Chelsea Season 2009-10

[Ramseth]

Yawn. Nobody knows what's going on or if the manager is till there to the season.

 

[Ramseth]

AC Milan 1 Chelsea 2

 

[Ramseth]

Chelsea 2 Club America 0

Chelsea wins World Football Challenge.

 

[Ah Guan]

Congrats to all Blues fans for last night's result

The midfield-attacking link-up is still solid but defence needs some work

Hopefully this season turns out better than the last

 

[Ramseth]

I way I look at it, I think Chelsea is the only serious challenger to Manchester United in the League this season. No, it's not about the Community Shield victory; but overall, Arsenal and Liverpool tyres look like losing air, only Chelsea still serious.

 

[Ah Guan]

I way I look at it, I think Chelsea is the only serious challenger to Manchester United in the League this season. No, it's not about the Community Shield victory; but overall, Arsenal and Liverpool tyres look like losing air, only Chelsea still serious.

Last night both teams were obviously sluggish from the long break and it turned out Chelsea wanted the Shield more than Man U

Regardless of the peformance, the result is a good confidence boost for Chelsea at the start of the new season and a welcome reset of their abysmal penalty shootout record

Btw, another team to watch this season is Man City --- I want to see how they flop!

 

[Ramseth]

Last night both teams were obviously sluggish from the long break and it turned out Chelsea wanted the Shield more than Man U

Regardless of the peformance, the result is a good confidence boost for Chelsea at the start of the new season and a welcome reset of their abysmal penalty shootout record

Btw, another team to watch this season is Man City --- I want to see how they flop!

If Manchester City can win the League, England can win the World Cup. It happened once before, in a year known as AD1966. However, such co-incidences and confluences are known to be very much rarer and harder to reccur than the total eclipse of the sun.

 

[Ah Guan]

Man City just wants to be the next Chelsea but....

1) Abramovich is not the stupidly-throw-money-at-a-problem-to-solve-it type. He is an orphan turned self made billionaire and didn't inherit oil money like the Middle Easterns. He has been a shrewd businessman who actually overhauled and ran a Russian town before taking over Chelsea. The billionaire still has a hand in the running of the club. Since 2003, great managers have came and went at his calling.

To summarise, he is a Jew. 'Nuff said.

Man city might have the cash, but do they have the management skills to match their ambition? [The first thing they should have done was to replace Sparky]

2) Manchester is not London. It is a post-industrial northern city where people get depressed by the weather. How many top players are willing to play there remains to be seen. And I believe up and coming players would rather ply their trade for their "poorer" neighbours in red -- you just can't buy pedigree and tradition.

My prediction? The Man City project will be abandoned within 5 years

 

[red amoeba]

Man City is "smarter" this off-season - they snapped up players with BPL experience. The team that is going to suffer i reckon is Arsenal. Without departures of players but no suitable replacement - lets see how Wenger can continue to slog on with his "youths". Liverpool have lost two impt players - after showing promise last season, they shld have kept the full team plus reinforcements to launch a challenge for the title.

Chelsea is "old" - although their mgr is good, but you need some "youth" - you can win in Italy with older players but play in BPL is different. But then...on paper, they look the strongest bcos they have more or less kept the same team from last season.

Man City I think will replace Arsenal - they won't win the title but they will be there. Man U wise, I don't think they will win the title, they have lost Ronaldo - who I believe will not be easy to replace. And even with replacements such as Valencia and Owen, they still need time to gel and integrate. Fergie has nothing else to prove already.....unless he takes over England and win them the World Cup.

So from the way I see, Chelsea will win it this season. Man U and Liverpool fighting for 2nd. Man City third / fourth. Arsenal will lose their CL place.

My thoughts.

 

[Ah Guan]

Appreciate your views

I guess every team goes through the rebuilding phase before their players gel and find their form. But this holds true only if the environment is stable - no bankruptcy, manager sackings, plane crashes, ban from Champions League etc.

Remember Man U took a couple of years off before they won the league 3 times in a row. In fact Ronaldo went there as a 17 year old and took about 5 years to play with the team.

With stability at Chelsea, hopefully they find their best form this season

 

[Ramseth]

Chelsea 2 Hull City 1

 

[Porfirio Rubirosa]

interested to hear blues' fans views on Carlo's 4-4-2 diamond midfield formation pushing through from the middle of the field instead of blues old wingers approach...

 

[Ah Guan]

Really still early to say if diamond is the Blues' best friend (paiseh couldn't resist being tacky on a Monday)

I guess Ancelotti's rationale is simple - the current Chelsea squad has more natural central midfield players than wingers. Players like Joe Cole and Deco have good close control to take on defenders in the middle. Essien and Lampard have lethal shooting range and are not afraid to try from outside the box. Ashley Cole and Bosingwa can rely on their natural pace to overlap and swing in crosses to our tall strikers.

My concern is the diamond doesn't work very against teams which park their bus in front of goal.... Like what happened on Saturday against Hull City.

