Posted by BlueChampion in My FIFA 09 is on its way. I might get it sometime this week. While I’m highly curious how it would play and how I would like it, I also want to look back at the gripes I had with FIFA 08 to see if FIFA 09 addresses these issues. If you don’t understand what I’m talking about, you must be new to football gaming. Bear with me and the rest of the gamers in BlueChampions. We’ll dedicate most of this international break to the new king of football gaming – FIFA 09. By the way, if you’re not a gamer, it’s not too late to start – buy a XBOX 360 and FIFA 09 – your life will be complete.
Remember, I had written a very positive review on FIFA 08 in this very blog. Now, I’ll start finding faults with the game I have enjoyed so much. While I have enjoyed this game so much so far, the only reason why I’m now listing down the gripes is to later on review the FIFA 09 game to see if they have been taken care of. Okay, here we go:
Game speed
Slow gameplay is nice. I hate the arcadish speed. The game must slow enough for you to think and execute tactics and moves. Slow game speed looks rather realistic but actually it is not. FIFA 08 is slower than the pace of the premier league. So how exactly is this slow game play achieved? The players move slowly, turn slowly, react slowly and the ball also moves slowly. This does not help when you want to make a quick counter attack or do a blitzkreig with blistering pace. This works best with slow build up play. Sure that’s one popular way of playing but quick attacks should also be possible.
Many a times, players don’t react quick enough. Their actions are no way near our speed of thought. You see some space somewhere and think of a smart move but by the time our player gets the ball, holds it and turns and then runs, the smart move is no longer smart. Even short passing game is not possible in FIFA 08. For short passing, the passes should be quick and the first touch should be spot on. FIFA 08 will reward you if the opponent does not press you much. If you get someone who closes down you at every opportunity, you’ll find it quite tough in FIFA 08.
Response time
There is a considerable gap between your button press and the action/animation by the player. This actually kills the game. In reality, I’ve got accustomed to this delay and have even adjusted my playing style to accommodate this problem. This delay kills the creativity as you painfully go through the motions. This also results in button bashing which in turn results in more investment in controllers. At times, because of the slow response time, the game feels like you’re playing in the worst pitch muddled with rain. I’ve soon realised that you need to play differently in these circumstances. That’s good thinking but when will I play football the way I like, the way I want to?
Poor AI colleagues
Your opponent AI players are all playing like Brazil while your own AI colleagues play like division 2 players. That’s unfortunate. Many times, you’d have the ball and expect your AI colleague to use the space ahead and run so that you can give him the ball, but you’ll see him standing there watching you. Such things are very common and they were a big issue with the game. When the AI colleague I’m talking about a Drogba or a Joe Cole, how could they just be watching instead of making a run? It does not do justice to the attribute stats that FIFA 08 has assigned to them.
Also, when you play co-op in offline or online, every now and then you might collide with your co-op partner. It sounds so stupid to say that because we are supposed to be controlling the players but the collisions are out of our control. This can be such a downer when it happens in the attack in the final third or in the defending third when the opponent is closing in on goal.
All are equal
FIFA 08 had a socialistic approach to the player attributes. Except the big boys like Drogba, Torres, Ronaldo etc, most of the rest are almost the same. I can pretty well play with any 11 players on the pitch and get the same performance and the result. Only the real star players make a difference. This makes the choice of first eleven quite easy. This is unreal. Pro Evo was class in this aspect. Each and every player had their specialty and you could see that on the pitch. Wish it’s back in FIFA09.
Also there is no fatigue factor in the game. Though the energy bar shows that the energy is reducing, you can play with all players for 90 minutes without making any subs. The fatigue and the reduction in energy levels are not very pronounced. Essien can run around for even 120 minutes but certainly not Anelka?!
Passing game
Passing accuracy was a pain. Even the best of players had problems is making simple passes. In a single player game, it’s quite difficult because the pass receiver would initially be under AI’s control. At least in multiplayer co-op games, you could tell your mate to be alert and receive the pass, when you’re about to pass. In football, the weight of the pass would differ between a 5 yard pass and a 20 yard pass. In FIFA 08, the passes were weighted almost the same irrespective of how long you pass on the ground. This resulted in too many intercepted passes.
Fewer throughballs
Through passes are an important weapon in attacking football. Not always easy to play the perfect through pass but they are quite common in professional football. Again, through balls have to be quick. There is no such thing called a slow throughball. If it’s slow, defenders will catch it. Throughballs don’t work not just because of the speed of the pass, it is because they are not supposed to work.
If the striker S1 is between defenders D1 and D2, and if S1 is closer to D1, when you make through ball in the region of S1 and D2, the ball should go between them. In FIFA 08, it would go straight to D2. That’s because the coding is such. When you release a through ball towards a particular direction, the path of the ball is modified by say 10 degrees. It does not see if the ball would end up at the feet of the defender or not. The code should be like this. When you release a through pass towards S1 and D2, the ball should go in the space between S1 and D2. Of course the player stats would determine how accurate this will be. Also there is thing called defender’s positional play.
Fewer Long Shots
Long shots are dumb. I’ve scored long shots and have seen people score as well in FIFA 08. But the success ratio is very low. When you give space and time to a Lampard or a Ballack at a 25 to 30 yard distance, at least 8 out of 10 times, they would trouble the keeper. You can say that I suck at this game. But I know that I win 4 out of 5 online matches. I can’t be too bad. The long shots don’t go in because of the way the ball physics is made. The ball physics is not really true.
