Chelsea Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2011/2012

Sgt Pepper 64

brings elephant into the room and then runs away!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/8926064/Chelsea-v-Jose-Mourinho-how-the-two-have-compared-since-the-Special-One-left-Stamford-Bridge.html

GavRedKing

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

brings elephant into the room and then runs away!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/8926064/Chelsea-v-Jose-Mourinho-how-the-two-have-compared-since-the-Special-One-left-Stamford-Bridge.html

:eek:

You better run......keep running.

To be fair, since Mourihno left, hes gone on to manage Inter to a double in his first season and a treble, a domestic cup with Real. thats a great achievement.

On the other hand, since he's left we've won a double and the FA cup. Its hard to judge Mourinho on what hes achieved to what we as club has. We've had a brillant manger in Hiddink and Carlo and a medicore one with Scolari and a stop gap with Grant.

AVB will take us forward and will win things with us on the other hand, Mourihno and Real look likely to win at least another trophy this year as they are doing very well in La Liga and the CL.

I dont think sacking AVB incase he achieves success is playing on Romans mind though.

** Edit : What I was trying to say is we will win things as a club, no doubt and so too will Mourinho as an individual, but if we had kept him and left him rule the roost we'd have had more trophies but ya live and learn.

Also, AVB should be givena clean slate to work from, the media were quick to brand him another special one with his lniks to the club and Mourinho but AVb is his own amn with his own ideas and hopefully he can fulfill his promise with us.

willmunny1990

pistolpetes11 wrote: »

Only 18 goals conceded with porto in all competitions , uefa cup included would say he does know how to play defensively and well at that.


Our player just are not good enough anymore , terrys best days are beyond him , actually this goes for most of our senior team

The Portuguese league is awful, Porto were by far the stand out team in a league full of crap. He was able to get away with his high line and lack of defensive knowledge their because Porto were by far superior to everyone else, its a different story in the PL.

UEFA cup is also a sup-par competition. I never wanted Carlo gone by the way, but now AVB is in i hope he will prove me wrong and turn out to be a success, but i struggle to see it happening.

It'l be hard to sign anyone of real substance in Jan, and if we don't get a champions league spot this season it will be even harder to attract big players and decent talent. We could pay a price for letting him tinker around at Chelsea IMO.

pistolpetes11

willmunny1990 wrote: »

The Portuguese league is awful, Porto were by far the stand out team in a league full of crap. He was able to get away with his high line and lack of defensive knowledge their because Porto were by far superior to everyone else, its a different story in the PL.

UEFA cup is also a sup-par competition. I never wanted Carlo gone by the way, but now AVB is in i hope he will prove me wrong and turn out to be a success, but i struggle to see it happening.

It'l be hard to sign anyone of real substance in Jan, and if we don't get a champions league spot this season it will be even harder to attract big players and decent talent. We could pay a price for letting him tinker around at Chelsea IMO.

Portugese league is poor , which in turn means Porto are also a poor enough side , what ever way you look at it its a great achievement.

Sgt Pepper 64

willmunny1990 wrote: »

The Portuguese league is awful, Porto were by far the stand out team in a league full of crap. He was able to get away with his high line and lack of defensive knowledge their because Porto were by far superior to everyone else, its a different story in the PL.

UEFA cup is also a sup-par competition. I never wanted Carlo gone by the way, but now AVB is in i hope he will prove me wrong and turn out to be a success, but i struggle to see it happening.

It'l be hard to sign anyone of real substance in Jan, and if we don't get a champions league spot this season it will be even harder to attract big players and decent talent. We could pay a price for letting him tinker around at Chelsea IMO.

You are making it sound like we just went out and got AVB purely based on his one season of success with Porto. Although that was a factor, I would to think the board did a bit of research and included other factors.

We needed someone who had a record of playing fast attacking and winning football, not just domestically but in Europe.
AVB did this by playing 4-3-3 and having 2 midfielders sitting high up.
This had a downside though, Porto only kept 3 clean sheets in the last 15 games
We needed a good man manager and he had a good rep with the Porto players, close to them in a Mourinho type way and turned Moutinho into a great player, so that would help easing out the ageing players and the well known power dressing room at Chelsea
AVB wasnt one to rock the boat with Roman or the board either.
Fluent in several languages and good with the media.
AVB is young with fresh new ideas and he knew Chelsea and trained under Mourinho

So it all looks good on paper. Unfortuanately the chelsea squad has declined way faster than anyone thought it would and too many players just arent able to play the AVB way.

So, he isnt just "tinkering" around. His tactics and philosphy would have been discussed with the board and signed off on.

I do agree that his defence tactics seem lacking and it will be difficult to buy quality players in Jan. We should have moved quicker in pre-season

However, we MUST stick with him to stop this cycle repeating itself and the players must step up and help him

Sgt Pepper 64

And again the telegraph agree about Roman sticking with AVB, although the article contradicts itself by mentioning a "marquee" signing and then saying there is "no appetite to spend big again"??? Surely marquee signings are not going to come cheap.

"However, Abramovich is determined to back Villas-Boas and that will include bidding for at least one marquee signing in the January transfer window."


"It is understood that Chelsea have made a creative midfielder a priority, having missed out on Tottenham's Luka Modric in the summer. A meeting was held earlier this week and a target decided. His identity is being closely guarded but Chelsea are also considering moves for a striker – if they can offload Nicolas Anelka – and a central defender, most likely to be Bolton Wanderers' Gary Cahill, if Alex is sold."


