Duff at the top of his game again (spoiler)

evilhomer

Chelsea 2-1 Fulham.

Duff(55) and Lampard(88) for Chelsea.
McBride(74) for Fulham.


Three games in a row on the scoresheet for the Duffer now.
He is back to his tricky self now i think.

So is Damien Duff becoming a better player now then he was in World Cup 2002?

In my opinion he is a much better player now, mourinhio has been very good at bringing him on and playing the type of attacking football that suits Duff.
I think Duff does a lot less diving now then last season. and is getting more end results for it.

what do you think?

K!LL!@N

He's doing brilliantly.
I was worried that with Robben coming in and Mourinho not rushing to have him back in the squad, he might end up on the sidelines.
But he's proved himself over the last few weeks.
His workrate is great.
He's creating lots of chances.
And scoring too.
Himself and Robben must have some kind of bet on or something.
Both doing really well.
I'm not a supporter of any team but it's great to see Duff doing so well at Chelsea now.
Hopefully he'll help them to some silverware.

Killian

cournioni

As a Man United and Ireland supporter, I think it is great to see Duff doing so well at a top club. I just hope he falls out of favour or something so that United can nip in and buy him! It's never gonna happen though.

AthAnRi

United slipped up big time. He's the in the top 3 left winger in the Premiership if not the world. Class act. the fact that himself an robben are competing for places seems to have brought the best outta both players

Xterminator

I never thought of Duff as a 'diver'.

Sure he earns his fair share of free kicks, but if you look at the fouls & kickings he has to put up with, then you understand.

Also he has toned up a bit from a frail looking youth, to a top professional athlete. He is stronger and not pushed off the ball quite so easily.

At least that my opinion.

X

eirebhoy

He has actually outshone Robben (not including yesterday as they both were as good as each other) in the 3 previous games, PSG, Bolton and Charlton. Before that (this season) he would hardly run by a player for the whole match. I can only assume now that it was down to Mourinho's instructions as he has been a lot better since he's been given more freedom. When was the last time neither Duff or Robben scored in a game? Duff has 5 goals and 6 assists already this season and he didn't start a match until the 25th of September.

pickarooney

What positions are Duff and Robben playing in? I have to admit I never thought Mourinho could fit them both into the same team, and still manage to give Joe Cole a decent amount of playing time. In retrospect, getting rid of Ranieri seems to have been a very wise decision.

thejollyrodger

yeah, I agree with most of all of the above comments. Duff is playing great, Ranieri was too much of a tinker man and Mourinho really knows what is he on about.

Big Nelly

Plays with one up front and Duff Robben playing on either wing just behind them......effectively a 4-3-2-1 system.......

Boro

Thats the thing though. Mourinho builds from the back to give these flair players a platform to perform on. At the start of the season, he was just getting the defence right first and people were complaining at the 1-0's. Just look at them now.

A solid defence is the best way to head towards success. Look at Everton and Middlesbrough - they both have very strong defences.

An excellent attack is great, but you cant lose if you dont concede (Arsenal).

Anyway, back to the point - Duff is playing some fantastic stuff. I think that himself and Robben play as the two widemen in a 3 man attack, and sometimes just behind the striker in a 4-3-2-1 formation. Doubt he will be going anywhere else for a while, unless its silly money.

BaZmO*

Yeah he really does seem to firing on all cylinders at the moment, as does most of the Chelsea squad. Mourinho really has turned them into a force to be reckoned with.

Like most people at the beginning of the season I was really worried for Duff and concerned for his future at the club but Mourinho obviously knew what he was doing. Duff just seems to be getting better and better as a player.

I think the most important thing that Mourinho has done at Chelsea is to streamline the team. Even though he has endless pools of cash at his disposal he has cut the squad down to just 23 players, which is a good idea because he has less players to please and also anyone could name the starting 11 for Chelsea now which is not something you could've said last year under Ranieri.

B.

The Rooster

I think it was clear at the start of the season that Mourinho fancied Joe Cole as a better player than Duffer.

