Blue Sun Tzu
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There has been much debate about our stuttering form of late. The problems we are having are not new and the very same cause has reared its ugly head at some point in each of the last three seasons. We have too many players that despite their undoubted ability do not have the drive and desire or mental attitude required to be champions in the blue of Chelsea. Lets look at the culprits.
Chief amongst them is Deco. I have posted time and time again that I have never liked the player. Despite having undoubted quality he just never shows up. The arrogance painted across his nasty little face is echoes in his performances. He does not play for the team. He plays for himself. It could be argued that over the past couple of seasons he was being played out of position (something that he did not hesitate in pointing out to the press). Under Ancelotti he has been played in his favourite position, at the tip of the diamond, yet he his perfromances have been at best mediocre (despite the odd excellent finish). He just doesn't look bothered. A little flick here, short through pass there he gives the ball away far too often. That is forgivable but was isn't is that upon doing so he just shrugs and makes no attempt to make up for the error. The fans can see this and as a result have no affinity with him. I will admit that Joe is not in the best of form but he loves Chelsea and this is echoed in his attitude and effort to make a difference. Because of this, the fans warm to him. A case in point was yesterday when he put more in to his first 30 seconds on the pitch then Deco has all season. Yet Carlo seems to fit to play Deco again and again.
Now we come to Ballack. Another player of undoubted ability but despite the odd upturn in his perfromances (the end of season 08/09) he too often goes missing. I can't remember the last time he stamped his authority on the game. Like Deco, his attitude is casual at best. He seems just happy to turn up and collect his huge wages. I have no time for him.
Mikel. So much promise, so much potential, but he is a casual brother who adds nothing to the team, quite the opposite in fact, he has become a liability. Slowing down any momentum we may have, giving the ball away in dangerous areas and worst of all consistently giving away needless freekicks. It would be interesting to see how many of the freekicks from which we have conceded have been given away by him.
Combine Deco, Ballack and Mikel and you have only half a player. It's bad enough to have any one of these players in the team but Carlo has seen fit to play all three of them in the same line-up. This effectively means that we are playing with only seven and half outfield players. How any of them can be rewarded with a place in the team is beyond me and I imagine the majority of our fans. I can forgive mistakes and drops in form but I cannot forgive the lack of effort and casual attitude. Compare and contrast the effort put in by Alex and Ivanovic last night, both of whom played as though their lives depended upon it. That is what you get paid the ridiculous amounts of money to do. And it is this that the fans respond to.
Now we come to Kalou. A nice man by all accounts who does try his best. The problem is that his best is no where near good enough. I find him embarrassing to watch. He doesn't know when to shoot, where to move to create space for others or how to bring other players into play and misses open goals with an alarming regularity. The contrast between him and Borini last night could not be more apparent.
Carlo started very well and I have been impressed by his willingness to blood the youngsters. Let's be very clear about this: he is NOT another Scolari. However there are alarming signs that he is no Jose, Ferguson or Capello either. He doesn't seem to have the ruthlessness required to get the best out of his players over the course of a season. This may the reason he only won Scudetto in his time with AC Milan. This can be seen by the recent reluctance of our team to push on when one up. We only seem to up our game and take it to our opponents when we have conceded. Too often our players do not seem sure of what they are supposed to be doing. A case in point was the Everton game. Can you imagine those players making the same mistake twice in game under Jose? He would have had them in at half-time and given precise instructions as to how to defend a freekick. His persistence with the diamond system does echo Scolari. This system is too reliant on confidence. This is all well and good when things are going well but when the inevitable blip in form happens we seem to go to pieces. This is when a manager earns his money. But recently he seems to have gone missing (having said that I will admit that we do seem to have worked on the defending of set-pieces). And most worryingly of all, his persistence with this system has resulted in Frank having the worst season he has had in a blue shirt (I will give credit where credit is due for him getting Drog and Nico to play so well together).
It is his selections of late that have worried me the most. At the risk of repeating myself, how can he play Mikel, Ballack and Dedo in the same side? How can he have such a defensive formation when playing at home against the side at the very bottom of the table? Having blooded the mercurial talent that is Kakuta why was he not on the bench last night? Too often he does not reward players hwo have played well by keeping them in the side. What's the betting that despite his performance last night, Alex will find himself relegated to the bench at Upton Park.
I realize that this has turned into something of a rant. Of course we are top of the league and through to the next round of the Champions League. By comparison with others - particularly the bin-dippers ha! Ha! - there is no disaster here. However until he addresses these issues I fear that Man U will up their game in the second half of the season as they always do and we will be left floundering. So Carlo if you are reading this here is what I think you need to do:
1. Relegate Deco, Kalou, Ballack and Mikel to the bench at the most until their form and attitude deserves otherwise.
2. Have a plan 2 and 3 that allows us to get width when we need it.
3. Be more ruthless. Instill a sense of fear in the payers should they under-perform.
4. Understand that the fans want players who perform with flair. Of course it is up to the fans to lift the players but that goes both ways, it is also up to the players to lift the fans.
