PloKoon13

We'll have to learn to defend from them first. :)

I really don't understand the positives of zonal marking... can someone explain? :S

I thought Bosingwa was good in the first half. I thought Joe Cole was poor though... for someone who was meant to be out wide he kept cutting into the centre where all the Southend lot were stationed... Of course, this meant Bosingwa couldn't overlap with him so he had to cross early...

Kalou for me. Worked hard and showed skill and pace: just what we need. :)

I think that was a gesture of support rather than annoyance.

More managerial incompetence for their first goal... lovely finish for ours. If they hadn't scored we'd be about six up by now ¬____¬ Did anyone think Lampard should have had a penalty?

They don't f**king learn, do they?

Not necessarily right now... but perhaps next season.

1-1, methinks, at least after 90 minutes.

How opposed would everyone be to seeing Ruud Gullit come back?

It's because Scolari wants them on the edge of the area in order to counter attack. It's a bit hard to counter-attack when the ball's in the back of the net though ¬___¬

Didn't they already try something like that with Paul Ince? Laurent Blanc, or O'Neill (if he could be dragged in), or Phil Brown (just to have someone English).

And he's bloody left-footed!!

I had no idea he was that young! Swap deal for Ballack? :D

Agreed, but I have two problems with dumping Scolari: -Cost -Replacements? We could use the £7.5 million we might use paying him off to get a pacy left-footer...

Wow, I didn't realise he was this unpopular. Granted, I was pretty pissed off after the League Cup final, but other than that I quite liked him... :D

I think your post has the same sentiment as mine. I've considered Martin O Neill as a boss, actually. He'd sort out some of the troublemakers like Drogba...

