Chelsea 2009-10

[octville]

As the culmination of the current season reaches anti-climax with our undeserved exit from the Champion's league, it is time for reflection, re-organisation and re-committment.

Like a Bridge Too Far, we have reached at least the semis in the past 5 seasons of the Champion's league but failing at the last hurdle. In my mind, we are already a winner because we have not lost to Manchester United or Barcelona in regulation time although the away goal rule hurts. Being rueful will not help but we must indulge in our sorrows if but for the next few days because we feel tremendously for the club.

In retrospect, we have won everything except the CL since Roman's arrival but three consecutive seasons of Red's stranglehood on the Premiership crown is too over-bearing. Mourinho dropped it, Grant almost got it but Scolari lost it. Our silverware has also been few over the last 3 seasons by our standard. Other than the League Cup 2 seasons ago, we were 2nd in everything last year ( which means nothing) and now only has the prospect of the FA Cup medal to look forward to.

In light of these issues, let me indulge on what needs to be done next season, although much of these issues have been discussed and I am merely summarising.

1. Retain Hiddink.

- This man is incredible. We only lost once to Spurs and drew in another game. We have not lost in the CL since his arrival. He injects belief into our players. I mentioned that he is virtually irreplaceable unless Mourinho makes a shocking return. And 99% of the fans would like to see him sealed in a permanent deal.

There's no other way. I think any other appointment unless it is Trappattoni or Marcello Lippi will be a step backward. We know that Ancelotti or Frank Rijkaard will not make the grade but perhaps fans could make an interim compromise with Ruud Gullit or Marco van Basten.

2. Squad renewal

11 members of the regular 16 ( first 11 plus subs) are above or approaching 30 - Hilario, Belletti, Ferreira, Carvalho, Deco, Lampard, Drogba, Malouda, Anelka, Ashley Cole and Ballack.

Other than Lampard, JT, Cole, Carvalho and Drogba,I strongly sense that some will be released from contract or sold.

Ivanovic and Mikel are for the future but Santos, fabio Paim and Gokham Torre are unknown qualities yet and I am unsure if they will come good.

I predict that Chelsea will be the busiest during the transfer window. After all, Russian stock market has advanced 44% this year ;)

Among the rumor is some grain of truth - Malouda may be sold because his value has increased after recent performance. Anelka could be heading to a new club, improving his record once again as the world's most transferred and expensive player.

Therefore, the identification of new members will be critical to our success.

I predict that if Hiddink stays, we will win the CL league within the next 3 years.

3. Expectation

I doubt that the expectation to succeed will dwindle due to our relatively success in the past half-decade.

The desire to win is still as strong as ever and the fan's suppport are growing. With Benitez's ever improving project at Anfield making rare headway at all level of competition, Alex's eventual retirement will transpire into a healthy two-way rivalry between Chelsea and Liverpool in the next few years. I see Manu at the peak of their success while the other two are on the ascendancy yet. Arsenal's woeful fortune caused by a shoestring budget means that their recent decline will accelerate with the departure of Fabregas, Adebayor and Van Persie.

I expect Arsenal to be competing for honours with the likes of Aston Villa and Everton.

So let's cheer up and go for the FA Cup run-in. I think the league should be stopped as soon as the top 2 placing is confirmed. Arsenal, Blackburn and Sunderland games are redundant and we should use the reserves for the last 2 games.

CHELSKI..I MEAN ...CHELSEA FOREVER

[Paul Seery]

Looking ahead to next season I think there is not much that needs to be changed, apart from selling a few off the older players and bringing in some new talent. This would be my team for next season:

GK: Cech

DF: Mancienne

DF: Terry

DF: Alex

DF: Ashley Cole

MF: Essien

MF: Lampard

MF: Fellani*

AMF: Joe Cole

AMF: Dzeko*

CF: Aguero*, Hugain* or Ashley Young*

Formation: 4-3-2-1

*) Players that I would like to see Chelsea sign in the summer.

The team above would be a good one and one that would do quite well under the management of either Moyes, Bilic or Hiddink.

[abramovich]

Paul, unless you want our season to end in December you should fix the title.

[Paul Seery]

Paul, unless you want our season to end in December you should fix the title.

What is wrong with the team above? Seems a good one to me

[abramovich]

What is wrong with the team above? Seems a good one to me

Your post title read "Chelsea 2009-09". Never mind mate, it's all fixed now.

[blizeH]

I rate Fellani, but no way do I think we should sign him. For a start I don't think he's quite good enough, and also we missed out, Everton got their first. Same with Higuain really, Real got their first, so we have no chance. Would do anything to see Aguero in a Chelsea shirt though!

