Chelsea Banter Archive January 25 2013

25 Jan 2013 21:03:46
look at our squad and its obvios what we need. stop bitching ideas, disagree and debate. Not 'people saying this and that don't have a clue'. we all love chelsea & favour players, formations & tactics. any way our squad of players & loanees due back.

(GK- cech, courtios, turnbull.) for me the goal keepers are perfect. 2 world class & a good 3rd choice. hilario will probably be released end of season. an issue is courtios, will he go back out onloan, &barca lurking in the distance.

(DEF- terry, ivanovic, cahill, cole, bertrand, azpilicueta, ake, luiz if needed.)the defence is all their what we need, may need another centre back depending on ake. luiz is a midfielder through & through. may also need a right back unless ivanovic can cover. thomas kalas is having quite a good loan spell playing at rb. patrick van aanholt is stepping up to left back also on loan with kalas. all in all pretty solid. only other problem is cole & JT out of contract end of next season.

(CM- ramires, luiz, oscar, lampard, mikel, essien, mceachran, challobah, debruyne.) oscar needs to drop back here, lamps, mikel, essien should all go in my eyes. too slow in 2 man midfields. end of an era. don't get me wrong like every blue fan I love lamps & essien but its time to move on. each week challobah is getting rave reviews at watford, can play CB or DM. mceachran was awesome before december untill he got injured. he setiously keeps boro ticking and in a tidy fashion. debruyne is lighting up germany I've watched 3 games 2 he played centre mid once outwide. all 3games he had 2 goals 2 assists from the 3 and looks a class signing. I think we need a ballack type midfielder still.

(ATTACKERS- mata, hazard, marin, moses, kakuta also oscar & de bruyne, ) that's 7 world class and ver capable wingers and playmakers. we all know 4 of them quite well. marin is a class winger he needs games! its ridiculous he's seen below bertrand. oscar playing deep will fit him in. kakuta is really starting to step up in holland, not the real deal quite yet but he's looking good! seriously check out his solo goal recently. if oscar & debruyne do drop deeper then a signing of isco or muniain would be perfect.

(ST-torres, ba, moses? lukaku) torres bye bye, ba proven pl. moses? quick, direct maybe an option. lukaku is scoring but probably go out on loan because lack of 1st team football. still think we need falcao or cavani.

all in al we need a rb, cm, & a striker and were complete.

You use the phrase 'world class' way too easily

Ment ..... that's 7, world class & capable. so a mix of good & potential.

Turnbull will be leaving at the end of the season. Lukaku will likely go out on loan again depending on summer transfers.

25 Jan 2013 20:30:29
Ever wondered why we can no longer score from the corner situations? And quite often take an option of playing in the ball instead? Well, we used to have bodies in the box. Can hardly see an opposition having hard time to pick out Cahill and Brana, or them and Luiz in check.

Hate

Doesnt help when matas corners are so poor

25 Jan 2013 15:23:27
Lets just get this straight so according to most of the posters on here you think we should go with Oscar and Luiz in centre midfield I mean are you serious? They're both vastly unexperienced in that position I'm happy with Luiz because he's performed we'll but we do need a box to box strong presence centre midfielder next to him. For example my choices would either be Khedira or Hamsik playing Oscar there is too lightweight we'll get bossed everywhere.

We have bags of quality but no power. For example if it is true we are going to sign Isco in the summer surely we can't play Isco, Mata and Hazard as the attacking trio we could if we had a partnership like Luiz and say Vidal or Khedira behind him but obviously according to most they prefer Oscar there and it's just not strong enough.

Look at City for example they have strong players like Yaya Toure, Barry and Garcia behind there attacking trio of probably Silva, Nasri and Aguero which gives them the freedom to play. But honestly Oscar alongside Luiz in centre midfield isn't the way forward when you have three lightweight attacking players ahead of them.

CfcBenWxm

I agree with you there the three of Mata Hazard and Oscar not to mention Isco if he comes in the summer will be to lightweight for the premiership . Someone like Gundogan or Bender for Dortmund who play the same formation as us would be perfect to partner David Luiz.

Yea, because Hamsik is so BIG and STRONG! CfcBenWxm are you serious? Fellaini all the way for me! DJ

Hamsik's six foot tall actually so yes he is big

You clown

CfcBenWxm

Luiz would be that player. hamsik lol he's always plays in a front 3 not midfield! I think what you are missing is we need faster passing from the cm to the attackers.