"Chelsea have also ruled out bidding for Napoli striker Edinson Cavani and, having spent £75 million last January on Fernando Torres and David Luiz and then a further £64 million in the summer, there is not the appetite to spend big again, even though there is an acknowledgement that the ageing squad needs an overhaul"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/8926958/Chelsea-owner-Roman-Abramovich-vows-to-stand-by-Andre-Villas-Boas-even-after-recent-wobble.html

Frisbee

gavredking wrote: »

I'd go and line up as :

---

Cech

---

Bosingwa--Ivanovic--Terry--Cole

---

Romeu

---

Meireles----
Ramires

---

Mata

---

Sturridge

---

Torres

---

When you look at that team it really is so hard to see how you are struggling as badly as you are. Have to say I like the look of that team. Romeu looks much more composed than Mikel and having him and Meireles as your base to build from is handy. Mata playing centrally is a must, continuing to play him on the wing is a waste.

GavRedKing

Frisbee wrote: »

When you look at that team it really is so hard to see how you are struggling as badly as you are. Have to say I like the look of that team. Romeu looks much more composed than Mikel and having him and Meireles as your base to build from is handy. Mata playing centrally is a must, continuing to play him on the wing is a waste.

It looks like a decent formation but you could argue Ramires might not be that effective on the right, at the moment he is our real driving force in CM. Still though, its something different then our usual 4-3-3 that includes Lamps, Malouda, Mikel etc.... who would have to be dropped to play this system.

As you pin pointed, it would be all about getting Mata into a place where he can dictate the game and make things happen which should be AVB's main priority at this stage.

Frisbee

Before I'd seen Romeu play I'd have had Ramires in DM alongside Raul. Then buy a new wide player in January. I still think you need another wide player in January as Malouda aside you have no real width, and even at that Malouda doesn't supply that much width. Sturridge, Torres and A N Other in the front three with Mata, Romeu/Ramires and Meireles behind would be a very solid formation.

Even though your poor form is benefitting us Mata being played on the left wing is even annoying me at this stage ffs :pac:

GavRedKing

Frisbee wrote: »

Before I'd seen Romeu play I'd have had Ramires in DM alongside Raul. Then buy a new wide player in January. I still think you need another wide player in January as Malouda aside you have no real width, and even at that Malouda doesn't supply that much width. Sturridge, Torres and A N Other in the front three with Mata, Romeu/Ramires and Meireles behind would be a very solid formation.

Even though your poor form is benefitting us Mata being played on the left wing is even annoying me at this stage ffs :pac:

Romeu should be a starter at this stage, the DM position is his to lose at this stage. Hes a much better footballer then Mikel and reads the play better, he doesnt give away as many silly free's and hes comfortable when it comes to taking a touch or shifting the ball and adds forward passing to the midfield, somethig Mikel rarely does.

Well we we're meant to be close to getting De Bruyne in the summer so I guess if we go back in for him in January or in the summer he would solve a lot of our wide problems.

Agreed about Malouda, has a tendency to go inside rather then stick down the wings and get crosses in. Of course a lot of our width comes from the FB's going forward but this causes problems if a team springs and both our FB's are parked outside the opposition box which tends to happen when ya play Cole/Bosingwa.

Mata playing out there must be annoying him at this stage, even though at certain times he has seems to have a free role he is still playing from the left and is out of the game for too long to be truly effective, his natural instinct brings him central and thats where his psoition should be.

If we we're guarnteed 4th now I'd bite your hand off. Hopefully we'll finish higher then Spuds anyway and we put a run together, but Newcastle away is not going to be easy Saturday.

Frisbee

You's will be fine, you'll finish third. You just need to build some momentum, all it takes is for AVB's ethos and plan to click in one game and yiz will progress from there imo. Then it's between us, Pool and Spurs for the final CL spot.

GavRedKing

AVB has done well IMO, I know he has his critics but its all about looking forward and building for the future and if AVB can install a style of play coupled with a particular type of player, then I'm all for it.

If ye can keep RVP fit and get a few more players around him firing then I dont see why ye shouldnt take 4th at a canter and maybe 3rd too if luck goes ye're way.

Its diffently the season where realistically, about 6 teams can lay a serious claim to a top 4 finish.

bullpost

We've also got Essein coming back soon - A return to anywhere near his best form could re-energise this team.
Bit of an outside chance given his recent history but you never know.
A mighty player for us in his day and would love to see him regain some of that form.

GavRedKing

bullpost wrote: »

We've also got Essein coming back soon - A return to anywhere near his best form could re-energise this team.
Bit of an outside chance given his recent history but you never know.
A mighty player for us in his day and would love to see him regain some of that form.

Agreed, on his day he was one of the best around and if he can get back to that form we will have great options in the centre between Meireles/ Ramires/ Essien/ Romeu/ MacEachran/ Lamps.

GavRedKing

From ChelseaFC.com.

Five Chelsea men are among 13 Premier League players shortlisted for the FIFPro World XI team today (Thursday).

English trio Ashley Cole, John Terry and Frank Lampard are all on the list, the captain looking for his sixth appearance in the side in seven years, while midfielder Lampard was named in the team in 2005, its inaugural year.

Those three are joined by Didier Drogba, a 2007 FIFPro member, and new nominee David Luiz, who has caught the eye since his arrival from Benfica at the start of the year.

The nominees were voted on by the 50,000 professional footballers belonging to the players' unions across the world that form FIFPro.
The final XI will be announced at the Fifa Ballon d'Or in Zurich on January 9, 2012. [/QUOTE]

List in full, including Chelsea players below.

The 55-player shortlist in full (home country, current club) is:

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Italy, Juventus), Iker Casillas (Spain, Real Madrid), Manuel Neuer (Germany, Bayern Munich), Victor Valdes (Spain, Barcelona), Edwin van der Sar (Holland, retired, formerly Manchester United).

