Posted April 29, 200718 yr ... what formation and style would you like to see Chelsea play? Personally, I don?t see United losing more than 1 game, and for me a 5 point gap means they will win the title for sure - for those supporters who still have hope, yes of course we all have hope but logically I don?t see it happening. There is still a lot to play for, we have 1 cup final and are in a good position to make another final. However, in terms of the Premiership .. i would say we can win the remaining games and finish the season on a high note, but i doubt we will win the League. And, to be fair, United have played very well this season and are worthy winners. So What do you guys prefer? 1-Back to the 4/3/3 with Joey and Robben (injury free, hopefully) on the flanks terrorising defences. Probably will have no choice but to rotate Maka/Mikel and Essien/Lampard/Ballack - which im not sure how Jose will manage. 2- Stick to a 4-4-2 with Sheva and Drogba upfront. But then we lose out on Robben or Joey. 3- Any other suggestions? Personally, Id like to see us get back to a 4-3-3 with Robben-Drogba-Joey .. i think thats our strongest attack. Kalou-Sheva-SWP will have to be rotated, and im not sure how Jose will manage that. I would rest Maka a fair bit, and play Mikel-Essien-Lampard ... Ballack would have to be rotated. I think its a problem that we have high profile players such as Ballack and Sheva to accommodate in the team, if we didn?t, we could keep players like Diarra, Mikel, Kalou and Swp happy on the bench and with rotation - and honestly, taking nothing away from the 2 new stars, i don?t think we would 'lose' out on much without them. No doubt Sheva is of high European pedigree and Ballack is a tough strong player to have, but, given our squad and players i think we have enough to step in and do the job, they might not sell as many t-shirts, but they definitely do what?s required. Id like to see Boula used more often, keep Glen out on loan for another season. Would also like Jose to get back in line. Think this season there have been a few words he could have avoided, but of course I love him and wouldnt switch him for any manager in the world.
April 29, 200718 yr Whatever happens for next season there are some lessons to be learnt from this season plus some serious forward planning. The main lesson to be learnt this season is we must get another centre back to replace Gallas who we never replaced - doesn't have to be considered a 'certain starter' but has to be good enough to provide cover should we be unfortunate enough to suffer the injury problems of this term again. In my eyes Roman's stubbornness in not releasing funds during the January window effectively ballacked our premiership season especially when you take into consideration the debacle that was Anfield when we had no centre backs at all to play a key premiership match. Serious forward planning? We stand to lose Didier, Kalou, Mikel and Essien plus Geremi (if he's still with us) during the African nations cup in January/February. This would leave Sheva as our only recognised striker plus a potential back up of Ben Sahar and Scott Sinclair. I'd be happy with this back up providing we had another key goalscorer who would challenge DD, Kalou and Sheva every week. Essien and Mikel missing would be a considerable loss of the heartbeat of our team especially with Maka featuring less and less. That leaves Lamps, Diarra and Ballack. Michael Woods is too young at the moment however watch out for this guy as I expect him to make a massive impression on the game in years to come. Formations and line ups will be determined by the type of players we bring in. I don't expect too many, if any big name signings but I do expect to see some squad players come in.
April 29, 200718 yr my team for the next season would be: ------------------------------Cech/Carlo/Hilario-------------------------------- --New-RB/PF----Ricci/Boula--------JT/New-CB-------Ashley/Bridge-- -------------------------------Mikel/Maka----------------------------------- ---------------Essien/Ballack-------Lampard/Diarra---------------------- Joe/Walcott(Joaquin)------Sheva/Drogba/Sahar-----------Robben/Kalou----- Back to 4-3-3 ! I would give Sheva the nod over Drogba, mainly because he is offering more to the team and we should stop that long ball game. Drogba played really great this season but in the last weeks he dropped his level and doesnt play good. I think Sheva will come very good next season and most important score more goals. We need another CB replacement, I would love to see Sergio Ramos or Heitinga, or both. They could both play CB or RB and thats pretty much what we need. Not sure about Glen Johnson, maybe hes coming back I dont think we need him. Would be good to see us signing another winger, not sure about SWP?s future at the club. I think hes going to leave this summer, even through that he played some good games in the last weeks. Walcott would be someone I want to see as a replacement for Joey C, if Roman wants to spend some more money then let us catch Joaquin.
April 29, 200718 yr Not bad, German-Blue. I would like to see Sinclair given a chance to make the team, and I don't feel that great about Joaquin (probably would cost too much, anyway).
