308 replies to this topic

[Zeta Orionis]

Lampard is a "passer", he doesn't have the legs to be box to box any more. And he can still pull off great passes sometimes.

[kennypaul]

wxwax, on 15 January 2012 - 12:33 AM, said:

I know Sunderland are playing well, but it was frustrating to see the offensive woes continue. I assume the reason Studge didn't start is because AVB thought he couldn't go 90?

I was happy to see Lamps play so well. To be honest, I think Sunderland's deliberate style helped him a bit. But he's so good at ghosting into the box and taking a dangerous position.

If Torres keeps this up, he'll get his goals. He was very energetic, aggressive and creative. One of those two shouts was a penalty.

It was a huge surprise to see Bison coming on. I thougtht he looked good. I especially liked that he was always trying to pass forward, not sideways, and that he was accurate. Solid on the ball, as always. A beast indeed.

As long as Chelsea can't score more than 1, the oponent has a good chance to equalize. They need to find a way to put it away. I got a headache worrying in the 2nd half.

I thought Ash made a big mistake on the near-goal, but otherwise had an excellent match.

agree with most of that, but for me cole was all over the place (defending) and i`m not the only one. Apart from his mistake after 3 minutes, he makes a schoolboy challenge straight after our first penalty appeal and imo got away with it. imo right sided attacking players fancy it now against him, and i dont blame them, in fact he looks as shaky as bosingwa. btw if he is playing on a chronic ankle injury, it says a lot for the amount of faith they have in bertrand.

[SydneyChelsea]

wxwax, on 15 January 2012 - 08:51 PM, said:

I think that's a good point.

Recently read an article which described one successful way of building a midfield (Ferguson was cited as an example.) Basically, pair dissimilar players -- a passer with a runner. Chelsea have all runners right now. As has been said many, many times this season, the club needs a passer in the midfield. Either get a wing and move Mata over, or find another mid (Modric.)

Using those categories, how would you classify Barcelona's or Man City's or Borussia Dortmund's midfield? ;)

[Samdwich]

wxwax, on 15 January 2012 - 08:51 PM, said:

I think that's a good point.

Recently read an article which described one successful way of building a midfield (Ferguson was cited as an example.) Basically, pair dissimilar players -- a passer with a runner. Chelsea have all runners right now. As has been said many, many times this season, the club needs a passer in the midfield. Either get a wing and move Mata over, or find another mid (Modric.)

That applies to a two-man midfield in a 4-4-2, whereas we play 4-3-3 where it isn't exactly like that, as SydneyChelsea pointed out. Although the principle remains the same, you need a mixture of silk and steel, creators/passers and destroyers/runners/holding midfielders. Barca have Busquets who is the destroyer and then two brilliant passers in Xavi and Iniesta. Pre-Guardiola, Barca were trying to play Deco in midfield with Xavi and Iniesta and they were getting overrun, the anchoring player really helped.

Sydney: I'd argue City's midfield to usually be in the passer/runner mould, btw. They tend to play 4-4-2 with Barry/Toure as the central midfielders with Toure being the destroyer and Barry the passer. He's not creative but he doesn't need to be, he recycles possession, keeps their attacks flowing and leaves the creative burden on Silva/Aguero/Nasri. I'd argue that Carrick does a similar job, he's not particularly flashy but keeps the ball moving and controls the play from deep, leaving the wingers and Rooney to create. It was obviously different when they had Scholes/Keane in the middle but that's because Scholes is far more creative.


How would this apply to us and our 4-3-3? We've got a good destroyer in Romeu (or Essien), but a Lampard/Ramires combo just isn't good enough with the passing, Lampard's distribution isn't what it used to be, and Ramires really needs to improve his passing. Maybe Mata/Romeu/Ramires would work better because Mata's passing is awesome, in the long-term I can see McEachran/Romeu/Ramires having a perfect blend of energy and technical ability to work in the PL.

[PloKoon13]

Fernando Torres got a place in Garth Crooks' team of the week for his performance in this game - onward and upward son.

[Butch]

mclovin83, on 15 January 2012 - 11:51 AM, said:

Can't believe fat phil dowd booked Torres for diving, looked like a pen to me, not seen a replay though. Pretty sure he should have had 2 actually....
Was pleased with the 1-0 never the less, we need to be grinding out a few more of these and clean sheets is the best way to start.
Good game from Torres, looked sharp & dangerous and made the goal for Lampard, surely one has to go in for him sometime?!
Still very hungover after yesterday, going to nurse my hangover and hopefully watch Arsenal slip up, come on Swansea!!!

That ref's name is a bad word in many homes.

Cheers,

Butch

[EmeraldBlue]

Great to get another 3 points and a clean sheet. Torres is looking good and his luck must change, but I've been hoping for that for some time.

What can you say about Chelsea at the moment?

To some extent all teams reflect their manager and this team exhibits a lack of composure - they kick the ball away when they have time to look up and their passing is unfathomable at times. There is no problem with AVB finding his feet, and, as they say, if you are not making mistakes then you are not really trying.

He does apapear out of his depth at times and only a longer spell (if he gets it) will see whether he grows into the job. If he doesn't, then he will finish up as the manager who phased out the old guard with someone else coming in after the dust has settled.

[Saaladin]

As long as Chelsea remains the way it is in terms of personnel its going to be a struggle every week. As others have pointed out, our midfield lacks a true playmaker/dribbler/passer, and on the outside we lack speed. Sturridge is our only source of 1v1 ability and speed. Mata has his moments in terms of 1v1 but its not enough to rely on consistently.

With Essien back, we need to stick a playmker next to either Lampard or Mata and add a winger. We need to have more options available on the bench that can come in and change a game. So although getting only one of a winger or a playmaker may help things, it would only take one injury to either Mata or that playmaker to knock us back to where we are now, in search of solutions offensively.

What we need is an Iniesta type player to play alongside Mata in midfield, then add another winger to play the left side and leave Essien to cover the back 4. That would be a midfield that can offer quick passing and movement and better service to Torres and our wingers while having the luxury of Essien to play a holding role.

For me, I don't really like City's midfield too much because its not a quick enough group. Barry and Milner slow things down too much. Silva is what saves them, but him alone was not enough to carry them through the CL and through teams like Sunderland.

Once City add a more talented central midfielder they will be so much better.

On another point, I know this will never happen because not many managers have too much "outside the box" thinking other than Ferguson, but, I would really like to see David Luiz take over at RB when Cahill come in. RB can be a spot where Luiz can dominate with his speed, skill and tackling ability. Also gives him a chance to grow away from the penalty area and would give us a more physical presence than Bosingwa.

[Phillip]

I like your comment about Luiz, Saaladin.  It definitely would make me a bit less jumpy when I watch Chelsea matches, and he would be an improvement over Bossy or whomever else we have playing right back.