Will this be the the toughest premier league season ever? In recent times, while Chelsea and Man Utd were always fighting for the title, the other rival teams didn’t really last till the last lap. While Chelsea and Man Utd share the first and second spots of the league of champions, the other rivals have a league of their own for the champions league spots. Do we see this changing this season? Personally, I don’t think so.
Chelsea and Man Utd are the real contenders. Arsenal have been running close but never truly looking to win the title. Liverpool and Spurs are busy keeping themselves in champions league spots. This season, I see Arsenal and Man City swapping roles. I think Man City will run close without really looking serious to win the title. Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs could battle for the the fourth spot. And this could be a very interesting battle. For this reason, this could be a more interesting season.
Man City have spent a lot of money and they are not getting it’s worth. This will be a win-or-bin season for Mancini. With the kind of team they have to finish first or second. You only need to see the community shield match to see why they will struggle this season. Liverpool have been doing their business as well. They have bought players for £50m and have bought some good players. Liverpool are certainly improving under Kenny Dalglish. Won’t really challenge for the title though, yet. This season could be the beginning of the end for the Arsene Wenger project. He’s been lucky to delay the inevitable but his time will surely run out this season.
The real battle for the premier league title is still between Chelsea and Man Utd. With two more weeks to go for the closure of the transfer window, it’s hard to say who’ll have a better squad to win this premier league title. Both teams have made some good signings. Both teams are yet to make their signing of the summer. Sneijder would surely join Man Utd. That would put them as firm favourites to retain their title. If Fergie can keep Man Utd so competitive with a midfield that contains Carrick, Fletcher and Park, imagine what whe would do with a Sneijder. Chelsea need to keep up with the champions on squad quality and strength.
Okay now, the Chelsea’s first premier league match of this season would be tomorrow. Andre Villas Boas would make his debut for Chelsea in a competitive match. Josh McE could make his first premier league start. I will be very eagerly and curiously waiting to observe Chelsea’s style and approach under Boas. Looks like he still has not concluded on his first choice playing eleven. We would play 4-3-3 and that would be our first choice formation.
We have a near-full squad to choose from except Essien, Luiz and Sturridge. Torres seems to be available for selection despite the concussion episode. If he’s fit and available, I’d pick Torres to start. Torres would be the main striker, supported by Drogba and Benayoun on either sides. The midfield will be Lampard, Ramires and Josh, with Josh playing slightly ahead of Lampard. Terry, Alex, Cole, Ivanovic in defence and who else but Cech on goal.
The obvious thing about this line-up is the continuation of our desire to play 4-3-3 without genuine wingers and relying solely on the full backs to provide width in attack. I don’t know how long will this continue. This formation needs one striker and two wingers. For the one-striker spot, we have Torres, Drogba, Anelka, Sturridge and Lukaku – that’s a collection of top strikers. For the two winger spots, we have not one quality winger. Malouda and Benayoun are not genuine wingers. So, technically, we don’t even have one proper specialist winger but 4-3-3 will be our formation.
I’m keen to see how Boas’ 4-3-3 works. It’s possible to organise play even in 4-3-3 in such a way that you may not always need two top quality wingers. So, I’ll see how we play. I’m praying for Torres. Hope he makes a strong start and keeps it going. He’s gotta do it this season. And if he does, that would be our answer to Man Utd’s signing of Sneijder. An in-form Torres this season would be like a new signing.
Playing your first premier league game of the season at Stoke is not a great proposition. Hope Andre Villas Boas’ winning run continues at Chelsea. I’d love to see Chelsea open up a lead on the league table early on. Chelsea always start the season strongly while Man Utd are traditionally slow starters.
Meanwhile, the day one of the premier league threw no surprises – Arsenal and Liverpool dropping points. Liverpool were good but could not win while Arsenal were terrible. What a boring match that was. If not for the Barton-Gervinho quarrel, there’d nothing to talk about that match.
