D_VARDCFC

I also do not see how he is a solution to bringing through youth at a club as he has just as poor of a record as Jose does. We're talking about a man who's 1 and only title win despite spending buckets of money was on GD on the final day.

The more time moves on and the "passion" and love for Jose de-clouds the more you look at the facts of the situation the easier it becomes to accept the situation, giving RLC 45 minutes, hooking him off and berating his performance was one of the most baffling pieces of management I have ever seen. For all Joses good qualities, bedding youth into his team is not one of them, he lacks the patience and finesse for such a thing, he manages in a short sharp shock fashion designed to get big reactions out of players, but those players must already be of the highest level, which is something suited to ManU at the moment as they are happy to spend money and ignore their youth academy to secure a faster path back to the top of the table. All in all I do not believe Jose were to be the man to take charge of Chelsea for 5+ years and turn over the squad with youth players who have come through our ranks, he made 2 very big blunders with Lukaku and De Bruyne, two players that are currently out performing every player in our squad and were doing so only 1 season removed from leaving us, Jose will tell us Lukaku had an attitude problem, one that has not been evident or mentioned by anyone else, and De Bruyne who was maybe a bit too eager to play by his own admission but some careful management and actual playing time something he were supposed to be doing would have resolved that. It seems either you were either one of his or you weren't. And worryingly also I was starting to see a very familiar pattern emerging with Kennedy and RLC, two players given minimal chances and upended by Jose favored players despite being in the worst of form, for reasons unbeknownst to anyone but himself. I sit here now and think had he played Kennedy over Hazard in certain games and RLC over Fabregas NOT that we would have nailed on won the games but the man would still have a job because change were occurring instead we had a stubborn style of manager playing out of form players and refusing to budge on the subject. For as upset as I am to see a beloved figure and legend at this club go, he did not give himself a strong case to be kept on. But more related to your great post those starts are very interesting reading especially for a man such as Pep who only likes to stay in jobs for 3-4 years, can and does a man like that have the longevity to stay in a job like ManC or ManU where he is unlikely going to be able to manage his way in his own time frame? I had read a quote about how Pep feels his style of management wears players out after a few years which is a part in why he feels the need to change jobs.

Yeah I can't see it changing from our best performance of the season so far (though against much weaker opposition). Leave Hazard on the bench and bring him on at half time if it's not working? Pedro had a very good game and I think we'll need Oscar to drop in a bit to help stop the ball getting into their front 2. Oscar had a very good handle on the "free role" he had but some more defending is going to be required in this one.

Agree with this, maybe a step too early for him though I do like him as a manager, maybe he is the one after the one after Hiddink But he plays a very specific type of football, plenty of pass and move stuff that is in the general something alot of Chelsea fans do not like based on their opinions of Pep.

I don't think he is ever the man to get that extra 10% out of players, I think he gets the standard performance you'd expect from his team, the league title he won they really should not have won, Liverpool should have won that, and the only other trophy the man has won was the League cup in which they played Wigan-Newcastle-Leicester-West Ham-Sunderland. Tactically he offers nothing special, same system, same style every week at City which sometimes costs them points and to be frank without Aguero and his amount of goals over the last few years, if you replace Aguero who is a top 3 striker with a lesser player City would not even have those trophies to talk about. And if he has input on his signings there is nothing to shout about there either, his defensive signings have been woeful, and his attacking signings of Sterling/De Bruyne for big big money are givens, anyone could have made those signings.

Pardew I think is the only top British manager at the moment, Monk/Rogers are massive gambles.

With Simeone next to ruling himself out it puts yet another huge question mark on why we've sacked Jose when we clearly have no plan in place to replace him. Simeone wasn't even the first choice to be honest but Pep has an affinity for taking easy jobs on short term contracts so City is ideal for him, we need someone who is going to be manager for 5+ years, the squad we have now is not an aged one but whoever takes the job we should be looking at to be here to bleed Loftus ect into the team over the next few years. We have to be realistic about this, the Chelsea managers position is not appealing to the type of character we want, these guys are told one minute, we need a 7 year manager who brings through youth ect then they walk a tightrope balancing the must win every game mentality that is generated from a trigger happy owner and the press that love to stir the pot when Chelsea lose a game or two and trying to bring in youth players. How Pelligrini can even be considered the answer I don't know, the man struggles even now he's spent mass amounts of money on De Bruyne and Sterling and he still can't make his team convincing, Man City should be walking the the title this year with the performance of outselves, United and Arsenal but they don't. I personally don't see whoever is next as the long term manager, I think we're one more manager after Hiddink away from JT or Lamps taking over.

Yeah I noticed that also, as soon as I saw the squad as a whole closing the game down, passing was fast and accurate I knew we'd win, I haven't felt like that before this season.

Benitez like myself has clearly been concious of the spanking we were in for here. Thankfully held out so far!

I have thought about other formations but even scenario without 3 at the back which I think we can all agree would be a bad idea leaves Mata in a winger postion and Mata does not have the pace or dribbling skills for it, hes a play maker who needs to be in the middle.

I cant remember commentators talking as much garbage as these two are during this.

