news paper and buy a united shirt and put rooney on the back of it not really provide you with the Truth

[22mek22 133]

Personally I think Ferreria is a great servant to the club and is very underrated.

However, is he Chelsea standard?

When Benayoun recovers from his injury he will be almost 31 - and will probably not be as good as possible.

I do take back the comment about Ramires, but is it just me who believes that some of the useless fringe players are not needed and we should bring in some young, exciting, quick talent?

[Swoopz 183]

Fringe players are not our problem. We have the smallest squad in the league, so we dont need to make room for anyone. Zashko already nailed everything that needs to be said in the thread.

[Kostas 1,468]

I expect to get some heat for this but there are some good points people tend to ignore.

First of all I think the Drogba & Malouda arguement is overused. For every player who had a great career after adapting to the PL there must be around 10 players who went on to have shit careers. Basically whenever a player is horrible during his first season chances are he's not going to set the world straight later on.

Moreover, Drogba and Malouda were worldclass players who dominated a top European league before joining us. Few will claim Ramires was as good and to be honest I don't expect him to end up being the next Essien/Gattuso/instert world-beater that everyone is sure he'll turn to. Still -ignoring his price tag- the lad deserves a proper chance and at his age two full seasons should be the minimum.

as for ferreria the man is so vastly underrated at times its near sad sure hes a cruddy at cb on his worst day but chelsea fans who have seen chelsea longer than me can name at least 3 times hes proved himself useful. Hes had his ups and downs with us but name 10 players that play today that havent had a ups and downs in their careers

Few changed heart after yet another disaster at CB againt Sunderland. His downs are becoming alarmingly more than his ups so he's not really comparable to the average player. In fact, 9 out of 10 times he plays he's a defensive liability and we can't afford that.

Oh and don't bother bringing up his terrific performance against Tottenham as Bale was almost tripple-marked and the goal we conceded was due to Ferreira not getting back in time and Ivanovic having to cover for him.

Trust me the anti chelsea pro united press just want you to buy a news paper and buy a united shirt and put rooney on the back of it not really provide you with the Truth

Biased or not the fact is 6/11 players will in about 3 years be so far from a footballer's prime age that playing at the level Chelsea demands would be hard.

I'm aware of the famous exceptions like Giggs, Scholes, Maldini etc and the fact that modern medicine can prolong careers but I highly doubt this is going to work in a league as physical as the PL. Not to mention that Ancelotti's non-existent rotation isn't exactly going to help players >30.

My views on Kalou/Benayoun are known but it's funny how everyone is so quick to write-off the player that has had the less chances (with only Benayoun being behind in front of him and only due to injury) and arguably has a better chances/fuck-ups ratio than Kalou. Ross Turnbull is probably a horrible keeper who's never going to be good enough to start for a Championship club but he's had less chances than some of our other terrible players and I'm sure that had he gotten as many he'd have 10 saves to his name by the end of the season.

[Randall 315]

Ramires is 23 and has been one of our best players recently. Turnbull is fine as an English 2nd Goalkeeper. Totally agree about Kalou. I like Ferreria he's just a bit past it.

[EskWeston 696]

What we need is players pushing the established older players for a place (of course we also need the manager to give them the chance), at the moment the players have no real fear of losing their place because there is no-one pushing them.