Maverick

I think you've missed the point that the other person is trying to make. Its not about funds and your pick of players, the Hiddink example is very much applicable in this case. Lets take yesterday's game, we were playing better in first half and should have gone ahead by another goal at least. The ref blows the whistle for teh second half and we see a resurgent Blackburn playing much higher in the pitch with a renewed confidence. Now thats what a manager's role is - you get the job done with the resources you have. Whatever Sam told his team worked wonders and whatever Carlo told (if he did) did not work much. I hope you get the point now.

Well surely you cannot blame him for those points but you should surely question his tactics. Why was Anelka on the pitch for 90 mins when it was clear that he had nothing left in his tank (by 70th min) and not in the best of form? Was Deco the best replacement at that point in time or would Sturridge have been a better choice? Did we have to wait for Blackburn to score to give us a wake up call ? It is those questions that bother me more than anything else.

I was not too surprised by the content of this topic as much as I was with the title. Looks like we are pretty much prepared for a new manager. I honestly dont think it would be fair to fire Carlo without giving him enough time to prove himself. Yes we are out of Europe and not in the best of position to win the league but at this rate we may find ourselves in a position with not many managers meeting our requirement (one with a CV that boasts of domestic and continental success). I had bought this up in the other Chelsea forum that Carlo is not the most shrewd manager and not the very swift in terms of ringing the changes. I was pretty much in the "No" to Carlo brigade. My biggest concern is the manner in which we (as a club) go for players/ managers that are tried and tested. There are a few young managers that can do the job at the Bridge but I am sure the replacement will be (if it happens) another man with a good CV and the expectation is of immdeiate success. I for one was strongly backing someone like Laudrup to come in the summer, having seen him at Getafe I knew that was the brand of football I would want my team to play. There are a few others such as Deschamps/ Petrescu that could do the job and gamble with the youth that everyone is calling for. But are we ready for 2/ 3 seasons without any trophies ?

Stoch had another anonymous performance against PSV last night in their 1 - 1 draw away from home. He has been having a bad patch in the past few games. Just a positive from the game was that he was give a real kick in the park by the PSV midfielders and defenders, none of those seemed to faze him. He seems to be quite a tough lad in that sense.

Fifa continues to be pretty much S^%& on the PS2, I dont see any difference apart from the launch video and a few tweeks in game modes. If you really want understand what gameplay is trying being cretive in Fifa for a change. At the same time challenge the PES AI by trying to score the same goal more than twice. I haven't played any of them on the next gen console, so I would refrain from passing a judgement on those platforms.

Lets just agree mutually that his contract talks have been stalled due to wage demands (whatever those are). Because I dont think there is any other reason to shoot down a contract. Back to the 30 minutes that he was on, I agree he was tracking back for most of the game and dint do much but then again he got the ball a few times and what he did with it was anything but inspiring. I am not passing judgement just based on the 30 mins, its also based on games that he has started and failed to have any impact. Lets hope he bounces back but where he stands currently it looks a long way back for him.

Absolutely nailed it with that post, We need to be prepared for a few setbacks if we decide to give our younger players a chance, You cant expect to win the league/ CL from the first season, though a similar approach could pay off in long term when these players indeed mature with experience under their belt. Firing half of the starting 11 is not a solution but surely tweeking it and altering a personnel is a must. I believe we also need a manager that poses faith in the youngsters and is willing to risk playing them.

Passing is just one of the many strengths to Lampard's game. Why would you want to curb his other strengths such as an eye for goal or his movement and his ability to get into goal scoring positions. I would'nt like him in that role as it restricts his game to a large extent. Not is guaranteed in this league when you come at an age of 28 or more, you can ask Mr.Shevchenko. :)

Let alone a midfielder, get me a striker that guarantees 20 goals and costs less than 40 million in the current transfer market and we can take this ahead. Do the Mathematics and you'll have the answer and once you are through with it you may not bother responding to this post is my guess.

I do agree with you on all counts but those stats are not as bad as they are made out to be. Yes he has set high standards for himself but I am confident he will step up very soon.

Did I ever deny that Essien is not a great player? I'd suggest you comprehend my earlier post before we take this ahead. Since you have had a go at Lampsy let us look at some stats here - 2006/07 - 21 goals and 16 assists 2007/08 - 16 goals and 11 assists 2008/09 - 20 goals and 19 assists 2009/10 - 17 goals and 12 assists With close a dozen games to be played I am sure he will match the figures he achieved in the earlier seasons. What do you have to say now?