Defenders: Eric Abidal (France, Barcelona), Dani Alves (Brazil, Barcelona), Ricardo Carvalho (Portugal, Real Madrid), Ashley Cole (England, Chelsea), Patrice Evra (France, Manchester United), Rio Ferdinand (England, Manchester United), Vincent Kompany (Belgium, Manchester City), Philipp Lahm (Germany, Bayern Munich), Lucio (Brazil, Internazionale), David Luiz (Brazil, Chelsea), Maicon (Brazil, Internazionale), Marcelo (Brazil, Real Madrid), Alessandro Nesta (Italy, AC Milan), Pepe (Portugal, Real Madrid), Gerard Pique (Spain, Barcelona), Carles Puyol (Spain, Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Spain, Real Madrid), Thiago Silva (Brazil, AC Milan), John Terry (England, Chelsea), Nemanja Vidic (Serbia, Manchester United).

Midfielders: Xabi Alonso (Spain, Real Madrid), Gareth Bale (Wales, Tottenham Hotspur), Sergio Busquets (Spain, Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Spain, Barcelona), Andres Iniesta (Spain, Barcelona), Kaka (Brazil, Real Madrid), Frank Lampard (England, Chelsea), Nani (Portugal, Manchester United), Mesut Ozil (Germany, Real Madrid), Andrea Pirlo (Italy, Juventus), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany, Bayern Munich), David Silva (Spain, Manchester City), Wesley Sneijder (Holland, Internazionale), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast, Manchester City), Xavi (Spain, Barcelona).

Forwards: Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Real Madrid), Wayne Rooney (England, Manchester Utd), David Villa (Spain, Barcelona), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon, Anzhi), Sergio Aguero (Argentina, Manchester City), Neymar (Brazil, Santos), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast, Chelsea), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden, AC Milan), Luis Suarez (Uruguay, Liverpool), Radamel Falcao (Colombia, Atletico Madrid), Edinson Cavani (Uruguay, Napoli), Karim Benzema (France, Real Madrid), Mario Gomez (Germany, Bayern Munich), Robin van Persie (Holland, Arsenal).

Johner

None of them should be even shortlisted.:pac:

GavRedKing

what I want to see at chelsea from the 11 above :

---

Casillas

---

Alves

---

Luiz----Carvalho----Cole

----Cesc

---

Xavi

---

Iniesta

---

Ronaldo----Ibrahimovic----Messi---

:pac:

Off to Football Manager I go to build a dream team. :pac:

GavRedKing

Johner wrote: »

None of them should be even shortlisted.:pac:

None of the 55 or none off the Chelsea lad's? :pac:

I could make an arguement for Cole, going on last years perforamnces, the other 4 would be hard to include.

P.S. Just noted Gareth Bale on the list, hes a shoe in anyway. :pac:

Blatter

Police pass file on Terry's alleged racist slur towards Ferdinand to the crown prosecution service.

Just breaking on SSN.

homer simpson

Blatter wrote: »

Police pass file on Terry's alleged racist slur towards Ferdinand to the crown prosecution service.

Just breaking on SSN.

So is that like sending a file to the DPP, or does that mean its going to court?

Blatter

homer_simpson wrote: »

So is that like sending a file to the DPP, or does that mean its going to court?

My understanding is that the CPS will review the file and then decide whether they will bring a prosecution or not.

tommyhaas

homer_simpson wrote: »

So is that like sending a file to the DPP, or does that mean its going to court?

As above, same thing as file being sent to the DPP

homer simpson

Blatter wrote: »

My understanding is that the CPS will review the file and then decide whether they will bring a prosecution or not.

Ah ok, so it is the same as our DPP here then. Suppose it means the cops think there is a case.

GavRedKing

Expected that anyway, there was a case to answer after it was seen on the T.V.

Now, whatever context his words we're said in is up for investigation, hopefully, no matter what the outcome its over and dealt with soon.

MUSEIST

Basically the CPS will decide if the evidence collected would be enough to get a conviction in court, they will not bring it forward if they believe its not a strong enough case.

Are my right in saying that if the evidence was strong and clear enough then they would have charged terry already and by forwarding a file to the CPS they are basically asking them would this evidence be strong enough for a conviction? I am not sure about the legal system so feel free to correct me. It suggests the evidence is not strong and maybe only consists of the tv footage.

Blatter

MUSEIST wrote: »

Basically the CPS will decide if the evidence collected would be enough to get a conviction in court, they will not bring it forward if they believe its not a strong enough case.

Maybe, but as was suggested by some with the Suarez/Evra case, it's very hard to 'throw out' a high profile racism case as it can give some the impression that racism isn't taken seriously enough.

In other words, they may be just giving the accuser every chance to prove his claims. There still may not be enough evidense for Terry to be found guilty.

MUSEIST

Blatter wrote: »

Maybe, but as was suggested by some with the Suarez/Evra case, it's very hard to 'throw out' a high profile racism case as it can give some the impression that racism isn't taken seriously enough.

In other words, they may be just giving the accuser every chance to prove his claims. There still may not be enough evidense for Terry to be found guilty.

Yeah, its all very messy. To think a handshake could have sorted all this:rolleyes::pac:

GavRedKing

Blatter wrote: »

Maybe, but as was suggested by some with the Suarez/Evra case, it's very hard to 'throw out' a high profile racism case as it can give some the impression that racism isn't taken seriously enough.

In other words, they may be just giving the accuser every chance to prove his claims. There still may not be enough evidense for Terry to be found guilty.

Honestly though, theres more evidence that points towards JT been racist then there is of Suarez.

Still though, theres a case to answer and I think it was safe to say it was going to go at the very least this far.

GavRedKing

MUSEIST wrote: »

Yeah, its all very messy. To think a handshake could have sorted all this:rolleyes::pac:

JT did say he sorted it out with Anton after the macthso maybe a hand shake is they way forward.

JT for FIFA president. :pac:

Blatter

gavredking wrote: »

Honestly though, theres more evidence that points towards JT been racist then there is of Suarez.