Like in all video games, this game is also scripted to behave in a certain way, but not the accurate way. If everything happened the way it should, most of us would master the game and start winning easily. That would impact the longevity of the game. The game makers will make sure that it is difficult for you to master. Beyond a point, they will also give some unfair advantage to the AI opponent to make things difficult for you so you keep you interest.
The unfair AI advantage
This exists in every single game but the art of game making is in hiding this advantage as much as possible and making the gamer believe that he has to do better. Many times FIFA 08 unashamedly shows the injustice to the human player by boosting the AI to an incredible extent. You think Colchester would ever make a string of 10 passes in the attacking third? I understand that at higher difficulty levels, it should be tougher for the human opponent. But even a mediocre Chelsea would be too strong for a good Colchester. This also means that at high difficulty levels, There is very little difference between the teams. Because when the AI wants a certain result, it would get it. That’s why you mistake Bolton for Barcelona sometimes.
Dark Nights
Night matches are not bright enough. Day matches are fine. Matches at dusk are lovely. The night matches are not just illuminated enough. The bright part of the rectangle pitch is in the shape of a PSP, while all the corners and sidelines are pretty dark. When I play offline, I particularly avoid playing night matches. They even affect the game play to some effect. In reality, night matches excites me much more than day matches. Only in FIFA 08, as much as possible, I completely stay away from them.
Cheap tricks
There were many cheap tricks in this game, the most popular is what you might have encountered in online games, called ‘cut-back kings’. Those are the guys who pick teams like Man Utd and sprint down the wings like crazy and make inch perfect high-speed low cross to the box (aka cut-back) to be easily finished by their waiting striker. This works best with teams that have very fast individual players like Ronaldo.
Cut back is a very common tactic in the online games. It nearly killed the online gaming of FIFA 08. I soon learned how to tackle them and it is no longer a problem for me now. I can restrict them with my tactics. But these guys do only this all the 90 minutes. Every single time they get the possession, they give it to Ronaldo, run down the wing like a train and then cut back. In a way, it was the fault of the game. In real football, it is not this easy to perform a cut back. The fact that cut backs are a very sure shot method to score in online FIFA 08 against most opponents forced the ‘cut back kings’ not to try any other method or simply play football. Cut backs take the fun out of the game, especially for people like me who play the game for fun and not for points or ranks.
Teams on Turbo Boost
Some teams have been rated very very highly that the gap between them and the rest is wider than it is in real football. This is an issue in online gaming. Until Jan 2008 update, it was Barcelona and after that it was Man Utd. They were too good to be stopped. But then again, you learn to play them and then to beat them. Not really an issue for me, but most online gamers they hated to play Man Utd or Barcelona. I don’t have a problem in having some super teams, which are way above the rest. But then when I play as Sevilla and beat Man Utd, I should be getting more points than what the Man Utd would get in beating me as Sevilla.
In other words, if you play with smaller teams, you should get more points when you win and lose less points when you lose the match. That would make things fair. Again, it’s not for me as I don’t care about my points or rank, but it would be fair for the thousands of them who take it seriously. Especially the people who always choose Man Utd, irrespective of who they actually support, choose them only to win games and score points. An point adjustment in line with the team chosen, would at least discourage them from choosing Man Utd all the time. You’ll get an idea when I say 8 out of my 10 opponents would be Man Utd, while I play as Chelsea, Bayern, Sevilla, Valencia, Roma, Rangers etc.
Shortened Be A Pro experience
Be A Pro was a fantastic feature in FIFA 08 but unfortunately you could only play one-off exhibition matches. If you had played ‘captain you country’ in Euro 2008, you’ll know how Be A Pro should have been. I’d love to play Be A Pro just like the ‘captain your country’ mode. You can deny that it was a great appetizer to have just exhibition matches for Be A Pro. I have tried playing as centre back and wing backs and have realised how difficult it is play in defence. Be A Pro is a mode that would enhance your football knowledge and experience immensely in terms of understanding the game, positioning and decision making. Be A Pro should have been a longer feature.
At the time it was released, FIFA 08 was a great game. It was the best of the lot. It was the closest thing to real football. I thoroughly enjoyed my online and offline experiences with FIFA 08. I’ve had some great moments with this game having played countless hours of virtual football. Despite all those things I have mentioned above, I loved and still love FIFA 08 and hope that FIFA 09 is a better game.
I’ve played the demo of FIFA 09 and have read the expert and user reviews. So I can confidently say that FIFA 09 would be the best ever football game. I’ll play FIFA 09 and post the reviews this weekend. See you!
I can’t believe this post is so long. I feel really really sorry for the non-gamers. It’s high time you had become gamers
Be a Pro in Fifa 09 is a fun to play. I cant wait for the game…
The Demo looks promising and i expect the full version to be better than demo.
Nice preview BC….i played the demo ….but unfortunately i don’t play XBOX or PlayStation …..I have been a PC gamer for ages …..I main thing i have noticed is that the graphics has undergone a huge change , added to the usual options like screen resolution and level of detail , options such as 3D Grass , Postprocessing Quality , Depth of Field and Shaders Quality are introduced which were previously non-existent and unheard off in the long line of FIFA series…. It works smoothly on my Nvidia Geforce 7300 (512 mb) graphics card with all eye candy turn on….so if anyone out there thinks that FIFA 09 will work smoothly on a slow rig then ur mistaken…..Time to upgrade my friends…..