Chelsea to beat Stoke tomorrow. Hmmm. 3-0. Torres, Drogba and Malouda. Let me end this post with this quote from Andre Villas Boas:
I will not be satisfied if I don’t win the Premier League, that’s it.
completely disagree with this lineup, playing that at the brittania?? what a joke, they are one of the most physical teams in the PL we would be steamrolled. with stokes prowess at power and set pieces that team would get a sound trashing.
its not written who wrote this article but looking at josh starting against stoke, means its BC.
anyways i predict a dull 1-1 draw.
lets get the ball rolling.
We would have to overpower them in the mid… something not possible with the 4-3-3…. so the traditional 4-4-2 is the best option.
Cech
Iva EBJT Alex Cole
Benayoun Ramires Lampard Malouda
Drogba Torres
I completely disagree with the line up .. Stoke plays really physically … I post my lune up later… I can’t type with iPhone
joeblue,
I would still go with the line-up I had suggested. Yes Stoke are physical. Which team in premier league is not? The physicality aspect is anyways overrated and a pet topic of mainstream media. I don’t buy into that too much. Stick the boy in and see what happens. On one hand, we don’t want too many defensive-minded, strong and heavy midfielders in Chelsea and on the other we don’t want to play Josh against Stoke. Just don’t agree.
What will be your team then? Mikel in place of Josh? Do that and your score prediction will come good.
Cech
Bos – Terry – Alex – Cole
Ramires – Lampard – McE
Benayoun – Drogba – Malouda
I know this lineup may look a little funky, but stoke will park the bus so to speak, and to deal with that we have to get our work done down the wings (Benayoun and Malouda are waaaay better than Anelka and Kalou), and punishing them with long distance shots from Lampard. That way we will spread their players and make more room for drogba or torres (prefer Drogba this game because of his strength). Theres really no need for a natural DM when we play against stoke, even less now with our high pressure play. When Chelsea play against these really defensive teams all the offensive players get marked and our DM seems to be getting a LOT of space, Lampard with space equals dangerous long shots. McE for the obvious cutting passes and keeping the ball in chelseas control.
I believe that if you threaten on a lot of different ways against second class teams like stoke they won´t cope. Chelsea will be too versatile to handle.
Stoke City vs Man Utd (Oct 2010)
Edwin van der Sar, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, John O’Shea, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Darren Fletcher, Patrice Evra, Luis Nani, Javier Hernández, Dimitar Berbatov
Man Utd vs Stoke City (Jan 2011)
Tomasz Kuszczak, Nemanja Vidic, Chris Smalling, Patrice Evra, Rafael, Darren Fletcher, Darron Gibson, Ryan Giggs, Luis Nani, Dimitar Berbatov and Javier Hernández.
Look at those Man Utd teams that played Stoke City last season and tell me they’re physical enough to face Stoke City. Fletcher, Scholes, Evra as midfielder and Nani in midfield against Stoke! Even in attack they had only Hernandez and Berbatov! Hardly a physical bunch.
In the reverse leg, it’s Fletcher, Gibson, Giggs and Nani against Stoke’s physical style? Rafael as the right back? Once again Hernandez and Berbatov in attack?
Who do we have? Alex, Terry, Cole, Ivanovic – Can take any team, no matter how physical they are. We have Drogba – the biggest of all bullies when it comes to physical battles. Torres is no softie, when on form. Benayoun has played and proved in this very league against all types of oppositions. Lampard is one of the best all-time premier league player now playing in this league. That leaves this boy Josh McE. Yes, he’s light. What are we playing? A boxing match? Physicality is one of the parameters. We’re overrating this too much. Boring journalistic sensationalism catching on.
Finally, how can Man Utd beat Stoke home and away with their lightweight midfield, while we are scared to field a lighter but technically more sound players?
Cech
Bosingwa – Ivanovic – JT – A. Cole
Benayoun – Obi Mikel – Lampard
Anelka – Drogba – Malouda
Is the team I think Villas-Boas will play.
Cech
Ivanvoic – Alex – JT – A. Cole
Lampard – Ramires – McEachran
Benayoun – Drogba – Malouda
Is the team I’d play.
