chelsea make another signing!

wheres me jumpa

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,1674242,00.html

they lose a player for a few weeks and rather than just get by chelsea sign! reported on sky news just now maniche is in london looking to complete a loan move with an option to permanency.

KdjaCL

They sold Tiago so shockingly were left a bit bare in terms of cover for that position. Thought Man Utd would have got him useful player who gets the ball and passes it sideways or backwards.


kdjac

Lemlin

wheres me jumpa wrote:

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,1674242,00.html

they lose a player for a few weeks and rather than just get by chelsea sign! reported on sky news just now maniche is in london looking to complete a loan move with an option to permanency.

I read this in one of the tabloids yesterday but wasn't sure whether to believe it. When is Lampard due back form his virus btw?

wheres me jumpa

united were linked with him. so this is a surprise. sky news claim a permanent deal will be sealed for £5 mill which seems like very good business. although chelsea will probably get confused and try to outbid themselves and end up paying 24 mill!

apologies for the lack of restraint, but im feeling cynical today.

therecklessone

KdjaC wrote:

Thought Man Utd would have got him useful player who gets the ball and passes it sideways or backwards.


kdjac

Weren't Arsenal supposed to be interested in him?

Can't decide if this is firefighting (covering for Essien's absence) or scorched earth (making sure competitors don't get him). I have heard third-hand rumours (so I've discounted them until now) of Mourinho being unhappy with Essien's impact since his arrival (his over-exuberance in the tackle was mentioned), but Jose ain't afraid to bench high profile signings.

Is he CL-tied?

Lex Luthor

KdjaC wrote:

useful player who gets the ball and passes it sideways or backwards.

sounds very useful.....:rolleyes:
at least Hamann passes it forward the odd time....

Essien has been a disappointment since his arrival. His few bad tackles have had the press and FA on his back so he hasn't really settled.
I bet Maureen is disgusted at the moment looking at the form of Gerrard.
Erikson has a huge dilemna for the World Cup as to who to play in the middle.

cournioni

Well that is my transfer prediction out the window... :rolleyes:

wheres me jumpa

i think the problem with essien for me is the fee they paid. had they picked him up for under 10 mil he would have been a great signing. but because they spent so much we expect a lot more from him. there is definitely talent in the man and it will be interesting to see if josie will be able to get the best out of him

MrJoeSoap

The Maniche transfer has been planned before Lampard got sick, so saying its as a replacement for him is just stupid. Plus, Lampard won't even be out too long.

Don't forget they got rid of Jarosik/Tiago/Parker during the summer, and haven't adequately replaced them all yet.

Mourinho has always said he wants two players for each position, so in midfield they are two players short (or one if you count Diarra as a first-team player).

Dont be at yourself

Joe Soap: I think the insuation is that he's being signed as a replacement for Essien while he's at the African Nations rather than Lampard, who has a slight case of the sniffles!

PHB

Chelsea have always been short in midfield this season, I just wish it would have hit them before the transfer window, and not now, when they can replace
Alas what can ya do

Dont be at yourself

You mean after the transfer window?

MrJoeSoap

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

Joe Soap: I think the insuation is that he's being signed as a replacement for Essien while he's at the African Nations rather than Lampard, who has a slight case of the sniffles!

My bad! Lampard is back tomorrow for anyone interested.

KdjaCL

Lex Luthor wrote:

sounds very useful.....:rolleyes:
at least Hamann passes it forward the odd time....
.

Tipoffs dont count, hes a replacement for Essien i thought hat was plainly obvious. He gets the ball and passes it backwards simple yet effective. Oh like Tiago im sure he gets one or 2 wonder goals a season.


kdjac

wheres me jumpa

MrJoeSoap wrote:

My bad!

youre off next years christmas card list!

atm they have lampard, makele, essien, gudjohnsen and geremi(might be wrong on this?) in there. cole could surely cover in the centre also? seems lot to me.

MrJoeSoap

Well they play five midfielders and currently have nine:

Cole
Robben
Diarra (debatable)
Wright-Phillips
Duff
Essien
Geremi
Lampard
Makalele

... and then Gudjohnsen who fills in sometimes (wasted in centre mid in my opinion).

wheres me jumpa

sorry didnt bother counting duff and robben. yeah gujohnsen is wasted in MC but it seems its the only place he'll get a game. im a fan of his, very intelligent player and a cool finisher.

Necronomicon

therecklessone wrote:

Is he CL-tied?

I don't think so....I don't remember Moscow being involved in the Uefa Cup anyway.
I've been reading about this in the last few days, but supposedly it was a loan move that Mourinho wanted, is it a permenant transfer?