Who is Yossi Benayoun?

http://www.weaintgotnohistory.com/2013/1/8/3849712/unsafe-at-any-price-why-fernando-torres-is-gone-for-good First off this is a good read and kinda sums up my feelings towards the subject of Fernando Torres, I just have one thing to add to it. I can only make about 4-5 games a season and what is becomming apparant to me is how actually bad Torres is at football in general, it starts in the warm up where he fails to score 4 out of 5 of his shots, then move on to the game and his basic touch and passing skills are bad, Im sorry they are just plain bad, he constantly mis controls the ball, his passes are not accurate, unless he has space and space to pass into we lose the ball, he continuously controls the ball too far away from his body so it is easily taken by defenders, Drogba would keep the ball close then muscle with the defender and link up. His left foot, he doesnt have one, that is all, he will do anything to get the ball onto his right foot, failing that he passes it straight to the goalkeeper with his left. His vision, as mentioned above, he had tap in on 2 yards from goal, but just didnt make the run at all, waiting for it behind 2 defenders, what is that about? You give Torres his pace back meaning he can sprint past two defenders after kicking the ball past them that increases confidence leading to his finishing getting better, instead of weakly trying not to miss the target he ended up passing it essentially to El Habsi yesterday, any striker worth 10 quid should score 4 yards from goal with no defenders pressuring. The exert below brings me to the rumours that Liverpool only accepted the big as they expected him to fail the medical: When Roman Abramovich triggered the buyout clause in the Spaniard's contract on the final day of the January 2011 window he was purchasing a once-great footballer who had undergone two operations on the same failing right knee in the previous year; a player who had gone through the pain of an accelerated rehabilitation process to recover fitness for the 2010 World Cup only to be left writhing in the agony of a groin injury as Spain won it. So late on deadline day was Torres signed by Chelsea there was not time for a complete medical. Those at Liverpool who know his history of surgical intervention will privately say exactly what Burley said publicly on Sunday. Torres will never get back to being the player he was. It is physically impossible. Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/sport-comment/the-problem-with-fernando-torres-is-physical-not-mental#ixzz2KXcP2iDA Follow us: @TheNationalUAE on Twitter | thenational.ae on Facebook As the atricle at the top said, the old Torres is gone for good.

But more than the cups being in the Champions League next season is priority, and at this rate we'll slip down the pack, struggle for 4th and FSW will blame his tired squat for the cloob not making the CL. Mata especially needs a rest, considering he had 'a virus' yesterday better to let him rest off, Marin could use a game, Bertrand the same, if were going to pay Benayouns wages 90 minutes out of him isnt much to ask, Brentford should be a stroll over with our first team out at home, get a goal or two in front and play it around, save legs, stand down players for the second leg then we should be in good shape for Citeh~, with the mood in their camp at the minute they could be there for the taking. After Munich the EL is going to feel like a tear drop in an ocean. IMO its a tough competition to win and wont be worth the award, the FA Cup is an easier comp to win and would mean more.

And it must affect the players also, Im extremely confident that they can hear the reaction to the team announcements, to go from NUMBER 8 YOUR CAPTAIN FOR TODAY FRANK LAMPARD **GIGANTIC CHEER** to NUMBER NINE FERNANDO TORRES **20% BOOING, 2O% CHEERING 60% NO REACTION AT ALL** that has to play on a players mind. Who would honestly be THAT motivated to play for those people?

As much as its joked about there are some big teams/banana skins here. Personally after all of Rafas bitching and moaning about the squad being tired ect this is the time to start resting those players. I'd rather get 2nd place as City are there for the taking based on their current form and focus more on the FA cup than the EL.

I get the feeling this plays apart, as much as I dont need another reason to bash FSW you just know that not playing Torres would p*** off Roman. It wouldnt shock me if Robbie had feelings and vocalised thoughts of dropping him and that helped contribute to his sacking.

I second this.

I was amazed at the booing/lack of reaction to his name on the team sheet being read. Am I happy with his contribution to the team? no do I think he has a future here? no Would I voice that on gameday at the match minutes from kick off? not a chance. Save that for the pub afterward/ranting on here.

He also had the advantage of being in a s**** team that relies on him far too much. The same formulae that made Gerrard look so much better than Lampard to alot of people.

This nails it. Was in the WSU yestersay, was about 1 of 7 people singing in the entire North part but an excellent view of all the goals What I do find though is as I cant know whether I can attend a game until they go on general admission is you can only get 1 ticket a go in the MH and Shed ends so if you are going with someone you cannot ensure sitting together but you can get atleast 2 in the WSU.

But they wont because well, why would they? If they get the attendance they currently do based on the prices they currently have then why change it? the only way you will get change is if there is a mass protest and abandonment of games until they are reduced which again I cant see happening. Its business 101 and its not comparable to pretty much any other business because if Samsung and Sony find themselves with new sponsers one might drop their prices to influence custom from the other then the other responds ect which is how prices drop, as a fan you wont go to the Emirates because prices are lower there.

This, but the feeling I get is one of FSWs main goals is to appease Romans Torres bromance so when he feels there are a few goals on he plays Torres in the hope he can grab a few.

Im with you, the lack of Width we had at times yesterday was shocking, Cahill at one point ended up running up the right wing with the ball having no other option.

I swear he said they were not considered for today...then Mata ends up coming on anyway, I was at a complete loss as to what was going on. FSW must have sent Benayoun and Marin BACK out for warm ups straight after sitting down about 3 times. Anyway, I felt like we controlled the game after a majorly scrappy first 7-10 minutes without really dominating, Oscar was a little high up for my taste, there wasnt that link between Luiz/Lamps to Torres/Hazard/Ramires that Mata usually provides, we got the goal looked settled for a few minutes before Wigan started catching us out, we came out for the second half were on top again, got the second then seemed to switch off (nerves jittering at this point, flashbacks to Reading) then of course Super Frank popped up with the sealer, Nice to see Marin on the scoresheet also. My one gripe was the lack of Champions of Europe songs, we have only got 2-3 months left to enjoy this! And just to beat a dead horse, how Torres missed his oppertunity I dont know. Good 3 points even if the score was very flattering.