League Cup, Premier League - Written by BlueChampion on Sunday, December 31, 2006 22:12 | 3,442 Views | 34 Comments | Add Comment
Aston Villa vs Chelsea: 02-Jan-2007: All we need is a win!
You know what we expect!
Only in November, we had thumped Villa 4-0 in the Carling Cup match. Looks like a distant memory? Lets’s start this post on a good note!
[youtube]_QS7whDp8XA[/youtube]
But this time around, I’m sure Jose would take a 1-0 win and would be too happy to finish the match with 3 points. Before we kick off, Man Utd would have played in Newcastle. The barcodes are fresh from being pounded 3-0 by Everton and they too have their defensive worries. Martins, the other prominent striker from the Serie A, has been finding the net with some regularity nowadays. If he is on fire, this would be anyone’s match, looking how Reading played Man Utd. Also it’s quite possible that by the time we kick off we are 9 points off from Man Utd.
Okay, now Villa vs Chelsea. Below the current status of the first team players for the Aston Villa match. The list of unavailable players is official one. The classification of in-form and out-of-form players is my own. You may differ with this.
Unavailable: Ballack, Robben, Joe Cole, John Terry, Petr Cech, Cudicini
Available (in form): Drogba, Lampard, Essien, Carvalho, Kalou, Bridge
Available (not in form): Sheva, SWP, Geremi, Boulahrouz, Ferreira, Hilario, Mikel, Makelele
Available (unknown form): Hedman, Diarra
Before I choose a XI from above list of available players, I would like to classify some as blacklisted players, whom I dont want to play in this match, whatever it takes. That way, Mikel, Makelele and Hedman are blacklisted. I’m sorry about Makelele being called blacklisted but he has been completely out of sorts recently. Let him take some rest and be back later with better concentration. As Ballack is unavailable, he need not be blacklisted, he is out anyway. With the rest, I need to go for either 4-3-3 or 4-4-2. Any other formation is out of question. Like I had said earlier, this is no time for experiments. In a 4-3-3, Drogba (not even thinking of Sheva) would have to be surrounded by Kalou and SWP as wingers.
But I have more confidence with SWP in the midfield than as a winger now. If SWP is not to be in the wings, then there is no other who can play in the wings. Sheva can play in the wings too but I doubt if he would do well there as he has los quite a bit of his pace.
Anyway, right now, we are not a confident ‘go-getter’ team. We are conceding big time and match after match, we are the scared ones than the opposition. Also, like Jose said, we are not controlling the game. Yes, we are not dictating the pace and flow of the game like we used to. At this juncture, 4-3-3 would be little risky. Considering that you cant expect Hilario to do a Petr Cech and that the defence is confused and disconnected with each other, I would drop the attacking 4-3-3 and go for a conservative formation. You can argue that attack is the best form of defence but all I have in mind is that we absolutely need 3 points from this match, come what may.
So, I prefer a 4-4-2 here. As much as people have hated to see the diamond on the pitch (even I didnt prefer before), I think diamond will only do the trick for us on Tuesday. The holding midfielder of the diamond would be Essien. He has to be in this role and this is very crucial in plugging the holes in the defence. Let him not push forward too much and be more defensive until we go up by more than a goal.
And I want Drogba to be attacking tip of the diamond with Sheva and Kalou as the strikers. Drogba is one player (along with Essien), who seems to possess this quality of adaptability, which allows him to play virtually anywhere on the pitch. He also has the skill to hold the ball until the rest take good positions and his ability to shoot form distance needs no proof. In the attacking tip of the diamond, he can create space, be less marked and be an effective playmaker. May be this is unconventional but not experimentation. Anyway, players like Drogba and Essien do play various roles in the course of a match.
Two players who might disappoint us are Sheva and SWP. If Sheva does way below the mark, he can be subbed with Diarra and we should change to 4-3-3 with SWP moving to the wings and Diarra taking his place in the midfield. If SWP does poorly, he should be subbed with Diarra in his midfield role. If both of them screw up, bad luck, get back to 4-3-3, replace them with Paulo and Diarra. Anyways, I expect Jose to play Diarra.