Regarding octville's manager comments, Trapattoni is now 70(!) so he's out of the question, Lippi would be a good choice though, although without a doubt I'd love for Hiddink to stay at the club, like you said, that has to be a priority. Wouldn't want Ruud after his complete lack of passion after the game last night.

[jordanl5182]

YES!! WE WANT LIPPI!!!

[octville]

Sorry. I think Slaven Billic will be another Scolari. Though only in his 40s, Billic does not have good credentials, like success in European club level. He has won nothing yet.

As for the list of players...

Jo ( Man City), Mauro Zarate (Lazio), Lopez and Gonzalez (Porto) , Yuri Zhirkov & Chris Kirkland ( as cech's deputy)

And Pizarro's form in the Bundesliga means he should be given another chance in EPL.

I think the following players should be released to pursue other endeavours :

1. Ballack 2. Ferreira 3. Kalou 4. Anelka

We may fetch around 25-30 mil quids or more, since Anelka is the Premiership leading goal poacher.

But Chelsea should invest if we are to compete. Benitez bought too many players in the past seasons to remember ( Torres,

Agger, Voronin etc.) He is on the cusp of Premiership success if Manure slips in the next 3 games. But to finish above us, that is a credible achievement.

We have been on the restraint due to our exorbitant ways of buying fringe players and letting them go, like Sidwell, Sheva etc.

We need to be shrewd deal maker in the coming season to be successful. Follow my recommendation and I think we can get the league wrapped up by December.

[PraetorianGuard]

I would like to see us sign Van der Vaart, Keirrison, Dzeko, Sessegnon and possibly Eto'o. If we release Ferreria, we should sign a decent LB.

We should offload Kalou and Anelka. Ballack and Malouda can contribute, so wee shouldn't sell them just yet.

[Sheva]

I personally think the pairing of Eto'o and Drogba would be some what outstanding, no matter what happened after recent events Eto'o is still a quality player and every single barca player except for iniesta had a poor a game because we were defensivley so good.

I think we need 3 players in this season. A winger, second striker and a playmaker/ballack replacement. When Ballack went screaming after the ref in the game i felt that sorry for him as he as a player has missed out on 2 of the biggest sporting trophies on many occassions, but for us as to progress as a club we need a younger player in and Van Der Vaart is the ideal cheap replacement in my opinion as it's pretty obvious Real Madrid will offload him. Im stubbled on the winger, i like the look of Zhirkov but i get that feeling of a Malouda but speaking of Malouda he is showing glimpses of his Lyon days which may keep him at the club.

I want the Drogs to stay as i think he is a massive personality at our club even if he represents it in a bad or good way he's eventually loved.

Anelka, Kalou, Ballack, Belletti, Malouda(maybe) for me should leave and i got a feeling Riccy Carvalho will jump ship too Serie A as we have Terry, Alex, Ivanovic and Mancienne.

That's my thoughts on 2009-10 anyway and the most important thing, lets hope we get a hungry experienced manager... oh wait we have one! We Want The Guus!

[Blue Celery]

The interesting one for me because I love him so much is Carvs. To be honest, if I had the say...he'd be gone next year. He's brilliant when he's fit, but that's the key isn't it. He hasn't been fit in a long time and the space of time between him being healthy is too long.

;)

[Ballack & Blu]

We definately need a restructure,don't wanna see us go down the "Arsenal/Barca" all pretty passes stuff,chelsea power pace and cast iron self belief.

we do need a ball player,like iniesta but i would like to see Diego,allowing lamps to be more of a threat,zhirkov as a flyer on the left,and more fire power,not sure drogs will stay,and Nelks is sssssssoooooo laid back,never looks like he is putting in 100% ,so upfront a Benzema,villa ,eto aguero 2 from 4 maybe.

To leave as much as it pains me Ballack,.....,nelks,kalou,mikel,ferreira,may be carvs,might be being a bit drastic but we need to slighty tinker with formation and starting X1

cech

Bossy/ivanovic ........ Alex......... Terry ........ A cole

essien

jcole ....... lamps......... diego ......... zhirkhov

Villa

or

cech

Bossy/Ivanovic ........Alex/Ivanovic....Terry..........A.cole

Essien .Diego...Lamps

j.cole/villa.......Benzema........Zhirkov

that should cause some interest,amongst you lot

[abramovich]

I personally think the pairing of Eto'o and Drogba would be some what outstanding, no matter what happened after recent events Eto'o is still a quality player and every single barca player except for iniesta had a poor a game because we were defensivley so good.