But I think we all knew that if Duff was given the chance, Mourinho would quicky realise that he's miles better than Cole, and thats exactly whats happened. The danger for Duff would have been if Robben had recovered before he got his chance, which would have pushed Duffer further down the pecking order - but thankfully that situation did not arise, and now its impossible to leave him (or Robben) out.

eirebhoy

I know this is a long shot and would be really silly of Mourinho but does anyone think the following is possible. When Duff came on in his first and second gams back as a substitute against Spurs and Soton he was running down the wing as we all know him to be. After those two games and up until the CSKA game he wasn't running past players at all. He could be one on one with a player and go for the short pass. I found that strange that he was doing this so presumed it was Mourinho's instructions. Does anyone think he was given these instructions by Mourinho to make it look to the outsider that Mourinho's "mental block" theory was right? As I said, its a long shot but not impossible and Mourinho probably felt it was the right thing to do rather than make it look like he was treating players unfairly.

DapperGent

That's one of the sillier football related things you've said eirebhoy and there's plenty of competition.

eirebhoy

DapperGent wrote:

That's one of the sillier football related things you've said eirebhoy and there's plenty of competition.

I'd love to know what the "plenty of competition" is.:) I don't see how its silly. If I had've accused Mourinho of it then of course its a silly thing to say but I just put it down as a long shot so to speak. I've seen Duff around 10 times this season, why would Mourinho give him instructions to play safe and not run by players while let Robben do what he wants (as I said, it has changed over the last 4 games)? Running by players is what makes Duff and I was really getting frustrated watching him make a short passs when I was sure he'd beat his man. Thanfully that's changed though.

He must be the only manager in the world that would give Duff those instructions for the good of the team as he has been an awful lot more effective before and after that spell. Also, is it a coincedence that he has been given more freedom since he ran riot against Croatia?

Dewey

Well eireboy, i think Mourinho didnt fancy Duff at the start of the season and if Robben hadnt of been injuried i think he would of went with a 4-4-2 with Robben on the left and Duff on the bench, Also Chelsea were very VERY defencive at the start of the season. remember 1-0 to the chelsea was being chanted all the time so i think Mourinho did tell Duff to defend but i really think Mourinho didnt know Duff was such a brilliant Winger, and Arsenals goal differences was so much better at the start of the season but now since Mourinho has gone with a more attacking team(Duff,Robben) the goals are flowing.

growler

I think Mourinho was only taking his time learning the relative strengths of his squad, I believe that he did give Duff clear instructions not to venture too far forward early in the season and he did seem to favour joe "headless chicken" cole for some strange reason. As a result of duff's and cole's perrformances he has adapted the midfield to play the 4-3-2-1 which allows Robben and Duff to run riot, it's worked out very nicely for Chelsea , in defiance of everyone ( myself included) who couldn't work out how the two could play in the same team. Full credit to Duff for his professionalism and he's just getting better!

eirebhoy

Here's what Mourinho had to say before the Arsenal match:

“Damien is our best player, he has been for the last six weeks. He is capable of winning a game on his own and his performances in our recent matches have been fantastic.

“Since Arjen Robben came back from his injury, everyone has been talking about Robben, Robben, Robben, but people forget about Damien. He has scored some incredible goals, his movement in an attacking and defensive sense is fantastic.

“We are going to Highbury to win this game and we’re in confident mood. All our forwards are in good form but Damien is the best of the lot.”

LegacyUser

Well he did **** all yesterday...

eirebhoy

cheesedude wrote:

Well he did **** all yesterday...

Arsenal seem to be his bogey team. Actually I wouldn't say bogey team, Wenger just seems to know how to keep him queit as the 4 times I've seen him play against Arsenal for Chelsea he has been average.

Slash/ED

He got the winner there for Blackburn, right footed volley too. He also set up Terrys goal on sunday, in big games like that individuals rarely stand out really. Robben did nothing, Lampard didn't get forward as much as he normally does, only Henry really stood out.

eirebhoy

Slash/ED wrote:

He got the winner there for Blackburn, right footed volley too. He also set up Terrys goal on sunday

Robben set up Terry's goal.

Slash/ED

eirebhoy wrote:

Robben set up Terry's goal.

Could have sworn it was Duff that was taking all the corners on that side, ah well, the rest of it still stands.

eirebhoy

cheesedude wrote:

Well he did **** all yesterday...

The Actim Index measure how effective a player is over the course of the season. Robben was in the 80's when I checked the other day and Duff was 27th. Since they updated the scores Duff has moved to 23rd while Robben has gone outside the top 100. Just goes to show how much Duff's defensive work goes unrecognised.

http://actim.pa.press.net/top100.shtml

About Actim

The_B_Man

them Actim things would be good for using with your fantasy football team. a lot of people i expected to see near the top were way down. probably explains why my team is doin crap!! lol.

eirebhoy

The_B_Man wrote:

them Actim things would be good for using with your fantasy football team. a lot of people i expected to see near the top were way down. probably explains why my team is doin crap!! lol.

