ethicalstrategy

Lol, well you did start off by asking if I was serious! But it's no problem, I just wanted to hear why you thought it was such a bad idea. Back to the original question though: You say getting the best from Essien, I'm talking about getting the best from the team as a whole based on who we have at the moment. The problem as I see it is that Mikel, Lampard, Ballack and Essien means we must play a diamond. I don't see those players in that formation working as well as my suggestion. Yes, maybe we lose something from Essien as an individual but overall I think it would lead to a better balance to the team.

Well, allowing for the fact that he has played him at right back, as well as centre back, I was answering the question posed in the title of the thread. If you want to know if I think Jose will play him regularly there next season then I would suspect not. So, apart from the fact that you don't think Jose will play him there, tell me why you think it is such a laughable idea? After all, if he doesn't play him there which of Ballack, Mikel, Makelel, Diarra or Lampard do you think he will leave out? It won't be Lampard or Ballack.

Deadly. Give me a reason why not? Think about Essien this season. Tell me what comes to mind other than his central defensive duties. For me it was his run and cross from the right to set up Drogba's equaliser at the Camp Nou, it was his run and shot to equalise against Arsenal and it was his run and goal against Valencia in the CL quarter final 2nd leg. What was the common factor in all of these? He was playing from this hybrid right back/right half position.

to save your season! 2nd place in the league Carling Cup Winners FA Cup Winners CL Semi Finalist = Poor season according to the press. So 3rd in league (21 points behind 1st and 15 points behind 2nd) Carling Cup Quarter Final (Thrashed at home by Arsenal under 6's) FA Cup 3rd Round (Thrashed at home by Arsenal OAP's) CL Losing Finalist = ??????? From a team that was going to be challenging for the title this season.

Why? He has been at his most effective this season in that right back slot although playing more as a wing half. He has the stamina and power to get up and down that flank and if he was playing in midfield he would still be on that side of the field. This way he plays as right back and right midfield and right wing all at the same time. Can't be done? Maybe not by an ordinary human being, but we're talking about the Bison here!!

I must confess to being quite confused about how we plan to play when everyone is fit. Assuming Ballack and Sheva stay then I can't see anything other than the diamond or with Sheva dropping out wide in a 4-3-3. If we want to be more attacking then we could go 4-4-2 with wide players either side of two central midfielders, but that will give some real selection headaches. My formation and team selection from our current squad would be: ----------------------------Cech -------------------Ricky--------------JT Essien------------------------------------------Bridge ----------------------------Mikel -------Ballack---------------------------Robben --------------------------Frankie ------------------Sheva ------------------------------Drogs I would give both Essien and Bridge license to get forward. Bridge to help Robben and Essien to impersonate Cafu and get past Ballack. Frank would be further forward where he can really hurt teams and Ballack and Mikel would have the opportunity to pass the ball. We would have backup with Ferreira and Diarra covering right back and Diarra and Maka covering holding midfield. Joe, Kalou and SWP covering the more attacking midfield places and Sheva's position. The two areas we really need the extra cover are central defence (I really don't want to see Essien there next season. Great player that he is, he is not a centre half) and main striker. Sheva could maybe play as the main striker, but we definitely need some backup here. If Sheva goes then I'd have Tevez like a shot to play behind Drogs.

I'm still going around with a big smile on my face Watched the game again last night - the second half wasn't anything like as bad as some are suggesting. It wasn't gung ho football, more european in style, but I think generally of a good quality. We certainly dominated, although you would never have known it from the MOTD highlights. The day itself was fantastic - my first FA Cup Final. Getting to the ground was pretty straightforward - we arrived at 1 and there were no queues for the bar! Getting away was a little slow but well organised. The stadium is magnificent. Much much better than the Millenium in my opinion. I'm looking forward to going back there frequently over the next few years. Neutrals might not have enjoyed it much but I was enthralled throughout the match. We were at the back of the lower tier right behind the goal (just under the banner proclaiming Jose's dog to be innocent ) The atmosphere there was great throughout and mental when we scored. I was trying to work out where I could go to avoid watching the penalties when Didier scored - what a hero he is. Great team man and a real leader. All in all it was a great day - I think it would still have been even if we didn't win, although not quite as good I am amazed at how chuffed I am that we won. I thought it would be scant consolation for losing the league and the CL semi, but actually it feels great.