Still though, theres a case to answer and I think it was safe to say it was going to go at the very least this far.

Well the thing with the Suarez case is, all the evidense wouldn't appear to be in the public domain so it's difficult to compare the two cases.

willmunny1990

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

You are making it sound like we just went out and got AVB purely based on his one season of success with Porto. Although that was a factor, I would to think the board did a bit of research and included other factors.

We needed someone who had a record of playing fast attacking and winning football, not just domestically but in Europe.
AVB did this by playing 4-3-3 and having 2 midfielders sitting high up.
This had a downside though, Porto only kept 3 clean sheets in the last 15 games
We needed a good man manager and he had a good rep with the Porto players, close to them in a Mourinho type way and turned Moutinho into a great player, so that would help easing out the ageing players and the well known power dressing room at Chelsea
AVB wasnt one to rock the boat with Roman or the board either.
Fluent in several languages and good with the media.
AVB is young with fresh new ideas and he knew Chelsea and trained under Mourinho

So it all looks good on paper. Unfortuanately the chelsea squad has declined way faster than anyone thought it would and too many players just arent able to play the AVB way.

So, he isnt just "tinkering" around. His tactics and philosphy would have been discussed with the board and signed off on.

I do agree that his defence tactics seem lacking and it will be difficult to buy quality players in Jan. We should have moved quicker in pre-season

However, we MUST stick with him to stop this cycle repeating itself and the players must step up and help him

To be honest Pepper I think you and a lot of others are buying into the hype which surrounded AVB before he came.

What he did at Porto shouldn't be compared to what he is trying to do at Chelsea. Chelsea are a far bigger project in a much more competitive league. What he achieved at Porto didn't warrant him getting the Chelsea job IMO.

The Portuguese league and Europa league are pathetic in comparison to the Premiership and Champions league. These are the competitions he will be trying to win now and they are a much tougher ask.

IMO he was a knee jerk signing by Roman, he was touted as some potentially great young coach, The new Mourinho and Bullsh*t like that, and for what...winning the Portuguese league and Europa league with Porto.

He was vastly over rated because of his achievements at Porto, which is why Roman signed him, that's fact. The fast attacking winning football he played previous is irrelevant, you simply cant do that game in game out at the level hes at now.

The tactics he used previous will fail IMO, implementing a high line system with John Terry is Ludicrous, Terry is our best defender and still has something about him if he Is played in the correct way which AVB is not doing, Terry will be exposed in a high line system, our midfield is also far to slow to pull it off.

If the players we have cant play the AVB way then why is he forcing it upon them?

A manager who is trying to win the Premier League needs to be able to adapt and get the best out of his squad, AVB is not doing this, Lack of experience and employing previous winning tactics that worked in lower quality leagues and Cup competitions are costing us.

MUSEIST

willmunny1990 wrote: »

To be honest Pepper I think you and a lot of others are buying into the hype which surrounded AVB before he came.

What he did at Porto shouldn't be compared to what he is trying to do at Chelsea. Chelsea are a far bigger project in a much more competitive league. What he achieved at Porto didn't warrant him getting the Chelsea job IMO.

The Portuguese league and Europa league are pathetic in comparison to the Premiership and Champions league. These are the competitions he will be trying to win now and they are a much tougher ask.

IMO he was a knee jerk signing by Roman, he was touted as some potentially great young coach, The new Mourinho and Bullsh*t like that, and for what...winning the Portuguese league and Europa league with Porto.

He was vastly over rated because of his achievements at Porto, which is why Roman signed him, that's fact. The fast attacking winning football he played previous is irrelevant, you simply cant do that game in game out at the level hes at now.

The tactics he used previous will fail IMO, implementing a high line system with John Terry is Ludicrous, Terry is our best defender and still has something about him if he Is played in the correct way which AVB is not doing, Terry will be exposed in a high line system, our midfield is also far to slow to pull it off.

If the players we have cant play the AVB way then why is he forcing it upon them?

A manager who is trying to win the Premier League needs to be able to adapt and get the best out of his squad, AVB is not doing this, Lack of experience and employing previous winning tactics that worked in lower quality leagues and Cup competitions are costing us.

Yes, but tell us what you really think, willmunny

willmunny1990

MUSEIST wrote: »

Yes, but tell us what you really think, willmunny

Now that he is here i think we should focus on a CL spot and let him sign new players in the summer.

This season is over already for us IMO, but seeing as he is our manager i suppose he deserves his shot at rebuilding, whether Roman will spend the cash is another question.

MUSEIST

willmunny1990 wrote: »

Now that he is here i think we should focus on a CL spot and let him sign new players in the summer.

This season is over already for us IMO, but seeing as he is our manager i suppose he deserves his shot at rebuilding, whether Roman will spend the cash is another question.

Of course roman will spend the cash, thats for sure. I am actually looking forward to AVB further developing the team. His signings, mata, romeu, mereiles and sturridge (not his signing but he brought him into the first team) have all been excellent and have been our best performers this season. Replace anelka and malouda with more quality and things look positive for next season.

MUSEIST

Sam hutchinson signs a new deal at chelsea. Delighted for him, wonderful story that

El Inho

Fear of testicles not to blame!

Im a pool fan, but just thought ye might get a giggle out of it.

Sgt Pepper 64

willmunny1990 wrote: »

To be honest Pepper I think you and a lot of others are buying into the hype which surrounded AVB before he came.

What he did at Porto shouldn't be compared to what he is trying to do at Chelsea. Chelsea are a far bigger project in a much more competitive league. What he achieved at Porto didn't warrant him getting the Chelsea job IMO.

The Portuguese league and Europa league are pathetic in comparison to the Premiership and Champions league. These are the competitions he will be trying to win now and they are a much tougher ask.

