I think Jose will look to shake up the team next weekend. The defence absolutely needs changed based on recent performances. There's not a chance in hell Jose will start with the same back 4 as he did on Saturday. Not a chance.

I think Dave needs taken off left back and rotated into right, or else benched. We need Cole back in his natural position and I am fairly confident Jose will be starting him next week. Azpi has done ok, but he isn't a left back and he seems just too weak in general for my liking, Cole has a lot more of a bite and is the better player.

Sadly, I'd drop Cahill and give Luiz another chance. Cahill just hasn't been that great recently. Luiz has been shut out long enough, lets see if he has learned anything from the sidelines. I'd expect him to be one determined dude and he would want to play a blinder. If he still f**ks about and plays silly buggers, then we'll know Jose will want to get rid ASAP.

Ivan - usually decent but his persistent crossing to nowhere is very irritating. I'd let him and Azpi fight it out for right back.

As for the midfield, I think Jose needs to look at where he wants his defensive midfielder to be. Mikel was given far too much freedom at the weekend and he left us exposed, costing us goals.

I think Ba should start up front - best of a bad bunch.

Edited December 9, 201312 yr by Zola

Im frustrated with the amount of goals we are conceeding as well, but I think these last few games have been rather odd. We have conceeded 7 goals, but we havent allowed any more shots on goal. The last 7 attempts on target has all gone in.

I don't think it's a shake up of personnel that's needed, instead I can see Jose really drilling them on defending set pieces because that has been our one biggest weakness in recent games.

 

I have to disagree with you Zola about Dave at left back, he has been a shining light in our back four ever since he worked his way into the starting eleven. If I didn't know he was a RB then I might even swear that LB is his natural position. If we were to drop Ivan and move Dave to RB with Cole coming in at LB then we would be a little more vulnerable at set pieces. I don't think Cole is much better at crossing than Ivan so there wouldn't be much of a net gain going forward either. I also seem to remember Cole's performances before his injury not being all that great...

Edited December 9, 201312 yr by bluedave

Something needs to change that's for sure, of the goals we have conceded in the last two games nearly all of them are just embarrassing to watch. 

 

Personally I would like to see Luiz back in the side because sometimes when your up against it you need the big personalities to step up and breathe confidence through the team lead by example.

 

Luiz isn't everyone's cup of tea but he is the man for the big occasions. when we played at Old Trafford and he rared up Webb because we wasn't get any decisions it showed the guts and passion needed and the way games have gone recently I think we need that sort of personality back in the side. 

It would make absolutely no sense to move Cole to RB and keep Azpi on LB, in my view.

Wouldnt be against seeing Azpi on the right, thats his natural postion. Just think we could do with having Cole back.

Its down to the personnel. When a team concedes as many as we do consistently, the first thing the manager should do is change the back line.

I agree about Cole. I do think he should be back in the team. Dave did very well to start but has not played that well the last week or two. Time to rotate.

As for Luiz im not so sure. I dont think bringing him in will make us look any more solid.

I think our main problem is the two in front of the defence. Lamps and Ramie are not natural defenders, they both like to get forward which leaves us wide open in the middle for a counter attack. Mikel is a better option there but thats like picking the fat bird at the end of the night because the options are so limited.

Our squad just isnt ready yet. It needs more work and some players moving on and some more to come in.

It would make absolutely no sense to move Cole to RB and keep Azpi on LB, in my view.

Wouldnt be against seeing Azpi on the right, thats his natural postion. Just think we could do with having Cole back.

Its down to the personnel. When a team concedes as many as we do consistently, the first thing the manager should do is change the back line.

 

I just noticed I got RB and LB mixed up in my post so that's not what I meant... I don't think Ivan should be dropped with Cole coming in at left back and Dave switching to right back.

With you mate

When you think that Ivanovic Terry and Cahill are maybe the 3 best headers of a ball in the league it is mental.

 

I would have Cole in at lb hopefully the rest has done him good and move Dave rb. Then I would pair Luiz and Terry or Luiz and Ivanovic.

Edited December 9, 201312 yr by pete

As for the midfield, I think Jose needs to look at where he wants his defensive midfielder to be. Mikel was given far too much freedom at the weekend and he left us exposed, costing us goals

Not as exposed, as when he was subbed, should have been Ramires who made way for Lamps,

Good shout Pete. Would be very happy to see Ivan in the middle again for a trial, with Azpi on the right. Another option

Azpi has no left foot which disqualifies him from being a great LB.

I don't understand how we can defend so well against bayern Munich in the super cup and then let it all go to sh*t once the season starts.

Azpi has no left foot which disqualifies him from being a great LB.

 

I don't know about that, he might be stronger with his right foot but I've seen at least one amazing cross from Dave's left foot recently, which probably makes him at least equal with Cole in that respect.

It got cold. This happens every year. We'll be back playing well when the clocks go forward again. 

Our defence isn't that bad at all,the last 2 games have been poor agreed but mainly down to sloppy set pieces,individual errors and bit of bad luck.Like X factor said we have let the oppo have 6 shots against us in 2 games unfortunately they have all gone in tough.We are not getting ripped apart Sunderland didn't look like scoring for toffee in open play.