Fifa’s experience in PC completely differs from XBox versions.
I have played both and Xbox version is far far better.
I got it on the 4th for Ps3 and Chelsea are very impressive in it however I prefer Inter Milan
. Barcelona are still the club with the highest overall stats with man u coming second (no suprise there). Chemistry is no more which is great since I never knew what it really did apart from get players into better positions maybe? Graphics are better. When a match has loaded it switches to the stadium your playing in letting you play against your teams goal keeper with a random first team player. I’m glad Anelka is 83 overall which was quite generous and to my benefit.
Normal manager mode has been replaced with be a pro season mode which lets you choose a player and play his club matches and internationals. Multiplayer is available on it up to 4 people. I wonder if there is a way to get normal manager mode back even though i prefer comp based ones.
Anelka rated as 83. What is David Villa’s rating then 125! or Torres 130!
Did anyone come with a formation for Chelsea on PC!
I’m playing the the 4-3-3 and still feel that something’s missing!
—————–Cech—————–
–Bosingwa–Carvalho–Terry–Cole–
—————————————
—–Ballack—Essien—Lampard—-
—————————————
—–Cole—–Drogba—–Anelka—-
Sub: carlo, alex, deco, malouda, kalou!
Kick takers! all are taken by Lampard!
Anelka used to play on the left wing when Grant was a manager! even Scolari played him once or twice when Drogba came as a sub, Cole plays most of the time on the right wing, Scolari’s palying Ballack in the RCM, and
Lampard on the LCM, sure Essien is better than Obi, and I’m playing him in as a CM/CDM! I wish I can use deco but I can’t play the 4-5-1 (Chelsea Formation), because it’s not so effective in Fifa 09 and I want to use Anelka becuase he’s so freaking fast, so what do you think!?
anyone came with a better formation for the pc?
hey BC, im sure you’ll love the game on Xbox 360, my frnd got it yest and he was saying it was amazing…everything is specialized, like drogba is stocky, not pacy like kalou or someone, adebayor has greater leg span bt is not very stable, etc…too bad i got PS2, where you cant really tell much of a diff. between fifa 09 and 07, same generic stadiums, same tactics etc..only kits and collision system are different..hopefully it’ll rock on yr nextgen console tho !
i play this formation on fifa, anelka is an amazing winger, trust me when im telling you this, anelka has to be played on the wings in this game:
——————————————–cech—————————————-
bosingwa—————carvalho————————–terry——————–cole
—————————————essien—————————————–
——-anelka————-deco—————-lampard———malouda—————–
————————————–drogba———————————————
fatigue factor…. is on there in the fifa 08….( a little bar moves from green to red……when in red you have to sub) but you will find that chelsea players are so fit… you can play alot of matches with a core team ……
with regards to the player off the ball movement…. your the one who has to initiate that…. (on a pc is Q on a PS2 is L1……) the things with FIFA 08 is that you have to do ever things…… it is not automatically done. for example I too have noticed that its supper hard to score….especially long strikes…. you have to be very accurate…. also there is something call ball spin (forward and backward spin…. to make the ball bend) in earlier versions that was done automatically (eg ..fifa 98, 2002….and 2004) i liked the indicator that turned red with an increase in shot power (08 does not have this) also i find it extremely hard to put a free kick on target let alone score froma free kick….unlike with fifa 2004. thats my bit …..
I’m quite excited about this game.
My biggest complaint about the old one was a)the ease which the opponents intercept your passes (I always play on Legendary, and it’s so annoying to have Drogba standing still as Lampard passes it up perfectly to him, only for freaking Agger to waltz in, and nick the ball) and b) the free kicks. My goal conversion from corners is like, 1 in a 100, it’s quite frustrating, and I still haven’t come up with a reliable strategy to follow to produce goals. Not to mention the direct free-kicks… Out of the thousands (literally) that I have taken, I have scored no more than ten. That’s pathetic.
I hope these issues are dealt with in ‘09.
I have pre ordered fifa 09 for my PS 3 from amazon since middle of October and it sucks that I have to wait till November 14th when it will be released here in the USA. Why must all the games be released in europe first?
My biggest fault with fifa 08 is that it is harder to score free kicks than the previous versions of fifa plus the lobbed through pass is always unsuccessful… and that is coming from me… (one of the best fifa gamers in North America). I am currently rated 13th on the table in the Fifa 09 online ratings…. If you think i’m lying, check the online tables…. 13th is mistimo1st (my username)
Quoting moyo @ 52691
It comes out October 14th, not November 14th, here in the States.
I got Fifa 09 on the 3rd. Its much better than 08 but its still hard to score from distance. Im using this formation. ————————Cech—————————-
—————–Riccy———JT———————–
Bosingwa—————————-Ash—————-
——————–Essien——————————-
———-Deco—————–Ballack——————-
———————Lamps——————————
————-Joey————Didier———————-
forget FIFA guys, Wining Eleven is sooo much better … i find FIFA to be too boring and too slow. Winning Eleven is what i call i real football game.
I am a non gamer, after reading the looooog post however I sincerely appreciate your micro analysis on the FIFA game.
Wish FIFA ‘09 will bring all those you and every one wants.
