Is our midfield good enough?

[zolayes 14,489]

its ok we can find a 20 goal midfielder anywhere ...I believe they grow on trees

[eldo 868]

I think that they can still play well, but they need to keep the ball at their feet more and pass it from player to player. High balls are no go.

[Styles 9,790]

its ok we can find a 20 goal midfielder anywhere ...I believe they grow on trees

So Lampard in the Chelsea team forever then? Great.

[chrismada9 1,948]

its ok we can find a 20 goal midfielder anywhere ...I believe they grow on trees

Not even Gerrard can get 20+ goals a season :eyebrows:

[Kostas 1,468]

This is by no means an in-depth analysis but I feel our midfield has gone a few steps backwards compared to say December. It has gone from missing some creativity to missing creativity + some Mikel. It could be the 4-4-2 but I'm not very fond of the Lampard - Essien duo at the moment.

[zolayes 14,489]

So Lampard in the Chelsea team forever then? Great.

as long as he gets his 20+ a year ...check out Billy Meredith or Stanley Mathews..

[chrismada9 1,948]

This is by no means an in-depth analysis but I feel our midfield has gone a few steps backwards compared to say December. It has gone from missing some creativity to missing creativity + some Mikel. It could be the 4-4-2 but I'm not very fond of the Lampard - Essien duo at the moment.

You can't really say it's "missing" creativity completely however. Take Ramires for example. He has really gone up a gear as this season has gone on, and he is finally beginning to find spaces, and run into those spaces. It's everyone else that hasn't pulled their weight, and that's partly because either they are being used in the wrong way, or their ages are beginning to creep up on them. The likes of Lampard, Essien and Malouda haven't delivered where it has mattered most. They haven't created enough, and they haven't played with enough passion, as they have done in previous seasons. Had they have done so, we would almost certainly NOT be sitting 4th at the moment.

Which brings me onto another matter. Everyone argued that a 4-4-2 diamond never used to work in games where we have used it (it was used a lot in pre-season and if you look back at those results, they speak for themselves), suddenly, our trustworthy 4-3-3 has started to fail, and yet a 4-4-2 is beginning to function it seems....

[termninja 5,290]

Our midfield is good, but they lack offensive quality ( not including Lamps ), and a player like Ganso/Hamsik/Pastore and similar would add some creativity to our squad. Take this match against Blackpool for example. Have Torres and Drogba gotten at least one 1on1 chance? No ( Drogba did, but by bad ball receiving from Torres ), and it wasn't because of their bad movement, and it was 2 of them, not 1 like before. Add to that our incredibly bad crossing and we end up struggling to score.

4-3-3 failing us? Well of course when we don't have a SINGLE winger who can take the ball and dribble his opponents! Face the facts, Malouda has been terrible, Kalou is better in front of goal, Zhirkov was injured quite some time, Anelka sometimes plays well sometimes not, and Studge and Kakuta are on loan. 4-4-2 suits us better simply because our wingers/side players don't have to play that offensive as in 4-4-3.

But again, the right question is not Is our midfield good enough, but Is our midfield creative enough? To that I say no.

[BLionheart 516]

i have never doubted our midfielders ability , we have the best DMs in essien and mikel , a great RCM in ramires and the greatest goalscoring midfielder of all times in Lamps ...

yes we lack some creativity but that is due to the fact that we have shitty wingers in Malouda - Kalou - zhirkov - anelka .

wingers are supposed to be pacy , tricky , creative with great ball control .... not one of them falls in to that category .and that is exactly why we lack creativity in our game .

give a look around and you'll find that only barca has a better midfield .

although i think we should get hamsik because Lamps is starting to look older and this man is his perfect replacement .

[bombayblue™ 55]

We genuinely lack pace in our team. Torres has it in his armour but he is so short on confidence that we are yet to exploit it.

The sooner he gets back to scoring ways the better for us.

Lampard even with his lack of pace can do a brilliant job a la Scholes and score considerably more goals. What we do need is genuine pace and quality on the wings and upfront.