Onwards...
Chief amongst them is Deco. I have posted time and time again that I have never liked the player. Despite having undoubted quality he just never shows up. The arrogance painted across his nasty little face is echoes in his performances. He does not play for the team. He plays for himself. It could be argued that over the past couple of seasons he was being played out of position (something that he did not hesitate in pointing out to the press). Under Ancelotti he has been played in his favourite position, at the tip of the diamond, yet he his perfromances have been at best mediocre (despite the odd excellent finish). He just doesn't look bothered. A little flick here, short through pass there he gives the ball away far too often. That is forgivable but was isn't is that upon doing so he just shrugs and makes no attempt to make up for the error. The fans can see this and as a result have no affinity with him. I will admit that Joe is not in the best of form but he loves Chelsea and this is echoed in his attitude and effort to make a difference. Because of this, the fans warm to him. A case in point was yesterday when he put more in to his first 30 seconds on the pitch then Deco has all season. Yet Carlo seems to fit to play Deco again and again.
Now we come to Ballack. Another player of undoubted ability but despite the odd upturn in his perfromances (the end of season 08/09) he too often goes missing. I can't remember the last time he stamped his authority on the game. Like Deco, his attitude is casual at best. He seems just happy to turn up and collect his huge wages. I have no time for him.
Mikel. So much promise, so much potential, but he is a casual brother who adds nothing to the team, quite the opposite in fact, he has become a liability. Slowing down any momentum we may have, giving the ball away in dangerous areas and worst of all consistently giving away needless freekicks. It would be interesting to see how many of the freekicks from which we have conceded have been given away by him.
Combine Deco, Ballack and Mikel and you have only half a player. It's bad enough to have any one of these players in the team but Carlo has seen fit to play all three of them in the same line-up. This effectively means that we are playing with only seven and half outfield players. How any of them can be rewarded with a place in the team is beyond me and I imagine the majority of our fans. I can forgive mistakes and drops in form but I cannot forgive the lack of effort and casual attitude. Compare and contrast the effort put in by Alex and Ivanovic last night, both of whom played as though their lives depended upon it. That is what you get paid the ridiculous amounts of money to do. And it is this that the fans respond to.
Now we come to Kalou. A nice man by all accounts who does try his best. The problem is that his best is no where near good enough. I find him embarrassing to watch. He doesn't know when to shoot, where to move to create space for others or how to bring other players into play and misses open goals with an alarming regularity. The contrast between him and Borini last night could not be more apparent.
Carlo started very well and I have been impressed by his willingness to blood the youngsters. Let's be very clear about this: he is NOT another Scolari. However there are alarming signs that he is no Jose, Ferguson or Capello either. He doesn't seem to have the ruthlessness required to get the best out of his players over the course of a season. This may the reason he only won Scudetto in his time with AC Milan. This can be seen by the recent reluctance of our team to push on when one up. We only seem to up our game and take it to our opponents when we have conceded. Too often our players do not seem sure of what they are supposed to be doing. A case in point was the Everton game. Can you imagine those players making the same mistake twice in game under Jose? He would have had them in at half-time and given precise instructions as to how to defend a freekick. His persistence with the diamond system does echo Scolari. This system is too reliant on confidence. This is all well and good when things are going well but when the inevitable blip in form happens we seem to go to pieces. This is when a manager earns his money. But recently he seems to have gone missing (having said that I will admit that we do seem to have worked on the defending of set-pieces). And most worryingly of all, his persistence with this system has resulted in Frank having the worst season he has had in a blue shirt (I will give credit where credit is due for him getting Drog and Nico to play so well together).
It is his selections of late that have worried me the most. At the risk of repeating myself, how can he play Mikel, Ballack and Dedo in the same side? How can he have such a defensive formation when playing at home against the side at the very bottom of the table? Having blooded the mercurial talent that is Kakuta why was he not on the bench last night? Too often he does not reward players hwo have played well by keeping them in the side. What's the betting that despite his performance last night, Alex will find himself relegated to the bench at Upton Park.
I realize that this has turned into something of a rant. Of course we are top of the league and through to the next round of the Champions League. By comparison with others - particularly the bin-dippers ha! Ha! - there is no disaster here. However until he addresses these issues I fear that Man U will up their game in the second half of the season as they always do and we will be left floundering. So Carlo if you are reading this here is what I think you need to do:
1. Relegate Deco, Kalou, Ballack and Mikel to the bench at the most until their form and attitude deserves otherwise.
2. Have a plan 2 and 3 that allows us to get width when we need it.
3. Be more ruthless. Instill a sense of fear in the payers should they under-perform.
4. Understand that the fans want players who perform with flair. Of course it is up to the fans to lift the players but that goes both ways, it is also up to the players to lift the fans.
Onwards...