We dont need our team to be all physical. Man Utd’s light-weight team just fine against Stoke last season. The defence I picked would be physical while the midfield I’d prefer would be energetic and creative, adding to our play getting faster and more fluid. While the attack would have our two closest things to wingers supplying ammunition for Drogba to feed upon.
Chelsea vs Stokecity 3 – 0. May Allah help Blues 2 win
i prefer 4-3-3, keeper should be Cech, Defenders:Bosingwa,Ivanovic,Terry,A.cole Midfielders shld be J.Mikel, McEachran, Ramires,Striker:Drogba,Benayoun,Malouda. i believe dis youngest midfielders wil comesup wit a new ideas,styles,skills & moreover to deliver 100% pass accuracy
2 of you have Benayoun playing forward.
Small problem: he hadn’t played there all preseason. Bo always put him in the midfield. I doubt very much that will change on Sunday.
I would imagine Torres needs to be protected from his concussion, so I expect to see Drogba and Anelka up front, possibly with Kalou. Lampard and Malouda seem to have jobs. Ramires looked comfortable right away, so it’s either him or Mikel for the last spot. And that’s your midfield.
Is Ivanovic still injured? If so, it’s Alex and Bosingwa.
Very close to last season, eh? Time for Bo to wave his magic wand and make these players better.
i prefer using 4 4 2 than 4 4 3 and villa boas must sign luka modric and pereira in other 2 have gud mieldfielder and a gud subtitution
i prefer 4 4 2 than 4 3 3 and vila boas must sign modric and pereira,to have gud mieldfielder.
Stoke is a physical team … and I do not buy those facts that Manchester used light-weigh players and beat Stoke … weight has nothing ot do with being physical .. I myself gave an example of Josh and Ramires’s weight before , but I did not mean that weight and being physical are related .. you can be 140 pounds but physical …
you do not consider Nani, Paul Schols, Gibson , Evra physical?
4-3-3 is not my favorite formation but I am pretty sure Boas will go with it …
My formation (4-3-3)
——————–Cech—————————
Bosingwa——Iva——–Terry—————-Ashly
—————–Mikel————————————
—Ramires——————Lampard—————–
Anelaka—————————————Malouda-
———————Drogba———————————
I would not risk Torres, concussion is not a joke … the players are kind of same as lat season because we did not get any good player … Boas is not magician, we should get some good players otherwise, we will fail again ….
I predict we will win …
this is what I beleived boas should have gone with it …
not for this game, I am talking about formation not line-up
——————————-Cech———————————–
Bosingwa————Ive———————-Terry——————-Ashly
————————-Lampard—–Ramires———————————
——————-Sturridge—–Yausi——–Malouda———————–
———————————-Torres——————————————
this is my favorite formation for current Chelsea (with no winger) .. we can use Josh in Yasi’s position ….
but Boas did not choose this anyway …
Finally the day has arrived where we will start our quest to regain the title that rightfully belongs to us.
I like your line-up BC. Benayoun feeding Torres and McE finding the free spaces for both DD and Torres with his pin-point accurate passes. Btw McE has changed to the #20 shirt. Lampard picking up the loose balls.
Most important however is that the whole team is ready to put up a proper fight, because that’s necessary if we want to win at places like the Britannia Stadium. Everybody needs to work hard and commit to the tackles and keep the pressure high up the Stoke end of the pitch. If we do that we can go back to London with a 2-0 win and the first of many 3-points.
Lastly, it’s good to be back here at the blog after a long summer holiday break. Hope you are all keeping the Chelsea spirit high and are ready to make this season one to remember.
P.S. Once again BC you have out-done yourself with a fantastic blog design and lay-out. Sure you’re in the right business?
The thing about playing a midfield of Mikel-Ranires and Lampard is, after a boring 0-0 draw, we all might say, we lack creativity in midfield and we are unable to open up defences. Surprise, surprise – the creative players are not known for their physicality. You choose what you want. You get from what you choose.