Its a lot more than goals and assists though. It counts absolutely every pass, tackle, etc to find the most effective player. Duff missed August and September so would have been up the top otherwise.

The_B_Man

another great goal for duff today, 5th of the season, even if doherty was crap.

eirebhoy

The_B_Man wrote:

another great goal for duff today, 5th of the season, even if doherty was crap.

Helveg gets 100% of the blame, not Doc.

Raskolnikov

eirebhoy wrote:

Helveg gets 100% of the blame, not Doc.

They were both awful, Helveg might slightly edge Doherty out in terms of awfulness. Not by much though.

Back on topic, Duff was very good, exploited a Helveg error to score and knocked in a corner for Drogba to head home.

BaZmO*

eirebhoy wrote:

Helveg gets 100% of the blame, not Doc.

Ah c'mon EB take the green tinted blinkers off. Although Helveg made a howler of a pass to let Duff in, Doc let him have a free shot on goal.

B.

eirebhoy

BaZmO* wrote:

Ah c'mon EB take the green tinted blinkers off. Although Helveg made a howler of a pass to let Duff in, Doc let him have a free shot on goal.

B.

I think the post I replied to was the biased one. As soon as Duff got the ball it was inevitable, no matter what centre half he was up against, that he was going to get a shot on target.

BaZmO*

Why was what The_B_Man said biased? I'm not doubting Duff's skill it's just that Doc didn't make a challenge, hardly making him blameless.

eirebhoy

BaZmO* wrote:

Why was what The_B_Man said biased?

Basically because he mentioned Doc and never mentioned Helveg. I usually am biased when a player gets picked on (so to speak) but not because he's an Irish international (for example, I love to see RVN doing well to spite almost everyone who doesn't support United). If I had my way he'd be nowhere near the Ireland squad.

eirebhoy

On the topic of Duff:

Chelsea and Ireland star Damien Duff found himself at the centre of a nightclub storm at the weekend, with a female companion allegedly assaulted and the £17m man threatened by a group of yobs.

Duff starred in Chelsea’s 4-0 win over Norwich City on Saturday afternoon, scoring one goal and setting up another as the Blues marched six points clear at the summit.

The modest Dubliner went out with some friends in Surrey that night, but the mood turned sour when one of Duffer’s lady friends was assaulted by a man wielding a champagne bucket.

The man was ejected from the nightclub in Kingston-upon-Thames, while Duff later accompanied the girl home despite, it was reported, threats from the initial assailants battle-hungry friends.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/3717770.stm

BaZmO*

eirebhoy wrote:

Basically because he mentioned Doc and never mentioned Helveg.

I know what you're saying but I would've assumed that it was a given that Helveg's mistake was a howler and also, Doc's lacklustre tackle wasn't exactly 100% blameless!

by a man wielding a champagne bucket

The bleedin' lunatic!!!

I get the feeling that that incident might being getting the sensationalist treatment!

B.

PHB

I think the post I replied to was the biased one. As soon as Duff got the ball it was inevitable, no matter what centre half he was up against, that he was going to get a shot on target.

Thats crap, he was one on one with a defender, if he had closed him down two things could happen.

Duff could take the shot at a worse angle and the keeper would havea better view

Duff could try go past him and then one of threethings could happen
He could get past him and control the ball and score
He could get past him but lose control of the ball
He could lose the ball

There is absolutley no benefit to Doherty staying back like that, it was bad defending

eirebhoy

I'd have to see the goal again TBH, I just didn't notice Doc as all Brady mentioned was Green and Helveg. I didn't watch the h/t or f/t analysis.

Chong

eirebhoy wrote:

I'd have to see the goal again TBH, I just didn't notice Doc as all Brady mentioned was Green and Helveg. I didn't watch the h/t or f/t analysis.

Tell me about Brady makes me wanna throw up, he's such a winge bag. In regards to duff he has been great this season and seems to have proven himself to Mourinho to warrant a regular place.

The_B_Man

well it was a bad pass by Helveg but c'mon, doc just left duff to shoot and he also passed to Robben, i think it was, which led to lampards (i think) goal. now thats not exactly MOM stuff!