Half Term Report - Football - Premier League - Chelsea

Half Term Report

Contrary to many peoples ideas Chelsea FC is still alive at Stamford Bridge, a top four side and have no intention of giving up.
Our leader Roman may well be about to drop another £5 million on his New Years Eve Party in St.Barts but that only bodes well for any future investment. Basically he is recession proof!

TRANSITION has been the word that has been bandied around the Premier League more often than any other this year and lets pull no punches we've been caught out.
Barcelona started this problem. Owners felt the need to catch up with their winning formula and demanded a more attacking brand of football. City, United and us all changed tactics with differing results.
Its pretty clear that we did not have the personnel to play a quick, back to front passing game with our current crop of players. Sturridge and Mata are those players but we'll never see the best of them unless every one is on their wavelength.

It pains me to say it but even Spurs have have got a pace about their team that is looking way ahead of our current set up. AVB is in panic mode, I mean what was that business of dropping deep after we had taken the lead against Fulham?

Basically he's trying to stay top four by mix and match tactics which is not teaching the team attacking football. Footballers are not chameleons, they do not change their spots. Luiz is a footballing defender and asking him to Row Z the ball is not in his nature. Mata wants the game speeded up so does Sturridge. Lets go with it and live or die by it. Watching Spurs achieve it is too much!

What do you reckon?

comment by FatJanMolby *I'm a boogie monster* (U4297)

posted on 28/12/11

Basically he's trying to stay top four by mix and match tactics which is not teaching the team attacking football. Footballers are not chameleons, they do not change their spots. Luiz is a footballing defender and asking him to Row Z the ball is not in his nature. Mata wants the game speeded up so does Sturridge.

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This pretty much sums up the problem at your club. AVB's naive management. He has a good squad that is good at what it does, i.e. the Mourinho way of football. He's come in and tried to change it too quickly either because he's naive or believes his own hype. The tactics he's tried to deploy don't suit the players available to him. The spine of your team is still Mourinho's team and is best played that way.

AVB needs to go back to basics. The Valenica game and Man City game were perfect examples of this. You played the Mourinho way and won. When you play that you'll pretty much beat most teams.

If AVB is the man for the long run, then he has the chance to bring is philosophy to the club in time. This season, stick to what you do best, get yourselves in to the top 4 and his job is safe. Then in the summer, get rid of the likes of Malouda, Drogba, Lampard, Mikel, Kalou etc, and bring in the players that will allow AVB to play the way he wants to. Mata and Meireles were a good place to start, and Romeu looks decent. Up front though you need to some wholesale changes (apart from Sturridge).