I think we need 3 players in this season. A winger, second striker and a playmaker/ballack replacement. When Ballack went screaming after the ref in the game i felt that sorry for him as he as a player has missed out on 2 of the biggest sporting trophies on many occassions, but for us as to progress as a club we need a younger player in and Van Der Vaart is the ideal cheap replacement in my opinion as it's pretty obvious Real Madrid will offload him. Im stubbled on the winger, i like the look of Zhirkov but i get that feeling of a Malouda but speaking of Malouda he is showing glimpses of his Lyon days which may keep him at the club.

Ballack for all his faults covers a lot of ground per game and works hard at both ends of the field. The worst part about Ballack and Chelsea relationship is that we've got him too late. It's such a pity because in his prime he was a beast of a player.

Van Der Vaart is capable of occasional individual brilliance but he doesn't defend and too inconsistent. I wouldn't mind taking a chance on him if he comes cheap because he's still young and a quality player but I don't see him replacing someone like Ballack.

Eto'o of 4-5 years ago I'd take without question because I believe he was immense at the time. Since then he had a serious long term injury and I thought never looked quite the same player. Add to it his c**tish mercenary attitude and anti-Chelsea remarks from the past and he looks even less enticing as a potential target.

[That Boy Brandinho]

Even last year, Ballack was a beast. For the time he played, there wasn't a better CM anywhere IMO. I'd still retain him simply because he can still contribute but his glory days are likely behind him.

[PraetorianGuard]

This is the line-up I constructed on FIFA09, tell me what you think.

In 4-2-2-2...

Bosingwa ----- Terry ----- Paolo Cannavaro ----- Ashley Cole

------------------ Essien ----- Lampard ---------------------

------ Diego --------------------------------- Van der Vaart -----

----------------------- Eto'o----------------------------------------

--------------------------------- Drogba ----------------------------

Subsitutes:

Ricardo Carvahlo

Alex/Belletti

John Obi Mikel

Michael Ballack

Arjen Robben

Eidur Gudjohnson

Keirrison

Pretty fair line-up if you ask me.

[blueday3]

That is a lot of players to bring in there. Of any position, I don't think we need to get a new CB. And I'm not sure that I like Lamps dropping back into a deeper role. But Diego is a great player, along with some of those other guys.

[PraetorianGuard]

That is a lot of players to bring in there. Of any position, I don't think we need to get a new CB. And I'm not sure that I like Lamps dropping back into a deeper role. But Diego is a great player, along with some of those other guys.

Yes, realistically, I would have to drop Robben and Guddy because I don't see Real Madrid or Barcelona handing over two players, but I can certainly see us getting VDV, Diego, Keirrison and Cannavaro for the right price.

[Fido Dido]

Given our reputation , we will definitely get a high profile manager with a proven record . Dont know how some of you seem to have moyes and bilic on your lists .

[Money]

cech

Bossy/ivanovic ........ Alex......... Terry ........ A cole

essien

jcole ....... lamps......... diego ......... zhirkhov

Villa

I quite like this formation. The only thing I would do is move Villa to where Diego is and have Benzema as the guy up front.

i like Villa but dont think he can play that lone striker upfront for us? Drogba does well holding up the ball etc where as Im not sure how Villa would? benzema seems like he can hold the ball.

Only other question is zhirkhov - havent seen him really play. If we had funds, ribery could be another interesting one

[PloKoon13]

Do you guys really think we're going to be making that many big-name signings?

I'm seeing Villa, Zhirkov, Diego, Benzema and Van der Vaart in some of these... :S

I reckon we'll get one of the above if we're lucky (preferably Benzema or Zhirkov), and maybe a couple of younger and/or lesser-known players.

[Martin GERS CFC]

would love to see tevez at the bridge to wind up those utd c**ts

[essiencfc]

I think we need 4 players max, 5 maybe if we get a new backup keeper.

Ferreira, Deco, Kalou, Carvahlo and maybe Hilario can go

Bring in a backup leftback (Bertrand, Cissokho, Zhirkov...), a winger (Zhirkov, Mata, Robben...), a striker (Aguero, Tevez...) and maybe an attacking midfileder (Dzagoev, Hamsik, Arshavin, Sneijder...)

If we only have money from player sales then obviously we wouldnt be signing Zhirkov, Robben, Tevez and Arshavin. But I believe there will be one big name forward in, Zhirkov looks likely to come and the possibly a young attacking midfielder. Jack Cork would also join the first team for 09/10 ready for the ACON.