 

I like Azpi and i think hes done well at left back but he's a right back and thats where he should be.Get Bertrand in at left back,Azpi at RB and play Ivan mostly CB although he can play RB in certain games.Azpi and Bertrand both pretty decent going forward,give the team better balance and both can cross.I think the 2 in front of the midfield is the biggest problem we have right now.

Edited December 9, 201312 yr by jack_super_class

Saying that Luiz is the answer to any defensive frailities that we may or may not have, is akin to advocating that a fire should be extinguished by pouring petrol on it.

Saying that Luiz is the answer to any defensive frailities that we may or may not have, is akin to advocating that a fire should be extinguished by pouring petrol on it.

 

Honest question but have we ever conceded 7 goals in three games whilst Luiz was playing in our defense?

Honest question but have we ever conceded 7 goals in three games whilst Luiz was playing in our defense?

 

 

No idea if we have or haven't. Is the answer that simplistic?

 

 

All I know with some degree of certainty is that David Luiz is to defensive shape and solidity what Mother Theresa was to pole dancing.

Just, so what do you recommend? The same back 4 get to ply away without any sort of punishment? Defending like that is not acceptable, and changing the back 4 up is inevitable. You cant reward continuous mistakes. Luiz has been sidelined for ages, this could be looked on as his final chance, I think he'd want to take it...

Terry is certainly not exempt from criticism either. I read an article that said he made ONE tackle at the weekend, and he barely won an aerial battle. Hardly good enough.

The back 4 will absolutely be different on Saturday.

No idea if we have or haven't. Is the answer that simplistic?

 

 

All I know with some degree of certainty is that David Luiz is to defensive shape and solidity what Mother Theresa was to pole dancing.

 

Well supposedly Cahill is a better more reliable defender and yet here we are.

 

As I said earlier, the team right now as much as anything seems to be lacking mental strength. Luiz brings that by the buckets full, he takes responsibility and will do whatever he can to drive the team towards a win.

 

Cahill is a decent player but something has got to change, his distribution from the back recently has been woeful and despite having him, Ivan and JT in the defense we're looking suspect on crosses and set pieces.  

 

Right now what do we have to lose by putting Luiz in the side? He's a winner, a player for the big occasions and that's what we need.

 

There's not a whole lot we can do about a striking situation right now (though I'm all for giving Schurrle a try personally) but we can at least attempt to address the defense.

 

Two appalling games defensively means something simply has to change, whether that be Cole coming back in to play as a natural left back or even trying something like 3-5-2 I don't know but we can't keep picking the same four in the back line when they aren't doing their job which is to stop us conceding goals. 

Well supposedly Cahill is a better more reliable defender and yet here we are.

As I said earlier, the team right now as much as anything seems to be lacking mental strength. Luiz brings that by the buckets full, he takes responsibility and will do whatever he can to drive the team towards a win.

Cahill is a decent player but something has got to change, his distribution from the back recently has been woeful and despite having him, Ivan and JT in the defense we're looking suspect on crosses and set pieces.

Right now what do we have to lose by putting Luiz in the side? He's a winner, a player for the big occasions and that's what we need.

There's not a whole lot we can do about a striking situation right now (though I'm all for giving Schurrle a try personally) but we can at least attempt to address the defense.

Two appalling games defensively means something simply has to change, whether that be Cole coming back in to play as a natural left back or even trying something like 3-5-2 I don't know but we can't keep picking the same four in the back line when they aren't doing their job which is to stop us conceding goals.

nicely put, it really is as simple as that.

I'm tired of Ivan on the right myself, I feel he looses possession more than any other player in our team due to his awful crossing and the question remains who is he crossing too? 

Every time Ivanovic gets the ball he attempts a cross - it's about time someone told him to lay off the LSD that's making him see Drogba as a target inside the box. 

 

The other thing is down to both midfield and Cahill/Terry not being mobile enough. Simply put Ramires is our most mobile midfielder but when we loose the ball he is also the central midfielder most likely to be furthest away from our half. Lampard and Mikel both aren't mobile enough to cover enough ground and Terry and Cahill's pace is usually exposed in such instances.  

Personally i don't think David Luiz is the answer, he is the last player i would bring into the defense to make us solid.

 

I would prefer it to look a bit more balance though, i would like to see Cole back in the side at left back, Azpilicueta moved back to RB, and move Ivanovic to CB, him and Cahill can rotate.

Just, so what do you recommend? The same back 4 get to ply away without any sort of punishment? Defending like that is not acceptable, and changing the back 4 up is inevitable. You cant reward continuous mistakes. Luiz has been sidelined for ages, this could be looked on as his final chance, I think he'd want to take it...

Terry is certainly not exempt from criticism either. I read an article that said he made ONE tackle at the weekend, and he barely won an aerial battle. Hardly good enough.

The back 4 will absolutely be different on Saturday.

 

 

Personally, with the players we currently have available, I wouldn't change the back four at all Z. I don't believe they are the overriding problem and I don't believe we have better alternatives in the squad.

 

I am with Las and several others who think we need a much better DM than either Mikel, (too slow, not a good enough athlete or tackler), or Lampard, (too old and slow for that role).  If I was going to experiment with Luiz anywhere it would be in that DM role again, though I do have real fears that he has neither the brain or discipline to constantly hold any set position on a football pitch.

 

 

In the summer I would look to recruit Luke Shaw from Southampton for the LB spot and move Dave to RB. I would also look to add a top quality, proven centre-half to the squad.