I think the majority of posters want Oscar and Luiz to play there due to the fact we're unlikely to strengthen the CM position til the summer. It's probably the best pairing we have at the moment. With Luiz and Ramires together against stronger opposition. Lampard can rotate with Oscar and Mikel with Luiz. Of we'd all prefer having Vidal/Khedira etc but that's not what we have and are unlikely to get until the summer when Lampard leaves.
Hunter

Oscar plays deep lying midfielder for brazil.. But not good enough for us.. Hmmm

Yep because zola, wise, petrescu all got pushed of the ball easy against harder defending! the attacking 3 are fine. luiz can be the boss oscar the man to get the ball up quicker to the trio. oscar has just turnt 21 year or two of hard work he can bulk up.

The initial poster is spot on you need two powerful players playing behind the small three attacking players. For example:

----Fernando---Fellaini----
Isco--Oscar/Mata--Hazard

This would be the perfect combination in my opinion. Powerful, high stamina ballwinners in the middle (who will also provide cover for the fullbacks to bomb forward) and skilful, quick, goalscoring attacking midfielders. Sorted.

Hass

Really don't get the whole Fellaini thing. Also Isco is more of a central player.

Yes we need stronger players but ones who can pass quicker, lamps & mikel, slow it down so much mazacar get shut down before mikel thinks about passing. this is why the ball is always at the defences feet, .

25 Jan 2013 14:45:14
All this talk about us losing because of lack of stability is utter rubbish. When was the last time we had long term stability at manager under RA, yet the trophies still came in because we had world class players in good form. Look at city last year with the Tevez and Balotelli situations and they won the league. The difference is talent, simple. We have really good players but no clinical finishers to speak of, and that has often been the difference in big matches most of which we dominate but can't take our chances.

All that said, we are 3rd in the world's toughest league playing half a season without a real striker. The sky is not falling.

Bluelab

The squad has changed since then m8, different players different personalitys.

25 Jan 2013 08:56:25
I find it amazing our lack of incoming players this transfer window. Can you possibly imagine what would an injury to someone like Luiz, Ramires or Mata do to a team? Or a suspension to Hazard?

I mean we'll probably find 11 healthy bodies to put out a starting 11. But who do you bring in during the games? Or whom do you rotate if any?

With Hazard down be sure to see Bertrand and Marin taking over that slot, which leaves us with only one attacking player on the bench. Ba or Torres. Seriously - can it get any worse than that, now?

JG

Have to agree with you here JG, Torres is not good enough anymore fullstop. And although I like Marin and Bertrand they are not Hazard or Mata, the lack of Depth is a worry I mean we do have a few youngsters that could play but there not of the same quality yet and we have to make top four this year it is an absolute must I would be incredibly surprised if we didn't have at least one maybe two names arrive before the end of the window the squad is spread to thin.

BlueBen

Ben, I do not think we have any youngsters at the club. If you are talking Feruz, Loftus-Cheek or Lewis Baker - they are kids, not youngsters.

In all probability if we loose any attacking midfielders we'd probably have Azpi and Bertrand moved there, than any of the aforementioned introduced.

It has been done before and I don't see it happening any other way around it. There must be reasons why we are not doing a thing in a transfer window, or rather why we are unsuccessful in landing any other player. I don't care foe another pack of kids coming along. I'm talking senior squad, now.

JG

25 Jan 2013 13:27:39
I agree JG. Depth has to be a major concern at this point. What continues to irritate me is the number of lads we have out on loan. By all means, loan out the kids. However, KDB, Essien, Lukaku, McEachran, Kakuta, Piazon, van Aanholt, Kalas, Bruma, Courtois (to name a few) could all play a role in our current squad. Having so many players out on loan seems ridiculous to me.

J22

I agree about kdb, piazon and lukaku. the others I don't think are quite ready yet

25 Jan 2013 14:03:40
Well I am going to have to disagree with the 'not quite ready' argument i'm afraid. I can understand that a player such as McEachran or Courtois might benefit from a year or two on loan. However, the club should know by now whether the likes of Bruma, Kakuta, PVA etc are going to be 'ready'. If not, sell/release them because having them out on loan is of no benefit to anyone...

J22

BERTRAND WASNT READY UNTILL HE WAS 23, chelsea don't rush like moyes at everton. mceachran & kakuta have some bulking up to do. have you even seen kakuta play recently? BLUEBOY1

Also to J22, isn't it better to keep a player another year and his value go up rather than sell him simply because he has no future at Chelsea.

Well, does anyone unnamed Torres faces a competition for a place in the starting 11? Speaks volumes. If the only competition for a starting 11 comes from on loan kids to the first team kids (Most are under 25, anyway) we are in for a rough ride.

