Is our midfield good enough?

[GodZola 630]

May I add, Ramires is looking to become a class act after a slow start to the season, I expect great things from him.

Agreed, some players need time to adjust he is starting to find his feet & let's hope he keeps improving. The lads got pace, gets forward & puts his foot in, just needs to retain possession better & has been caught out a couple of times by the opposition getting the ball of him, but I'm sure he will learn from it.

Cue the avalanche of the clones!

[chrismada9 1,948]

...we are particularly missing Franks goals

Definitely! It's mainly Frank who makes those runs from midfield, and gets most of our goals from there. Unfortunately, he hasn't done that for ages!

[madalista 30]

Correct in your assumption at Lyon, don't know about Bastion? But Essien was used as the DM in Makelele's absence & when he left but because he was so versatile he was also filling in at rigjt back. Eidur played upfront fella either as a striker or behind the front 2, Essien has never played there???

whats the correction huh? esssien wasnt the dm at lyon diarra was go check on your facts. eidur in his later years at chelsea became a cm when mourinho decided to revert to 433. thats the position he played at barca too. essien is a utility player but dm isnt his position. he can be ok there but not great. its bastia not bastion

[oxfordblues 299]

i`ve thought for a long time our game is far to slow.we need to up the pace from the start,not when we go a goal down

[GodZola 630]

whats the correction huh? esssien wasnt the dm at lyon diarra was go check on your facts. eidur in his later years at chelsea became a cm when mourinho decided to revert to 433. thats the position he played at barca too. essien is a utility player but dm isnt his position. he can be ok there but not great. its bastia not bastion

Please read what I wrote again.

I'm not even going to bother commenting about Eidur, your obviously on a fishing trip!

[Styles 9,790]

Aother game today were Everton pressed and forced Chelsea to play in congested zones and tight gaps. Again some of our players simply couldn't cope in that environment. Slow passing and movement, wayward passes (Lampard in particular).

Lampard today was really poor. Supposed to be the most creative and attacking of the 3 midfielders but he is slow, cannot run with the ball, cannot play neat passes to the forwards. Just an awful all round display masked by a goal.

[Kostas 1,468]

Pardon my memory but has a midfield of Ramires and Mikel ever worked?

[Styles 9,790]

The standout game Mikel+ Ramires was Newcastle away, both played pretty well.

But they weren't the problem today. Lampard's inability to create, pass or even run with the ball were. His technique is just so rubbish sometimes, almost looks like a journey man footballer just lumping the ball in the general direction of the strikers.And he is supposed to be the creative one of the three midfielders. Jesus wept.

Why did Benayoun have to get injured?

[BlueLion. 21,491]

The standout game Mikel+ Ramires was Newcastle away, both played pretty well.

But they weren't the problem today. Lampard's inability to create, pass or even run with the ball were. His technique is just so rubbish sometimes, almost looks like a journey man footballer just lumping the ball in the general direction of the strikers.And he is supposed to be the creative one of the three midfielders. Jesus wept.

Why did Benayoun have to get injured?

There's so much irony to an otherwise very pertinent point.

This isn't aimed at you - but there were those who slagged him off before he even kicked a ball for us; and many of those people now believe he is the midfield messiah who can inspire us with an inch of creativity. Anyway, that particular rant is over...

Your point is spot on, a midfield of Lampard-Ramires/Essien-Benayoun would work brilliantly IMO.

[Styles 9,790]

There's so much irony to an otherwise very pertinent point.

This isn't aimed at you - but there were those who slagged him off before he even kicked a ball for us; and many of those people now believe he is the midfield messiah who can inspire us with an inch of creativity. Anyway, that particular rant is over...

Your point is spot on, a midfield of Lampard-Ramires/Essien-Benayoun would work brilliantly IMO.

Those are the people who don't watch anybody else other then Chelsea. Benayoun has always been a good little player who would undoubtedly have added something that we miss i.e. aplayer able to hold the ball in tight situations and pick a pass for the forwards. He is the one player in the squad built for that role behind a striker/in the hole.

[Term-X 7,891]

Those are the people who don't watch anybody else other then Chelsea. Benayoun has always been a good little player who would undoubtedly have added something that we miss i.e. aplayer able to hold the ball in tight situations and pick a pass for the forwards. He is the one player in the squad built for that role behind a striker/in the hole.