Vijay Anil
your keeper gets up faster which is good
but this new collision system takes the mickey, especially on 90 minutes when essien is breaking with the ball, toure catches him, bowls him over without touching the ball and you don’t get the foul
when playing against the computer, it gets away with murder and it still does that stupid thing that no mattter how you intercept a pass or tackle the carrier, the ball more or less ends up in the path of the computer
it makes superhuman passes, such as a chip pass can be turned into a bullet header and sent across over half the pitch accurately
the computer will pretty much barge your player whenever they are about to make a scoring move, such as going through a shooting motion, turning, taking a header or even just being tripped as they make a run
the game computer is a filthy opponent, i always beat it with world class gameplay and keeper but it is not a beautiful match. The overhead throughballs are dodgy, if you play a throughball to a player on the wing when breaking, it always messes up
on the pluses, your fowards make smarter runs, even bend them to stay on side, the keeper is more reactive, but still makes stupid attempts such as diving into the goal to palm in some sort of poor value cross, knocking balls out of play when they can pick them up
what I would like them to do, is make it so that the other teams actually attempt to improve on the game. im tired of only having challengers for one or two seasons on manager mode before your team takes off in quality and no-one can touch you, wouldn’t mind the euro and world cup competitions within the manager mode
and if you could actually put players into your academy and they stay there until you want them like scouting prospects that will become big names
I disagree; long shots are only hard in fifa 09 wheras in 08 they were pretty easy well when i inter.
Is having Anelka on the wing really worth sacrificing ballack in mid. Ballack is my secret wild card who performs in the most desperate situations.
I downloaded mine for pc through bit torrent network for free.
The graphics are brilliant, way better than fifa 08.
The Computer is a lot smarter and can do all the tricks even at the amature level. I was actually surprised the amount of times the computer performed step overs, spin tricks and a lot more at the amature level. My players just stood there watched and let the computer through.
You can use the mouse also this time for PC.
Sadly you only seldom get to perform the step over or other tricks in the PC because there is no analog stick like in the Xbox or PS.
Chelsea young players are not given enough growing abilities. Di santo goes up to 86, sinclar to 83-84, Fabio piam stays at 73 throughout, tejera stays in the high 70 or low 80s, Fabio ferreria is useless, kalou goes to 86, mancinne also useless stays at 66, Alcides stays at 73 while apparently Ivanovic has grown to his full potential of 79
(((((((((((((. Mikel has by far the best growing stats goes up to 92 with proper training can be upto 95-97.
But the rest of the team is awsome, all 1st 11 team players above 85 except for the full backs I feel sorry for bosigwa and ashely cole.
The best young player’s are Mario(inter milan , already at 79 at a young age) and Bojan (barcelona).
The best overall player is messi, followed by Kaka and Ronaldo.
Man U are still strong. Man City despite being richer than us in reality still have half the cash as compared to chelsea.
BC the Fatigue is real now in this game. If your fatigue bar falls in red the player just would not run or budge for his place even if you hammer the sprint button.
Corners are still same old same old. Weak heading players come up while Center backs with strong heading ability stay back to stop the Counter attack. Terry, carvaleo stay back and the likes of malouda , joe cole come to take headers.
Any way it is still strong graphics wise and fun to play.
the best young players in fifa 09 is toni kroos(b.munich),marko marin.ozil(fc schalke),mario(i.milan),bojan(barca) but i prefer and buyed toni kroos excellent player now he is in 79 at age 18…and can change upto 96….in second season he is at 87
fifa 09 has become more keyboard-c friendly, and and accurate shortpasses are possible. But still what i don´t like is an extraordinary comeback the computer makes when you score a goal…. may be its necessary to make competiotion tough, but the way computer scores goal is like we did in fifa -98, you simply take a player and pass through all the defence….
While BC extols the virtues of the computer games, let me initiate a trivia quiz for those of us who do not indulge in the like to pass our time away during the international lull. My fellow non-gamer fans start Googling or Asking whatever :
1. How many goals has Drogs scored for Chelsea til now ?
2. Where and when was Drog’s last goal for CFC ?
3. What’s Di Santo’s hometown ?
4. Who scored last time CFC met Monaco ?
5. How much did JM’s majic coat go for ?
6. How much was Mutu bought for ?
7. What is the name of the Indian lady in the Bridge souvenir shop ?
8. How many kids does JT have officially ?
9. What is the colour of Lamp’s uncle’s nose ?
10. What is the name of the fellow who regularly conducts tours of SB and whether he has a ear-ring on his right ear or left.
11. What brand of smokes did JM go out and buy for Matilda ?
12. What are the names of Roman’s kids ?
13. How may goals did Lamps score against ManUre in the last 5 years ?
14. What’s the Toad’s wife’s nationality ?
15. Who scored the championship winning goals in the two EPL winning seasons ?
16. Roman is the governor of Kamchckata, True or False ?
17. Why is the Shed Eend called the Shed End ?
18. What was the name of the 3rd goalie on the podium in the 04-05 season.
19. Which of the present crop of players is unmarried ?
20. Which bugger did LFS famously cuff a while ago ?
21. Which CFc player won the World Cup, EPL, Champions league and some ?
22. Where is BC from ?
23. Who is gonna win the EPL and more this season ?
Yours Truly
JoseHoliday
Its amazing how Bojan is 75 overall and only 17 in the game. He would easily get to 95 by 25
I just found an interesting and confusing article about john mikel obi on the internet. Can someone please explain all the saga? http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/oct/10/chelsea-mikel-timeline
moyo…….thats just an article describing the complicated transfer of Mikel to Chelsea. His agents signed an agreement for him to join united without Mikel knowing then he decided to join Chelsea and there ws a big dispute between Chelsea and united
Where’d my trivia quiz / comment go ? It was awaiting blah blah last night… Now it’s nowhere to be found .