IMO he was a knee jerk signing by Roman, he was touted as some potentially great young coach, The new Mourinho and Bullsh*t like that, and for what...winning the Portuguese league and Europa league with Porto.

He was vastly over rated because of his achievements at Porto, which is why Roman signed him, that's fact. The fast attacking winning football he played previous is irrelevant, you simply cant do that game in game out at the level hes at now.

The tactics he used previous will fail IMO, implementing a high line system with John Terry is Ludicrous, Terry is our best defender and still has something about him if he Is played in the correct way which AVB is not doing, Terry will be exposed in a high line system, our midfield is also far to slow to pull it off.

If the players we have cant play the AVB way then why is he forcing it upon them?

A manager who is trying to win the Premier League needs to be able to adapt and get the best out of his squad, AVB is not doing this, Lack of experience and employing previous winning tactics that worked in lower quality leagues and Cup competitions are costing us.

I'm not buying into the hype at all. I'm just pointing out some of the reasons why he was hired and saying it wasnt entirely random and that he is following a philosophy that the Chelsea board have bought into and hired him for. I'm as frustrated as you at the losses, but I do believe he should be given more time to turn it around, as the potential is there if he manages it. We desperately need the team rebuilding and even Fergie suffered when he did it a few times.
To put the season in some sort of perspective, Man City have spent xxx amount and top the league, and if you ignore them for a moment, we are only 5 points off Utd in 2nd and its very tight from Arsenal in 7th to Utd in 2nd. Hardly bottom of the table stuff. (When Fergie first took over Utd, he "led" them to the bottom of the table - the headline was "Fergies Bottom".
They won an FA Cup replay and the rest as they say is history)
To put things further into perspective, the very same City who spent xxx amount is in the most danger of the 4 British clubs of going out of the CL and thats with an experinced manager at the helm.
Add to that, Utd arent in much better shape either and likely to finish runners up, and Arsenal, Utd, Spurs are out of the CC cup as well as us and things dont seem as bad with our new manager.

So, despite being a "kneejerk" signing, I dont believe we should kneejerk react and sack him just yet.
Yes I think he should adjust his tactics a little, but give the man credit for believing in himself and his system and having the courage to follow it through.

Oh and final thoughts. Wasnt a certain "Special One" hired after doing well in a rubbish league, what was it now??? and what was the team called again?
Ok, so his europe success was a much higher standard, and he spent 3 season there and not 1, but it was the same league.

In a perfect world, Mourinho would have stayed much longer with us, but he didnt and now we have AVB, so lets support him. If he fails, Roman will sack him soon enough, but we all know we really want a long term manager who builds a successful team, and hopefully AVB is it.
After 13 games, its still way to early to tell.

pistolpetes11

willmunny1990 wrote: »

To be honest Pepper I think you and a lot of others are buying into the hype which surrounded AVB before he came.

What he did at Porto shouldn't be compared to what he is trying to do at Chelsea. Chelsea are a far bigger project in a much more competitive league. What he achieved at Porto didn't warrant him getting the Chelsea job IMO.

The Portuguese league and Europa league are pathetic in comparison to the Premiership and Champions league. These are the competitions he will be trying to win now and they are a much tougher ask.

IMO he was a knee jerk signing by Roman, he was touted as some potentially great young coach, The new Mourinho and Bullsh*t like that, and for what...winning the Portuguese league and Europa league with Porto.

He was vastly over rated because of his achievements at Porto, which is why Roman signed him, that's fact. The fast attacking winning football he played previous is irrelevant, you simply cant do that game in game out at the level hes at now.

The tactics he used previous will fail IMO, implementing a high line system with John Terry is Ludicrous, Terry is our best defender and still has something about him if he Is played in the correct way which AVB is not doing, Terry will be exposed in a high line system, our midfield is also far to slow to pull it off.

If the players we have cant play the AVB way then why is he forcing it upon them?

A manager who is trying to win the Premier League needs to be able to adapt and get the best out of his squad, AVB is not doing this, Lack of experience and employing previous winning tactics that worked in lower quality leagues and Cup competitions are costing us.

Going by what you said :

Portugese league is poor, which in turn means Portuguese teams are poor , which would include Porto.

So he made his achievements with a poor team , no shame or knocking that, actually makes it more of a feat.



Nobody is buying into the hype around AVB , they are buying into clearly a talented young manger who given time and backing could turn the club into something special, they are also buying into the stability that a young experienced manager could bring to the table.

You keep banging on about the players cant play AVB's way , at the moment they cant play any way , there is too much dead wood in the side , Carlo's team was a disaster last year, the problem wasnt the manager it was the players and that is still the problem , the sooner you get your head around that the better it will be for you.

7-8 players in the team from the first game against Liverpool where all Jose's players/team, now look how Liverpool /United/City/Spurs have evolved since then.

We got to the top and stayed up around there , but our progression has been stagnent for about 2-3 seasons and now the teams behind us have caught up and in some cases surpassed us whilst now the team/players who got us there are starting to decline.

Its a very hard act to try and really input youth into a team with so many big Senior Ego's but that is the Task facing AVB,

Torres was a massive disaster for us , we ended our interests in both Suarez and aguero which has cost us dearly.

AVB has only really brought in one player , MATA, and if thats the calibre of player he intends to bring to the side we wont be too long waiting on him to change our fortunes.

Oh and by the way The Premier League isnt the great emperor that you think it is , UCL will show that this year with 3 of the EPL sides all now struggling to quaify from the group stages, your buying into the Sky Sports image of the EPL way to much

GavRedKing

I dont get how people can call the Portugese league poor.

If we look at Porto for example, they have won 2 UEFA Cups and 1 Champs League since 2003, thats a brillant achievement no matter how ya look at it.