April 30, 200718 yr my team for the next season would be:------------------------------Cech/Carlo/Hilario-------------------------------- --New-RB/PF----Ricci/Boula--------JT/New-CB-------Ashley/Bridge-- -------------------------------Mikel/Maka----------------------------------- ---------------Essien/Ballack-------Lampard/Diarra---------------------- Joe/Walcott(Joaquin)------Sheva/Drogba/Sahar-----------Robben/Kalou----- Back to 4-3-3 ! I would give Sheva the nod over Drogba, mainly because he is offering more to the team and we should stop that long ball game. Drogba played really great this season but in the last weeks he dropped his level and doesnt play good. I think Sheva will come very good next season and most important score more goals. We need another CB replacement, I would love to see Sergio Ramos or Heitinga, or both. They could both play CB or RB and thats pretty much what we need. Not sure about Glen Johnson, maybe hes coming back I dont think we need him. Would be good to see us signing another winger, not sure about SWP?s future at the club. I think hes going to leave this summer, even through that he played some good games in the last weeks. Walcott would be someone I want to see as a replacement for Joey C, if Roman wants to spend some more money then let us catch Joaquin. What a terrible line-up. Shevchenko instead of Drogba- haha. Yet another of the boo-boys who could not wait until Drogba was, apparently, out of form. Drogba is faster, he's fitter, he's far stronger and his first touch is not any worse than Shevchenko, who gets bundled off the ball by the breeze at times. If you want Shevchenko to play as a central striker he needs to be able to hold the ball and he cannot do that in the Premiership. However keeping him as an additional second-striker would be a great idea, to replace a fullback or midfielder when chasing a game. He's an intelligent player and when gaps start opening up in midfield he would be making runs and threading passes into them. Joaquin's not going anywhere for less than 20m, so rule him out. Simao has a buyout clause of just under 14m (Benfica have confirmed this), he is quick and direct like Joaquin but he also has a fantastic free-kick and a great cross. At 28, he probably wouldn't object to being rotated among Cole and Robben. To be entirely truthful though, we to stop kidding ourselves that changing the formation or the players is the only thing stopping us playing good football. The majority of our football is bland, repetitive, static and generally ineffective. I would even go as far to say that if we didn't have the desire or the players that we have, we'd be in Arsenal's position. Of course someone is bound to say "where did beautiful football get Arsenal this season?" If you are being totally honest, their failures have only been down to one thing and that is their lack of finishing ability. Few teams, Bolton and Liverpool are the only ones that stick out, have dominated them. They play effective football because it creates a lot of chances, as do Manchester United, the difference is United actually stick the ball in the back of the net, whereas in previous seasons Ronaldo would not score as many (the previous two seasons he had hit the frame of the goal 47 times- from UnitedRant). That aside, the majority of our play can be described in one of two plays: Cech (goal kick) --------> Drogba (header, flick-on) -----------> midfield runners. This play is effective, there is no doubt about it. However, that is only when we catch opponents by surprise. It gets predictable and ineffective after a while, depending on the opponent. The more common play is this: Cech (pass) ---------> Terry (pass) ---------> Carvalho (pass) ------> midfield (pass) ------> fullback (deep cross) And that is terribly, terribly ineffective. It almost never works because unless the fullbacks are Beckham and Figo we're never going to get in quality crosses. Until we have players running at defenders (here the formation change comes into play) and our midfield learns to a) keep the ball and pass intelligently, through defenders instead of around them (I sound like me when coaching ), then we won't play any differently. We could sign Ronaldinho, Messi and Eto'o to play off Drogba and I'd guarantee we'd still play the second movement.
April 30, 200718 yr What a terrible line-up.Shevchenko instead of Drogba- haha. Yet another of the boo-boys who could not wait until Drogba was, apparently, out of form. Drogba is faster, he's fitter, he's far stronger and his first touch is not any worse than Shevchenko, who gets bundled off the ball by the breeze at times. Glad you wrote that Syd. Saved me the time and trouble. Sheva in ahead of Drogba ? Yeah right, if you're aiming for relegation. IMO opinion urgently needed for next season are: Top quality centre-half Top quality striker Top quality right back
April 30, 200718 yr Author Sheva in ahead of Drogba ? Yeah right, if you're aiming for relegation. Thats one for the Memorable section Lozengez
April 30, 200718 yr Gaining strength obviously with Ballack (footballer) for Essien (Parker the better player) and Sheva (footballer) for Drogba (farmer). It has to keep this one company