What off topic ? Cos it has nothing to do with the games described above ?
You bet it was off topic and had nothing to with the stuff above !
That’s why it was so damningly relevant to me. and some !
I thought this blog had better taste and reasoning than this !
Where my comments go ?
roman abramovic loss 12b . buck said chelsea may sell some of the players in future. should we worry for this problem?
If John Obi Mikel was a Man Utd player he would be a much better player.
Chelsea got Miekl and Man Utd got Hargreaves.
@28 – These are paper losses. he will lose only if you sell the stock. If he probably holds he will make back the money.. Any way , even if he sells chelsea , he may make only 2 billion ( going on the market value of real madrid).
but it is good to be financially independent rather than depending on roman’s check book.
@28. CFCIR…………..Roman Abramovich just modified his Pelorus, a 377 feet and 3 inch-long boat.Maintenance of the $300,000,000 dollar ship serviced by 46 full-time employees costs $12 million dollars a year. Money is not an issue for this guy……Chelsea is not going to struggle just because he lost a lot of money , I’m sure he has means to recover it…….At the most there won’t be any high-profile transfers …..
@ 29. why do u think so?
@ 32 Bluefan #1
Now you are asking me to say something profound to back up what I’ve just written. Otherwise above statement will have no substance.
If you look at Man Utd in season 2007-2008 they looked unstoppable. Take Cristiano Ronaldo or Wayne Rooney the younger players and just look at how their game improved under Sir Alex Ferguson. I feel the same could have happend for Jon Obi Mikel had he been in that environment he could have grown. And become a world-beater.
Cheers
With Mikel getting regular games and playing in the holding role. He is getting better and better. As for being a world beater for Man Utd – we will never know!
@ 34 Since66
I agree with you that Jon Obi Mikel is getting better with the more games he is playing for Chelsea. We have to bare in mind before he came to Chelsea he has been playing football in the Norwegain league which is quite not as strong or competative as the Barclays Premiership so Jon Obi Mikel lacks alot of experience.
As far as his role as a holding midfield player goes he doesn’t seem to be very good. If he’s job is to mop up infront of the two centre backs to clear the ball or basically prevent the opposing team from scoring a goal or just keeping possesion in the hands of Chelsea and feed who ever with the ball. My only gripe with Jon Obi Mikel is that he has to learn to stop getting yellow cards (commiting fouls) in dangerous positions. Which brings me back to my first point Jon Obi Mikel lacks experience. Maybe Sir Alex Ferguson would have helped him improve his game to prevent this ridiculous flaw in his game.
Cheers
Pensioner. One thing I agree with you is his temperment – however I doubt very much his temper would have been cured at Man Utd. Look at Rooney, Scholes, Ronaldo, Ferdinand etc – all of their temperment’s are extremely questionable.
Chelsea have only conceded three goals in seven Premiership games this season and Mikel has played in five of them. The two games he missed were due to injury.
All in all Mikel has played in seven competitive games so far this season and Chelsea have not lost one. With Mikel playing Chelsea have won four and drawn three, scoring nineteen goals and conceding two.
That record speaks for itself.
Ivanoic scored for serbia again
Ballack scored for Germany, Kalou scored for the Ivory Coast and England fans turned on Ashley Cole after he made a mistake which the K’s scored from to make it 2-1. England won the game 5-1. JT didn’t play nor did Joey, Wayne Bridge was an unused substitute.
@ 36 since 66
I did mention that my only gripe with Jon Obi Mikel is that he has to learn to stop getting yellow cards (commiting fouls) in dangerous positions.
I’d like to continue seeing Mikel holding even when Essien’s back. I think that Essien in an attacking role is a nightmare for defences (as well as attacks…) That’s been something that’s not really been tested/perfected, and I highly doubt Mikel can keep two out of the Lamps/Deco/Ballack trio on the bench…
Anyways, I love seeing him play. And he compliments Lampard very, very well.
Yep Pensioner I know you did. But I also pointed out the temperment of a few Man U’s players which you haven’t commented on.
Funny I was more worried about Deco giving away free-kicks in dangerous positions as he proved in pre-season. I thought to myself if he does that in the Premiership he will be suspended as quick as you would drop your hat. Little did I know injury would rule him out as quick as it did, and we have done pretty well without him
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/67605-chelsea-roundtable-which-youngsters-should-be-integrated-and-how
enough of this fifa madness
talk something about this
Yes Ivanovic scored the goal and hit the post. He was the best player on the pitch.
By the way Mourinho is a genius.He has rejuvenated Stankovic whoo looks 10 years younger. He has found him a new role of DM. Thank you Mourinho.Scolari can not even clean your shoes.
Ivanovic is becoming overconfident. He even started dribbling.:)
Thank you for putting it back up there Mr Moderator.