This is what Jose said about Diarra in the last season:
I’m especially happy with Diarra. For me, he’s very, very, very important. I gave him some minutes during the season - 20 minutes here, ten minutes there, five minutes against Liverpool, 20 minutes against Anderlecht, ten minutes against Real Betis - but not consistently. But I’ve given him twice 90 minutes and the boy is ready, he’s very ready for next season. Next season, Claude Makelele and Michael Essien have to look at him as a boy that can fight with them, not just as a young boy. He’s learning to be a good player. The boy is ready to play.
This season, may be because of Ballack’s inclusion, Diarra has not been able to play much. Diarra is the solution for the Ballack problem. I’m sure Jose would pick him.
If Sheva fails:
If SWP fails:
If both Sheva and SWP fail:
May be the odds for this team selection and formation would be a 100-1 or 500-1. If I were Jose I would go for this and come back with a 2-0 win or 2-1 win. If we dont win this match, I dont know how Jose will react and by all probabilities, the English Press might hand over the title to Man Utd.
Dont provoke Jose once again boys, he might take the gun!
[tags] Chelsea, Aston Villa, Villa, Villa Park, Drogba, Shevchenko, Jose Mourinho, Man Utd, Newcastle [/tags]
Note: Wish the Chelsea FC team for a great new year here
34 Comments
1. prat
2. Anonymous
how does lassana diarra play? is he playing for reserves? how has his form been?
Blue Champion wishes you all a very happy and prosperour new year!
4. drogba
Hope dat in this new year the blue champions will strike back and score full points…… All the very best!!!!!!
5. RomanHoliday
RomanHoliday here
All the Manure fiends around me are celebrating prematurely .A few of them couldn’t go to sleep til 5 in the morning after winning against Reading , talking like the title was already theirs.
And they probably think we’re suffering and sobbing over the past few results.
Well they’re wrong about that .
I’m waing for: THE: ROMAN EMPIRE TO STRIKE BACK
And it will.
6. blueblood58
to Anon
Lassana Diarra has only played one game for the reserves this season.
to BC interesting thoughts and scenarios. All I want is three points.
Happy New Year to All
7. blueblood58
to BC
Dates for you calendar
FA Cup: Macclesfield H - Jan 6
Carling Cup: Wycombe Wanderers A Jan 10
Carling Cup: Wycombe Wanderes H Jan 23
8. zubinj9
zubinj9 here.
all i need is chelsea strike back again in EPL and perform title warning performance as we used to do it before.
we are very very unlucky about the injuries this season.
But i hope jose and our players would fight back soon.
Also to ballack, please play as you used to do in bayern.
i am not saying he is not playing well. I like the way he is playing now, no miss passes, great attitude and character.
all chelsea players please think about us; the great CHELSEA FAN’S
9. Karthik
i think blue campion has got the right formation
10. Midfield_Decider
I’m in frustration but I will try write below all the problems Chelsea has had since the the last summer until now.
