Nicola The Drab...

[Butch]

I still am of the opinion that the one signing Grant made while at Chelsea was a good one. Nicolas Anelka has the attributes we need in a forward, except the vision for goals at the minute. Of course, it has also not helped for him to be stuck out on the wings, but although I am all for signing an exciting young players like Huntelaar, I also think we should not be overlooking this ex-phenom. What he needs is a run in his favored position, supported by ball-passing midfielders, and I think he could regain his confidence and goal-scoring abilities.

The one thing I hope Scolari brings is a flexibility in our attacking third, as well as a plethora of attacking schemes. I am still a big fan of Mourinho, and while I guess I am one of the few who kind of liked the "strangulating" style of football we played, I have to admit I sometimes wished we attacked with more gusto and speed. Once Duffer and Robben started on their never-ending journey to the land of the red cross, we lost our speed up front and became more and more labored.

So for me speed is the name of the game. Of course, I'm not for re-signing Jesper, but I think you know what I mean. Speed of though and vision from the middle and flight of foot while maintaining control up front will be features of a much more exciting attacking Chelsea.

Cheers,

Butch

[Dorset]

You have beaten me to the punch, Butch, as I was just about to post something similar, but without the Anelka emphasis. No point in running both together, so here goes...

Big Phil’s arrival is now imminent, but it is the manner of his going [from the Euros] that is of greatest significance when it comes to sorting out who is going to star in the umpteenth remake of ‘The Great Chelsea Striker Mystery‘. Let me explain…

Like all good coaches before critical games, he got his excuses in early, majoring on the height of the Germans, but more importantly, slipping in the fact that, if Portugal had a striker….well, the rest was left to our imagination and I must admit that mine ran riot because a Scolari restricted to a Gomes or a Postiga is one thing, but a Scolari given unlimited scope is like Prometheus - unbound. Given that his final Euro curtain bow was played out with a favoured 4-2-3-1, his derisive dismissal of Portugal’s ’one’ begs the question - who would he have gone for had he had the pick of a) the opposition bunch or b] anyone from anywhere?

The answer to the first part appears simple enough, as David Villa is the standout candidate, both for his goals and link-up play, yet CPI statistics (the Castrol Performance Index) show that the next five in the list (Podolski, Olic, Kahveci (Turkey’s finest), Kuyt and Van the Man) are nowhere near his level. This makes sense when viewed from a Chelsea standpoint because, let’s face it, only Villa has come into our reckoning and, if Big Phil is considering Kuyt as an option to lead the line, then all our flabbers will be gasted. No, my main observation here is that the effective striker trend at these Championships seems to be moving away from the big Zlatanesque target man and more towards the silky artful dodger and picker of pockets. Answer to a) is therefore, unquestionably, David Villa.

Moving on to b] and the bigger picture, the Media would have us believe that Scolari is not going to be spoilt for choice due to Chelsea not only being the most snubbed club ever, but also to there being a high moral rectitude prevalent amongst the world’s top players, such as Torres and Kaka, which puts them out of our reach. Stands to reason, doesn’t it? How else could we have failed to get our grubby little hands on the Stevie G? Bearing these high standards in mind, as the Media always does so scrupulously, the list therefore shortens to Eto’o, Huntelaar, Berbatov and with cost supposedly no bar, Aguero and Benzema. For many a moon Berbatov has been a particular favourite of mine, but, resigned as I am to current circumstances [Ronaldo making a laughingstock of all the highly principled and fawning Media] they are likely to culminate in his move to ManU and, there is, for me, only one other classy pickpocket left to call on - et tu Eto’o.

Admittedly, second guessing Big Phil like this is an impossible task and the argument, put by many Shed Enders, that there is no real replacement for Didier in terms of the role he has for us in a 4-3-3 also has to be considered. However, I contend that the thought must have crossed our new manager’s mind that neither the barnstorming, title winning Drogba, nor the 30-plus goal scoring, non-trophy winning Drogba, appears to satisfy the stylish football loving Roman anymore and, even though Didier may be having transfer doubts of his own, Big Phil already knows which side his bread is buttered on and the lone star might not be up front and in the ascendancy for very much longer.