Scapegoat ? Surely not. 30 mins of absolute magic and no one mentions his awe inspiring performance. Any of the reserves could do what he did for a "creative/ flair" player that many continue to believe he is. I find it hard to digest that he is continuing with his demand on wage hike. Greedy would be an understatement.

Wayne Rooney for close to 20 million from Everton and Torres for close to 30 million from Athletico, was that not money that got them to their current clubs. Only if YOU understood what passion is you wouldn't question the soul of Chelsea and the list that you just put up and allege Roman of just pumping money. Have you ever been to a home game to question the atmosphere? I am sure you haven't and its your tele that has a fault if you ask me.

I hope we get this kid, he'd cost a fraction of what they are demanding for Ribery and I believe he will be a world beater very soon. Di Maria and Stoch can bring back the days when we use to rip opponents with our wing play.

I believe its time we started playing the Diamond again, this formation/ system does not seem to work with the current bunch considering the number of injuries and the form of ployers like Joey/ Anelka. The Manu V Pool game is before ours, if they do drop points I hoipe we are charged up to extend the lead. In any scenario we need the 3 points.

If that is indeed what the lineup should look like next season, here are the estimated transfer fees that we would have to shell out - Torres - 35 to 45 million Suarez - 20 to 25 million Gourcuff - 15 to 25 million Srna - 10 to 15 million Thats a minimum transfer kitty of 80 million that we need to land those players. I am not sure we have that kind of money to shell out, highly unlikely so lets stop dreaming about such a revamp.

I dont think its confirmed that he will take Ivory Coast to the finals. The last I heard was they were in finak round of talks but nothing has come out ever since.

The football pitch is quite big if you have ever been to a game and Frank alone cannot marshall it. He looks a different player with Essien and even Deco at times playing with him in the midfield. The problem with the Midfield triangle of Mikel, Ballack and Lampard is that Frank is not only thrusted with the responsibility of creating but also the load of setting the tempo. Its a very big task to ask of him to do the whole of it, with Essien alongside him the tempo is more or less taken care of and with Deco the little cheeky and creative passes come to life. The problem with Mikel and Ballack is neither can carry the ball or sustain a high tempo in the game. Without any assistance its close to impossible to expect him to deliver each and every time. I am not denying the fact that he was poor against Inter but it is clear that this is not the midfield that is suitable to him.

In other words apart from Drogba and Malouda we should replace the entire squad? Because you have basically named more than half of our starting lineup. We aren't that bad to be honest.

Then the question again is whether Carlo is the man to stick with for a long term plan. He seems to be not the most shrewd tactician and not too swift in thought either. On the other hand he seems to stick to a bunch of players and doe not tinker a lot.

I am very curious to see what Carlo does in the summer (if he stays) and the kind of players that he brings and the ones that he shows the door.

If that was not a crap performance then please go ahead and name me one. This is by far the most shambolic performance I have seen for a long time. Let alone winning we looked like a side going through the motions and it was painful for me atleast. I dont see many of the reactions as kneejerk - they are mvalid and true in most cases. But to not admit that we are crap is being absolutely ignorant. Yes Inter were cheating but I am not sure how that effects our game so severely.

-_- His expression could give is worse than a stone. I think it was the 82nd minute where the camera was on him and he dint have anything close to an expression. For heaven's sake we were crashing out of the premier competiition.

Having seen Matic in action for the Reserves I can assure you he'll fit into the first team pretty well. Matic/ Cork need to be given the responsibility that Ballack has currently and we should off load the german at any cost. I'd rather have us playing the likes of Cork/ Matic and Kakuta and going out rather than paying the huge sums to the likes of Ballack/ Joey and Deco. Its high time we looked at the squad and push the manager towards picking the youngsters, we will never follow the Arsenal way and I dont intend to but we need to put faith in some of the younger ones that have shown promise in their respective loan spells.

Well I have seen it happen a couple of times now, when Carlo decides to pull out a midfielder and add an attacking option (Joey/ Kalou/ Sturridge) we seem to loose balance and hence any control in the midfield. It happened in the game against City and the last 25 minutes or so was rather painful. I had also raised this point on another forum that the Midfield combination of Mikel and Ballack brings down the tempo a few notches. Though Mikel has been good he needs to learn how to build/ increase the tempo when the team is on the offensive. We may not see either and I am fine with that untill we get someone like Aguero/ Di Maria. We need a young player that can take defenders on. We may want to give Stoch a run in the coming season considering he is quick and has had fair amount of success albeit in a different league. This summer window may well decide our future for the next decade, I hope Carlo is not stuck on the experience tape like he used to at Milan. This team needs a new midfield and a fresh outlook.