Torres/Sturridge should provide us that next season. May be buying a pacy wide player wouldn't be too bad.

But for now we have to make do with what've got.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

So Lampard in the Chelsea team forever then? Great.

Until he can physically no longer perform, yes.

Why? Because he is a Chelsea legend, who, in four games, will be playing his 500th game for the club. Based on sentiment and the fact he is still the best attacking midfielder in Europe, I see no reason why Mr Twenty-Goals-A-Season should be demoted at all.

[Styles 9,790]

Until he can physically no longer perform, yes.

Why? Because he is a Chelsea legend, who, in four games, will be playing his 500th game for the club. Based on sentiment and the fact he is still the best attacking midfielder in Europe, I see no reason why Mr Twenty-Goals-A-Season should be demoted at all.

We're beginning to see that. A flat 4--4--2 doesn't help him either.

A goalscoring midfielder is not the most important thing in the world, a midfielder able to reatin possession and feed those in front of him is far more valuable.

[steve5221 91]

We're beginning to see that. A flat 4--4--2 doesn't help him either.

A goalscoring midfielder is not the most important thing in the world, a midfielder able to reatin possession and feed those in front of him is far more valuable.

Espcially with a £50 million striker who gets no service!!....Will be interesting to see what happens when Yossi is fit. I can see him playing right or left mid though rather than in the centre.

[Clevemayer 764]

This is by no means an in-depth analysis but I feel our midfield has gone a few steps backwards compared to say December. It has gone from missing some creativity to missing creativity + some Mikel. It could be the 4-4-2 but I'm not very fond of the Lampard - Essien duo at the moment.

I can fully agree, Ess and Lamps are caught too far up front many many times. the flat-midfield isn't the way to play a modern game but at least carlo has some success with it... Essien seems like he have lost his defensive mind completely and lamps was never a defensive midfielder...

[steve5221 91]

Ramires is supposed to slot in from the right when they both go forward but that leaves us lopsided.

We only changed to 4-4-2 to accomodate Torres, but Torres got more chances when we played 4-3-3.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

We're beginning to see that. A flat 4--4--2 doesn't help him either.

A goalscoring midfielder is not the most important thing in the world, a midfielder able to reatin possession and feed those in front of him is far more valuable.

I think that is incredibly harsh. The man has missed half of the season with various injuries and is still nursing himself to full fitness. It isn't easy to come back from serious injury and then perform brilliantly week-in, week-out; the fact I had my kneecap come through my leg and then be out of football for 15 months is testament to that! Give him time, and give him support, and Lampard will give you goals and assists in return.

[Styles 9,790]

I think that is incredibly harsh. The man has missed half of the season with various injuries and is still nursing himself to full fitness. It isn't easy to come back from serious injury and then perform brilliantly week-in, week-out; the fact I had my kneecap come through my leg and then be out of football for 15 months is testament to that! Give him time, and give him support, and Lampard will give you goals and assists in return.

I respect and appreciate Lampard. He is arguably Chelsea's best ever player.

Pat Nevin, who usually provides decent assessments, had this to say

Chelsea have to change, They have been a battering ram as a team for some time now. They knock the ball up to Didier Drogba and see what happens. You can’t do that with Torres. Chelsea need someone with a bit of vision to set him free; someone who can deliver the ball to him in the way he needs.

Frank Lampard is capable of it, but it is not really his type of game.It could be that they have to buy someone in the summer to solve the problem.

That is the biggest problem. And it's further compounded by the atrocious wing-play, there are no decent crosses whatsoever. Our strikers are more or less starved of any type of service.

[Tortilla9 390]

Ramires is supposed to slot in from the right when they both go forward but that leaves us lopsided.

We only changed to 4-4-2 to accomodate Torres, but Torres got more chances when we played 4-3-3.

Was the 4-4-2 to accomodate Torres or to accomodate Torres and either Drogba or Anelka? I ask because others seem to think no matter what Carlo will keep playing Torres along with another forward to keep the peace (somewhat).