What also convinces me about players such as Villa and Eto’o featuring high on the Scolari wish list is that there is a fallback position to be had in the promotion of Franco di Santo to the first team squad. Alright, he is no Drogba [more of a speedy Crespo in the making], but I can see him playing well with either Villa or Eto’o if called upon to do so and there is no insularity to his play whatsoever. Also, should we be moving to a faster metronomic beat in midfield under a Deco or a VDV, he has subtlety and pace aplenty, two qualities that [together] have eluded both Sheva and Anelka in recent times. These two may well end up vying for one place in any Scolari quartet of front men, but, if that turns out to be the case, I’d be more than happy with a strike force of Villa, Eto’o, Shev/Anelka and di Santo.

So maybe the days of one big man bearing the burden of a Chelsea attack [that has been a striker’s graveyard of late] are well and truly numbered and another big man has the chance to alter course, once and for all, away from the Jose Mourinho 4-3-3 template. Having said that, should the Special One snap up the Drog, proceed to show the whole of Italy how to play cattenaccio properly, and we hand a king’s ransom over to Aulas for Benzema, I reserve the right to edit everything I’ve just written.

[Ballack & Blu]

Although "Nelks" is a goodish player,he has never been a prolific striker( 30 a season) which is what we need again,Shevvs was,but may-be not now,the search will be interesting ,or maybe Anelka is the one

[andy]

I don't agree Butch. he looks the part but never a prolific scorer.. Shevchenko has a better goals to games record even used out of position.

If drogs goes we need another 20-30 a season man... Dorgba and Lamps going is unthinkable at the moment.

[ethicalstrategy]

I'd much rather we shipped him out.

His complaint about playing wide is false anyway. When he first came he had a good run upfront before Drogba came back from the ACN and injury. He never looked convincing in that time and the fact that he managed just 2 goals for us is pretty unimpressive for someone that wants the attack to be built around him.

And I can't forgive him for refusing to take a penalty in the CL final because he had the hump.

I hope we keep Drogba and get shot of Le Sulk

[coco]

Sell him now, make it look like he only came in to cover for the ANC bound Drogba and Kalou.

I'm sure he would be easy to move on, and forget about.

[yogic]

Hmmm ...

... I would replace Anelka in an instant. He has been poor, looked depressed (again) at the Euro and I just don't think he has the will power to go out and win the league.

[Jimboola69]

I am amazed at how poor he was at the Euro's. But I guess he DID have a bonkers manager!

[TheWestwayWonder]

He really seemed to be up for the move when he was coming here. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that he was going from a relegation struggler to a title contender.

I think, like Drogba, his fate was sealed in Moscow. Surely Scolari saw that game, and frankly, if thats the kind of nerve and bottle you show when the chips are down, then you need to be on the first train out of town.

And with young guys like Kalou and Di Santo looking like they will be the future up front/out wide, I would rather have a model professional like Sheva mentoring them. And David Villa too

[mad_mac]

absolutely TWW, I think that keeping Anelka in the team limits the chances of the likes of Kalou (one our potentially great players) and Di Santo from making the team. I actually think, like Sidwell, Grant, and a few others over the last couple of seasons, that Nic was merely a stop gap signing.

Scott

[Guest]

He really seemed to be up for the move when he was coming here. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that he was going from a relegation struggler to a title contender.

I think, like Drogba, his fate was sealed in Moscow. Surely Scolari saw that game, and frankly, if thats the kind of nerve and bottle you show when the chips are down, then you need to be on the first train out of town.

And with young guys like Kalou and Di Santo looking like they will be the future up front/out wide, I would rather have a model professional like Sheva mentoring them. And David Villa too

I don't beleive Scolari is likely to take that approach.

I think its alot more likely his going to come and say "the slate is clean, everything thats happened before me has happened and it doesn't matter now. The question you have to answer is do you want to be here or not?. If you do, understand that I won't put up with some of the crap you got up to earlier, but know that I will only judge you by what you by what happens under me, not your history under Grant or Mourinho" or something along those lines...