JG

26 Jan 2013 02:53:53
BLUEBOY 1 - Yeah, I have watched Kakuta. But I don't see your point? Kakuta has played well but he doesn't want to play at Chelsea because we keep loaning him out! He has said that he wants to be sold to a club where he will be part of the first team squad. Bruma has made similar remarks. Yes, Bertrand has been a success but we can't expect others to be as patient as he was. From 2006-2011, Bertrand was loaned to Bournemouth (twice), Oldham, Norwich (twice), Reading and Forest. If we have to loan players that often to get them 'ready' then we are stuffed. Also important to note that we are paying a percentage of their salaries as well whilst their out on loan...

J22

Mceachran & kakuta have said they will fight for their chelsea careers last week

27 Jan 2013 01:11:00
Incorrect. Kakuta said he would fight for his career. No mention of Chelsea... McEachran is a different situation. I would expect him to have a future with Chelsea.

J22

25 Jan 2013 01:31:16
Although Torres is misfiring for Chelsea and we do need someone world class to replace him hopefully Falcao or Cavani in the summer I do feel our main problem is the two in the pivot.

For example Ramires is a great tackler and box to box midfielder but his passing is to inconsistent. He would perform better in a three man midfield which when we played a 4-3-3 last season he was at his best. Unfortunately with our new 4-2-3-1 system he does not fit in. Could bring a lot of energy as a substitute.

All I have to say about Mikel is that he's not good enough for Chelsea. What kind of persons at the club offered him a 5 year deal?

I think Romeu could be a real class act in the future he just needs more game time think he should be loaned to a smaller premier league team for more game time for example Norwich/Wigan/Southampton.

Hope Lampard is offered a new contract although he probably shouldn't start because of his inconsistency recently still a big dressing room player and leader.

I'm just throwing it up in the air seen as we've been linked with Fellaini really rate the guy he prefers to play as a holding midfielder and we haven't had a talented presence their since Ballack and Essien left. He could be our box to box midfielder as one of the two in the pivot.

Although we haven't been linked with Sven Bender I think he could be the answer as the defensive side of the pivotal role. He averages 3.29 tackles a game which is fantastic and a great passer of the ball.

I no I've gone on abit but I do feel we need to sign two new players for the pivot because its our biggest problem and were not getting the ball to our attacking trio fast enough we need a change. Definately don't see the point in signing Isco although I rate him we have too many attacking players especially with De Bruyne to come back. Hopefully like to see Luke Shaw signed to don't feel Bertrand's good enough.

CfcBenWxm

Fellaini prefers to play as a holding midfielder? Where'd you hear that? He's been playing well this season behind the striker and whenever he's played deeper has looked decidedly average. Apart from that I agree that our problem is the pivots. None of our current midfield is really suited to the role. For me the best pairing would be Luiz and Oscar.
Hunter

3.29 tackles per game ! , we need someone who puts in 13 tackles per game not just 3.
Our problem is that we play with no width. Hazard looked mustard at Lille when he played and stayed out wide Oscar ain't a wide player. All our play gets funneled down the middle and becomes very predictable, giving no space for Torres or like against Swansea I thought Ba was starved of service and space because mata haz & Oscar all want to play through the middle. That's half the reason Torres gets out wide and not in the box.
We have no shape.

Actually, I saw an interview with phil Neville, I think, and he said Fellaini still prefers playing deeper but he is getting used to it now he is scoring more goals. I personally think he isn't suited to Chelsea and I have to question his temperament sometimes where he goes missing in games when things aren't going his way or he gets aggressive. We should play luiz and lampard in the "pivot" as let's face it, the board still don't think that it's a weak area.

Milkybar dave

Not sure I really agree Ramires is a great tackler athough the refs don't seem to pick up the number of times he mistimes or perhaps its fairer to say he is too anxious to make the tackle.
Its obvious that the midfield isn't balanced quite right and although there is all this clamour to give Frank a new contract I am not sure he's got enough top quality games left in him. Mikel is a strange one but his age and experience backed up with his new contract ups his value but I can't see him improving to that next level
But to go back to your first point sorry but I feel we do need a top class forward to create the space for the 3 attacking midfielders through clever and sharp runs alas Torres desnt seem to have the ability to do this and Ba seems only to do it on the odd occasion

Terraloon

I'm not sure any team would want a loan of Romeu at the moment, what with him being out injured for the rest of the season! (see original post)

Why have you invented a new position called the 'pivot', I'm sure you mean central midfield that's what it's called because that's their position on the field. All this fellaini talk is wrong, just not sure he really what we need and the money to get him really not worth what he would add to the team.
Ww

24 Jan 2013 23:11:01
good to see Piazon get on as a late sub in Malaga's cup game vs Barcelona