I think Jose is the genuine source of all our problems and troubles. He is not a genius anymore. I like this site very much and I can see the sense and creativity of all formations BC has been offering here and I can’t help not to agree with you, BC. Yet all this time Jose couldn’t realize what we have realised. Jose has had plenty of time since the begining of the season to experiment with formations and team selections yet the only thing he managed to do was to stick to some outperforming players and wrong selections. Was he so scared to lose points and matches by experimenting? If yes then now he lost more because of his stubborness and blindness. Good managers do not hesitate to drop “stars” if they outperform. Good managers analyze links between players and chose the team with the players which suit to each other the best. I have noticed that Ballack and Lampard do not suit to each other, yet Jose has always insisted on this link. I have noticed that Robben and Sheva suit to each other very well yet how many times we saw this link on the starting 11? I can’t remember any time. Good managers do not discriminate his players yet Jose publicly called some of his players as “untouchables”. By doing so he drawed a line between his players. As fas as I know Jose studied psychology and I can’t understand how a man who knows psychology can make such a big mistake. I have noticed that Kalou, SWP, Sheva, Robben and Essien play very well at setpieces and have many 100% chances to score and yet they miss the target so easily. If these players did not miss so often maybe the story would be very different now. All of these players have the quality to score from the positions ordinary players cannot yet they miss sitters. This leads me to think that the problem is not these players but the one who trains them and gives them tactics, that is Jose. Do you think that if a manager does intensively proposes attacking options and displays in the training sessions and behind the closed doors, players with the quality Chelsea has will miss so many 100% chances? I do not. Thus it’s again Jose’s old defencive tactics which make his players to outperform in and near the opposition box. One can point out to the recent stunning long-range winners from Drogba, Lampard and Essien. Well, this is only due to the quality these players have, not due to Jose. I have noticed that this year the team has many injuries. I think the team which dominates all 90 minutes on the field will have less injuries than the dominated team which struggles to keep the pace with the dominant team. Thus, I think Chelsea’s injuries this year are also to Jose’s defencive displays against the teams which pressured us to score. The best defence is attack so that an opposition couldn’t play its game and put pressure on you and leave your players injuried. As an example just remember the away fixture at Madejski stadium against Reading when under pressure Chelsea lost two goalkeepers. I have noticed that in the summer we lost sold players which has been identified with Chelsea, i.e Goodjohnsen and Gallas. Remember how Gallas played in our defence and terrorised opposition defences from time to time. Remember Goodjohnsen’s dribbles. Look how he is playing now in Barca. So why Jose let them go? How on earth couldn’t he manage to satisfy Gallas to stay? How on earth couldn’t he make Goodjohnsen to play the way Rijkaard is making him now? So, it’s again Jose to blame. Under him gifted players like Gudjohnsen and Sheva do not flourish but became spoiled either on the pitch (by not receiving right tactics from Jose and passes from others) either on the bench waiting for Chelsea to fall behind till Jose will call him. First of all it’s not Sheva who lost yard of his pace, it’s Jose who lost his COMMON FOOTBALLING SENSE. And still it’s Jose who says “Sheva, Kalou, SWP and others are not performing”. To conclude, there is only one problem and it is JOSE MOURINHO himself.
Under these circumstances, if you ask me, Chelsea has already lost the EPL and I don’t believe that Chelsea will win the Champions League too. Either Jose changes himself or accept THE DEFEAT, fellow blues.
The best present for the New Year for me will be the fact that I am wrong about the League Title and the Champions League. Still I’m almost sure that I won’t receive such a big present.
Mark my words.
Thanx.
11. blue champion
Hey Midfield Decider! My responses to you are below:
1. Jose Mourinho brought the winning mentality/champions mindset to this Chelsea team. This is something money cannot buy. The lion-hearted commitment shown by the players are a product of coaching by Jose. The long range winners should also be attributed to Jose as he has created this never-say-die attitude in them and propped their self confidence.
2. Over the last three seasons, Chelsea saw a lesser number of injuries compared to the other big teams. Even Arsenal had/has been suffering with so many injuries (Henry, Gallas, Rosicky, Senderos, Toure etc). Man Utd had their share of injuries (Saha, Solskaer, Giggs, Park etc) too.
3. So what if we sold Gallas, Gudohnsen, Duff etc? Even Man Utd sold Ruud (most prolific in recent times). Arsenal sold big names like Vieira, Pires, Ashley etc. Players dont make clubs, only teams make clubs.
4. Defensive tactics? I dont know what you mean? We are second in the league and in the league we have the second best goal difference losing just 2 matches (as many as Man Utd). We topped the champions league group that had defending champions Barcelona including the fact that we got 4 points against them.