Of course he's a handy little player who can do a job. But he's 31 in a few months and the last thing we needed was a short-term solution. Even if by some miracle he managed to make an impact once he recovers, and becomes a first team player. You still have to take into consideration his age. When people criticize players they should look at the bigger picture. I'd rather the game time Benayoun is likely to receive be given to the Future of Chelsea.

Lmao at the simplistic, generic little explanations you give. 100's of players fill that demographic, being able to pick a pass to the forwards. Wow.. let's give this soon to be 31 year old McEachran & Kakuta's game time. The clubs hopes simply cannot fall on such a short-term player. Yossi has no future here, We signed Deco at 30 years old too, look how that turned out.

[Styles 9,790]

Of course he's a handy little player who can do a job. But he's 31 in a few months and the last thing we needed was a short-term solution. Even if by some miracle he managed to make an impact once he recovers, and becomes a first team player. You still have to take into consideration his age. When people criticize players they should look at the bigger picture. I'd rather the game time Benayoun is likely to receive be given to the Future of Chelsea.

Lmao at the simplistic, generic little explanations you give. 100's of players fill that demographic, being able to pick a pass to the forwards. Wow.. let's give this soon to be 31 year old McEachran & Kakuta's game time. The clubs hopes simply cannot fall on such a short-term player. Yossi has no future here, We signed Deco at 30 years old too, look how that turned out.

Which is perfect if you supposedly have a lot of quality young players you want to bring in sooner or later. Benayoun is good enough now to do a job but he's also old enough to not block a youngster from emerging.

And the simplistic, generic little explanations are right. How many of our players can work in tight spaces, run with the ball past opponents and create opportunites for the front men? How many of our players can do this?

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Of course he's a handy little player who can do a job. But he's 31 in a few months and the last thing we needed was a short-term solution. Even if by some miracle he managed to make an impact once he recovers, and becomes a first team player. You still have to take into consideration his age. When people criticize players they should look at the bigger picture. I'd rather the game time Benayoun is likely to receive be given to the Future of Chelsea.

Yeah it's just like Styles said. Him being 31 is good, because that means he's the stepping stone for the likes of Kakuta and McEachran as opposed to being against their development. With Ancelotti this may not be the case since his policy is age > ability. But another manager would look at Yossi as the man to make way for youth integration.

[Term-X 7,891]

Posting videos from years ago, nice. While we're at it let's post some great moments from Deco's time at Barca and justify that transfer too.

[Styles 9,790]

Posting videos from years ago, nice. While we're at it let's post some great moments from Deco's time at Barca and justify that transfer too.

It was supposed to be an illustration of what I say we lack and why Benayoun is able to fill that spot. Look at it however you want but Benayoun is a good player and offers qualities no other player in the squad has irrespective of whether he's a short term solution.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Of course he's a handy little player who can do a job. But he's 31 in a few months and the last thing we needed was a short-term solution. Even if by some miracle he managed to make an impact once he recovers, and becomes a first team player. You still have to take into consideration his age. When people criticize players they should look at the bigger picture. I'd rather the game time Benayoun is likely to receive be given to the Future of Chelsea.

Lmao at the simplistic, generic little explanations you give. 100's of players fill that demographic, being able to pick a pass to the forwards. Wow.. let's give this soon to be 31 year old McEachran & Kakuta's game time. The clubs hopes simply cannot fall on such a short-term player. Yossi has no future here, We signed Deco at 30 years old too, look how that turned out.

When we signed Benayoun, it wasn't a case of playing Career Mode on FIFA 11. We couldn't just fling £30 million here, and £20 million there. However, now Abramovich has more than shown his commitment to the cause, it is pretty clear that we can now go out and try and sign the likes of Hamsik.

However, in the meantime, you're going to have to learn that the "100s of players" that "fill that demographic" aren't currently on the books at Stamford Bridge, so stop living in a dream world.

[Fulham Broadway 16,860]

One player that would revolutionise and inspire the midfied next season ...... -Bastian Schweinsteiger

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Very good call FB, he's someone I wish we'd have gone for a few years ago, and certainly at the start of this season. I'd say signing Ramires was a very shrewd piece of business considering he is only 23 and already proving how good he is; and having a powerhouse alongside him in Schweinsteiger would really give us another dimension. The only problem, is that he'd be a bugger to have at the team when it comes to match reports...