I choose Josh and Yossi. You choose Mikel and Malouda. It’s not a bad option to play Mikel and Malouda, but when we suck, don’t blame it on these players. They might play to the best of their abilities and that might still not be enough to open up ’11-men behind the ball’ teams. There will be no moment of genius or magic or unpredictability. We would end up doing the same stuff in loop. Not bein disrespectful to the players but if you don’t mix and match, you won’t get there.
I agree with you BC. we need wingers who are genuinely wingers. I saw some good wingers in the making. if they get us let us be prepared for being defeated hands down. we need wingers wingers wingers wingers. Do these people-chelsea Hierarchy read this articles for our clubs sake? Remember the time of Duff, Robben and Joe Cole; that is when the 4-3-3 worked.
However BC, i see Sturridge starting i place of Drogba and that will be one of our players to carry Chelsea if given chance to operate from the wing.
cech
bosingwa alex jt cole
ramires
josh lampard
sturrdge torres yossi
if we go for that of mikel lampard ramires, they are tough but not creative enough. i left kalou because he is selfish and will not feed torres/ release balls. at this time we need wingers who can channel balls to torres. torres is a good finisher. i left malouda for the same; selfish and bot creative
hey bc.. i really didnt like the display pic which reads manu in postion 1..
Ha. Whether we like it or not, that’s the reality mate. This season is another face-off between Man Utd and Chelsea, with them starting as champions. Hence I thought the picture fit the bill.
Is josh the kind of player we need for this game? Yes. Is he ready for it? No.
If we don’t use Josh for these games, he will never be ready for these games. Young players will never be ‘ready’ if we don’t put them through the tough tests. There’s a reason why Chelsea is not a great place for young players. The managers and fans simply mother them too much and don’t quite know when exactly to introduce/use them. I hope this changes with Boas and we change our mindset on youngsters meanwhile.
Folks! Please take note! Stoke vs Chelsea is at 13:30 UK!!!
am goin 2 win dis match so up chelsea
Blue is the colour,football is our game.we are not afraid is time to dominate.
The link for BC Shout is in the box in the bottom (the middle one). For lazy buggers, here it is – http://bluechampions.com/yshout/example/
Be there at BC Shout!!!
The main reason I wanted Carlo out was that the squad was not good and he repeatedly said I can win everything with this squad …. Boas is doing the sam ething .. this sqaud cannot play 4-3-3… this squad is not made to play 4-3-3. .. Torrss will ot score even 5 goals in 4-3-3 formation …
well Stoke is hard place to go anyway.. I hope this game be an early wake up for Boas to realize this squad is not good enough .. he should not get fooled by names …
i am encouraged by torres’s display. He tried to make with whatever he has.
Time’s up for lampard. He really had given good service but he needs to be replaced fast.
And wingers are a must. Sell Kalou and get the money to buy. And sell Malouda and Anelka too when there is a chance and buy better wingers that can provide service if not creativity
except Kalou … the rest of line-up is the best you can come up in Chelsea …that is all we can do ,,,wake up Boas … you are not magician … you need good payers …
the line up that had mikel and malouda domt expect much if it is 4-3-3
Manchester 1-1 West Brom (HT)
we are going to play agaisnt West Bro next week…
Manchester did not get a goal keeper .. the kid is really week … I myself was a amature GK , and I can easully see that the kid’s movement on goal line is really off, He is very slow .. I watched him against City as well, he dives on the ball which shows he is slow …
I guessed that is going to happen to Manchester, it took 3 goal keepers after Schmichel: Bosnich, Bartez,Howard … and I guess it takes a while after Van Dar Sar too, so it is a good opportunaty to take advatnage of that ….
Same old story .. We need playmaker and right side winger. ramires can’t play that role. Just as last year, we can’t break a team defending deep. Adam Johnson & Luka Modric (or Samir Nasri) please
15 days to the transfer window.
This managers are payed millions but still don’t see things which normal fans see. The team is finished and needs reinforcement, mainly in the midfield. No creative midfielder, no cups.