 

[Ramseth]

I think that the only team that has ever won anything without any winger was England 1966 World Cup team. However, then England got shooters like Bobby Charlton and Geoff Hurst (even with arguably the topshooter Jimmy Greaves injured and sidelined). You watch them run with the ball and shoot at their primes, you know that you don't need wingers. Another one who could function and win games without wingers is of course, Diego Maradona, who didn't even need to shoot, he just dribbles the ball until it crosses the goal-line. However, those types come along once in a long long while and long long in between. Wingers are still and will be important.

 

[Ah Guan]

Thanks Ramseth for your insights. Wah that's twice you've cited the England's 1966 WC glory... You must be a hardcore En-ger-land fan!

 

[Ah Guan]

It seems that Ballack has been reading this thread

BALLACK WANTS DIAMOND TO SPARKLE

Chelsea's new diamond formation will come under further scrutiny against Sunderland on Tuesday night - but Germany captain Michael Ballack insists it is up to the players to make it work.
New coach Carlo Ancelotti has abandoned the use of wingers and replaced them with two strikers and a midfield diamond that struggled to get the better of Hull in their opening game at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Chelsea won 2-1 thanks to a late strike by Didier Drogba but at times the space afforded them by Ancelotti's midfield was exploited to the full by Phil Brown's side.
The system works superbly when going forward but if the midfield four are not tracking back when possession is lost, it leaves yawning gaps for the opposition to exploit.
Ballack was a half-time substitute for John Obi Mikel as Ancelotti looked for more aggression in the second half.
Now the midfielder is hoping for a place in the starting line-up against Steve Bruce's side at the Stadium of Light and he remains convinced the system can work.
"Everybody is a little bit expectant about what we can achieve this year," said Ballack.
"We have a new manager and we play a new system.
"We played it under Jose Mourinho when I arrived and it feels different not to play with wingers and to play with two strikers.
"So tactically things will be different for us but it depends how you implement it, by which I mean you can play any system with good players and they have to show their ability.
"It is not about the system, it is about how individuals perform on the pitch and whether they do the right things, so it is not as simple as just picking a system.
"In a diamond your attention is more on controlling the play, you have more ball in midfield and one more man there as well.
"So you gain a small advantage through the centre but there's more hard work for the four midfielders because they have a lot of work to do on and off the ball in this system.
"But there are many ways to win, there's not just one way to play football and you can have success with any system if you play it right.
"It is not all about the system we play, that's just a new thing for us that we have to adapt to."
Coach Ancelotti is pleased with the response from his squad and the way they are getting used to his diamond system. Their quality has prevented him from adding a 'marquee signing' to his squad as yet.
The Italian remains adamant that unless a top player becomes available at the right price, the current squad has enough ability to be successful this season.
"I have seen them playing in the system we want to use and I have options with so many great players to choose from," said Ancelotti.
"We have not had to spend lots and bring in many new players because we are happy with our squad."
Chelsea are unlikely to have any of their injured contingent back in time for the trip to Sunderland.
Juliano Belletti (Achilles), Alex (groin) and new signing Yuri Zhirkov (knee) are almost certain to miss out.
Joe Cole and Paulo Ferreira are also sidelined with knee injuries.

 

[Ramseth]

Thanks Ramseth for your insights. Wah that's twice you've cited the England's 1966 WC glory... You must be a hardcore En-ger-land fan!

Don't forget I'm also a Diego Maradona fan, though Argentina always enemy of England.

 

[Porfirio Rubirosa]

i think what i highlighted in bold about sums it up when it comes to the diamond formation...perhaps what may be lacking is a holding player at the tip of the diamond who has the ability to be a natural playmaker...hence Carlo's interest in Pirlo and De Rossi...you would have thought Deco would be suitable but not sure whether his best days have already passed him... also not sure that lampard's best role is at the top of the diamond as he is the type of player that roams all over the pitch including going deep...

It seems that Ballack has been reading this thread

BALLACK WANTS DIAMOND TO SPARKLE

The system works superbly when going forward but if the midfield four are not tracking back when possession is lost, it leaves yawning gaps for the opposition to exploit.
"In a diamond your attention is more on controlling the play, you have more ball in midfield and one more man there as well.

"So you gain a small advantage through the centre but there's more hard work for the four midfielders because they have a lot of work to do on and off the ball in this system.
"But there are many ways to win, there's not just one way to play football and you can have success with any system if you play it right.
"It is not all about the system we play, that's just a new thing for us that we have to adapt to.".

 

[Ah Guan]

Ahh... But you forgot one famous English prodigy:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/international/article4711100.ece

“My best position is in the centre behind a front two,” Cole said, describing the Michel Platini playmaking role that is all but redundant in the modern game, one that Cole will not have been allowed to fill by just about any manager, for club or country, since turning professional."

- Joe Cole, Sept 08

 

[Ah Guan]

Sunderland 1 Chelsea 3