Who won the trophies with Porto, Mourinho and AVB. We have bought Ramires, Luiz in from the Portugese league and they have been exceptional performers for us. Bosingwa came in from Portugal, a very good FB, Merieles made his name playing in Portugal before moving to the EPL.

It was always goign to be a step up from the Portugese league but AVB has try to do things his way. He is the manager and if he wants to play a certain system or formation the players have to accomadate his philosphy and style of play. Its a big shock for some of the players but thankfully those players wont be with the club for much longer.

We as a club have come to a junction. We have two options, we can let AVB get on with it and influence the squad and give him the backing he deserves, or we can sack him in a few games time and achieve nothing of note and back up stereotypes of chelsea having a revolving door policy for managers and basically undo any work he has done and further disrupt the squad and fans a like.

As has been pointed out, we are not to far off our rivals for the league, even though I dont think we'll win it this year we'll certainly influence its outcome. We have an opportunity to qualify for the CL knockout stage with a win at home to Valencia, which is a lot better position then city are in at the moment and as AVB has pointed out we have a run of games against teams in and around us for December and winning those will put us back on the radar.

i have full confidence in AVB and his tactics and how we play and have no doubt that he was the best man for the job, he will get us winning trophies and leagues eventually just give him time and let im work his magic.

GavRedKing

From the website, good read I think.

VILLAS-BOAS: ON THE ATTACK

Andre Villas-Boas has been discussing the attacking philosophy he hopes will bring a return to winning ways at Newcastle on Saturday afternoon.
Defeat to Liverpool in the Carling Cup on Tuesday took the gloss away from last weekend's slick victory against Wolves at Stamford Bridge, but the manager is hoping to see an improved performance from his side in the north-east.

'We had a bad game against Liverpool and now we have a chance to get back to winning ways against a top team in a difficult game,' said the 34-year-old, who says he has the full backing of the squad with regard to his style of play.

'There is always a sense of pride in what you try to achieve, even if you lose. You have to set out your team to try to win the game and that's something that will always make us proud, and results will make us prouder when they come.

'It's important you play attractive football, football which pleases the fans is the most important thing. Then there are different things related to building up from the back, opening up the spaces in your build-up, rotation of the midfielders'' movement, strikers working between the lines, all kinds of boring stuff!

'And defensively, a couple of things. You have seen the way we set up in transition aggressively, pressing hard on the ball. This is related to decision-making and their feel of what is happening in the game. We often show the way we behave with our line on offsides, the opposite of last year. It is all kinds of different things.'

Villas-Boas pointed to the use of his holding midfielder as one example of how things have changed, however.

'We try to evolve a lot the player in the "Number 6" position, and that's why you have seen Oriol [Romeu] become more involved,' he said.

'Raul [Meireles] also played in that position with this kind of involvement. I think on that side the midfield rotation was the most important thing, because our number 6 [at Porto] sometimes became a more attacking midfielder and we tried to do that here but we decided it doesn't work so that's one of the things I have adapted.

'It is a little bit of unbalance regarding the Premiership. Transitions can hurt you more in the Premiership than in Portugal where teams have a tendency to play out from the back and to build up. Transitions here are much more direct, making the importance of the number 6 to stay in position most decisive.'

The manager has received criticism over the number of goals the team is conceding. Criticism he feels is unfair.

'Bearing in mind that we were a team that suffered five goals against the top teams, United suffered six, we have 17 goals suffered. Man City haven't suffered, because they are so solid and compact, but still they are on 12 goals.

'So we are speaking about a difference of five goals. Is it so aggressive in terms of the philosophy? Is it all wrong, your defensive organisation in question because of a five-goal difference to the leader? Is our defensive organisation in question because of five goals? I don't agree.

'The thing opinion-making is questioning at the moment is how we defend as a problem in the philosophy, and I say it is wrong.

'You can compare this statistic with the first year Chelsea won the title, when Chelsea had the most magnificent defence ever in history. Compare that side to the one straight after that. It was never the same. There was not one team that finished close to that first Mourinho team, and maybe at the moment not even Man City.'

Just a few months into the job, the former Porto coach has also had to answer questions about his future, but insisted he will be given time to complete his task by the club's board.

'There is no schedule for achieving different things,' he said. 'Conversations have been ongoing with the board and they have been fully supportive.

'When you set out on a contract you believe in the evolution of the philosophy, the style of play, winning the most amount of trophies in that period. It's something we spoke about before, there is an objective to invert the way Chelsea play the game and that's what we are trying to do.'

Sgt Pepper 64

AVB sees Danny as a right winger
(Sub-text - basically we have no one else good enough to play that role!)

Andre Villas-Boas has insisted Chelsea do not need to play Daniel Sturridge at centre-forward to help them arrest their alarming slump. Sturridge's performances have been one of few positives for the Blues during the poor run of results that has piled the pressure on new manager Villas-Boas in recent weeks.
Sturridge is the club's joint top scorer this season on seven goals, despite playing almost exclusively on the right of a three-man attack. Indeed, he has netted as many times as Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Romelu Lukaku combined, the four forwards Villas-Boas has entrusted to spearhead the attack this season.
The Chelsea boss explained his plans to Sturridge after taking charge during the summer but that has not prevented the 22-year-old repeatedly declaring his desire to occupy a more central role, most recently after making his England debut in last month's friendly win over Sweden. Yet, Villas-Boas said ahead of tomorrow's Premier League game at Newcastle: "There is no purpose in using Daniel up front.
"Our conversation at the beginning of the season was that we saw his potential on the wings - not only myself but also (Fabio) Capello and (former Chelsea manager Carlo) Ancelotti. We know he likes the striker position. It doesn't mean that he cannot perform it to the best and, if needs be, we will use him. But he will be here with us always counting most likely as a right winger."
Villas-Boas' stubbornness may stem more from a lack of suitable options in the position Sturridge currently occupies than a reluctance to play him in his preferred role. The Portuguese likes his wide attackers to come inside onto their stronger foot, with the right-sided Juan Mata playing down the left, and the left-sided Sturridge down the right.