I liked the way that Jose called him Cashley in the interview before the cup final

Well, Robben has said himself that he is definitely staying and Jose was very keen to let everyone know that he was pleased with Robben on Saturday. I agree with Loz that it's good news if he stays. Obviously, we need to try and get him fit and keep him fit for more than a few games, but he showed on Saturday that he is can be a real handful - just ask Wes Brown.

I agree it looked hard but fair from within the ground, but when I saw it back on TV Brown's foot slid over the top pf the ball and clattered Robben quite badly. Interestingly, Robben is saying that he was ok from the tackle. From the official site: 'I was okay from that challenge but I hadn't done barely anything for seven weeks so I was almost dead at the end and that is why the manager took me off.

and if you watch the taclke back it was very nasty. at the time he was getting a lot of stick from some of the people around us and there's no doubt he was effectively out of the game after that but it's hard to know what to do when someone goes over the top on you like Brown did. It was noticeable that jose made a point of coming to the touchline and applauding Robben when he took him off and encouraged the fans to do so too.

Joe was injured: from the official site "Asked about his half-time substitution of Joe Cole, Mourinho revealed that, before the game, Cole had been sitting with one of his feet in an ice bath "because he didn't want to feel it during the match". By half-time it was clear he could not go on. "But this is the kind of player I have. I cannot fault him for his attitude."

It was an obvious foul by Giggs. Any suggestion that it should have been a goal is laughable. I mean, for christsakes, even Lawrenson said it should have been a foul. I rest my case.

Fantastic article I'm guessing he wont be on Scu's Xmas card list anymore!

Yep, I'll be supporting Milan - as much for the integrity of the competition as anything else. I do think, however, that you have a good chance of winning. It's not likely to be as exciting as last time though.

y*ddo, y*ddo, y*ddo To be fair, he took it in good part - I'm sure he was expecting it.

Anyone know why Jose had to "leave early"? Must have been something important to miss the awards.

Interesting viewing. Summed him up nicely really. Lots of promise but still a lot to learn. Reminded me a bit of Ronaldo a couple of seasons ago. As he gets stronger and learns to make better decisions then I think he will become a very good player. To be fair to him, he wasn't expected to get as much playing time this year as he has done. When he has played he has done quite well and scored some important goals.

There were some slightly worrying signs that Joey has fallen back in to some of his bad old habits on Sunday. He started at the tip of the diamond and spent most of his time running down blind alleys and spending too long holding on to the ball without finding any end product. Hopefully it is just short lived as he gets back up to speed but we need him firing on all cylinders next saturday given our limited options.

Hmm, you obviously haven't been watching Boularouz play then. He was poor against Everton and I think that the reason Essien wasn't involved is because Carvalho is not going to be fit and Jose didn't want to risk anything happening to him before next weekend as he will need him to play at centre half.

I'll be supporting the boycott - programmes and all!

To be fair, Eidur has hardly set the world alight at Barca. Duff has barely played for Newcastle and when he has he's been sh*t. Crespo I agree with.

Lofty mate, you really are a glutton for punishment.

GK: Cech, Cudicini RB: Ferreira, Geremi LB: ACole, Bridge CB: Carvalho, Terry, Boulahrouz CM: Makalele, Diarra, Lampard, Ballack, Mikel, Essien AM: Robben, SWP, JCole FW: Kalou, Shevchenko, Drogba Looking at the above squad it's hard to see what formation we could use to accomodate everyone. Defensively we obviously need a decent right back and another centre half (preferably someone versatile enough to play right across the back. That way they should get enough games to be happy a backup) If we play the diamond then I suspect that Maka & Diarra would be the two backup players. If we play 3 in midfield then Mikel would most likely be the one to miss out. We could play a more traditional 4-4-2 with Robben and Cole left and right of midfield but then we would really have a problem shoehorning in 2 out of the 6 midfield options! I quite like the idea of Drogba & Sheva ahead of Robben, Lampard/Ballack/Mikel, Essien & Cole/SWP. Whether we need another striker depends on a) whether Sheva can find his form and B) whether Joe or Robben would be able to play effectively as a second striker. On balance I would go for just another right back and a versatile backup defender to cover centre half and left/right back and leave it at that.