What should we do with our squad? GK Petr Čech Definitely keep him around. As far as I'm aware he's only about 26, and is one of the top three keepers in the world in my opinion. Could be our no.1 for many years to come. RB/CB Branislav Ivanović I'd like to keep him around, but not as first choice (unless he improves). He's only 24, and is very versatile, so can yet do a great job for Chelsea. Maybe could become first-choice right-back in years to come? LB Ashley Cole No question. The best left back in the world in my opinion. He's fast, good going forward, and damn solid defensively. The boy may be a prat, but he's a bloody gem. CM Michael Essien An absolute tank before his injury... I really hope the Essien of old returns, because then we can add some steel to our midfield. CB Ricardo Carvalho I'm not sure. Obviously it's hard to judge so soon after a lengthy layoff, but he (and JT) have looked more shaky than usual this season. He's hit his thirties, so maybe the age is getting to him... I'd keep him on just in case he gets back to his usual class, but if he stays this bad next season I'd get shot. CM Frank Lampard (vice-captain) Starting to get on a bit, but still just as good. Even in our many dire performances this year, he seems to be the main person (besides Ashley Cole or Cech) who comes away with any credit... FW Franco Di Santo Showing some promise, but he hasn't really had the chance to show off the goods yet. I hope he stays as he's showed flashes of skill and intelligence. Does anyone know how pacy he is? FW Joe Cole Worth keeping when he's on form and not injured. However, that's becoming more and more of a rarity... Maybe we should sell while we could get some good cash for him? I don't know how I'd feel about losing another English player though :( FW Didier Drogba Always stuck up for him before this but that non-performance made my mind up. Get rid of him. CM Mikel John Obi Still a bit rough around the edges, but ultimately a good player, however I don't think he's that much of a holding midfielder... Definitely keep him and hope he improves. MF Michael Ballack He's past it, I'm afraid to say. He put in a few powerhouse performances last season under Avram and at Euro 2008, but he's been terrible this year... MF Florent Malouda I'd love to stick up for him and for him to come good... but to put it bluntly... he's 28 and sh*t. Get rid and replace. DF José Bosingwa Everyone else seems to adore the guy, but I was never that fond of him... He put in a couple of good attacking performances against crap teams earlier this season, but after about October he's been poor defensively and in attacking. Perhaps try him out on the right wing, backed up by Belletti or Ferreira, but not as a right-back. DF Paulo Ferreira I like him. He's solid, and even a Belletti fanboy like myself would want to keep him in the squad, if not have him as first choice as soon as Belletti gets past it or goes bombing forward. However, if we're not going to use him, let him go for the good of the coffers and the man. MF Deco Despite some claims, I don't think he's been our absolute worst offender this season. He's gone missing a lot and his touch has often been poor, but he's put in a couple of barnstorming performances. I say give him until the end of the season (drop him for a bit first to give him a kick up the arse) and if he's still crap, sell him. FW Salomon Kalou As much as I want the little guy to succeed, he's quickly dropping from 'youngster with great potential' to 'youngster who failed to live up to his potential'. Give him some more chances (God knows if he gets some form together he'll be better than Malouda), but he's only played one good game (home against Man Ure), so let's not hold our collective breath... GK Carlo Cudicini It seems he is becoming more and more prone to having a complete mare the further we distance ourselves from the times he and Ed de Goey/Mark Bosnich tussled it out for the no.1 shirt and he was the best in the league. Hilario can be just as solid nowadays, so let's flog him and let him play out the rest of his career in Italy somewhere. B) CB John Terry (captain) Despite the absolutely amazing form of the last four or five seasons, he's been pretty poor this season, for the time he hasn't been suspended or injured. It's sad to see our Captain Fantastic unlocked by Clint Dempsey and cross after cross after cross in the last month or so. I really hope he gets back to full strength... but if Man City come knocking, I wouldn't say no to a £20mil + bid. Alex and Mancienne can cover quite aptly, and we still have Carvalho who is hopefully going to be back at his best soon. MF Mineiro Waste of space. Bugger off. CB Alex Very, very good centre back. I'd be sorely sorry to lose him, especially considering he's only 26, so hitting his peak as a player. I think if he played every week he'd be one of the top centre backs in Europe. The man is already probably the best slide tackler around at the moment and is built like a brick sh*thouse, so if he picked up on his positioning, we could have a new powerhouse in defence. DF/MF/FW/Superman Juliano Belletti Looking past the fanboyism, we should keep him for the excellent experience and cover he provides. Besides, the man has won everything, so the youngsters will have someone to look up to. FW Nicolas Anelka STILL not sure about him. He's put away a fair few this season, but he's really looked shaky pretty often. When we're not cruising against someone crap like Blackburn or West Brom, however much work he puts in, he just seems to toil to nothing and drop deeper and deeper until he's somewhere behind Mikel. I like him, but let's see if a partnership with Di Santo can blossom. If not, cash in? GK Henrique Hilário Keep him. He doesn't seem to care about being on the bench, and he's pretty solid when called upon. Also he has a funny name. DF Michael Mancienne From what I've seen with Wolves and the reserves, this guy is a great prospect and has really put in some great performances. I'd start him next match next to Terry and see how he gets on. FW Miroslav Stoch Scolari you prat, why haven't you played this boy yet?? We're lacking pace, and that's exactly what this fellow has in abundance. Stick him on at the sixty minute mark or something and he'll have the opposition defence bawling with his pace. I really hope he isn't another David Bellion though... MF Michael Woods I must confess I don't know a great deal about this lad. Can someone fill me in? MF Lee Sawyer Not sure if he's ready for the big-time yet, and he seems injury prone from what I've read. However he scores a couple, so why not stick him on for Ballack or Deco when they get tired? FW Claudio Pizarro (On loan at Werder Bremen) Call him back when we axe Drogba. We need a pure finisher, and Pizarro is exactly that. Try Pizarro and Di Santo as a combination and see how they fare? Di Santo has work rate, power and the eye for a pass, whereas Pizarro has experience and the eye for goal. Sounds good to me... FW Scott Sinclair (On loan at Birmingham City) I don't personally think he's up to standard, to be honest. I hope he proves me wrong and matures with his chance to play at Birmingham, but if at the end of next season he's still 'doing a Kalou', then make a big fuss and get some cash for him. And last, but certainly not least: MF/FW Gael Kakuta He's fast, skilful, can take players on, scores goals, and even better, is LEFT-FOOTED. He's like our very own Yuri Zhirkov! I think this lad can make it big; we just have to give him the chance. Now this leaves us with: GKs Cech Hilario (Promote Rhys Taylor) LBs Ashley Cole (I don't think Bertrand's ready... sign someone solid to back up Ashley - maybe Jeremy Mathieu?) RBs Ferreira Belletti CBs Carvalho (hopefully) Terry (hopefully) Alex Mancienne Ivanovic CMs Essien Lampard Mikel Sawyer Woods? LMs Kakuta (still need backup here... Malouda if we HAVE to.) RMs Joe Cole Bosingwa FW Anelka Pizarro Di Santo Stoch Kalou (hopefully) The important point I want to make is that the core of a winning squad is already here. I think I've suggested two signings? And with all the money we'd make from the transfers I suggested, we could invest more in the youth team so we are better prepared to succeed on our own after Abramovich buggers off. If not, we could sign a good, young player in a position we might struggle in (with the advancing age of Pizarro and likely indifferent form of Anelka and Kalou, I imagine it will be up front...). Also, we have a number of very versatile players in the squad, so in the case of injury, we have backup. As for the manager... let's give him until the end of the season. If he doesn't have the balls to make changes... then get him on the next flight to Rio. Do you think Avram could be tempted back? :)

Who voted for Drogba? :P

Just kidding, man, just kidding...

Looks like Scolari is doing anything but.

So are we going to make t-shirts with 'OCTVILLE WAS RIGHT' written on them? :o

But what date/game exactly? I want to see if it actually does correspond directly with our collapse.

Other than Cech, and possibly Joe Cole, I'd have to agree with you.

See, I wouldn't mind giving Scolari more time. For all his fallacies, he's a likeable guy. My problem with him is we make the same mistakes and show the same weaknesses in every single game, and he does absolutely nothing to resolve them, nor does he change the squad around when the current lot are clearly stuck in a rut. THAT is what pisses me off about the guy.