We know he likes the striker position. It doesn't mean that he cannot perform it to the best and, if needs be, we will use him.
Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas on Daniel Sturridge




That is in contrast to Ancelotti, who preferred the right-footed Anelka or Salomon Kalou down the right, with the left-footed Florent Malouda on the opposite flank. Malouda appears far more comfortable down the left-hand side, having not been tried at all down the right this season.
It seems certain Sturridge and Mata will flank Drogba at St James' Park tomorrow after Torres' flopped on his return to the starting line-up in Tuesday's League Cup defeat to Liverpool. That was Villas-Boas' latest loss to a top team since his appointment as manager. Indeed, Chelsea have been beaten in all four matches they have played this season against other sides in the Premier League top seven. "Our form at the moment with the top teams has not been good enough," Villas-Boas said. "We've still yet to play three of them. So that still might give us a chance."
Chelsea face two of the remaining three in their next two top-flight games, with leaders Manchester City following tomorrow's Newcastle clash. The Blues need a victory to climb above their opponents and back into the top four but after losing five and winning just two of their last nine games, they are hardly in the kind of form to beat Alan Pardew's men, whose only league defeat this season came at City.
Villas-Boas said: "Pardew has set an excellent standard for what he is doing, he is doing an excellent job and he also bought stability to Newcastle and a sense of serenity. Plus, there is a city behind the football club, and there's a sense of empathy with the city and the club. So it's a major football club that finds itself in an excellent position, fully motivated, so an excellent challenge for us."
Having lost several of their big-name players during 2011, Newcastle have been the surprise package of the season. Villas-Boas added: "They went into a good run, a fantastic run, and I think they gained confidence and even more inner-belief to continue further and I think that's what they are doing at the moment."


http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=1550992.html?cid=rssfeed&att=

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/7347590/

This is an interesting reaction to his comments about the "high line "etc

http://www.weaintgotnohistory.com/2011/12/2/2605159/villas-boas-actually-says-something-of-note-to-the-press

willmunny1990

gavredking wrote: »

From the website, good read I think.

I'm glad AVB feels confident he will be given the time to stamp his own image on the team. I feel if he is to achieve it he will need to sign more players.

Your talking of replacing Lampard, Terry, Malouda, Anelka, Drogba, Kalou and even Mikel who is to slow to be in the system IMO.

At the moment our brightest players are Mata, Sturidge, Romeu, Josh and Lukaka. Mata has obvious quality and Danny is a good talent, the rest are very young and need time. IMO we will need to buy new players to replace Lampard, Drogba and Terry, they are the big 3 that need to be replaced with genuine quality.

They are hindering the team in my view, Lampard is passed it, Terry is going to be useless and exposed in our new system and Drogba's best days are gone, he is also a potentially poisonous influence in the dressing room as is Terry. The good thing is though these players are not good enough anymore to have a big impact on the dressing room.

Our back four needs a lot of rebuilding, hopefully Luiz will grow a brain, Bosingwa is not good enough and Ivanovich and Alex aren't good enough to be starters.

It will take a few seasons to build this new team and i hope Roman realizes this, If things get worse i.e we drop out of the top four next season, No CL football AVB will get sacked IMO.

There is a lot of work to be done at Chelsea and he should be given time to rebuild, we need a CL spot this season in order to attract good players.

I personally don't see his system working in the PL but only time will tell.

GavRedKing

Good article, goes into decent detail and gives us some info on what AVB plans with Danny for the time being. Also, I'd play Danny wide for two reasons, he has the pace to breeze past people and that will force the najority of FB's on the backwards foot and seconly becasue we have no one else to play there. But,

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

The Portuguese likes his wide attackers to come inside onto their stronger foot, with the right-sided Juan Mata playing down the left, and the left-sided Sturridge down the right.

Mata is left legged.

MUSEIST

So we all agree that we need more signings in january to continue to replace the old guard. So who do ye guys thinks we should sign?

Cahill seems likely IMO but I would love us to bid for hazard (everyone is after him so unlikely)

GavRedKing

willmunny1990 wrote: »

I'm glad AVB feels confident he will be given the time to stamp his own image on the team. I feel if he is to achieve it he will need to sign more players.

Your talking of replacing Lampard, Terry, Malouda, Anelka, Drogba, Kalou and even Mikel who is to slow to be in the system IMO.

At the moment our brightest players are Mata, Sturidge, Romeu, Josh and Lukaka. Mata has obvious quality and Danny is a good talent, the rest are very young and need time. IMO we will need to buy new players to replace Lampard, Drogba and Terry, they are the big 3 that need to be replaced with genuine quality.

Good point, in the next 2 years max, all those players listed will be gone, with JT maybe been the exception. Romeu is going to be a nailed on starter for the Newcastle game, and IMO has replaced Mikel as our DM, thank god. Josh and Lukaku need decent loan spells but they''ll come good they have the talent.

We will never replace Lamps anyway, theres no other CM with his goal scoring record around, for Drogba we can replace him with Danny through the centre if we sign a winger or give Lukaku a year or 2 and he'll lead the line. JT wont be replaced for awhile but we'll have to buy to replace him IMO.

They are hindering the team in my view, Lampard is passed it, Terry is going to be useless and exposed in our new system and Drogba's best days are gone, he is also a potentially poisonous influence in the dressing room as is Terry. The good thing is though these players are not good enough anymore to have a big impact on the dressing room.