5. Provoking is also a technque in psychology that sometimes brings the best in the players. I find nothing wrong in Jose naming his untouchables, though I may not agree with the list. In a way this is one of the techniques to provoke a reaction from the players.
In short, IN JOSE I TRUST.
I\’m sure you will receive your best present for the new year.
Keep the faith, mate! Keep the faith!
Note: An early present to you as Newcastle holds Man Utd for a draw! Just 4 points now (of course, we\’ll beat Villa)!
12. Midfield_Decider
BC, you know what I mean by “defencive tactics”. Whatever it is it’s not “attacking tactics” which ManUTD, Barca, Lyon and others show.
If you are still confused remember the 1st half at Goodison Park, the 1st half at Old Trafford (when we needed 3 points) and so on. I donnow what was that.
I respect your faith and advices but listening to Jose’s recent comments I doubt that he himself has faith left in him.
Anyway, I’m very happy that Newcastle held ManUTD.
Thanx.
13. rohan
well.. BC. u were right.. man u held at newcastle with a draw. but we have to win the next villa game. cant wait for that to happen.
14. blue champion
Sir Alex said this after Man Utd draw with Newcastle -
“It is a real challenge now for the championship but we are a serious contender and points will be dropped by both teams”
What do you make of this guys?
15. abdullah
the newcastle game proved that man u are now more vulnerable than ever they have conceded 4 goals in the last 2 mathes. Let’s hope that chelsea defeats aston villa so we kkep our hopes of challenginh for the title up as well as put more pressure on man u. There is defenetely no problem with Jose as he is respectevely the best manager in the history of the club. I sometimes do not agree with his substitutions and formations but we do not know what goes on in his mind and plus he knows what he’s doing and he hasa proven that. The problem is not with Jose it’s with the players themselves. The only thing chelsea needs is the will to win matches that are considered easy for them. Take 4 example the barca game it was clear that all players were motivated and game it their all for 90+ minutes ( which was when drogba scored the equalizer away ) but in the EPL players don’t seem so motivated after they gat a measly 1-0 or even 2-0 lead. We can and have the potential to win matches with a large margin no matter what the formation or players are. It’s just a matter of the will the players have in them and as far as i’m concerned the only player showing that will is dideir drogba.
16. Midfield_Decider
BC, perhaps sir Alex is worried with Saha’s injury which will leave him out for a couple of weeks, or maybe he is just saying that dropping points is normal.
By the way, I have just watched the highlights of ManU-Reading game and the 3rd goal by Ronaldo is a clear off-side while the 1st goal by Solskjier is dubious off-side. It should have been a draw. What a shame!!
17. jamal
wait lassana diarra is not what we need !!!! we need someone like robben and joe cole . btw where is joe cole ? i
18. RomanHoliday
RomanHoliday here
It worked
The change in nick worked !!!
We have some good luck now . New C -ManUre 2-2
All season Chelsea have not benefited from luck
We have it back now
Call me superstitous or anything evryone needs a bit of luck in success
All the best for our game tonight .
19. Blue Champion
@Romanholiday
Thanks for the nick change man! If we beat Villa tonight comfortably, I will truly believe the luck in your nick change! lol!
20. RomanHoliday
Sir Alex probably means that he doesn’t want his own fans to pile on the pressure too much on his team . It means that Manure are at full gear and it’s the best they can do.
While we are only at second gear and will positively get better.
The old man is contradicting what he said a few days back that he didin’t worry about Chelsea etc etc but now he’s using words like “contendersssssss” “bbbootthh teamsssss”.
God an old hypocrite, the old red face is
His rotating as best as he can. His second line-up is mediocre.
there’s Giggs on uefa.com talking abt wanting both the EPL and Champions league tities.
Don’t we just wish they would go for both at the same time.
man I can’t wait for the CL to begin again. Then they’ll be of two minds . C ronnyboy and W rooney. Their wanting everything will be their own undoing. Watch what’s gonna happen when they’re told to sit out CL matches.