Srbin, are you serious when you say Alex is a brainless log? Yo can’t be serious? How many times have you seen a brainless brazilian player, let alone one that does such a great job for us and Brazil? last season, it was Alex who made it possible for us to have a chance because both Terry and Riccy were picking up injuries. The boy was excellent all season. He has continued the same rich form this season playing against Man Utd as though he were playing first team for months. You love Ivanovic- we all wish our chelsea players well. but pls, stop trying to demonize otherwise great players cos of him. I remember how Gallas and those who love him in Mourinho’s first season kept saying he was better than Riccy but Riccy was playing simply because he was from jose’s portugal. Time has shown that jose was right- Alex is class- dare not call him crap. Ivanovic has also been brilliant in the few marches he has played- but time will tell how brilliant he is on a consistent level. KTBFFH.
Belleti, a cult hero? Am not surprised. Anelka winnin hearts over? Not surprised too- the more we switch into the movement, passing mode the more players like Malouda, belleti and anelka will thrive. Kalou as well I forgot to add.
Srbin, are you serious when you say Alex is a brainless log? Yo can’t be serious? How many times have you seen a brainless brazilian player, let alone one that does such a great job for us and Brazil? last season, it was Alex who made it possible for us to have a chance because both Terry and Riccy were picking up injuries. The boy was excellent all season. He has continued the same rich form this season playing against Man Utd as though he were playing first team for months. You love Ivanovic- we all wish our chelsea players well. but pls, stop trying to demonize otherwise great players cos of him. I remember how Gallas and those who love him in Mourinho’s first season kept saying he was better than Riccy but Riccy was playing simply because he was from jose’s portugal. Time has shown that jose was right- Alex is class- dare not call him crap. Ivanovic has also been brilliant in the few matches he has played- but time will tell how brilliant he is on a consistent level. KTBFFH.
Belleti, a cult hero? Am not surprised. Anelka winnin hearts over? Not surprised too- the more we switch into the movement, passing mode the more players like Malouda, belleti and anelka will thrive. Kalou as well I forgot to add.
Since Essien’s injury and Mikel’s stellar rise many have been wondering where Essien should fit in when he comes back- I do not see the problem at all, blue mates. Chelsea benefits more from Essien attacking than playing a DM role. Where should essien slot in when he comes back? where he should have been playing long before he got injured if our managers had the gut to bench Joe Cole. Yes you heard me- that midfield slot on the right (bearing in mind that scolari is not playing the traditional right winger) is where essien fits in perfectly. With that, this becomes our team when all are fit.
—————————————-Cech————————————————
–Bosingwa—————–Riccy/Ivanovic————————Terry/Alex———-Cole
—————————————– —-Mikel—————————————————
—————————–Deco————————————Lamp———————–
————Essien/Joey————————————————————-Malouda/Kalou
—————————————Drogs/Anelka—————————————-
@Pensioner,
I totally disagree with your comment that if Mikel was playing for ManU he would have been a better player.You mention CR and Rooney to back up you arguement but you forgot to mention that it took CR several yrs to hit the kind of form he was last season.And how are you sure CR could maintain that form.He might be a one hit wonder.what do you think?As for Rooney we seem to forget that he doesnt have a consistent form as a striker.At times in the first quarter of a season he is crap.He picks up in the next quarter by scoring four or five goals.Then,he declines again in the other quarter and so on.That is not high level football my friend but hot garbage.You also forgot to mention the below average and lame performances of Nani,Anderson,Carrick,JS Park,and Hargreaves.All these players have not lived up to the hipe, and some of them like Carrick and Hargreaves have even experienced a decline since joining ManU.We can even throw in the likes of Tevez.Do you think he has stepped up his game or made any additional improvement since coming to ManU?I dont think so.Yes he has been decent but the Tevez of West Ham is a better player than the Tevez of ManU.And the Tevez in the Brazilian league was even a far better player.Go and watch some of clips when he was in Brazil and you will understand what am saying.Coming to Mikel,I feel he wouldnt have known that he can play the holding MF position if he had gone over to ManU.That position requires a lot of experience and sense of responsiblity,and as a Nigerian I continue to bless Morinho and Chelsea for improving “our precious” Mikel’s game on that aspect.Name me one young player of Mikel’s age[21yrs] in the EPL who have been handed the HM role and has performed to Mikel’s standard?Name me one player in the EPL who have been playing in the HM position this season who has performed to Mikel standard?Name me a midfielder in the EPL who was signed to his club in the last two seasons that has stepped up his game to Mikel’s standard?If this is not improvement my dear pensioner then what is it?When it comes to CM I dont think I have seen any midfieldier below the age of 25 that can control the MF the way Mikel does.When he plays in the CM position he reminds me of 2002 world cup Michael Ballack.But its so unfortunate that he has not been allowed to play in that position for chelsea becos of Chelsea’s aboundant riches in that position.Thats why some Nigerians are complaining that Chelsea is spoiling Mikel’s game.They think the holding MF role is hindering him from exhibiting his full talent.But for me I think Mikel is doing just fine.But I bet you if that young lad is giving the CM role to run for just four matches in the EPL he will permanently seal that position as his own.Peace my brothers
@48 – Mourofessien — Agree with you more than 100 percent . Essien, both tireless and powerfull should be played as a winger. If you look at the left side, Ashley and Maluda have been both good in attack and also in defense. Joey is very good in that attacking role, but I have still doubts about his defensive abilities. I feel he along with Bosingwa should have tracked Evra during that Man u Game.