Our back four needs a lot of rebuilding, hopefully Luiz will grow a brain, Bosingwa is not good enough and Ivanovich and Alex aren't good enough to be starters.

Well those 3 will be gone soon, and Drogba looks the most likely to be first out the door. Luiz will get better but he will always have that side to his game where he could do abything. Bosingwa is a decent FB, hes good going forward but going the other way hes suspect at times. Ivanovic is better then Alex IMO as he can play RB when needed for that reason I'd shift him out there and sell ALex and Bosingwa.

It will take a few seasons to build this new team and i hope Roman realizes this, If things get worse i.e we drop out of the top four next season, No CL football AVB will get sacked IMO.

There is a lot of work to be done at Chelsea and he should be given time to rebuild, we need a CL spot this season in order to attract good players.

I personally don't see his system working in the PL but only time will tell.

If we dont finish 4th at the least he'll be out on his ear, no question about it. There is a big turn around in process at the club, it started with the manager and his back room staff, we've changed our game and style of play and we have a good core of players to play in the AVB system, Danny, Lukaku, Mata, Meireles, Ramires, Josh, Luiz, Cech, Bertrand, thats a decet spine of a team that we can build on.

I think AVB's attacking system will attract flair players and will ultimately see us win a lot of trophies but thats if hes given time by the board and also the financial backing to do it his way.

As you said, time will tell and I hope I'm right.

GavRedKing

MUSEIST wrote: »

So we all agree that we need more signings in january to continue to replace the old guard. So who do ye guys thinks we should sign?

Cahill seems likely IMO but I would love us to bid for hazard (everyone is after him so unlikely)

Personally I think we need a solid CB and a wide man and then try and invest again in the summer for a creative type player that can play wide or CM.

So at CB - Cahill ( He seems to be the most likely )

Wide - De Bruyne ( Was mentioned a lot during the Summer and would be a good addition)

Wide - Hamsik ( Would cost a fortune but would be worth every penny, great footballer with two good feet that can play central too )

Creative - Eriksen ( Ajax youngster who had trials with us under age, widely regarded to be the next big thing from the famous Ajax academy)


Thats 4 players that if your playing Fantasy Football would be excellent to sign but realistically we'd have competition fro Eriksen and Hamsik from teams across Europe.

Cahill and De Bruyne would be easy enough to sign though if we go about it quietly.

Sgt Pepper 64

willmunny1990 wrote: »

I'm glad AVB feels confident he will be given the time to stamp his own image on the team. I feel if he is to achieve it he will need to sign more players.

Your talking of replacing Lampard, Terry, Malouda, Anelka, Drogba, Kalou and even Mikel who is to slow to be in the system IMO.

At the moment our brightest players are Mata, Sturidge, Romeu, Josh and Lukaka. Mata has obvious quality and Danny is a good talent, the rest are very young and need time. IMO we will need to buy new players to replace Lampard, Drogba and Terry, they are the big 3 that need to be replaced with genuine quality.

They are hindering the team in my view, Lampard is passed it, Terry is going to be useless and exposed in our new system and Drogba's best days are gone, he is also a potentially poisonous influence in the dressing room as is Terry. The good thing is though these players are not good enough anymore to have a big impact on the dressing room.

Our back four needs a lot of rebuilding, hopefully Luiz will grow a brain, Bosingwa is not good enough and Ivanovich and Alex aren't good enough to be starters.

It will take a few seasons to build this new team and i hope Roman realizes this, If things get worse i.e we drop out of the top four next season, No CL football AVB will get sacked IMO.

There is a lot of work to be done at Chelsea and he should be given time to rebuild, we need a CL spot this season in order to attract good players.

I personally don't see his system working in the PL but only time will tell.

yes we need new players, but as you said yourself, will we find any value in the market in January, its never a good time time to buy.
Any players we do buy, we would be hoping to make an immediate impact and thats a big ask for someone new to the team without any pre-season.

Unfortunately we clearly need someone, so what are the really big problem areas and who can we get? I cant see us buying more than 2 or 3 players.

De Bruyne?? You talk about the Portual league, but the Belgium league?
Will he be good enough or will he need a lot of time, like Luka.
(Still not sure on Luka, btw, I know everyone wants him to be a success, but the lad looks really off the pace - is he good enough? Although AVB was there when we signed him, he's not really a AVB signing in my book, just the opportunity was there)
De Bruyne is a proper left winger, but is that what we need most right now?

I reckon a right back is whats needed most.

What about a striker? If Anelka, Kalou and Drogba are off in Jan, that leaves Torres, Danny and Luka, but then Roman's normal solution to a crisis is go and buy a very expensive striker, is that the answer or do we need someone who supply the bullets as well as Mata?

You say Terry, Alex and Ivan arent good enough.
Thats most of our defense! We need to find a good CB partnership and stick with it. If we buy a CB, then thats going to take time

I disagree about Lamps, he has performed for us, just not every game and certain formations, but out of Terry, Lamps and Drogba, I would keep Lamps and rotate him.

So, I still have no clue as to what position or who to buy???!!

I know too many changes in jan are not good and will be expensive.

I would go for right back most of all.
Then a CB and finally another creative midfielder so if we lose Mata, we have someone else.
Or we somehow find that special player who can do it all, create and score and track back?!!

Yeah right!:eek:

GavRedKing

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Or we somehow find that special player who can do it all, create and score and track back?!!

Yeah right!:eek:

Ahem......

Masked Man

People underrating Brana itt.

And forgetting about players like Bruma and Kalas.

Sgt Pepper 64

Masked Man wrote: »

People underrating Brana itt.

And forgetting about players like Bruma and Kalas.

I love Brana, but he's not the answer to our long standing right back problem.
Kalas will probably never play for us due to visa problems.
Bruma i think has little chance of playing for us at this stage, just not considered good enough by Chelsea