After last night ,ManUre fans around me are swallowing hard and keeping a brave face. Grave faces I should say. LOL LOL
The title race was and is ,in no way cut and dried in their favour.
It’s only just begun , you could say.
21. Anonymous
SAF sounds as if he is 4 points behind Chelsea!
22. Anonymous
Louis Saha out for atleast 2 weeks. He might miss this month’s match against Arsenal away.
23. joeblue
Well Saha is a big loss but they have enough replacements in Ole , Smith and now Larsson all we need is Ronaldo breaking his leg or something cuz he is the dangerman!!!!!
Anyways yeah NEWc have done it 2-2!!!!!
24. Emma
Blue Champion, I sent you an e-mail.
Good luck with the game t’night.
25. Tempo
Sheva, Kalou & SWP should score tonight!
26. RomanHoiliday
Well to analyze Manure:
It’s quite evident that the-boy- wonder- made-good C Ronny boy is now the linchpin of their team. So all the other teams will seek to neutralize him .Give him some special treatrment.
Saha the destabilizer of defences is out for a few weeks . Always been fragile that boy.
Larsson without the talents of Ronadinho ,Deco , Messi , Iniesta , and the whole bunch of Barca boys will find the premiership a harder nut to crack..
Solker with his ocassional tap-ins is not Saha.
Giggs and Scholes are slowing down . SAF needs them for the run in.
The kid Rossi is too short to convert crosses.
Sir AF knows he has got a lop-sided team.
Rooney is getting more and more frustrated when he doesn’t get to score or be in the limelight.
Wes Brown playing every week is my dream , see him swallowing saliva and frowning ,his confidence as usual at 60%
Heinze looking like a creaking rocking horse.
Glazer brothers are not gonna splash out even a few extra dollars for reinforcements this Jan.
Gotta squeeze every extra penny profit outta O trafford instead ..
Yes they are contenders as SAF says.and rickety ones at that and at most..
But the Blues gotta show that they are nothing more than that.
OK ,ManUre plays at breakneck speed, some say it is pretty.
But I’ve noticed that if their biyootifall footiball doesn’t pay off in the first 60 mins of a game they get very desparate.
So, even without being JM I can forsee Manure losing an average 2-3 points outta evry ten for the rest of the season.
( at least)
So do ur own math there.
We just gotta better that.And the good thing is that JT , Petr, JC , Cudi, are all gonna get better in the 2 weeks we do the FA cup and Carling.
My faith is not unfounded.
We will retain the title and bag some more too.
27. RomanHoliday
Man, am I not an arrogant son-of -a-bitch ?
( Forgive my french)
28. Anonymous
What a hell?
Are RomanHoliday and RomanHoiliday the same person?
29. Anonymous
when Romanholiday makes a typographical error he becomes romanhoiliday. most reasonable guess this one.
30. boruff
joe blue,
i second your opinion on hoping someone would break ‘marlon-brando-look-a-like’ C.Rooooonaldo leg in the coming matches… i was expecting New Castle could do something to ManUre and they did! anyway, all the best to CHELSEA tonite! keep the faith boys!
31. Anonymous
Fellow Blues, I will pray to Allah for Chelsea to win tonight.
I did my pray. Amin.
32. blue champion
Thanks Anonymous for your prayers. I wish your prayers are answered.
For all those who appear as ‘ANONYMOUS’, can you please type your name (or any name) in the name field, when you type in the comments. This will help all of us identify you and address you easily.
Thanks again Anonymous!
33. RomanHoliday
Yup
guys, typo on my part
Same old me
You can always tell it’s me cause I feel good about my team and accept we gonna go thru rocky patches sometimes dosn’t .
And I’m not gonna concede the title til the last game .
( Whaddya think of my Manure analysis ,guys)
Over and out.
34. Glenn Brady
j3vaw4c0dhamoctq
can’t agree more with u blue champion…
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