Quoting Mourofessien @ 53072
Yes i am serious when i say that Alex is, compared to Ivanovic, brainless log. I have never seen much intelligence in his play. On the other side, Ivanovic has a decent technique for a defender, he has a knack of scoring goals, and excellent positioning. I think it was clear to everyone how better Ivanovic is when you watched him play alongside Alex in the friendly match against Milan. Alex is very physical but nothing else.
On the other side Ivanovic is a prototype of modern defender. By the way if you need a bench warmer and back up to Alex , Carvalho and Terry you can get Alcides.
Back to FIFA 09 real quick.. post your Xbox Live ID if you want to hook up and paly a few games. I’m fairily bad but I woudl still love to play with other Chelsea fans of the blog. Maybe if we get enough we can run a tourney??
My XBL ID: Daximus00 (that’s “zero zero” on the end not O O”)
Ivanovic should have signed 2 and not 3 – and a half- year contract for Chelsea. But , what can we do. The biggest mistake young players make is that they run after money.Had he signed for Juventus he would have been a starter now( for sure). Had he signed for Milan he would have been a starter now. Had he signed for Manchester United he would have been a starter.
Srbin, we have seen folks like Tal Ben Haim, Boula struggle to live up in our central defense. Alex has been outstanding throughout. Your problem is obvious- he is considered by Scolari to be ahead of your compatriot. As I said, Gallas and some fans thought so some time back. Time will tell, but you remind me of some comments we used to read on this blog from people who felt that players who are physical have no football intelligence. You are plain wrong about Alex.
@ Chaka
Do you remember when Claudio Raneri was manager. There was an air that at any match almost any match Chelsea could lose the match.
Then Jose Mourinho came along and the fans felt as though Chelsea were unbeatable. The exact same atmosphere was created last season by Man Utd when they were demolishing teams by 3 goals to nil or four goals to one. In other words if you were going to score one goal against Man Utd they were going to hit you back with another two or three.
So I don’t know how you could say some of the players were out of song.
Look at Nani and Anderson and John O’Shea look at how easily they entered into the Man Utd squad without any problems. Especially look at Anderson just joining and looking like pro who’ve been doing this for yonks without any problems and I could say the same thing about Nani.
Now we come to our friend Jon Obi Mikel. Even with Jose Mourinho as manager Mikel couldn’t play football as though his life depended on it. Remember Avram Grant’s first match in control when Mikel got sent off because he tackled clumsily and got himself sent off which helped Man Utd to win the match by two goals to nil. Mikel more than made up for this error by playing a blinder against Man Utd at Stamford Bridge. He didn’t get himself sent off but only managed to get a solitary yellow card.
Now when you watch Mikel play he’s always a cautiuos player as though he has two left feet, fortuantely this problem have seem to dissapear.
I think that the mentality that Chelsea had under Jose Mourinho’s first season have seemed to dissapear and clubs play Chelsea believing that they can win.
This season though Mikel has played brilliantly. As for him going forward I can’t see that happening. Jon Obi Mikel reminds me alot of Roy Keane.
Cheers
Quoting Mourofessien @ 53074
Truly a great team that I would absolutely love watching. I agree about Essien, and really, haven’t we seen him play that role [as a make-shift right-back bombimg up the field??] I’m all for it, except for one small thing… Can the rather young, relatively inexperienced Mikel keep Ballack out of the side??
The answer, if all are healthy, has to be in “rotation,” something which I despise. That’s the problem with the abundance of talent in the center of the field. It’s usually a blessing, but sometimes a curse. How can we keep such a great player as Ballack seated as a 21 year-old plays? And how can we bench the youth and future of our team as the ancient ones play?? It’s a dillema.
Quoting GamingTheSystem @ 53082
Hey thats seems a good idea(Tournament thing). Lets see if this idea gathers support in here.
@Pensioner,
You like to exergregate a lot in your comments.”ManU were demolishing teams by three goals to nil or four goals to one”.How many teams did they win by that margin?How many matches did they produce that kind of score?You seem to forget that ManU lost more matches than Chelsea last season and were stuggling to produce result in the second half of that season.You also talked about Nani and Anderson settling well in ManU.If their output so far for ManU is the best they can come up with,then,they are average players who are not worth the hipe and money ManU offered for them. As for John O’Shea who you also mentioned,he is nowhere near a special player.There is nothing extraordinary about him.I think we all(including his manager) knows this.
Coming to Mikel.You said under Morinho “Mikel couldn’t play football as though his life depended on it”.Did you watch the FA cup final against ManU?Did you watch the CL tie with Porto at the bridge?My brother,Mikel has always been a performer for Chelsea when called on.But I know what your problem with Mikel is.You are simply mad that he chose Chelsea over ManU.Anytime you watch his game for CFC,he makes you to think that he could have improved ManU’s MF had he signed for ManU.Anytime you watch his game for CFC,he reminds you that the midfielders ManU had signed since missing out on him have not lived up to the hipe(i.e Carrick,Hargreaves,Anderson).Anytime you watch his game for CFC,he reminds how Anderson is a bad consolation prize for ManU. Your last statement ( “Jon Obi Mikel reminds me alot of Roy Keane”) says it all.Roy Keane departure created an empty void in ManU MF which till this day have not been filled.And Mikel will continue to remind you of Roy becos you feel if Mikel had moved over to ManU he could have filled that empty void perfectly.Get over it my dear Pensioner Mikel is now a Chelsea player.