MrJoeSoap

Seems like a loan deal with a view to a permanent deal:

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldFootballNews&storyID=URI:urn:newsml:reuters.com:20051230:MTFH65914_2005-12-30_16-43-38_L30781021:1

The second half of that article.

KdjaCL

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Well they play five midfielders and currently have nine:

Cole WF
Robben WF
Diarra (debatable) isnt he on loan?
Wright-Phillips WF
Duff WF
Essien CM
Geremi CM
Lampard AMF
Makalele CM
Gudjohnsen AMF

So really only 3 holding CMs



kdjac

Shrimp

http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/fo/profiles/10000000000000000000011673.html

theres some good info on him there. but his goal to match scoring record isn't great.

PHB

Geremi is a non player, not good enough for the Chelsea team.

I knew that Mourinho would strengthen in January anyway, so I was hopign they'd get hit with it beforehand, not afterwards.

Gudjohnson isn't a midfielder, and when he plays, Lampard is forced back, and gets less freedom and thus influence.

Maniche will give them this option, although why he'd be willing to do this is beyond me.

MrJoeSoap

KdjaC wrote:

So really only 3 holding CMs



kdjac

Yeah they usually play two defensive CM's and one attacking (Lampard), so by Mourinho's "two for every position" policy they are short a holding midfielder. Does anyone know whether Maniche fits this bill? He's probably going to be the more attacking of the holding midfielders, if that makes any sense and isn't a complete contradiction!

They may as well only have one attacking midfielder, its not as if Lampard misses games! :rolleyes:

therecklessone

MrJoeSoap wrote:

He's probably going to be the more attacking of the holding midfielders, if that makes any sense and isn't a complete contradiction!

Makes perfect sense.

As I understand it, the Chelsea midfield trio is:

DMC - Makalele
CM - Essien
AMC - Lampard

If he's signed as cover for Essien, he'll get forward more than Makalele does.

Didn't Maniche playing a similar role for Mourinho at Porto?

Kingp35

Maniche is a very good player and would fit well into Chelseas system. Its right to say that he is a holding midfield player who does like to get forward at times, certainly more so than Makelele. I think Essien is a very over-rated player who is in there to put himself about and has been largely ineffective so far this season. Manche would be a much better option as Makelele could site allowing Maniche to pay slightly ahead and then Lampard slightly ahead again. A very good mix of playing styles.

Im just wondering though, as Man Utd were lined with Maniche earlier in the season could this be a ploy by Chelsea to hi-jack the deal?

therecklessone

Kingp35 wrote:

Im just wondering though, as Man Utd were lined with Maniche earlier in the season could this be a ploy by Chelsea to hi-jack the deal?

Like I said earlier, I can't decide whether its to cover Essien or to deny Maniche to other teams. IMO, the purchases of Essien and SWP both had an element of denying the opposition (Obi Mikel also springs to mind)

Chelsea wouldn't be the first to do it, Milan had a stupid amount of players on their books in the 90s, especially considering the 3 foreigner rule in play in Europe in the early 90s.

Guy:Incognito

KdjaC wrote:

player who gets the ball and passes it sideways or backwards.

Celtic should sign him to replace Lennon.

Vokes

therecklessone wrote:

Makes perfect sense.

As I understand it, the Chelsea midfield trio is:

DMC - Makalele
CM - Essien
AMC - Lampard

If he's signed as cover for Essien, he'll get forward more than Makalele does.

Didn't Maniche playing a similar role for Mourinho at Porto?

Yeah, Maniche is a box to box player. He loves to get forward and have a crack at the goal.

For Portugal, himself and Deco would play a little ahead of Costinha/Petit in DM.

Draupnir

Maniche is also a Jose Mourinho favourite. He was his "man" at Porto according to Mourinho's biography. They are very very close. Could be a change coming in the Chelsea dressing room if he gets the influence over the squad he had at Porto.

Pepe LeFrits

therecklessone wrote:

Weren't Arsenal supposed to be interested in him?

They were linked to him when Vieira was doing his penultimate song and dance during the summer of 2004. I was dreading his possible arrival; he's a thoroughly unlikeable, cynical cheat. I suppose Mourinho bringing him to Chelsea to manage him for a third time is vaguely amusing somehow.

Dont be at yourself

On a side-note, hasn't the russian league just ended?

Has he played a full season there? If so, won't he be a little burnt out for the closing half of the premiership?

wheres me jumpa

seen as he was mentioned, what do people think of petit? i was very impressed with him against united. he boiled ronaldo's blood, was very good in the tackle and as the old saying goes was always in the right place at the right time.

vorbis

Didn't he join the russian crowd for about 11 million? Would be a bit of a loss for them. Also another stranger occurence, an value for money purchase by Chelsea!