Stop looking at an opportunity to crucify Mikel on a Chelsea shirt.Rather pay attention to your own team,which I believe is ManU,and ask yourselves why you guys spent 18m on Carrick and over 20m on Hargreaves and both of them are yet to play football as though their lives depended on it.As for CFC,we spent 16m on Mikel and we are getting good value for our bucks.And mind you we might even get our whole 16m back.But even if we dont,16m is a money well spent on Mikel.Peace
Dont want to bandwagon for Mikel. But the truth is Mikel is improving and improving a lot with Chelsea. Dont want to discuss whether he will be better off with Manu. Both are great clubs who can bring the best of palyers.
Of all the Defensive Midfielders in the EPL, i think Mikel will defenitely be in the top three. Cant see people disagree with this…
Here’s my answers.
How many goals has Drogs scored for Chelsea til now ?
Ans:50 goals so far
Where and when was Drog’s last goal for CFC ?
Ans:
What’s Di Santo’s hometown ?
Ans:Mendoza
Who scored last time CFC met Monaco ?
Ans:
How much did JM’s majic coat go for ?
Ans:22,000 Pounds
How much was Mutu bought for ?
Ans:22.4 Million Euros
What is the name of the Indian lady in the Bridge souvenir shop ?
Ans: BC to answer
How many kids does JT have officially ?
Ans:2, officially(Georgie John and Summer Rose-Twins)
What is the colour of Lamp’s uncle’s nose ?
Ans:Red most of the times
What is the name of the fellow who regularly conducts tours of SB and whether he has a ear-ring on his
right ear or left.
Ans:
What brand of smokes did JM go out and buy for Matilda ?
Ans:Marlboro?
What are the names of Roman’s kids ?
Ans:
How may goals did Lamps score against ManUre in the last 5 years ?
Ans:
What’s the Toad’s wife’s nationality ?
Ans:Israel
Who scored the championship winning goals in the two EPL winning seasons ?
Ans:
Roman is the governor of Kamchckata, True or False ?
Ans:false, Chukotka
Why is the Shed Eend called the Shed End ?
Ans:
What was the name of the 3rd goalie on the podium in the 04-05 season.
Ans:
Which of the present crop of players is unmarried ?
Ans:
Which bugger did LFS famously cuff a while ago ?
Ans:
Which CFc player won the World Cup, EPL, Champions league and some ?
Ans:
Where is BC from ?
Ans:India
Who is gonna win the EPL and more this season ?
Ans:Chelseaaaaaaa
Yours Truly
Blue Devil
PS: fill in the answers for the questions left unanswered please. So how many marks did i secure
@ Chaka
I have three quick points I want to make:
1) This is the strongest Man Utd squad I have ever seen.
2)Previously Jon Obi Mikel had to left feet.
3)This is Jon Obi Mikels best season.
Cheers
All these debates on Mikel really work you guys out. Chill out guys. For us to compete or even win all the 4 available trophies we need Ballack’s experience, Essien’s tackling/forward run and Mikel’s commanding passing. There are more than 50 matches a season pending on how far you reach in cup competition and there will be games where each individual plays a selected role depending on the manager’s tactics. So the debate on who should be our first 11 is just nonsense. I, for one, is just glad that we have the depth in our squad like no other team has. So enjoy it. Keep the Blue Flag Flying High. KTBFFH.
p.s: Ballack will only have a season or two max, so with Mikel there, Stamford Bridge is in good hands.
@joseholiday
how many goals has lampard scored agains manu in last 5 years ?
is the answer none [:P]
nikhil…let me guess, um who was it who scored for us in da Cl final agnst Manure last season???
CJ – I aint fussed about Mikel I for one started the conversation off about Mikel ie defending him. Now the Makelele role will be known as the Mikel role. I don’t need to give you more info on Obi, cos his history is already down this season.
What should concern everybody at the moment is – John Terry and Ashley Cole have been released from the England squad and are ‘doubts’ for the Middlesborough game on Saturday (ko 12.45pm UK time). Petr Cech is also a doubt.
Hilario was drafted into the reserve team that played Aston Villa tonight and I reckon Chelsea ARE planning for Cech’s absence by giving Hilario the nod over Carlo for Saturday.
BTW the reserves lost against Aston Villa 1-0 and see if you can guess who scored Villa’s goal.
hey no yaar i wanted to know in premier league and no offense but i m a big lampard fan myself thats y i included a smiley after my statement above
hey any of you tried answering joseholiday s questionaarie?
Blue Devil @ 61
Who scored last time CFC met Monaco ? Lampard did
Right before half-time at the Bridge, to put us 2 nil up. They came back and tied 2-2 and knocked us out of the CL, 5-3 on aggregate.
Where and when was Drog’s last goal for CFC ?
Ans: Must have been at the Bridge against Liverpool in the home leg of the CL Semis, right?
What was the name of the 3rd goalie on the podium in the 04-05 season.
Ans: Lenny Pidgeley
nikhil – when was the last time lampard scored against man u?? How about the champions League final….. ring a bell?
Thanks guys for trying out the the quiz
Trying to find the piece o paper that I’d written all the answers on. The ManUre in my office must have taken it. Will get back to you with the rest of the answers soon.